Detention with Trophies ; dromedaaaaa?

Andromeda sat in the Slytherin common room, her blue-grey eyes scanning back and forth the letter she’d received from her owl that morning. She’d been convinced it would be a scornful letter from home after Narcissa reported her rejection of the proposed marriage for her, but had instead been pleasantly surprised at the scruffy handwriting inside. A letter from Sirius, however, was always best hidden from the rest of her house, so she made sure to toss it into the flames of the fireplace when she was done with it. He wanted to see her tomorrow evening. There hadn’t been much more in the note than that – a few greetings hoping she was OK and asking after her summer. All things they could discuss when they saw each other, so there was no need to keep the evidence. The last thing she wanted was to provide Narcissa – or worse, Bellatrix – with more ammunition to feed their parents with. Not that they would know who the letter was from or why it had been sent, but it was enough that she was holding covert meetings with someone that wasn’t approved. She’d end up chaperoned by one of her sisters everywhere she went, and Dromeda couldn’t afford that risk.

They would have a great deal to talk about when they did see each other. Not only had there been months with minimal contact, but after the events of the previous week Andromeda knew her cousin would want her perspective. Or, more accurately, want her perspective on what others he had no access to were thinking. Honestly, the news of Gamp’s disappearance had troubled Andromeda. Bellatrix had seemed so excited by the whole thing, and several other members of her house were equally as pleased. It seemed nobody was safe now, and it only put the middle sister in a more precarious position than before. Gamp had done nothing wrong, never set a foot out of line as far as Pureblood society was concerned, and yet now she was nowhere to be found. If people were to learn of Andromeda’s feelings...

Unable to think in the company of so many she couldn’t stand to listen to any longer, Andromeda decided a break from the crowds was needed. There was no way she could seek Sirius out any sooner (the boy seemed to know every nook and cranny of the school to avoid their meetings becoming public) so she resigned herself to a little Andromeda-time. Leaving the green-and-silver finery, she made her way out of the cold, damp dungeons of Hogwarts and up to the main part of the school. It always amazed her how different the atmosphere was. Something about being homed in the dungeons with a common room beneath the murky waters of the Lake gave the Slytherin areas a distinctly chilly and isolated feel. She felt instantly more at home in the busier, brightly lit halls of the rest of the school, though was aware of some of the looks from her fellow students. The dark hair, the icy eyes, the fine midnight-blue silk robes all displayed to the world that she was a Black, and apparently as far as half the school was concerned that meant she was to be avoided at the moment.

Put out by some of the reactions and whispers of ‘Pureblood trash’ and the like, Dromeda made a turn to the quieter end of the castle. In the evenings most students would either be retiring to their common rooms, in the Great Hall still finishing dinner, or out in the Grounds. Her steps fell almost silently across the stone as she went, which is why she was unsurprised the person occupying the room in front of her was unaware of her presence. Flattening her robes to prevent their swishing making a sound, a half-smile crossed her lips as she watched Ted Tonks for a moment, indulging herself. The two had been partnered in Potions and of course Cissa had fumed that the professor had dared to pair a Black with a Muggle-born. Andromeda had voiced no such protests, but during the class was always keenly aware of her sister’s watch. She had nobody watching her now.

“You missed a spot,” she joked as she made herself known, casting a mocking appraising glance around the room. “Several, in fact.”

She shot him a small, reserved smile before stopping in front of one of the large cabinets. It was obvious he’d barely started, but she hardly felt comfortable just strolling in and saying hello. Even now she cast a quick glance to the doorway she had come through, thankful the long corridor behind was empty and the door just ajar. She would at least have warning to compose herself if anyone were to come check on his progress.

“Don’t worry, Professor Slughorn didn’t send me to keep watch on you. You really should try to avoid being late for his class, he doesn’t take kindly to it if you don’t have his wonderful natural talent for the subject.” Her right lip twitched in a sarcastic smirk. It was common knowledge students good at potions got a far easier ride in his classes. Now she thought about it, she’d known Ted would be here – she’d been in the class when his detention was given. She’d thought herself to be absently wandering. Perhaps that wasn’t entirely true.

“However,” she pondered, taking small paces back and forth as if in deep thought, “I cannot seem to remember him telling you not to accept an offer of assistance?”

_{_______________________________________________}

TAGS!?!

Well, look at that. Andromeda didn’t think she could remember the last time someone had appeared so pleased to see her. Rabastan hadn’t even managed a completely fake and forced smile, and he’d planned on proposing to her. Not that anything would have influenced her decision on that, of course. It had always been a no, and no matter what his threats it was always going to be a no. Andromeda was a romantic at heart, and refused to entertain the notion of marrying for any other reason than desiring nothing more than to spend to rest of your life with a person. She was a long way off such deep feelings right now, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t emerge someday. Especially considering the way her heart seemed to skip a beat as Teddy chuckled at her half-dig at his cleaning attempts.

At his excuse, she stopped sharply, giving him a curious glance. They had been scheduled for Potions at the same time every day, every week for over a year now, since their OWL year. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t known when and where the class was going to be held, and Andromeda found it difficult to see why anyone would willingly be near the greenhouses when they didn’t have class there. She had never been much of a plant lover, and the fact that half of the ones Professor Sprout kept seemed to believe she was a perfectly fine afternoon snack didn’t help matters.

“What on earth were you doing all the way out there before class?” she questioned, the curiosity and disbelief evident in her tone. “No wonder you were late. It’s hardly a leisurely stroll at the best of times, let alone in this weather with five minutes to spare.”

At his acceptance of her offer, she let a true smile show. It was a rare thing for a Black yet to be outcast to be truly happy about something, but spending time with Teddy always made Dromeda feel like she didn’t have to put on airs and graces. She still did, but because she wanted to. It was how she had been taught to behave around young men that caught her attention, and she thought it a whole lot better than the antics of some other young women of their age. In one swift, flowing movement she sank to sit next to him, her dress puffing up like a cloud around her as she went until she patted it down with her hands, so that she somewhat resembled a frog perched on a lilypad.

“Well, that’s good,” she started with a smile, taking the silver trophy from his hands, “because whoever taught you to do this clearly had no idea, if you’ve ever been taught at all, that is. I don’t suppose it’s a particularly common chore for most, but from the age of six it was a fairly common punishment for speaking out of turn from my father to be sent to polish all the silverware in the house.”

Oh, the hours she had spent learning how everything in that house was cleaned. She’d never really learned it was easier to just behave and do as she was told. It was probably why she was so neat and organised, and so very good at cleaning almost anything handed to her. Years of practice and having to repeat the task if it was done incorrectly had a habit of making you good at it. Over time Andromeda had come to love the sense of pride when her father could no longer pick fault in her attempts and could only give a reluctant nod and grunt of approval. It was less of a punishment once you had learned to enjoy it. Withdrawing her wand, she gave a flick to the trophy, filling it with cool, clear water. She didn’t plan on simply charming everything clean. It never lasted as long, and besides, it was far too quick. This was quite possibly the only time alone she would get with Teddy for a long while, and she hardly planned on ending it before she had to.

“Of course, it would have helped if you were provided with the right equipment. A dry cloth will never do half as good a job as a damp one. Now,” she instructed, reaching over his arms to place her own slender, pale hands over his as she moved them along with her instruction to the Quidditch shield. “You just need a little water and a tiny drop of polish on there. You need to go in a back and forth motion; going in circles will just move the tarnish around rather than lift it off. And don’t be too rough with it,” she advised, lifting his hands so that the cleaning cloth barely touched the surface, glancing sideways at him to check his attention and very aware of just how close they were having to sit for her to do this properly. “Silver is a very soft, delicate metal. It’s nothing like brass. You have to be gentle with it. It won’t need a firm hand, just an easy coaxing and....”

She lifted their hands away, smiling in pride at the perfectly reflective surface now casting a little twinkle of light across the room as it moved.

“Voila. Cleaned and polished in one go. Even my father would be proud of your work, if he weren’t such a...well, a lady doesn’t like to use the sort of words most would employ to describe him.”

Settling back so that she could kneel sitting on her feet, Andromeda lifted her own piece of cloth, dipping it into the water and wringing it out before picking up one of the more intricately decorated plates, working slowly around all the tiny swirls and lines covering its surface. Other than their hands briefly brushing as they reached for ingredients or books, she couldn’t remember a time when they’d had more physical contact than she had just instigated. She briefly wondered why she hadn’t done so before, but the vision of Narcissa’s snake-like stare across the room watching every interaction swiftly answered that question. The blonde sister had never been the brightest of the three academically, but Dromeda had no doubt she wasn’t stupid.

“Oh, and please, don’t call me Miss Black,” she said while she worked, looking up at him with a small grin. “You make me sound so old. It’s Dromeda to you,” she couldn’t help herself, the grin widening slightly, “Theodore”

_{_______________________________________________}

TAGS!?!

As he gave his reason for being so far from the class when it started, Andromeda tilted her head slightly, curious and impressed. Though she had heard whisperings in the common room on why the Gamp girl was missing, it had seemed very strange to most people that a Hufflepuff had been targeted. They were known for being the least confrontational people in school, and whilst they had their own fiercely loyal students, they didn’t show it the same way as those of Slytherin or Gryffindor. Theirs was a much quieter dignity, one she respected immensely. She liked to think it unlikely that another student would be targeted in any way, but the threat was out there now, and it seemed those in Teddy’s house were taking it seriously. The fact that he was opening himself up to lateness, detentions, and moreso to the attentions of anyone who might be looking for another person to make an example of, made a little part of her melt inside.

“And who said bravery and chivalry were either dead or belonging solely to those in red and gold? They’re very lucky to have somebody looking out for them. Hufflepuff’s very own protector.”

She smiled as the title, thinking it perfectly suited to him. They’d been partners for some time now and although Dromeda wouldn’t dare to claim she knew Teddy well, she could tell he was a good person for the younger students to have watching over them. For starters, she couldn’t think of many people who would want to pick a physical fight with him. Had he been of a more Slytherin disposition Teddy would have cut a very intimidating figure indeed. As it was, he instead cut a rather pleasing one in her eyes, which snuck a sneaking glance as the thought crossed her mind. She had no trouble believing he would be able to ensure the safety of his charges.

Apparently she had managed to stay appearing perfectly calm as she had instructed him, and was annoyingly grateful at being raised to hide her emotions. Had she not been, she was sure Teddy would have heard how quickly her heartbeat had picked up its pace as she guided his hands, or seen them shaking with nervous energy as she began her own work. Despite the fact this was one of the few chances she would get to let her guard down, Andromeda just wasn’t able to let it go completely. She’d always been the cool, calm, composed witch. She didn’t go all giddy in the face of handsome young men, it wasn’t her way. Yet she still found herself giggling like the schoolgirl she supposed she still technically was as he commented on her unexpected skill set.

“Oh yes,” she replied as her laughs subsided to a more sombre smile, “when one is seen as the problem child, one often becomes a master at their punishments. If you ever need silver polishing, texts copying out or clothes sewing, I can assure you they can be done to the highest quality.”

She’d never spoken of her family to him before, and she felt awkward doing so. Their upbringing had been so profoundly different, and a part of her couldn’t help the well of needless guilt she felt. Dromeda was naturally well-spoken, and always worried that she edged on patronising when speaking to Teddy. Luckily he never seemed to take it that way, but instead as the joke she intended. She would hate to think anything she said had upset him. He seemed happy with her presence now, though, and she tried in vain not to read anything further into that. It wasn’t as if anyone would consider them friends, and he easily could have asked one of his group to sneak up and join him for the evening and help pass the time. Equally he could have told Andromeda he was happy to be her potions partner but that alone and asked her to leave, but he hadn’t. She even caught a couple of his glances her way (and wondered if he realised she was doing exactly the same thing) but quickly averted her eyes back to the plate in her lap, concentrating on keeping the pink blush from her cheeks, unsure of quite how successful her attempts were.

“You were named after him, then?” she enquired, genuinely curious. Being named after older family members was traditional in Pureblood families, and why some of their names seemed so terribly old-fashioned, her’s included. “What is he like?”

It was an odd choice of idle chatter, but Dromeda’s interest had been caught. Her parents had explicitly forbidden her taking Muggle Studies as a subject and since her social group didn’t allow for much talk of them she honestly had no idea what living as a Muggle was like. Apart from that chores and repairs took a ridiculously long time, but invariably gave better results. Finishing the plate with an approving glance as she held it up to the light, she picked up the next item to work on, though her attentions, eyes and slanted smile were now focused on him,

“”Well, since you’ve discovered my hidden talent for polishing silver, I think it only fair you share on of your own. One that isn’t baking those rather delicious little cinnamon rolls you brought to the last class last year.”

Oh, they had been good. She always looked forward to the classes when she would open the drawer beneath her half of their desk and find something wrapped up inside from him. She’d never learned to cook, as in her household that was what house elves were for, and was amazed by how well he seemed to make such intricate little things.

_{_______________________________________________}

TAGS!?!

Andromeda gave a slightly bitter laugh at Ted’s comment on her well-roundedness. She supposed he was right. Being brought up in a completely magical family meant she was a skilled enough witch, though still behind the calibre of Bella and some others in her own year. The punishments had made her determined, a hard worker, and particularly skilled in what her family considered demeaning tasks. He always managed to bring a little bit of humour to a situation. There had been plenty of times in potions when their brewing had been going horrifically wrong and Teddy had saved the situation with a joke. She never laughed then of course, not in public. His only reward in those situations was a small, wry smile, a matter of self-preservation on her own part. It was nice for Dromeda to be more open with him for once. He’d earned it, she thought.

Whether it was potions or divination or polishing silver, Andromeda normally concentrated on the task n hand. As Teddy begin to talk about his family, however, her work turned idle, and she found herself leaning into the conversation, her chin coming to rest on her hand as he spoke. He had a lovely voice, one she could listen to for hours and never get tired of hearing it. The fact that he obviously seemed to care so deeply about his family was evident in his tone, too, and Dromeda envied him for it. She’d never asked about his family, didn’t know about his brother or anything like that. It seemed the sort of thing she ought to have asked even as general chatter during class. But where she so disliked talking about her own family, she rarely brought up the topic of other peoples’. The topic always swung back to her own, and Dromeda did not enjoy trying to talk about her relatives in positive terms. You never knew who was listening.

He stopped talking, and it took Dromeda a second or two to realise she was simply sat looking at him in silence still. Damn it, he’d even managed to carry on with his work as he spoke, and the shield she had started to work on lay discarded on her lap. At his question she picked it up again, carefully moving the cloth across the inscribed lettering.

“Not a person, as such,” she started, giving him the occasional glance as she spoke. “Andromeda was a princess from Greek mythology. Her parents promised her in marriage to her own uncle when she was born, but when she grew older she was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster, as punishment for her mother’s pride and boasting. Perseus, a Greek hero, killed the monster and rescued Andromeda, and she fell in love and married him despite her betrothal. Perseus passed away, and so did she some time later. And the goddess Athena placed them next to each other as stars in the sky so they would be next to each other for all of time.”

As she had told the story, Dromeda’s voice had gone light and wistful, a smile gracing her face. She noticed Teddy’s eyes on her, however, and felt a pink blush rise to her cheeks as she quickly tucked a dark strand of hair away from her face in an attempt to cover her embarrassment with the gesture.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry, it’s a silly story. But what can I say; I’m a romantic at heart. I highly doubt the irony of the choice of name is lost on my parents. But when Bellatrix and Narcissa’s fit so well, I can hardly see how they could be surprised to find I’m not begging them night and day to arrange a marriage for me.”

She knew this was an odd practice to those not in Pureblood families. The idea of arranged marriages and betrothals had long since died off in the Muggle world, from what she’d been told. It was one of the reasons her family believed magical blood was superior. Pairs were made because they would be the best for both families, and produce the best children. Andromeda herself couldn’t understand how in-breeding could possibly produce better witches and wizards, let alone better people in general, but had given up using that argument in her defence a while ago. It was never going to work on her parents, who believed marriage was not for the future wife to decide on. This was one of the reasons she hated talking about her upbringing. It was a very awkward topic of conversation, especially when talking to a young man who made her heart beat like a hummingbird when he smiled.

“But I’m far more interested in your family,” she said, completely honest as she forced a full smile back to her face, suppressing thoughts of her family that kept threatening to scare her into leaving his company immediately. “As you’ve no doubt noticed, apart from Sirius not a single Black in this school takes Muggle studies, so I’d love to hear more. For example,” she said, shifting so she was sat more comfortably, her smile more genuine now, “what is this ‘submarine’ you mentioned?”

She was genuinely enthusiastic about this. Dromeda never got the chance to talk about anything like this, and Teddy was someone she was perfectly happy to have tutor her in such things.

“It must have been so strange for you, having someone from Hogwarts arrive to tell you what you were, coming to the school, learning about all of this. I can’t even imagine how your family must have reacted to such news. I’ve heard stories of some Muggle families who have ended up terrified of their own children. Of course, those stories come from my family, and I trust them about as much as I’d trust a grindylow”

_{_______________________________________________}

TAGS!?!

Dromeda could see Teddy struggling, and resisted the urge to reach out and take the spoon from him. Blacks were raised to be perfectionists, and in the back of her head she was already planning to revisit the room later to give the swirls and grooves another going over herself. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything though. In Potions the two of them would correct one another with a joking sort of arrogance, but the last thing she wanted was to give Teddy the impression that she thought herself better than him. Her name had given her enough of that reputation without her help, and she wasn’t eager to add to it. Especially if the result was him quite possibly telling her to get up and leave. So she held her tongue.

“Exactly,” she said eagerly, a wider smile than usual coming to her face, as if it was the best thing in the world to hear someone agree with her In fact, that wasn’t far off how she felt. “This is what I don’t understand. On the one hand you have people like my family, traditional and set in their ways. Marriage is purely for advancement, and love is scarcely and afterthought in the whole thing. Then you have some others in the school – my cousin, for instance – who seem to think that convincing as many member of the opposite sex to your bed as possible counts towards a successful love life. It bewilders me, honestly. Whatever happened to two people simply meeting, falling in love, and spending the rest of their lives together happily? Sometimes I wonder if that every really happened, if it’s just something from Beedle the Bard’s fairytales.”

It was only when she finished Dromeda realised how quickly she’d been speaking, and paused to take a breath. Even her chats with Sirius never let her speak like this. He was the sort who wanted his fun now, to save the more serious stuff for later in life. Andromeda just wasn’t that way inclined. She’d tried to speak to her sisters about this, and the two of them had been dismissive. Narcissa had been more open to the idea, but maintained the family belief that if you found love in a marriage it was luck, nothing more. Her parents certainly had never been blessed with the emotion in any form. She laughed darkly, shaking her head at herself.

“I don’t know what I’m thinking, telling you all of this,” she said, refusing to meet his eye as she found polishing the small trophy in front of her completely engrossing. “I apologise. It’s not often I get to speak with someone who doesn’t already have one of two quite polar views of myself and the rest of my family. It’s...well frankly it’s quite wonderful.”

Don’t look up, don’t look up. Merlin, she had to. She couldn’t just let a comment like that hang in the air like a spectre. She speared him the briefest glance with a small, one-sided smile, trying not to appear overly enthusiastic despite her words. Hopefully he’d just take it as relief at having somebody to talk to. Dromeda was under no illusion that Teddy probably knew all about her family and what it stood for. The motto itself was clue enough, inscribed into every heirloom the sisters owned. Dromeda often made a point of not wearing the family jewellery for precisely this reason. His comment lightened the air slightly, and she allowed herself an amused chuckle.

“I’ll try to steer clear of the Lake on my walks,” she replied with a grin, “lest the squid attempt to drag me down to the murky depths for my mother’s sins.”

As he started to explain parts of the Muggle world to her, Dromeda absently stopped working, leaning against the glass case next to hear as she listened intently. It was all so fascinating, the way they lived without magic. It was a world she had never been a part of, never been permitted to set foot in, and it made it all the more interesting. She knew she was watching him like a child watching their parents explaining how a new and wonderful toy worked, but a part of her was convinced she didn’t have to worry about that. Not with Teddy. Really she could have asked Sirius about all this, knowing his fascination with Muggle technology, but it was so much more interesting coming from someone whose voice made her want to forget about the rest of the castle.

“How wonderful,” she whispered in a breath, looking truly amazed at the whole thing. “I would love to see one, just once. And one of these batteries. I’ve heard Sirius mention them when talking about his bike. I have to admit I tend to switch off slightly when he talks about it like his child, it’s very peculiar.”

Her expression softened as he spoke of his family and she straightened herself, feeling a little awkward. Magic had been a part of her life since before Dromeda could remember. Dolls and stuffed Hippogriffs had danced mid-air above her bed as a toddler. House elves had tended to her every whim and wish as a child. Her parents had encouraged the girls to use magic as soon as they had their own wands. Doing anything the Muggle way was seen as strange and abhorrent, a dirty and incorrect way of life. And yet if she’d used magic to polish all this silver she and Teddy would have long said their goodbyes by now and gone their separate ways. How could that possibly be better?

“You are normal,” she said softly, unable to keep being slightly affronted from her voice at the implication there was something abnormal about her world. “You’re just as normal as me, or Sirius, or Professor Dumbledore, or Lily Evans. This is who you were born to be Teddy, not something forced upon you as a trial or punishment. Why should your parents – any of your family – have to lose you just for being who you are? A true family would never let that happen.”

She should know, Dromeda thought to herself with a small frown. She’d never even considered what it must be like for a Muggle family. She’d never asked. But then, the way he implied the Muggle way of life was somehow more acceptable than hers had tugged on nerves usually reserved for people like Lestrange and Bellatrix. Did he really think that being born as a witch or wizard somehow made a person less acceptable? And if he did, what on earth did he really think of her? She felt her teeth biting gently into one side of her bottom lip as she considered this, her eyes widened slightly as she fixed them on him.

“If you truly think you’re being lost, or that our world is somehow less normal than yours, why would you come back year after year?”

_{_______________________________________________}

TAGS!?!

Dromeda breathed a sigh of relief when he told her not to apologise, her posture relaxing slightly. Acceptance wasn’t something she was used to, nor was sympathy. Teddy seemed to understand exactly what she was saying. Whether he actually did or not or was simply acting to make her feel more comfortable, she didn’t know, but she was happy with either. She wasn’t sure she appreciated being thought of as a bleeding heart, but it was better than the creative names her family and Slytherin House seemed to have fun conjuring up for her that they didn’t think she knew about.

It obviously took him a few moments to realise she’d taken offense to his words, and Andromeda raised a brow as she waited for it to dawn on him. She’d been judged by her parents, her sisters, her aunts and uncles, her cousin, her housemates, most of the rest of the school and magical population purely on the strength of her name and status in the magical world. She’d thought she was safe from that sort of nonsense with Teddy. It had fleetingly crossed her mind to get up and walk out, head held high in defiance. She’d seen her mother do it so many times before she could emulate her movements without even trying. Deep down, however, Dromeda knew that wasn’t the right thing to do. She had spent the past seventeen years trying to avoid becoming her mother, and she wasn’t about to change that now.

His spluttered apology and attempted explanation should have made her angrier. It should have grated on her nerves, made the cool, biting sarcasm rise like a tidal wave. But it didn’t. His rather hapless attempt to convince her he hadn’t meant it in that way softened Andromeda and she felt the tension in her shoulders release. If nothing else, he was being honest with her, something she’d come to appreciate in life. And as he spoke more, she began to realise what he was saying. Not knowing where you fit, feeling like everyone around you thought you didn’t belong; yes, she could relate to that. Probably a lot more than he realised. She sighed lightly, toying with the folds in her gown for a moment as she thought.

“Well, if it’s any consolation to you at all, I certainly like you alive. This evening would have been far less enjoyable if I’d stumbled across an empty room,” she started with a small smile, trying to apologise without saying the words. “And as hard as it may be for you to believe, I understand exactly what you mean.”

She took a deep breath again, looking away to scan the trophies and shields in the room, reminders of all the great students who had gone before them. She knew her name would never be on one of these. She’d never been a Prefect, never been a part of any team or club, never shone academically enough to be recognised. She’d always just stood in the background, the backdrop to Bellatrix’s ascendance or Sirius’ rebellion. Sirius knew of her feelings, but he’d never so much listened as just pushed her to abandoning everything she’d ever known for a life on the edge. Her teeth bit the inside of her lip lightly. She’d had one of the most privileged upbringings you could get, and she knew it. The last thing she wanted was for Teddy to ask her how on earth he thought she knew how he felt. Now was as good a time as any to take this plunge. She swallowed loudly before looking back to him, knowing the nervousness was probably showing on her face. Damn icy grey eyes always betrayed her when she least wanted them to.

“Other than Sirius, you probably know the reputation my family has,” she began, her fingers still playing over the creases in her dress fabric, the silverware forgotten, “most people in this school learn about it at some point. Our family motto is ‘Toujours Pur’ – ‘Always Pure’. The Blacks claim to have one of the purest magical bloodlines in the world. Anyone that deviates – squibs and their parents, so-called blood traitors – is disinherited and removed from the family tree. Sirius is the first member of the family in decades, maybe even centuries to speak out against what our family stand for.” She took a deep breath. “I’m the second. And I’ve spent seventeen years trying to keep that quiet and by Merlin it feels good to say it to someone who isn’t my cousin.”

A relieved laugh escaped her lips, descending into a full fit of laughter at how ridiculous it seemed that she’d never said that aloud to anyone but Sirius before. She’d hinted and implied, but never come out to openly stand against her family. Dromeda could see now what Sirius meant when he said how good it had felt to just walk away. She calmed herself with a few breaths, aware that she probably seemed quite insane, clearing her throat as she looked back at what she suspected was an extremely confused Ted.

“Sirius is the only person I’ve ever said that to. I don’t even know why I’m telling you, it has no bearing on your life what is going on in the world of Pureblood politics. But I...I suppose I just hope you’ll see how I understand how it feels to be a stranger in what is supposed to be your home.”

She picked up the silver again, returning to polishing with a lightness of movement that had been restricted before. Tomorrow morning she would go back to being Andromeda Black, second daughter to Cygnus and Druella, a Pureblood lady born and raised. But maybe, just for an hour or two this evening, she could just be Andromeda Black.

“I hope you’ll forgive my snapping at you.”

_{_______________________________________________}

TAGS!?!

His silence as she spoke made Dromeda slightly nervous. Someone actually listening to her was a new experience, and she was finding it difficult. She knew how to respond to most of the reactions she got when speaking about this sort of thing. There were those like Rabastan, who lectured her on the importance of being proud of your family and following their wish and command. Then there were people like Sirius, who said their family could unceremoniously shove their desires somewhere rather unpleasant and she should just live however she wanted. She wondered if her cousin had ever considered that she might want to keep her family’s approval, or at least what little of it was left after seventeen years of being the disappointing daughter. Both sides would doubtlessly have thought she’s lost her mind as she began laughing at her situation.

Sympathy, though, was foreign to her. She gave Teddy an inquisitive look, trying to figure him out. A part of her had expected him to take Sirius’ stance, and another had thought he would simply shrug it off as none of his business. It wasn’t, after all. She didn’t like the thought that she might be dragging someone else into the colossal mess that her life currently was. Nobody deserved to have to put up with it, especially not someone who’d never been anything but pleasant to her when they spoke. His softly spoken words had a calming effect on her, and she gave him a smile.

“Perhaps I should, perhaps I shouldn’t, but it’s the lot life has given me. We all bear our burdens I’m sure. Honestly, I’ve gotten used to it after so long. Spending seventeen years playing two opposite roles, eventually the lines start to blur. You begin to wonder if you ever really belonged to either side, or if perhaps you were always intended for some misty shade of grey in the middle.”

She gave a light shrug after she spoke, calm and composed once again, her voice back to its eloquent self rather than the manic tone it had taken on before. It was strange, spilling her thoughts to someone that before this evening had only been a Potions partner, for all intents and purposes. Teddy was just so easy to speak to though, and Dromeda had faith that he wouldn’t be discussing the details of their conversation with anyone else. He seemed to understand her predicament, how dangerous it could potentially be to speak about openly. Besides, Hufflepuffs were hardly known as school gossips. That was left solely to the red and gold brigade.

Picking up a very tarnished silver figure of Merlin inscribed with all past students who’d received the First Class Order, Dromeda settled back into her work. It was therapeutic to take something so forgotten and mistreated and bring it back to its former glory, though this would take quite a bit longer than the other pieces. It would be worth it though.

“Thank you, Teddy, for just listening. It doesn’t happen often. But if you wouldn’t mind, I would like to move on to more agreeable topics of conversation. This is the first time we’ve spoken properly out of class, as I think I would be doing you a disservice to do otherwise,” she said with a smile, taking time to polish all the grooves of the figure’s beard carefully. “For example, you’ve already said you find this whole world of mine a little strange. Am I to take it you intend to leave it after graduation? I assume you’ve had some thoughts on what you want to do after Hogwarts after those glorious careers sessions we had last year?”

She leaned over to give his work a glace, raising a brow with a one-sided smirk and she sat back on her heels.

“If I may make a suggestion? Don’t try to replace Filch.”

Ah, light-hearted insults. This was so much more comfortable.

_{_______________________________________________}

TAGS!?!