#Andromeda Tonks POV

[asnarkyandironicusername]

Day 28 of @remadoramicrofics - Outsider POV

Andromeda Tonks watched as her daughter and son-in-law dressed her grandson for the ceremony. Remus was trying to slip shoes on him, but Teddy was kicking his feet so fiercely that he was only marginally avoiding failure. Nymphadora merely stood by and giggled as father and son wrestled. 

Moments like these spurred mixed emotions in Andromeda. Ted would have loved his grandson, and she missed and mourned him every day. Of course, she still had some hesitancy towards Remus. To his credit, for well over a year now he had been the most attentive husband and father she could ask for her daughter or grandson, but she’d never forget the way Nymphadora had practically rotted in her bed during the week he had disappeared. Nymphadora had been quick to forgive, but Andromeda had made Remus earn her forgiveness; she had to be sure he could take care of her daughter.

Remus had gotten the other shoe on and proudly hefted Teddy into his arms. “Are you ready, Andromeda?” he asked as Teddy messed with the collar of his robe.

“Yes. One day, Remus, you won’t be able to get the upper hand on him so easily.”

“Let’s hope he’s dressing himself by then,” Remus chuckled.

“Wait until he starts walking,” her daughter said as she clapped him on the back before she apparated to the school grounds.

Andromeda followed after her. A few moments later, Remus arrived, Teddy in one hand and a child’s shoe clenched in the other. “A short victory,” he said as he raised the shoe to them. They followed the crowd across the grounds to the large memorial that stood on the horizon. 

When the memorial had been unveiled, it had drawn a crowd every bit as large as this one. It was a marble structure with four columns wrapped in the house colors. Inside, the one room building was filled with portraits of the fallen; Sirius, Ted, and many others filled frames and told their tales. When they had first come, Nymphadora had drug her and Remus and Teddy to Ted’s frame, proudly showing off his grandson before scurrying off to show Sirius and the rest of Remus’s friends.

Today wasn’t a day for catching up, though, she thought as she took mercy on Remus and wrangled the shoe back onto Teddy’s foot. He thanked her with a bashful smile as Nymphadora stared at the crowd. “She’ll be like raising a second child sometimes, Ted was the same way,” she warned him as she eyed him tentatively.

“Oh, she isn’t that bad,” he chuckled. “I don’t have to put her shoes on, and I suppose that some nights after a full moon I’m rather reminiscent of a child.”

Andromeda had seen the way her daughter doted on him after a full moon and she was inclined to agree, but she had also seen Remus, after his impromptu vacation as Nymphadora called it, take care of her daughter through her pregnancy. The meals he’d make just to have Nymphadora turn her nose up almost on a whim, the sick mornings and cranky evenings, she wasn’t certain she’d heard him say no once in those nine months and his attentiveness had lasted well through the birth. When Nymphadora said jump, Remus asked how high.

Like this; Remus had wanted to skip the ceremony, citing general displeasure that he, a werewolf, would receive an Order of Merlin, First Class. Andromeda had to admit she was surprised, but she supposed, personal misgivings aside, he deserved it as much as any of the other Order members. It had been all through the press; at first, he was the only Order member not to receive one, but Harry had convinced everyone else to refuse theirs unless Remus was recognized. He had insisted they were making a big deal over nothing, but eventually the Wizengamot had relented.

When the invitation for the recognition ceremony had come, he had all but insisted that Nymphadora and she come and receive their awards and that he would stay home with Teddy, but Nymphadora wouldn’t have it. At one point, she had told him it would be unfair of him to miss because it would leave her and her mother five awards – Their respectives ones as well as Ted’s, Sirius’s, and Remus’s – to care for and no amount of Remus’s insistence that Harry would want Sirius’s could convince her otherwise. Finally, he had relented and agreed to come.

Ahead of her, Remus shifted Teddy to his other arm to wrap Harry in a hug. He immediately took the boy from his arms. “You’d better not be planning on keeping him forever,” Andromeda teased. For the first week after the war, she was almost certain that he had come over everyday to see the boy, asking Remus and Tonks several times if they were certain that they wanted him to be Godfather.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said as he bounced the young boy.

“Don’t worry, Mum, Remus won't let him get away with it. Think he used to be jealous he couldn’t feed him.”

Remus rolled his eyes, but his reddening cheeks gave him away. “I wasn’t jealous, Dora, I felt bad that you had to get up every time.”

Harry laughed before turning back to the stage. “Think we should get going?” he asked.

Remus watched the officials taking the stage. “Perhaps.”

Harry handed Teddy back. “I’ll come find you after.”

Remus nodded, but his eyes were still glued to the stage, a look of worry creeping over him. The look he got when he wanted to run. Before Andromeda could say anything, her daughter looped her arm through his and tugged them forward. “Oh no you don’t,” she said.

“Hm?”

“There’s no backing out now.”

“I-I wasn’t –”

“Great,” Nymphadora said as she linked her other arm through Andromeda’s, “then let’s get on with it.” Teddy may carry her husband’s name, but she most often saw him in their daughter and her endless love. 

[dramioneasks]

Beyond Recall or Desire - vannminner - E, 25 chapters - In December of 2001, Draco Malfoy was meant to be married. Unfortunately, a union with Astoria Greengrass would be impossible as his soul had already been bound to another's. Now, if only he could remember whose... - “A birth bond?” Narcissa asked. Alistair shook his head, “I’m afraid not. This is something else entirely.” He made eye contact with Draco before quickly looking away. “This is a chosen bond… a mutual decision…”

[merlinsbudgiesmugglers]

At eighteen, Andromeda Black was given a choice. A choice between love, and duty.

What if she chose duty?

Read the Epilogue on AO3

Read from the beginning on AO3

--

It's done! My first ever completed multi-chapter fic!

This has been a labour of love for over a year. I absolutely could not have done it without the help of @celestemagnoliathewriter and @artemisia-black for their wonderful support and beta-ing.

Also a huge thank you to @starlingflight who encouraged me to start posting and who's unhinged comments helped me to keep writing.

And thank you to everyone who has read and commented so far! It's been an absolute pleasure seeing how unhinged other people are for these characters and knowing that it's not just me.

[lolathestoryteller]

a drabble on the possibly most unlikely mother-daughter pair.

Just Andy taking little Dora for a casual little shopping spree at everyone‘s favorite magical book store.

I‘d imagine that, because of how Andromeda was raised, she forever remained rather poised and cautious. Whereas Dora, well, we all know she’s not at all cautious and rather daring and clumsy.

Tonks! isn’t she the coolest with her bubblegum pink hair? - what a cool character design.

[lunapwrites]

Favorite Lines, Snippet Smonday, etc...

Okay, I was tagged in MANY things recently, and I'm going to probably kill many birds with a single post. Thank you to @femme--de--lettres, @spindrifters, @greenvlvetcouch, @bluestringpudding, and @bluesundaycake for the tags over the last week or two (and others who I am probably forgetting but appreciate just as much!)

This whole section absolutely tickles me. Just... Remus being 100% in the zone and only vaguely aware of Problems occurring around him while he's doing nerd boy shit. XD

Downstairs, the front door slammed open. (“FILTH! BEAST! MUGGLE-LOVING WHORE—” “INCENDIO — oh, bugger all!”) “Can you check that?” Remus muttered, prodding a bind rune to shift it ever so slightly to the left.  Seven degrees, maybe? No, too much —  five should suffice. Sirius huffed, his footsteps carrying him out of the drawing room and into the hall. “Hullo Annie, nice to see you Annie, thank you for setting fire to the drapery again Annie—” “Not now — is Nymphadora here?” Sod it. Quicker to just rebuild the whole bloody thing from the ground up at this point. And if he took it piece by piece, it shouldn’t come crashing down on him — that was the tricky bit. One wrong move and he could wind up blowing them all to kingdom come. Or he could wind up giving someone a duckbill or something. Magic was funny like that. “No? We haven’t seen her since she left for work. I thought she was having dinner with you tonight.” But he could use Orion and Sirius’ work as a foundation and just… make something that made a little more sense based on that. Wards for detection, protection, alarms, maybe even slipping in an apotropaic talisman because, quite frankly, Remus was at his wit's end, so he might as well get creative with it. “She was supposed to, yes, but she never came home.” If he worked from the outside in and just… replaced wards as he went, that would be the most sensible approach. But then he’d probably need to go back and adjust them again after he’d replaced the central bind rune, and he really didn’t want to keep fucking around with it. That was just asking for trouble, it was. “Well, she’s probably just been kept late at the office—” “That was my first thought, but we already asked Kingsley, and he said she left at her usual time. She’s not there.” If he was quick and careful about it — and he typically was — he could hot-swap a new core in and then build the rest out before it all backfired. Take a little planning, but he could get there. Probably.

Remus. Remus, no.

Anyway, this is extremely rough draft but I do like how it's turning out as of right now.

I'd tag someone else but honestly idk what I'm even tagging for at this point hahaha.

[starlingflight]

Harry/Ginny

✧ Rebel, Rebel - Ginny & Sirius bonding moment (OotP, one-shot)

✧ Forgetting - Ginny deals with Harry forgetting about the Chamber. (OotP, one-shot)

✧ Duelling Partner - Missing Hinny D.A. moment (OotP, one-shot)

✧ All Right Now - Ginny helps Harry with his grief over Sirius (HBP, one-shot)

✧ Priorities - In the wake of Ginny's break-up with Dean, Harry walks her to breakfast (HBP, one-shot)

✧ Fallin' All In You - The week leading up to the Gryffindor Quidditch final leads to a rise in tensions... not just between the houses. (HBP, 51k words, Complete)

✧ Everything I Wanted - Harry & Ginny's relationship from the day after the common room kiss to the break-up at Dumbledore's funeral. (HBP, 63k words, complete)

✧ Amortentia - Ginny learns what Harry smelled in the amortentia, and smells it herself. (HBP & DH, one-shot)

✧ Remorse - Ginny deals guilt over her relationship with Dean. (HBP, one-shot)

✧ A Bit Of Both - Each of the Weasleys find out about Harry & Ginny. (HBP & DH, 19k words, complete)

✧ The Middle - Ron's POV of the hinny birthday kiss. (DH, one-shot)

✧ Heartlines - DH, Ginny's POV. (WIP, but very slow WIP)

✧ Those Left Behind - Ginny deals with grief over Fred with help from Molly. (Post-canon, one-shot)

✧ Ginevra - Harry calls Ginny by her full name. (HBP - post-canon, one-shot)

✧ All I Want For Christmas - Hinny's first Christmas together. (Post-canon, NSFW, one-shot)

✧ Harry decides to propose to Ginny. (Post-canon, drabble)

✧ Countdown - Teddy gets his first advent calendar. (Post-canon, one-shot)

✧ A Two Step Process - Harry buys a ring & proposes. (Post-canon, one-shot)

✧ Someone Else's Life - Harry & Ginny travel between a reality where they're happily married and one where they never got back together after Voldemort's defeat. But which is real and which is the dream? Oh, and there's the small matter of the murderer they need to catch. (60k words, complete)

✧ In Another Life - Sequel to Someone Else's Life. (WIP)

✧ Leaping Forward - James Sirius' first display of magic. (Post-canon, one-shot)

✧ Reunion - DA reunion, McGonagall's POV. (Post-canon, one-shot)

✧ Mortifying - Harry deals with Lily-Luna having a very Ginny-esque moment. (Post-canon, one-shot)

James/Lily

✧ Sands Of Time - James & Lily connect at a Slug Club party. (one-shot)

✧ Let It Linger - James tries to be Lily's friend, no matter how much it hurts. (One-shot)

✧Auld Lang Syne - Lily has a horrible New Year's Eve, and there's only one place - one person - she can think to go to. (One-shot)

✧ The Way Ahead - Harry & Neville tell McGonagall their career plans, and she wonders what their parents would think (one-shot)

Draco/Astoria

✧ Homecoming - Draco returns home after three years of exile. It's meant to be a temporary stay, but fate, and Astoria Greengrass, have other plans. (84k words, complete)

✧ The Array - missing moments from Homecoming.

✧ Wayfinding - Pivotal moments from the life of Draco & Astoria (WIP)

✧ The Malfoys meet the Potters at King's Cross (Drastoria & Hinny)

Other Couples & Gen One-shots

✧ End of the Road - The night Salazar leaves Hogwarts for good. (Slytherin/Gryffindor)

✧ Black - Bellatrix learns her sister's greatest secret. (Ted/Andromeda)

✧ Eight Days A Week - Molly has a secret, and so does Arthur. (Molly/Arthur)

✧ Because I Knew You - Four times Tonks tries to get Ginny out of the house, and one time Ginny returns the favour. (Ginny & Tonks gen)

✧ Charlie's Secret - Fleur discovers Charlie's biggest secret. (Charlie & Fleur gen)

✧ A Bad Idea - George & Angelina make some questionable decisions at Ron & Hermione's wedding. (George/Angelina)

✧I'll Be There - Ginny & Hermione's first time sharing a room. (Ginny & Hermione gen)

[honora-antares]

Top!Severus & Bottom!Sirius

I started writing this work because I'm a firm believer that after "The Prank" The Marauders would have broken up. No friendship could EVER survive such trauma and betrayal and I feel bad for Sirius, but mostly more for Remus and Severus.

In this Au, Remus absolutely levels with Sirius and is rightfully angry at him to the point that he tells him to just stfu. Which Sirius does. For the rest of the school years. He speaks to no one but his family, aka Regulus and Narcissa and Lucius and Evan by association. Professor McGonagall gives him a journal to write out his thoughts and feelings.

" Even the Greatest of Men have lost themselves in the bliss of silence. I do not wish for you to become another prisoner of Solitude."

He loses James.

The majority of the fandom ship Sirius and Remus, but lets be honest for a fkn minute. If Sirius is in love with anyone, its James. Without him, Sirius is nothing. Without James, Sirius is alone because who would want to be with Sirius if even the friendliest Gryffindor wont talk/hang out with him anymore? Everyone would wonder what Sirius did to get on the bad side of James "let's be friends!" Potter. Something vile, that's what.

And Peter? Peter was Sirius's BEFRIEND! Not James. James was his ship. But Pete? He was his anchor. The one who would was not ever afraid of speaking truth to Sirius.

"Want to prank the Ravenclaws so that their parchments go flying all over the Grand Staircases?"

"Actually, they just got done pulling an all-nighter working on those essays, why not change their honey to pickle juice instead?"

Peter would see the wrong in everything Sirius did and would always caution him to not take it "too far." As any other good friend would. Not enable his behavior like James would, or ignore it like Remus always did.

At the end of the day, Sirius loses his friends. But in doing so, he gains his family back. His family that he had severely misunderstood. In a bitter-sweet way.

The Noble House of Black has it's flaws, but where they don't stride away from is keeping the family together. Orion and Walburga love their sons. Cygnus and Druella their daughters. And although in canon, Uncle Alphard had no spouse nor children, in my Au he does. There is no Blood Purity, only Family Status as it would in every aristocratic stories.

Which is why Andromeda was estranged (but not blasted) - not because she married a Half-Blood, but because she left the Family Name. Bella married into the Lestrange House, a Noble family, just as Narcissa had with Lucius Malfoy. Ted Tonks came from a plebes family, he should have been the one to change his name to Black, but Andromeda refused. Nymphadora would not be added to the Family Tapestry as Delphini (NOT T.Riddle's daughter) and Draco would.

As for Severus, looking through a broken crystal wing, he falls in love reading words left behind in perfect writing by the hand of one missing Sirius Black.

I really am exited in sorting through all my written dialogue on this au and im having hella fun with creating the timeline. Since im still not sure wether to start the story in Pov!Sirius after the Prank in 5th year 1977 OR Pov!AurorJames in 1994 (Harry's 4th year/GoF) who is tasked with missing/cold cases of the Wizarding World - because this will include a timeframe where Sirius has gone missing, 12 years for some, 8 for others. So im still deciding on that!

Funny enough, I came up with this Au because during work, there's this one roughed up recliner office chair that I sat on after lunch and i was in like a food coma. I was exhausted and had my eyes closed and BAM! I shifted into an exhausted Sirius Black, taking a break in an unknown location who slowly opened dead eyes to looked to the side (someone called him) and slowly get up. Only that this "scene" comes through a magic photograph (y'all know the ones) so when Sirius gets up, the frame restarts. Severus is the one holding the photograph after Peter placed it down on the table because when James got the case, he of course called his friends, Severus being there came as a coincidence for he was bringing Lily ingredients from his apothecary and when Severus saw the sullen looks on everyone's faces he asked, uncaring, "Who died?"

This is where Remus, who was off on a corner of the kitchen, punched and broke said kitchens window, which is when Peter put down the photograph to tend to Remus' bloody hand.

ANYWAYS, this got longer than what I expected so, TELL ME YOUR THOUGHT!?

This doesn't mean im abandoning my other works, im currently editing Chapter 9 to To Take Your Name (omegaverse Snirius) which is the one work im currently uploading once a month.

My other works include:

A Silent Vow - Jeverus, Not uploaded but posted. A Skyrim Au.

Of Foxtails and Antlers - Jeverus, Prologue posted. A Soulmate Au

Talk To Me, Please - Snirius, First chapter posted. No Voldy Au.

Check them out on my ao3! 🖤

[enbysiriusblack]

songs from the rise and fall of a midwest princess as marauder characters:

femininomenon- emmeline vance. its her song.

red wine supernova- nobleflower (from narcissa pov)

after midnight- lily evans. her song her song.

coffee- unrequited marylene (marlene's pov)

casual- prongstail (peter's pov)

super graphic ultra modern girl- rita skeeter (+ quillkiller)

hot to go!- band member!marlene to dorcas

my kink is karma- quillkiller (rita's pov)

picture you- emmelily (emmeline's pov)

kaleidoscope- wolfstar (remus' pov)

pink pony club- andromeda tonks

naked in manhattan- lilylene

california- mary macdonald (post 1978)

guilty pleasure- nobleflower (narcissa's pov)

[padfootfest]

FIC #24

Nowhere to Run

Pairing: Sirius Black & Andromeda Black Tonks, Regulus Black & Sirius Black

Rating: T

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Word Count: 6,325

Summary: Many thanks to MidnightStargazer for the prompt: The last time Sirius saw Andromeda before she eloped with Ted, and how he reacted when she was disowned. I'd written this from the Black Sisters perspective in a long fic, and it was really interesting to consider it from Sirius's POV. Hope you enjoy.

-READ HERE-

[mjblue]

The Sisters Black

A tragedy.

Hey! It's been a while since I've been active, but I updated my Marauders series on ao3 yesterday and I'm really proud of the new chapter (I think it's one of the best things I've ever written, actually); and since it's the first chapter from Narcissa's POV it works well enough as a standalone piece of writing, so I figured I'd cross-post it here, too :)

The only context you need is 1) it starts as a flashback, but present-day is Christmas Eve 1972, 2) Narcissa found out about Andromeda's relationship with Ted Tonks during August 1972, which caused a falling-out between the two of them, and 3) Narcissa still kept that relationship secret from the rest of the family. Also, there's a teensy bit of mildly violent child abuse at the end. You have been warned.

(Also also, it's long. If I could put more than one 'keep reading' cut, I would. You have once again been warned.)

•••

Narcissa Druella Black, aged four and one quarter, pearl of her mother’s eye and diamond of her family tree, had never liked the house in London. 

It certainly wasn’t as nice as her house, which was much larger, and prettier, and had an outside with lots of grass and trees and flowers, instead of dirty-looking bricks and Muggles. Her house was sunny, and warm, and filled with sparkly things—but the London house was dark, and cold, and the whole thing always smelled a bit like an attic. Except for today. Today it also smelled a bit like blood.

Cissy shuddered. She hated blood.

She wanted to leave, but that was against the rules, and anyway, Andy was holding her hand. Andy was nine, and very good at following the rules. She never would have let Cissy leave. Bella might have—but then she would have told. And then she would have laughed while Cissy got in trouble. 

They were in the drawing room on the first floor now, and they were waiting for something. Cissy couldn’t remember what. She hoped it wasn’t anything to do with the blood smell.

She heard a door close upstairs, and then footsteps, and then Uncle Or’yun came into the room. He was holding a loaf of bread in a green blanket, which Cissy thought was odd. It was even odder when Mother said it was ‘beautiful’, and asked if she could hold it. Bread wasn’t beautiful. 

‘How is she today?’ Father asked. He sounded upset. 

‘She’ll live,’ Uncle Or’yun said. Of all the adults, he always sounded the least fancy when he talked. ‘The Healer says she’ll need a few more days, still, but Wally’s a tough nut—can’t get rid of her that easily.’

He chuckled. 

‘Would you like to hold him, Narcissa?’ Mother asked, bending down to show her the bread—and then Cissy realised it wasn’t bread at all. 

It was a baby.

Cissy gasped. She loved babies. She only knew one, Siri, but he was the most perfect thing in the world; he had soft black hair and chubby little cheeks and he smelled like biscuits and it was so easy to make him laugh. She’d never been allowed to hold him, though—Mother always said that three was too young. She had to wait until she was older. But four and a quarter was definitely older than three, and it seemed Mother had recognised that fact. 

‘Oh, can I?’ she asked, rather breathlessly. ‘Really?’

‘Yes, I think so,’ Mother said, smiling. ‘Sit down on the sofa, and I’ll show you how. Andromeda, sit next to her, in case she needs help, and Bella, would you like to—?’

Bella made a face.

‘Ew. No, thank you, Mother—I’ll stay over here.’

That was alright with Cissy. Bella might scare him.

She settled herself down amongst the cushions, being careful not to let herself sink too deeply, and held out her arms. 

The baby was much warmer than she’d expected, and much heavier. It was a good weight. He looked a lot like Siri; he had less hair, and he was smaller, but when he opened his eyes they were exactly the same. Grey like the sky, or a silver ring, or a lake in wintertime. Grey like hers. It made her smile.

‘What’s his name?’ Andy asked, reaching out to stroke his hair. Cissy repositioned herself so her sister could see better.

In answer, Mother tapped the wall behind them. Cissy looked around. It was the family wall, the one that Andy said had all their names on it. Cissy would be able to read it someday, but for now, all she saw were squiggles. 

‘Regulus,’ Mother said, pointing to the newest squiggle, thread still bright with spellwork. ‘But I’ve been told we can call him Reggie, if you like.’

Reggie. That was a good name, Cissy thought—it was easier to say than Or’yun, anyway. She leaned down to kiss his head.

‘Hello, Reggie,’ she whispered. ‘You’re perfect.’

The problem with being the youngest, Cissy had decided, was you were always doomed to be last. Last to show magic, last to get married, last to be sent off to school—it simply wasn’t fair.

Sometimes, when she was feeling especially petulant, she wondered why she bothered doing anything at all if her sisters had always done it first. By the time it got to be her turn, the specialness had rubbed off entirely—and what was the point of something if it wasn’t special? 

When Peony Parkinson fell in the pool and found she could breathe, she got a new dress and a goblin-made bracelet. When Cissy blew up Bella’s broom—at six! A whole year younger than Peony!—everyone was too busy getting ready for Andy’s going-away party to even notice. 

Although, come to think of it, perhaps that was for the best. It gave her time to hide the pieces. 

‘What’ve you got there, Cissy?’ 

Cissy jumped. She’d been attempting to stuff the splinters into the back of her wardrobe, but the last one was slightly too large to fit lying down and kept falling over when she propped it up. 

‘Nothing.’

She positioned herself in front of the wardrobe, well aware of the evidence poking into her back.

‘Really?’ Andy smirked, leaning against the door frame. ‘Looks to me like a broomstick. Or like it used to be a broomstick, anyway. Not mine, I hope?’

‘It’s not a broomstick,’ Cissy lied. ‘It’s…a chair. I blew it up.’

‘Blew it up? Like with magic?’

Cissy nodded. 

‘Brilliant, Cissy!’ Andy exclaimed. ‘Can I see it? I don’t even care if it’s mine, that’s wicked!’

She’d taken to talking like a boy, lately—and an uncultured boy at that. Cissy didn’t know where she’d gotten it from. Probably a Prewett.

‘Don’t say wicked, Andy,’ she said. ‘It’s undignified.’

She’d learned ‘undignified’ only a month ago, and it was her new favourite word. It described how she felt about a great many things. 

‘You’re undignified. Let me see the broomstick.’

‘I told you, it’s not a broomstick!’

She tried to shield the contents of the wardrobe from view, but Andy was much taller, and she pushed right by. She grabbed the largest bit, which read Comet 77 near the top. 

‘Oooh, Bella’s going to kill you,’ Andy sang, holding it aloft. ‘You know she was hoping to make Chaser this year, right?’

‘Please don’t tell her! Please, Andy, just say you did it, she likes you better, and Father can buy her a new one—’

‘Right before I have to spend ten months sleeping in the room next door to her? I think not. And besides, nobody’d believe me. I haven’t made anything explode in years.’

It was true. Andy, as they were often reminded, had always had excellent control.

‘Can we say Siri did it?’ Cissy suggested, feeling desperate now. 

‘No. He’s three, and he’s a Black, so we have to look out for him. What did Bella do to you, anyway? She had to have done something.’

‘She said my bow made me look like a baby. And I’m not a baby.’

Andy grinned. ‘You are, sort of. But the bow is cute. Alright, fine—we can say Cousin Jude did it. He’s stupid enough, and I know for a fact he’s just been throwing rocks at the koi for the last hour, so he won’t have an alibi.’

‘Thank you, Andy.’

‘Anything for you, Cissy. Now let’s get our story straight before Mother comes to find us.’

Jude Rosier spent dinner in a spare bedroom, recovering from a stinging hex to the face. Cissy almost felt bad, listening to him whimper—but then she remembered how very undignified it was to throw rocks.

Neither of Cissy’s sisters attended her eleventh birthday party. 

When she was being rational—which was admittedly not very often—she understood this wasn’t entirely their fault. It was a Wednesday in April, and they had class. Never mind that Bella could Apparate, and their father and uncle were both on the board, so they definitely could’ve gotten permission, and it was right after the Easter holiday, so there was no way they had homework—no, obviously whatever stupid, juvenile shenanigans they were getting up to at school were far more important than the second-most important birthday of their little sister’s life. 

Obviously.

Cissy compensated by inviting every single pureblood under the age of eleven she could think of. Hattie Burke, Emmeline Vance, a Rowle, an Abbott, a Jareth. Marius Flint and Cousin Evan for the boys to play with—let it never be said she was a bad cousin. She even invited the Prewetts. And she hated the Prewetts.

Her cake was lemon crème, five layers high, drizzled in blueberry syrup and speckled with little sugar pearls. Her house elf Bibbin had spent all day yesterday making it, and Cissy couldn’t wait to taste it. But first, she made everyone else go to their seats so they could sing for her. 

Emmy was on her right, and she was leading. Cissy had decided to grant her this honour because she had the best voice (after Cissy herself, of course—but it was improper to lead your own ‘Happy Birthday’) and because she was the prettiest (again, after Cissy). She was doing a wonderful job—they’d gotten all the way to ‘happy birthday, dear Nar-ci-ssa’, and Cissy loved the way she said her name—when, to Cissy’s shock and horror, she was interrupted by an insolent, audacious little giggle. 

‘Siri!’ she snapped, tearing her eyes away from Emmeline’s adoring brown ones. ‘Be quiet!’

Sirius stuck his tongue out at her. It was purple, from the punch. 

‘Yes, Nar-ci-ssa.’

If Cissy hadn’t been such a perfect little lady, she might have throttled him then and there. But she couldn’t very well do that in front of her guests, and so she took a deep, steadying breath, smoothed her skirt, and turned primly back to Emmeline.

‘I’m sorry, Emmy,’ she said, offering a gracious smile. ‘But I’m afraid you’ll have to start over. My cousin lacks manners, you see.’

‘That’s alright, Narcissa,’ Emmy said. She wasn’t quite as gracious as Cissy, of course, but she was very close. ‘I’d be happy to.’

She coughed delicately, and opened her mouth again. But this time, instead of her lovely voice, all that came out was an awful, ear-splitting ‘SQUAWKKK!!!!!’

Mortified, Emmy clapped her hands to her throat. And somewhere down the table, boyish laughter rang out once more. 

Cissy was on her feet in an instant. 

‘SIRIUS ORION BLACK!’ she shrieked. ‘You put her back this INSTANT!’

‘C-can’t,’ he choked out, eyes wide with glee. ‘Wasn’t me!’

Like Cissy was fool enough to believe that. This little trick was one of Sirius’s trademarks. Just last week he’d hit Cissy herself with it, when all she’d done was tell on him for tracking mud in the halls (like some common garden gnome! The nerve!). It had taken her house elf ages to fix it, and he’d gotten off with only a single stinging hex. 

‘It was so!’

‘Wasn’t!’

‘Was!’

‘Wasn’t!’

‘WAS!’ 

All around them, her guests were staring, some in amusement and others in fear. Emmy was crying now, still making those pitiful squawking noises as she clutched at her neck, and Sirius just sat there and laughed and laughed and laughed!

‘Narcissa!’ 

There were hands on her shoulders, her mother’s hands, trying to calm her down, get her back to her seat—but Cissy was having none of it. 

How DARE he? she thought furiously. How dare he ruin her party? She should’ve never invited him! She should’ve locked him in the cellar! She should’ve snapped all his toys in two! She—she hated him!

‘Narcissa, my darling, remember your control—’

Cissy sucked in a breath, ready to scream again. 

And then the cake exploded.

The next time she saw Emmy, Cissy was walking down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, sniffling quietly and doing her best to pretend she wasn’t. 

Andy had left her! And what was more, she’d made it into a trick! She’d stood there and smiled and nodded and promised their parents (yes of course she’d mind Cissy, they needn’t worry a bit), and then the moment they’d stepped on the train she’d ducked into a compartment with Charlotte Greengrass and Sally Lowe and slammed the door in Cissy’s face. 

Cissy hated her.

‘Hello, Narcissa!’ Emmy said. Her eyes had a captivating, joyful sheen to them that day, like the polished mahogany handle of a broom. ‘Let’s sit together!’

And so they did. 

‘Emmy, you’re so lucky not to have any sisters,’ Cissy sighed, a while later, once they had evicted a spotty girl with the most unfortunate vermillion hair from her compartment and claimed it for their own. ‘It’s a terrible curse, truly. All they do is make you feel silly, and steal your things, and take everyone’s attention for themselves, and you can never do anything to get them to notice you!’

‘I don’t know,’ Emmy said, sincerely, the same way she said everything. ‘I think I might like it. It would be nice, knowing I had someone who would always, always be there, even if we didn’t always get along. Especially if we didn’t always get along.’

Cissy thought about that. 

‘Well, if that’s what you want, you don’t need a sister. You need a best friend.’

‘A best friend?’

‘Yes,’ Cissy said, smiling. ‘Me!’

Emmy smiled back. It was the most dazzling smile in the whole wide world. 

That night, they were both Sorted into Slytherin. There was never any question: Cissy was a Black, and Emmy was going to be the finest Quidditch player in history. There was only one House that could possibly hold a pair like that. 

For two years, Cissy hardly ever spoke to either of her sisters. She had no need to; she had Emmy. They woke up together, went to class together, ate their meals together, ended the day watching the fish swim side by side. When Emmy joined the Quidditch team, Cissy went to every practice, and when Cissy was invited to balls and banquets, Emmy was there on her arm. Her sisters were long gone by then, anyway—Bella into her books and politics, Andy out to explore what else life had to offer. Their paths had diverged. Cissy still had yet to reach the fork. 

Then Andy started writing. 

‘“Dear Cissy”,’ Emmy read aloud, one morning at breakfast. ‘“I know it has been some time since our last correspondence—”’

‘Merlin, is she your sister, or your grandmother?’ laughed Hattie Burke. ‘She writes like a corpse!’

Cissy flicked her wand, and Hattie’s cup tipped over, dumping hot tea into her lap. Hattie gasped in pain and outrage. 

‘Leave us,’ Cissy said. 

Hattie went.

Cissy glared icily at her retreating back. One week, she thought to herself. One week before Hattie could be allowed back on their bench. And it was only her regrettably esteemed last name that was keeping it from being much, much longer.

Nobody interrupted Emmy. And nobody spoke ill of her family.

‘Go on,’ she said. Emmy nodded. 

‘“I know it has been some time since our last correspondence, but I wanted to say congratulations on your invitation to join the Slug Club. It was expected, I’m sure, but it deserves recognition nonetheless. I heard your friend Emmeline—”’

Emmy paused to meet Cissy’s eye. 

‘“—was invited as well. She must be very impressive! Slughorn hardly ever invites more than one third-year from a single House. Please write back soon, and let me know how it all went. Love, ACB”.’

Emmy flipped the parchment over to check the backside. 

‘That’s all there is,’ she said. ‘Short and sweet. I see you haven’t told anyone how the King Slug only invited me under duress.’

‘It wasn’t duress,’ Cissy said, hiding her half-smile behind her spoon. ‘Just a guiding hand. And you know he would have invited you next year. All I did was speed up the timeline.’

Emmy raised her goblet in a toast. ‘For which I have already expressed my undying gratitude. Are you going to write back?’

‘Perhaps. If I find I have something to say.’

But she already knew that she did. 

She had so, so much to say.

‘Do you like it?’ Cissy asked (not nervously, never nervously…but perhaps a little bit warily). ‘I know it’s a big change, but I just had to see…and the witch at the salon said this colour would compliment my features…’

‘It’s beautiful,’ Emmy reassured her, gazing up out of the crackling green fireplace in Cissy’s bedroom, propped on her elbows with her lower half missing. ‘Come closer, let me touch it! It looks so smooth and soft, like a waterfall—I didn’t know you were changing the texture, too!’

Cissy obliged, leaning down so Emmy could run her fingers through the ends of her hair. 

‘Well, I wasn’t planning on it at first,’ she explained. ‘But the salon witch said it would be more flattering this way. Curls look better dark, apparently.’

‘Mmm,’ Emmy said, still stroking her head. ‘Actually, you know whose hair this reminds me of, Cissa?’

Cissy felt her cheeks grow warm, despite the heatless flames. 

‘It wasn’t on purpose! Plenty of people have this sort of hair, not just him.’

‘I haven’t even said who I’m talking about!’

‘Oh, you don’t have to,’ Cissy sighed, leaning back against the legs of her chaise. ‘We both know.’

Lucius. Even thinking his name made her sigh again, longing bubbling up from her chest to her throat like dandelion seeds in the wind. His broad, strong shoulders…his balanced, chiseled jaw…his hands, casing hers in an alabaster shell on the dance floor at Slughorn’s Christmas party…and his hair, sleek and golden and shining like the sun as it fell around his vale-green eyes…

‘Oh, Emmy!’ Cissy cried. ‘Will he think I’m being silly? Does it look like I’m mocking him?’

Emmy reached out to place a comforting hand on her knee. ‘No, of course not! I was only teasing, Cissa, it’s really not at all like his. The colour is completely different, and yours is so much longer and finer…and besides, I doubt anything you could ever do would make that boy find you silly. He’s smitten with you, anyone can see it.’

Cissy moaned. ‘No, he’s not, he’s with Peony, he loves Peony, she’s going to grow up to be Lady Malfoy and I’ll be stuck here, in this mausoleum, with Bella, until I’m an old maid and I don’t even need any potions to make my hair this colour—’ 

‘He is not with Peony,’ Emmy said patiently. ‘Peony Parkinson is a fibber and a braggart, and you know better than to listen to a word out of her mouth. Steve says they only let her come along with them to Hogsmeade because Pierce promised their parents, and that she was so annoying they dumped her in the Three Broomsticks halfway through. And besides, he danced with you!’

‘Yes, but Peony isn’t in the Slug Club, so he couldn’t dance with her! I was only her—her substitute.’

Emmy rolled her eyes. ‘Cissa, you are nobody’s substitute. Alright? Especially not where Lucius Malfoy is concerned. I’ve got to go, I can hear my mother calling, but your hair is gorgeous, you’re gorgeous, and you will grow up to be Lady Malfoy. Merry Christmas! Floo again tomorrow!’

‘Merry Christmas! Love you, Em—’

But Emmy had already pulled her upper body back through the fireplace, and vanished. 

Cissy sighed once more. She hoped Emmy was right; Lady Narcissa Malfoy had such a nice ring to it. 

Downstairs, she heard the front door open.

‘Mother! I’m home!’

Andy! Cissy jumped to her feet, bent over her vanity to run her brush through her new platinum hair, then skipped lightly out in search of more compliments. 

‘Oooh!’ came the gratifying gasp from below. ‘Who is this veela, and what has she done with my sister?’

Cissy stood in the doorway of Andromeda’s dark bedroom, dressed in an emerald bridesmaid’s gown, a single, unfinished sheet of parchment clutched in her hand. 

Andromeda sat like a statue at her writing desk, stark white surrounding the black of her irises. 

‘Cissy, please,’ Andromeda begged, honeyed voice suddenly sickly sweet in Cissy’s ears. ‘I didn’t mean it…you can’t tell…’

Who is this stranger, Cissy thought. And what has she done with my sister?

The last dance of the Malfoys’ 1972 Christmas Eve ball was the Waltz of the Flowers, performed by an orchestra of bark-skinned wood nymphs hired all the way from Russia itself. As they played, creamy white petals drifted down from the ceiling, spiralling in the air on an imperceptible breeze to form fractal patterns of snowflakes above the whirling guests. In the centre spun Cissy, grey silk billowing out around her, Lucius in black, the whole room watching her glide through his arms like a glittering crystalline swan.

When the music finished, Lucius plucked a petal from the air, and tucked it into her braided crown. 

‘Narcissus papyraceus,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘Charmed to last a lifetime.’

Cissy sighed.

Outside, three dozen thestral-drawn carriages lined the long, swooping drive of Malfoy Manor, lit by two of Lord Abraxas’s great dragon Patronuses, twining gently in the starry sky. 

Cissy stood waiting on the front portico with Emmeline, reluctant to say goodnight. Emmeline was especially beautiful that evening. Her glossy black hair was twisted into an elegant knot at the base of her neck, just above the high buttoned collar of her mulberry dress, its straight lines drawing the eye to her slim, athletic waist. She had been utterly wasted on Corban Yaxley, who had left early to throw up his wine in the bushes. 

‘Where was your sister tonight, Cissa?’ Emmeline asked. ‘The fun one, I mean. I thought she was finished travelling.’

‘Back at the crypt, with the boys,’ Cissy replied. ‘And don’t call her that, Em, we’re still angry with her.’

‘Angry’ was, of course, not entirely accurate. But Cissy didn’t know how else to describe the feeling of walking along a high wall, hand in hand with someone she trusted completely, being reassured over and over don’t worry, I won’t let you fall, the wall is safe, and then being pushed head-first into the stinging nettles far below. 

Andromeda was lucky she had volunteered to stay behind. If she hadn’t, Cissy would have set fire to all her dresses just to make her. 

‘Alright,’ Emmeline said, cautiously. ‘And when do you think we might…not be?’

‘Never.’

Lucius returned, then, and offered her his arm. 

‘Your carriage awaits, my lady.’

If any other man had said something so horrifically trite within a mile of her hearing, Cissy would have laughed him out of England. But when Lucius said it, all she could do was sigh.

She bid farewell to Emmeline, and allowed Lucius to lead her over to the larger of her family’s two carriages, already occupied by Bellatrix and their parents. Cissy shivered as he pressed a cool, featherlight kiss to her gloved hand. 

‘Until we meet again,’ he murmured.

Cissy sighed. 

As soon as the door was shut and the carriage had started trundling away, Bellatrix leaned forward, fixing Cissy with a venomous smirk. 

‘You two,’ she said gleefully. ‘Are pathetic.’

‘Bella!’ Mother said, aghast. ‘Be respectful! Lucius Malfoy is a handsome, well-bred young man, and your sister is a very lucky—’

‘Lucius Malfoy,’ Bellatrix cut her off, curling Lucius’s name around her tongue in a mocking, sing-song voice. ‘Is a love-sick, cowardly fool who would be better off as a drawing in a little girl’s storybook than a member of my master’s new order.’

‘Well, it’s a good thing he isn’t, then,’ Cissy retorted, glaring. ‘Nobody wants to join your stupid cult. Lucius is going to be a respected, influential—’

‘Ha!’ Bellatrix shrieked. ‘Tell me, Cissy, where exactly do you think dear Lu was just now? Who do you think he was speaking to?’

‘Bellatrix,’ Father warned.

‘Me, Cissy! He was speaking to me, practically begging to be given an invitation, because he wants to “secure his future” for his “family” before he “proposes”, like the Dark Lord cares at all about the petty romantic dreams of children—’

‘Bellatrix!’ Father shouted. ‘That’s enough!’

Cissy sat there, dumbstruck. She glanced out the window, watching the diminishing spectre of Malfoy Manor shimmering merrily behind them.

‘Before he…proposes?’ she whispered, feeling suddenly lighter than air. 

A smile spread across her face.

Bellatrix looked disgusted. ‘You have flobberworms for brains.’

But Cissy was beyond caring what her nasty, bitter sister had to say. It wasn’t her fault Rodolphus Lestrange was ugly and boring and never around—she had Lucius. She turned to her father beside her.

‘Father, is this true?’ she demanded. ‘Is Lucius going to propose? To me?’

Father closed his eyes, rubbing his nose wearily. 

‘Yes, Narcissa. He has approached me—’

‘Eeeeee!’ Cissy squealed. ‘When? When is he going to—’

‘If you would let me finish!’

Cissy winced. ‘Sorry, Father.’

‘The boy has approached me to ask if he may use our New Year’s Eve gathering to declare his intentions in front of the community. It would—’

Cissy had let out another squeal of delight. 

‘—of course, have to be somewhat of a lengthy engagement, given your age—’

‘What? Oh, no, Father, that doesn’t matter, I can leave school after this year, I don’t need to sit my N.E.W.T.s—’

‘Narcissa Druella Black! If you do not stop interrupting your father, I will personally ensure you live the rest of your days as a painting in the attic! Is that clear?’

‘Yes, yes, sorry, Mother! But I truly don’t see what the problem is with my age, I don’t care about school, I’ve never cared about school—’

‘I care!’ barked Father, making Cissy jump. ‘Salazar’s sake, girl, you aren’t even of age! Just imagine the field day the Prophet would have! I had thought I had raised three daughters who could see beyond their rose-tinted spectacles long enough to consider this family’s reputation—but it��appears I have only raised two!’

Yes, and I’m one of them, thought Cissy, sulkily, but she swallowed her retort.

‘Yes, Father,’ she said instead, doing her best to contain herself. Control, control, control. ‘Thank you, Father. I look forward to my engagement.’

‘And,’ Father continued. ‘An extended engagement period should give Mr Malfoy plenty of time to ingratiate himself to your Lord before the wedding, Bellatrix. I am sure he will prove himself most useful.’

Bellatrix rolled her eyes. 

‘Because, Narcissa,’ Mother added, watching her carefully. ‘Bellatrix’s organisation is not some “stupid cult”, and Lucius is wise to recognise its potential. I know you spoke out of anger, but you would do well to hold your tongue on such matters in the future.’

Cissy shrank a little in her seat. 

‘Yes, Mother.’

‘Ithink she should have to apologise,’ Bellatrix pronounced, smirking again. ‘Otherwise, who knows what I might have to report back…to who…’

‘I’m very sorry, Bellatrix,’ Cissy said quickly, a little needle of fear poking at her inflated heart. ‘I didn’t mean anything I said, and I will never say anything like it again. Never.’

Bellatrix continued smirking. 

None of them said anything else the entire rest of the carriage ride, leaving Cissy to stare out the window and dream in peace about her husband and her ring and her dress….and by the time they arrived back at the London house, their carriage right behind her aunt and uncle’s, she felt so full of happiness and love and graciousness that all she wanted to do was run inside and share her news with everyone she possibly could. 

Maybe, she thought, she needn’t always be angry at Andromeda after all.

‘Andy!’ she called, bursting through the front door into the dark entrance hall. ‘Andy, come here! I have something to tell you!’

‘Narcissa! You’ll wake the boys!’

‘Good!’

She kicked off her heels and raced up the stairs two at a time, practically flying to the third floor, where Andy was staying. Andy’s room was dark and cold—she must have been down in the library—so Cissy continued on up to find her cousins, beaming all the way. Regulus loved romantic stories, he would be thrilled!

‘Reggie!’ she said, when she found him in Sirius’s room, curled up in the foetal position on Sirius’s enormous sparkly bed. ‘Reggie, wake up! I have news!’

She shook him, but he only groaned and rolled over. Cissy huffed, and shook him harder. 

‘Reggie! Wake up!’

‘He won’t,’ said a small, mournful voice. ‘I tried.’

Cissy whirled around. 

Sirius was sitting in the window seat, hugging his knees to his chest. His face was pale orange in the glow of the street lamps, dark shadows in the hollows of his cheeks and under his eyes. His pyjamas were mud-streaked and wrinkled, and cutting through the arch of his right brow was a thin, jagged scar he had not had that morning. 

‘He won’t wake up,’ Sirius repeated, voice breaking. ‘I don’t know how to wake him up.’

Cissy felt all her excitement rush down and out through the gaping hole that had opened in her stomach. 

‘What do you mean, he won’t wake up?’ she whispered. ‘Why won’t he wake up? What did you do?’

‘I didn’t do anything! It was—’

‘What did you do?’

‘Nothing! It wasn’t me, it was—’

‘WHAT DID YOU DO?’

‘IT WAS ANDY!’ Sirius screamed, leaping to his feet, little white fists shaking at his sides, eyes like two shards of glass. And then he crumpled to the ground again, gasping, rocking back and forth.

Cissy watched him, filled with rage. 

‘Andy?’ she hissed. ‘You’re a shit liar, Sirius! Andy would never hurt Reggie! You did something! This is your fault, and I—’

She cut herself off. Reggie was in trouble. She needed control.

Cissy rushed to Reggie’s side, turning him onto his back. She felt his pulse—weak, but there. His breathing was shallow, but even, and his eyes were fluttering like moths behind their closed lids. She pulled one up, and saw that his vibrating pupils had expanded to crush his beautiful grey irises to slivers.

‘Help!’ she called. ‘Kreacher, Andy, Uncle Orion, HELP!’

Footsteps came hammering up the stairs, and then Uncle Orion was there, wand drawn, hair wild. 

‘The boys!’ he gasped. ‘What’s happened to the boys?’

Cissy tried to tell him, but she found she was suddenly sobbing, and all she could do was support Regulus’s limp neck while Uncle Orion took his face in his hands, throwing his wand to the floor.

From down below, she heard an anguished cry, like a gull’s dying call. And then she heard Bellatrix.

‘ANDROMEDA!’

Cissy’s blood ran cold. 

She shot out the door and down the stairs. 

If something happened to Andy—and we never—and I never said—

Between the first floor and the ground, she passed Bellatrix, storming upwards with her gaze burning like hot coals above her twisted, snarling mouth.

Cissy grabbed her sleeve. ‘Where’s Andy?’ 

Bellatrix shoved her aside. 

In the dining room, Cissy found her parents and her aunt. Her mother was collapsed on the floor, wilted and weeping, and Cissy knew at once she had found the source of the cry. Her father was at her mother’s side, shaking her the way Cissy had Regulus, repeating her name over and over and over. And her aunt…

Aunt Walburga was just standing there, straight-backed, staring out at the street. 

Cissy swallowed.

‘Where’s Andy?’ she begged. ‘Where’s my sister?’

In answer, Aunt Walburga raised her left arm, holding out a single sheet of parchment.

Once, when she was still a child, Cissy went walking in the woods behind her house. It was spring, and the flowers were out, and she wanted a wild primrose for her window. 

She hadn’t known what bees were, then. She had learned.

‘Andy, Andy, help, it hurts!’ she remembered sobbing, running back to the manor with her wrist red and swollen. 

Andy had laughed at her, but then she had taken Cissy’s wrist in her hands, and bent down to give the sting a kiss. 

‘There,’ she had said. ‘All better!’

And, miraculously, it had been. 

Then Andy had given her a hug, and a promise. 

‘Just come back to me if you ever get hurt again, Cissy. I’ll be here.’

That was Cissy’s first memory of magic. It was also her first memory of love. 

Now, Narcissa sat, numb, on a sofa in the London house’s drawing room. Her hair was loose, jewelled pins and flower petals discarded in a pile on the table beside her. She held in her hands a letter. She couldn’t seem to get her eyes to focus enough to read it again, but she didn’t need to. She remembered.

Dear Family, At approximately 7 o’clock this evening, I walked out the front door of this house to begin my life with the man I love, and whose child I am carrying: the Muggleborn wizard Edward Tonks. I have chosen him over you. I am gone. Do not try to find me. If you do, you will regret it. I have emptied my vault at Gringotts and transferred all funds to myself and Edward’s new joint account in an overseas Muggle bank. I have not stolen anything from you, as these funds are my rightful inheritance and earnings. I hope to spend them on as many Muggle books, toys, and inventions as my daughter desires. She will never know you, and I do not want her to. I know you will not believe me when I tell you this, but I love you. I only wish you were not so blinded by your own hate and ignorance that you yourselves had forgotten how to love.  Goodbye. Andromeda Cassiopeia Black (soon to be) Tonks

A hand reached down and snatched the parchment.

‘Fuck,’ Bellatrix said, folding it in half. ‘That ungrateful’ —she tore it in two— ‘mudlicking’ —she tore it into fourths— ‘whore.’ And she tossed it into the fire. ‘We don’t need her, Cissy. We can make it like she never even existed.’

Narcissa watched the scraps shrivel up and burn.

On the wall behind her, a black hole smouldered in between Bellatrix Cygna and Narcissa Druella. Bellatrix’s wand, lying on the coffee table, was smoking gently. 

Across the room, under the window, Narcissa’s parents sat with their fingers interlaced and their heads pressed together like standing stones. Her mother had not spoken another word. Her father would only say that he was tired.

Aunt Walburga was by the fireplace. Her wand was in her hand. 

The door opened, and Uncle Orion entered, guiding a slowly-blinking Regulus by the upper back with one arm, leading Sirius by the elbow with the other. He shoved Sirius forward, and Sirius tripped over his bare, muddy feet, coming to a stop on his knees in the centre of the room. 

‘Reggie,’ Narcissa breathed, as he sat down heavily beside her. ‘Are you alright?’

Regulus didn’t answer.

‘It was a sleeping charm,’ Uncle Orion said grimly. ‘Still not sure which one—much too strong to use on a child. But he’ll be fine in a bit, he just needs time to wake up.’

Narcissa wrapped her arm around Regulus. He laid his head on her shoulder. 

Uncle Orion grabbed Sirius roughly by the elbow again, jerking him upwards. 

‘On your feet, son. Tell us what happened.’

Sirius’s eyes darted around the room. He brought one arm up to rub the other, breathing deeply. 

‘I—I did,’ he said shakily. ‘After dinner, I was in my bed, reading—reading a bit of Philomena Foxtail before I wrapped it, you know, just to see if it was good enough—and Reggie came in to find the pine paper, because I had been using it, because I knew it was his favourite—and then—and then I forgot what happened, but then I was asleep, so that must have been when Andy—when Andy—’

Sirius started gasping again, but Uncle Orion grabbed his chin and poured a sky-blue bottle of Calming Draught down his throat, which made him splutter and cough instead. 

Uncle Orion thumped his back. 

‘We need you coherent for this.’

Sirius nodded vigorously, and swallowed several times. 

‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Okay. Okay. Okay. So, Andy must have cursed us, but for some reason it didn’t hit me as hard, because I woke up right when she was leaving and my head hurt, and I realised what was happening, so I chased after her, but she got in this car—it was a yellow car, I remember that, but I don’t remember the letters, because I didn’t think, I should have thought—’

‘Coherence.’

‘—right, right, right, but I chased it, I was running, and I almost had it, but then—then I fell, and that was when I hurt myself—’

He gestured to his eyebrow.

‘—and when I got all dirty. And when I looked up, the yellow car was gone, so I couldn’t chase it anymore. So I came back, and I put some dittany on my cut, and that was when I realised Reggie wouldn’t wake up, so I just sat there and I waited for you to come home. And then you did. And Cissy found us. And that’s what happened.’

Sirius stood there, breathing deeply. At some point during his monologue, his wandering gaze had landed on Regulus, who was now sitting up straight, all lingering remnants of sleep wiped from his pale, sharp face. Narcissa tightened her grip on his shoulders.

For a long moment, the only sound in the room was the crackling of the fire. 

Then, swift and fluid as a striking viper, Aunt Walburga stepped forward, slashed her wand upwards, and re-opened the cut on Sirius’s brow.

‘Liar,’ she hissed.

Sirius was down in an instant, howling in pain as he clutched at his head. Narcissa flinched backwards, and Regulus shot his hand out to grab hers, spindly fingers holding on with pulverising strength. She saw her father release her mother to lean forward, watching. She heard Bellatrix gasp in delight. 

Uncle Orion yanked Sirius up again, dragging one arm away from his face. 

‘I said, on your feet.’

For the rest of her days, Narcissa would remember how glad she suddenly was that her own father—when he was angry—always, always yelled.

Aunt Walburga seized Sirius’s other wrist, forcing it to his side. Blood oozed from his wound, obscuring his eye, coursing down, down, down over his fine Black cheekbones and his soft child’s jaw, darkening the emerald of his pyjamas and landing on the intricately woven rug with a drip, drip, drip drowned out by the stuttering, aching sound of his cries. 

‘Wh-wh-why-y—’

‘The truth,’ Aunt Walburga demanded, tracing her wand slowly along the arc of his face. ‘Now.’

‘Tha-a-at w-was the t-truuaahhh!’

The end of her wand had cut him again—a tiny, scarlet dash cleaving his lower lip in two.

Narcissa looked away. 

‘Do you really expect us to believe,’ asked Uncle Orion. ‘That you were able to resist that girl’s spell, while your brother was not?’

‘I-I did-d-dn’t say—’

‘We knowyou had something to do with this!’ shrieked Aunt Walburga. ‘You have always been the problem, you, doltish, defective, deceitful, a perfect future handed to you on a platter, thrown away! You have poisoned this family, and we have allowed it for too long! NO MORE! THE TRUTH!’

‘No, no, no, I’m telling the truth, I swear—’

‘We can continue on like this all night, son, but things will be better for everyone if you—’

‘Uncle,’ came Bellatrix’s low, breathy voice. ‘Allow me.’

Narcissa kept her eyes fixed on the hand she couldn’t feel.

Long, black skirts whispered along the floor towards bare, muddy feet.

‘Narcissa,’ said Uncle Orion. ‘Take Regulus to bed.’

‘NO!’ Sirius screamed. ‘No, no! Father, don’t let her, please, PLEASE!’

Narcissa stood. 

‘NO! CISSY!’

She pulled Regulus along with her. 

‘CISSY, HELP ME!’

She wrapped her arms around him and walked quickly out of the room.

‘CISSYPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEDON’TLEAVEMEPLEASENOREGGIEPLEASEDON’TLEAVEMEALONEWITH—’

The double drawing room doors shut behind Narcissa and Regulus, choking Sirius’s pleas to a muffled whine—but they couldn't quite block Bellatrix’s high, clear, euphoric shout.

‘IMPERIO!’

Narcissa didn’t stop. She couldn’t stop. She had to keep moving, had to keep control, had to get to safety, safety from the truth, safety from the cackling, spitting monster wearing her sister’s skin. So she pushed on, upwards, up to the very top of that horrible old house, Regulus half-collapsed against her like a broken china doll. They reached his bedroom, and she slammed and locked the door behind them. They spent the dwindling night huddled in a corner on the floor. Neither of them spoke. Neither of them cried.

It wasn’t until the grey Christmas dawn filtered in through the windows, and the screams from below had long subsided, that Narcissa unclasped her sore, bruised hand from her cousin’s, and returned to her own room across the hall from the cursed one, and found the envelope tucked in her box of treasures. 

She only read the first line—Dear Cissy—before she took out her wand and set it alight. 

Bellatrix was right about one thing.

Fuck that selfish, lying, traitorous bitch.

•••

If you made it down here, thanks for reading all that!!! And if you liked it, the rest of the fic is here, on ao3 :)

[ashesandhackles]

HP Reread - Order of Phoenix (part 1)

OOTP - Chapter 1,2,3

love how oppressive the atmosphere is from the beginning. It's a drought and Harry is lying in a flowerbed that is dying. It's also a great way to show Harry's desperation for news. Also that he scavenges newspapers from rubbish bins :(

Vernon grabs Harry by the throat and Harry has to magically throw him off. ( Harry takes care to "stop short of the point at which Uncle Vernon's outstretched hands could resume their strangling"). Not the first time the threat of physical violence exists from Vernon.

Harry feeling comforted by Sirius' letters even though they are just as empty of news. (also amusing that Harry recognises the hypocrisy of Sirius asking him not to be rash XD the "do as I say and not as I do" parent)

Harry's neighbours being terrified of "that Potter boy" who they have been warned is a hooligan (and they keep muttering about his "delinquent" appearance). Petunia will also refer to Snape as "that awful boy": drawing similarities in how they are perceived in the Muggle world.

"This is night Diddykins. That's what they call it when it goes all dark like this" LOL

Right after Dudley taunts him, hits him and Harry fully feels his hatred of 14 years for him, Harry's first instinct is to yell at Dudley to come back when they are in danger. I love how his priorities immediately shift when he knows someone is in danger.

Harry casts a spell without a wand in his hand.

As angry as he is with Ron and Hermione, it is their faces that gives his Patronus the force it needs.

This is the book where Dudley faces a Dementor, and is implied to grow up and reflect in the next two books. I think this is significant: especially because this is the book James is also humanised. We get a lot of fandom complaints about how we don't get to see James growing up - that it is told, and not shown. James (and Lily) are meant to be thematic ghosts, Harry will never fully know them and that's the point. And bullies grow up: Dudley did, and so does James. (Harry makes the Dudley-James connection in SWM, and then later on compares James to Ron.)

Is Mr. Tibbles a Kneazle? The cat warned Mrs Figg when Mundungus left.

I really feel for Harry - who gets a "mingled feeling of dread and anger" when Dudley names him. And the odd feeling of calm he gets when he is threatened with the worst - the risk to his wand.

The awful boy Petunia is referring to is Snape.

I really, really love the moment between Petunia and Harry here, where her walls crumble and she shows fear of the man who killed her sister.

Love that Dumbledore sends a Howler: and it is described as an "Awful voice" that filled the confines of the kitchen. I've always interpreted that Dumbledore is surprised by how much he cares about Harry, and this is a moment Dumbledore allows himself to be angry with Dursleys, in particular, Petunia. (I back this up with his admission at end of the book: "I cared too much about you" - and I think him loving Harry was a surprise to him)

Harry addresses the first letter to Sirius, second to Ron, and third to Hermione. I think the order is who he feels most ownership of. Sirius is his.

Harry feeling guilty about being irritable with Hedwig <3 although now I want a Hedwig POV of how she pecked Sirius, Ron and Hermione after Harry asked her to xD

Kingsley talks of James with familiarity, even though he was not part of the Order before.

love how Tonks and Mad Eye are interacting this chapter. She is the charmingly impertinent protege, questioning his paranoia. XD

Remus being cheeky by calling Tonks "Nymphadora". He had to have known at this point that she wants to be called Tonks.

Elphias Doge: Dumbles friend who he was supposed to travel with prior to Ariana's death i think? Also comments on Harry having Lily's eyes.

love that Remus, quite like Sirius, also reads the expression on Harry's face and answers the thought.

we also get the info that Ted Tonks is a slob, while Andromeda is so neat that she gets socks to fold themselves.

the chapter, even with threeway dynamic with Tonks, Kingsley, and Mad Eye, also places Tonks and Remus as a team.

Chapter 4,5,6

There is no keyhole or letterbox in Grimmauld Place, but Remus taps the door with his wand and chains clatter. Something Orion added or Dumbles?

"it was as though they had entered a house of dying person". Thanks for that JKR. But also - its about the Ozymandias vibe of the dying line of Blacks.

aiyooo, Harry being momentarily happy at the sight of them but the reminder they were sworn not to tell him anything, so he pays attention to Hedwig and ignores both of them. Hermione and Ron, bless them, try to get him to talk because they both see how broody he is lol. They even exchange looks that Harry catches XD

Also, Ginny's favouritism for Bill. Bill's opinions "settle the matter" for her.

Ginny, the good liar. (she accuses Crookshanks of putting Dungbombs on the meeting door, when it was her to Mrs Weasley) I think its such an interesting shade of her - and combined with the offscreen storyline in CoS, gives a good dimension to her.

aww Harry feels ashamed of shouting at Ron and Hermione because they both look nervous when everyone is gone :( and the fact that he is apologetic is immediately picked by both of them, with Ron shaking his head (similar to GOF where harry cuts him off before he can apologise) and Hermione assuring him that they really did try.

Snape is in the center of the Order group: his work is crucial to the Order.

What a charming portrait, this Walburga. Also, what a fun introduction to Sirius this book : "blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh" "Hello Harry. I see you met my mother."

Mundungus wakes up from sleep and reflexively agrees with Sirius as though they were in a meeting. Lollll.

Walburga puts a permanent sticking charm on back of her portrait, Sirius has permanent sticking charm for his very specific room decoration. The apple doesnt fall far from the tree, lol. (Thanks @artemisia-black this particular insight)

Crookshanks takes the time to greet Harry and jumps into Sirius' lap :<3 best friends.

The moment Sirius says he is stuck inside the house for a month, Harry immediately frowns. The boy knows what it is like being stuck inside a house that does not want you.

Snape taking jibes at Sirius by asking him how the cleaning is going, lol. "how is the cleaning going?" "fuck off"

Bill being the family peacemaker when Mrs Weasley drops Percy's name and Mr Weasley immediately freezes. Remus being cute and handing her a plate of stew after the awkward moment.

"Harry heard the sarcasm in his voice, he was not sure anyone else did." The way Harry is so attuned to Sirius.

lol at Hermione and Ginny requesting favourite noses from Tonks.

the discussion between Bill, Mr Weasley and Remus about goblins is so interesting! Both Bill and remus have practical POVs, while Arthur is more of an idealist, emotion driven. Also love that Remus identifies himself among oppressor of goblins by saying "we", when he himself is a class of people oppressed by the wizarding society. Gentleman werewolf <3

LOL at Mrs Weasley throwing a Look at Sirius about Mundungus and he immediately Gets It ("She still hasnt forgiven him for slipping off duty when he was supposed to be tailing you"). The two hosts of the house having an issue and Harry is like "what is happening?" XD

Sirius is also so attuned to Harry. He knows that the first thing Harry would do is start asking questions about Voldemort the moment he arrived.

"Harry's been trapped in that Muggle house for a month": the way both Harry and Sirius intimately know what this means.

"it is not down to you to decide what's good for Harry": it's interesting to me how Molly challenges Sirius' guardianship here. There is an element of possessiveness over Harry they both show - but I wonder if Molly is also a bit shaky cos of loss of Percy at the moment, and stress of war.

Arthur is so allergic to conflict that he will take his time cleaning his glasses before deciding on a reply lol. Remus ends the conversation by rephrasing what Sirius said. XD

Remus deescalates the tension in this scene, but he is also offended on behalf of Sirius (he speaks "sharply"). Also Molly recognises that she has gone too far in the scene, her lip trembles after she says this and the next time she addresses Sirius, she is trembling then too

Sirius and Remus tag teaming to tell Harry info. (also they exchange a look when Harry asks about the weapon. I know Sirius answers this, but Remus also takes ownership of this moment - "we said too much" and thats an interesting characterisation moment for me for Remus)

love the bitterness in Sirius' voice about how Ministry does not want to face the fact that Voldemort's back. He is so angry - on his behalf, on Harry's behalf. Most of his anger about how his life has turned out is directed to the Ministry.

lol at Dumbledore not caring what they do as long as he is not taken off Chocolate Frog cards.

Fred betting that Ginny is lying awake waiting for Hermione to tell her EVERYTHING XD

Phineas makes his presence felt even though his canvas is empty: he snickers during the argument, and they can hear him sleep. I suppose for portraits: they can hear things of the canvas they are connected to even though they are not there?

"he's got the Cruciatus curse for causing pain. He doesnt need anything more efficient than that." Oh Harry.

lol at Sirius and Molly being extra polite to each other after their disagreement.

love the moment where George sees Harry watching Fred pocket a Doxy, and explains their products and experiment to him.

"my mother didn't have heart. She kept herself alive out of pure spite" :( "I've had enough": something harry says in POA when he leaves.

Alphard gets blasted off posthumously for leaving Sirius gold lol.

"my idiot, soft enough to believe them": the way Sirius minimises his brother's agency and leaves the blame at his parents' door about Regulus being a Death Eater. "i bet my parents thought Regulus was a right little hero for joining up at first"

Harry, sensing Sirius' feelings actually asks him tentatively about Regulus' death: "was he killed by an Auror?" also when Mrs Weasley comes back with lunch, Harry remains with Sirius.

Sirius getting angry at the suggestion he is related to Bellatrix. And yet, the interesting thing narrative does in the books is evoke strong parallels between them - the exhilarated laugh before their defeat, the good looks being wasted but also traits that don't get pointed out as much: first borns of their family who chafe against the rules of the society they are born in. Bellatrix becomes #girlboss terrorist while Sirius rebels.

Ginny slamming the creepy musical box lid shut: her experience with the enchantment of the diary coming to play a bit here.

i love all these little descriptions of how they are waging a war against the house and how visitors stayed to help: Tonks with a murderous ghoul, Remus with a grandfather's clock and how Mundungus redeemed himself in front of Mrs Weasley by saving Ron from purple robes that tried to strangle him.

ah Harry actually wants to ask if Sirius would come to the hearing as Snuffles. I LOVE THEM.

Chapter 7,8,9

Scrimgeour- the head of Auror office and Minister for next book - is onto something. He is asking Tonks and Kingsley "funny questions."

why is there no fanart of Arthur in a bomber jacket and pinstriped trousers?

ok, I am a little endeared by Mrs Weasley attacking Harry's hair with a wet comb and asking whether it ever lies flat XD

Sirius trying to cheer Harry up with a joke about seeing to Amelia Bones for him, and Harry actually smiles weakly. I am sorry, I think this entire book I am just going to be savouring all the Sirius-Harry.

the magical fountain where goblin, house elf and centaur "look adoringly up at the witch and wizard". implicit power dynamic even in the lie. #imperialist moment

Magical Maintenance giving them two months of hurricanes when they wanted a pay rise Imao.

Kingsley and Arthur interacting as if they dont know each other is really cute, especially when they do sotto voice for the real info they want to give. Also, Kingsley asking Arthur to pass a magazine for Sirius :<3

a demonstration of Arthur's standing in the Ministry: his office is smaller than the broom cupboard and his request for window is denied.

for future plot point: the regurgitating toilet (whose culprit will inform Umbridge of the DA meeting), and Harry sees Bode!

they changed the time and venue of Harry's hearing to a courtroom they dont often use. Dumbles will imply they were trying to sabotage Harry next chapter.

the courtroom Harry is in, is used for terrorist trials of back in aftermath of first war (there are even chains on the seat "threateningly" clinking at him). Arthur had implied they haven't used it for a while, and this really drives home how much this trial is meant to sabotage Harry's chances as well as unsettle him.

Umbridge in shadow. A foreboding introduction to antagonist of this book.

I love that when Harry sees Dumbledore, there is a hopeful feeling in his chest that he connects with the phoenix song. It's beautiful imagery, an indication of how safe he feels with Dumbledore. Also callback to Priori Incantetam in GOF.

Harry suspects that Mrs Figg had seen a picture of a Dementor, and that she was coached about what she would say. Dumbledore relied on the Ministry not knowing about whether or not Squibs can actually see Dementors for Mrs Figg's speech. Love how Dumbles uses their ignorance against them.

When Dumbledore suggests that the Dementors being there wasnt an accident, Umbridge's shadow moves. Nice.

Dumbles gets "cool" when Fudge hints at not having Hogwarts under Ministry control.

Love that Dumbles overturns the power dynamic of the room and tells the Wizengamot to make a decision after he was done talking.

Dumbles basically runs out without giving an indication to Arthur how the trial went. This is possibly because Arthur is already suspected of being close to Dumbledore, so he wouldnt want to stick around and relay info.

"Harry felt winded" at the sight of Lucius Malfoy, the man who was both witness to and jeered Harry's predicament at the graveyard, and just weeks after he told Fudge that Malfoy was a DE. and Arthur, bless him, can sense Harry's feelings, because he holds his shoulder in a warning.

Ron is so happy about Harry being cleared that he is serving mashed potatoes onto everyone's plates <3

Sirius. I love the detail that both Sirius and Harry (later in the book) retreat to Buckbeak's room when they are both upset.

Hermione getting increasingly bothered by the twins dragging Ron, that she speaks up angrily <3

I really love this little moment of Harry sitting and probbing his own feelings about Ron getting the badge instead of him. There are so many things happening here - one Harry is a bit competitive, so I can imagine him taking a hit that his best friend has overtaken him in something. But I think it's (strongly implied) because he feels overlooked by Dumbledore (which is a theme through the book). Kingsley and Lups conversation at the dinner confirms Harry's feelings.

I like all these little hints about Ginny's comfort with Sirius. She includes him in a conversation when she is with Tonks.

And Sirius is also right beside Harry. I love that Harry is this little duck who just gravitates to where Sirius is in the room.

Harry feeling "doubly fond" of everyone in the room when he is told that James was not a prefect either. At this point in his journey, so much of his identity is rooted in who his father is.

Moody showing the Order photograph and recalling tales of gore lol. (Lups is on a different side of the photograph than Jily + Wormtail)

I really feel for Mrs Weasley in the Boggart scene. It is described so vividly too, as is Harry's initial reaction to seeing Ron's body.

Sirius keeps staring at the patch of floor where he had seen dead Harry (a memory of James' dead body intrudes? or a future where he imagines failing Harry? Both is possible)

Lups gently comforting Molly, while Sirius's offers his version of practical comfort - that its only a matter of time when Voldemort moves into open, and he will see he is wrong.

The chapter ends with harry thinking how he feels old after looking at that picture of the Order of Phoenix and Mrs Weasleys' Boggart. The full weight of the stakes they are facing hits him.

Chapter 10, 11, 12

Padfoot snapping at pigeons, chasing his own tail and scaring cats for Harry's entertainment <3 (also Lee says, "Nice dog, Harry!" and Sirius wags his tail "frantically". I cant deal with how cute this is.)

and when Harry is about to leave, "the great black dog reared onto its hind legs and placed his front paws on Harry's shoulders" :( and then Sirius chases the trail until it rounds the bend. How did it get from sweet to painful already.

Ron becomes "intensely interested in his fingernails" when both Harry and him realise it is going to be their first Hogwarts ride without each other, since Ron has to go to the Prefect's carriage. And then Ron being anxious at leaving Harry behind and implies that he'd rather be with Harry ("I'm not enjoying it -I'm not Percy"). I mentioned in prev discussion about Ron's awkwardness about being a prefect in wake of Percy's departure, and the "I'm not Percy" line shows it so deeply.

Ginny being really sweet! She asks Harry to look for compartment, encourages Neville to come with them into Luna's compartment. And while she did call Luna "Loony" privately outside, she was all smile-y inside the compartment. And when Neville goes, "I'm nobody", Ginny intervenes and introduces Neville to Luna. (btw this book is full of very organic Ginny character writing! I really like how she is integrated here)

Love that Harry audibly groans after Cho leaves, seeing him covered in Stinksap. Ginny noticed, of course and goes, "never mind" and cleans it up after. (Also, we have a parallel scene in HBP where Harry, instead of being embarrassed to be with Neville and Luna, defends them in front of Romilda Vane)

Ron comes back and just plops himself next to Harry after his hour at the prefect carriage. :hug_blob:

Harry excited to read the article Kingsley thought would amuse Sirius. XD and after the first line he is like: "Since when had Sirius been a singing sensation?"

"Tell me how it feels to be second best to Weasley, Potter?" Love that Hermione is nettled by this - she is angry on behalf of both Ron and Harry. And then when Malfoy mentions "dogging", she actually stands up. She is so worried about Sirius :( (she mentions before that she thinks he shouldnt have come with them)

Harry and Hermione share a look about Malfoy saying "dogging" and they are both unnerved.

Luna offering to help Harry manage the pets as everyone else is gone :heart: love the little moment in the end where she assures him that she can see the Thestrals too.

"seeing Hagrid again was one of things he was looking forward to the most." Oh harry <3

lol @ Hermione and Luna, intended foils, are on same page about Hagrid's teaching skills.

cute atmosphere detail about students taking note of each other's new haircuts etc after a summer away. Its details like that gives it a school feeling.

"Who's that?" : Hermione meets her antagonist for the year: Umbridge.

Even with bitter feelings, Harry is soothed to see Dumbledore. Such intense feelings of safety are associated with Dumbles. (also love the detail of Dumbles throwing his beard back over the shoulder to eat, lol)

the trio smirking when Dumbles warns that Forbidden Forest is out of bounds ("few older students should know this by now too" XD)

McGonagall and Sprout annoyed that Umbridge is interrupting Dumbles speech (which is obviously intended as a power move). They also exchange a glance during Umbridge's speech.

"I'll be her friend as long as I don't have to borrow that cardigan" Parvati lol

The speech was interesting and very subtle with how the Ministry is pro-pureblood: she refers to magic as a generational thing within wizarding community ("the treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors").

Dean <3 love that he sides with Harry and assures him, but is also unable to say a bad word about Seamus since he is a friend. He is a good guy.

love how in sync Harry and Ron are here: Harry can tell from Ron's silence that Ron doesn't find the idea of stopping Fred and George inviting, and Ron responds for Harry when Hermione asks what's wrong, because Harry couldnt say it. (also Ron especially doesnt want to stop Fred and George - which he was happy to do previous book with the whole blackmail business - because of the large absence of Percy and reminders of Percy)

Hermione thinking its best to know what the enemy is saying and reading the Prophet. Really getting a lay of the land here. Its incredible how political her arc is.

love that George mentions that one of the reasons they came back for their 7th year is because they didnt think Molly could take them leaving the school early after the whole debacle with Percy.

lol @ romione banter. Hermione lays into them for not paying attention in class, and Ron compliments her brains and memory, and while she says, "don't give me that rubbish" because she knows what Ron is doing, she also looked "mollified" lol. XD

Cho did not have a good summer either, and I like that Harry recognises the connection in someone else who would be affected by Cedric's death.

love that as resolutely as Umbridge is ignoring her, Hermione keeps her hand in air . And the book is so boring, everyone ends up watching her XD. Also, Hermione not opening a book feels like her form of protest lol.

the moment Hermione confronts her about her course aims, the trio is in sync. Ron exclaims, "we're not going to use magic?" + Umbridge does the power move of asking students to raise their hands if they want to speak in class. And Harry, Ron and Hermione's hands are up.

Dean being the VERY BEST, by both backing Harry's assertion when he was cut off, and defending Remus when Umbridge makes a jab, and then saying they still learned loads from Fake!Moody. XD (also Parvati spoke up too. These two are the bold kids)

Harry standing up and speaking up against Umbridge and the whole class is holding a breath. Seamus is half scared, half facinated. Neville says later on in DH that Harry speaking up when he felt things are wrong "gave people hope".

lol at Harry repeating Umbridge's speech and interpretation of it, and McGonagall immediately knows he knows this because he listened to Hermione XD

[ladiesofhpfest]

Introducing ✨Friday Fic Recs✨

The Ladies of HP fest/server is happy to announce weekly fic recs from now until next year's fest. Every Friday, we will highlight 5-10 female-centric fics! This week, the recs come from your mods, @celestemagnoliathewriter, @artemisia-black, and @merlins-sequined-hotpants.

Going forward, we would love to receive recs in the ask box or in the rec channel on our Discord server. Almost any fic that is female-centric is welcome (exception: fics that feature explicit underage sexual content). We look forward to sharing more recs with you!

Fic Recs for Friday the 13th of October, including part of the summary from the author:

We've Grown Up (but still haven't changed) by @thecasualauthor18. Leading ladies: Black sisters, Andromeda POV. T, 2.2k words. Summary: Andromeda Black Tonks receives a letter from Narcissa, and against her better judgement goes to meet her.

Parvati by @sleepstxtic. Leading lady: Parvati Patil. G, 634 words. Summary: “Like you and appa?” you ask, propping yourself up on the kitchen counter and crossing your legs in anticipation. Your mother’s stories are always the best.

In the Service of Others by @bellmel. Leading lady: Molly Weasley. G, 4.7k words. Molly is not one to sit idle. It isn’t in her nature. She likes being busy, and as the last of her children leave for Hogwarts, Molly never even entertains the idea of staying at home with no company but her own. She needs a job.

Ariadne by @ashesandhackles. Leading lady: Cho Chang. G, 1.1k words. Summary: Exploring Cho's feelings for Harry in wake of her grief for Cedric's death, with symbolism from myth of Ariadne, Theseus and the Minotaur. A surrealistic character study.

Kiss Each Other Clean by @ronsgirlfriday-blog. Leading lady: Hermione Granger. T, 4.3k words. Summary: The war is over and all Hermione wants is to wash it all off of her.

Standing Up by @isidar-mithrim. Leading lady: Minerva McGonagall. G, 4.9k words. Summary: Minerva is powerless in front of Carrows’ tortures, painfully aware there’s only one way to protect her students: don’t protect them. It will be her own students to prove her that hope isn’t lost yet.

stolen glances, stolen cauldrons by @lanaturnergetup. Leading lady: Madam Rosmerta. M, 3k words. Summary: As with most bad experiences in her life, Madam Rosmerta would find that her affair with Mundungus ‘Dung’ Fletcher started out with too much to drink. 

Power by @alohaemora. Leading lady: Angelina Johnson. G, 1.9k words. Summary: "Our hair is power, Angie, it's our history. It tells the world who we are."

If you've got recs for us, drop by the ask box or the rec channel on our Discord server!

[dramioneasks]

The Blood Of Traitors - Kaitlyn444 - T, 25 chapters, Words: 143,361 - When her son in tortured to near death, Narcissa makes a decision she should've made years ago. After Dumbledore's death, no one was expecting Narcissa Malfoy to show up carrying her bloody son, and while Ron and Harry are skeptical of the Malfoy's every move, Hermione can't help feel that there's more to her old schoolyard bully and can't seem to keep herself away. When Draco finally realizes his father and Voldemort had no qualms about his death, he decides to take revenge into his own hands. Joining the twit trio wasn't his first option, but it's his best shot at helping end the war and protecting his mother. However there's more going on than any of them suspect and as their journey continues, he finds himself and a certain curly haired witch woven into this war more than he ever thought possible. x Everyone was stunned into silence as Draco’s naked back was finally in view. Starting at his shoulders and going all the way down to the indentations in his back were disgusting, crude cuts Hermione had ever seen. They were so deep, she could swear she saw bone. It should've been impossible to see what it spelt, but the damaged skin was torn enough to stick up and show the saying clear as day. x

[merlinsbudgiesmugglers]

At eighteen, Andromeda Black was given a choice. A choice between love, and duty.

What if she chose duty?

Read Chapter 6 on AO3

Read from the beginning on AO3

This chapter is a gift for @starlingflight who posted the Epilogue for her Hinny fic Someone Else's Life today and she deserves a treat for completely blowing my mind with that entire fic.

[thistlecatfics]

Tedromeda Rec List

I put together a Tedromeda rec list for an anon ask of @spindrifters, and I figured it ought to be its own post! I like messy, imperfect, bordering on toxic Tedromeda, and I especially love lesbian!Tedromeda so if those are not your things you may not vibe with this rec list and that's ok! But if they are -

Turncoat: in defense of andromeda tonks nee black, @ink-splotch (8.3k) 

“When her little cousin Sirius got disowned too, years later, Andromeda sent him a fruit basket.”

This fic was so big and so brilliant and the world building is so excellent. It made me cry. I had to triple check the word count in putting it here because it seems so much longer because it’s just so rich with life and detail. 

War, or Peace, or Whatever This Is, Slyboots (7.6k) 

“Fall in line, that’s the way, and never mind who gives the orders. Carrying on, that’s the British national sport.”In the aftermath of the Fall of the Ministry of Magic, Andromeda Tonks does what little good she can.”

I love a war time fic with complicated world building and no good choices. Really brilliant fic. The sharp, fast moving pace adds to the paranoid anything-can-happen-at-any-moment feeling of a coup.

In Memoriam, Bitterfic on LiveJournal (6k)

“When he was young, brash, he had said that the Muggle-born were as good as any purebloods, yet he had never doubted that Andromeda Black was infinitely superior to him. Even after twenty-five years of marriage, he never thought of her by his name, as Andromeda Tonks. She was to him always Andromeda Black whose voice cut through the darkness that night in the Forbidden Forest.” (cw: sexual assault, suicidal ideation) 

A brilliant haunting little fic from my favorite LJ writer from wayyy back in the day. Ted Tonks POV

Andromeda Liberata (133k+ WIP) (lesbian Tedromeda) 

“In which Andromeda Black cruelly betrays her sisters and sets in motion the total destruction of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black because she fell in love with a lesbian muggleborn.”

While it might be tacky to put your own fic in a rec list,  I’m quite proud of it :)

i don’t forgive you (but please don’t hold me to it) by evawrites (10k, T) (lesbian Tedromeda)

For Andromeda, the choice is not between the Dark and the Light. It’s not between Headmaster Dumbledore and the Dark Lord, not between Teddy’s family and her own. Instead, it’s between Bella and Teddy. Foolishly, Andromeda prays she’ll get to keep both.(She gets to keep neither.)

Dark and haunting and the contrast between Bellatrix and Ted is so well set up.

history books forgot about us by spindrifters (25k, E)

Andromeda Black meets Ted Tonks quite by accident, and it’s something like mischief at first sight. From the lost papers and mixed-up files of the marginalia universe, the complete history of a relationship that was never meant to happen.

This canon-divergent universe is everything, and these two recklessly in love kids are everything to me!

wherefore/evermore by @leftsidedown (150 words, T)

continuing the Great Literary Tradition of mad women writing villanelles

A poem!!

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And then some Andromeda-centric fic where Tedromeda is important but it's not really a shippy fic:

not like the rest of them by unspeakable3 (11k, T)

Sirius has recently followed in Andromeda's footsteps and emancipated himself from their family. This afternoon, the two cousins will reunite - and see each other for the first time in four years. Andromeda is nervous. Sirius is nervous. There is a lot they need to say to each other.

Imperfect runaways!!

we were sisters once (we have another love now) by Nefaria_Black (3k, T)

Dora is six and few things are more exciting than a day spent in Diagon Alley. Even if the street is packed with people. Even if she’s separated from her parents by the crowd Because Mother is easy enough to find, isn’t she?

Haunting fairytale vibes

The Waves by nanneramma (3k, M)

Andromeda is not sure if she got it right. But she tried.

Gorgeous canon-compliant character study

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And for those who like some Blackcest with their Tedromeda:

Clip, Ravel, Cleave by @vdoshu (15k, E)

Before Andromeda met Ted, she was a Black, through and through. While years later the story was told that she’d turned her back on her family’s dark ways, in truth, nothing was so simple.In the beginning, it was just Andromeda and Bella. And it was just the two of them until it was too much.

An all-time favorite featuring Andromeda and Ted meeting after Hogwarts and dark magic addiction and all sorts of dark goodness

[dhr-ao3]

Black Magic

Black Magic https://ift.tt/QhHb67C by Anonymous It take a village to raise a baby. It takes an even bigger village to end a war. Words: 361, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen Characters: Nymphadora Tonks, Andromeda Black Tonks, Teddy Lupin, Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Neville Longbottom, Millicent Bulstrode, Daphne Greengrass, Hermione Granger, Percy Weasley, Ginny Weasley, James Sirius Potter, Harry Potter, Molly Weasley, Fleur Delacour, Astoria Greengrass, Scorpius Malfoy, Albus Severus Potter, Romilda Vane, Terry Boot, Vernon Dursley, Petunia Evans Dursley, Dudley Dursley, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Black Malfoy Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Voldemort Wins, Horror, Dark, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter Dies, Injured Harry Potter, Molly Weasley Dies, Bill Weasley Dies, Charlie Weasley Dies, Arthur Weasley Dies, Post-Second Wizarding War with Voldemort (Harry Potter), Second Wizarding War with Voldemort (Harry Potter), Wizarding Wars (Harry Potter), Dark Magic, Dark Harry Potter, Order of the Phoenix Missions (Harry Potter), Death Eater Attacks, Death Eater Raids and Activities, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter), POV Nymphadora Tonks, POV Hermione Granger, POV Ginny Weasley, POV Ron Weasley, POV Draco Malfoy, POV Harry Potter, POV Andromeda Black Tonks, POV Padma Patil, POV Terry Boot, POV Romilda Vane via AO3 works tagged 'Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy' https://ift.tt/rGybIKP August 28, 2024 at 03:40AM