Sunday afternoon found her reading leisurely in the library. She had been made to lollygag around a lot these days. Her parents did not think it was ‘acceptable’ for a young woman as herself to get a job, so she had been forced to entertain herself with things that were accepted “ reading being one of the few things on the acceptable list. But there was only so much of this sort of thing that one could tolerate. Andromeda was getting restless, she’d had nearly nothing interesting to occupy her time “ save her time with Lucius “ for almost two years. She had goals, she had ambitions, she did not want to sit around the house and act the perfect lady.
Things will be different when you’re married, Andromeda thought, turning a page in her book. Lucius will understand that you need to be productive.
But will he expect you to be productive as a servant to the Dark Lord?
She pushed that thought away hastily, fixing her eyes determinedly on her book. Stop being silly.
Andromeda tried to focus again on her novel, when Narcissa entered, looking timid.
Andromeda glanced up from the pages of her book. “Cissy, what’s the matter?”
“Father told me to tell you,” said Narcissa nervously. “Lucius just owled “ “ Andromeda sat up straighter “ “ and “ and he says he can’t make your date tomorrow night.”
“Why not?” Andromeda asked calmly. She was disappointed, but knew that Lucius was a busy man, especially with all the Ministry things he was doing these days under influence of his father.
“He “ didn’t give a reason.”
Andromeda’s stomach clenched. “Oh?”
Narcissa bobbed her head, watching her with big, deep blue eyes.
Andromeda stared out at nothing for a moment, then she turned her attention back to her sister, who was still standing with apprehension in the doorway. “Very well. Thank you, Cissy.”
With a last shrewd look at her brunette sister, Narcissa murmured a ‘you’re welcome’ and left.
Andromeda was still clutching her book, and now she went back to staring at its words, but she wasn’t reading them. All she could think of was Lucius. Why had he not supplied a reason for canceling their date? They had both had to cancel several times before for various reasons, of course, but never without an explanation.
She gripped the book hard. So he had been shaken by their argument over purebloods too. However brief it had been, it seemed to have marked them both. And now he didn’t want to see her. Maybe he didn’t want to wed her anymore. Maybe he was going to break off the engagement. Her heart leapt into her throat, and she had to force herself to take deep breaths.
Don’t jump to conclusions yet, she told herself. Let’s see if he contacts you soon.
But he didn’t contact her soon. Andromeda waited for a word from him for the next few days, frittering away her time as she watched the windows for an owl from him. Soon the days wheedled away to a week, and then another, and then a third . . . and still she hadn’t heard from him.
“I’m sure he’s very busy,” Narcissa ventured waveringly during the end of the third week, as Andromeda lay atop her bed, staring up at the ceiling despairingly.
“Please go away, Cissy,” Andromeda begged.
“Lucius loves you, Andy, he wouldn’t “ “
“He’s the last person I want to talk about right now. Please, leave my room.” Andromeda rolled over onto her stomach and buried her face in her pillow.
Knock knock!
“I’ll get that,” said Narcissa, and Andromeda heard her flounce out of the room and down the stairs. A minute later, she heard the blonde woman yell, “Andromeda! For you!”
Andromeda sat up. Completely disheveled, she hurried down the stairs, frantically brushing out her tangled hair with her fingers.
Narcissa was standing on the threshold with the door open, beaming at her . . . and on the front steps was Lucius himself.
“I’ll leave you two,” said Narcissa cheerily, and walked away. She bumped Andromeda’s shoulder purposely as she passed, a smug ‘what did I tell you’ look on her face.
Andromeda stepped up to the open door and leaned against it in a would-be-casual way. “Hello, Lucius.”
“Good afternoon, Andromeda.” Lucius paused, his eyes roving over her questioningly. “Are you going to invite me in, or should we just stand here?” he asked, amused.
“I am fine where I am,” said Andromeda calmly. She knew why he was here. He was going to snap their relationship clean in half. Oh, what would her parents think of that?
And what will you think, Black, she found herself thinking miserably. How will you react when he actually says the words aloud . . .
“But if you would much prefer to step indoors,” she continued, pushing her heartbroken thoughts out of mind, “I suppose we could . . . ”
“It’s fine,” he replied airily. “I just wanted to speak with you briefly about us.”
She gripped the doorknob hard. This was it . . .
“I have been pondering, and I think we need to figure out where we are going to live.”
Andromeda nearly fell over. “Pardon?”
“When we’re wed,” Lucius went on. “My parents are quite willing to give up Malfoy Manor and go live in their second home, and personally, I think that’s our best option . . . but if you’re not too keen on the idea, then we could try and go house shopping sometime soon.”
Andromeda’s tongue had swelled to the size of a blimp in her mouth, too big for use. She just stared at him.
“What’s your opinion?” Lucius prompted, when she didn’t speak.
“You . . . we’re not . . . we’re still getting married?” she said faintly.
He peered at her closely. “Of course we are, Andy. What gave you the idea that we weren’t?”
She didn’t answer, just stared at him, shocked. Then, without warning, Andromeda flung herself at Lucius, throwing her arms around his neck and capturing his lips in hers with a ferocity that seemed to surprise him (though one that he certainly did not object to).
Andromeda broke off their lip-lock after a long moment. Eyes closed, she leaned her forehead against Lucius’, inhaling his scent deeply.
“Miss me?” Lucius muttered against her cheek, sounding smug and satisfied.
“A bit,” she reciprocated, smiling softly as she pulled her head away, parting her eyelids at last. “I hadn’t seen you in three weeks.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I’ve been very, very busy.” He looked at her sadly. “That’s no excuse, but it is the only reason I can offer you.”
She toyed lovingly with a button on the pocket of his robes. “I understand. But you had me worried. No words in three weeks, I thought for sure it was all over between us . . . ”
He stroked her cheek, and she once again became putty in his hands. “Of course not.”
“What have you been doing?” she asked curiously.
His eyes were suddenly dazzling with an odd sparkle. He glanced over her head, and she realized fleetingly she had not shut her front door. “Can you come with me for a few minutes out back? I’d prefer a guarantee of privacy.”
She consented. Lucius offered her his arm; she got her usual glimmer in her eye and ignored it as she walked past him, and the two journeyed to the outdoor area out at the back of the house.
“Well?” said Andromeda, glancing at him out of the side of her eyes.
He stopped walking; she halted as well. Lucius cast his eyes around the yard to make sure they were alone, then he hitched up his left sleeve. And Andromeda found herself staring into two skull eyes, a snake sliding from the skull’s mouth.
***
She kept hoping that somehow the tattoo would vanish. That she would learn Lucius had changed his mind, and gotten rid of it. Or, even better, that the whole thing had been a dream, and he had never gotten the Dark Mark etched into his skin at all.
But none of those things happened. Lucius remained in You-Know-Who’s service. She had not been dreaming in the slightest.
She couldn’t make herself tell him what she thought about it again. Either he had not cared what she thought of the matter, or he thought she had changed her attitude, because he seemed rather pleased about the whole thing.
Andromeda had no idea what to do. She still loved Lucius, truly, but she could not support him in these pursuits at all. She just couldn’t. And she didn’t want to stand by him as his wife and watch as he continued to slave away for the ruthless dictator.
Her heart was torn, her mind was heavy; she found it more and more difficult to see Lucius and pretend like nothing was the matter. He didn’t seem fooled by her act, and would continuously ask what was wrong. She would insist she was fine no matter the circumstances, becoming more and more distant from him all the time. She didn’t like how she was pulling away from him so, but until she could figure out what to do with herself, with her life, she didn’t see many other options.
She was sitting glumly inside the Ministry one day, lost in thought. Narcissa had ordered her there to surprise Lucius on his way out from work or whatever the hell he did there these days. She didn’t even know if she was in the right department, but she continued to wait there anyhow, hoping that he wouldn’t come.
“Andromeda? Is that you?”
She looked up into a familiar, smiling face.
“Hello, Ted.”
***
And that was how it happened. She, Andromeda Black, perfect pureblood princess, became friends with Ted Tonks, the Muggleborn.
Andromeda had never been particularly close to Ted at Hogwarts. They had both been in Hufflepuff, and had always been civil to each other, but had never really had huge amounts in common. But now, suddenly, he was growing on her. That afternoon he took her out to coffee . . . and the next . . . and then a week later . . . and so on . . . soon she found herself quite charmed by her new friend. Yet, Ted’s feelings for her seemed to be progressing beyond friendship. This became particularly evident one day when he leaned over to kiss her.
“What are you doing?” she hissed, drawing away and pushing his shoulder roughly.
Ted pulled back, startled. “I was just . . .”
Andromeda waved her right hand angrily at him, her large diamond ring glaring under the lights of the little shop. “I’m engaged.”
He looked as though she’d slapped him. “To who?”
“Lucius Malfoy.”
“Why “ why didn’t you tell me?”
She faltered. “I “ I didn’t “ I just “ “
The fact of the matter was, she didn’t know why she hadn’t told him. It wasn’t as though she usually tried to hide the fact. In most cases, in fact, she had usually flaunted it. But she hadn’t told him, and that was that.
It took a week of her pleading, but Ted did eventually forgive her for this little ‘lapse of memory’. “But no more secrets,” he said sternly, and she nodded fervently.
As the days slowly passed and turned to weeks, and the weeks turned to months, Andromeda began to feel less and less comfortable with the fact that she would soon be wed. She used to look upon the day she would stand beside Lucius with joy; now she saw a bleak and dismal future by the side of a ruthless murderer who existed only to please his lord. She didn’t want that. And at long last, Andromeda saw what she needed to do. But first . . .
“Ted Tonks,” she said to him one day, “you may think I’m crazy for asking this, but do you think you’d want to marry me?”