inlimis: Characters: Andromeda Black, Narcissa Bl

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Andromeda Black (

meda) wrote in

inlimis,
@ 2008-06-16 23:42:00

Entry tags:

1960, character: andromeda, character: narcissa, type: 1:1

Characters: Andromeda Black, Narcissa Black.
Location: Leverer House; Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.
Description: Andromeda prepares for her Hogwarts departure and feels guilty about leaving her younger sister.
Rating: G.

Her trunks were packed and ready to go, full of books, her newest robes, an assortment of shoves, and whatever else she could manage to fit within them. She felt no jitters like she’d anticipated, partly because she was so excited to finally go to Hogwarts (because Hogwarts equated to immense maturity and sophistication in her eleven year old eyes). All she could do was think of the people she’d meet – they’d be fascinating and fabulous, of course – and the classes she’d be taking. Not many eleven year olds were as enthusiastic about learning as Andromeda, but Andromeda wasn’t like many eleven year olds, to make it fair. Hogwarts was going to be her chance to shine, to be whoever and whatever she wanted to be without the critiquing eye of her mother or the appraising eye of her father. She couldn’t wait. And even if she did come down with a case of cold feet, Bellatrix was going to be right there with her, so there was really no need to worry about anything.

…Which led her to a saddening thought of her other sister, Narcissa, who would have to return home with their mother and father tomorrow afternoon. Her face fell slightly, and Andromeda pulled her dark hair back over her shoulders. She could remember when Bella went to school and how upset she’d been, though she’d pretended to be unfazed by it all because crying was for babies. But even then, she still had Narcissa to keep her company. Who would Narcissa have now with both her and Bella out of the house? It occurred to her then that, on occasion, being the middle sister did have its perks. She’d never be the first or the last to go anywhere. She imagined the fair haired girl turning her back on her raven haired sisters and following Cygnus and Druella back through the platform. Perhaps Regulus and Sirius would provide sufficient company in her and Bella’s absence. It was a futile comfort, she knew it even as she considered it, but she was grasping at straws as hot, unnecessary guilt welled in her stomach. It occurred to her then that maybe being the middle child wasn’t always so rotten, that maybe it did have its perks. She’d never be the first or the last to go anywhere, so she’d never be alone.

With bare feet and held breath, Andromeda left her room and tiptoed down the darkened hallway to her younger sister’s door. The Black manor could be downright eerie at night when the shadows came out to play. Narcissa’s door was shut, but that meant absolutely nothing to Andromeda. She’d have knocked on Bella’s door, but she opened this one gently and spoke through the crack. “Cissa,” she hissed into the darkness, “Are you awake?”

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narcissism
2008-06-17 04:16 am UTC (link)

Narcissa hadn’t been asleep at all; she had just been lying on her bed, staring at the pink canopy overhead that was slightly blurred in the darkness. Somehow it seemed that if she absolutely refused to fall asleep, tomorrow would never come. It just wasn’t fair. Bella was leaving again, and now Meda was leaving too, and she would be all by herself in the Manor. With no one at all. Parents were nice and all that, but it wasn’t the same as having sisters. Perhaps she was overdramatising the situation as usual, but this was a genuine problem. Narcissa had been happy enough waving Bella goodbye two years ago, as she had expected her sister to be home again just in time for dinner. But she had been only seven then, and was far older and wiser now.

Pulling the covers up to her chin, she wondered if there was any way she could stop Andromeda from leaving tomorrow. Crying would only do so much, and she doubted that either Druella or Cygnus would fall for it. Falling terribly ill might work, but Narcissa had no idea how exactly one went about doing that. It was completely horrible being the youngest sometimes. Of course, being fussed over by all the relatives was fun, but she always felt like she was missing out on something. And who was she going to play with once Meda was gone? Sirius and Regulus were just babies, and she had no plans to trust them with her new rosebud tea set.

Sighing and rolling over, Narcissa sat up suddenly as the door cracked open. "Meda!" She whispered back. It was excellent timing, really, as she had planned to tiptoe down the corridor into her sister’s room in a moment. "I’m awake."

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meda
2008-06-17 04:36 am UTC (link)

She might have known that Narcissa would be awake though it was well past the hour by which Druella liked her to be asleep. Andromeda opened the door slightly wider, just enough to allow room for her to slip through, before she shut it quietly again. It seemed as though everything in the Leverer House creaked, and it wouldn’t do to wake the parents. Andromeda quite liked her younger sister’s room in all of its pink and…feminine glory. Her own room was tasteful but bordered on the drab side with her purple bedding and dark wooden accents. Narcissa’s room looked much more alive.

“You’re supposed to be asleep,” she chastised playfully as she crossed the floor and climbed into her sister’s bed, her knees tucked underneath her. The light smile faded from her face as she looked over at her sister and remembered why she’d made the trip down the hall. “So why aren’t you?” she asked after drawing in a deep, preparatory breath. She busied herself with inching closer to the head of the bed and scooting herself under the comforters; the sounds she made against the fabric of the quilts sounded loud against the silence of the night, so Andromeda made herself comfortable as quickly as possible and then lie there still as a board with one arm bent beneath her head for extra support.

Some people might think it peculiar that grown girls such as themselves (or according to themselves) would crawl in bed with one another. But most people didn’t understand the relation that the sisters Black shared with each other. They were close, and they were not guarded in their affections and loyalty to one another. In fact, Andromeda had never felt more comfortable than she did in that moment, lying there next to her sister (who had icy cold toes, she would come to learn).

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narcissism
2008-06-17 05:05 am UTC (link)

"Well, you're supposed to be asleep too," was Narcissa's creative response as the bed dipped slightly with Andromeda's weight. It was rather late at night for witty remarks and she was feeling far too gloomy to create one. It was a good thing there were enough covers for both of them, she thought, scooting over slightly. The slight chill of fall had already begun to set in. Fall was boring and wet and generally dull, with the exception of Narcissa’s birthday, of course. But the grey skies and mud would be even worse without Andromeda, Narcissa thought to herself mournfully. She would be stuck at home or sitting quietly at ladies’ luncheons and teas with Druella while Bella and Meda were having an amazing time away at school. They would get to use magic! And according to Bella, the potions professor threw splendid parties.

She sniffled and buried her head under a pillow. "I don’t want it to be tomorrow. Can’t you stay home for a little more? Just until I can come too?" The pillow restricted the clarity of her words to some extent, but the meaning was obvious. Wallowing in self pity was quite a rewarding pastime, and had always come naturally to Narcissa. It was yet another thing she managed to get away with as the baby of the family. "And you'll miss my birthday!"

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meda
2008-06-17 05:20 am UTC (link)

“Fair enough,” Andromeda relented with a smirk at her sister’s rebuttal. When Narcissa spoke next, Andromeda shifted ever so slightly to turn to look at her. She had pleading eyes – an art that she seemed to have perfected since birth – that made Andromeda feel like she’d just told her she spilled potion all over Narcissa’s new dress robes. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something but shut it just as promptly as if she’d thought better of it and needed to reconsider her words.

“You know I can’t,” she said lowly, seriously. “Not for two years, at any rate,” she added with a light laugh. Truth be told, Cygnus had enough pull that he could probably arrange for Andromeda’s arrival to be slightly delayed if she (or Narcissa) wished it enough, but Andromeda had no plans for that. “And we can have our own birthday celebration when Bella and I come home for the holidays – just you, me, and her.” Even as she said it, Andromeda knew her sister wouldn’t take to it very happily. That would make for an awfully delayed party, and missing her birthday really wasn’t the problem. “It won’t be that bad,” she ventured, knocking Narcissa’s shoulder with her own. “We can write, and you’ll still have the boys around. You’ll be the leader ‘round here, too.” Stroking ego never hurt anyone. “They’ll have to look up to you instead of me or Bella, and you’ll have Mum and Father all to yourself as well.” Not that that would be too out of the ordinary. “Like an only child. You might not want us to come back by the time you get used to it,” she finished with an airy laugh.

It was Andromeda’s favorite tactic to use when dealing with Narcissa. With cheering up the younger sister, it was always about finding silver linings and blowing them up to offset the dull of the clouds. That same approach didn’t work with Bellatrix, who rarely needed ‘cheering up,’ so to speak, anyhow.

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narcissism
2008-06-17 03:04 pm UTC (link)

Narcissa made a huffing noise and reemerged from under the pillow, debating whether to be mollified or not. It would be nice to have Druella’s undivided attention for a little while, but then, Druella had generally fussed over the baby of the family more than her elder daughters anyway. Other than that, she could not see any perks at all to being an only child. "But it won’t be the same, Meda." That was the core of the problem. They could move birthday celebrations around and write letters every day, but the fact remained that things would never go back to the way they had been before. And they never would, either. In two years, Narcissa would join her sisters at school and the trio would be together again, but nothing would be the way it was before Bella had left.

"And Sirius and Reg are just babies. And they’re boys, too. I don’t want them to touch my dolls. Sirius might break them. Or get mud on them!" There was certainly an element of truth in that- Sirius had always been far too rambunctious for Narcissa’s taste. He wasn’t coming within ten feet of her doll collection or her tea sets. Of course, nothing had actually happened yet, but that didn’t take the distinct possibilities of destruction away.

Narcissa rolled over, turning her back on her sister momentarily and rolled back as quickly. She didn’t actually want Andromeda to leave, after all. "Promise you'll write and tell me everything that happens? And show me magic when you come back at Christmas?"

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meda
2008-06-17 03:53 pm UTC (link)

“Not exactly the same,” Andromeda gave her. She knew what Narcissa meant. Nothing had really perceptibly changed between the three of them after Bellatrix left for school her first time, but even in her youth she had known that things would never go back exactly how they were. Bellatrix’s leaving had been the start of it all. It’s inevitable that things change after you leave them, but Andromeda was more worried about Narcissa changing than either she or Bellatrix. Well, Bellatrix had already gone to school for a few years and Andromeda could see no changes, and she doubted she’d come home a different person. But she did worry about Narcissa changing and about how she would miss out on things with her. She wouldn’t be around for her aforementioned birthday. What if Narcissa got a little crush? She was young, but having two older sisters kind of forced her to grow up a little earlier, too.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. But Regulus isn’t so bad, I’m sure you could trust him with a set of tea.” Her voice held some restrained laughter as she imagined her younger cousins doing such decidedly girly things. Orion probably wouldn’t like it, but then again, she figured he’d get over it. Sirius was the epitome of boy with his energetic and boisterous nature. Placing him at a table with fake tea and biscuits would be like placing, well, she couldn’t think of a comparison off the top of her head, but it would be comical, to say the least. Regulus was a little more reserved and a few years younger, so he was a little more easily persuaded. Andromeda found no reason why Narcissa couldn’t entertain herself with the younger boy; she quite liked playing with him herself.

Her lips formed a thin line when Narcissa turned her back on her and her eyes gave a good measured roll before the younger girl rolled back over again. “I already told you that I would,” she pointed out. Andromeda liked writing letters anyhow. They made her feel like she was part of an old, dying breed. Communication was growing so fancy these days – charmed objects that allowed you to talk to someone countries away, fireplaces – owling was like old faithful, something reserved for the old romantic days. Or at least that’s what she thought in her eleven year old naïveté when everything was decidedly more fabulous than it actually was. “And of course I’ll show you magic. Bella gets to go to Hogsmeade this year. I bet she’ll even bring you something back for your birthday and for Christmas.”

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narcissism
2008-06-17 07:01 pm UTC (link)

"Well, maybe Regulus," she admitted, smiling slightly for the first time. "He wouldn’t try and smash the cups or anything if he got bored." She was slowly allowing herself to be comforted; after all, the same routines of whining and sulking couldn’t last forever. And Narcissa did prefer his company to Sirius’- the babies of the family had to stick together. "I suppose I’ll have Mama invite friends over more often, so I don’t drive our poor cousins crazy."

"Oh, I hope she does!" Hogsmeade trips were supposed to be so much fun, and even Narcissa had heard of the many different stores there. Though Narcissa was never the sort to consume large amounts of sugar, she did want to hear all about the inside of Honeydukes sweetshop. And was the Shrieking Shack really haunted?

"I’ll write you a lot too. Every single day. So you don’t get homesick or miss me too much." Narcissa loved writing letters as well, at least most of the time. Of course, the obligatory monthly missives that had to be sent to various great aunts and other relatives could become quite trying. But in general, she loved the grown up feeling of sitting at a desk, quill in hand. It felt like something grown-up ladies did, and while Druella of course spent time at a desk taking care of social correspondence, it was unlikely she used bright pink ink for it. Narcissa yawned. "I hope you have fun, Meda." Surprisingly enough, there was no bitterness in her voice.

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meda
2008-06-18 03:47 am UTC (link)

“That’d be a short trip, wouldn’t it?” Andromeda snickered. Some people may say Sirius was only one visit away from Mungo’s to being completely bonkers, but she loved him for it. Sometimes grown ups were too eager to stamp out the imaginations and energies of children. But Andromeda wasn’t an adult, and could therefore appreciate it for what it was. He was just being a kid. There were occasions on which she was permitted to do the same; it grew quite frustrating to radiate proper young woman all the time.

“Every single day?” she repeated with a skeptical grin. She knew better. The letters would, no doubt, be one after the other for the first few weeks, perhaps the first couple of months even. But over time, they would slow and taper off into one letter a week or every few days. It was only natural, of course. Narcissa’s letters were good fun though – she tended to ramble and find something to say about everything under the sun. Last summer, Andromeda had stayed behind with a cousin when the Blacks went to their summer house due to a feverish illness. She and Narcissa had owled one another for the two and a half weeks they were apart, and while Andromeda’s letters were practical in nature with her to-be-expected witticisms thrown in here and there, Narcissa’s were much more drawn out and flowery. Narcissa was young, but she carried herself like an older person. The letters in which Narcissa critiqued the fashion of France at the time had been Andromeda’s favorite.

At Narcissa’s last words, Andromeda smiled lightly. The pout was gone from Narcissa’s voice, which made Andromeda feel a bit better herself. “Me too,” she said through her grin. She knew she would have fun – it was almost inevitable, wasn’t it? She was out from under her parents’ watchful eyes and would have full run of an entire castle plus the surrounding grounds…full of people to meet. She was bound to bump into someone or something fun! Her sister’s yawn proved to be contagious, and Andromeda’s blue eyes squinted shut as she let one out of her own.

“Do you mind?” she asked, snuggling deeper into her sister’s bed. It wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary for one or all of them to end up in someone else’s bed, but Andromeda, ever the polite one, always asked first.

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narcissism
2008-06-18 04:35 am UTC (link)

"Yes, Mungo's... It would be short," Narcissa agreed sleepily. Unlike Andromeda, she did not love Sirius for his childish antics. They were annoying and she certainly had not been that much trouble when she was younger. The fact that they were entirely different people did not occur to Narcissa in the slightest. Everyone was held up to the same standards of behaviour, and Sirius was sadly lacking in that department. But he was only four, and she supposed there was some time for improvement still. "And yes, a letter every single day with pictures and I’ll tell you about everything and the gowns people are wearing and what Aunt Walburga says and..."

"Of course you can stay," Narcissa’s eyelids were feeling heavy with sleep and the covers felt delightfully warm all of a sudden. (Except for her ice cold feet, which may or may not have brushed against Meda’s shins over the course of the night). She didn’t want her sister to go anywhere at all. But no matter what, Andromeda would leave for school tomorrow and not come back until December, which felt impossibly far away to Narcissa’s nine-year-old self. But some things couldn’t be helped, and perhaps you just had to spend time with the people you loved when they were there.

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