Andromeda Black

|| andromeda black || || seventh year || || Slytherin || || quidditch keeper || || head girl ||

[foreverxblackeyed]

Boathouse | September 19 | Night

Sirius -

I want to talk. Meet me at the boathouse tonight, okay? After dark. And please don’t bring anyone.

- Reg

It had been hell trying to get past Slughorn. He was on one of his semi-frequent “I am, in fact, an authority figure, and I’m going to enforce it, Merlin be damned!” kicks. Those always irked Regulus so, perhaps because of how ready he was to empathize with the poor professor. There was, in Slughorn, a sliver of who he might become. The very thought of it ignited queasy feelings of shame.

He had had to make up a story about how Professor Sprout had sent him on a last-minute emergency quest to gather a plant specimen that only grew at night. With that, he dashed off through the entrance hall, leaving Slughorn bumbling in his wake. Regulus knew that the truth would come out eventually. But, this time, desperation won over his fear of being punished. He could stand a few nights of detention for this.

And so he waited, crumpled outside the boathouse with his face to the Lake, watching the moonlight rippling over the water and hoping with all he could that Sirius would actually show.

[andromeda-ofthestars]

It had been a week since the incident with Regulus. She'd been flooded with the first set of assignments for her classes since surprise, surprise, N.E.W.T.s were actually difficult. She'd seen him very briefly at meal times or occasionally in the library or the common room, but she hadn't gotten the chance to properly talk to him. She'd written a few notes herself back to him, but felt it would be better if they talked face to face.

She found the perfect opportunity that evening when she caught sight of Regulus; unfortunately, he was leaving. Frowning to herself, she wondered where he could be sneaking off to after curfew.

When she followed him out, she was met with the same Slughorn issue. But Andromeda was Head Girl. She didn't have run of the school - though she'd like to think she did - but it wasn't hard for her to make up some excuse of responsibility. Her smile was polite, nothing too sincere too make him suspicious. He did mutter something about the Black family being busy, but he ushered her off all the same. He always spoke about how proud he was to have a Slytherin as Head Girl.

For moment, she thought she'd lost Regulus while she'd been talking to Slughorn, but she managed to follow the sound of his footsteps on the stone.

She didn't bother to hide herself once she saw where he was. She might keep a lot of secrets, but she didn't hide in the shadows. Pursing her lips, Andie cleared her throat behind him. "What in the world are you out here for, Regulus?"

[malfoypure-blog-blog]

The Magic Begins        ↳ 29: A character you’d like to see more of on your dashboard: Andromeda Tonks

[andromeda-ofthestars]

Fourth floor corridors || 12th September || Afternoon

[foreverxblackeyed]

Stop. Please, just stop.

She was trying to be nice. He recognized that in her. But every clause she threw after him, every attempt to undo the nerves she had caused, sent another dagger to his stomach. He paused in the bathroom doorway, his back to his cousin, considering a protest.

It felt uncharacteristic to hold his feelings in. He wanted, quite desperately, to be an open person. Honest communication just made more sense: it got more done, it made connections between humans simply make more sense. Instead, empty words hung on his lips.

"Yeah. Maybe." That was all he could muster.

He tripped on his feet as he dashed from the bathroom, nearly sending himself and all his books flying. There was Peeves, hovering in the hallway, cackling. As if he had known Regulus would lose his poise eventually.

"IMMOBULIS!”

His tension seemed to release itself all at once through the single spell: a second year spell, one he had learned years ago and was unlikely to fail him now. The ghost froze in mid-air. Regulus was allowed to pass freely.

Add that to the list of good things, his mind snapped at him as he flurried towards the History of Magic classroom.

[andromeda-ofthestars]

Often, she felt like she didn't quite fit into her family. But it wasn't often that she managed to notice that she might not always be the only one - excluding Sirius, who had already made it clear to the entire world. Although she loved her family, she could feel resentment towards them for their views and for never giving her a chance to be herself.

As she looked at him, she saw his hesitancy and hesitated herself. Carefully, she started to construct something more thoughtful. She had to stop letting her mouth run away from her. Maybe it was better if she just stayed quiet like her parents wanted her to, especially if she was hurting people.

She didn't get a chance to finish her speech though. Her reactions were a little too slow when she reached out to steady him. Instead, she just had to make sure she was out of the firing line from his spell, watching helplessly as he bolted off.

"Regulus!" She could've run after him too. But she convinced herself he needed to be left alone, have some time to himself. Her insides twisted with regret, she stayed in the corridor for a little while, glad no one was around. For all that she tried to tell herself she didn't care for other people's opinions, she knew that with the Black reputation to uphold, it was all that mattered.

"I'm so sorry." 

[END]

[foreverxblackeyed]

Letter to Andromeda || 14 September, 1976 || Left outside the Slytherin girls' dormitory

Andie,

I am so so so so sorry about how I acted the other day when we saw each other. I was… I don’t know. I was in a horrible mood. I’m okay now I promise. I shouldn’t have run out like that though.

[asgardianthunder-archive-bl-blog]

The most in-depth 30 day character development meme you'll ever find.

Because I wanted to see something that really got into the nitty gritty details of a character.

I tried to organize it into sections and equalize the amount of writing you’d be doing each day, but obviously that’s going to vary from character to character. Good luck, and may the force be with you.

Read More

[andromeda-ofthestars]

Day 1 || Basics and cosmetic

Age? 17

Date of Birth? 13 June 1959

Hair color? Brown

Eye color? Brown

Skin color/nationality? White/British

Accent (if any)? Well spoken Standard English accent, but mostly influenced by her parents since she didn't go out and about in muggle London very often.

Height? 163cm

Weight? 71kg

Tattoos? None, although technically she could put on a magical temporary one. Her mother would get really angry and make her remove it if she did.

Piercings? She has the simple ear piercing but anything more would be bordering on barbaric.

Birthmarks? None

Disfigurements? None

Scars? She has a small pair of scars on the inside of her thighs from a flying incident where the broom shattered and her leg got torn by the sharp wooden pieces. She never told her parents about it and left the wound to heal mostly naturally after she'd received medical attention from the nurse at school.

Do they have any nicknames? Where did they come from? Often she gets called Andie or Dromeda or some variation on that, purely because Andromeda is something of a mouthful.

[andromeda-ofthestars]

Great Hall || 14th September || Evening

[mc-whatever]

Marlene’s grin grew as Andromeda agreed to fly with her - she always enjoyed flying with someone else and it would be especially interesting because they had ever flown together before. Only against each other - but then again not really either considering they played diffrent positions and thus didn’t interact much throughout a game.

"Brilliant"; Marlene said and moved next to her, so they were walking down to the pitch side by side. If someone had told her this morning she would be going flying with a Slytherin later on, she would have laughed them in the face, but Andromeda didn’t carry herself like most Slytherins did - with an arrogant and proud expression on their faces that was already displayed in the way they moved. "Sure, ifyou want, I’d love to get out a Snitch. Gets me some practice", she agreed, somehow trusting Andromeda enough already to not spill about this to her team.

"Oh, he was?" Marlene asked and let out a lou, yet brief laugh, finding anything she could tease Sirius with someting to enjoy. "He might not admit it to me, but thank you for telling, because that will be so much fun to tease him with", she replied, a cheerful grin now constantly plastered onto her face. The other girl really was rather sympathetic.

[andromeda-ofthestars]

As she walked alongside Marlene, she glanced at her casually and wondered if she would like to be like Marlene.

Andromeda liked herself. She was confident in her capabilities and despite how she came across, she was proud, as proud as any Slytherin ever was. But she'd spent enough time practising humility too, and bowing her head. After thinking for a while on why she'd gotten the badge, she'd thought that might have contributed - she would talk to anyone and being Head Girl wasn't just about top grades.

But Marlene was passionate; she could see it in the way she walked and talked and smiled and something real lit up her face. Andie could forget when she was telling the truth and when she was just being polite. She did everything carefully, no matter how much she told herself she was free.

"I wanted to be a Seeker, but the position wasn't free. I think I prefer Keeper now, so I'm glad. But still, I know what I'm doing. Though I can't vouch for my eyesight. You're not allowed to tell Potter that."

"Whenever you want a story about Sirius, I am happy to give them out. That's what family are for, aren't they?" The statement hurt, because that certainly wasn't what they were taught in the Black family.

Her gaze moved up to the pitch that was coming up ahead. A small figure on a broom was swooping about already up there. Andromeda immediately and irrationally thought, Why is someone playing on the pitch? I'm going to play on the pitch. "Hmm. Is that someone playing on the pitch already?"

[andromeda-ofthestars]

Great Hall || 14th September || Evening

[mc-whatever]

"It’s not a problem", Marlene replied with a smile as the other girl tucked her gloves away and thanked her. The grin she got in return rather surprised her, Andromeda always seemed to be so proper and perfectly shiny, seeing that kind of a grin on her face was not something you saw usually.

But then again, Andromeda had always been rather hard to read for Marlene. According to Sirius, she wasn’t as carzily insane as his other cousins, but she was still a Slytherin and didn’t seem to mind the fact either - something Marlene could entirely not relate to. She supposed it might be a little prejudiced, but she had never seen a Slytherin doing something good and even though always were exceptions, Andromeda still seemed just fine in a house full of snakes. Or so Marlene thought at least, in the end it wasn’t like she had particularly watched the Black girl.

"Oh yes, I am!" Marlene replied with a chuckle, briefly looking over at her broom as well. "I hope you don’t mind it? I haven’t gone flying since coming back to Hogwarts and I just really miss it. If you’d like, we could even fly together?" It was an offer she hadn’t thought of saying until it was out of her mouth, but quite frankly she didn’t mind very much. After all, Sirius had told her she wasn’t so bad.

[andromeda-ofthestars]

"No, it'd be lovely to have someone to fly with. I don't know where the rest of my team is. I don't know when practices are going to be scheduled either." She just wanted to fly - that was the long and short of it. "You can practise with me. We could even get out a Snitch to chase. Technically you'd have the upper hand, playing Seeker and all, but I'm sure I can manage." Nothing got Andromeda's fun side out like a little competition. It was a Slytherin trait of hers that pulled her out on top and got her the Head Girl position. Ambition. One of the positive sides of Slytherin that was ignored by everyone else. She'd given up trying to explain that.

The only common ground she could think of was Sirius at that point in time. As she pulled open the front door, holding it for Marlene behind her, she said over her shoulder, "I used to play with Sirius and Regulus. I wasn't really supposed to, but it was fun. He'll never tell you but I was definitely faster than him when we were younger." It was good to be able to talk about Sirius openly and easily - after all, Marlene was hardly going to care.

[harrypotterhousequotes]

[andromeda-ofthestars]

Great Hall || 14th September || Evening

[mc-whatever]

Marlene McKinnon loved flying. She always had, since she had been able to mount a broom as a little kid, and she always would, so much was sure. But since she had come back to Hogwarts for her sixth year, she hadn’t yet gotten then chance to go flying and she had bloody missed it.

There wasn’t even a particular reason why she hadn’t gone just yet, but something had always seemed to get in the way. Either it was too much rain for just a brief flight, or the already massive pile of homework she had to do, or sometimes just her own huge tiredness that had kept her from grabbing her broom and going for a flight.

But not tonight. Marlene had been thinking about doing it all day and nothing was going to keep her from doing that.

A smile spread on her lips as she descended the stairs from the Gryffindor tower, getting closer and closer to the Quiditch pitch, when she finally entered the Entrance Hall, walking right by the doors to the Great Hall, and nearly tripped over something small on the floor. A green glove.

She looked around, to spot the owner of it, not taking long when she figured there was only one person, who could have been carrying these as anyone else was entering the Great Hall instead of walking towards the grounds.

"Andromeda!" Marlene called and quickly hurried after her, snorting slightly, when she saw how the girl nearly knocked someone over with her broom as she turned. "I think you lost something."

[andromeda-ofthestars]

"Marlene." Absently, she turned to the student behind her and apologised. It was the right thing to do, she supposed. A Head Girl should always be polite, even overly polite. Andromeda quickly turned back, a careful smile fixed in place.

She was never quite sure what to make of Marlene - she was just another one of Sirius' friends that felt like they lived on the opposite side to her. Why sides had been established so long ago was beyond her, but they were there. Marlene did remind her a little of Sirius in some ways.

She took the glove and tucked it in her pocket. "Thank you. I love those dragonskin gloves." A sly grin crept over her usual polite, straight up one. "Especially since they're in the best colour. Anyway..." Andie held up her broom, looking pointedly at the Marlene's broom too. "Snap. Are you off to fly too?"

[andromeda-ofthestars]

Fourth floor corridors || 12th September || Afternoon

[foreverxblackeyed]

That was the thing about Andie: she was, it seemed, flawless at redirection. She knew which buttons to push, the right worry to gently place into her cousin’s head to focus his attention back on himself. He didn’t even realize she had done it; not this time. The concept of “marriage” as it applied to himself was enough to sink his energy so low he could feel it in his body, weighing him down.

"No…" he mumbled, placing his hands inside his pockets. The fervor trickled from his voice, now.

Marriage wafted in his future like an ominous cloud in the distance. He could usually console himself with a simple reminder that it wasn’t his problem yet; he was too young; he didn’t need to worry about it now. Eventually, he knew, he would have to address it, and he told himself that by then his bent brain would fix itself out. Perhaps, some day, he would learn to shake hands firmly and flash a genuine, welcoming smile. Perhaps, some day, there would exist a woman who sent butterflies to his stomach, and if he was lucky — just maybe — she would be pureblood.

"I-I should go. Class… it’s starting, any minute now." The words vibrated on his lips, barely open enough to properly articulate the vowels. His hazy glance fixated on the door in a strong effort to shield his periphery from the mirrors. "Maybe I’ll see you in the Common Room later, okay?" He tagged this last bit on hastily, suggestive of an apology.

[andromeda-ofthestars]

Half of her felt immensely relieved. Andie could see her redirection of conversation had worked - the keen look had disappeared from his eye and he'd withdrawn slightly, not exuding the same outward enthusiasm. But for those same reasons, she felt guilty. It was a terrible thing to do to your cousin, to family. It was a form on manipulation. But that was how her parents had treated her; apparently, she was becoming like them, which scared her immensely.

Not to mention she seemed to have just brought his general mood crashing down.

"Oh, of course." Andromeda nodded, her gut heavy. "I think I have a free period so I'll probably go to the library. Can't have you being late because of me though. Although maybe you could use me being Head Girl as an excuse." They always tried to use their family privileges in some way. "I'll definitely see you in the common room."

She couldn't have them part, even just to classes like this though. As she started to the door with him, she tried for a light, breezy tone. It wasn't one of her best ones. "You know it's a very long time away. I was only teasing." It wasn't very nice teasing though, I know. "You won't get married for ages. And then I bet it will be the most lovely girl in the world. You'll fall in love and have a more beautiful wedding than us all. With the best suit." She was digging herself a hole instead of climbing out, but she felt like she had to redeem herself some way. 

"You might even get to choose." Classic, Andromeda, she scolded herself.

[andromeda-ofthestars]

Great Hall || 13th September || Morning

"I hate when other people ruin things for other people." Andie made a sour face at her breakfast, prodding the cereal with her spoon distastefully. She didn't feel like it. "Of course if you fight they're going to cancel Quidditch."

[andromeda-ofthestars]

Busted

Your character will catch mine doing something they shouldn’t.

She didn’t expect the girl to turn around with red rimmed eyes and deep shadows cast all over her face. She slowed down her brisk march, half turning back to her patrolling partner who had wandered down the other end of the corridor to the toilet. He was always needing to go to toilet - it was ridiculous. There was only so many times you could lecture someone on their bladder though.

His back was to her and he darted into boy’s toilet without even looking back at her. That was a good thing, she supposed. He had less tact than a charging bull.

Then again, she wasn’t exactly queen of tact herself sometimes. Take her previous statement for an example. But how was she supposed to know she’d be out here crying? What was she doing out here?

Mary whispered a hi. Her eyes went wide as saucers.

"Mary." It wasn’t often she used her gentle voice. It was too close to her demure voice for Black family occasions, the one her mother wanted her to use. "What are you doing out here?"

Andromeda was strict. She was supposed to be, being Head Girl. But she also had a heart, contrary to what people thought about the Blacks as a family. She knew what happened to Mary. She’d heard it from the attackers’ side first and foremost, but she saw it from her side. It had sounded horrible.

The other girl spoke again - this time a little more audibly. “I didn’t mean to. It was an accident. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I was just…j-just.”

"You shouldn’t be out here alone. There’s curfew for a reason."

She glanced over her shoulder again.

"Look, it’s okay." She wasn’t quite sure how to act with someone on such a personal basis. "Just go back now. Go right back, walk fast. Take the short cut through the moonlight picnic tapestry." It was a horrible tapestry. Too bright and sunny. "Nobody will see you."

Andie gave Mary a nudge to push her on her way. But all she could think about as she half stumbled away from her was the harsh Cruciatus incantation that she’d heard far too many times.

"Wait." She took a few quick steps to step next to her. Her patrolling partner was a bore anyway. He could take care of himself.

They walked to Gryffindor tower in complete silence. At one point, she pulled a tissue from her pocket and put it in her hands. Normally she talked a lot, but this time she just let it be. She had nothing to say that could help her.

Knowing she really should go back to partner, she gave Mary a quick smile - it was a real, warm smile though. And then she left, feeling something like satisfaction but better.

[nephilimdaily]

Lily Collins attends the ‘Love, Rosie’ premiere in Rome (October 19)

[andromeda-ofthestars]

Fourth floor corridors || 12th September || Afternoon

[foreverxblackeyed]

"I guess," he mumbled absentmindedly, the top half of his body draped over a sink as he examined himself in the mirror. Another day of looking like hell. He splashed a few drops of cool water beneath his eyes, puffy from too many nights of interrupted sleep and awakening with the first rays of morning. The cold felt nice on his skin, at least.

His cousin was hovering by the door, looking especially stiff and uncomfortable. A strange reaction, he thought, to such a relaxing environment.

Of course, he hadn’t picked up on her persistent attempts to change the subject. He was much too concerned with his own well being, and she was much too good at subtlety. Still, he couldn’t help but notice the sullen drops in her pitch, the waves of dejection in her physicality.

"Are you okay, Andie?" He turned his head slightly to look at her, his body still wholly engaged with the sink and the mirror. "You seem kinda… Are you? Okay?"

[andromeda-ofthestars]

As she talked to him, her eyes slid from him to her own reflection, staring back at her defiantly in the mirror. It was exactly how she looked when she was with other people - proud and supposedly her own person. But Andromeda knew people were sometimes different inside. She wondered what she looked like when she thought no one was looking, not even herself. It was a hard task to catch yourself off guard though.

"I promise that whatever happens, you'll get your chance to have the fair share of input into my wedding." Every word choice was subtly checked to make sure it wasn't an outright lie. She didn't plan to marry Xavier, but she would still want Regulus to help plan her marriage if she ever did get married. Whether he'd want to was another matter.

Her smile was already fixating in place - it was an automatic reaction to the phrase 'Are you okay?'. "Oh yes, I'm good Reg." She wished she could tell him the truth about her feelings for Xavier which were pretty much non-existent. Perhaps she could tell him another half truth. "Just a marriage is such a big thing. Can you imagine getting married in a couple of years?"

"Stop worrying so much over how you look." Though the bags under his eyes weren't as bad as he probably thought, they still made her worry. "The good looks are in the blood, remember?" she smiled sardonically. The blood theory made her want to roll her eyes most of the time, but she knew that their whole family was very attractive. She didn't believe it had anything to do with being a pureblood, but she would still say the Black family had something. Nobody could deny that.

[raisedhunter-deactivated2019061]

[rpmissionboard]

raisedhunter:

☠Send me one at your leisure and I will write a drabble based on what you send— Other prompts are always welcomed and encouraged if it’s not stated on this list.

Send any of these to me at your leisure and I will write it— Please be specific to who is…

[nephilimdaily]

[andromeda-ofthestars]

Lily Collins was photographed outside the ITV studios in London (October 6th)