Finding Ourselves In A Dark Sky: A Six-Word Memoir || Andromeda & Narcissa
It was such a lovely evening.
Full of food and fairly content with the world as it was, Andromeda lay quite still in the tall grass, her slender face and hazel-green eyes turned skyward. Clad in a dark bottle green, long-sleeved frock that was mostly tucked underneath her slim legs, she inhaled deeply and let the air escape in a satisfied sigh. After a few more moments of staring up at the clear black canopy, embellished with thousands of tiny sparkling stars, Dromeda turned her head to her right side, where the youngest of the Black sisters lay beside her.
The light nightly breeze was cool and comforting as it wafted over the two girls, rustling the blades that hovered around them in greeting. Sounds of friendly insects and creatures filled the atmosphere, disturbed only by the occasional hoot of a nearby owl. Perhaps even her childhood environment had recognized that she was soon to be leaving this place, and was trying to send her off in the best way possible. It was a nice thought; one that pushed another satisfied exhale from her lungs. Andromeda could only drink it in while she could, savoring the sensations only the open field behind the Black Manor could give her.
With her cheek pressed against the soft grass, she watched her blonde sibling, a little smile on her lips and the twinkle that only sisterly-bonding could give poised in her irises. "I hear the sky the Great Hall is ten times better," she finally said, breaking the silence, but not because it was in any way uncomfortable. She turned her body now, too, so that she was laying on her side to face Narcissa. Moving an arm under her head to act as a pillow, she continued, "Though I suppose that might just be because everyone would be stuffing their faces with treacle tart while looking at it."
The eleven year old let out a giggle then as she lifted a pale hand to rub her eye, the bell sleeve falling down to her elbow as she did so. This was her last night at home until winter vacation, the last night that Narcissa would have someone for company other than their parents. The very next day she would be boarding the scarlet train that would take her to the place that Bellatrix hadn’t shut up about the entire year. “Hogwarts this!” and “Hogwarts that!” -- Only Merlin knew how Dromeda had kept herself from delivering a well-deserved mud-pie in the eldest’s face.
Andromeda was, of course, excited about going off to the school. She could only imagine what she’d encounter at the castle, having heard so many things about it from practically everyone. The entirety of the Black lineage had gone to Hogwarts and, as it was, every single one of them was placed into Slytherin House by the Sorting Hat. If there was anything that Dromeda was worried or anxious about, it was that fact.
It wasn’t that she thought Slytherin wasn’t her first choice, and surely she didn’t want to disappoint the whole of the Black family. But if any of her experiences could say something about Andromeda in comparison to the rest of them, it would definitely voice the observation that she was always one hesitant step behind them all. She knew she was destined to be in Slytherin; but what if she didn’t like it there?
At the moment, however, all of these thoughts were absent from her head. She was absentmindedly plucking at the flattened blades near her face as another breeze blew over them, pushing her thick brunette strands back. “Are you excited to see me off tomorrow?” Her tone was cheerful, and she reached out a slender finger to playfully poke at Cissy’s shoulder. “You’ll have the whole house to yourself for a couple of months.”