tarnished

Andromeda Black, Code 3, 25, Owner of Black's Bookstore

[emilianadupont]

Greta hadn’t been working the day the attack on her colleague happened, but that didn’t mean it shook her up any less. She was terrified that they’d target her next and it felt like the room was closing in on her. Trying to pull herself together she took a deep breath, unaware that someone came over and tried speaking to her. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” 

[andrxmeda-black]

“I asked if you were all right.” Andromeda didn’t know Greta well, but she knew of her, and that she was a fellow worker in Diagon Alley - the Leaky Cauldron itself, no less. She took a step closer to the woman in front of her and placed a comforting, yet hesitant, hand on her shoulder, trying to root Greta back to where she was, to try and calm her down. “This isn’t the place to be having a panic attack. Do you want to sit down somewhere else?”

[andrxmeda-black]

Andromeda hadn’t thought about her safety, or anything other than her shop when she had heard the news about Diagon Alley. That old and dusty little shop was her livelihood, her only means of income and supporting herself and it terrified her to know that it could be damaged, or worse. No-one could have stopped her, even if they had tried as she ran trough the cobbled streets, only to come face to face with the smashed windows and broken down wooden door of her second home. Sucking in a deep breath, the woman crouched down and picked up one of many of the books that had been knocked off their shelves, defiled, torn apart and scattered about as if they were nothing more than old pieces of parchment. 

Feeling her eyes start to well up, Andromeda stood up very quickly as she heard a voice behind her, keeping her back to whoever it was that had spoken. “I’m fine.” She wasn’t even sure that was a response to whatever they had said to her, as she hadn’t been listening. “Please leave me alone.”

[evcnrcsicr]

“You have no idea.” He joked before he leaned on the counter. “I wish I knew.” He admitted. “My father’s been on a bit of a high and mighty bender. Said I’ve shamed the family by working for a place like St. Mungo’s.” Sighing, he toyed with one of the books and shrugged. “Guess disappointment runs in the blood there.”

[andrxmeda-black]

“You’re talking to the queen of shaming the family.” Andromeda almost scoffed the words as Evan spoke about what was going on in his life, and she let out a soft sigh and reached out to pat his arm lightly. “You’re doing good work at St Mungo’s, just ignore him.”

[andrxmeda-black]

oflilyevans‌:

Lily knew how the Black family worked. Not completely, of course, but she knew enough to make a pretty fair judgement, if you asked her. She understood that family could be complicated ( her mind jumped to her sister and all the letters that had gone unanswered by her ), but that there was complicated and fucked up. She felt that the Blacks fell in the latter category. Still, she tried to treat Andromeda with kindness, at least — the other had not yet given her reason not to, and Lily tried hard to judge people on what they showed her. And if what she was shown wasn’t real, then at least she had the moral upperhand, she figured.

She didn’t get Andromeda, though, but then, it wasn’t as if they were anything more than vague acquaintances. “Oh, yes, that’s perfect. I do love a long book, you know, but I just don’t have the time to commit to one of those right now.” She pulled a book from the shelf, observing the back for a second. “This one any good?”

Andromeda watched Lily walk around her shop to the section where she kept the fiction books, not meaning to look like a hawk watching it’s prey but she was pretty sure she was coming off like that. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the muggleborn girl, or trust her - it was just in the way that she was brought up to be wary of people like her. It was hard for her to stop completely, despite wanting to, and knew it would take time.

“That one isn’t bad, but if you go along three to the right, that one is much better. They have a similar story line, but that one had the better author - the story telling is incredible and the characters almost come alive from the page, despite it only being a short novel.”

[andrxmeda-black]

naturallyxtonks‌:

Ted smiled reflexively, glad that Andie was not yet immune to his charms. In truth, even when he was away he thought about Andromeda every day, but he was kind of a goof and somehow Andie still wanted to be his friend. The black stem of the Moly with its pearly-white flower petals complimented Andromeda well, he had only picked the flower on a whim but had had Andie in mind when he did. Whatever he faced out in the world, or whatever mess Ted managed to get himself to – that smile never failed to keep him motivated.

Unlike so many of Andromeda’s relatives, her laugh didn’t hold the slightest inflection of cruelty it was like – coming up for air – and Teddy forgot that he had been drowning. “Phew” Ted exclaimed, wiping his brow with an exaggerated gesture, “does this mean you’ll come over and let me cook dinner? Nothing says sorry like pizza.” It was no secret that Ted couldn’t cook, but what he could do was order from one of the best muggle pizzerias in England.

A man like Ted had never been Andromeda’s type before; someone goofy and air headed, with their feet never firmly planted on the ground. He was erratic, hard to track and someone she had never seen herself falling for - but perhaps that was part of the fun in their relationship. What mattered more than anything was that they enjoyed each other’s company, and whilst many would say that Tonks was that final push that made her leave her family, he just helped her see what she had truly been trying to hide from all along.

“Pizza?” Andromeda let a laugh pass through her lips as she let her hand fall back down by her side, however still holding on to the beautiful flower between her slender digits. “I haven’t actually had pizza since the last time you came over.” It wasn’t something that had been a common meal in her household as she grew up - in fact, pizza was never something that Druella would consider giving to her children when there were so many healthy options out there for them to eat.“That pineapple one though was horrendous, let’s please not order that one again.” 

[melancoliedesames]

[myfairylily]

[andrxmeda-black]

Andromeda and Nymphadora, sometime in the future. Taken by @naturallyxtonks, watching over his girls.

[andrxmeda-black]

narcissblck‌:

Discomfort began to build in the young woman, beyond its usual perimeters. It was so odd to be around her sister, speaking of things that happened before. Before the act of betrayal that remained a forbidden subject. “He’s a Black, resilient is one of the many things we are.” After she had spoken those words the young woman questioned her use of the word we, for she knew she didn’t mean Andromeda. Discomfort slowly took over as she noted the smile on the other’s lips and in turn her own seemed to turn downwards into a frown. She reached for the books, hugging them to her chest and immediately retreating into the one thing she knew distance. The young woman turned to walk away, not another word would escape her lips, but this also was a lie. 

For a few moments later she turned towards Andromeda once more, but rather than a thank you being spoken she asked bitterly, “What would you say the worst spell you have ever encountered is?” Narcissa knew the worst she had encountered was far from being magic, and this was the moment her mind won over her composure. Dark hues wandered to meet the other’s as she intently awaited a response. 

The use of the ‘we’ in the sentence sent prangs to her heart that she wasn’t sure she would ever feel again - that same hurt she felt when she left the family home, watching her younger sister’s face fall as she closed the door behind her, never for it to be opened again. Watching as Narcissa stepped backwards and away from her with the books in her hand, all Andie wanted to do is reach out and touch her, to pull her close and ensure that she knew that she was still loved. 

Words that she had never expected to slip from Narcissa’s lips then hit her ears, and she crossed her arms over her chest, letting her gaze drop down for only a moment. Andromeda could see more and more each time she saw her sister, that she was going further down a road that she wouldn’t be able to return from, and there was nothing she could do about it - not anymore. “Don’t do this, Narcissa.”

[evcnrcsicr]

Chuckling, he shrugged his shoulders. “A researcher decided to get to close and got gored with a horn. It’s causing some really strange side effects to the already obvious injuries. Very seldom will you see anything like that ever again, so I wish to be thorough for now.” While Evan was close with Narcissa, he always found the dynamics in the Black family to be so… strange. He respected Andromeda, for having the gall to do what he couldn’t. And somehow, he envied her too. “How have you been? Business is good, I hope?”

[andrxmeda-black]

“What an idiot.” Andromeda muttered under her breath at the idea of a human getting too close to a unicorn during mating season. She honestly couldn’t understand the stupidity of people sometimes, and it rather got on her nerves. “Of course, let me look for that book on animal injuries for you to see if there is anything in there.” She stepped away from the counter and moved around to another bookshelf, scanning to see what she could find. “Business is well, I suppose. It could be much worse.” She spoke, her eyes still looking over the bindings of the books. “I’ve been all right though, how about you? Hows your family?”

[andrxmeda-black]

naturallyxtonks‌:

Somehow Tonks got the impression that he was only making things worse, he’d hoped to surprise Andie, but that had all gone to pot now. It was hard because she was the first person he thought of when he woke up in the morning,  the last one before he went to bed, and the bulk of everything in between. Still, he’d obviously hurt her feelings, and he was too dense to realize that until now, once again, he felt like a big fool, but she hadn’t stormed off. So that was promising.

“No, of course not - I just.” He sighed for a moment, in truth he’d just been busy. That always seemed to be the case with him. There was always some big adventure that he was putting together in his head, always some biscuit he had to risk it for. “I’m sorry?” He offered as he reached into his bag and fished around, the extension charm was not his own handiwork, but Andie’s. Now it was teeming with things he could never keep track of. Gripping a stem, he pulled out the Moly flower and held it out towards Andromeda. “Forgive me - please? Pretty please with chocolate frogs and only the good flavors of beans on top?”

Andromeda watched as it almost seemed a light had turned on inside the head of Edward, and he noticed that he had upset her. That was what she wanted. For Ted to notice that she was upset, that she was hurt and that he should have cared more about her. Part of her knew that she was over-reacting, that she knew he had better things to think about than her a lot of the time - but that didn’t mean she wasn’t allowed to be upset.

Watching as he delved his hand into his bag, extending up to the elbow unlike any normal bag from the muggle world - a charm that she happened to be exceptionally good at and had thought would help the man on his travels to Merlin only knew where, she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, waiting to see what was brought out.  The slightest smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she took the flower into her hands, twirling it around slowly as she got a better look at it.

“All right, I suppose you’re forgiven. This is beautiful, thank you.”

[andrxmeda-black]

naturallyxtonks‌:

Despite some quality eyebrow work, Teddy had barely gotten a reaction out of Andie at all, but feeling her embrace him was the best homecoming he could have asked for. Lingering for a moment he thought about her question, he started rattling off facts about the Amazon and how his cat had gotten into the greenhouse while he was gone and there was torn up vegetables and broken pots everywhere as soon as he’d gotten back.

It was after a beat of excitedly talking about how he’d gone about measuring the jaw strength of a zombie when she murmured softly to him. Obviously he wasn’t making her feel any better, the offhanded remark triggered something of a light bulb though as he looked sheepishly at Andromeda. Well, of course he missed her. “Of course I did,” Ted said easily, as she pulled away from him. Nervously, Teddy’s hand came up to scratch at the back of his head, covering his nerves with a cheeky grin he just chuckled, “I just got home a couple days ago, did you miss me?” 

A couple of days? Andromeda was doing her best to keep herself under wraps at this point in time, to not bite Ted’s head off. How he had been back in the city for the last couple of days and hadn’t come to see her? She had thought that she was someone important in her life, but perhaps she had been wrong - perhaps she was thinking too much into this, but she couldn’t help but be hurt by his words.

The way that Ted had rambled on about what he had been doing in the rain forest with his cat had been rather cute and endearing, but the anger inside of her still sat there, stagnating like water in a pond which threatened to spill out when she pulled away from the hug. At least he had missed her, that was a small consolation. “I did miss you, yes. That’s why I’m a little annoyed you didn’t come to visit. Did you forget where my flat or bookshop are?”

[andrxmeda-black]

naturallyxtonks‌:

Ted smiled despite Andie’s tone, he quickly scratched the colloquial name for the fungus fools webcap on that paper and closed his notebook. His smile softened further instinctively as he felt himself flush slightly under her scrutiny - perhaps more than a few moments too late, Teddy realized that the woman was upset with him for some reason. Recovering in the best way he knew how he cautioned the person who had been his longstanding… well, person, really. She’d been one of the few constants in his magical world, and it was nice seeing her now. He’d meant to tell her when he’d gotten home but he’d gotten lost and busy somewhere between his plants and the various critters in his home. 

“Andie!” Ted exclaimed as he looked over her shoulder while collecting the fungus to bring home - it was certainly better than leaving it here to be ingested by some poor muggle’s dog on their morning walk.  “Have to be careful with this one, it’s poisonous. What’d I miss?” He asked, wiggling his eyebrows slightly in an attempt to turn that frown of hers upside down before he took his gloves off and put them in his bag with his notebook and the sample. Ted stood at last and moved to give her a hug, maybe the nature of their past and their relationship was a bit unconventional, but one thing that had never changed was his affection for Andromeda Black. 

Unfortunately for her, it seemed that Andromeda had fallen for someone who’s brain was never truly in one place at one time. Her mind was always set facing forward with what was at hand, whereas Ted was such a free spirit, someone who let his mind wander and she had a very good feeling that he had no idea that she was rather angry with him - and would find it rather hard to explain why.

“What did you miss?” Andie replied, raising her eyebrows at the main in front of her as he tried to pull a funny expression, obviously trying to make her laugh. A slight quiver on the corner of her lips was the closest that she came to a smile before her beau leaned in towards her and wrapped his arms around her in a hug, her own arms responding almost automatically. 

“You missed me, I hope, Edward.” She murmured softly, her voice loosing a slight edge of it’s bite. “When did you get back into town?” She questioned him as she pulled away from the embrace, looking at the familiar face that she always seemed to miss so much when he was away.

[ezekielxhartxurquhart]

A request had been made of Teddy. A witch had written him saying that her owl had broken its wing, and since been unable to fly. Though the wing itself was easily mended, the trauma from the break had kept the bird from flying and the creature was becoming increasingly lethargic; recently not even bothering to leave its cage. Concerned, Ted had gone to London to meet with the girl and her familiar, after agreeing to a small fee of one pepperup potion, Teddy packed up the bird and headed back out into the cool October day.

Ted whistled lightly as he decided to cut through the park on his way towards the apparition point. Dressed plainly he stopped suddenly when he noticed a grouping of cortinarius orellanus, cropping up at the edge of the path where the gravel met the grass. Crouched next to the plant he placed the owl’s cage down onto the grass and took out his notebook. As he jotted down some observations, a small smile formed on his lips - completely oblivious to his surroundings and just how much time passed. He started to make a crude sketch of the fungi before he realized that he wasn’t alone, turning towards the sound Ted sheepishly asked, “-Uh, hi?” 

[andrxmeda-black]

Sometimes, Andromeda rather enjoyed eating her lunch in the park. When it was a day like this, where the sun was shining and all she needed on was a light jacket, it was nice to escape the confines and comfort of her small bookshop. There was one particular bench that the woman always liked to sit on, just in front of a small flower bed of pansies and peonies and with a view of the pond to her right - and truly it was one of her happy places.

This time on her way to the park however, Andromeda’s heart skipped a beat in her chest when she spotted the back of a very familiar person with an owl in a cage beside him. She could pride herself on being able to recognise people by small features, and with Ted, it was no different - perhaps even more so as she knew almost every curve of his body. The small box that her lunch was packed in was clenched between curled fingers as she walked up towards her... well, whatever he was at this point in time, peering over his shoulder to see not only was he drawing fungus, but rather crudely as well.

“Edward Tonks,” the tone of her voice was not polite or graceful as she always liked it to be, but filled with a bite as she tried to hold back her anger, “are you seriously drawing a picture of a a rude mushroom on your brief trip to London? That’s what you wanted to do?”

[andrxmeda-black]

legatvm‌:

     “Andie, have you got any books on runes? Any anti-curse runes? Mostly runes, but,” Alice was too preoccupied at the task at hand to properly greet Andromeda, a stack of promising looking books already in her arms. Right now, she was on a mission, she had a goal – talking to Andromeda could wait until after she’d at least narrowed down all the books in the store that she needed. Besides, she’d brought some teas in her knapsack, hoping after she picked her books, they’d have a few moments to spare & talk. 

     “How’s your day been, by the way? I’ve got some goodies in my bag, but, as you can see, I’m getting a whole bunch of books today. A woman on a mission, I am, it’s that SLYTHERIN AMBITION,” picking another book, Alice tried to reorganize her stack of books to make it more comfortable to hold. “Also, you’ve got anything new in on Herbology? I’d ask about xylomancy too, but, you know there’s only about three people besides me in the universe who actually care for that form of Divination.”

Alice was most likely the person that Andromeda would call her best friend, apart from Ted of course. There was something about the bubbly blonde that had connected with Andromeda, and the two had become rather close since leaving school, with both of them being pureblood and falling into the ‘wrong’ side of the war, according to their families. More precisely, her family. The blonde seemed rushed however, and a short laugh left her lips.

“Hi Alice, how are you today?” Almost a tone of sarcasm in her voice which was rare for the general poised and proper Andromeda, and a further laugh left her lips as the woman picked up book after book and placed them down on the counter in front of her. “You are on a mission, that’s for sure.” She raised her eyebrows up as she looked over at her friend. “Perhaps leave the Herbology book for now, and I’ll place a couple of the new ones behind the desk for you because even with a few of my big bags, I think you’re going to struggle carrying these. What’s got you in such a hurry?”

[andrxmeda-black]

optimismi‌:

     The only one of the Black sisters whose time she could stand, Dorcas visited her shop almost once week. Or, at least, St. Mungo’s still felt up to providing her her days off. Although Dorcas may not have considered Andromeda her closest mate, they were usually friendly enough to at least exchange pleasantries during her visits to the bookshop. Today, however, Andromeda seemed to have other things on her mind. 

“ Afternoon, ” she repeated hesitantly, by way of greeting. “ I’m looking for the new edition of Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean, if you have it ? … How are things at the shop ? All right ? ”

Dorcas was perhaps someone that Andromeda would have gotten along with in schoo if they were the same age; someone that she could have chatted with and been friends with, generally had a pleasant time with. However, their friendship had grown over the recent years, so much so that the middle Black daughter actually smiled when Dorcas walked into her shop. They weren’t the best of friends, but she classed her as a friend. 

“Dorcas, nice to see you this afternoon. You’re a day late though, don’t you normally visit on Thursdays?” Andromeda spoke with a brightness in her voice that was only reserved for a few people. Bending down behind her little counter, the woman placed the book that Dorcas had asked for in front of her. “I kept a copy back for you. And it’s been going rather well, thank you - a regular stream of customers is nice. How’s the Hospital?”

[andrxmeda-black]

mssrxsblack‌:

Andie was an important person to Sirius, more in recent years than ever before.  Which isn’t to say he didn’t always love her but between the age difference and her spending much of his childhood at Hogwarts and then him being at school as she tackled adulthood, it had been harder to form that bond.  Growing up he had been closest to Narcissa, to everyone’s great surprise since they weren’t exactly of similar temperaments, but that had never meant that Sirius didn’t love Andromeda.    

Since he’d left home, though, she’d become more important to him than he ever could have guessed.  Not just because she’d done it too, not just because she believed the same things he did.  But because in his darkest moments when he bordered dangerously on regretting his decision, she showed him that he’d made the right choice.  That leaving hadn’t been cowardice but self preservation.  

He laughed at her surprise, falling into step beside her.  “I didn’t surprise a lady, I surprised my cousin,” he said with an impish tone to his voice, one he’d perfected over a life time of knowing her.  “Is dark wizardship a prerequisite for being in Knockturn at all now?  Shit.  That’s me in trouble.  Don’t tell my boss, I rather like this job.  Late night is prime time for idiots making bad decisions, I get some of my best customers after dark and a few firewhiskeys have made them brave.”

“Your cousin is still a lady, and if she was any less of a lady, she would have slapped you for making such a comment. Honestly, your manners are just getting worse and worse.”  Andromeda teased him, a knowing smile on her face would alert him to the fact that her words were truthful, but they were not meant to hurt or upset him in anyway. 

Andie tutted at the next words to leave his lips, and started to head towards her flat, wondering if Sirius would just follow her until he came in for a warm cup of tea, or perhaps a drink of whatever alcohol she had stored in her fridge or drinks cabinet. “Well, I suppose if it’s prime time for you, then it’s best to stay late. Although, I worry about your morals if you’re willing to tattoo people who aren’t in their right mind.”

[andrxmeda-black]

oflilyevans‌:

She didn’t know how she did it — work hard at her job, attend the order meetings, go on missions, keep her head down and still have time left to be horribly, undeniably bored. With the amount of things on her planner, she shouldn’t even be thinking of ways to keep herself amused, to keep her body and mind moving and yet … here she was, staring at the covers of books, wondering which one might be worth her time.

The issue was that many of them caught her attention. Lily had been an avid reader as a child, and while she didn’t have enough time left to read as much as she would want, she still loved to drown in a story every now and then. She looked up when Andromeda addressed her, smiled a polite but sincere smile. “I need some recommendations. Well, one only, really, as I’m trying to restrict myself from buying a whole shelf. So — if I want a nice distraction and a quick read, what should I treat myself to?”

Sometimes, Andromeda felt conflicted and confused, and this was one of those moments. The moment that Lily Evans with her red bouncy hair and bright smile on her lips walking into her bookshop, greeting her as a friend, someone on the same level as her. Andie had been brought up to believe that she was a separate entity from those who did not have pureblood, that she was completely different but that’s not how she felt internally. Andromeda knew it was wrong, and she knew that there was no difference between her and muggleborns, but something still tugged at her when someone such as Lily came into view. It was something that she was trying to keep under control - but only barely.

“Of course,” she began, and pointed towards a section towards the left back corner of her shop, with a polite smile still on her lips, “over there are the shorter novels, fiction of course, but very easy reads. I’ve probably gone through most of them at least twice since opening the store.”