"Don't hide yourself in regret
Just love yourself and you're set"

TW//child abuse
The world thinking being afraid of the dark was for children showed the stupidity that could spread like wildfire. Some might say they aren't afraid of the dark, but what's inside of it, yet that did not do any justice to what the darkness did to those who were left in it alone.

Andromeda found out very quickly what the darkness could do to your mind. Like a foreign army with a well trained general, the darkness took hold of one's thoughts. She laid curled up in a ball on the floor, feeling like a dementor had taken residence right outside the door.

Not only was the basement dark, but it was cold. She still wore only her banquet dress and a fresh layer of tears.

Perhaps, the worst part wasn't being alone or being cold, but maybe it was not being able to tell time. Meda had no idea how many crushing minutes she had spent in that closet. Even worse, she didn't have any way to pass said time.

All that was there to accompany her was herself, and well, at the current moment, that wasn't very good company to have at all.

Ever since Druella had put her there, Andromeda had gone through the five stages of grief by herself very quickly.

Denial.

At first, Meda refused to believe the night had actually happened. She decided that it was all but a sick new nightmare her mind had created to scare her away from doing something as rash as showing up to an important family banquet without her engagement ring.

It clicked after a few moments of her actively lying to herself that the only thing she was denying was the fact that her very own mother had locked her away. No, she thought, Druella was no Mother to her, and she probably had never actually acted as if she was.

Anger.

Meda banged her fists on the locked door, screaming as loud as she could. Maybe she wished for someone to hear her, to save her, and maybe she wished for someone just to hear and feel her anguish. For the first time in a while, she allowed herself to let the anger of not having a good family consume her.

These people were supposed to be there to lead her through life with love and care. Andromeda wasn't sure if her parents had ever learned what those two words meant.

Bargaining.

Meda had a tendency to blame things on herself. This was no doubt the way she had been conditioned to behave since she was a kid. Her whole life Andromeda had been gaslit into thinking things a certain way.

So, perhaps if she hadn't taken off that ring in the first place, then she wouldn't be in the closet. She could've acted differently, and then maybe she would still be up there joking around with Sirius.

That stage didn't last very long.

Depression.

Andromeda's feelings crept back from the air into her brain, where she was taught they belonged. Curling herself in a ball, she no longer allowed herself to feel her emotions. She laid there as a puddle personified, and only thought about each individual tear that rolled down her cheek.

No doubt the longest stage for her, Meda shut herself down mentally. Her walls built back up after they had been destroyed by her anger, almost like she wrapped herself back up in the wrapping paper and put a bow on top.

She was fine. Absolutely fine. There were definitely no problems here.

Acceptance.

No day that she spent living on this Earth, would Andromeda accept when she was locked in a closet. There was a line she had to draw somewhere, and perhaps, she should've drawn it long ago, but you had to start somewhere.

On the contrary, Meda accepted the fact that Druella had chosen to throw her down there. It was a conscious decision that the woman made, and even if Andromeda would never grow to be okay with that, she accepted it as a fact. It happened, and it's not okay, but it did, so there's nothing she can do to change that.

All she could do now was live in the present and prepare for the future. Hate had tried to take hold of her heart too many times to count while she was in that closet, but the logical side of her brain raged war on the emotional side and stopped her from making any bad decisions that would affect her future.

She couldn't just think short term. Meda had to think long term survival. What were her next steps going to be once she got out of the closet?

About to think of what she would do next, Andromeda was startled to hear her name being called. The voice wasn't much louder than a whisper, yet it was still easily recognized.

"Cissy?" Meda said, her voice weak and crackly.

She coughed immediately after speaking, which was louder in volume than her voice. Her cough had obviously been heard because right after, the door to the closet was jostled around.

Andromeda heard a string of curses muttered, and usually, this would've made her laugh. However, this time, she just hugged her knees and prayed for the door to open. Like Merlin had heard her shouts for help and prayers of anguish, the door opened and Narcissa stumbled backward.

"I've been looking for you everywhere!" Narcissa whispered, crouching down next to Andromeda and taking her hand in hers.

She noticed there were tears in her sister's eyes, but Andromeda refused to comfort her. Meda decided she should be the one to receive the comfort. There had been enough trauma built up in how long she had been locked down there for a person in a lifetime.

It was a hard feeling to describe, what came next. Manipulating words in the most beautiful way wouldn't do justice to describe what had happened to Andromeda. Only she could really know the feeling the shift inside her had created.

Distracted by emotions, Meda didn't realize how she had melted into the blanket Narcissa wrapped around her shoulders. Her sister had also brought a plate of food—most likely from the family's most recent dinner down—to her.

Andromeda had managed to crawl out of the closet completely to sit against the wall with her blanket and plate of food. In front of her, she stretched her legs, hoping the aches would go away with her fears.

Narcissa sat down in front of her and played with the hem of her nightgown. Meda felt the eyes of her sister on her before she looked up to meet them. When she eventually did, she saw a girl filled with questions that might be able to spark a lot of hurt, which wasn't something Andromeda wanted. She didn't want to fight with her sister too.

"Do you regret taking off the ring?" Narcissa asked, her throat thick with emotion.

Andromeda raised an eyebrow as she continued chewing. She had guessed earlier her parents would hide why Meda was locked down here, maybe even lie about it, but she forgot to remind herself of how smart Narcissa could be when she wanted to.

"No, I don't," Meda answered simply. "And I don't think I ever will, quite honestly."

"You don't think you'll ever look back at this and want to avoid getting locked in a closet?" Narcissa asked, not understanding how Andromeda could think this way. "If it were me-"

"If it were you, then a hundred things would've gone differently," Meda interrupted, annoyed her sister was comparing them. "If it were you, then none of this would've ever happened, but I'm not you."

When Narcissa just swallowed in response, Andromeda took a deep breath and tried to collect her thoughts in coherent sentences.

"I'll never be you," Andromeda continued, her own emotions nearly getting in the way. "I'm not supposed to be like you. That's where our family has it wrong. They put everyone in the same box, and frankly, that's not how life works."

"What if life would be better if it worked that way?" Narcissa interrupted her sister's tangent.

Surprised by the amount of brainwashing her parents had done on Narcissa, Andromeda felt the need to explore and question this way of thinking. Narcissa wasn't the one who was punishing her, so nothing bad could come of it.

"Tell me why you think that."

"If every person was held to the same standards and practiced the same way of life, then things would happen more efficiently," Narcissa reasoned. "There would be less fights, which would make life more enjoyable."

Andromeda realized Narcissa was probably thinking about how if she fought less with their parents, then life would be easier for all of them.

Well, that's just too bad, isn't it?

It's too bad that Andromeda was born into a family the likes of theirs. It's too bad that she doesn't follow their same belief system and gets tortured for it.

It's too bad Andromeda just doesn't care.

Doesn't care what their parents think anymore, or how the people at the fancy pureblood parties decide she should act. Doesn't care about the stereotypes that surround her or the reputation she should uphold.

From now on, she was going to live for herself. Well, as soon as she got out of that damn closet.

...

Narcissa had treated Meda with the best care providable in this situation. Although, Andromeda had thought about it, there was no way that Narcissa could let her out of the closet because their parents would know exactly who had done that. Despite the fact Meda hadn't seen anything other than the basement for at least a few days, she was in pretty good spirits.

Knowing she had to keep herself from going insane, Andromeda played mind games against herself day in and day out. Countless hours had been spent going over every spell she had ever learned, but still, Andromeda didn't think that tactic would hold up for very much longer.

Every time that it was Narcissa opening the door of the closet and not their mother—their father would never bother with such a thing—she grew more tired. Meda wasn't sure how much longer she could take confinement.

Not only had it affected her, but she could tell Narcissa was having a difficult time with it as well. The two hadn't talked much except a few "thank you's" since their micro-argument, so Andromeda really had no idea what had been happening upstairs.

She chewed on this thought while she chewed on her food. Tonight, mashed potatoes, stewed tomatoes, and blackened chicken was on the menu.

Andromeda wondered privately if the saying all was well was actually achievable because one moment she was eating her dinner, and the next she was huddled in the closet with Narcissa.

Meda had been eating her food like it was nobody's business. All of a sudden, she heard the basement door slam open, and the click of a heel. Andromeda took a split second to widen her eyes as she understood her mother was coming down those stairs.

She grabbed Narcissa by the arm and tried to pull both of them into the closet as quietly as possible. As soon as she shut the closet door, Narcissa was a wreck. Tears streamed down her face, and Andromeda knew that watching her sister cry would not help her, so she took Narcissa and hugged her to her chest.

Oh, and she also prayed to Merlin that Druella stopped herself from coming down the stairs completely.

Miracles didn't happen for Andromeda. That should be self explanatory as she was born into this family. However, perhaps that stars aligned perfectly that night to fulfill Meda's prayer.

Druella never came to the closet door.

They were okay for another day.

...

Song: Born This Way
By: Lady Gaga

I'm not even sure if my words make any sense here, but I hope you all were able to read the chapter and make sense of it. This chapter took forever and I still don't like it that much. 🥲

I hope everyone's doing okay! Sending love to every single one of you.

Lmao anyways thanks for reading
-teddy xx