"Here's a toast to my real friends
They don't care about the he said, she said"

In a perfect world, no one would ever make mistakes—that's what would make it a perfect world. However ideal a perfect world might be, it doesn't exist and people make mistakes all the time.

Regrets are formed because of mistakes people make along the journey that is their life. There were so many things Andromeda could've done differently, but looking back on the summer of 1969, she couldn't decide if she would change a single thing.

Some choices were questionable at best—she should've given more support to her sister, should've been more open to love, shouldn't have abandoned things when it got hard. (The last thing didn't really count in her mind though because they had abandoned her a long time before she had ever gotten the chance.) The list goes on.

...

So preoccupied with Cygnus's health, Druella didn't notice the girls' day to day activities. At first, Andromeda spent the days with Narcissa jumping from St. Mungo's back to their house and then back again. It got boring quickly.

Andromeda found she couldn't keep pretending to care about the man she was supposed to call her father. She wanted to support Narcissa, she really did, but every second she spent in the hospital was a second spent loathing the entire situation. So, as Cygnus inevitably barked orders at Druella from a hospital bed, Andromeda prepared to leave the house.

The only bad thing about leaving the house behind was that in order to leave, Narcissa would also have to be left behind.

Even with this thought stuck to her brain like there was a permanent sticking charm, Andromeda still changed into the muggle clothes that usually stayed in the back of her closet. She chose a pair of denim frayed overalls with a band t-shirt underneath, leaving her hair down but completing the look with a blue headband. Quickly throwing a beat up pair of black converse on and a tote bag over her shoulder, she left her room and ran down the stairs towards the door.

The only thing quite literally standing in her way was Narcissa.

Her sister narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow, putting on her best authoritative stance. Andromeda crossed her arms over her chest.

"Where are you going?" Narcissa asked, not unkindly.

Andromeda decided that it was probably best not to lie to her. She wanted to be able to be truthful with her sister, and if it backfired on her later, then she'd just have to deal with the consequences.

"I'm going to hang out with a friend," Meda said finally after a beat of silence. "I'll be back later."

Narcissa pursed her lips but still stepped out of the way.

"Okay, be safe," Narcissa said, crossing her own arms over her chest.

"You know I always am," Meda winked, hearing her sister laugh as she walked out the door.

She knew that Narcissa would not be happy in any way about Meda leaving her alone, but Andromeda reminded herself that she was doing it partly for her sister anyway. The more time she took away from her family, the longer she could stay in the house for Narcissa.

During the last days of Hogwarts, Andromeda and Henri had mapped out a route from Meda's house to Henri's. It was around a ten minute walk, which had stunned Andromeda since she hadn't known her best friend had lived so close to her all this time.

She walked carefree down the sidewalk through town, stopping briefly at a muggle pop-up-shop to buy a small pastry with muggle money Henri had given her. It wasn't long before Andy found herself at the front door of the Moreaus.

The way in which Henri lived her life was drastically different from the way Andromeda had to live hers, this Andy knew, of course. However, looking at an emerald green front door with potted plants decorating the porch slapped the narrative further into her brain.

Druella had always said that bright paint was tacky.

Smiling to herself, she knocked on the door quickly and shifted the tote bag on her shoulder. With great anticipation, she awaited the eventual opening of the front door. It wasn't until she heard footsteps that she realized how nervous she actually was.

A woman that Andromeda assumed was Henri's mother greeted her at the door. The only difference between Henri and her mother was that her mum looked a bit older. Andy recalled that Henri had once said her mum had only been twenty when Henri had been born.

Henri's mother smiled at Andy with a smile that made it seem like it would be forever etched onto her face. Andy grinned back.

"You must be Andy! I've heard so much about you," Henri's mother said. "You can call me Marlowe! Please come in."

Andromeda thought briefly about how her name was Marlowe Moreau—a true tongue twister.

"Hello, it's so great to finally meet you," Andromeda replied, walking into the house.

"Same to you," Marlowe smiled still.

The house Andromeda had entered didn't allow her to focus her attention on just one thing. To her right was a bright kitchen, but to her left was a living room filled with pictures of little Henri. Andy swept her eyes around her, soaking in every single detail, hoping silently to herself that she could have a simple life like this one day.

Having a living room filled with pictures of what made her happy was all she could really wish for.

"Andy!" Henri squealed, rushing towards her from around a corner. "It's been too long!"

"It's only been three days!" Andy laughed as Henri hugged her tightly.

"Still! That's quite a long time!" Henri said, giving her mum a disappointed look. "My mother has had to work every day! It's been so boring here all alone."

"My poor baby," Marlowe replied sarcastically.

She then walked into the kitchen and returned to where Andromeda and Henri stood with an apple in her hand. Apples reminded Andy of Narcissa, and the thought of her sister made her sad. Instead of Henri being all alone, it was now Narcissa.

"While you're out and about, I need you two to be safe, alright?" Marlowe said casually. "I'm sure you both can handle yourselves, but just be careful."

"Yeah, yeah," Henri said, brushing off her mother's concern as she grabbed Andy's hand to drag her out of the door.

"It was nice meeting you, Andromeda!" Marlowe yelled as they practically ran out of the door.

Andromeda had to focus on not tripping and falling, so she just waved in response. Henri blew kisses over her shoulder.

...

"So, your mum's name is Marlowe Moreau, how cool is that?" Andromeda said as they waited in line at this place Henri called a movie theatre.

"That would be pretty cool, but her name is actually Marlowe Amin because she never took my dad's last name," Henri explained. "It's a good thing she never took his name too, since we haven't seen him in like fifteen years."

Andromeda digested this information as they made their way to the front of the line. Fifteen years! That's a long time not to see someone for, especially since it's a father.

She refocused herself into the present as Henri asked the boy working for two tickets and some popcorn. Andromeda had been excited to try popcorn ever since they walked into the door, so she tapped her foot with anticipation.

The boy returned with their popcorn, and if Andy hadn't been so preoccupied with the notion that she would finally get to try some popcorn, then she would've seen the boy smile at her and get disappointed when she didn't smile back. She left the counter with Henri with a bounce in her step.

"Andy, what's made you so happy?" Henri laughed as her friend tried to butter the popcorn.

"This popcorn, I'm telling you it's about to be the greatest thing I've ever tasted," Andy focused intensely on getting butter on every piece of popcorn.

"Are you sure it's not about August?" Henri laughed again, smiling when her friend stopped what she was doing.

"Who's August?" Andy asked genuinely.

"The boy at the counter! He smiled at you," Henri said, taking the popcorn from Andy so that they could go to the theatre.

"Huh, that's weird. I don't recall that happening," Andy replied with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, it did, I watched it happen," Henri talked quieter as they made it into the dimmed theatre and chose their seats. "He totally likes you."

"He can't like me. He doesn't know me!" Andy said, rolling her eyes as she ate more of the popcorn.

She was right, besides the stuff she ate at Hogwarts, popcorn was the greatest thing she had ever eaten.

"He'd definitely like to snog you then," Henri nonchalantly spoke.

Andromeda was so shocked she could've slapped Henri, or worse, knocked over the popcorn onto the ground.

"I've never snogged anyone in my life!" Andromeda whisper shouted.

Henri laughed quietly at her reaction.

"You're going to have to kiss someone eventually," Henri said as Andy wrinkled her nose. "August could be practice for Ted."

"Okay, now you're really off your rocker!" Andromeda replied, her eyes wide. "Why the hell would I kiss Ted?"

"I don't know, you tell me," Henri whispered as the movie began, winking at her friend.

For the life of her, Andromeda wouldn't have been able to tell Henri what she had meant. Ted was just a friend, and that's all he'd ever be!

...

Andromeda found that to center herself the next day, she had to think back to her time in the movies with Henri. Walking into St. Mungo's, she thought of Marlowe's smile. Going into Cygnus's hospital room, she thought of how buttery the popcorn was. Seeing Druella's scowl and hearing Cygnus's demands, she thought that snogging August might take her mind off of things. That is, only if what people say about snogging is true.

It was times like these that Meda wondered why Druella hadn't left Cygnus. Of course, divorce didn't look good on a pureblood's resume, but Meda couldn't think of anything that stopped Druella from leaving.

"Fluff my pillows!" Cygnus barked, startling Andromeda into action.

She practically ran over to where his pillows were to fluff them in a timely manner.

"No, not you!" Cygnus yelled, slapping Meda's hands away. "Druella!"

Narcissa pulled Andromeda back to where she and Bellatrix had been standing. Meda took a deep breath so that she didn't start yelling at Cygnus. She knew he was ill, but that didn't stop her from thinking that she'd probably kill him before whatever sickness he had would.

She felt Narcissa squeeze her hand, causing her to feel guilty for thinking murderous thoughts. In her mind, Cygnus still deserved whatever he got despite however Narcissa felt about it.

"Why're you three even here?" Cygnus said, gesturing at his daughters as a nurse attempted to hand him a potion. "You're of no use! Get out!"

Andromeda ducked Narcissa's head into her shoulder as she could feel the tears well up in her own eyes. His words only frustrated her. It wasn't like she wanted to be there in the first place.

Bellatrix led the way out without a word, leading the two younger girls out until they heard Druella follow them.

"Girls! Come here," Druella demanded without the usual harsh tone.

All three of them turned around obediently, each curious for their own reasons.

"I'm going to stay at the hospital overnight for the next few days," Druella explained, "I need you three to take care of each other while I stay here."

Andromeda thought bitterly that they had been taking care of themselves for as long as she could remember, so what she was asking wouldn't be too difficult. Still, Meda stayed quiet and let Druella talk. As she talked though, an idea began to form in Meda's head.

"These are difficult times, but it's nothing we can't handle," Druella said finally, forcing a smile before turning back into Cygnus's room.

"Can we stay at your place, Bella?" Narcissa asked pleadingly.

Andromeda cursed her as she thought of the quickest lie she could. Of course, she knew Bellatrix was well trained to see through people, but Andromeda had been building walls long enough to make sure she wasn't transparent.

"I actually need some time to myself, I think," Andromeda said, biting her cheek. Bellatrix surveyed her. "Narcissa can stay with you, but I'd like to go home."

Bellatrix sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked far too tired to be a woman of her age.

"Can you floo yourself home, Meda?" Bellatrix asked, closing her eyes as she asked.

"Yes," Meda replied, praying she didn't sound too eager.

"Alright then," Bellatrix said, bidding Andromeda goodbye.

Narcissa gave her a disapproving look before they left like she knew where she was going. Meda obviously cared a little about what her little sister thought of her, yet it wasn't enough to stop her from packing an overnight bag for Henri's house.

She'd blame the decision to stay over at her house on adrenaline, but that truly had nothing to do with it. Andromeda simply did not feel like being around her family anymore. So much so, that she found her solace in another family.

Sure, Henri and Marlowe weren't what people usually pictured when someone said family. However, Andromeda wouldn't ever be able to picture anything else in the future when someone said family. They trusted each other so deeply that Meda could only long for a quarter of what they had in each other.

Marlowe greeted her at the door again with a smile that might just break Andromeda's heart into pieces it was so beautiful. Henri only gave Meda time to thank her mother for letting her stay before she grabbed her arm and pulled her down a hallway.

"Okay, so there's so much to talk about I don't know where to start!" Henri squealed as they walked into her room.

Andy brushed her fingertips across the sign that read Henrietta. Plants brightened the room in every corner they were in, textbooks littered the ground, quidditch posters covered the walls. Andy immediately loved Henri's room and felt at peace, at home even.

"Start at the beginning then," Andy replied with a grin, joining Henri on her bed.

"August invited us to his band's show tonight," Henri explained, handing Andromeda a flier.

Andy raised her eyebrow at the paper in front of her. She couldn't believe it herself, but the flier actually intrigued her enough to go. Pictures of guitars and drums and microphones littered the paper, leaving just enough space for the band title, The Rocket Thorns.

"First of all, he's in a band?" Andy asked disbelievingly. "Second of all, he invited us?"

It had always been Henri who received invitations from boys while they were at Hogwarts. Andy truly had no problems with this, but if she was included in this invite, that was exciting!

She had never felt romantically wanted before and that feeling was exhilarating, even if she didn't know the guy, like at all. Now, that was fixable.

"Apparently! I didn't know either until I saw him at the market this morning," Henri replied, her eyes wide with excitement. "And, yes, he invited both of us!"

They shared a brief look before grinning in agreement.

...

Creepy bars where old men stare at you for a little too long are not Andy's scene by any means. With that said, she was having the time of her life.

Although their band name was silly—who thinks of something like The Rocket Thorns?—the four boys on stage were actually pretty good. They had only played a few originals and even though she couldn't listen to muggle music frequently, there were a few covers they did that she recognized.

While August was on stage—Andy thought he played guitar, but Henri claimed that he played the bass—she had made eye contact with him multiple times. Bubbles of excitement rose to her chest where they sat in anticipation for what would happen at the end of the show.

She needn't wait that long though.

As Henri and Andy were cheering on the band close to where the stage was, August could offer his hand out to Andy without missing any chords. She took it with wide eyes, sending a look of surprise over her shoulder to Henri, who happened to be laughing hysterically about it all.

"What am I supposed to do up here?" Andy asked, feeling out of place on stage.

"Dance!" August said loud enough for her to hear over the rising volume of the music.

When she didn't immediately start dancing he held out his hand again, which she took and held like a lifeline. He twirled her around once or twice, causing her to giggle quite a bit.

They smiled at each other without any previous emotional attachment, and it felt like everything would be okay for at least a little while. Andromeda forgot who she was and all of the horrific memories of her past while she was on that stage.

She felt free.

The song ended, allowing August to sling his guitar over her shoulder. Yet again, August offered his hand to her, and yet again, she took it. This time, he twirled her into a dip.

"Can I kiss you?" He whispered.

Their eyes searched the other's like they'd find their deepest, darkest secrets there. In truth, they were looking into the other's eyes because their faces were so close that was all they could see of each other.

She liked that there were no strings attached with August. Knowing the kiss wouldn't matter in the future made it much easier to answer.

"Yes," she whispered back.

They kissed without the intimacy of love and it was perfect. Andromeda didn't want to have to deal with the imperfections of love on top of everything else she needed to forget. August allowed her some freedom, and she would be forever grateful for that.

...

Song: This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
By: Taylor Swift

So, how's everyone feeling after that? Personally, I'm fantastic.

Literally how are there only two chapters left??? This has gone so quickly (at least for me it has!)

Lmao anyways thanks for reading
-teddy xx