"Run away, go find a lover
Run away, let your heart be your guide"

The end of summer near, Andy dreaded having to give up the cloud she had been living in that summer. It hadn't been perfect—how could it have been?—but Andromeda had to recognize it as her best summer to date despite all the horrid events that had taken place.

Henri and Marlowe were really the only reason she could say that. She might sound a bit like a broken record, however, Andy didn't really care, having their home to go to, to hide out in when things went south was a lifesaver.

Something she regretted was being at Henri's when Narcissa visited Sirius and Regulus. She hated to imagine the sad look on Sirius's face when he realized she wasn't going to show up. Doing her best not to hate herself, she wrote Sirius a letter, and when she got his reply, which told her how greatly he missed her, she cried.

However, it was much easier not to think about all that stuff when she wasn't around her family at all. No house, no letters, no pictures, all meant no pain.

Older Andromeda would very much like to slap younger Andromeda for even thinking that because oh, how she was wrong.

She couldn't erase the memories, no matter how hard she tried.

Here she found herself, laughing freely with a boy who really didn't know who she was. He carried his guitar on a strap over his one shoulder and their picnic blanket in the other. She had the picnic basket, which had been filled to the brim by her and Marlowe earlier that day.

Of course, August had allegedly known the perfect place for a picnic—Andy had had her doubts until they arrived to the place. He laid down the blanket at the very top of a hill that flattened out at the top, which also overlooked a small creek. Basking in the moment, August tugged on Andy's hand, successfully pulling her out of her reverie.

"What shall we start with?" August asked, unpacking the basket Andy set on the blanket.

She kicked off a pair of beat-up, blue sandals—the only pair she owned—as she sat down to join August. Her flowy sundress—something Marlowe had made her in her free time, Henri had gotten one too, of course—a light blue number, settled around her as she crossed her legs.

"Well, Gus, I really don't mind either way," Andy replied with a soft smile, absolutely adoring the way he blushed when she called him the nickname.

"How about some strawberries then?" He asked and she nodded in reply.

Taking a strawberry from him, which Henri had cut while Marlowe and Andy were preparing the basket, she watched as the hot, August sun blessed his features with lighting that illuminated every part of him.

His light brown, mousy hair held soft curls, that often fell into his face on stage. August had long eyelashes and rosy cheeks—something Meda was jealous of because it seemed her face never held any color.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" August asked, tilting his head slightly.

"You," Andy laughed, throwing the strawberry she had been holding at him.

"Hey!"

Andromeda escaped the strawberry he threw back by rolling down the hill, not even thinking about the grass stains that were sure to turn up on her dress later. August followed her lead, rolling down the hill until he nearly landed on top of her.

Like carefree children, they giggled as they laid in the dandelion ridden grass. At some point during their laughing fit, both of them turned to face each other, so close their noses were only inches away. August softly traced down the bridge of her nose with a pointer finger.

She would've stayed like that forever, but a bee landed in August's hair, causing her to roll over and scream.

"Oh my Merlin! There's a bee in your hair!" Andy yelled like the bee was going to kill him.

"Merlin?" August said questioningly as he swiped through his hair to get the bee out.

"It's crawling on your arm now!" Andy said, ignoring August's question.

"Honestly, it's just a bee."

...

The dark curtains of their family home shielded the sunshine that Andromeda so desperately wanted to bask in. Feeling like a prisoner, the walls of her supposed home the bars of the cell, she had prowled the hallways a few days in a row, making it the longest she had been in the house for a while.

She didn't know how she survived past summers the longer she thought about it. Taking harsh words as if they didn't feel like stabs to the chest was not something Meda could fathom doing again. Perhaps, this was a bad side effect of visiting Henri so much, she had been taught that she deserved to be treated a certain way, which makes it all that much harder when Meda didn't receive that treatment at home.

Home, she scoffs, like this was really ever home to her.

Breaking her from her bitter train of thought, Narcissa appeared at her doorway. They had been trying to avoid each other, which told her the only reason she was there was because Druella told her to tell her something.

"Our Hogwarts letters came," Narcissa said, casting her eyes towards the floor.

Andromeda took the letter from her, not replying since Cissy didn't look like she wanted one. A mountain of unsaid words stood between them, like a suffocating cloud, but neither of them wanted it to rain, so they stood drowning in it.

The letter came to her already open, and having been at Hogwarts for five years already, this didn't surprise her. Druella had a tendency to open things that didn't belong to her, thus marking a reason Meda had to be so careful of the letters she and Henri sent back and forth.

She pulled out her OWLS results first.

OWLS RESULTS FOR:
BLACK, ANDROMEDA

HOUSE:
SLYTHERIN

COURSE: MARK:
ASTRONOMY O
ARITHMANCY P
CHARMS O
DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS E
HERBOLOGY A
HISTORY OF MAGIC P
POTIONS E
TRANSFIGURATION E

They weren't too shabby. She had failed both history of magic and arithmancy, but it was good riddance to both of those subjects. A lot less stress would find her when she didn't have to pretend to care about those two.

Not thinking too much about her other marks—yet still breathing a deep sigh of relief—she found that she had yet again been appointed a prefect. Again, not a surprise.

The envelope also contained a textbook list for the books she would get for all the subjects she had received marks high enough in. Considerably happier now that she needn't worry about subjects she didn't want to take anyway, Meda wondered how Henri had faired in the exams.

...

Life was fun with more color. Andy realized this in Henri's room one afternoon in late August. She felt happier somehow surrounded by more than just the same dull colors.

She admired the fresh coat of red paint on her nails that matched the new lipstick Marlowe had gotten for them. Marlowe felt she needed to make up for her absence with gifts, and Henri had told Andy not to protest.

"So, Captain, how're you gonna make sure Gryffindor wins the Cup this year?" Andy asked with a laugh after hearing Henri had received the badge.

Henri had considered this the highest honor of them all for two reasons. One: McGonagall had taken part in making the decision, and both girls could agree that they respected her the most out of every Hogwarts staff member. Two: Last years Captain was Henri's mentor for a great number of years, so to have all her hard work validated, it meant a lot.

As her closest friend, Andy was so proud of Henri. Andromeda knew that no one else deserved getting quidditch Captain as much as Henri did.

"Aren't you supposed to be rooting for Slytherin to win?" Henri asked, clearly amused as she painted her nails red to match Andy.

"Oh, I hold no respect for the idiots on the team, so I've decided I'll just root for you to win," Andy replied with a grin as Henri laughed.

"Ted and Jack won't appreciate that very much," Henri quipped, causing Andromeda to roll her eyes.

Before she could respond with anything witty, the doorbell—one of Henri's favorite parts of the house—sounded. Andy nearly jumped three feet in the air while Henri crept over to the door to peer through the peep hole.

Andromeda followed her and looked through the peep hole after Henri backed away to find August standing by the door with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. She sighed.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Andy whispered to Henri, who looked just as surprised as she did.

"I don't know! I mentioned you were coming over, but I didn't invite him!" Henri replied, her eyes wide as Andy swung open the door.

"August! What a surprise!" Andy said, putting on a kind forefront even if she was disappointed that her time with Henri had been interrupted.

"Hey, Andy, Henri," August smiled at them before explaining himself. "I'm really sorry I showed up without an invite, but I wanted to tell Andy something before you went off to your fancy boarding school-"

"It's alright," Andy gave him a reassuring smile before sharing a fleeting look with Henri. "Let's go on a walk."

In an instant, she pulled on her signature blue sandals, which were a stark contrast to the red nail polish kn her toes, and they were out the door. August turned to give her the flowers, of which were mostly different colored carnations with daises and ferns sprinkled throughout.

Walking slowly down the sidewalk, she turned the flowers in her hands, choosing to ignore the way that August had gone awkwardly silent. After enough tension had been built, she finally broke and started the conversation.

"You needed to tell me something?" Andy asked him, nudging him a bit with her shoulder.

"Oh, yeah," August cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head.

They stopped walking to look at each other. One saw a person they had given their heart to over that summer and the other simply saw a good distraction.

"This has been the best summer of my life," he admitted and she nodded in agreement. "I can't believe I had the pleasure of meeting you, and I'll thank the person responsible for that every day."

Andromeda blushed and stared at her shoes for a moment. He had rendered her speechless for the time being.

"That's why I have to tell you these next few words before you leave for a few months," August continued, drawing in a deep breath. "I'm in love with you, Andy."

Oh, Merlin.

Andromeda nearly winced at the word love, but caught herself before she showed any emotion. She stared into his eyes before shaking her head.

"You're not in love with me, Gus," Andy smiled sadly. "We just met like two months ago."

The idea of loving him was so absurd she was hurt. Why couldn't he have kept it casual? Yet, she knew she couldn't blame him because she never explicitly stated she wanted no strings attached.

She really shouldn't have kissed him.

"You can't tell me I don't love you," August scoffed. "Really, Andy?"

"What do you mean really? We haven't known each other for that long!" Andromeda said, getting offended by his tone.

"I thought-"

"I don't care what you thought!" Andy interrupted him, nearly yelling as she pushed the flowers back into his chest.

She stormed away from him with an irritation pricking at her eyes.

"Where are you going?" August yelled as she got further away from him, both physically and mentally.

"Away," she yelled at him over her shoulder.

He ran to catch up to her, cutting her off so she couldn't get around him. To stop her from walking away at all, he put his hands on her shoulders as she embarrassingly started to cry.

"I'm so sorry," August said, his face slipping into a frown. "I didn't mean to ruin what we had."

"It wasn't going to work anyway," Andy replied sadly. "I'm sorry, Gus."

They stared at each other for another second before they parted ways. Before she got too far, she turned to see August walking slowly down the sidewalk with his head hanging down, his gaze turned towards the ground.

That picture of him was stuck in her brain every step she took towards her house. It was, however, shoved right out of her brain when she returned home. She entered as the sun lowered itself in the sky to find Druella in the doorway.

"Where have you been?" Druella asked, her eyes narrowed as she shifted her weight.

Andromeda inhaled deeply before she was ready to lie with a straight face. Druella didn't let her get that far though.

"I suppose it doesn't really matter," Druella said uncharacteristically. She paused before continuing. "Your father died."

The news didn't surprise her by any means. She could only think about how that man hadn't been her father for a number of years, but, of course, she didn't mention this to the person who thought she was her mother.

"We're not having a funeral either," Druella said, swallowing largely. "I decided that would be best for the family, so we can mourn privately since he was a public figure and all."

Andromeda nodded in response, pursing her lips awkwardly. In this instance, she wasn't sure how to react, but both of them shared a look of understanding that neither of them would be mourning.

Not long after, Meda found herself climbing the stairs to her bedroom, pausing just outside Narcissa's, where she could hear sniffling. Just as she pushed the door open, Cissy spoke abruptly.

They hadn't addressed what had happened not long ago in front of the fire place, allowing for an awkward tension to settle between them. Andromeda didn't think it was fair for Narcissa to be mad at her for leaving all the time since she was treated the way she was while she was here, but Cissy wouldn't listen when she tried to tell her that.

"Go away, Meda," Cissy said through sniffles.

Without a fight as Meda really didn't have it in her, she backed out of the room and left her sister to cry alone. If she wanted space, then so be it. After all, Andromeda had been giving just that to her all summer.

When she arrived at Hogwarts, Andromeda decided she'd leave this summer far behind her, even if it meant locking it in her closet. She wouldn't think about The Rocket Thorns, or poor, poor August—who really didn't know what he was getting himself into—or how the man she was supposed to call Dad was dead.

No, she just couldn't think about any of those things. A new Hogwarts term brought forth its own set of problems, of which, Andromeda needed to face head on with nothing else plaguing her.

So, she'd ignore the events of the summer of 1969 for as long as humanly possible because if she couldn't, well, that was a problem of it's own.

...

Song: Wildflowers
By: Tom Petty

With that Act II is drawn to a close! Thank you all so so much for reading this far, and I cant wait to see what you think of all the stuff coming soon!! 😉

Don't forget to check out the intro to Act III!

Lmao anyways thanks for reading
-teddy xx