"Baby, I don't want to see you cry, no
I wanna see you smile"

TW// mentions of child abuse

Andromeda had always found a friend in the sky above. Whether she was wishing on a shooting star, or soaking in the sun's rays, Andy often found herself turning to the sky for answers.

This made astronomy loads easier since one literally had to find the answers in the sky.

Astronomy had been one of her favorite classes since she had started the course, but recently, it had come with extra perks. Along with her prefect patrols, astronomy class was one of the only times that she had one on one time with Ted, which she found herself cherishing more with the winter holidays approaching.

Shivering as she wrote, the lines connecting the constellations were shaky at best. About to turn to apologize for this, Andy was surprised to find Ted holding out his jumper for her. She stared at him resolutely.

"Take the jumper, Andy," Ted said stubbornly.

Andromeda crossed her arms as her teeth chattered. Although she didn't say anything, Ted and Andy had held an entire argument without the use of words.

"Take the jumper," Ted repeated, still holding the jumper out for her.

She held her ground for no real reason as it wouldn't hurt to take the jumper from him. Yet, she felt it was important she didn't. When Andy was still shivering and still wouldn't take the jumper, Ted took matters into his own hands.

Sighing, he stopped holding the jumper out to her, allowing her to think he had given up. Then, she flickered her eyesight to the side for a second, but a second happened to be as long as Ted needed. He pulled the jumper over her head, causing her to shriek and a laugh to escape itself from Ted.

She turned around—her arms still not in the jumper holes—to face Ted with a small glare, that's existence was threatened by the grin trying to grow on her face.

"You're so annoying," Andy complained, putting her arms through the holes.

"Right back at ya," Ted said, winking as he went to turn in their finished papers.

Between the smell of the jumper and the wink, Andromeda was sure her heart would stop.

...

On the train ride home, so many memories plagued her mind until she had an epiphany that made her want to throw up, in the anxiety way. Her friends let her ride most of the way home without conversation as she usually requested to be let alone while she tried to prepare herself to go home.

Of course, that is what she started doing, thinking of ways to help her and Narcissa fly under the radar. However, all it took was one look from Ted to send her in a downward spiral.

Naturally, she had, at first, scolded herself, until she stopped for a moment and thought about what had happened. Now, this was where the reason she hated thinking came into play, simply because it led to overthinking.

In this instance, was Andy overthinking? No, no she was not.

Memories of things from the past of Ted flooded her brain, and suddenly, she realised how deep she had gotten herself. For all the teasing she had endured and all the denial she had spewed, she was now just noticing that Jack and Henri had been right this whole time.

Andy liked Ted. Like romantically.

Blegh.

Feelings.

...

Once the train ride was over and they apparated home with a house elf, Andromeda and Narcissa walked in the door of their house, wondering nervously what they would find. When they left for the semester, Druella had stopped caring about much, and many would put this on her losing her husband, but as her children, they both knew better.

As they had grown up, the girls had watched their parents create a loveless home for themselves and their children. The two had tolerated each other at best, and it wasn't as if they had tried to hide this from their kids.

If Andromeda had to guess why Druella was acting so much differently now, then she'd say that the woman had realized that she had done basically everything that everyone had expected her to, and had given up on pretending that she was happy with the life she had held. Meda wasn't sure what she wanted to do before she was forced into a marriage with Cygnus because Meda knew that Druella believed that the life she had lived was the right one, but Andromeda had a sneaking suspicion that she might've wanted to lead it with someone other than Cygnus.

All this aside, Andromeda felt both disappointment and relief when she found Druella passed out on the parlor couch. The room in disarray, amber liquid spilled on the ground accompanied by the bottles it was supposed to reside in scattered around the room. It was clear that the house elves hadn't been allowed in.

"Should we wake her?" Narcissa asked cautiously, stepping over a broken glass.

Andromeda wasn't sure why, but due to the state of the room, it looked as if Druella had been the only one in the room for months. House elves would've cleaned the broken glass, and the empty glasses for that matter.

"No," Meda answered simply. "I think she wants to be left alone."

They had never left a room faster.

...

Andromeda and Narcissa had never had more freedom in their house before, and to most the thought was sad, but the sisters thrived now that they weren't being held under a microscope every hour of the day. They were able to do whatever they wanted while Druella was out short of committing arson, and while she was in their house, she wasn't much of a presence, so as long as they were quiet, there wasn't much they couldn't do.

A great deal of time was spent ignoring the newly punctured hole in their heart, created by their newly absent mother. Andromeda wished things could be different, but she secretly knew deep down that it was probably better this way anyway.

Often, they found themselves in Narcissa's bedroom talking about whatever came to their minds. Bellatrix, Davina, their marks, Davina, professors, and sometimes they even brought up their futures.

Knowing she had an annoying crush on a muggleborn, Meda never mentioned a name. However, she chatted idly about wanting a small family, so that she could dedicate time both to work and to them; whoever they might end up being.

Narcissa wanted a more extravagant lifestyle. This wasn't shocking seeing as how they had grown up. She told Meda about a large manor with extensive grounds and a healthy amount of children, which Meda thought was great and all, yet she couldn't help but wonder where she would fit into that. If she would even fit into it at all.

It wasn't as if they didn't enjoy the time spent with each other either. Andromeda could tell they were both treading lightly, and it was great their bond had been strengthened once again by everything Narcissa had come clean about.

At the end of the day, however, Meda reminded herself that sometime in the future she was going to have to make a decision, myself or my family, and she knew what she was going to choose.

For now though, they sat on Meda's floor, giggling over a letter Davina had sent Narcissa. Even though Meda had yet to work out their dynamic, she was reassured they worked by the look in Narcissa's eyes when she talked about her.

Andromeda wished on a shooting star later that night Narcissa would always be this happy, even if she couldn't be involved in the world where Narcissa was.

...

To celebrate the new year upon them, Andromeda and Narcissa left their house and their "mother" behind to attend the banquet that their aunt and uncle were hosting. Andromeda didn't have an affinity for her family functions, however, she was stoked to see Sirius and Regulus.

And, it seemed, that they were quite happy to see her to as they had pounced on her nearly the moment she walked in. They were given the task of welcoming the guests in, Andromeda haughtily thought that she had been given the best welcome out of everyone there.

She had to mingle, of course. People asked what she planned on doing after Hogwarts—she told them she didn't know—and more people asked why the courtship with Carrow fell through, which gave her the urge to tell them to piss off, but she held her tongue and told them it was a private matter she wished not to speak about.

That was all true, of course, but it would've been nice to be able to say what was on her mind to all of these people.

Half way through the dismal excuse of a party, Sirius rejoined her side, looking extra antsy about something. Andromeda briefly wondered if he wanted her to bring it up for him until he just yanked his sleeve up to show a fresh scar.

She knew exactly where it had come from in a matter of seconds, but she asked anyway as her eyes watered.

"What happened?" Meda asked, running her finger over the fresh scar on his arm.

"I defended you when they said you should've been disowned," Sirius said in a small yet defiant voice.

Andromeda looked into his eyes to find determination that would lead him into years of pain. However, without that determination, he would be trapped in a life not worth living. One filled of duties he didn't want to fulfill, of a part he had to play to be deemed proper by people he didn't even respect.

"You didn't have to do that," Meda replied, touched that he stood up for her, but hesitant to encourage things that would lead him to get hurt.

"I know, but it was only right," Sirius said back, a small smile on his face.

"Sirius, you have to listen to me, okay?" Andy said, nearly whispering now. "I get that you hate them, believe me, I understand, but if you can get under their radar then it'll be easier to live life. It will save you from so much more pain, from so many more of these gashes."

Sirius seemed smaller now that Andy had told him that. He took his arm back from her and covered it with his sleeve.

"I can't just shut my mouth when they say the things they do," Sirius said, looking offended she'd even suggest it. "They must know that they are wrong."

Meda shook her head.

"No matter how many times you tell them that, they're not gonna listen," Andy said in a no nonsense tone, trying to get him to really understand. "They're never going to change their minds ever."

"How do you know that?" Sirius asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Because I tried to change their opinions for so long," Andy said, blinking the tears that threatened to fall as she laughed despite herself. "But I watched, Cygnus Black, the man who was supposed to be my father, die before thinking anything other than the things he was brought up to believe."

Meda put her hand on Sirius's shoulder to make it feel like she was more on his level.

"I don't want to watch you go through the same things I had to," Meda said, looking at Sirius with a level of concern he had never seen anyone look at him with. "There's so much unnecessary pain caused by trying to change things that have already been set in stone, and I want you to know that not talking is just easier.

"And I know that you've always been a bit braver and assertive than I have," Meda continued to talk, earning a slight smirk from Sirius. "But you've got a whole life to live in front of you where you can use those things in situations that'll actually go places."

They stood next to each other for a moment without saying a thing. There was a mutual understanding between them that Sirius wouldn't run his mouth as much anymore, and that they'd both be in correspondence more often.

"Thank you," Sirius whispered.

He then tackled her in a hug around her middle. She smiled and messed up his hair as they rocked back and forth for a second before letting go.

...

Song: Smile
By: R5

Hello hello hello!!

I hope you're all doing well! I know it's been a little while since I've updated, but I'm going to try to get another update out soon!

Reach out to me if you need anything!

Lmao anyways thanks for reading
-teddy xx