"Don't get too close; it's dark inside
It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide"

TW// child abuse, homophobia, excessive drinking

...

As the summer days dwindled, owls were sent out to each student of Hogwarts. The envelope they would receive was tailored to their upcoming classes, and responsibilities granted to them by their professors. For seventh years, this meant the possibility of becoming head girl or boy.

Now, not anyone was given this title. The student had to have shown exemplary leadership skills throughout their education, among other characteristics that their professors would take note of. It also helped if the two students had worked together beforehand because a bond prior to their partnership would prove to help them get their jobs' done.

Getting the letters gave people mixed feelings, of course. Some were excited to greet the new school year while others were sad to see their summer go. Ted was one that liked to ignore the fact that anything was happening at all.

Hayden Tonks had worked out a system with Ted after three years of him refusing to open his Hogwarts letters. She would open the letter, and only talk of the badges he received that year, completely disregarding the textbooks he needed. The only time those were brought up were when they needed to plan when he was going to get them.

A cool Saturday morning brought forth three siblings coloring in coloring books as their parents sat back and watched with a mug of tea. They would've missed the tapping at the window had their dad not seen the owl fly towards their house.

As the owl had all the previous years, it stuck out it's leg for someone to remove the envelope, which was more of a parcel at this point. Hayden quickly freed the owl from the package, making sure to give it water before the fly home.

Hayden watched as Ted ignored the letter now on the table in front of him. He chattered on with Alfie as if nothing had happened. She wasn't expecting anything else from him, but it was his last letter, so maybe it should mean more to him than it did in the past.

"Ted," Hayden said, wondering if she ought to just open the letter anyway. "Your letter is here."

Ted looked up briefly, long enough to see it, and then turned back to the drawing he was co-parenting with Bobbie. It seemed he had no more care for the letter than he did in the past.

"Why don't you open it?" His dad, Fred, suggested.

Ted sighed and placed the crayon down. The shift caught Bobbie's attention briefly, irritated that her brother decided to call it quits on their drawing. She wasn't much intrigued in the sight of her brother opening the envelope to find two badges, one surprising him enough to stare at it unblinkingly.

Fred and Hayden shared an intrigued look, silently urging Ted to show them what he got.

"I'm head boy?" Ted said questioningly, flipping the two badges around to show everyone.

One was for Quidditch Captain, which Ted so humbly expected. The second had an undeniable "HB" in the center that was explained by McGonagall in the letter to be for Head Boy.

To say the least, he was stunned. Hadn't he just talked to Andromeda about this? Him being chosen for Head Boy wasn't in the realm of possibilities, or so he thought. He wasn't sure if he would even want to be Head Boy as the title came with lots of responsibilities, but on the bright side, if Andromeda got Head Girl, then he'd get to spend a whole lot of time with her.

If Andromeda hadn't gotten Head Girl, then he wasn't accepting the position, and that was final.

...

Diagon Alley always held promise of being filled with students buying school supplies in late August. The shops made sure to be well staffed as the stores wouldn't be able to handle everyone that entered if they weren't.

Andromeda and Narcissa were no different from everyone else that morning, strolling into Diagon Alley themselves. If it were up to Meda, then she would've been there for two hours tops, but Narcissa had convinced her—more like forced her—to make a day of it.

After all, she had earned it.

When her letter came by owl, it revealed that Andromeda had, in fact, been named Head Girl. She was excited about the position, of course, because it meant all of her hard work over the years had paid off.

To Narcissa, this meant Andromeda deserved a new set of robes, and shoes, quills, an extra stock of her favorite candy, and the best parchment they could find. She also used this as an excuse to get them matching rings of their respective birthstones.

Andromeda was just happy someone from her family was proud of her.

They completely ignored the fact that this was Andromeda's last year of Hogwarts, and what she did after she graduated would probably get her disowned. No, they didn't think about how when they were old and grey, no longer under the clutches of their family, they'd look back in regret of letting their bond go.

They just couldn't think about it because to both of them, losing each other eventually had felt like it was inevitable for a little while now.

...

Prolonging their arrival home was one of those things the two girls had agreed upon without even voicing it out loud. Druella had been occupying the kitchen when they left, awake and standing for the first time in a few days.

Andromeda wasn't sure how much longer Druella would maintain that lifestyle before she ended up like Cygnus. Although, she didn't really intervene either, which was its own can of worms.

They opened the door to their house without the worry something bad was waiting them. It turns out, the sisters should've soaked in the goodness of outside more before they entered to see Druella with bloodshot eyes loitering by the door.

She was so clearly waiting for them that Andromeda immediately put up her guard. Meda didn't have time to make sure Narcissa had done the same thing before Druella had started screaming.

Grabbing a startled Narcissa by her arm, Druella shoved the parchment she was holding in her face before being knocked back by a still-stunned Andromeda.

Why Druella was in an uncalmable rage all of a sudden didn't make any sense. However, it wasn't like she had ever needed a real reason to be before.

"I will not have this in my home! It's disgusting!" Druella shouted as Andromeda's brain buffered in order to catch up. "It's not natural!"

The use of the word natural made it all click for Andromeda. Druella had found the letters from Davina in her room, and was now letting them both know what happened when they stepped out of line and she was aware of it. For the first time in a while, she could say that she felt nothing but fear in the presence of Druella.

There was not a thing behind Druella's eyes except anger. She was disheveled, as one would be if the only thing they had done for months on end was drink until they forgot who they were. The letters had, in a sense, woken her up, and Andromeda really wished that they had left her sleeping.

Druella drew her wand as the two girls flattened themselves against the wall across from her. If they darted, then she would surely get angrier, so they stayed put out of fear.

The first syllable was spoken and everything was changed. Andromeda needn't hear another sound before she dove in front of Narcissa to absorb the curse.

"Crucio! Crucio! Crucio!"

A cackle is all that resonates in Meda's ears as she is blinded with unbearable pain. She doesn't know who's screaming, it could be her, it could be Narcissa, but the only thing she knows of right now is pain.

"You deserve it just as much, muggle-lover!"

Suddenly, the pain stops, but the laughter continues, reminding Andromeda of her surroundings as she lets sobs loose. She feels Narcissa's warm, soft hands on her face, hears her soothing words. None of it registers as pain and anger take control of her, even if she is too weak to do anything but lay there.

"Some daughters you two are," Druella said, her voice sounding hollow.

Andromeda desperately wants to scream, and yet, her brain has not enough energy to say a few words. It has to use all that it has to keep from splitting in half.

"Narcissa, I will disinfect you from this nonsense if you don't do it yourself," Druella spoke to her directly, ignoring Andromeda now completely.

It seemed she paused for a moment, either collecting her own thoughts or letting theirs sink in. The only thing Meda could think of was how it wasn't nonsense, Narcissa and Davina made perfect sense. They helped each other sort out their bruises, and complimented each other's strong suits. Narcissa was a rose and Davina was a daisy.

They weren't nonsense. They couldn't be.

"You will court Lucius Malfoy, and you will not pull any of this nonsense ever again!" Druella shouted. "Do you hear me?"

"No, no, please," Meda softly pleaded, knowing to let Narcissa go to Malfoy would be to lose her for good. "I'll marry him, leave her be."

Druella scoffed, taking a step forward so she was in Andromeda's line of vision. She saw the way Druella's eyes shined with nothing but craziness from where she was on the floor. There was not a word she could utter to make her change her mind.

"No one wants you," Druella spit in her face, leaving the two for her precious space by the fire.

The letters she held in her hand, now crumbled, would soon enter the fire in front of her, leaving nothing for Narcissa to clutch onto when she remembered their relationship.

In the moments after, Narcissa tried her best to soothe Andromeda, who was beyond anyone's consolation. With only pain registering, she sobbed until her throat was hoarse and her eyes were dry. Narcissa was crying too, Andromeda could feel some of the tears that weren't hers fall onto her arms.

An elf helped her sister gather Andromeda to her bed, tucking the covers up to her chin. Narcissa had prepared her a calming, sleeping, and pain draught, which would prove to be equally important for Andromeda.

Before she fell asleep, she grabbed Narcissa's hand with as much effort as she could muster and looked straight into Narcissa's eyes. Her own were hazy, but Narcissa's were clear, the tears that should've been clouding them had already started to make their way down her cheeks.

"Don't do anything about Davina yet, Cissy," Meda spoke drowsily. "I can fix it, so don't do anything. I'll fix it."

"Don't worry about anything, Meda," Narcissa told her softly. "Just get some rest."

Narcissa granted her a sad smile, which was sure to haunt Andromeda's nightmares. The smile told Meda that the girl that stood up to Bellatrix at lunch was gone. Narcissa would fall into place just as everyone expected her to, and she wouldn't complain. She would do so without so much as a word against it.

...

Curtains flutter in the breeze, the windows are open for summertime. A kettle shows signs of boiling, and the woman's face shows harsh signs of aging.

She had been through a lot, too much really. Her childhood was the first tick mark, then having to leave her family to marry the love of her life. She was given a beautiful baby girl, but was urged against having any other children for her safety.

Life after that gifted her a few years of happiness. She watched her baby grow up to be five years old without having to constantly look over her shoulder in fear of something bad happening. However, then her best friend of many, many years fell ill, and that turned out to be terminal.

A funeral. A eulogy. A black dress.

That sobered her spirit, but she still had a child to raise who needed to be fed love. So, she reserved her tears for a headstone that read the first name that had ever accepted her for who she truly was.

She started to go to a Head Healer, needing more guidance than of those around could give. It proved to be helpful, and she found peace in memories that once brought her pain.

Like clockwork, her world began to crumble again. The man who brainwashed her family was back with a vengeance. Her daughter, an auror! She would be in the middle of the war. People hunted her husband, he has to run off.

The news of his death shatters her soul as he was one of the people who helped put it together. She, a widow, a title that stuck a knife through her heart.

She doesn't breathe throughout the funeral. There's no body, only an empty casket. She can hardly watch their best friend give an eulogy, and she can hardly speak as she speaks of their love, how it had shattered any expectations she had ever had.

Her heart was broken, but her daughter needed her to continue. She kept a schedule, make tea, tidy the kitchen, do the crossword, knit, sing a song, remember to eat. It wasn't full proof, and she began to get thinner, but she tried her best.

A small light flickered, she sat in a rocking chair, holding her grandson. He slept soundly, not knowing that his grandmother's heart might've been torn to shreds when she heard he was named after her husband. A beautiful boy.

She found new purpose in the coming months, helping her daughter enter the first stages of motherhood. Despite all odds, being motherly was something she had been good at. The two women were all smiles as they adapted to the world around them, helping each other with the grief that had settled in their heart.

It made sense that the boy was left an orphan. She was left to care for the child, nobody to share smiles with anymore. The boy seemed to know something was wrong too, always crying for his mother, but the woman with pink hair always stayed a no-show.

The war was over. The world was healing. The woman wondered if she would ever be able to.

She got visitors frequently, it appeared like people knew she was becoming an increasingly sad, old woman. With a baby to tend to, her energy was put into raising him, and not caring for herself.

But then, a woman with platinum blonde hair showed up at her doorstep. Her eyes looked the same as the last time she had seen them, but her shoulders held more weight, and she had no smile lines.

Maybe because she too had no reason to smile anymore.

The woman pleaded that she was heard out, that there was many years between them and their relationship, but that it could be fixed. They can't change what happened in the past, yet they could come together now.

She let the woman in, fixing tea with a baby on her hip as she sat at the sad, wooden table. It had once been a happy table, full of people, but it's inhabitants had been taken from it too soon.

The two women stared into the other's eyes for the first time in decades. There was too much to say that they didn't say anything at all for a little while, but the younger one's hand took the other's into hers, and for now, that was enough.

...

A constant ache in her bones keeps her in her bed. She learns the ceiling above her quickly. Narcissa made sure to keep her water supply ample, along with the flow of potions that Meda needed to take in order to function.

Their mother left them alone now, too preoccupied in drinking herself to death. They weren't stupid enough to think she had forgotten though, Druella would soon inform them of new developments that neither one of them would be able to stand to hear.

The two sisters didn't speak much, Meda preferring to keep quiet so her head didn't hurt and Narcissa wanting to keep quiet so her heart didn't hurt. Their truce was broken the first day Meda could sit up in bed without pain potions flowing in her system.

"You broke up with her, didn't you?" Meda whispered as if the answer would shatter them.

Narcissa nodded with pain in her eyes.

"I didn't want the Johnsons to get hurt," Narcissa spoke quietly too like the words hurt her—they very likely did. "Mother was insane the other day-"

"Druella has always been insane, Cissy," Meda interrupted, causing them to resolve into silence.

Narcissa sat on the floor next to the bed, her back against a wall. She looked the essence of disheveled, probably not taking care of herself out of fear she'd turn around and find her sister writhing in pain again. Tears constantly threatened to fall these days, so much so that Narcissa worried she wouldn't have enough for the future.

She would.

"Please don't leave me here with her," Cissy pleaded, and Andromeda shut her eyes so she wouldn't see the sadness in her eyes. "You can't leave yet."

"I can't stay here forever, Cissy," Meda replied, still not looking at her sister in the eye. She wasn't that brave, and she probably would never be. "You saw what she did, and she was aiming for you! In fact, I'm not sure you don't want to leave."

"I can't, leaving isn't right," Narcissa sighed, shutting her own eyes. "I don't know why you wish to leave."

Her last sentence was a lie and they both knew it.

"I suppose someone has to be the black sheep," Andromeda muttered under her breath, now resigned to her fate.

...

Song: Demons
By: Imagine Dragons

Publishing this chapter felt a lot like I imagine dropping a bomb would. Apologies for the long wait, and apologies for giving such a sad chapter the first one back.

Hope you're all doing well! 💛

Lmao anyways thanks for reading
-teddy xx