* 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓 / 𝕔𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕕 .

REC·U·SANT ( noun. ) a person who refuses to submit to an authority or to comply with a regulation.

aka just a fancy way of saying rebel !

CHILDHOOD !

andromeda & her mother have what you could call a strained relationship. from her moment of birth, druella saw everything andromeda did as an act of rebellion, whether it was a childish question asked in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting so absorbed in a book she forgot to come down for dinner, or a bit of accidental wandless magic born out of a moment of frustration. every day was a trial against andromeda, with her parents acting as the judge, jury and executioner, and over and over again she was found guilty

andromeda never meant to defy her mother, at first, but no matter how hard she tried to please druella, nothing she ever did was quite good enough. there was always some fault, whether it was a lock of hair tumbling free from its pin, a corset come unlaced, posture ruined from hunching over a book. her wrists were too bony, her lips were too thin, her skin too easily flushed.

[ ABUSE TW ] it didn’t escape andromeda’s notice that every flaw her mother criticized was one druella shared as well, and when she grew older she realized her mother’s dissatisfaction with andromeda was merely a product of her own dissatisfaction with herself. but that didn’t feed her the nights she was denied dinner for her ‘misbehaviour ’. it didn’t take back the days andromeda went unable to speak thanks to a punitivesilencio, and it didn’t grant andromeda’s wish to have a real mother who loved her [ END TW ]

did druella love her children ? who knows. maybe she did, in her own twisted way. but druella was first and foremost a business woman, and her main trade was her daughters. andromeda grew up listening to endless warnings that her mother would “never be able to find andromeda a husband if … ” and then came whichever grievance she’d chosen to focus on that day.

it cannot come as a surprise that andromeda learned to live in the shadows, away from her mother’s disapproving glare; that she learned to learned to rely on herself and herself only, that she learned to watch and observe and test the waters, to think before acting. ( of course, druella did not approve of this either, and informed andromeda that no man would want a girl who was so serious all the time.  )

her parents often dragged her and her sisters to various pureblood functions, where andromeda stood off to the side in uncomfortably starched dresses, disappearing like smoke any time someone looked like they were heading over to strike up conversation. she would explore the pureblood manors, all silent footsteps and watchful eyes, making observations on how the wizarding world’s elite lived their lives, noting separate beds in the master bedrooms and half-empty whiskey bottles in the washrooms. it seemed like everyone was only looking out for themselves in this world, trying to further their own social status and wealth.

at home, she would escape to the roof with a book, whether it was on the history of warlocks or the kind of torrid romance novel druella pretended she didn’t read, dark eyes hardly looking up as the sun sank lower in the sky, fingers blackened with ink by the time she closed her book and descended into the house to face her mother’s wrath that she missed her piano lessons.

is it strange that such a cynical girl could have such a yearning for beautiful things ? or would that merely be a side effect of cynicism, to long for something to thaw a hardened heart ? andromeda loved beautiful things, perhaps a bit too much, but she did not trust them. nothing beautiful was made to last, and if it was, it wasn’t truly beautiful. sunsets faded to darkness, books ended, lovers grew apart. but the inherent transience of beauty made andromeda crave it all the more.

HOGWARTS !

hogwarts was a breath of fresh air for andromeda, the chance to experience life outside her parents’ regime. to her inquisitive, probing nature, an ancient, magical castle full of history and secrets was paradise, let alone all the classes it housed. and the people — andromeda had never seen so many people in her lifetime. hundreds and hundreds of students filled the castle, all with their own thoughts and lives and desires. an introvert by nature, she didn’t interact, merely observed. she made best friends with the library and the constellations, sneaking out of the dorm to sit with her legs dangling over the fifty-foot drop of the astronomy tower, eyes finding her constellation, andromeda, and wondering if her fate was written in the stars; drunk on the beauty of an untamed scottish night.

the unidentifiable yearning she’d always kept tucked inside a corner of her heart ballooned until she could hardly stand it. it was a yearning to be something more than the perfect pureblood wife her mother was trying to groom her to be, a thirst to prove herself in some way she didn’t even understand yet, and it was this ambition and drive that got her sorted into slytherin.

if druella and cygnus had thought andromeda was unmanageable before hogwarts, when she wasn’t even trying to be, she was downright wild when she returned for winter break in first year. now that she knew life could be better than what she was currently living at home, she buzzed with a restless energy that alarmed her parents. andromeda may have been troublesome before, but this was bordering on dangerous. druella made the decision that andromeda would not be returning to hogwarts. [ ABUSE TW ] this sparked one of the worst fights they’d had, and culminated in a rare but unforgiving physical beating. [ END TW ]

eventually, however, druella conceded, and andromeda was allowed to return, but she was much more cautious now. she only made friends who her parents would approve of, she kept her nose clean, and at home, she played the part of the dutiful daughter. there were still small rebellions, though — a nicked pack of her father’s cigarettes smoked cross-legged on the roof, coughing into her fist so nobody would hear. as she got older, she paired the cigarettes and book with red wine, the finest she dared steal without risk of being caught. this was her escape, her small patch of beauty in an ugly world.

andromeda keeps to herself at hogwarts as much as she can. the only people she openly spends time with are those her parents approved of, and she doesn’t like most of the people her parents approve of. she threw herself into her schoolwork instead, easily landing herself a spot among the top students. she’d probably be the professors’ favourite if she could just be charming, but she’s unsociable and taciturn, and when she does speak, it’s with a sharp tongue and dry wit that makes you wonder if she’s laughing with you or laughing at you.

but she loves hogwarts, loves it with all her heart, as so many abused children do – it’s a safe haven, a place where she can at least pretend she’s free. she loves learning everything that she can ( in fact, she was very nearly sorted into ravenclaw ). her favourite place to be is the astronomy tower, and she escapes there whenever she’s feeling a bit too trapped

she was chosen to be a slytherin prefect for her year and although she thought she wouldn’t like it, she’s grown to enjoy the position. not for the power it gives her over her fellow students, but for the escape it brings. she can associate with people she would normally never talk to, and roam the castle freely past curfew. and andromeda isn’t a naturally nurturing person, but she’s found that she enjoys talking to and helping the younger years. she sees their wonder at hogwarts in their eyes, the same wonder that she felt, and has grown quite protective over quite a few of them.

she’s technically in slug club, due to her prowess in potions and her illustrious family name, although she hardly ever goes – she does not like slughorn at all, nor most of the people he’s selected to be in his little club. other than that, however, andromeda doesn’t make a habit of joining clubs or teams or anything that would involve her being forced to interact with people.

as for technology: listen as much as i love the idea of andromeda in a modern age it’s mostly just bc of the wealth of information that’s available to her ? like staying up ages watching random ass videos and falling into a black hole of wikipedia articles and having 12 languages on duolingo and a streak on khan academy. fuckn nerd ass

but social media ? not for this bitch !! i really have Tried to get her to use social media so i can do fun sc threads and such but she wont listen to me smh. u know when u meet someone cute and you’re trying to stalk them online but they either dont have any social media or it’s just like an empty acct with no posts ? shes that bitch. she’ll text people but she hates the like …. publicity of social media. doesnt trust fb at all ( and she shouldnt!! zuck shes onto u ) and probably has a snapchat someone made her get but she consistently replies like 3 days late, breaks streaks, has a snapscore of less than 1000. what a mess. shes a grandma. gets & enjoys memes but never uses them or references them. if andromeda black references a meme around u then u know she trusts u implicitly

PERSONALITY !

those who don’t know andromeda might say she’s aloof, proud, detached, all flint eyes and sharp edges. and they wouldn’t be wrong. andromeda’s habit of keeping to the shadows has carried on into her hogwarts years, and as an introvert, her solitary nature can sometimes come off as downright anti-social. she’s naturally pensive, and her pensive face just so happens to look pissed off.

she finds it hard to trust people. she’s so used to a world shaped by selfishness that she rarely meets someone she doesn’t suspect of having ulterior motives. after all, beautiful people, like beautiful things, are temporary. everyone turns ugly sooner or later ; everyone’s claws are eventually revealed.

andromeda carries an unmistakable air of wealth that, although entirely unintentional, can rub people the wrong way. she has a taste for the finer things in life — an aged wine, a silken scarf — and sees no reason why she shouldn’t enjoy them. she’s well read and well bred, and has a vocabulary and accent that can seem pretentious to some.

but those who do know andromeda, those precious, precious few, know of her vivacity, her independent streak, her love of learning, her dry humour, the dimples that appear with every mischievous smile. they know the fire she’s kept hidden in her heart for so long, and the proud, apathetic mask she slips on so easily whenever she’s hurting.

EXTRAS !

pinterest !

BIRTHDAY / ZODIAC: jan 11 / capricorn sun, aries moon

MBTI: intj

MORAL ALIGNMENT: chaotic neutral

ILVERMORNY HOUSE: thunderbird

TEMPERAMENT: melancholic

PATRONUS: raven

AMORTENTIA: dried ink, pine, petrichor, dark chocolate