sweet liberty

the noble and most ancient house of black had always been top priority for bellatrix – opinions on blood purity aside, she was pleased that andie was working towards making a name for herself. it was odd, considering the family fortune would make sure each of the black sisters were set for life. none of the girls really had to work after graduating. “it would be convenient to have my sister be the star healer at st. mungo’s.” 

Andromeda seemed to be one of the very few Slytherins who could stand to even look at Lily, and it would be a lie to deny that Lily enjoyed her companionship and friendship. She had never expected it, but had grown to cherish it nonetheless. “I think the squid probably has enough excitement under the water, without us messing with it.” She knew the squid wasn’t the worst thing lurking in the lake, and shuddered thinking about what it might be interacting with.

“You’re kind in your assessment,” Lily let out a small laugh at Andie’s words. While she was sure that she would try a great many methods of getting through to someone before resorting to ice cream explosions, it still was a humorous thought. Certainly, no one would expect it from her. “Maybe I’ve been hiding a secret vindictive side from everyone this whole time,” she was teasing, of course. “I did! Lots of reading, but I don’t suppose that’s surprising anymore. How was yours?”

              REMUS PEERED INTO his bag of goodies, opening it up for andie to look inside. “some sugar quills, of course–” enough so that if certain suite-mates stole some, he still had enough to spare, “some toffees and a chocolate cauldron — which i plan to eat later tonight,” he finished, glancing up at andie with a smile. “would you like some? i think i nearly bought out the sugar quills.”

Edgar had decided sometime around his fourth or fifth year that he wanted to be an Auror. Prior to that he used to dream of being the Minister of Magic, or perhaps a high-ranking member of the Wizengamot. Lofty dreams for certain, but Edgar had always been an ambitious boy. “Good to know that I’ll still be seeing you in Potions this year.” He smiled. “My classes are still all the same for me. I expect Ancient Runes to be even worse this year, workload wise. I’m not sure how I’m going to manage it all–classes, and Quidditch, and prefect duties. Not to mention my friends and clubs. It’ll be a miracle if I make it to Christmas.”

“i agree.” she said. fi knew that this was the most fun she had since school ended. this was so much fun! “what’s your favorite thing about the festival?” she asked, curious if she had explored it yet. 

Like many, Charlie suffered from insomnia. They found themselves, waking up after only an hour or less of decent sleep, eventually caving into forcing themselves out of bed. What good would lying about doing nothing accomplish, anyway? That night, they’d nearly finished a bottle of elderflower wine before passing out on the couch. This led to them waking up that “evening” in a hazy state, recklessly bumping into any furniture that crossed their path on the way to the kitchen. “Fuck is that?” Charlie called out in an extremely loud whisper after every sound made, snatching the first potential weapon (a pan) in sight. “I’m armed and ready for battle, you don’t want to mess with me.” The inebriated state mixed with exhaustion causing their words to slur together.

“I’m sure you’re quite terrifying,” Andie said cautiously, holding her illuminated wand a little higher up, “but I would prefer not to engage in battle at this time of day. Where are you going?” She personally was returning to the Slytherin dorms but taking a somewhat roundabout way back, simply because she wasn’t ready to be surrounded by people again.

when: september 6, 1980 where: outside, near the black lake who: lily evans and anyone

The school year had started off successfully, and in between classes, clubs, and her duties with the prefects, Lily was starting to find her rhythm. Luckily, the weather was still nice enough to bring her studying outside, and with a wide array of books spread around her, it took quite a bit to make her look up. When she finally did, though, she could only shake her head, before calling out, “If you’re not careful you’ll fall in! Wouldn’t want to excite the squid this early in the year.”

“I won’t fall in!” Andie half glanced back in Lily’s direction from where she was leaning out over the lake while sitting on a branch. As a child, Andie had forever been climbing trees at home and this one by the lake was perfect for it. But after a moment, she jumped down, landing a little harder than she intended on the ground near Lily. “I feel like the squid deserves some excitement though - don’t you think? After being alone all summer?”

bellatrix grimaced – anything that resulted in an explosion in public surely meant someone was at fault. she eyed the workers, watching their clenched jaws and furtive glances at each other. “no, i don’t. it’s probably his fault. looks like the sort.” turning her head to face andie properly, bellatrix felt a twinge of nostalgia, thinking of a young andromeda – who had now grown into a witch with her own thoughts and opinions. “i am having fun, andie, because i’m here with you. tell me, what are your plans for this year?” 

Andie just shrugged; she and Bella didn’t see eye to eye on this - as with so many other things. She had learned the importance of choosing which arguments warranted a vigorous fight. This was not one of them. It was far simpler just to let the conversation flow on naturally and save her energy for the more important things. “Do I have to have plans for the year?” It was a foolish question because the day she didn’t have long-term plans would be the day she had just given up on achieving any of her goals. “I need to make sure my marks are exceptional to help my chances of a St. Mungo’s internship so that’s really my main goals - do really well in my classes.”

              HE HUMMED SOFTLY, nodding in agreement. his summer consisted of mostly quiet days, some blessed meet-ups with his friends, and a bit of monthly torment from his transformations sprinkled in between. but instead he said, “same. nothing spectacular to report. i think this–” he gestured vaguely to the festival, “is the most exciting thing to happen to me all summer. and so far all i’ve done is buy some sweets.”

“I quite agree,” Andie said. She always looked forward to the festival for so many reasons, and seeing people from school was one of them. “Ooh, what did you buy? I’ve done a lot of looking but I always feel like I need to find the perfect things to buy and then I end up buying nothing.”

“I mean, no, but then again, I’m not great at paying attention to my surroundings,” or more, he had a tendency to wander the world with his eyes fixated to the ground. the only people that helped in lifting his spirits and the way he saw himself were his closest mates and a few more. “Yes, but there are at least a thousand students at Hogwarts, give or take, I can’t be expected to remember them all! It’s hard enough trying to remember some of the professors.” Especially when he fell asleep during their classes. “Wait for what? I can tag along, if you’d like some company, I’d never say no to a scoop.” He insisted with a smile. “I have been, it was a good summer and I’m excited to be sharing a dorm with my best mates,” there really wasn’t much to complain about now, at least not from where Peter was standing. “What about you?” 

That was somehow not surprising. Andie had always needed to be aware of her surroundings. “Well, I guess I can’t fault you for that.” Maybe she just had a better memory for faces too. And she did tend to keep an eye on people who caused drama so it wasn’t a surprise she recognized them. “I just thought maybe I should let things settle a bit more first,” she said, gesturing vaguely at the stalls. “But I’d kind of like some peppermint toads so we can go find some and then come back.” She didn’t know Peter well but the offer seemed like a harmless and polite thing to do, if he accepted. “I’m sure that’s thrilling for you.” Andie didn’t really have anyone she was overly eager to share her room with but it wasn’t a big deal. “Oh of course! I mean, summer was a little dull but the festival has been really great.”

Evie has no interest whatsoever in anything relationship related, not her own or anyone else’s. However, she didn’t mind listening to a bit of drama from some of the other students. It was an interesting way to make time pass, and to keep her mind off more ridiculous things. “Oh did it now? Looks like I missed out on all the fun.” She said with a bit of a huff as she looked over the two booths. The breakup itself was no interest to her, but a riot would have been interesting to witness. Especially when everything else here seemed to be so dull. “Definitely keep me up when those type of things are happening. I’d hate to miss it again.”

“You did,” she said with a little laugh. It had been quite the sight to see, and she was just glad she’d timed it right to be here when it happened. Not that she’d done it on purpose, of course. “If I see anything, I’ll be sure to pass it on! I think they’re taking a lot of the drama with them, sadly, but maybe someone will step up and provide our entertainment. How was your summer, Evie?”

“Oh dear…” Lily looked over to the two stands, and it did seem that the two were less than fond of each other. She remembered them briefly from Hogwarts, and it seemed like nothing had really changed. “Well hopefully they can find a way to work all of that out…” She finally tore her eyes away and looked back to Andromeda, with a small shake of her head. “Hopefully we never find ourselves in a situation like that!”

“I hope so,” Andie said doubtfully. But if they hadn’t managed to make it work in their time at school, it seemed unlikely that they could do it now. “I hope not! Anyway, I hope I wouldn’t explode ice cream all over anyone. I can’t picture you doing it at any rate.” Lily seemed too nice to do something like that, although Andie had the uncomfortable idea that she herself wouldn’t find it nearly as difficult. “Did you have a nice summer?”

“I think it was the opposite for me. It felt like it went by so quickly.” Perhaps it was because he was older now, and things moved faster than they did when he was a boy. Or maybe it was because he’d been dreading seeing Gabrielle. “They used to feel so long when I was younger. I used to count the days down in my calendars until I could come back. This year it felt like the summer just…slipped by. Ah well, but at least we’re back. Are you still taking all the same classes this year?”

Andie thought that Edgar’s home life was quite different from hers, and that probably had something to do with the differences in their perception of time. “I think my summers have always felt like they dragged.” Hogwarts was the more preferable location, and she missed her friends and the break from her parents. “But we’re both here now, so that’s nice. Oh, yes,” she said, nodding. “I’m taking the requirements for Healing so I can’t change that.” She still didn’t know how it would actually go over when she had to tell her parents of her plan, but that was a problem for another day. “Are you? I did think about dropping Arithmancy because it’s not required but I really enjoy it so I kept it.”

“breakups are the worst.” fi said determinedly. fi had only ever had one breakup and it had been very dramatic and mostly her fault though she didn’t like to admit that point. she still felt extremely guilty about it. “i’m great.” she said. “oh you know, the normal pureblood summer. parties, galas, lessons.” she said. there was more to it, but fi wasn’t supposed to speak of it. “how are you? how was your summer?” 

Andie nodded seriously, although Ophelia seemed to be taking this much more gravely than was necessary. In Andie’s opinion. But maybe they could get onto a topic less fraught. “That sounds like mine,” she said with a sigh. “It wasn’t bad, just long, and I was more than ready to get back to school. I think this is the most actual fun I’ve had since the end of last year.”

Peter didn’t keep up with gossip outside of his personal bubble of friends, not because he wasn’t curious, he was, but because there was MORE THAN ENOUGH to keep up with between his three best friends. “Is it terrible of me to admit that I don’t know who they are?” Peter couldn’t help but grimace, embarrassment turning his cheeks a light shade of rosy pink, “I mean, admittedly all the faces sort of blur into one, unless they’re people you spend a lot of time with. But, maybe they’ve made amends?” If Peter didn’t know any better, it looked as if the girl was pregnant but he surely wasn’t going to be the one to comment on a woman’s weight, if there’s one thing he’d learned over the years from his failed attempts at flirting, it was to not do that. 

“You don’t?” Andie didn’t at all agree that all the faces blurred into one, although maybe it was just because she’d been paying such close attention to these two in particular. “They’ve only been at school with us for years.” She shook her head at him, but with a smile. Peter was one of Sirius’s friends and Andie had always liked that little group for taking care of Sirius. “Maybe,” she said doubtfully; she rather thought it would take more for them to make up again but it was always a possibility. “Anyway. I was going to get some ice cream but I guess I’d better wait. Have you been enjoying yourself?”