HP • 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 ─ 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐱 𝐎𝐂

Andromeda

"I was a Slytherin prefect too," she smiled softly. "Just like my younger sister."

With that, Cassiopeia perked up. "You and Narcissa were prefects as well?"

Andromeda raised her eyebrows. "You know my little sister?"

Cassiopeia felt her cheeks blush furiously. "Well, yes, she's the mother of my friend. And she has become my... friend as well, I believe."

Andromeda studied her for a moment before nodding slightly.

"I never became a prefect," Tonks chimed in enthusiastically. "The head of my house said I lacked certain necessary qualities."

"What qualities, for instance?" Ginny asked, as she picked a baked potato.

"The ability to behave," Tonks said.

Cassiopeia laughed.

(...)

Later, she found Andromeda in the family tapestry room.

She leaned against the doorframe and watched the woman trace her now-restored name on the tapestry, looking quite shocked.

"I decided to repair the tapestry," Cassi commented softly, and Andromeda seemed to startle, perhaps out of surprise.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she said gently.

"Alright, dear," Andromeda reassured her. "I'm just very surprised... And now it has the name Nymphadora on it," she said with a sigh.

"Only fair, she belongs to the family," Cassi smiled. "However distorted it may be..."

Andromeda stared at Cassiopeia intently.

"I-" She paused and blushed furiously.

"You?" Cassi asked with a smile.

"Did you feel it too? That electricity?" Andromeda asked hopefully.

Cassi sighed, unsure of how to respond.

"I don't exactly understand why, but yes," she said, now finding her grandfather's ring quite interesting and playing with it between her fingers. "I feel the same when I'm near Narcissa, it's like a-"

Andromeda interrupted her. "Like a connection," she leaned closer and traced the younger woman's cheek with her fingers.

"Yes," Cassi sighed at the touch, feeling the electricity burn through her.

"Perhaps it is," Andromeda said thoughtfully and hastily left the room without further explanation.

That night, Cassiopeia's dreams were haunted by more than one woman from the Black family.

(...)

Back at Hogwarts.

Cassi ended up being late because Seraphina didn't want to stay in the carrier.

When she finally made her way to the Carriages, there was only one left.

She saw Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville in the distance and called out to them.
When she sat in the Carriage, she noticed a blonde girl reading a magazine upside down cheerfully.

As the others got in, Luna responded to Harry, "You're not crazy, I can see them too."

"Everyone, this is Luny- Luna Lovegood." Hermione stopped herself

Lovegood, like Pandora

Cassiopeia felt a wide smile forming.

"Are you the daughter of Pandora Lovegood?" Cassi asked.

Luna seemed surprised but after a moment nodded.

"Your mother was a close friend of my father," Cassi said, nervously biting her lip.

"Cassiopeia Gaunt Black, pleasure to meet you," she extended her hand.

Luna seemed a bit more animated by this and extended her hand, but instead of shaking it, she wiggled her fingers together.

Cassiopeia was momentarily confused but assumed it was a unique greeting.

"What an interesting necklace," Hermione said nervously, referencing her previous mistake.

"It's actually a talisman. It repels Wrackspurts," Luna replied quietly, as if it were a secret.

Cassi found it amusing. "I have a talisman too," she smiled, showing the emerald on her chest. "I don't know what it repels, but it must be working." Cassi joked, and Luna apparently found it amusing because she laughed heartily.