The Andromeda Galaxy

Chapter Two | Charm-ing

It was a cloudy Monday morning, when Andromeda Black made her way to charms class. As she passed by some of the many windows that surrounded the castle, she admired the beautiful autumn scenery outside — the outburst of colours a nice way to brighten her morning. She continued to walk down the long and winding corridors until finally, she arrived at the charms classroom. She took a seat in her usual spot at the front of the class besides a Slytherin girl named Dawn.

"Hi, Andy." The girl greeted, chipper as usual.

"Hello, Dawn." Andromeda said, greeting the girl with a smile. She reached into her bag, pulling out the supplies she would need for the class: her textbook, a quill, and some spare pieces of parchment paper for taking notes. Within the next few minutes, the remainder of the class filed in, the bell ringing to signify the beginning of class. Professor Harbin waved her arms around to get the students attention, quietening the loud and rambunctious group of fifth years.

"Today," Harbin began, "we will be working in pairs." At this, several students cheered, high fiving their friends who they planned to work with. "However, your partners will be assigned by me." She finished, which caused a collective groan from the students.

Andromeda scrunched up her nose. She absolutely hated being assigned in pairs. They never seemed to work in her favour, whether it would mean that she would end up doing all of the work, or be assigned with a partner who would annoy her to no means. Not to mention, this class was a split between Slytherin and Hufflepuff, which meant that she had a good chance of getting a random Hufflepuff as her partner.

"Dawn Wellington, you'll be working with Lucius Malfoy." The Professor began, beginning to work her way down the long list of names in front of her. Andromeda sighed, she had hoped to work with Dawn — or even Lucius. Harbin listed off a few more pairs before coming to Andromeda.

"Andromeda Black..." Andromeda crossed her fingers, praying to be assigned with a nice person in Slytherin who she knew. "And Ted Tonks." She sighed.

While Harbin continued to list off the rest of the names, Andromeda watched as a boy with chestnut brown hair and kind eyes approached her, taking a seat in the desk that was usually occupied by Dawn. "Hullo." He greeted, a playful smirk dancing around on his face.

Andromeda said nothing.

"Today, you and your partner will have to practice using the Aguamenti charm, silently. At the end if the week, you will be evaluated together on your ability to use this charm in certain situations, so make sure you are using your time wisely." Harbin gave the known troublemakers in her class a pointed look as she said this, before continuing. "You will have all of today and Thursday's class to practice. Please start by reading page 87 in your textbook, and referencing the notes we took on silent spells last class. I'll be walking around the class to give further assistance when the time comes for you to practice the spell." Harbin looked over the class. "Alright, I'll let you get to work."

Andromeda opened her textbook up to the page her Professor had mentioned, although she already knew most of the information by heart. She began to reread the page when interrupted by a familiar voice.

"I'm Ted Tonks." The chestnut haired boy who was sitting beside her said, holding out his hand for her to shake.

"I know." Andromeda said stiffly. She looked down at her textbook, ignoring his out held hand.

"Am I that popular?" He joked, a grin spreading across his face.

"No, I know it because Professor Harbin said your name when she announced us as partners." Andromeda replied, matter of factly.

"Right." He paused. "You're serious." He noted.

She shrugged. "Look, I'm not here to make friends — especially not with someone like you. Let's just do the work." Andromeda took out her wand from the pocket inside of her robe which had been sewed. "Separately." She added, as an afterthought.