Symphony | Andromeda Black

Glenda's House

Andromeda got good results in both her February and summer tests, but to her they were still not good enough, and when she showed her father her summer report, he agreed. He pored over it in his study, glasses perched on the edge of his nose.

"But you always get an outstanding in Potions, Andromeda. What went wrong here?"

"I don't know," she said, not wanting to admit that she'd cracked under pressure and been unable to finish.

"Well, you must try harder."

He checked Bellatrix's too, but he didn't have much expectations. Bellatrix's marks were always average, though she usually got good ones in Defence Against The Dark Arts, because she was good at curses and jinxes. He didn't mind so much when she got bad marks, but Andromeda wanted to make him proud of her so badly she thought she'd burst.

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Glenda had been talking about inviting Andromeda to her house, but Andromeda didn't think it was serious, not until two letters came, one for her and one for her mother, though they both went straight to Druella.

Dear Andy

Mum says you can come to dinner on Friday if your mum says yes to her letter and I hope hope hope she does!

Love from Glenda.

Druella called in into the dining room as she folded the letters up, and Andromeda trailed in obediently. "That was from your friend Glenda's mother," she said, and she smoothed the parchment. "She wants to know if you could come to play with Glenda on Friday."

Andromeda's insides fizzed. "Can I, Mother?" She asked, almost holding her breath, because Bellatrix was always complaining that she wasn't allowed to go anywhere. "Yes," Druella said, and she relaxed. "Yes, I don't see why not. Your father says they have a lot of praise for Mr Viljoen in the ministry. He was very high up in the African Ministry for Magic. But you must remember your manners. Don't bite your nails, stand up straight, keep your mouth closed. I don't want them thinking we're common."

Andromeda hardly heard her because her heart was so light. She was going to play in Glenda's house!

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The Viljoen house was in the country. It was large and well kept, with pretty flowers in boxes on the windowsill. It had a big front garden, which was full of toys and bicycles, which Andromeda peered at with interest. She had never seen one in real life before.

When the house elf disapparated, Andromeda took a breath and knocked on the door.

It wasn't opened by a house elf as she expected, but by a woman who could only have been Glenda's mother. She was a beautiful dark skinned lady in a floaty dress and hair like her daughter's, and the very first thing she did was give her a hug. Andromeda stiffened in surprise, because she very rarely hugged people, and even then it was usually only Narcissa.

She wore a musky perfume that made Andromeda's nose tickle, and when she pulled back from the hug, various items of jewellery jingled. Andromeda stared at her in shock. She didn't think mothers could have pierced noses. She imagined her own mother's reaction. Druella wouldn't even let her daughters get their ears pierced, because she said piercings were common. Glenda's mother didn't look common. She looked amazing.

"Didn't your mother come?" She asked Andromeda in a soft accent.

Andromeda was so unused to accents other than English that she blinked. "Um. No."