Symphony | Andromeda Black

The Dinner Party

When they finally got out of the carriage, her grandmother hissed at Andromeda to stand up straight and smile. She did so for a moment, feeling like some kind of manic doll, then abruptly stopped when she looked away. There were a lot of people here, so many that they made her uncomfortable, and she bit her nail only for her grandmother to hiss at her again.

She knew most of the people to see, years of guests at her own house helping her recognise them, and she knew a lot of the young people from school. Most of them were older, but she saw some third and fourth years among them, though she did not know them well. Her grandfather left to join some other men by the firepace, and she stood awkwardly with her grandmother.

The guests milled around the large hall as others arrived, accepting drinks from trays proffered by house elves. Andromeda was thirsty and hoped that something pink and bubbly was lemonade or something similar, but it was sweeter, and tickled as it slid down her throat. She looked up as she drank to see a tall, pale young man with telltale red eyes enter through the heavy doors, and choked on bubbles.

"For goodness sake, Andromeda!" Roseanne hissed, thumping her on the back none too gently. "Do you have to be so childish?"

"But he – he's a vampire, Grandmother!"

"The Dark Lord wants to make a truce with some of the....lesser species," her lip curled, but her face abruptly simpered into a smile as a fat old man with a bushy moustache joined her. Andromeda knew him as Giles Bulstrode, Lacrimosa's great uncle, and her own grandfather's first cousin.

"You have a young guest with you tonight, Roseanne," he said, and Andromeda fidgeted. She didn't like the way he looked at her with his small black eyes. "Is this your younger sister?"

Andromeda inwardly sighed as her grandmother simpered. "Oh Giles, you flatter me," she said, preening. "This is my granddaughter, Andromeda. It's her first."

"If she's as charming as her older sister then I wager she'll prove very popular with the young wizards," he winked at her, and she felt even more uncomfortable, but was thankfully saved from his gaze by a sudden stir behind him; a banshee had just arrived.

"I do wish he wouldn't insist on inviting these creatures," Roseanne said lowly, her voice dripping in distaste as the banshee entered. Like the vampire, she did not try to associate with the wizards. She stood on her own in a corner, watching, and as Andromeda stared she looked up at her. Those black eyes felt like they were staring right into her soul. Andromeda shivered.

"Now now, my dear," Giles said, his voice warning. "Are you questioning the Dark Lord?"

"Of course not," she said quickly.

"Grandmother?" Andromeda asked quietly, finally tearing her eyes away from the banshee's. "Is the Dark Lord coming tonight?"

"Of course he is. I do wonder if you have a brain at all, Andromeda."

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There were two separate tables instead of one, which was unusual, but the reason why was evident to Andromeda. At one long table, all of the wizards sat, and at the other, smaller one sat the creatures. There were only four, the vampire, the banshee, a savage looking man with a scarred face that her grandmother said was a werewolf, and a beautiful man with golden hair and delicate features that must have been a faerie. The wizards were talking, her grandparents busy with conversations that bored Andromeda. Her eyes scanned across the table, looking to see if there was anybody else she recognized, and her eyes fell upon a young couple in the middle.

The man had slicked back ash blonde hair, the woman a shock of black curls, and as she smiled at something, Andromeda almost jumped. It was Bellatrix and Rodolphus. Bellatrix looked....happy, almost. She wore a dress of black lace that looked good with her pale skin, and her hand, which she raised to push back her hair, held a glittering ring. Andromeda wondered if she could talk to her, but as she moved forward, her grandfather told her to stop leaning over the table and be a good girl.

But Bellatrix saw her. She raised her head, laughing, and her dark eyes met Andromeda's. The smile slipped right off her face, and she muttered something to Rodolphus, making as though to get up. But then silence settled over the room, and she hurriedly sat down again. The Dark Lord stood in the doorway, and, slowly, he took his place at the head of the table. He wore simple black robes, and his skin shone white as snow, his face somehow....blurred. It made Andromeda shiver, especially as he turned dark eyes to her and she saw that they shone red.

"A young guest," he said, looking to her grandparents.

"This is my granddaughter, my lord," Sebastian said, sounding somewhat breathless. Andromeda had never heard him sound so small. He seemed like a child seeking approval. "We thought....we thought she would like to hear you talk."

The Dark Lord gave a slight incline of his head, his eyes fixed on Andromeda. "Stand, child," he said, and she couldn't, feeling like she was frozen in fear.

But then she felt a sharp pinch on her arm, her grandmother glaring at her, and, slowly, she got to her feet.

"What is your name?"

"Andromeda," she whispered through dry lips. "My lord."

"Andromeda," he said, and his voice was almost a purr. "The maiden chained to a rock, saved by the noble Perseus. A child," he continued, now addressing the entire room. "One of our youth, come to join us in our cause. We must welcome her. Raise your wands."

Slowly, around her, everybody raised their wands. And, with something like amusement, the Dark Lord looked to the little table of creatures.

"I had a wand, once," the vampire said. His voice was as smooth as velvet, but with a hidden edge like blades hidden beneath it. "It was taken from me when I was bitten."

"And that is not right," The Dark Lord said, pity in his voice now, but it was not real pity. It was like his voice was wearing a mask. "We fight for the same cause, you and I. We are brothers."

"We are not brothers," the werewolf said roughly. "You are wizardkind. We are animals to you."

"To them," the Dark Lord said, and he flicked his wand. Smoke snaked out of it, forming pictures. Aurors, snapping wands, signing accords. Muggles, screaming, cowering from them. History. Andromeda knew from school about the accords and laws signed against lesser species, the bloody revolutions and executions. As she watched, a a vampire bit into a child's throat while a black haired woman let out a heart wrenching scream. Andromeda felt her eyes fill with tears, then blinked them away as the smoky pictures dissipated  into the air.

"They fear you," the Dark Lord said softly, his voice bringing her back to the present. "They try to suppress you because they know you can beat them. Why hide? Why bow to them when you can rule them? Your people hide in the dark and the filth, but when we win, you will be free. We will fight alongside each other."

The faerie spoke. "You are a liar," he said, but he sounded amused. "You are a liar, Tom Riddle, but a skillful one. Why should we concern ourselves in human battle? What will we get for our trouble?"

The Dark Lord's eyes flashed when the faerie referred to him by the unfamiliar name, but he kept his composure. "Freedom," he said. "The power to rule the world, the power to......take revenge."

The faerie's grass green eyes glittered, and he was not quite so beautiful to Andromeda anymore. There was suddenly a sharp, predatory look to his face. "Very well," he said. "I will swear to it."

"And you?" The Dark Lord asked the others at the table. "Rioghnach? Are you not sick of living in the dark and feeding on scraps?"

The banshee didn't answer, her face hidden beneath her hood, but Andromeda could see her black eyes in shadow. She knew banshees could not talk. They could only scream.

"Fenrir? You feast on small children like some pathetic dog. With us, you could have all the meat you want."

Fenrir hesitated, but the Dark Lord continued. "And your magic back. I would give you a wand."

Fenrir licked his lips. He even looked canine, his teeth sharpened into points. "I will swear too," he said, in his unpleasant rough voice.

And then, with a flash, the vampire moved. He moved impossibly fast, towards the Dark Lord's throat with his sharp fangs, but the Dark Lord was quicker. The green light burst from his wand, and the vampire fell to the stone floor. The banshee opened her mouth, and screamed.