-//-
(Black Magic//Little Mix)
"I'm bored," Andrea mumbled around the cherry lollipop she had in her mouth. The English ones were definitely better than the American ones in some weird way. Much more addictive.
She had given up on helping the boys and was currently lying down on one of the desks, swinging her legs back and forth in boredom.
"You're supposed to be bored. It's a punishment," Remus chuckled back, dusting off a big book on Transfiguration of Inanimate Objects. Andrea lifted her head off the desk. "But why did she take our wands?! That's just cruel," she pouted. Sirius let out a loud laugh.
"Because, New York, we're supposed to feel the burden of misbehaving," Sirius said matter-of-factly. Andrea jumped off the desk and went to the shelf to help them out again.
"Why do you call me New York?" she asked him, blowing off a thick layer of dust from a particularly old-looking book, causing Remus to cough uncontrollably. Sirius stopped and considered that for a second. "I don't know. You're from New York?" he offered with a small smile.
"Well, London, do you think she'll let us out earlier if we finish this before times up?" Andrea asked, looking over the quarter-finished work. "Depends on what kind of mood she's in today," Remus chimed in.
"Hmm. Fine, let's get it done then."
Andrea put the book she was holding back on the shelf and took half a step back. Remus and Sirius both looked at her in confusion as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Emptying her mind and picturing what she wanted to happen, she lifted her hands slightly and opened her eyes slowly, taking in the work that needed to be done. Sirius and Remus both stumbled backwards as all the books lifted off the shelves magically and went to the sky above them.
The book's pages opened, and she sent the books spinning around in the air. All the dust cleared from the books, simultaneously sending all the dust from the now empty shelves out and all gathering in a whirlwind that looked like a tornado mid-air.
The books rearranged themselves and went onto the shelves in the correct order that McGonagall wanted them to be.
As the books all landed on the shelves, the tornado in the sky spun around itself faster and faster before all the dust disappeared into thin air.
There was silence in the room for the following seconds. "How on earth did you do that?" Remus whispered so quietly one could only hear it because of the silence. Andrea turned to the boys, both gaping at her. "What?" she asked, confused.
"Wandless magic," Sirius breathed. "Well, we all do wandless magic before we get our wands accidentally. You know, as kids. I just kept trying to do it and kept training without my wand as much as with my wand and then it got easy," she shrugged. "Some things at least."
"That was hella impressive," Sirius whistled, a wide grin on his face. "Why thank you," Andrea curtseyed with a giggle.
"Hu-hum," a voice cleared from the doorway. They all turned to the doorway to see McGonagall standing there with a stern expression. "Uhm, we finished," Andrea said nervously. "I can see that," she said, looking over the bookshelves.
"Well. Seeing as you're done. You may go." They didn't need to be told twice. Remus rushed out, Andrea right on his heels. "Thank you, Minnie, always a pleasure," Sirius smiled, giving her a tilt of his invisible hat as he passed her. As the three Gryffindors left Minerva McGonagall turned back to the bookshelf.
How on earth had a thirteen-year-old done that?
-//-
"Wandless magic? You actually managed to do it?" James asked in awe.
Peter and James had finished their detention in the trophy room by then and as soon as they had returned to their dorm, Sirius had retold the story from their own detention. Adding a dramatic flair, of course.
When he finished, James had run off to Andrea's dorm to hear from her himself. Andrea shrugged against the carpet on the floor. They were both lying down, heads next to each other, upside down. "I guess. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I just did simple levitation though, so it's easier when you're not using an actual spell. Like, I would've struggled if I tried to perform Wingardium Leviosa. But putting them in order was the hardest part," she explained.
"But that's amazing! We talked about this when we were like ten. Nice job." James held up his fist for Andrea to fist bump. She grinned up at the ceiling and reached her hand up, connecting her knuckles with his. She hadn't seen his hand, but she knew what he was doing.
James went to ask her to show him how to do it but a tap at the window stopped him. They both lifted their heads slightly to glance over. Perched on the windowsill next to Andrea's bed sat a black, screech owl.
"Is that- is that Toothless?" James questioned. Andrea jumped up and opened the window, letting the owl fly in, landing on the backrest of her desk chair.
"It is! Oh, there's a letter." Andrea rushed forwards and untied the letter from the owl's leg. Toothless had been her sister's owl ever since her first year of Ilvermorny and he was practically a member of the family. James got up off the floor and stood behind Andrea, reading the letter over her shoulder with her.
ANDIE!
We can't believe mum and dad moved you to Hogwarts. Now you're the only Russo sibling not graduating from Ilvermorny. Still, I bet Scotland is dope.
Rico says you've probably already been in detention twice, but I figured you'd kept it to once your first week there. Gian, the naive little thing that he is, figured you'd stay out of trouble at least the first week at a new school.
But I knew better.
Now that you're with Potter 24/7, there are no limits to mayhem. I just wanted to write to you myself because mum asked about Christmas and unfortunately, we won't be making it this year. Gian and I are both staying in New York to celebrate with my in-laws and his latest boy toy after we finish work at around midnight on Christmas Eve. (This is Gian and I think it's very inappropriate for Jadah to share these kinds of stories with a child. Also, his name is Luke, and he is SUPER hot. That'll be all, miss you, Andrea.)
And Rico is spending it with Vanessa's family this year so he's out of commission. Plus, Romeo freaked out when I talked about travelling pregnant so that was a glorious argument.
But I've already planned for us all to come when you finish your term next summer, and I'll try to get Gian to come with me. The kids can't wait to see you again and I want you to meet the baby when it arrives.
Yes, we are calling it 'it' now because Romeo thinks I jinxed the genders of Roma and Lucia.
See you sooner than you think little sis
All our love,
The senior Russo's
PS this is Rico and I'm not old like these bats
P PS This is Gian and at heart, Rico is definitely the oldest of us all
P PS+ I agree. He might even be older than Dad
"I love your siblings," James laughed, finishing the letter.
Andrea smiled to herself. She had last seen her sister Jadah and her husband Romeo in May. Jadah was the oldest of the four Russo siblings, putting her at 34 this year. Aisha and Marco had their first child when they were just nineteen, and Gian came along three years later. Rico, twenty-seven years old, was younger than his oldest sibling by a few years, but the big age gap happened when an unexpected pregnancy brought them, Andrea.
Both her parents had turned 53 this year. Her parents had always been on the older side compared to her other classmates' friends because she wasn't supposed to be a part of that generation's parents. Well, older than everyone except for Euphemia and Fleamont, who were turning 57 and 58 next year.
"Me too. They're the best. Wish they were coming for Christmas though," Andrea sighed. It wasn't Christmas without the overly enthusiastic Gian there to decorate the house and tell his father to stay out of the kitchen, so he didn't mess with his cookies. Or the bossy Jadah who thought she was allowed to boss everyone around because she was the oldest, which usually ended in the other three attacking her.
No matter how old you get, you're never too old to teach your siblings a lesson, Rico had recited numerous times. Growing up so far behind her other siblings, Andrea had almost lived as an only child, being the only kid in the house from when she was three years old, not remembering a time anyone else lived there. Lucky for her, that was the same time James had been brought into her life and she had never been properly alone again.
"Yeah. It's not Christmas without the Russo's. The crazy American Italians coming to England? I think the country would break," James said wistfully, wrapping an arm around Andrea's shoulders.
"Oh, how sad a day it will be when the only people there will be the parents, me and all of our best friends," he moaned dramatically. Andrea rolled her eyes and elbowed James in the ribs. "Haha," she said flatly, walking away from under his arm.
"Now get lost. I need my beauty sleep," she yawned, heading for the bathroom. "Honey, it hasn't worked up until now so you may as well give up!" Andrea turned around to the little cheek to see he had turned his back on her.
As she passed her desk, she picked up her closed ink bottle and chucked it at James' head. "OW!" he cried as she ran to the bathroom, locking the door behind her in case he decided to get even. When she was finished getting ready, she entered what she expected to be an empty bedroom, only to find James stealing one of her baggier t-shirts and wearing the pyjama bottoms he had been wearing when he got here.
Merely thinking he was stealing her clothes; Andrea didn't think anything of it. It wouldn't be the first time either of them stole – I mean borrowed, something of the other. Turning off the bathroom lights she went to her bed as James picked up the magazines strewn across the top of her closed trunk and flicked through them, checking out the covers.
"Since when do you read this garbage?" he asked, tossing one after the other down again in disgust. "Since Dorcas introduced them to me and I got hooked. Now leave, please. And turn off the light on your way out." Mid-pillow-fluff her room went dark.
"G'night, James," she called assuming he was leaving. But James had no intentions of leaving. He came back, grabbed a spare pillow off one of the other beds in the dorm and made himself comfortable beside Andrea, pulling most of the covers to himself.
"Night Russo," he yawned back. Shaking her head, Andrea lay down as well.
Guess he was staying then.
-//-
12th of September, Wednesday, 1973
"The moon is full a little after four o'clock. Do you want us to walk you down today, Moony?" Sirius said quietly to Remus as they got ready to leave the dorm that Wednesday morning. Remus spun around and gaped at Sirius.
"You know when the moon is full? I don't even know that!" Sirius shrugged and smiled at him. "Because I do research," he winked.
"But you guys can't come with me. McGonagall doesn't know you know yet." Ignorance was bliss, you know? Neither party had any idea what the other actually knew.
Peter went to protest but a knock on the door sounded, followed by the door swinging open, Andrea waltzing inside with a wide grin. The grin faded and Andrea gaped at the room, her eyes like saucers. Sirius furrowed his brows at her in confusion, but when he saw what she was staring at he let out a chuckle.
"What do you think?" he grinned. Andrea walked into the middle of the room and turned in circles slowly, taking in every angle. Most of the walls, half of one of the floor-to-ceiling windows and a post on one of the four poster beds were covered in paper.
"You guys really re-invented the term wallpaper," she breathed, trying to take in every single note, but it was impossible. Torn pieces of parchment, textbook pages that had been torn out roughly from their books, pictures, old and new, drawings, doodles, sketches, polaroids, and hundreds and hundreds of post-it notes.
I stepped in a puddle this morning and my socks got wet. So, who's throat am I ripping out this moon?
Not to point any fingers but *doodle of a hand pointing down to the bed beneath it, James'*
Nu-huh because I cleaned AND DRIED my shoes before dinner because I wanted to impress Lily
Oh, I'm sure she was impressed with the state of your shoes
Not really. I told her she could eat off them and she said she'd rather see her dinner in reverse land on my feet. Any idea what that means?
"That means she wants to hurl on your shoes," Andrea answered out loud as she read the conversation, seeing Remus had written the same thing beneath it. On all the post-its, hundreds of conversation chains that went on for months or some that ended abruptly with Remus losing his temper and scribbling out James' strong arguments. Some lame jokes written in what Andrea was certain was mostly Sirius and Peter's writing.
"Do you four ever clean up?" Andrea wondered, her eyes getting sore from trying to read every word, study every picture and admire every drawing. "Sure, we do. But the walls are off limits. No one touches our notes," Peter said with a solemn voice. Andrea turned with a small smile.
"If this is how it looks after three years, imagine the state of it by seventh," she chuckled, picturing a foot-thick paper wall. "It started at the beginning of last year. Remus left a post-it that he was heading to breakfast without us. Then another morning James said he was going to the Quidditch Pitch to train for the team, and then it just kind of snowballed," Sirius explained with a proud grin.
Looking around at the four boys, Andrea's smile dimmed considerably when she saw the state of Remus. He had flinched aggressively at the bang of the door and their loud conversation, his heightened hearing not liking the brutal sound.
"You okay, Loopy Lupin?" she asked gently as she sat down beside him on his bed. Remus pinched the bridge of his nose and gritted his teeth.
Witches' magic and blood always had a stronger scent than wizards and Remus could practically hear Andrea's heart beating in her chest right now. Blood running through her veins. It was disgusting.
"Not feeling too good," he managed to mutter through gritted teeth. Andrea reached up and rubbed a comforting hand on his back.
Remus tried to suppress the hiss that wanted to come out at the contact, his skin feeling like it was on fire and contact with anything feeling like a needle prick. A hundred needle pricks. "You wanna go to Madam Pomfrey?" she asked in a voice a lot gentler and more comforting to his hearing and his mood than the boys' loud voices.
"I just need a minute," he mumbled, sitting down on his trunk, and rubbing his temples. Andrea stepped in front of him and reached into her robes, pulling out a wrapped Chocolate Frog. She opened it and offered it to him.
Remus glanced at it and then looked at her in confusion. He had always been the weird one carrying chocolate with him wherever he went. Guess Andrea liked more sweets than her lollipops, which all four of them noticed were becoming a dangerous addiction. At his confused expression, Andrea shrugged lightly, a small smile coming through.
"Chocolate makes everything better," she said. Remus couldn't help but smile at that and accepted the chocolate, taking a large bite. The sweetness spread over his tongue quickly, his sense of taste giving him a new appreciation for the candy. Who knew chocolate could taste any better?
"Thanks, Andie. Let's head to breakf-" as Remus stood up, he got slightly lightheaded and swayed on the spot. Andrea reached out and tried to steady him, James joining her and grabbing Remus' other side.
"I think we need to take you straight to Madam Pomfrey, mate," James said slowly, not wanting to provoke him. "Yeah, OK. Let's go," he huffed, admitting defeat. All five of them headed to the Hospital Wing together, much to Remus' dismay.
As they reached the door Sirius turned to Andrea."Hey, can you save us some seats at breakfast. And maybe bring us something if we miss it?" he asked her hesitantly.
Andrea studied him. They didn't want her to come inside with them, that much was obvious. Reluctantly she nodded and headed for the Great Hall, feeling slightly excluded from her old and new friends.
Sirius turned to Remus. "I still think we should tell her. I mean, she's one of us now," he sighed. Remus shook his head quickly, making his headache. "No. Absolutely not. Andrea actually likes to hang out with me. I'm not gonna scare her off with this. Right, James?" Peter groaned and opened the door, James snorting right behind him.
"You seriously think something as little as this would scare her off? I have better taste in friends than that."
"Debatable," Remus said, trying to hide his smile. James turned to him with furrowed brows. "You befriended a werewolf, and you didn't even know he was a werewolf until two years later. Maybe she has a dark side you haven't seen too."
"Ha-ha. You're hilarious," he responded flatly. "And for the record, I've seen her dark side. If there's anything darker than that, I'm more scared of her than the big, bad, Moony wolf," he shuddered.
-//-
OLD A/N:
I finished my exams on Monday and now I'm on summer vacay! FINALLY!
So a lot is going on right now, for example, me moving out of student housing and moving into a house with my friends Yesterday, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to publish more often. I don't think it'll be every day but I'll try to make it at least 2-3 times a week during the summer.
And to you all, happy summer and HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!
NEW A/N: Sept. 2021
The post-it mural is one of my proudest inventions for this story <3
– ACE
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