Evan had been correct. They got the news that Aurelia was engaged to Augustus in September. Druella was very calm and polite when Persephone was there, but when she left she took out her cigarettes and smoked about three in quick succession.

Andromeda stared. Druella rarely smoked. It was usually just a social hobby for dinner parties, and she always used an elegant black cigarette holder. But now she was holding them between her two forefingers. After a while, she seemed to realise what she was doing, and stubbed the last one out when she saw Andromeda and Narcissa staring at her.

"Smoking is bad," she said, as smoke curled out of her nostrils. "I'll kill you if either of you ever start. Especially like that, it's common."

"Are you sad about Augustus?" Narcissa asked tremulously.

Druella closed the packet of cigarettes. "Of course not. Now run along. Haven't you got homework to do?"

They both had, Narcissa some from Miss Travers, while Andromeda had some mathematics from their father. He knew a lot more about them, and she was now doing algebra and geometry. Narcissa peered over her shoulder.

"What are all those letters? That's not maths!"

"Yes it is. You've got to figure out what number the letter represents. Like this."

She did the sum out, but Narcissa was bewildered. "I hate maths," she said, sitting back in her own chair.

"What's your favourite, then ?"

"I don't know. Maybe watercolours," she played with her quill. "Poetry is all right when Miss Travers reads to me. I like the old ones with all the funny words. Except when we have to miss the lines."

Miss Travers did poetry and reading with them, but she irritated Andromeda because she always taped over words and phrases she thought unsuitable for young girls. As this was Miss Travers, there were a lot. When Narcissa and Andromeda got the books, entire lines and paragraphs could be covered with white tape. Once they had peeled it back and had a peek, but both of them had been bewildered at the word underneath.

Narcissa finished her homework earlier than Andromeda, and started begging her to play with her.

"I've got to do my maths," Andromeda said irritably. "Go off and play with the kittens or something."

Narcissa faltered. "Are you turning funny like Bellatrix now?"

She never called her Bella anymore. Bellatrix, too, had mostly stopped calling them Cissy and Andy. She was what Cygnus called A Young Lady now, and sneered at their games, most of which she used to play with them, and even hid Narcissa's doll as a cruel joke.

"Of course I'm not. I'll be out in about twenty minutes, okay?"

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵　　‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

In early October, there was an engagement party. It was a shock to see Augustus again. He wore blue dress robes, and his hair was cut tighter. His stubble was gone, and so was the paint that had usually stained his fingers. When they entered, he had one arm around Aurelia's waist. She was tall and brown haired, with a beaky nose, and somebody who didn't know much about fashion had chosen a deep red dress for her that made her look deathly pale. They were talking to an elderly couple, laughing, but when Augustus looked up and saw Druella and the others, the smile slipped from his face.

He quickly took his arm away from Aurelia, who muttered something to him from the corner of her mouth, which was fixed in a manic smile. He muttered something back, then began to make his way through the crowd. Cygnus scowled and moved away, as did Bellatrix, but Narcissa and Andromeda were still standing with Druella when he reached them.

"Mrs Black," he said, and swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing. "It's....it's very good to see you."

"And you, Mr Fawley," she said, rather coolly. "I must say it was a surprise to hear you were marrying my niece."

Andromeda was sure she hadn't imagined the emphasis on the words my niece.

"Yes," he said awkwardly. "Yes, well. It was all very quick."

He didn't fit in here, not with these bright smiling people in this ballroom. He didn't fit in all cleaned up and shaved in a shiny suit, with his hair cut. Andromeda wanted to see him in their drawing room again, with his paint stained fingers and the faded old shirt he kept for working.

He smiled at Narcissa, but it looked a little forced, and asked her if she had seen Aurelia's collection of dolls.

"I'm sure she would allow you to play with them," he said.

Ha! Andromeda thought. No she wouldn't.

Once, when they had been younger and Aurelia was showing them her massive bedroom, Andromeda had reached out to touch the beautiful net above the bed, sure it would be as soft as gossamer. But Aurelia had slapped her hand away and snapped at her not to touch things that weren't hers. Their cousin was pushing her way through the crowd, and when she came close, she wound her arm through Augustus'.

"Hello, Aunt Druella," she said, then tugged on Augustus' arm. "Auggie, you must come and meet Gytha Bulstrode."

"In a minute, dear, I was actually just going to ask Andromeda about her art."

"What are you talking to little kids for? Come on!"

She looked about five seconds away from having one of her famous tantrums. Augustus nodded his head awkwardly and she dragged him away back into the crowd.

Narcissa went off towards their father, but Druella went to the refreshments table, Andromeda following, and she took a glass of wine. "I know she's my niece, but that girl is simply frightful," she said, then made a face as she took a sip. "As is this wine."

She looked surprised to see Andromeda still there, biting her nails. "Stop hanging around like a wallflower, Andromeda. Socialise. And pull your fingers out of your mouth!"

She looked despairingly to where Bellatrix was laughing with one of the Malfoys, then to where people were cooing over Narcissa by Cygnus.

"Why can't you be more like your sisters?"

Andromeda didn't know how to be like Bellatrix and Narcissa. She wasn't charming and funny like Belatrix, or little and cute like Narcissa. Even though she was too old for it, her little sister was sitting on Cygnus' knee, really playing up to the adorable act, even putting on a lisp and making her eyes big and round so everyone went, "Aah!"

Andromeda sighed irritably. She felt like a hulk in comparison, and lurked around the refreshments table when her mother had mercifully gone to dance with her brother. The cake had been cut, but nobody was eating it. Andromeda lightly ran her fingers through the icing and then licked it off, something her mother would have scolded her for. Then she looked up, and jumped guiltily, because somebody was watching her.

Augustus was standing against the wall, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a drink.

"I'm sorry," she said, and blushed. "You probably think I'm a greedy pig."

"No, not at all. I like the icing, too. Besides, nobody else is eating it."

He sighed, looking around the room. "It's not a great party, is it, Andy?"

"It's okay," she said carefully, and leaned against the wall beside him.

"If my mother was still alive, she'd scold me for not socialising and being odd."

"Oh, mine too," she said, and he smiled.

"I think we've got a lot in common, actually. How's your drawing going? I didn't really get a chance to ask you earlier."

"It's okay," she said again. "I mean....I haven't done it for a while."

"You should! You were good at it."

She shrugged, embarrassed. "I couldn't really find anything good to draw. And Father says I need to focus on my music."

"Do you like music?"

Andromeda drifted her finger through the icing again before answering, choosing her words carefully. "Yes. But I like drawing better."

The music on the stage changed, and she decided to ask the question. "Why don't you paint anymore?"

He looked surprised. "It wasn't really a job for a gentleman," he replied. "I work in the Ministry now. In taxes."

"Taxes!" She exclaimed, and he laughed.

"It just doesn't....seem like you, I mean."

He took a sip from the amber liquid in the glass he was holding, and sighed again.

"Sometimes I feel like it's all just a farce," he said, then looked at her guiltily. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you this stuff. You're just a kid."

"I'm eleven, actually," she said loftily. "I turned eleven last week."

"Oh, practically ancient," he said, his eyes twinkling, though he still looked sad. "Happy late birthday."

Andromeda looked to where Aurelia was giggling with her friends. She still looked like a little girl, tendrils of brown hair hanging around her face where it had come undone from her twist, her eyes wide and laughing.

"She's young," he said, as though reading her mind. "Too young."

"Why are you marrying her?" She asked. "Couldn't you marry Mother?"

He laughed, but it didn't seem like he had found her sentence funny. "Oh Andy," he said. "If only it was that simple."

"But it is," she insisted. "You love her, so why not?"

He looked to where Druella was dancing, throwing back her head and laughing, blonde hair flowing out behind her. "Because society," he said, and there was sadness in his voice. "Because we're grown ups, Andy. Because things change, and things are complicated. Besides, she doesn't care for me. Not the way I care for her. You'll understand when you're older."

I won't, she thought, as he knocked back his drink and walked away, I'll never understand.