War was declared in the Christmas holidays. Andromeda had spent the past few months being careful about being seen with her friends, but her heart dropped out of her stomach. Walburga and Orion were visiting again, and the adults were talking about it in the drawing room. The boys were out in the hall, oblivious, but Andromeda and Narcissa were frozen.

"War?" Narcissa whispered, her eyes wide. "Proper war, like the one with Grindelwald?"

"Better," Walburga said, her eyes shining. "Much better, Narcissa, because the Dark Lord will deliver. He will bring us glory. This is only the beginning."

She didn't even know how right she was.

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Bellatrix came to tea shortly after. It was the first time she had been in the house since she had left over a year ago. She was almost nineteen, a tall young woman in dark lace, with a black ribbon around her white throat. She sat in the parlour, back poker straight in her chair, like a guest, like she hadn't lived in this house for seventeen years. Andromeda, Narcissa and Druella sat opposite her, and the rattle of the tea tray as it was pushed through the door broke the silence.

"Tea, Bellatrix?" her mother asked politely. She was very pale, not getting out of the house much at all these days.

"Yes, thank you, Druella," she replied, just as politely. Her mother flicked her wand and the teapot poured, the milk jug floating into the air. Bellatrix took her tea and sipped it daintily. "I have not seen you at any meetings lately, Druella," she said.

Druella offered a thin smile. "I've been busy."

"Still," Bellatrix said. "The Dark Lord wonders. And as for Andromeda....."

Her dark eyes went to her sister, and Andromeda prayed with all her might that she wouldn't say anything about seeing her at that meeting long ago.

"She should come too," was all she said, thankfully. "She's sixteen."

"We'll see," Druella said, sipping her own tea.

Bellatrix didn't stay long. As leaving, Andromeda and Narcissa went to see her out. Narcissa hadn't seen her since she had left, and she touched her arm, gently. "Do come back, Bellatrix," she whispered. "Please."

Bellatrix looked at her, and Andromeda saw the darkness in her eyes. But then she gave a small smile. "Of course," she said.

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Druella didn't fight it any longer. She brought Andromeda to a meeting the very next day, telling her to wear her dark blue dress. Still, she felt vastly underdressed around all of the others. Thankfully, the Dark Lord was absent, but it was still an unpleasant experience. When they went home, Druella called her into her bedroom. She was taking her jewelery off, and Andromeda realised that she had not seen her wear her wedding ring in a very long time. But their father was two years dead. Perhaps that was natural.

"Andromeda," she said. "Shut the door."

Andromeda did as she was told, and then sat in the chair. Her mother's bedroom was not a place she frequented often. The three mirrors reflected three Andromedas back at her, and several china ornaments sat on the mantelpiece, beside the little silver clock that ticked its heavy tick. The air was heavy with perfume, and she resisted the urge to sneeze.

"You are sixteen now," Druella said at last. "A young woman. From now on, you will have to attend these parties regularly. Do you understand?"

Andromeda nodded slowly. Her mother unpinned her hair so that it fell loose around her face, and hesitated. "There will be men," she said. "And you will have to marry one, soon. That's the natural way of things. Your childhood is over, Andromeda. War has begun, and that means no more of those friends. You may continue friendship with the Yaxley girl, of course, but not.....unsuitable friendships. Not with that foreign girl."

Andromeda stared. "But Mother –"

"Her family are bloodtraitors. We cannot ignore this any longer. Her father has clearly chosen a side, and that side is Dumbledore's."

"But she's my best friend!" She burst out.

"She is a bloodtraitor," Druella repeated. "That is the end of it, you shall not see her again. They'll know if you see her at school. You have to cut her off. He wants you now, Andromeda. You'll never get away."

Andromeda almost asked who they were, but she knew. They were the people who went to the dinner parties, they were the people who had as good as killed Aurelia and Augustus. They were the Dark Lord. And what would he do, if she disagreed? What would he do to Bellatrix, to Narcissa, their mother, their cousins, their grandparents, if she refused to be his? She knew. She had seen him do it before.

"Yes Mother," she whispered.

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So she did exactly that. She did not send any letter to Glenda for the rest of the holiday, and when one came, she burned it. It hurt her, but she knew she had to do it. When the train pulled into the station, Glenda waved at her. Andromeda walked with she and Lacrimosa, as Glenda talked non stop. She told her about Ted, and about the war, and how she thought Dumbledore would have everything sorted soon. When they got to the carriage, Andromeda turned.

"Andy?" She said in confusion. Where are you going?"

"I....I have to sit with Narcissa," she said. "Mother wants me to sit with her."

Lacrimosa knew. She could see it in her face.

"Oh," Glenda said in disappointment. She knew too. Her dark eyes were still. "Okay. See you at school then."

"See you at school," Andromeda said, and went to sit with Narcissa.

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Theodora Yaxley cornered her in the dormitory on their first night. "Your mother wrote to my mother," was the first thing she said, standing by the curtain in front of Andromeda's bed.

"Oh," she said, a little uncomfortably, and because she could think of nothing more to say, "All right."

"She thinks we're best friends or something. She wanted to invite me for Christmas, said thank you for when you've been to my house."

Andromeda felt a chill down her back. The other girls were listening. She could feel it all around her. Lacrimosa's curtain was closed, but she knew that she, too, could hear. The other girls had taken to ignoring Lacrimosa after she had been disowned, which was far better than the alternative. 

"What kind of creep are  you?" Theodora hissed. "Pretending to be my friend? What the hell is wrong with you? As if I would invite you to my house."

Andromeda shrank back from her. The other girl was taller than she was, spitting her words, and she seemed to fill the small space. "We will never  be friends. You might be Bellatrix Black's sister but you side with tbloodtraitors, don't you? Don't think we haven't seen you with that Hufflepuff. You're really just a sad little nobody. If you tell your mother I write you little friendship letters again, I'll kill you. You got that?"

"Yes," Andromeda whispered. Trying to avoid the other girl, she picked up her sponge bag, meaning to head to the bathroom, but she tripped over Theodora's foot.

"Oops," said the other girl, her voice mocking. "Sorry about that."

"My mother says yours is insane, Andromeda," said Jacinta Lestrange, in her bed across the dormitory. Her green eyes were glinting with malice. "She says she drinks like a fish and she was in St Mungo's last Christmas 'cause she tried to kill herself. Is it true?"

Andromeda's face burned hot, her eyes prickling with unshed tears. "N-no, of course not-"

"I heard her father did it too," this came from Diana Knott. "Trying to get away from her, probably. I bet-

Lacrimosa's curtain was yanked open with a screech of metal. Her curly hair was a cloud around her head, her eyes dark with anger. "Leave her alone all of you. I know for a fact that your mothers are sad gossips with nothing better to do with their time than talk about everybody else. And how many of you have sisters so high in the Dark Lord's favour? I'd watch my tongue."

There were some glares, some muttering, but the other girls began to drift to bed, closing their curtains and staying quiet. Andromeda envied Lacrimosa's ability to make them listen, even now, even when she herself should be the object of ridicule. She shot her friend a grateful look and Lacrimosa nodded to her before pulling her curtains shut once more.