Thicker than water: May 1981 (Andromeda, Sirius, G)
500 words.
May 1981
"Don't move," a voice at his ear says softly, and he feels the wand at his throat. "When we went to Greece, who did we meet at the beach and why did Bella hate her?"
"Eleni Argyris, the Greek Minister's daughter. She was engaged to a Muggle. Announced in Cassandra's Crystal the week before we arrived." The wand is withdrawn. Sirius turns around to see Andromeda, awake and alert.
She has changed so much since he saw her in school. All the lessons of her mother to never appear slovenly or unpolished seem to have vanished: she is in her nightgown, hair pulled back into a sloppy knot, an inkstain on her fingers... Aunt Druella would never have allowed any of those things.
But then he catches the glittering hardness in his cousin's eyes, and he knows that a curse was on the tip of her tongue if he had given the wrong answer.
That, at least, is familiar.
"Good to see you, Sirius," she murmurs, giving him a sudden hug at which he startles; their family had never been a demonstrative one. "What do you want?"
"I protest," he says feelingly, as she locks the door with an oblique wave of her hand. "Why say I'm after something?"
"It's four o'clock in the morning." Her voice is wry but affectionate. "The last time you were here this early, James Potter was bleeding all over my doorstep."
His attempt at levity fades. "I need Uncle Alphard's place, Meda," he says. "A month at most. Can you make me three Allowances?"
Andromeda purses her lips. "You really didn't learn anything from them." It's a cryptic sort of remark.
"'Course not." He gives her a doubtful look.
"Hm." She eyes him curiously. "I always assumed you would have learned something from Aunt, at least."
"You mean it's sealed with..."
"Yes."
"Oh."
"Uncle taught me the spell a long time ago, before I left school," she says. "I'll need to see the three people."
"But there's no way--"
"Then I won't do it."
"This needs to be done soon, as in tomorrow at the latest!" He runs a hand through his hair, frustrated, and starts pacing.
"Wake my husband or daughter and you will itch very strongly in very strange places for a month," Andromeda says pleasantly. "Ted just finished a double shift." A slight shadow crosses her face, and Sirius wonders suddenly if she's fighting her own war, the less glamorous kind, with subtle words and threats instead of enemies who outrightly want you dead.
"Without blood it's breakable," she says, "and I will not deal in shoddy spellwork."
"It's illegal!" Sirius says desperately. "You shouldn't do blood-magic at all!"
His cousin sniffs. "Please. If I didn't have blood-wards on this flat, my dear elder sister could fling curses at us from the street. And don't you lecture me about legality, you flea-bitten hypocrite."
"But..." He pauses pacing, and sits next to her. "Meda, please. For me. Please, please do this. Life or death, please."
"The answer is no, Sirius," Andromeda says wearily. "Anyway, why not have Remus put up some of his wards, he's very--"
"NO!" He practically shouts the word, almost choking on the bitterness of it (Goddamnit, Remus, why don't you talk to me anymore?) and is unsurprised when Andromeda Silences him with an almost violent wand movement.
Sorry? he mouths.
His cousin scrutinizes him, and for a few uncomfortable seconds he is back at home under the gimlet eye of his mother; he hopes Meda isn't using that mind-magic on him, doesn't see James, Lily, Harry, danger! screaming through his mind.
"All right. I'll just make them into amulets," Andromeda says finally, lifting the Silencing Charm. "No blood. But I will need to know the age and sex of each person in order to make the charm bind as tightly as possible. But I warn you, Sirius: you're not completely shielded unless you're tied into the special wards by blood. If my amulets are removed for even a second, the protections on these people will have a crack in it."
"It'll have to do. And no one can know... You swear you'll never tell anyone?"
"Do you really need to ask?"
"...No."
"That's settled then. Come on, sit and have some tea. Blackberry this week. Oh, it won't kill you," she adds impatiently, seeing his apprehensive expression. "I'm better at it now, Ted's mum showed me the Muggle way."
----
Written for a prompt from
roh_wyn, who said: I'm thinking some Andromeda would hit the spot about right now.
Erm, also ties into the
nest_of_spiders Day 26 prompt, but only very peripherally. This was started way back in April, for nest_of_spiders' Day 11 prompt.
First posted at: allie_meril
May 1981
"Don't move," a voice at his ear says softly, and he feels the wand at his throat. "When we went to Greece, who did we meet at the beach and why did Bella hate her?"
"Eleni Argyris, the Greek Minister's daughter. She was engaged to a Muggle. Announced in Cassandra's Crystal the week before we arrived." The wand is withdrawn. Sirius turns around to see Andromeda, awake and alert.
She has changed so much since he saw her in school. All the lessons of her mother to never appear slovenly or unpolished seem to have vanished: she is in her nightgown, hair pulled back into a sloppy knot, an inkstain on her fingers... Aunt Druella would never have allowed any of those things.
But then he catches the glittering hardness in his cousin's eyes, and he knows that a curse was on the tip of her tongue if he had given the wrong answer.
That, at least, is familiar.
"Good to see you, Sirius," she murmurs, giving him a sudden hug at which he startles; their family had never been a demonstrative one. "What do you want?"
"I protest," he says feelingly, as she locks the door with an oblique wave of her hand. "Why say I'm after something?"
"It's four o'clock in the morning." Her voice is wry but affectionate. "The last time you were here this early, James Potter was bleeding all over my doorstep."
His attempt at levity fades. "I need Uncle Alphard's place, Meda," he says. "A month at most. Can you make me three Allowances?"
Andromeda purses her lips. "You really didn't learn anything from them." It's a cryptic sort of remark.
"'Course not." He gives her a doubtful look.
"Hm." She eyes him curiously. "I always assumed you would have learned something from Aunt, at least."
"You mean it's sealed with..."
"Yes."
"Oh."
"Uncle taught me the spell a long time ago, before I left school," she says. "I'll need to see the three people."
"But there's no way--"
"Then I won't do it."
"This needs to be done soon, as in tomorrow at the latest!" He runs a hand through his hair, frustrated, and starts pacing.
"Wake my husband or daughter and you will itch very strongly in very strange places for a month," Andromeda says pleasantly. "Ted just finished a double shift." A slight shadow crosses her face, and Sirius wonders suddenly if she's fighting her own war, the less glamorous kind, with subtle words and threats instead of enemies who outrightly want you dead.
"Without blood it's breakable," she says, "and I will not deal in shoddy spellwork."
"It's illegal!" Sirius says desperately. "You shouldn't do blood-magic at all!"
His cousin sniffs. "Please. If I didn't have blood-wards on this flat, my dear elder sister could fling curses at us from the street. And don't you lecture me about legality, you flea-bitten hypocrite."
"But..." He pauses pacing, and sits next to her. "Meda, please. For me. Please, please do this. Life or death, please."
"The answer is no, Sirius," Andromeda says wearily. "Anyway, why not have Remus put up some of his wards, he's very--"
"NO!" He practically shouts the word, almost choking on the bitterness of it (Goddamnit, Remus, why don't you talk to me anymore?) and is unsurprised when Andromeda Silences him with an almost violent wand movement.
Sorry? he mouths.
His cousin scrutinizes him, and for a few uncomfortable seconds he is back at home under the gimlet eye of his mother; he hopes Meda isn't using that mind-magic on him, doesn't see James, Lily, Harry, danger! screaming through his mind.
"All right. I'll just make them into amulets," Andromeda says finally, lifting the Silencing Charm. "No blood. But I will need to know the age and sex of each person in order to make the charm bind as tightly as possible. But I warn you, Sirius: you're not completely shielded unless you're tied into the special wards by blood. If my amulets are removed for even a second, the protections on these people will have a crack in it."
"It'll have to do. And no one can know... You swear you'll never tell anyone?"
"Do you really need to ask?"
"...No."
"That's settled then. Come on, sit and have some tea. Blackberry this week. Oh, it won't kill you," she adds impatiently, seeing his apprehensive expression. "I'm better at it now, Ted's mum showed me the Muggle way."
----
Written for a prompt from
roh_wyn, who said: I'm thinking some Andromeda would hit the spot about right now.
Erm, also ties into the
nest_of_spiders Day 26 prompt, but only very peripherally. This was started way back in April, for nest_of_spiders' Day 11 prompt.
First posted at: allie_meril