Old Grievances
"Damnit, come on."
Before Andromeda knew it, Alastor had grabbed her arm and was dragging her down the hallway. She was unsure as to where he might possibly be leading them but he seemed quite committed so she simply followed along.
Moody led her up the many staircases of Hogwarts until eventually they were climbing the spirals of Ravenclaw tower.
"Moody…"
Heaven knew Andromeda wanted answers but off all the people in the world, she had never imagined Alastor to be the best person to go to. Who was Ted? Where were they going?
Alastor was too focused on their destination to talk, his dark and beady eyes darting around the hallways.
"Alastor."
"Patience." He snapped.
Alastor ignored Andromeda's protests and continued to drag her along. He had been quiet and reserved for their entire journey, not bothering to explain where they were going or why. And now he had stopped answering entirely. And yet, Andromeda did not feel as anxious as she should have. She was too intrigued to be afraid.
As Alastor finally stopped, answering the riddle at the common room door. He pushed a heavy wooden door open and motioned for Andromeda to enter.
"What are we doing?" Andromeda asked. "Last I checked, neither of us are in Ravenclaw."
"But someone who can help you is."
"Who?"
He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the common room. The common room was mostly empty seeing as it was the middle of the school day.
"Gleaves." Moody called out to a lanky boy huddled up in an armchair.
He peered up from his books. "Yes?"
"Where's your sister?"
Gleaves took one look at Moody and then Black, his face dropped at the sight. "What's she doing here?"
"It doesn't matter Toby, where's your sister?"
"No, not if she's here." Toby crossed his arms, leaning back in the armchair.
Andromeda looked between Alastor and Toby cautiously. "What did I do?" She whispered sheepishly.
Toby looked at her with a sudden twist of disgust that she had only ever seen within her family house walls before.
"What kind of sick joke is this?" Toby snapped, bursting up from the chair, sending books scattered across the common room.
"Gleaves. Now." Alastor stared him down, bracing Toby's shoulder to keep distance between him and Andromeda.
With a heavy sigh, he shifted his gaze back to Moody.
"Astronomy tower. She has a free period so she took her paint up there half an hour ago"
"Thank you."
Alastor immediately moved to leave the common room and Andromeda followed. But Toby reached out and grabbed her arm. Merlin, why did everyone keep doing that to her?
Through gritted teeth and shark's eyes. "If you hurt her again…I'll kill you myself, Black."
Andromeda's heart dropped into her stomach. She didn't remember, she couldn't. Who was she before that made him hate her so much, looking at her with the same betrayal and anger her sisters had. It hurt, and she didn't even know why.
"I-i…" Andromeda flustered.
"And I don't need your filthy dark magic to do it, I will tear you apart. The mudblood way." Toby threatened, looming over her.
"Gleaves. Enough." Moody stepped between the two of them. Tension held in the air. Then finally Toby released her arm.
For a moment, Andromeda felt relief wash over her at Moody's intervention. But as she watched Toby release her arm and step back, she felt a pang of guilt and remorse. She had caused the confrontation, and she didn't know if she could be forgiven. She saw the anger and hatred in Toby's eyes, and she began to worry about what he would do next. Andromeda knew all too well what anger could lead a person to do.
As Toby and Moody exchanged a tense glance, Andromeda wanted nothing more than to disappear. She didn't know what to do or how to make things right.
"Come on, Andromeda."
Moody reached out to take her arm again but she pulled away. Giving him one of their every so calculated 'looks' before simply turning to leave the common room.
They left without further protests from the angry ravenclaw boy.
As the heavy door slammed behind them, Andromeda immediately bolted down the corridor.
"HEY!" Alastor called after her.
She didn't stop, she just kept running. Spinning around the corner quickly and crashing through the bathroom door, dashing into the closest stall and crouched down, trembling and breathing heavily.
Clutching her arms close to her chest, she could shake the feelings on their hands still on her. Toby, Alastor…Lucius…her mother.
The phantom creep of their fingers drove her mad, it made her want to claw off her own skin and burn it. When had she become so powerless? Maybe that was the memories her mother stole, a new found confidence or spells she'd learnt that made her too strong. But now without it, Andromeda could only feel weak.
As she waited in the stall, Andromeda's thoughts spiralled out of control. The hands of all the people who had wronged her, assaulted her, imprisoned her, and taken away her memories came back to haunt her. She wanted to escape, to run away from her thoughts and feelings, to erase the past entirely. But she couldn't do that and if anything, it might make her feel worse.
Andromeda could hear Moody's footsteps approaching, and her heart was racing. She tried to keep quiet as she heard him draw closer to the bathroom, but her breathing was loud and ragged and she knew he'd find her soon.
After a few moments, she heard Moody enter the bathroom and she froze, her ears pricked and alert. She heard him stop in front of her stall. Even though she couldn't see him through the thick wooden door, she felt his gaze on her face, and she wondered what he wanted with her.
"This is the girls bathroom." She gazed down at the shadow beneath the door.
"I know." He replied softly.
"I'm head girl, I'll have to tell the faculty you entered the incorrect bathroom."
A soft thud as he turned to lean against the wall. "But you won't."
Silence hung in the air for a moment. Only to be broken but the click as the stall lock opened, letting the door swing open.
Andromeda brushed past Moody and walked over to the sink. Ignoring Moody, she turned on the faucet and began vigorously scrubbing her hands and forearms. She wanted to scrub those painful memories from her mind, to make the tension and uncertainty disappear. She scrubbed with a frenzied energy, but the soap and water couldn't erase what had happened.
After a few moments, she turned and looked at Moody in the mirror. He was leaning against the wall across from her, watching her with his usual expressionless gaze. After a long moment, he broke the silence.
"I'm sorry" he said quietly, "I didn't know he'd react that way."
"Well, I didn't even know who he was." Andromeda sighed.
Alastor opened his mouth but found no words to offer, just a sympathetic look.
"Why did he react that way?" she finally asked, turning to face Moody. His presence felt like a cold fog, filling her with a strange heaviness. She wanted to shake off his mood, but a part of her was almost tempted to stay within the fog and forget the world outside of it. "What did I do?"
"That's why we're looking for his sister."
"Who?"
"Olivia Gleaves. His twin." Alastor answered. "You were…from my understanding…a bit of an item a few years back."
Andromeda stopped scrubbing.
"What?"
"Not surprised you don't remember, if your mother didn't like the idea of Ted, of course she erased Gleaves."
Andromeda felt her stomach drop to the floor as she processed Moody's words. Olivia Gleaves? She had no idea who she was, and yet, the name felt familiar on her tongue and she felt a strange rush of emotions as the lost memories surfaced. She could see hints of their relationship in her mind's eye: the flirting, the fun, the excitement. She could tell they had something, but she couldn't remember exactly what it was.
"Do you know what happened?" Andromeda said slowly, "How did I hurt her?"
Moody paused for a moment, reluctant to answer. "No one really knows, but she did end up in the infirmary for a few weeks around the time you were rumoured to have broken up."
A pang of guilt racked through her bones.
"That's all I know," Moody continued, "Olivia was back to classes soon enough, quite withdrawn and quiet to start with but it wasn't long till she was back to her loud and obnoxious self."
Turning the faucet off, Andromeda remained still. Processing all this information and just looking down at her hands.
"As much as I know you need a minute right now, I have another lesson to get to soon and I will not be failing my NEWTS so…" Moody indicated for them to leave.
"Fine. Let's go." She sighed heavily, drying her hands and then followed him out of the bathroom.