Potions Partners
Hogwarts excited Andromeda. She found that the assignments allowed her to truly challenge herself and immerse herself in something useful. The background chatter of students filled her ears with something other than insults for once. Even if she hardly spoke to anyone around her, being surrounded by others her age was refreshing.
Her favorite classes were the ones that had more practical work. Andromeda loved the way Professor McGonagall taught, she was strict enough to where there was no-nonsense, yet the classroom always held a comfortable atmosphere. Transfiguration was interesting in itself though, taking one object and making it into another had piqued Andromeda's interest since day one. Andromeda also enjoyed charms. Professor Flitwick had taken a liking to her because she was so adept at the subject. He had recommended her summer reading books for the past multiple summers and had shown her that authority figures could also be friends.
On the contrary, Andromeda disliked history of magic. She never quite understood why she needed to learn about things that happened however many years ago, and in her opinion, she could be spending her time elsewhere doing more important things.
Professor Sprout had replaced their old herbology professor in her second year. Ever since the professor taught, Andromeda found that while she liked the subject, she didn't have the magic touch when it came to plants. Try as she might, the class just wasn't for her, but writing the essays was tolerable, so she didn't have the incessant need to drop the class.
The push and pull of her defense against the dark arts class made her dread attending. Each teacher had focused on different areas, but Andromeda always noticed the looks she received in that class. It was almost like speaking about the dark arts was going to make her go rogue or something. It would take much more for Andromeda to like defense than other classes. The stares were just unbearable sometimes.
Her mother had insisted she take arithmancy, which was one reason Andromeda didn't enjoy the subject very much. Another was that the complexities of it had caused her to lose many hours of sleep. Each assignment was grueling, although Meda didn't complain much otherwise because she didn't have much else to do. Yet, she couldn't help but think that she would've been having more fun in muggle studies.
Here she sat in Potions, easily her least favorite class because of Slughorn, waiting for him to assign partners. Andromeda recognized a few faces of people who came to her house for pureblood gatherings. Still, when she walked in, Henri was the first to catch her eye.
Henri wore the biggest smile on her face along with her uniform and a light blue hijab. Meda wanted to ask her about the hijab to see if that's what it was, but she didn't want to come across as disrespectful, so she kept hoping the right words would come to her.
Slughorn cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him as he prepared to speak in front of the class. Andromeda had the urge to roll her eyes at his show, this was taking far too long in her beliefs.
"Mr. Carrow, you're in the back," Slughorn pointed to a cauldron. "Miss Smith, you're with him."
Half the class had already moved when Andromeda's name had been called to a cauldron in the front. She wasn't surprised by this, Bellatrix had tried to get away with way too much in his classroom.
"Miss Moreau, you're with Miss Black," Slughorn said, and Henri crinkled her eyebrows at the mispronunciation.
"It's More-row, Professor," she objected.
"That is what I said, Miss Moreau," Slughorn spoke, mispronouncing her name again.
Instead of correcting him again, Henri rolled her eyes and took her stuff to the front of Meda, muttering about deaf professors as she went. Andromeda fought a smile at Henri's irritation, she had had yet to notice someone else who Slughorn got on the nerves of.
After sitting, Henri opened her textbook to the page Slughorn indicated and Andromeda followed in her lead. For the first five minutes, they worked quietly side by side—by then Andromeda thought the train was definitely a fluke—but then Henri burst out laughing.
"I can't believe Slughorn," Henri said, wiping the sweat from her brow as the classroom got more humid. "He can never be wrong, Merlin forbid."
Meda snorted at this, surprising both of them. She hadn't talked down about people older before as that was something viewed of highest disrespect in her family, but Henri made it seem like a joke, and joking around was okay to do, right?
"I've never really liked him," Meda said quietly. "He compares me too much to my sisters."
"I completely agree," Henri nodded as Meda stirred the potion. "I don't have any siblings, so I wouldn't know what that's like, but I could imagine."
They resumed a comfortable silence and Andromeda's mind wandered to Henri's parentage. Her last name was French, so she wondered why Henri hadn't ended up going to Beauxbatons, but then again, she didn't have a French accent.
"The other day you said your last name is French, right?" Andromeda asked, hoping Henri would carry the conversation.
"Yeah, my father is French," Henri said casually. "My parents are divorced though, and he stayed in France, so I don't see him anymore."
Andromeda's eyes bugged out of her head as Henri said these things about her parents. She hadn't been expecting Henri to tell her everything at once like that. Albeit, part of the reason why she was so shocked was that the Black family looked down on people who got divorced. She hadn't realised it was a normal thing.
"Mum and I are alright though," Henri smiled as Slughorn called for the vials of potion.
Andromeda took the time to get the potion to the professor while Henri cleaned the rest up. They went their separate ways after potions, but the two quickly found that wasn't the only class that they shared.
In charms, Henri gave Andromeda a nickname after deciding that since Henri was a nickname—she had gone by Henri because she found the name Henrietta far too formal—Andromeda should have one too.
"My family calls me Meda," Andromeda shrugged as she suggested it.
Henri had sat next to her in every class they shared so far. Andromeda found that she didn't mind another person's presence as much as she thought she would.
"Yeah, but that's for your family," Henri bit the end of her quill. "My family still calls me Henrietta, well, except my mum. She calls me Henri."
Nothing was wrong with Henri for having a supportive mother, but Andromeda held deep envy over this. She thought quietly that her own mother would die before supporting any of her real beliefs.
"Oh!" Henri spoke, breaking Meda from her thought train. "I know exactly what would fit you! How about Andy?"
"Andy?" She said with a smile on her face. "I like it."
All throughout September, the girls had become fast friends, although they completely avoided talking about their families. Henri did speak about her mother here and there, but Andy shifted away from the topic with great fervor. She wasn't ready to tell her about it, maybe as the days grew by she would.
Andromeda was surprised by how open a person Henri was. Any question that Andy asked, Henri would answer and in detail. This was particularly the case when she asked about Henri's hijab.
"I've been meaning to ask, Henri," Andie began as they walked away from their astronomy lesson. "Do you wear a hijab or-"
"Yes, this is my hijab," Henri said, gesturing to the hijab on her head. "I'm a Muslim, which means I follow the Islam religion."
Andromeda nodded in understanding as Henri continued talking about her religion. Her friend went into great depth as she told her about the prayers she did at different times of day, and about the holy month of Ramadan. Andy asked general questions, but Henri was so enthusiastic about talking about it with someone, that she didn't leave any questions to be asked.
"Does your mum wear one too?" Andy asked politely.
"Oh, yes," Henri nodded. "She's faced some shit because of it, but that doesn't stop her."
"She sounds like a strong woman," Meda added.
"She is," Henri smiled again before they parted ways to go to bed.
Andromeda learned over the month that people weren't always cruel. Over essays in the library and whispered jokes in class, Henri slowly showed Andy how she ought to be treated.