Andromeda Black-Tonks
Andromeda Black's wide brown eyes saw it all. She saw her Father's lies and her Mother's apathy, Narcissa's subtle, blue-eyed manipulations and Bellatrix's spiralling descent into darkness. She saw the cruel and jagged of the world as well as the beautiful and joyous. She watched people; the way they lied and sighed, schooled their features into polite interest, faked emotions and snubbed, smiled and insinuated. She saw the faces behind the masks yet she failed to see when she fell in love with a muggleborn boy with a yellow and black scarf.
They met in a Prefect meeting in fifth year, Andromeda held her head high and let her eyes skim over him with indifference as should a witch of her social standing in the company of a mudblood. He bombarded her with friendly chatter even when she insulted him. He helped her after a group of his housemates hexed her in a narrow side corridor and she helped him when he was bullied by blood purist upper-years. His blonde hair and laughing blue eyes became the sunshine in her life. He made her smile when times were hard and let her cry on his shoulder until two in the morning when she found out that Bellatrix had joined the Death Eaters without ever asking why she was in such a state.
His parents were warm and welcoming, the house full of sunshine and worn, stained floors so unlike the pristine, cold marble and polished mahogany of the Black Manor. When the time came to make a decision, Andromeda chose love and turned her back on the cold world she'd grown up in to join a jagged, but beautiful one. She put the silver ring on her finger and a smile of joy on her face.
Bellatrix was gone, her room empty. Andromeda didn't want to think about where her sister was tonight. She left a letter on her bed and one on Cissy's desk. Cissy's hair looked silver in the moonlight that shone through the open windows. In her sleep she looked younger than sixteen and carefree. Andromeda knew her sister would never acknowledge Andromeda as her sister ever again and she cried silent tears as she padded silently down the hallway.
Ted was waiting for her in their tiny apartment with takeout pizza and a cup of hot cocoa. She saw love in his smile.