I've always wanted to work on Andromeda and her family. So here it is. Enjoy (hopefully).

It hadn't been so easy for Andromeda to leave the House of Black. Not as it was for Sirius, or at least not as he had claimed. She was a Slytherin – she could never do things on a whim. She was thoughtful, calculating - she knew how to weigh the merits of the options around her. And unlike Sirius, she had been close to her family. Though often invisible as the middle child, she was the bridge between the hot-headed Bellatrix and the cold, proud Narcissa. In a world that was constantly changing, Andromeda had been the one thing you could count on to stay the she met Ted Tonks. For him she had given up everything she had ever known.

"You give that back!" shrieked Bellatrix as she sprinted into the living room.

Andromeda looked up from her curled position on the couch with a sigh. Gently marking her page, she shook her head.

"What is it this time, Bella?" she asked wearily. Couldn't her sister shut up for a moment – or at least till she finished her book?

But Bellatrix ignored her, going instead for Narcissa who had been sitting quietly on the rug, drawing ribbons of fog from a wand that looked remarkably like…

"Mine!" Shouted Bella as she tried to wrench the wand from the younger sister's hands. But Cissy was faster than she looked.

"You weren't even using it and you take my stuff all the time!" Narcissa replied coolly as she pranced out of her sister's reach.

Bellatrix glared daggers at her. "I don't care if we're not allowed to use magic. I'm going to make you pay!"

"Not if I break your wand first." Narcissa's crisp blue eyes narrowed dangerously.

Andromeda's gaze swung back and forth between the two of them. The situation was beginning to look dangerous.

"Cissy, you'll get your wand next year. Bella, promise not to hurt Cissy and she'll give it back."

There was something about her calming presence that could ease whatever tension, and so, both the oldest and the youngest sister would look to Andromeda to intercede in their frequent conflicts.

So, with a toss of her platinum hair, Narcissa handed the wand to Andromeda and primly made her exit.

"Here," said Andromeda offering the stolen article to Bella as soon as she saw her younger sister disappear up the stairs. "You promised not to do anything to her, Bella." She reminded her, eyebrows raised.

The older sister shrugged. "You're too nice to people Andy. Next thing we know, you're gonna find yourself in Hufflepuff."

"Cissy's not people, she's our sister." She paused for a moment before voicing a worry that she could not push out of her mind, one that plagued her even in her dreams. "Bella, what if I do end up in Hufflepuff?"

"I would hate you forever." Said Bella simply. Then, seeing her sister's face, she rolled her eyes. "Relax, you're a Black. We're made for Slytherin. It's in our blood. The Sorting Hat didn't even touch my head before deciding. Hufflepuffs are dumb and weak, and those are two things we are not."

Andromeda and her family were at King's Cross Station 9 and 3/4, all dressed in pristine black dress robes, looking the part of the rich, snooty pureblood elite that they were. All around them were other young witches and wizards heading off to Hogwarts. Their families were not as pure; their bloodlines could not be traced back seven centuries. Andromeda felt a surge of pride at the thought of her heritage and looked around a little haughtily at her peers.

She saw a boy with funny looking ears enter the barrier with an awestruck expression upon his face. In fact, he was so busy drooling over such simple magic that he tripped and fell flat on his face.

Andromeda stared pointedly at him and laughed spitefully. He was clearly a Mudblood.

"Now Andromeda," Her mother began, bringing her attention back. "You must remember to befriend the right people. You should be fine in Slytherin House, but be wary of some of the students you will be sharing classes with. I'm afraid your headmaster is another one of those Mudblood-lovers, but those types do seem to be taking over."

"Don't worry, Mother." Andromeda replied. "Of course I won't get mixed up with their kind."

Her mother smiled. "Yes, I always know I can count on you, my dear. But do be careful."

"I'll take care of Andy, Mother." Bellatrix said assuredly. "It's not that hard to tell apart the Mudbloods. They're the ones who don't know anything and are the stupidest students in your classes."

"Yes, just follow your sister's lead." Her father told her. "I'm sure you'll be fine and do us proud."

"Black, Andromeda" She heard Professor McGonagall read and she walked up to the ragged old hat.

With trembling fingers, she placed it on her head and sat down.

"Hmm. Interesting." She heard the hat speak. "A Black, so Slytherin I assume?"

"Yes please." Andromeda thought back.

"I can see how you'd fit in Slytherin." The hat said. "Resourceful, cunning, and ambitious to prove yourself. But you're fair too. Not to mention clever."

"Slytherin," She thought again, and a moment later, she heard the hat give the shout she had long waited for.

The table on the left with the green and silver was clapping furiously for the first Slytherin of the year to join their ranks, her sister at the lead. Face shining, Andromeda lifted the hat off her head and walked over to her new table.

"See, I told you you could do it!" Bellatrix congratulated, and at last, Andromeda allowed herself to breathe.

Craig, Winston was called to be sorted and Bellatrix made a sound of contempt. "Mudblood," She said, not troubling to keep her voice down.

"How do you know?" Andromeda asked curiously. She remembered what her mother had said at the train station. What if she accidentally mistook a mudblood for a pureblood? She didn't want to be contaminated!

"I can just tell." Bellatrix replied with a sneer. "See the way he walks up there? How nervous he looks and how he keeps turning his head to look at the door? He doesn't think he belongs here - and he's right! Besides, what respectable pureblood has a last name like Craig?"

Andromeda did notice those things, but then again, she too had trembled when she walked up to the hat. But she was not about to tell her sister that.

After a moment, the Hat shouted, "Gryffindor!" and Andromeda made a mental note to stay away from him. Even if Bella was wrong and he wasn't mudblood, the boy was at best a blood traitor. Slytherins and Gryffindors had a tradition of rivalry and Andromeda had no plans of changing that.

The next student was from a family of blood traitors - the Fenwicks - and went to Hufflepuff.

"Make her miserable, Andy." Her sister said, narrowing her eyes. "The Fenwicks are hardly any better than mudbloods, the way they go around acting. I hate Hufflepuffs." Bellatrix continued. "As much as I hate the Gryffindors, maybe more. They're weak. I hate people who are weak."

More students were sorted, some very quickly, a few as long as five minutes.

As they approached the T's, Andromeda noticed the boy who had fallen on his face on the platform.

"Hufflepuff!" shouted the hat and she made a noise of derision. That Mudblood would be in Hufflepuff.