Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

AN - This collection are all gift fics for my friend Jen, who is all kinds of lovely. She ships things I've never written, or even read in a lot of cases, so we could have some fun in this collection. So, Jen, I really hope you enjoy all the oneshots in this collection. I love you :P

Beta'd by the wonderful Michy.

A Second Chance

It started innocently enough. Glances, the occasional shared smile. Then he kissed her, and Andromeda knew she could fall for this boy. Of course, due to the nature of their families, the Pureblood society of which they were the heirs, they had to keep their relationship hidden from everyone they knew. Andromeda didn't mind. It gave it a... forbidden element, which in turn made it all the more exciting for both of them.

She wondered occasionally if that was what she liked, rather than him specifically, but quickly dismissed the thought. In her mind, she knew, this was the man she wanted to marry.

During her sixth year at Hogwarts, his seventh, they snuck up to the Astronomy Tower as often as possible. In the back of her mind, she knew that he wouldn't be here next year. There would be no passionate kisses under the stars, no comforting cuddles when she had 'enjoyed' yet another argument with Bellatrix. No more togetherness.

She hoped he would propose before the end of the year, but also knew just how unlikely that was. Their parents would have to be convinced to organise a betrothal between them first. Months passed, and all too soon, it was time for their last night in 'their' tower.

xxxx

Rodolphus paced as he waited for her to arrive. He had something to tell her, and he didn't know how. He didn't know how to explain to her that he had tried to change things, that he had, well, not quite begged and pleaded, but close enough.

She arrived with that pretty smile he adored so much already in place, her hand automatically reaching out for him. He took it, because he couldn't ignore it, but his hand shook slightly.

He saw her smile falter, a frown appearing in its place.

"What's wrong?"

"I, ah, I have something to tell you, and it's not... you're not going to like it."

"So tell me," she demanded, and he almost smiled. She rarely demanded anything from him, but he wasn't stupid enough to disobey her when she did. While known as the mild one, she was still a Black.

"My father has signed a betrothal agreement for me," He told her, not knowing how to make the truth sound any less desperate than it was.

She didn't say anything. She just stared at him. Her face showed no emotion, but he could see the pain in her eyes as she struggled to get herself under control.

"Who?"

"I don't know yet. I'll find out over the summer, I imagine."

She nodded and he had to admire her for the lack of tears. He had only just held them at bay upon hearing the news. She wrapped her arms around him and placed a soft kiss to his neck.

"Then we'll have to make the most of tonight," she whispered, pulling his head down to meet hers in a searing kiss.

xxxx

The summer was uneventful for the most part. Andromeda was saved from too many arguments with Bellatrix, due to her forever being pulled into the lounge with her parents. Andromeda wasn't particularly interested in what was happening in there. No doubt it was about the trouble Bella was forever getting into at school, or perhaps there had been an offer of betrothal made.

Either way, Andromeda didn't care.

Misery had overtaken her, and she ghosted through the summer in a daze, forever waiting for an owl that didn't arrive, announcing the notification of Rodolphus Lestrange's marriage. When nothing appeared by September, Andromeda allowed a small amount of hope to settle in her chest. Perhaps it had been called off. Perhaps Rod had managed to convince his father to cancel the contract. Perhaps...

Perhaps they could be together.

But Rod had left school the previous year, and he had yet to write to her, so she had no way of knowing what was happening. Throwing herself into her studies was the only thing left for her, so that was what she did.

Christmas was coming, and her mother had written to her about some exciting news. Andromeda could only hope and pray that she would be returning home to an offer of betrothal with the name Rodolphus Lestrange at the top of it.

xxxx

Rodolphus sat at the dining table, trying unsuccessfully to stop himself from staring at Andromeda. He had wanted to tell her before this, had wanted to warn her what was to come. He hadn't been able to find the words.

She sat across from him, her cheeks blushed lightly. He knew she could feel his gaze, and occasionally, she would glance at him and offer the smallest of smiles when she did. He knew what she thought this was. She couldn't be more wrong.

He hated himself for allowing this to happen. But what could he do?

None of this had been his decision.

xxxx

Shock. Pain. Anger.

Andromeda didn't know which emotion she was feeling the most as she stared at the smug smile on Bellatrix's face. Rodolphus, her Rod, was marring her sister. Her own sister. Andromeda heard her mother snapping out her name, but she ignored it. She couldn't congratulate her sister. She couldn't. Because the name on the contract should be hers, not Bellatrix's.

She left the table and walked slowly, calmly, to her room. She repacked the trunk she had fetched home for the break, cast a featherweight charm on it, and pulled it from the room. She found her mother awaiting her at the bottom of the stairs, already in mid rant about Andromeda's poor behaviour. She paused in her speech only when she saw the trunk in Andromeda's hand.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to Hogwarts. I won't return. I don't belong here."

Andromeda pushed passed her mother and made it to the Floo room before anyone else caught up with her. As she threw the powder into the fireplace, Rodolphus entered.

He watched as a single tear dropped to her cheek.

His was the last face she saw as she left the house for the final time.

xxxx

She didn't come to the wedding. He didn't expect her to. He didn't hear from her, nor see her again. He heard, through the ranting and raving of his wife, that she had married a Muggleborn. The very thought of her sharing herself that way, with somebody other than him, became the focus for his torture curse. The anger that rose up inside him at the very idea produced the killing curse every time without effort.

News of her child, a girl, turned him into a broken mess in the privacy of his bathroom. His tears spilled to the floor as he sunk down. That child, her child, should have been his. He imagined how radiant and beautiful she must have been at full term and it made him sick with envy for the Mudblood she had married.

Bellatrix believed the grimaces, frowns and anger that appeared every time either the man or the child were mentioned were because of the 'betrayal' Andromeda had committed against her family. He didn't correct her.

When the Second War ended, Rodolphus was alone. His wife dead. His master dead. A cell once again became his home and he took solace in it. The lack of Dementors meant nothing to the already unhinged man, as he lay on his thin mattress, dreaming of nights once spent in her arms.

A lifetime ago, it seemed, but still vivid and vibrant in his mind.

He died there, a smile on his face, her face imprinted in his dreams.

xxxx

Andromeda was alone when she heard the news. Harry had informed her of it by letter. It had been he who had found Rodolphus dead in his cell, and for whatever reason, Harry had seen fit to tell her in his latest letter.

She took out a faded picture from her purse. Herself and Rodolphus, smiling at the camera. He had taken it on the Astronomy tower one night, and developed it for her. She looked at the picture once in a while, more so since the end of the war.

How different things would have been had she received the news she wanted all those Christmases ago. Would she had joined the Dark Lord with him? She doubted it, but she also knew that she would have done anything for him, so perhaps. Would she have been able to convince him to run away with her if she'd tried? Again, she doubted it, but she could have, should have at least tried.

She was calm as she drank the potion. She held the photo in her hand and thought back on the many good memories of the time she spent with him.

As she left the world, Andromeda wondered if he would be waiting for her. If they would get the chance to be together in death, that they didn't have in life.