Easter Eggs, Part 3
Six down, twelve to go--no, that's not a miscount. I got another request for a drabble, so now I have twelve stories to do. So I have a third done. That's good.
Also, much yayness! "Being James" and "Memory, Awake" were added to Jetamors' Page o' Gen Recs. ("Dazzle" and "Pro Bono Publico" were already there.) So I am a very, very pleased person. I'd be turning cartwheels if I could.
THE NAMING OF THINGS
(A/N--In which Ted Tonks proves to be very good at keeping his temper and at keeping Slytherin purebloods off balance.)
"What's a Mudblood?" said eleven-year-old Ted Tonks, staring at the imperious first year blocking his path.
"You don't even know what you are?" The girl's words fairly dripped with contempt; her cold grey eyes regarded him disdainfully.
"Of course I do! I'm a wizard." He and his parents had finally got that one straight, though not without a good bit of effort on both sides.
"A Mudblood wizard." The girl's tone was an offense in itself. "It means that your magic's tainted, your blood's unclean. Now do you understand?"
Ted thought that one over. That magic could be tainted, he had no doubt--there were plenty of stories about black magic, after all, even in the Muggle world. But as far as he could remember, you had to choose to do something bad before your magic turned evil. And as for his blood…
"My blood's fine," he snapped. "It's every bit as red and healthy as yours! That is," he added, noticing her pallor, "if you have blood? You're not a vampire or anything, are you?"
For a moment, he thought that her rage would set off an Exploding Charm. "I'm NOT a vampire! I'm Andromeda Vulpecula Black of the House of Black, and I'm a pureblood human witch, thank you very much!"
Ted was startled. "That's a horrible name," he said with complete candor. "Andromeda is bad enough, but Vulpecula? Your parents must hate kids."
The girl shook her head, as if trying to clear it. "No. It's a tradition in my family--all the children get named after things like stars and constellations. That way, when we grow up, we remember that we're supposed to aspire to the stars, and to settle for nothing less than the best."
She sounded as if she were reciting from memory. Ted was not impressed.
"So what do they call you, this pureblood family of yours? Andy? Meda? A.V.? They can't call you Andromeda Vulpecula all the time. They'd run out of breath. And what's a"--he hesitated for a moment, then sounded it out--"a vull-PECK-you-lah, anyway?"
The girl looked slightly sullen. "They call me Andromeda," she said, sounding as if she sincerely wished it were otherwise. " Andromeda's the name of a constellation and a galaxy. And Vulpecula is a minor constellation that appears in September. It means 'little fox.' Like a cub."
"What's Andromeda mean?" asked Ted curiously, pleased that they'd stopped talking about his bad blood and evil magic.
Andromeda shrugged. "It means 'chained lady.'"
Ted had a sudden vision of hundreds of Blacks crowded into a decrepit Gothic mansion, all dragging their ghastly names behind them like the ponderous chains of Marley's ghost.
People should not be chained by words, he thought. Or by names.
He scrutinised her for a minute. "I think I'm going to call you Romy."
Andromeda--Romy--blinked, surprised. "Why?"
"Because Andromeda is too long and too formal and a Rom is a gypsy"--Ted tactfully omitted the fact that a Rom was a male gypsy--"and you look a bit like a gypsy with those black braids. And gypsies are never chained up. They're free."
She mulled it over for a few moments. Then the hint of a smile quirked up the corners of her mouth, and she tossed her head, sending her braids swinging like metronomes.
"Daft Mudblood," she said softly, the lurking smile still playing about her mouth. Then she ran off toward the Slytherin dungeons, her quarrel with the Muggleborn Hufflepuff apparently forgotten.
It was far from the last time that the two argued, and far from the last time that Andromeda called Ted a Mudblood. Nor did the nickname that Ted tried to give her take with anyone else.
But for the next seven years, Ted invariably referred to Andromeda as "Romy."
It was the first time that Ted Tonks bestowed a new name upon Andromeda Black.
It would not be the last.
Also, much yayness! "Being James" and "Memory, Awake" were added to Jetamors' Page o' Gen Recs. ("Dazzle" and "Pro Bono Publico" were already there.) So I am a very, very pleased person. I'd be turning cartwheels if I could.
THE NAMING OF THINGS
(A/N--In which Ted Tonks proves to be very good at keeping his temper and at keeping Slytherin purebloods off balance.)
"What's a Mudblood?" said eleven-year-old Ted Tonks, staring at the imperious first year blocking his path.
"You don't even know what you are?" The girl's words fairly dripped with contempt; her cold grey eyes regarded him disdainfully.
"Of course I do! I'm a wizard." He and his parents had finally got that one straight, though not without a good bit of effort on both sides.
"A Mudblood wizard." The girl's tone was an offense in itself. "It means that your magic's tainted, your blood's unclean. Now do you understand?"
Ted thought that one over. That magic could be tainted, he had no doubt--there were plenty of stories about black magic, after all, even in the Muggle world. But as far as he could remember, you had to choose to do something bad before your magic turned evil. And as for his blood…
"My blood's fine," he snapped. "It's every bit as red and healthy as yours! That is," he added, noticing her pallor, "if you have blood? You're not a vampire or anything, are you?"
For a moment, he thought that her rage would set off an Exploding Charm. "I'm NOT a vampire! I'm Andromeda Vulpecula Black of the House of Black, and I'm a pureblood human witch, thank you very much!"
Ted was startled. "That's a horrible name," he said with complete candor. "Andromeda is bad enough, but Vulpecula? Your parents must hate kids."
The girl shook her head, as if trying to clear it. "No. It's a tradition in my family--all the children get named after things like stars and constellations. That way, when we grow up, we remember that we're supposed to aspire to the stars, and to settle for nothing less than the best."
She sounded as if she were reciting from memory. Ted was not impressed.
"So what do they call you, this pureblood family of yours? Andy? Meda? A.V.? They can't call you Andromeda Vulpecula all the time. They'd run out of breath. And what's a"--he hesitated for a moment, then sounded it out--"a vull-PECK-you-lah, anyway?"
The girl looked slightly sullen. "They call me Andromeda," she said, sounding as if she sincerely wished it were otherwise. " Andromeda's the name of a constellation and a galaxy. And Vulpecula is a minor constellation that appears in September. It means 'little fox.' Like a cub."
"What's Andromeda mean?" asked Ted curiously, pleased that they'd stopped talking about his bad blood and evil magic.
Andromeda shrugged. "It means 'chained lady.'"
Ted had a sudden vision of hundreds of Blacks crowded into a decrepit Gothic mansion, all dragging their ghastly names behind them like the ponderous chains of Marley's ghost.
People should not be chained by words, he thought. Or by names.
He scrutinised her for a minute. "I think I'm going to call you Romy."
Andromeda--Romy--blinked, surprised. "Why?"
"Because Andromeda is too long and too formal and a Rom is a gypsy"--Ted tactfully omitted the fact that a Rom was a male gypsy--"and you look a bit like a gypsy with those black braids. And gypsies are never chained up. They're free."
She mulled it over for a few moments. Then the hint of a smile quirked up the corners of her mouth, and she tossed her head, sending her braids swinging like metronomes.
"Daft Mudblood," she said softly, the lurking smile still playing about her mouth. Then she ran off toward the Slytherin dungeons, her quarrel with the Muggleborn Hufflepuff apparently forgotten.
It was far from the last time that the two argued, and far from the last time that Andromeda called Ted a Mudblood. Nor did the nickname that Ted tried to give her take with anyone else.
But for the next seven years, Ted invariably referred to Andromeda as "Romy."
It was the first time that Ted Tonks bestowed a new name upon Andromeda Black.
It would not be the last.