Repudiation and Prayer (G; Andromeda Black; 305 words)
leela_cat prompted me with Andromeda: wand and zizith. For pureblood women, it's not always a simple case of swish and flick.
Thank you,
r_grayjoy, for beta'ing.
Repudiation and Prayer (G; Andromeda Black; 305 words)
My blood is pure. I will not pollute it with hate. I will not rear children in lies borne of hatred. I will not raise my wand in murder. Upon my soul, I will accept no Mark. Only my heart will I follow.
The only philosophy that Andromeda had ever known was the Dark arrogance of pureblood superiority; she had never accepted it. Instead, she had taken refuge in learning what she could from the books on Muggle religion that she had discovered in Hogwarts' library, the ones which had always so fascinated Ted. Her reading was an act of rebellion to rival her association with him in her family's eyes, but Andromeda held her books as touchstones in her search for strength.
In one of them, she had learnt about Jewish prayer shawls, garments worn under one's clothing and known by the tzitzyot attached to each corner. The fringes of thread composing each tzitzit, or zizith, that hung outside of one's sleeves were reminders to the initiated to follow the commandments of Hebrew scripture. Andromeda prayed that she might remember the dictates of her own conscience as she stroked a blue tassel attached to one of the sumptuous pillows cushioning her bed. The ritual soothed her, which helped her to plan her escape.
When the miracle of her leaving day arrived, she Transfigured her prayer pillow into a four-cornered garment and wore it under her robes, taking courage, as she went down to what was to be her last Black breakfast, from the swish of the tzitzyot flicking over her wrists.
My blood is pure. I will not pollute it with hate. I will not rear children in lies borne of hatred. I will not raise my wand in murder. Upon my soul, I will accept no Mark. Only my heart will I follow.