Bittersweet Victory
"It's over!" Ted was running through the door, a newspaper clutched in his hand. "Dromeda! It's over."
He entered the living room to see his wife huddled in the big rocking chair that his parents had given him. She offered him a tearful smile. "Yeah," she whispered, pulling one of his jumpers closer around her. "It's over."
"What?" Ted's face fell. He hated seeing her upset; he wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let go, just so she would never be unhappy again. He crossed to her, kneeling in front of her. "What's wrong?"
"Did you read the whole article?" She asked quietly, gesturing to the newspaper still clutched in his hands.
He shook his head, fair hair falling in front of his face. "No," he admitted. "I just saw the headline and came to tell you."
"It was Lily and James." She bit her lip before continuing. "He killed Lily and James."
"Our Lily and James?" He was dumbfounded. They'd known the Potters for a long time, what with James being Sirius' best friend. "But they had a secret keeper, no-one knew where they were."
Andromeda shrugged. "Obviously someone told them." Her bottom lip trembled and she fought valiantly to keep the tears from spilling over.
"What about Harry?" Ted asked suddenly, thinking of the happy little boy that had fascinated Dora. "Is he-"
"No." Andromeda attempted a smile. "Harry's alive."
There was a silence, as the healer searched for words to comfort his wife but found none. "Sirius and Remus," he said quietly. "Have you-"
"There's no answer. I did phone," she replied slowly.
Ted stood up and held out his hand. "C'mon," he said. "We should pick Dora up. Celebrate the end of the war."
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At eight years old Nymphadora was fairly sure she knew everything. She was expounding on this theory and chattering on about fireworks and how they linked to stars, and hanging on her Dad's hand, whilst trying not to drop the ice-cream that he'd bought her.
"Dad." She tugged on his hand, attempting to point with her cone and realising she'd lose the mint chocolate chip goodness, and stopped.
Andromeda followed her daughter's line of vision and stopped dead. "Ted…"
He was wiping a dribble of ice-cream from his daughter's cheek, but smiling, he looked up. "What?"
"Why's Sirius in the paper?" Nymphadora asked, nearly dropping her cone, as her dad stumbled forward. It was true what she said; the main picture on the front of the Daily Prophet was of Sirius being dragged away by Aurors. "Sirius Black. Ar-res-ted for m-ur-der," she sounded out. "Dad, what's mur-der? Like what pirates do?"
"Dora, I think we should go and see Grandma and Grandad," Ted told her, kneeling down to look her in the eye.
"Why?" she asked, looking across at her mom. "Why is Mommy crying? Mommy, don't cry."
"Mommy's not feeling very well," Ted explained, glancing up at his wife who was grasping a newspaper. "So shall we go and see Grandma?"
Dora nodded. "Is Mommy coming?"
"No." Ted tousled his daughter's hair. "Mommy's going to go home." Dora smiled trustingly, and took her Dad's hand. Ted stood up and turned to his wife, hugging her closely for a moment with his free arm. "I'll meet you at home."
As her husband disappeared, protecting their child from the harsh realities of this new world, Andromeda struggled to compose herself. In the midst of the celebrations, the swoops of owls that were filling the skies, the fireworks visible even in the day, the wizards in their non-muggle clothes, she alone was unhappy. They were the last casualties of this war. Harry had lost his parents, Remus had lost his friends, and she had lost her remaining blood family. This day, which would be marked for celebration across the country, would always be dark for the last victims. Black as the name of the man who'd betrayed his friends.