Icicles

Disclaimer: Anything recognizable belongs to J.K. Rowling

She sits alone in the darkness, waiting.

Teddy is in the upstairs room. Hours have passed since Nymphadora placed him in her arms and asked her to look after him while she was gone, to ensure that no harm came to him, no matter what.

Mum…if I don't come back…you look after him. Take care of him, make sure he stays healthy and strong. And make sure he doesn't f-forget me. Her voice had been filled with tears, raw emotion filtering through. Her face had been ashen and her hair had lost its usual vibrancy. For as long as she can remember, her daughter has been getting herself into all sorts of dangerous, risky situations- first as a reckless child, then as a fully qualified auror, then as a member of the Order. But never before had she seen Nymphadora look so terrified.

Andromeda had rocked Teddy to sleep, singing him lullabies, telling him that his parents loved him very much and would be back when he woke up. She could only hope now that she hasn't lied to him.

The sound of a twig snapping cracks through the silence, injecting her with a shot of pure fear (she tries to ignore the tinge of hope that seeps through- the hope that Nymphadora and Remus are returning, unhurt and victorious). Reaching for her wand, she stands up, cautiously, and moves towards the window.

The nearly imperceptible flash of white within the trees doesn't miss Andromeda's eye. Shakily, she opens the window and calls out, her voice echoing: "who's there?"

A figure emerges from the forest, hands above head. "It's me Andy," the figure speaks, and as she moves closer, Andromeda can make out the distinctly female shape, the long neck, the long blonde hair and the high cheekbones. She recognizes the features immediately, and almost impulsively points her wand at the moving chest.

"Don't come any closer, Narcissa," the words come out in a hiss.

"I'm not here to hurt you," Narcissa removes her wand from her pocket and drops it on the ground, a sign of trust. "It's over Andy. He's dead. Voldemort is dead."

Andromeda's heart skips a beat. It's over, the war is won. The likelihood of Nymphadora and Remus coming back suddenly seems like an almost definite prospect, rather than a sliver of hope in the back of her mind.

But the joy that Narcissa has brought her doesn't stop Andromeda's suspicions. "If the Order won the war, how are you here, Narcissa? With your family's…associations, I would have thought they'd have carted you off to Azkaban, or they'd at least be holding you before a trial." She doesn't move her wand from Narcissa's chest.

Narcissa smiles ruefully. "My allegiances…changed, shall we say? It's a little difficult to explain…" Andromeda gives her a look indicating she doesn't care how bloody difficult it might be, Narcissa better as hell explain because there is no way she will trust her otherwise. Narcissa sighs and continues, not surprised. Her older sister had always been the most stubborn of the three of them. "The Dark Lord killed Harry, only Harry wasn't actually dead. He didn't know that of course- he sent me to check if he was dead. I- very quietly of course- asked Harry if Draco was alive, because the last I'd heard of him, he was in the castle. Harry nodded. I told the Dark Lord that Harry was, indeed, dead."

Andromeda takes this information in, carefully processing it. "That was very brave of you, Cissy."

A ghost of a smile appears again on Narcissa's face, but it quickly disappears. "That isn't why I'm here though."

"Why are you here then?"

"Andromeda…" Narcissa's face is unsure, and Andromeda can feel her heart pounding against her ribcage, leaving bruises against the bone. She's no Legilimens but she is naturally perceptive enough to know when something is terribly, terribly wrong.

"Nymphadora's dead."

The words hit Andromeda in the chest, and she staggers backwards, clutching so tightly onto the windowsill that she thinks her fingers might snap off. Tears prick the sides of her eyes but she doesn't cry- instead they seems to freeze into little crystals of ice that send chills through her body. She tries to speak, but no words come out- her throat is frozen too, coated with slippery black ice that words cannot climb up. She can faintly feel her stomach begin to cramp and knows that the pain will slowly build up, up, up until it is agonizing, until she can barely breathe anymore.

But she has to ask, for Teddy's sake, she has to get the words out somehow. "A..and Remus? Her husband?"

Narcissa shakes her head and Andromeda bites her lip hard, drawing blood. Everybody is gone she thinks. Ted, Nymphie, Remus…only Teddy's left now…poor Teddy, orphaned at barely a month old. He'll never know his parents, never know the way Nymphie's hair changes colour depending on her mood, or Remus's silent air of knowledge. He'll never know how brave his parents were.

"Andromeda, I'm sorry, I know this is hard…"

"You're damn right this is hard," she speaks through gritted teeth. "Who did it? Who killed them?"

Narcissa swallows, a lump forming in her throat. "Andy…Nymphadora had a target on her head the minute she walked through the Hogwarts gates."

"Who, Narcissa?"

"Bella. Bellatrix killed Nymphadora. Dolohov killed Remus."

Andromeda freezes. The air is cold, so cold.

"D-did she know?" she asks.

Narcissa nods and Andromeda suddenly feels rage rush through her body. Of course, of course Bellatrix knew that Nymphadora was Andromeda's daughter.. She would have targeted Nymphadora, hunted her down and murdered her all because of what Andromeda had done so many years ago.

"Andy…I'm, so sorry."

"Shut up, Cissy." Her voice shakes, sadness and anger mixed together. She can't stand Narcissa's apologies; she never could. She remembers when Narcissa had found her with Ted, had told their parents, had thrown her out of the family without a second glance. She remembers Narcissa showing up on her doorstep a week later to apologize, to tell Andromeda that she loved her even if she had to marry a Mudblood. Andromeda had shut the door in her face. "Was…was it clean?"

She knows by the look on Narcissa's face that it wasn't, that Bellatrix would have tortured Nymphadora until the poor girl had cried out in pain, in fear. She knows that Remus would have come running to save his wife, only to be struck down. She knows that if Nymphadora had seen that, the pain, coupled with the Cruciatus curse, would have been far too much for her to bear, and she, usually so brave, so resilient, would have crumpled to the floor.

"I will kill Bellatrix," she says, surprising herself at the sharpness of her voice. "I don't care, I'll murder her, I swear I will."

"She's dead already. Molly Weasley killed her."

There is a pause. The air is heavy with unspoken grief.

"I never got to know her…Nymphadora" Narcissa says, quietly.

"No." She hadn't wanted to let her daughter near any members of her family, and she hadn't thought that they would want to get anywhere near her.

"She…she looked like you. And she was like you too…so brave. She fought, Andy, until the very end."

"She was far braver than I ever was," Andromeda hates herself in that one moment. She had shied away from joining the Order of the Phoenix, shied away from the opportunity to shield herself and her family from the darkness pursuing them. She had told herself that she hadn't wanted to put them in more danger, but in reality, she had been scared.

And now thanks to her fear, her daughter his dead. Her grandson is an orphan.

How can she live with herself?

"You should go, Narcissa."

"But Andy, I…"

"Go."

Narcissa gives her one last sympathetic look and disappears into thin air with a loud crack. Andromeda feels herself sink down against the wall and finally, give in to the tears.

A/N: just a short little one-shot built off a headcanon I've had for a while. Reviews are much appreciated, as usual.