Chapter 3-Fathers

She heard the door to the apartment open. "Ted?" She called.

"Dromeda? You're already home?" Ted stuck his head in the door to the bedroom. It was unusual for his wife to be home from work before he was.

"Ted..." Andromeda said, her light brown eyes filled with tears. Then she got up from where she sat and threw her arms around his neck.

"What's wrong love?" He asked, startled. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Oh Ted!" Andromeda gasped, "I'm pregnant." She let go of him and looked away, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"But, that's wonderful!" Ted said, looking both elated and confused, "Why are you crying?"

"I'm so scared." She whispered, and looked up at him. He pulled her into his arms again and held her tight.

"I promise you that everything will be fine." He said, stroking his wife's dark hair.

"But Ted! There's a war, people are dying!" She collapsed in his arms but he held her up.

"I wont let anything happen to you Andromeda." He said firmly, "You know that."

Druella attempted to run the comb through her granddaughter's thick black hair, but the little girl would not stand still.

"Stop it!" Onyx demanded, breaking free from her grandmother's arms and grabbing the comb from her.

"Onyx." Druella said harshly, and held out her hand for the comb. But instead of handing it back, the little girl threw the comb into the air. It never landed, simply vanished from sight. Onyx smiled mischievously.

Druella shook her head, "Whatever am I going to do with you?" She asked, but smiled in spite of herself.

There was a knock at the door and both Druella and Onyx looked up. "Come on." Druella took her granddaughter's hand and led her down the stairs and into the entrance hall.

"Is it her?" Onyx whispered, her eyes wide with excitement.

Druella smiled and unlatched the door.

Two figures stood in the doorway, both wore hooded travelling cloaks that hid their faces. But the moment Druella opened the door the shorter of the two figures lowered her hood and stepped forward into the house, holding her arms out to Onyx.

At twenty-one Bellatrix was still breathtakingly beautiful. Her pale face was unlined and her hair hung still down her back in thick black waves. She took Onyx in her arms and held her daughter in a tight embrace. But Druella's eyes were fixed on the other hooded figure.

"My Lord." Druella bowed, and Voldemort stepped inside and lowered his hood. He motioned for Druella to rise, but he did not look at her, his red eyes were staring at Onyx. Bellatrix set her daughter down and the little girl looked up at the Dark Lord.

"Do you know who I am, Onyx?" Voldemort asked her.

A grown man might cower in his presence, but the little girl was not afraid. She looked back at him with her shining black eyes and nodded.

"I did not know that you were coming to France with Bella, my lord." Druella interrupted. Voldemort turned to his old friend.

"I did not plan on it, however I was coming this way anyways..." His glanced back at his daughter, who was still watching him curiously. "I cannot stay long."

Druella looked from Voldemort to Bellatrix, "Will you come in at least?" She asked finally.

They moved to the sitting room. Onyx climbed onto her mother's lap. "Watch mama." She said and held open her hand, showing that it was empty. Then she closed it into a fist and opened it again, revealing in her palm a small red flower. She handed the flower to her mother.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Bellatrix asked her, taking the flower and glancing at Druella.

"I didn't learn it! I just did it." The little girl said, smiling.

Bellatrix looked up at Voldemort, who was watching Onyx curiously. "What else can you do, child?" He asked her.

Onyx smiled wider, "I can do lots!" She said, "Grandmother says I have a lot of magic."

Druella nodded, "She does, my lord." She said quietly, "More than any child I've ever seen." They were all silent for a moment.

"I can speak to snakes." The little girl said finally.

Voldemort stared at her, "Come here, Onyx." He said. The girl slid from her mother's lap and came to stand in front of him. "Do you know why you can speak to snakes?"

Onyx frowned, "Why?" She asked, tilting her head and looking at her father.

"It's because you are special. Do you know that Onyx?" His red eyes were fixed on her pale face. She looked so much like her mother, but he could see himself in her apperance as well, especially in her eyes. He remembered looking into those eyes when she was first born, and knowing then that she was completely his, more than any other living person would ever be. His daughter.

"Can you speak to snakes?" She asked him, still frowning. Voldemort nodded.

"But you must never tell anyone else that you can do this. Do you understand."

She looked confused.

"Others don't like people like us." Voldemort explained. "They don't like us because we're special."

"Because we can talk to snakes?" She frowned.

"Partly." He nodded, "But also because we're better than them. You'll understand, when you are older."

"I understand now!" Onyx said, and crossed her arms over her chest.

Voldemort's thin lips formed a smile. He looked past Onyx and met Bellatrix's gaze, "I cannot stay." He said.

"I know." Bellatrix replied, gazing longingly at him.

"Where are you going?" Onyx demanded, as her father stood up. Voldemort looked at her, at this little child that belonged to him.

"I will see you soon, Onyx." He said. "Remember what I told you."

Narcissa Black had dreamed about her wedding ever since she was a little girl. Now, she stood in front of the long mirror in her white wedding dress, with her blonde hair piled high on her head, and she could not believe that the day was actually here.

There was a sadness in her mother's eyes as she embraced her youngest daughter, but she smiled for Narcissa. "I'm so happy for you." Druella said. She had not said this to Bella at her wedding, knowing that her eldest daughter would laugh, and she had never had the chance to say it to Andromeda.

Narcissa smiled and squeezed her mother's hand. She did not have her sisters here, to see her married, or her father. But she had her mother, and that was enough.