DISCLAIMER: HARRY AND HIS FRIENDS AND ENEMIES DO NOT BELONG TO ME! THEY BELONG TO THE AMAZING J.K ROWLING! ONLY THE PLOT IS MINE!
A/N: This takes place at the start of the Christmas holidays, OotP. Does not follow HBP or DH timelines.
Harry Potter and the Black Legacy
Chapter 4—Revelations
Andromeda took a deep breath, looking at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. She wasn't officially in the Order, but she was still keyed into Grimmauld Place. Besides, if Dumbledore didn't include her, she would go berserk on him, and that's something he did not want.
"Where's the courage you pride yourself on having?" She muttered to herself as she stood behind a tree across the street. "You can do this, Andromeda." She took another deep breath. "Right." She breathed. With a few powerful strides she crossed the street and went straight up to the door. She gazed at the familiar knocker and raised a pale hand, grasped it firmly, and rapped it on the door. She nearly winced at the amount of noise it made, which echoed around the otherwise quiet street. Who knew brass and wood could make such a din when knocked together? It had always seemed pretty soft to her when she was a child—at least, not even comparable to the iron gates and lavish silver knobs that decorated them, back in Black manor.
The door swung open, revealing a small head with drooping ears, a large nose, and sunken eyes glaring at her.
"Mistress Andie. Please come in." Kreacher muttered resentfully. "Almost as bad as Master Sirius, running from the family and breaking poor Mistress Bella's heart." He continued in a low voice, oblivious to the fact that Andromeda could, in fact, hear everything he was saying. "Oh yes…Mistress Bella was very upset." He glared up at her again and shuffled another few steps. "Blood-traitors, marrying Mudblood filth…" He droned on continuously.
Andromeda sucked in a sharp breath. She really didn't need to know of Bella's reaction to her leaving all those years ago. It would just break her already-shaky resolve.
Right now she wasn't even sure if it was a rational decision to return here and talk to Sirius. It would risk running into Ted, and of course, Dora. She didn't want to think of her daughter's reaction to her leaving Ted. Dora was always blissfully unaware of the perpetual strain in their relationship. She didn't want Dora to feel betrayed by her actions.
"Kreacher, leave me." She commanded harshly. Kreacher glared at her resentfully again before trudging off, still muttering under his breath. Andromeda touched the wall, memories springing back as she felt the rough fabric. She ran her hand along it, following the gold lines into the tapestry room, where she stopped, looking at the grand drapery with loathing, yet a strange kind of nostalgia. Her eyes flitted over the faces of her parents, aunt and uncle, and landed on Regulus' face. The dates read that he was deceased.
"I'm sorry, Regulus." She whispered, moving forward mechanically. Her hand brushed his face gently. "Rest in peace, cousin." She said.
Her eyes moved to the burn mark next to Regulus' place on the family tree. Only a name remained—Sirius Black, and his date of birth. Her finger poked the singed material, and her breath caught in her throat. It was so similar…in fact, it was the same kind of burn, which came from the same wand—Walburga Black, the most obsessed member of the Black family at that time. Her gaze moved up and she saw the burn mark in between two faces which she deliberately ignored. Her hand touched the mark tentatively.
The black patch still felt warm. It still felt as if it was a new burn, and it reminded her of the past. It seems as if nothing has changed, but she knew that everything changed. Grimmauld Place seemed timeless.
She fingered the fabric softly, almost caressing it, although she begrudged her aunt for burning her off the tree. She remembered how proud she was when she saw her portrait next to her sisters' faces. She hesitated, and moved her eyes to her left. Bellatrix's haughty and sharp face stared back at her. She used to be so beautiful. Andromeda was scared to think what Azkaban did to her sister's mind, body, and soul. She was scarred enough as it is, with Black blood flowing inside her, pure as could be, but also inbred, causing illnesses such as mental instability. She felt that she was lucky to be…well, normal. At least, as normal as she can be, coming from the Black family.
Her eyes moved toward the right, looking past her own burn mark to look at Narcissa, the youngest. She was always pretty awed by Narcissa's appearance. She was fair, blond, and delicate and quite meek while both her and Bella were dark, with dark hair, and both strong and stubborn. Cissy was the perfect pureblood daughter, and now she's the prefect pureblood wife, hosting parties, being gracious, all that shit, really. Andromeda was never one for tea parties nor housework. She often thought Cissy as a mini-Druella. One Druella was enough, two…it would be unbearable. Then again, she bore through it safe and sound…mostly. To escape their prissiness, Andromeda and Bellatrix often went on 'adventures' in the house and out the garden, in the cellar and up the attic, through the secret passages, leaping from door to door, while Cissy sat in the drawing room, playing with her dolls and having a tea party, pouring tea for them and talking to them.
Thinking about it, Andromeda snorted. The door made a creaking noise and she realized that she wasn't the only one in the room.
"Mum?" A voice asked, surprised. Andromeda whirled around to see her daughter standing in the doorway. Her hair was its usual bubblegum pink and her eyes were a bright yellow. Andromeda winced.
"Your eyes." She said. Nymphadora grinned and changed them to a light blue colour, and Andromeda was struck by their similarities with Narcissa's eyes. She almost finished saying Cissy's name, but stopped herself at the last moment. "Ci…" She faked a coughing fit. "Can't believe you like pink hair." She muttered.
"I like pink." Dora pouted.
"Course you do." Andromeda raised an eyebrow. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me?" She asked.
"What are you doing here, Mum?" Dora fired off. "You never have anything to do with the Order anyway."
"Can't I visit? Or is it too embarrassing for your mother to appear in the Order headquarters?" Andromeda asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"O-of course not!" Dora blushed. "Mum!" She pouted. "You know I never meant it that way! I'm just surprised to see you here, that's all."
Don't I always know…Andromeda thought. The curse of knowledge was what I was born with. She thought bitterly. Being a Seer was hard. Scratch that…being a true Seer was bloody arduous. You spout prophecies and see the future whenever the ability decides to strike. It's bloody irritating. It's also one of the downsides of being born into the Black family, where the magic concentration was so high that 'abnormalities' begin to form, and being inbred doesn't help either. Even though Dora wasn't a pureblood, the half Black blood flowing inside of her ensured that the family gift, or curse, manifested itself. Dora was just one of the luckier people, to be born with the Metamorphmagus ability rather than say, the curse of a Seer. However, there was also one thing that everyone in the family agreed on, and it was the Black beauty. It was the best gift, and they attracted many admiring, if not lustful looks. On the other hand, it was a curse, for it drew attention—unwanted attention, and it incited jealousy and rage and hate, and all kinds of negative emotions that Andromeda would rather not think about. The worst cases may lead to murder, and she was well educated, enough to know that many of her ancestors were subject to violent and often unexplainable deaths. She shivered.
"Mum?" Dora asked. "Are you okay? You just spaced out a bit there." Dora said.
"Huh?" Andromeda said. "Of course I'm fine, Dora. Just thinking. What are you doing here?" She asked her daughter. To her surprise, Dora blushed.
"Oh…um…Order business…" Dora shifted. Andromeda raised an eyebrow again. She could always tell when someone was lying, and her daughter was no exception to that rule. Besides, she's learnt to read her daughter's emotions long before Dora could form a coherent sentence. Added to her sudden changes in hair colour, eye colour, and others, Dora easily gave away her thoughts. Andromeda frowned internally. She would have to correct that. Dora could be read like an open book if she continued to be like this—something that is very dangerous to manipulative enemies.
"Order business…tell me, Dora. I'm quite interested. What has the war escalated to?" Andromeda asked, leaning against the tapestry. Dora fidgeted, another sign to prove that she was making up lies. Andromeda was slightly hurt that her own daughter would lie to her.
"Well…um…Mad-Eye has expressly forbidden us to talk about the plans and everything. Constant vigilance and all the stuff he spouts." Dora smiled nervously.
"Nymphadora…" Andromeda sighed. The younger girl gulped. It was never good when her mother used her full name. "Just tell me the truth. I don't want your lies. I'm not going to get mad at you—just tell me what's going on." She said sternly.
"Alright mum." Dora said in a small voice. "I…I'm here to see Remus." She confessed.
"Remus?" Andromeda asked in surprise. "As in Remus Lupin, Sirius' friend, the werewolf?" She asked. What could…ah. Of course.
"It doesn't matter that he's a werewolf, mother! Do you have something against werewolves?" Dora defended quickly, taking Andromeda's last comment the wrong way. Andromeda eyed her daughter.
"Of course not, Dora. I'm just asking." Andromeda said. It was a lie, though. She would also be lying if she said that she wasn't worried for her daughter. Self-pitying or not, self-conscious or not, good or not, Order member or not, Remus was still a werewolf, and Andromeda was worried about her daughter. She could see a potential romance blossoming here, but also possible, and probable danger in this situation.
"So…uh…can I go now, Mum? I have to get back to the Ministry." Dora said quickly.
"Mm-hm." Andromeda murmured absent-mindedly. Dora scampered out of the room, grateful that her mother didn't press any further. Andromeda looked at the tapestry. There was nothing branching off from her burn mark—but of course. It didn't show her marriage to Ted either. To the family, she was just something shameful, something that needs to be forgotten, a black smudge amongst dozens of others. She wasn't worth a place on the tapestry, nor was her daughter, and definitely not a werewolf. She smiled twistedly. Was it a good thing that she was blasted off, then? To save the shame of anyone having to see the names Ted Tonks and Remus Lupin on the tapestry of pureness?
"Toujours pur." She said, tracing the silver letters engraved on the wall. Always pure. She smiled wryly. How she mocked the words just by standing here.
If her daughter marries, or has an affair with Remus, it would either end up in heartbreak (which means a dead werewolf and a satisfied Andromeda, but a possibly catatonic Dora) or Andromeda being a grandmother (which means added danger to the parents, Andromeda, and the baby itself). No, this simply wouldn't do. Young people these days take sex as a pleasure-seeking device these days. Andromeda nearly snorted. They should see all the rituals they could perform with the simple act of having sex—there are even books written about those rituals.
Besides, having sex tends to bond two magical beings together. It's not just purely physical, and may lead to emotional attachment and other unwanted things, if, for example, it was just meant to be a one night stand. Complications, complications. Life isn't simple, despite what some people may think.
The main problem? His lycanthropy. Andromeda certainly wasn't a racist bitch like Bellatrix. She didn't have anything against werewolves in general (then again, she was brought up in the most prejudiced environment in the Wizarding World—it instilled fear and revulsion for the beasts ever since she was a child, no matter what she thought now). The crucial point here is that her daughter, her only daughter, her beloved Dora, was dating a werewolf. She knew that Remus was a very good person who feels ashamed of his condition, which he can't control, of course, but she also feels apprehensive about this. Werewolves changed every month, on the night of the full moon. Even with the Wolfsbane potion, they were still unstable. They retained a human mind, but they still had a wolf form, and are still capable of turning others or injuring them severely. She didn't want her daughter to be turned nor hurt, so she had every right to reject the relationship. Nevertheless she could see that Dora was smitten with the man, and she would be happy despite everything else that was wrong or out of place, and Andromeda wanted her daughter to be happy—at least, happier than her. She didn't want Dora to rush into things and regret it…like she does now. Marrying Ted might not have been the best decision in her life, but Dora was a blessing from above, and Andromeda would be damned if she let anything happen to her precious baby.
Of course, there's another problem: the age difference. Think about it. Remus is Sirius' friend, was in his year, and was a Marauder. He grew up in the sixties and seventies. Now if Remus was Sirius' friend, it means that he was in the same generation as Sirius, who also happened to be her cousin, making him the same generation as her. This would mean that Dora could potentially be dating a man twice her age, or something close to that.
Andromeda was a pretty open-minded woman, but this she would not readily accept until they both prove their love for each other.
She looked around again and sighed.
"Seems like I've forgotten the real purpose of my visit today." She said, walking out of the room and closing the door behind her quietly. She hurried up the dark staircase and to Sirius' room. She knocked on the door smartly. When nobody answered, she pushed the door open, puzzled. Where else could Sirius be? She knew that her younger cousin liked his room the best, and she wholeheartedly agreed. The house was far too Slytherin and everything in it just screamed 'The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black!'.
She peeked into the room and frowned. It looked like it hadn't been slept in for years. A small grin made its way onto her face when she noticed the posters of the half-naked Muggle girls on the walls and the Gryffindor colours dominating the bedroom. It was just like Sirius to defy his parents openly. She strongly suspected that there were permanent sticking charms applied to the pictures, and when she tried to pry a poster off, her suspicions were confirmed.
"The best way to deal with Aunt Walburga's insanity." She said in approval.
"Or, the only way." A dry voice said from behind her. She whirled around, readying her wand. Sirius stood in the doorway, leaning casually against it.
"Paranoid much?" He grinned.
"Always." Andromeda informed him before tucking her wand away.
"I would have been disappointed with any other answer, cousin." Sirius smiled. "Now…care to inform me of the nature of this visit, Andromeda?"
Andromeda looked around Sirius' room.
"Why don't we take it somewhere more private?" She asked.
So...press the button and tell me what you thought of this chapter! This was the hardest for me to write yet, because I wanted Andromeda to come out as the canon character but also with a bit more of the Black family's bigotry inside her. Of course as the story progresses the characters would be really OOC.