Andromeda Lestrange


The day was finally here. Today was it. The Final Battle was nigh an hour away. Andromeda had done all her crying already–or at least she'd told herself she had. Severus, who'd just a short time ago stopped by, was with his son in the other room. Andromeda knew he was saying goodbye. They all did. He did not believe his chances were good for surviving the battle and he wanted to give his son a proper farewell.

She commended him for it and would make sure Edward always knew that his father had given him a lengthy goodbye before he left for the battle.

Alone with the rest of her family in the front hall of their home, Andromeda hoped these goodbyes they were sharing would not be her final moments with Nymphadora or Rabastan. She loved them. Andromeda loved them more than her heart could stand, and the very thought of not seeing their faces, not holding their hands, or feeling the warmth of their bodies, caused the fragile muscle to wither.

She watched with watery eyes as her daughter and husband prepared to leave. The final message had been sent out and now, they only had to wait for the summon from the Dark Lord and they would be gone. Desperately, Andromeda reached out to clutch her daughter's hand.

"Stay, please," Andromeda begged. Surely no one would come for her if she did not take rank among the rest of the Dark Lord's soldiers? After all, they needed them on the battlefield–not chasing after a young woman who'd gotten cold feet at the last minute.

Giving her a small, sad smile, Nymphadora went about fixing her hair up in a ponytail. "I can't, Mum," she said gently. "What happens if we win? I get marked a defector and that puts both you and Father at risk.

Frantically thinking of a way to keep her daughter with her, Andromeda stuttered on a held back sob. "But, Edward!" she whimpered.

Her daughter's grey-blue eyes flashed with a keen pain. Turning around to meet her gaze, Nymphadora placed a hand on one of Andromeda's cheeks and leaned in to bless her other with one final kiss of love. "He'll have you. Just wait, Mum, we'll be home again before you know it."

Stepping forward, Rabastan brought both she and Nymphadora into a small huddle-like embrace. "Believe in us, dear. Believe we can make it out of this alive and winning. Then…Then we'll have everything we always wanted. A place for us to all live happily, safely and with the ones we care most about."

"Be safe," Andromeda sniffled as she kissed her husband and, then, her daughter. "Come home to me."

"We'll do our best," Nymphadora swore.

Rabastan opened his mouth, as if he had a remark to add, but he clamped it shut just as suddenly and began to grimace.

"It's time," Severus declared as he came into the hall, looking just as uncomfortably stiff as Nymphadora and Rabastan.

Voldemort was ready for them.

"Farewell, Mum," Nymphadora whispered as they disapparated right before Andromeda's very eyes.

v-v-v-v-v

Alone, Andromeda wandered into the almost uncomfortably warm sitting room where Edward was waiting for her. Going over to the armchair that Severus had used only minutes before, the woman shushed the baby quietly snuffling in the converted basket.

Picking her grandson up, she kissed every part of his little face; she gave him a peck on his white forehead, on his high-set cheeks, on his dimpled chin, on his mother's lips, on his father's hooked nose and then, on top of the blond curls that reminded Andromeda of her sister Narcissa and her family.

Settling Edward in the crook of her elbow, she bounced the baby. "It's okay, love," she cooed. "Mummy and Daddy are just gone for a bit. They'll be home before you know it…"

Edward gurgled, his black eyes glittering in a way Severus's never had.

"How about I tell you a story, love?" Andromeda asked as Edward brought a hand to his mouth to suck on noisily.

Petting his blond curls, Andromeda let her eyes wander around as she recited an old fable she'd learned as a little girl. Her gaze caught sight of a small stack of books near the fire. Scrutinizing it, she realized they must have been left there by Severus. Tilting her head, Andromeda read their spines the best she could and deciphered that they were mostly potions texts with a book or two on defense spells thrown in.

She only recognized a few titles, one, was undoubtedly a school textbook for potions and another, a rather rare find of a book. One Lucius had grumbled about losing some years ago.

Andromeda wondered if Severus had stolen it, or if Lucius had not meant "misplaced" when he said he'd lost it. She preferred the second option because the thought that she'd let her daughter marry a thief was a despicable one. Getting up, she picked the first book off the pile and came back to her chair.

Looking at her contented grandson, Andromeda grinned. "You're such a pleasant baby–quiet like your mother was." Cracking the book open, Andromeda was surprised to see it was all in Latin. Did Severus read it? Or did he translate pieces out of it bit by bit? Flipping through the pages, she noted parts that were scribbled out, others that had arrows between sections or corrections written above lines in English.

To her, it seemed quite likely Severus read the Latin.

"Well, if he can read the whole thing and understand it, I should be able to read you a few lines until you fall asleep don't you think, Edward?"

The baby just continued his slobbering and staring with calm eyes.

Opening her mouth, Andromeda read the words carefully with sharp enunciation of vowels. She didn't understand much more than a word or two, but she liked the sound of it, and from a handful of glances of Edward she'd taken, Andromeda believed he did too. This could be something they could share. No, something of Severus she could share with her grandson if his father never came home.

He may not have written a journal for his son, but he'd left Edward behind a careful selection of knowledge that he'd deemed vital for his son to have in his grasp.

Kissing the baby again, she whispered, "Your daddy loves you so much, Edward. He left you such beautiful things to remember him by…"

"Mmm," Edward replied as he freed his hand from his mouth to touch her face.

v-v-v-v-v

The fire's embers a dim orange, Andromeda sipped absently on her tea and moved her feet from time to time to keep herself awake. She needed to be ready for when Nymphadora came home. Andromeda needed to know what had happened out there while she watched Edward. Andromeda needed to know who had won and what world she was now living in.

Suddenly, her sensitized ears picked up the sound of footfall coming from the hall behind her. Standing up, Andromeda couldn't stop the hopeful smile that overtook her face as she called, "Nymphadora?"

Who stepped into the room was one of the last people she expected.

"I'm sorry, Andy," Narcissa whispered.

Trembling, Andromeda demanded, "Where's my daughter? What happened Narcissa? And who is this with you?"

"She's–She's not coming home, Andromeda," Narcissa whispered.

Clutching the arm of the chair she'd been sitting in only a minute before to keep from collapsing, Andromeda shook her head and covered her mouth. "I–No. Severus said! He said he would get my daughter out of this war safely!"

"He tried, but Nymphadora made her own choice."

Andromeda could not stop the rage that engulfed her at that moment. "She made her choice!? Nymphadora never had one!" she screamed at her sister.

Narcissa recoiled like she'd been hit. Breathing hard and fast, Andromeda looked to the person who'd come with her sister. "Who are you?" she demanded again.

The person, a teenage girl that had her face battered terribly, and looked hardly fit to be standing, let alone away from Hogwarts's infirmary, said, "My name's Lavender Brown, Ma'am. I never knew your daughter, I'd never even seen her before, but she saved me. I'd fallen from a balcony and I was hurt quite badly then and that–that monster started coming at me! Your daughter, she cast spell that threw him back, but another Death Eater saw her and I'm–" her countenance crumpled into a hideous expression of regret.

"I couldn't stop it in time, Ma'am, but Molly Weasley got the bitch in the end!" Lavender declared her bruised face full of contempt for the Death Eater that had murdered Andromeda's daughter.

Looking between the girl and her sister, Andromeda asked, "What are they saying about my daughter? Do they call her a hero? A villain?"

The pair shared an uncomfortable look.

"They…They haven't said much at all about her, actually. If I hadn't heard Miss Brown telling others about what Nymphadora did, I don't think any of us would have known what happened to Nymphadora for several more hours. I don't know what lead to her jumping in between Miss Brown and–and the Death Eater, I can't tell you why she did it, Andy, but somehow I don't think Miss Brown was the only child she saved today," Narcissa finally answered.

Lavender, who'd attentively been listening to Narcissa's explanation offered, "I heard Harry's calling Snape a hero and says that you and your grandson should be left alone. As well as that you had no hand in anything to do with the Death Eaters."

Rigid as she met the girl's swollen eyes, Andromeda nodded. "I didn't," she agreed. "Will my daughter earn the same title as her husband?" Andromeda inquired briskly as she moved over to her grandson, who was wailing in his makeshift bed from the commotion. Jogging the infant, she asked Narcissa, "And what are you doing here, 'Cissy? Surely you should be at Hogwarts? Counted among the Death Eaters?

"I defected when I told the Lord Harry Potter was dead. Lucius followed me and Draco did as well," Narcissa murmured. "Though, even so, they do not trust us and that is why Miss Brown is here with me."

Lavender, her one good eye smoldering, said, "I volunteered, Ma'am. The least I thought I could do was tell you what your daughter did. To me, she's a hero. I'll tell everyone I know she is."

None of this was comfort to Andromeda. What she had wanted was her daughter home safe, but she would never get that. "What about Rabastan? Did he survive?"

The girl flinched, but Narcissa nodded. "He's being detained, though, he did escape Azkaban and is a criminal in everyone's book for what he did to the Longbottoms all those years ago."

"Alone again," Andromeda croaked, tears in her eyes. "I'm all alone again with a baby who's going to want his father, his mother and I'll never be enough for him."

Narcissa finally left Lavender's side and came to take Andromeda's free hand. "Don't say that! Oh, Andy…You have me, you have Draco and Lucius. We'll be here. We're going to help you with raising your grandson."

"You can't promise that," Andromeda sneered. "You might have defected, but your husband and son are marked Death Eaters and you were at the battle, Narcissa. You could be off to Azkaban just like Rabastan before you know it–no matter what Harry Potter says."

The younger gave a quiet whimper.

Seeing the look of heartbreak on her sister's face, Andromeda instantly felt bad. "Don't cry, Narcissa…You're starting to make me feel like–" she stopped. "What happened to Bellatrix? Is she detained? Please tell me she's not escaped!"

Andromeda's sister started to cry then and with a hysterical sort of fear, Andromeda snapped, "Don't just stand there! We have to get away from here then! There's no doubt in my mind she won't try and find shelter here!"

She started to shove past her sister, intending to head for the floo, but Lavender stepped in her way. "Ma'am, Bellatrix is dead," she told her. "Molly Weasley did her in."

"What…?" Andromeda mumbled as she sank down to the ground, heart still beating rapidly as Edward bawled in her arms. "But you–"

Shaking her head, Andromeda looked again to her sniveling sister. "Bellatrix. Bellatrix killed my daughter? Her niece?!" she demanded angry at the fact they had not told her right away.

Giving her shoulder a hesitant squeeze, Lavender offered her a sympathetic smile that was more of grimace thanks to the pain her bruises caused her. "Yes, Missis Lestrange, she did. Bellatrix wasn't honorable in the slightest, she killed her before she'd even had her wand pointed at her. But you know what? If Nymphadora hadn't been finishing off Greyback, I think she would have won against Bellatrix."

"It's no comfort to me. I wish she'd let you die and come home to her son and I," Andromeda spat angrily at the poor girl.

Lavender flinched. But, still so strong, the girl whispered, "Don't worry, Missis Lestrange, people are going to help you. Snape was a war hero and they're going to want to protect his son–and you–his family. In fact, I bet Harry will want to meet the little one when he has a chance."

"I don't want my grandson visited by him. They call him a savior, but he's no savior to me."

"Andromeda!" Narcissa scolded, "don't say things like that!"

Lavender, who'd fallen farther and farther back toward the doorway of the living room as Andromeda continued to refuse any solace, called gently, "I don't mind. She's grieving. Just like everybody else who's lost somebody. Harry will understand if she doesn't want him visiting for a while."

"Never!" Andromeda snapped back as she brought Edward to the crook between her neck and shoulder to hide his small, crying face.

Coming to her side, Narcissa brushed a hand down Andromeda's hair. "I was only permitted to leave for a short while, Andy. So I must go now," she told her.

"Write me when I can take home my daughter's body," Andromeda replied as she turned herself fully away from Narcissa and Lavender.

Her younger sister touched her hair one last time before saying, "Let us take our leave now, Miss Brown."

And soon, the sound of them disappeared altogether and the woman was alone to let her new reality sink in.

The war was over. The light had one. Her daughter and son-in-law were dead and Rabastan was good as. Harry Potter had been helped by her sister and the boy hero thought her grandson's father was a hero. They were going to be safe thanks to the actions her daughter and son-in-law took. Her grandson was going to get to grow up in a peaceful, safe world thanks to his mother and father, but he would be an orphan.

Bringing her grandson away from her neck, she stared into his dark eyes and sniffled a little. As she gazed at him, Andromeda realized something. Things might be okay. She would be sad for a very long time, but she would never have to worry about losing Edward as she had for Nymphadora. Her grandson would never have to be Death Eater, he'd never have to go to war.

She didn't have to fear for his future as she had for her daughter's…

The revelation hit her in an awesome way. This was exactly what he daughter had dreamed of. A world where no one would have to be scared anymore. Her daughter had done it. Nymphadora had helped make a place where no one would have to fear what lay outside their doors or what was to come.

Looking up, she smiled at family portrait from when Nymphadora was a very young girl that hung over the fireplace.

"You did it. Nymphadora, you did it. You've left behind a world where no one has to be scared."

Breaking down into a fresh wave of tears, Andromeda wept for the fact that Nymphadora would never get to enjoy her work.


And that's the end of this story (well, there's still an epilogue...). How do you feel about its end? Did you guys like it? Dislike it?

To, KodeV, NightmarePrince, Moka-Girl, Gitana del Sol, Nymphxdora, The Lady Arturia, ChatterChick, Alyssialui, J.F.C, The Rose in Death's Garden, Screaming Faeries, Chocolatecheesecakes, Hawkflight7, Lamia of the Dark, Tarnished Libris, Darth Lumiya Skywalker, TheDevilBringer, and Eriamaude thank you very much for the reviews! I appreciate all the feedback :)

Thanks for reading and please review!

EDITED: 1/22/15