Sorry this chapter had a little bit of a delay, I've been working on a new story that follows the Black sisters (It's called Toujours Noir and the first chapter is loaded and I would LOVE to hear your opinions on it) plus I got super stuck on this chapter.
Anyway, please read, enjoy and please please please review :D
Nymphadora was currently in the large kitchen of Lestrange manor. It had been a week since Rodolphus Lestrange had died and although she was still in mourning she was learning how to deal with her emotions better as every day went by. She had yet again demanded that Rodolphus be buried, it was far easier than Bellatrix had been, a simple burial with no incidents. Dora had made sure to keep her fathers last wish and had already arranged to see her Uncle in a few weeks time and had so far been corresponding to him via letter. Other than that Nymphadora Lestrange was more than happy to try and ignore her problems, to try and put her past behind her and focus on being Nymphadora Lupin; wife and mother.
"Fuck!" Dora hissed as she cut her finger for the tenth time whilst chopping vegetables for that nights dinner.
Since their Nymphadora had released the house elf she had been determined to learn how to do the day to day tasks the house elf had done for her.
"Stupid Mudblood," Dora mumbled to herself as she took out her wand to heal her finger "Making me give up my elf . . ."
She sighed, reprimanding herself for using the M word as a loud pop sounded throughout the kitchen making her yelp in shock.
"Spot is sorry, Mistress!" Spot stood groveling in the middle of the floor "Spot did not want to leave! Spot only wishes to serve! Spot has been hiding so that Mistress does not make Spot leave."
Dora looked down in shock at the small groveling elf on the floor, after she had gotten over the near heart attack the elf gave her she sighed, nodding.
"Fine, make dinner if you want-I only seem to be messing it up anyway."
She rolled her eyes as the elf ran to do as she asked mumbling her thanks, house elves had always amused her. Dora was sure she could get away with telling Remus she had successfully made dinner alone if she hid out of the way for a little while. With a small smirk she made her way to the study wandlessly unlocking the door and slipping in, locking the door again behind her.
"Hello Dora." Narcissa Malfoy was sat in the small armchair in the corner of the study.
"For Merlins sake, why are people always jumping up on me now a days?" Dora huffed as she placed her hand on her chest "You're going to give me a heart attack."
"Sorry." The blonde witch stood up, walking over and kissed the girls' cheek "How are you doing?"
"Fine," she sighed "thank you . . . What are you doing here?"
Narcissa looked over the girl for a few moments before she smiled sadly "Remus sent an owl asking me to come see you . . . He told me that you were pregnant."
"O-Oh . . ." Dora looked down, a hand instinctively going to her stomach "Sorry, I haven't really told anyone yet . . ."
"Well you seem to have a habit of not telling people when you're pregnant." Narcissa joked before suddenly becoming far more serious, reaching out and gently pushing the hair out of her nieces' face "What are you scared of? That it's not Remus'?"
Dora hesitated for a moment before nodding, folding her arms over her chest "Aunt Cissa I don't want to talk about it."
"But you have to talk about it." Narcissa stated matter of factly "You have to face that eventuality and you need to do it quickly because if you decide to keep this child then you can't live the rest of your life blaming it for who its father may or may not be."
Nymphadora looked at her with a look of confusion "Get rid of it? . . . No. I wouldn't . . ."
Narcissa sighed "There are ways to find out who the father is . . . once the child is born."
"I don't know if I want to know . . ." Nymphadora stared at the floor "It's fifty fifty . . ."
"Have you asked Remus what he thinks?"
"No . . . I will . . ." Dora looked down for a few moments before she realised something else she hadn't told her yet, with a small smile she looked to her, handing out her left hand "He asked me to marry him."
The Metamorphmagus watched Narcissa Malfoy intently as she took her hand in her own, looking at the small ring on her finger. Her lips pursed together for a few moments before to the young witches surprise she smiled, pulling her into a hug.
"Congratulations . . ." Narcissas' voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke into her ear, her nieces' arms slowly wrapping around her as she hugged her back.
"You don't care that he's . . . Well, you know . . ." Dora whispered back, sniffing slightly as she closed her eyes.
Narcissa let out a small laugh "A Werewolf? A Half-Blood?" she sighed as she pulled away from the young girl "As I've said before . . . I only care that you're happy . . . and that you let me help with the wedding." She winked in a playful way that Nymphadora had not seen her do in years, she couldn't help but laugh.
"I don't want a big wedding, Aunt."
"Nonsense, you have to have a big wedding, it's tradition."
When Remus Lupin knocked on the study door Nymphadora and Narcissa had old family albums strewn across the desk, in particular the wedding albums.
"Come in." Dora giggled.
Remus walked into the study, his eyebrows raised in amusement at the sight of his pink haired fiancé and her Aunt.
"Hey Remus, look at this." Nymphadora grinned as she pointed to the album, Remus walking up behind her and looking down to the image of Sirius Black at five years old along with his parents and brother. She had to admit he looked rather amusing in his traditional dress robes at a distant relatives wedding, a scowl on his young face.
Remus couldn't help but let out a small laugh as he spoke sarcastically "He looks such a happy child."
"No, this is a happy child." Narcissa smirked as she pulled out another photograph.
"Oh that's embarrassing . . ." Nymphadora scoffed in her laughter as she looked down to the one-year-old version of herself being rocked by a much younger Narcissa Malfoy. The baby was in such a frilly little dress she wasn't sure where she started and the dress finished, all topped off with blonde hair of an unnatural length for a child of that age.
"That is beautiful." Remus kissed his fiancés head with a small laugh as he watched the two figures in the photograph for a few moments before he looked back to her "We have to leave now though, Dora . . . Remember?"
Nymphadora looked at him in confusion for a few moments before she swore under her breath "Sorry Aunt Cissa . . ."
Narcissa didn't ask any questions, she simply stood and kissed her nieces head in goodbye "I'll be around soon to help you plan." With a small smile the Malfoy left.
"Plan . . . ?" Remus frowned.
"She wants a big wedding-I told her no but she insisted. I'm sorry, I'll put a stop to it." Dora sighed.
". . . If you want a big wedding you can have a big wedding Dora . . ." Remus smiled as he pulled the woman to her feet "Do you want to get Teddy ready or should I?"
"I'll go . . ."
After nearly half an hour of trying to get the one-year-old dressed and a bag packed ready for their visit. With Teddy on her hip and his bag slug across her shoulder the family trio apparated from the outskirts of Lestrange manor to their destination.
"You don't have to do this you know . . ." Remus looked down to the young woman, frowning.
"It's fine . . . Too late anyway." Nymphadora looked to the crooked structure of The Burrow, she had to admit the building had character.
Remus placed a hand on her shoulder as they walked to the door. She took a deep breath as Remus knocked the door.
"Mum! They're here!" Ginny Weasley shouted from within the house.
"Ginny don't shout!" Dora winced slightly as she heard Molly Weasleys voice practically on the other side of the door, it took all of her might to compose herself before the door opened.
You're doing this for Remus . . . Nymphadora kissed her sons head as the door to the burrow opened, closing her eyes for a slight moment before she looked up to see Arthur Weasley.
"Hello, Remus, Nymphadora." Arthur smiled as he looked the small child on his mothers' hip "And this must be Edward."
"Teddy!" Teddy Lupin looked to the older man, grinning broadly.
"My apologies, Teddy." Arthur smiled before he stepped aside to let the three come into his home.
Nymphadora stuck close to her fiancé, focusing as much attention as she could on her son whilst not seeming point blank rude. She bit her lip as much to her displeasure her son reached out for his father.
"Daddy." Teddy held out his hands to the man as he gave a slight apologetic look to Nymphadora before he took her son off of her, he knew she was instinctively using him as a shield of sorts. Teddy snuggled into his fathers' robes, looking cautiously around at the rest of the room.
Ginny Weasley walked into the room, grinning when she saw Remus and Teddy "Oooh! Is this your son?"
"Yes, Ginny, say hello Teddy." Remus looked down to his son.
"Hello." Teddy smiled and looked up to his father.
"Good boy." Remus grinned proudly.
It was at this point that Molly Weasley walked into the room. Nymphadora tried to keep as neutral an expression as possible, careful not to seem too rude but at the same time not being able to force a smile at the woman who had murdered her mother. She zoned out, not hearing the greetings from the red haired witch nor the compliments about her son. It was only when Remus slipped an arm around her waist did she snap out of it. Teddy was on the floor, tugging on the bag his mother was holding until she bent down to his level on the floor.
"Teddy bear." The child stated matter of factly.
"Please." Dora sighed as she pulled the brown bear out of the bag and handing it to her brown haired child, she smiled slightly and ruffled his hair as both bear and child went bright turquoise.
"Ta!" Teddy grinned, hugging the bear tight.
"I thought we could eat outside." There was a small tone of awkwardness in Molly Weasleys' tone.
"That sounds lovely." Remus smiled, going to follow Ginny out back, Dora right behind her until Molly perked up again.
"N-Nymphadora . . ." Dora froze as she heard Molly speak to her "Can I talk to you?"
Remus looked back to Dora, the girl was staring at the floor, it was only when Remus reached out and squeezed her arm that she looked up at him. She forced a slight smile.
"It's fine . . ." if Nymphadora could spend her life answering to the darkest wizard to ever live she was sure she could handle Molly Weasley, no matter what she had done.
With one last look back at his fiancé Remus left Nymphadora alone in the kitchen with the woman who had killed her mother. Nymphadora Lestrange took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching her fists as she stopped herself from killing her on the spot for what she had done.
"Nymphadora . . ." Molly Weasley sounded almost begging in her tone as the young metamorphmagus turned around to see her gesture her to a chair. After a few moments of hesitation as she tried to remain calm and collected Nymphadora sat down on the chair she had been gestured too, knowing her 'pureblood mask' was stuck firmly on her face. "Would you like a drink? Or a piece of cake? I made Red Velvet cake."
"No," Nymphadora was amazed at how calm her own voice sounded "Thank you . . ."
Molly looked at the girl awkwardly for a few moments taking a sip of her own cup of tea that had been on the table "Your son is beautiful . . ."
"Thank you, but I doubt you wanted to talk to me to tell me how lovely Teddy is, I'm sure you could have told Remus that too." Nymphadora clenched her fists in her lap under the table "I think the reason you want to talk to me is regarding my mother."
If she was in any better a mood Nymphadora would have probably smirked at the reaction of sheer awkwardness she got from the older woman, though at that precise moment in time she was already battling far too many emotions to let herself become like Bellatrix anymore than she already had in the worlds eyes. The fact that Molly went to sip from her empty tea cup in her baffled state at the abruptness of her comment only made her want to lash out rather than laugh.
"Nymphadora, I'm sorry that you've lost your mother, I truly am . . . b-but you have to understand-as a mother yourself-that I saw my child in danger and did what I had to to keep her safe." Molly went to talk on before Nymphadora stopped her.
"Don't. Don't you ever tell me you don't regret killing Bellatrix Lestrange." Dora struggled to keep her voice calm, she could feel the mix of rage and mourning rising like a thick bile in her throat "You don't. She killed so many people I physically can't count them anymore, she tortured so many innocent people and sometimes I had no bloody idea why she did it-it was probably just for the thrill of it. I've seen her do things in my lifetime that you would could not even begin to image . . . I understand why you did it, I would have killed anyone that threatened my family-I have killed people for threatening my family-and before you judge me, no, they didn't threaten Death Eaters they threatened Teddy and Remus . . . But you didn't know Bellatrix Lestrange, not like I did . . ."
The two witches stared at each other unspeaking whilst neither knew quite what to say, Nymphadora hated to admit that she could feel the tears threatening the sting back to her eyes.
"Dora-can I call you Dora . . .?" Molly waited for the short nod of the younger woman before she carried on "Dora . . . You're right, I'm not sorry that You-Know-Who is gone and so is his right hand woman, my family was under constant threat-I lost a son . . . But Remus is a very dear friend of mine and I know how much he cares for you. He talked to me about you many times . . . So what I am sorry for is the fact that you no longer have a mother and that I played a part in that. . ."
Both witches had tears in their eyes as they stared at each other, though Nymphadora had had many years of being taught not to show her emotions to the outside world her recent losses mixed with her pregnancy hormones left her far too vulnerable of late. As the distant laughter of her son could be heard ringing out from the garden Dora was snapped back to reality, she stared at the table as she continued to talk.
"Mum would have gone back to Azkaban . . . Father's dead-died in there . . . He was far more stable than she ever was . . . She died for what she believed in doing something she loved . . . I can't hate you for killing someone who tried to kill your daughter . . . But she was my mum, I know she wasn't biologically my mum-you know that-but she was my mum . . . I can still mourn her . . . and my father . . . No matter what they were to the outside world they were never anything but caring and loving to me-sometimes in their own special ways but I loved them and they loved me . . . I'm not here to seek revenge or even bring up that bloody night . . . I'm here because I love Remus Lupin and he cares very deeply about you, your family and other Order members and I don't want to make him feel as though he can't see you anymore . . . I want to be civil, take things one step at a time."
"I understand . . ." Molly smiled sadly "Sh-Shall we go join them in the garden?"
Dora stood up with a small nod, blinking back the tears in her eyes as she walked straight past Molly and out into the garden. It's for Remus, you're doing it for Remus . . . it was all that was going through her mind.
"Mum!" the small boy laughed as he ran from where Ginny Weasley was crouched down on the floor next to him and up to his mother, reaching his hands up until with a small smile she lifted him into his arms "They have gnomes in their garden."
"Really?" Dora asked with the exaggerated shock she always used when her son told her of his new discoveries, Teddy Lupin was a curious little boy. She had to hold back a laugh as he nodded his head frantically, wriggling to be put down then grabbing his mothers hand as he took her over to said gnomes.
Dora watched him play happily as Remus talked to his friends, feeling slightly better when Remus walked up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. She had no idea how hard it would be to be around so many members of the 'light' side of the war, she was constantly reminded of all she had done, but as Remus held her close as he talked seamlessly entertaining their son it all seemed worth it and that little bit easier to handle. By the time they left the Burrow with a sleeping Teddy in his mothers' arms Dora felt glad she had agreed to go to The Burrow, she hadn't seen Remus so content as he showed off his son and caught up with his friends in a post war world. She could put up with the hard parts of this life if Remus was there to help her through.
Though Nymphadora knew her luck . . . she knew it wouldn't stay this simple for very long, the child growing in her belly was enough to prove that . . .
