Chapter 12

The Aftermath

Andromeda woke up feeling extremely warm and comfortable. She didn't want to open her eyes, she wanted to believe that she really was safe at that moment. But there was light shining near her eyes which made it hard to go back to sleep so she started to get up in spite of herself.

'Where am I?' She thought as she looked around. Just then, she saw Ted sleeping in a chair next to her, and the previous night came flooding back to her. Her fight with her family, her father, fleeing to Hogwarts, Ted finding her, her confession…oh no, he knew.

Ted stirred in his chair and opened his eyes. When he saw Andromeda was awake, he sat up straighter. She avoided his eyes.

"Hi, how are you feeling?" He asked, although he knew it was probably a stupid question.

Andromeda shrugged. She was too ashamed to look him in the face now that he knew her terrible secret. She just stared at the floor. Ted reached toward her and to his relief and her surprise she did not pull away. She looked at him cautiously, wishing she knew how to perform Legilimency so she would know what he was thinking.

"I've been better." She told him. He looked at her sadly, wondering what he should do for her. Then, he spoke the words she was afraid he would.

"Andromeda, maybe we should report this…"

"No." She said quickly, looking straight at him now. There was still fear in her eyes, but now for a different reason. "No Ted. I can't report it, it'll just make it worse."

"How could it get worse?" Ted was genuinely confused now. Why wouldn't Andromeda want to do what was necessary to get out of her house.

"Trust me, it could."

"If you don't tell it could get worse too. He could do it again, or do it to one of your sisters!" He tried to reason with her. Andromeda once again stared at the floor.

"He already does Ted. He already does." She said trying not to start crying again. Ted was once again shocked. When she had told him, he had thought this was something that had happened once. Now, that didn't seem likely.

"'Dromeda, what's been going on? Was this the first time he ever did this to you?"

"No." She said with her voice breaking. "He's been doing stuff since I was ten."

'Ten!' Thought Ted, horrified once again. Although part of him didn't want to hear anymore, he realized he needed to know, and more so that she needed to tell someone or she'd break. He was about to ask her another question, when she began to tell him without his help.

"It was Christmas Eve, the year before we came here. We were having a Christmas party with my family and around nine o'clock my mother made me, my sisters and my cousins all go to bed. Because of all the guests, Bellatrix, Narcissa, and I all had to sleep in Bella's room. Sometime during the night I woke up because I thought I heard a strange noise. And I saw Dad on top of Bella, and he was…he was molesting her." She gasped the word out because she had never spoken it aloud before. Ted was about to ask, when she continued,

"She looked so scared of him, and I was so shocked that I gasped, which made him stop with her, but then he came over to me. I was so scared I couldn't move and he started doing it to me. Before he did, he said that it was meant to be fun." She angrily spat the last part out and started crying softly again. Ted wasn't sure what to do so he embraced her again. After a few minutes she pulled away from him and continued her story. She wasn't sure why she was telling him so much, since she hated reliving it almost as much as she hated it happening in the first place. But, she also felt relief coursing through her as well, and she knew when she was done she would feel better.

She told him everything, that it was the real reason Bellatrix had become so cruel, how she had found Narcissa having sex at twelve, the time she saw Bellatrix being raped, the first time she was raped, everything she could remember. When she was finished telling him about the previous night and how she had ended up back at school, she felt exhausted, and like she was going to cry again. But she also felt a sort of peace that she hadn't felt in a long time.

Ted just stared at her when she was finished, dumbfounded by her story. He couldn't imagine living through all that, especially at the hand of someone who was supposed to love you and take care of you.

"Ted?" She called to him.

"Yeah?"

"You can't tell anyone I told you this." Ted sighed.

"'Dromeda, if we don't tell, you'll have to go back." He reasoned.

"I know Ted, but I can't tell. I promised."

"Who the hell did you promise, him?" He wasn't angry with her, just frustrated. Why would she care about breaking a promise to the man that had hurt her so badly?

"No," she said, "Bella and Cissy. Bellatrix made Cissy and I promise never to tell anyone. Cissy doesn't want anyone to know anyway so I feel like I'd be betraying them if I tell."

"But you wouldn't be, you'd be doing them a favor, especially Narcissa. I mean, I know Bellatrix is getting married soon, but Narcissa's still got quite a few years left at home."

"Ted," she insisted, "I understand what you are saying but I can't tell anyone else. My sisters and I agreed, no one would believe us if we did. They'd chalk it up to us imagining it, or lying or worse. Cygnus Black is an upstanding and respected pureblood. He has a lot of influence, if I told anyone it would make everything worse then it already was. Add that to the fact that my sisters would probably deny it all anyways. Please Ted, don't say a word, I'm begging you." She really was begging him, he could see that.

"Okay," he said reluctantly. "But I don't think you should go back to him."

"I have to Ted, at least for this year."

"But…"

"Ted, I have to, I have no choice." Her voice was dead as she said these last words, and Ted hated how hopeless she looked. Andromeda really didn't see anyway out for at least six months. But, he couldn't change her mind, he knew that she wouldn't budge. He checked his watch, it was nearly noon.

"Want something to eat?" She smiled at him, grateful for the change in topic.

"Yeah, I am kind of hungry."

"Bindy!" Ted called suddenly. Andromeda looked at him strangely, until a House Elf appeared.

"Hello Mr. Tonks, what is you needing?"

"Can you get us some food from the kitchen? Sandwiches or something?"

"Certainly." The House Elf disapparated. Andromeda looked at Ted in astonishment.

"You're on a master-servant basis with the Hogwarts House Elves?"

"Not really, I just go down to the kitchens a lot to get food and Bindy took a liking to me and likes to get me food directly sometimes."

A minute later Bindy returned with some food and Ted and Andromeda began to comfortably eat their lunch. They found themselves tired afterwards and began to fall asleep on the couch together.

Several hours later found Ted and Andromeda sitting at their separate tables in the Great Hall. The students who had gone home for Christmas break were just arriving now, and Andromeda saw Narcissa coming up to her with a strange look on her face.

"Where did you go Meda?" she asked.

"I left Mum and Dad a note."

"You weren't at King's Cross, or on the train. Molly said she hadn't seen you. Mum and Dad are furious."

At that moment Andromeda saw Molly looking at her with an apologetic look. She mouthed,

"I'm sorry."

Andromeda nodded in understanding. She should have warned Molly, but she had been too distraught to think straight.

"I don't care what Mum and Dad think. It's not like I was doing anything wrong." 'Except telling Ted everything.' She thought to herself, feeling slightly guilty, although she wasn't sure why.

"Where did you go?"

"I came back here alright?" She snapped.

"Just so you know, Mum and Dad are going to give you shit at Bella's wedding."

"I deal with that when the time comes." With that, Andromeda ended the conversation.

After dinner, Ted discreetly caught up with her. Andromeda looked around quickly to make sure Narcissa wouldn't see or hear.

"What did your sister say?" He asked worriedly.

"Just that Mum and Dad are angry with me, and that I'll be in trouble the next time I come home."

"But, doesn't in trouble mean…"

"Ted, it happens whether or not he's angry at me." She said quickly, desperate for the conversation not to turn down that road, since Molly and Arthur were approaching them.

"Andromeda, I'm so sorry!" Molly said when she approached.

"It's okay Molly, I should have warned you that I told them I was with you, don't worry about it."

"Why did you leave? Where did you go?"

"I came back here a bit early. I left because I was just sick and tired of dealing with them. I needed to get away." She replied, not looking at Ted.

"You could have really come to my house, my parents wouldn't have minded."

"I know, I just felt like coming back here." What she was really thinking was, 'Your parents would have asked questions that I wasn't in a fit state to answer.'

With that the four friends bade goodnight and headed off to bed.

Classes started the next day and went by as they usually do. Months passed and Andromeda and Ted did not discuss what she had told him. Ted had tried to get her to go for help or to at least talk about it for a few weeks, but gave up after she hexed him out of annoyance. He knew that her keeping it between them wasn't helping, but he didn't know how to convince her otherwise.

The Easter holidays, coupled with Bellatrix's wedding were approaching. Andromeda tried not to show it, but Ted knew she was dreading it. The idea of letting her go back for the holiday, coupled with the fact that he could never be alone with her unless it was somewhere secret, was grating on his nerves. Now that he knew exactly why she feared her family made him even angrier when she insisted that for now she had to see him in secret.

The day before she was supposed to leave, they were sitting on the edge of the forest cuddling, when Ted could not stop himself from bringing the subject up.

"Maybe you shouldn't go home for Easter." Andromeda looked up at him sadly.

"You know I don't want to. If it weren't for Bella's wedding I wouldn't. But there's no way I can get out of it."

"Still…"

"I can't Ted."

"Why do you keep saying that you can't? You can, you're choosing not to and I don't get why." Andromeda stared at him. "'Dromeda, why do you keep doing his bidding? Why do you even care what he thinks, when all he does is hurt you?!"

Andromeda didn't answer for a moment.

"Ted, as much as I hate him, he is my father. He controls my life, at least for another year or so."

"He doesn't have too though," Ted insisted. "You could leave home."

"Ted, stop. Okay, you don't know Cygnus Black. He would hunt me down if I left and do something far worse to me than he already has."

"'Dromeda, what could he possibly do that's worse?"

"I don't know Ted, all I know is that I asked that same question once. The next night, he came in and raped me." With that, she stood up and he followed suit.

"I can't leave Ted, please believe me."

"Look 'Dromeda, I know that this whole situation sucks beyond measure, but eventually you will have to decide how you want to spend your life. Do you want to be happy, or do you want to always be at his mercy, like your sister?"

Ted Tonks began walking back toward the castle, while Andromeda stayed by the edge of the forest, pondering what he had just said.

The next day she didn't have a chance to talk to him, as she had to catch the carriages to the train station. However, she caught his eye on the way down and when he waved to her, she could see the combination of sadness and worry in his eyes. He was scared for her.