Chapter Fourteen

A/N: No reviewers.

Andromeda sipped at her cup of tea, recoiling when she tasted the lukewarm liquid. Raising a young child alone was not conducive to brewed drinks remaining hot, she supposed, especially when that child's world had been uprooted so many times in his short life.

It had taken Teddy a lot longer than his grandmother would have wanted, for him to become accustomed to the imposing stonework of Malfoy Manor. He was, after all, accustomed to the plush furnishings of his grandmother's home, far more Muggle than wizard and nothing like the grand houses she herself had been raised in. It was an atmosphere that was disconcerting for both of them, however necessary it must be.

Once she had agreed to help him, Lucius had insisted that Andromeda stay at the manor house. Perhaps he felt she would be more effective if surrounded by testaments to her sister's good nature. 'Or perhaps he just doesn't trust me.' she conceded. Even now, she was not certain which option was more likely.

The slamming door was the one thing that Andromeda had become accustomed to. Every day, Lucius spent an unproductive day at the Ministry, trying to convince his former colleagues that he was worthy of their trust and support. It was a difficult task, when most of those he would have called friends either fell on the battlefield or were languishing in Azkaban alongside Narcissa.

"Nothing?" the brunette called out, knowing Lucius would head her way quickly enough. She had taken up residence in his study during the afternoons, eager to hear of any progress as soon as he came in from work.

"They're a bunch of bloody fools!" the man exclaimed, throwing his cloak down onto a vacant chair and moving to stand by the fire, his legs burning as she tried to prevent himself from pacing. He had to keep some semblance of control, even if he felt so lost. "All they see is that she was married to me, a Death Eater, and that she didn't stand up to the Dark Lord in the wars. They don't care about anything else."

"People see what they want to see." Andromeda reasoned, feeling her heart sink. She knew better than anyone how a single choice could shape the rest of your life, how all the people you had once trusted could turn their backs in a heartbeat. She would not have wished that on her enemy, let alone her own sister.

"I'll never be able to convince them." Lucius sighed, his voice heavy with resignation. Andromeda was used to seeing her brother-in-law tall and proud and imposing; now, he looked like a shell of himself. Even Azkaban had not weakened him to this extent, not from what she had seen. Perhaps she had just never realised how much he relied on Narcissa.

"Lucius, you cannot give up." Andromeda's voice was just as quiet as Lucius' had been, but the force behind it was clear. "Narcissa needs you. It doesn't matter how long you need to fight, you will get her out. You're the only one who can do it."

"Sometimes I feel that I'll spend the rest of my life fighting this battle." Lucius protested. "I don't know if I could do that to Draco."

"If you spend the rest of your life fighting this, then so be it." Andromeda stated, her voice louder now. If he refused to hear her suggestions, then she would have to speak louder. "And as for Draco, all he wants is his mother. I imagine he would be more than willing to put up with the likes of Rita Skeeter on his trail for a few months if it meant he could have her back."

Lucius fell silent, contemplating her words and the teenager locked away in her heart could have jumped for joy at the achievement. When she was a Slytherin student, she would have given anything to see Lucius speechless by her own making; as it was, the only one who had ever managed to achieve it back then was Cissa.

"Do you think she knows we're trying to help her?" Lucius asked, his voice still quiet, but without the tremor it had borne before. "I haven't been able to see her for months now. The odd time I'll get lucky and one of the guards will tell me how she is, but mostly they wouldn't give me the satisfaction."

"They're trying to torture her, keep her alone." Andromeda stated, knowing there was no way to soften the blow. Lucius had been in Azkaban himself, he knew their tricks well. "But Cissa's not weak, Lucius. She won't let them break her. She'll keep thinking about you and her son and her life here until she's freed, and once she is, everything will be alright again."

It was the sort of inspirational speech she had given to Cissa when she was younger and occasionally to Bellatrix, before she was too far gone to listen. The words felt heavy on her tongue, unfamiliar, a memory from decades ago; but there was an element of comfort in them, returning to the girl she had been. If nothing else, it made her believe she could do something to help her younger sister.

"You know, Andromeda, Narcissa never forgot about you." They had been silent for long enough that Andromeda was startled by him speaking, a small gasp escaping her lips. "All these years, she would look through her old photographs when she thought I wasn't around. I knew she was missing you. I wanted to ask if she'd write to you, but she didn't know that I knew and I didn't want to push her to do anything she wasn't quite ready for. If I'd known something like this would happen, I would've told her to write regardless. She never really stopped needing you, you know."

"Thanks, Malfoy." she whispered after a time and the two of them chuckled quietly, memories of times long gone running through their minds. Andromeda stood from her seat, heading for the door. She turned once she reached it, her hand hovering in mid-air above the doorknob. "And you're wrong, you know."

"Am I really?" Lucius asked, his tone light and joking. There was a familiarity in the phrase, one that she had used many times during their days at school. "And why is that?"

Andromeda smiled absent-mindedly, as if she was seeing a vision before her eyes. "She did stop needing me; she had you."

A/N: Not the best chapter, but hope you liked it anyway. Please review!