If I owned it, I would be rich and not at all worried about the economy. As it is, I'm not rich, I don't own Harry Potter. Sorry.

Part Three: Until They're Before Your Eyes

January 1971

She was sitting on the couch with her legs folded together off the floor, a book in her lap when she heard a knock on the door; she ignored it. Technically, nobody was supposed to be home. Both Brian and Ted were at work. She flipped the next page of her book when the knock came again. Still, she paid no attention. "Open up!" someone yelled. Andromeda paused, looking away from the book and at the door. The voice sounded familiar to her and her heart began to pound. "Andromeda open the door!"

"Cissy," Andromeda muttered under her breath, dropping the book to the floor as she hurried across the room to throw the door open. She saw her sister standing there, her blue eyes wide and her hair wind blown. Without another word, she grabbed Andromeda's hand and began tugging her down the hallway. "Cissy's what's going on?" she demanded, trying to pull her hand away as she reached for the door to close it.

"Your story is out. Rodolphus told. He broke your engagement and he told Mother and Father exactly why."

"Then why am I going with you?"

"Because you should."

"I should why?" Andromeda asked, tugging her hand away sharply. Narcissa flinched as if she was struggling to say something.

"Andromeda, they've got him. That- your- Ted is at Aunt Walburga's house." Andromeda's eyes grew wide as she reached for her pocket to grab her wand and disapparate. "I don't know how you got here Cissy but I suggest you go back. There's Floo powder on the fireplace mantel if you need it." And with that she was gone, leaving her sister alone in the hall, missing her sister's trembles as she disappeared. She felt her body squeezing tightly before she appeared at the door, knowing her uncle had placed apparition wards to prevent anyone from directly entering the house long ago. As quietly as possible she opened the door only to have her arms grabbed harshly in a pair of aging hands, a pair of sad and angry eyes meeting hers.

"You are an idiot girl!" Andromeda pulled herself away from her Aunt Cassiopeia.

"Where is he at?"

"Why couldn't you have listened to your uncle? Why couldn't you be smarter?" she hissed.

"Where is he?" she demanded, her eyes narrowing. Aunt Cassiopeia shook her head at her.

"The dining room," she sighed, her determination evaporating very suddenly. Andromeda nearly paused in her turn down the hall, surprised at such behavior in her stubborn great-aunt. Instead, she hurried along into the dining room at the end of the ground floor hallway. It appeared empty. The long, gleaming wood table, light around the edges with a long streak of dark wood in the middle took up the center of the room. There was a dresser sitting on the side of the room, the same dark color as the middle of the table, pictures littering the top of it in silver frames. She was about to turn around and leave, to demand Ted's real location from her great aunt when she saw him, hunched in the corner across from the door, beneath the large window that looked out at the back of the house. Andromeda rushed forward, falling her knees as she leaned down next to him, seeing that there was blood all over his lower arms where they stuck out from his robes, coming from small spots. Her hand traced lightly over his arm, not quite touching it, when she saw something moving beneath his robes along upper arm. She moved quickly, reaching one arm up his loose sleeve to grab whatever was moving, her hand shaking. She pulled it out, a spindly-legged silver object, the end of the legs rather pointy and covered in blood. It tried to stab her and she threw it across the room, hearing it fall with a thud of metal against wood.

"Ted, wake up," she said, pulling her wand out of her pocket and pointing it at one of the puncture wounds. "Wake-up!" she urged as she tried to close the hole in his skin. It didn't work. She racked her brain for another spell as she tried shaking his shoulder. He moaned without waking and she pulled back her hand to see that blood was now seeping through his robe where her hand had been. She pulled back the shoulder of his robe to see that there were puncture marks there too. She tried again with another spell to heal them but it wouldn't work.

"Useful tool, isn't it," she heard someone growl and she turned around to see her Aunt Walburga, Sirius and Regulus's mother heading towards her. Her heart beat quickly as she scuttled to her feet.

"What has it done?"

"He'll heal," she hissed, her eyes narrowing as she came closer, "provided he doesn't die before he has time to."

"What has it done?" she asked again, wanting to back up as her aunt was standing right on top of her but she would run into Ted. Her aunt reached forward and grabbed her arms harshly, her long fingernails stabbing into Andromeda's upper arms harshly enough to draw blood, even through her robe.

"I ought to hurt you all the worse!" she said, her voice seeming terribly loud since she was right in Andromeda's face, a bit of spit falling over her nose. "You're as filthy as he is! That some of the same blood runs through both our veins is a thought that will haunt me to the grave!" she yelled before pushing Andromeda away, trying to send her right back into Ted. She tried to move away, landing harshly on the ground beside him and she quickly stood up as she heard footsteps running into the room.

"You actually came for him," Bellatrix growled in amusement as she entered, Rodolphus standing behind her, a smirk on his face as she got to her feet. Her father followed barely looking in her direction while her mother wore a look of shame. Andromeda turned to glare at her older sister when Bellatrix sent a spell hit her hard in the upper chest and she went backwards, hitting the wall hard, her head beginning to swim.

"Annie!" someone yelled.

"Sirius go back!" his father yelled at him. Blinking rapidly to try and straighten her vision she saw him running forward from the door as she used the window sill to get to her feet. He managed to slip past his father but not his mother; she pushed him back, making the boy of ten slip and slid, losing his balance until he finally tripped to the ground. His father grabbed him by the arm, yanking him up, and attempted to pull him out of the room again.

"What's going on? Annie!" he called out.

"Let him stay!" his mother yelled out. "It's never too soon to learn how to deal with a blood traitor." Andromeda was fully on her feet now, one hand gripped tightly on her wand, the other holding tight to the window sill for support. "Is it?" she demanded, taking her wand and making a swiping motion. Andromeda screamed out as it cut through the top of her robes, swiping across her collar bone.

"Walburga!" Andromeda's father yelped suddenly, grabbing his sister's arm as Andromeda cautiously removed her hand from the window sill and placed it across her cut, drawing it back to find her hand red and covered in her own blood.

"She's your daughter Cygnus! You ought to deal with her! She's a traitor! Filth, scum! She's a vile excuse for a witch!" she spit angrily. Bellatrix just stood there watching, her eyes narrowed at Ted. Rodolphus stood behind her, a strange greedy look in his eyes. Her mother wasn't looking and her father looked like he was trembling. Andromeda's heart was pounding. She couldn't think straight, her eyes swirling around the room, not sure who to look to for support or in fear. Beside her, Ted groaned, his blue eyes coming opened. Her aunt growled as he blinked, focusing on Andromeda.

"Dromeda?" he asked blearily as he struggled to his feet.

"Shut-up mudblood!" Bellatrix yelled suddenly pointing her wand at Ted.

"Leave him alone!" Andromeda hollered before her sister had a chance to cast the spell. "Expel-"

"Crucio!" Bellatrix yelled out and Andromeda ducked, just as the red jet of light went over her head.

"Stop it!" Sirius yelled, squirming out of his father's grip and shooting under the table to where Bellatrix and Rodolphus were, coming out between Bellatrix and Andromeda.

"Sirius, go!" Andromeda commanded him, her heart pounding.

"Expelliarmus!" Ted shouted behind her. She saw him shaking terribly, his eyes half closed. Bellatrix's wand half-heartedly was torn from her hand and skittered half-way across the floor. Andromeda kicked it away with her foot.

"See Sirius? Don't you see?" Bellatrix demanded. "He's too weak, just a sniveling mudblood with hardly an ounce of magic! And Annie had chosen him over us! Chosen someone too pathetic to even be alive!" she shouted, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a knife.

"She hasn't chosen him over us, Bellatrix," her father spoke up suddenly as Sirius looked around, his eyes panicked. "Not yet. She's screwed up no doubt-"

"She has," a girl's voice said quietly from the doorway. Andromeda's eyes caught on the golden haired figure now standing in the doorway, shaking. Narcissa. "She's going to leave. No matter what you do, she's going to leave."

"Not if I have a say in it," Walburga growled, pulling out her wand. "Now is not the time for your rebellion!" she growled, pointing it at Andromeda. "You will stay here and we will keep you hidden! No one need know how much of a traitor you are! It is too dangerous for us right now to have an image like you floating around!" Andromeda shrieked as a jet of light came towards her and she tried to dash aside. It hit her left arm and she screamed. Tears of pain streamed from her eyes. "Besides, you can hardly run away with him," she sneered. "It will trace him," she said, flicking her wand under the table to bring the small, many legged metal object beneath the table. "I got a pair of them. It will trace him wherever he goes; all it takes is a little blood from everyone it's after," she growled before using her wand to toss it, landing it on Andromeda's right shoulder blade, just beyond the ends of her hair. She scurried to get it off but failed to do so before it punctured her skin. She felt a hand on her back and Ted pulled it off, throwing it across the room. It bounced off the table and onto a chair before hitting the ground and scurrying towards the nearest person to it, Sirius. The little boy's eyes grew wide and he kicked it away towards the other side of the room. Andromeda felt Ted shaking heavily behind her, his entire skin pale. He had lost too much blood already; she knew that. She had to get him out of here, regardless of whether they could be traced or not. She reached back with her right hand, tears still in her eyes.

"Where do you think you're going?" Bellatrix asked harshly, her eyes narrowed as she stormed forward, shoving at Sirius to get towards them. He fell to the ground again, but quickly got back up and began running towards her.

"Leave Annie alone!" he yelled.

"She's left you for a mudblood Sirius!" Bellatrix yelled at him. "She loves him more than us! Don't you understand that! Andromeda doesn't love you anymore!"

SMASH! The whole room seemed to jump as a loud clang was heard from the doorway of the room. One of the heavy wooden chairs had suddenly come crashing down as Narcissa hastily put her wand back in her pocket. "Oops, I was trying to open the window," she said as her uncle picked up the chair, something silver and smashed lying beneath it. Andromeda's grip tightened on Ted's hand.

"St. Mungo's," she muttered, never feeling so determined and deliberate in her life. She felt the squished and compacted feeling of apparating. Then everything went black.

Andromeda groaned, her body feeling stiff as she began to wake. She could hear voices, people talking and slowly she tried to sit up, blinking hard. The light was thin and rather dim and the bed didn't feel familiar. She strained her ears trying to hear.

"I'm surprised they didn't splich themselves by the state they were in," someone was saying, a female voice. "The boy wouldn't have lasted too much longer without a blood-replenishing potion and the girl's arm was shattered to pieces. I'm guessing she was the one who brought them here though. I doubt the boy could have preformed any magic in his state." Andromeda groaned again, still not loudly enough for them to hear. She could see them now, shadows against a curtain on the far side of the room. One of them was a tall woman.

"And why did you call me in?"

"There're signs that dark magic has been used on both of them, the boy especially, something that punctured the skin all over. The girl only has one on her upper back but I think it was the same spell or object that caused them."

"Any idea who they are?"

"We found a wallet on the boy. His name is Ted Tonks. He's a muggle-born. His family has already been contacted and someone has been sent to go get them."

"And the girl?"

"We found her name on the inside of her robes, Andromeda Black."

"So we've got the latest Black run-away you think?"

"Yes," the woman replied. "Little surprised I don't have to make you realize that there's no chance this girl is the perpetrator."

"You're sure she's not?" the man asked gruffly.

"We checked her wand. She hasn't preformed any dark spells recently, possibly ever. And she has a couple old scars, quite possibly from the exact same person."

The man grunted in acknowledgement. "Not too surprising. I've had warnings there might be a Black runaway." Slowly Andromeda sat up, looking around the room more. There were two other beds beside her. A woman, older than herself was sleeping to her left and the bed to her right was empty. She heard footsteps coming from behind the curtain on her far left and a woman came forward in the lime green healer robes. Long, straight brown hair, streaked with gray was held in a high ponytail. Her eyes were a piercing dark blue and she smiled over at Andromeda.

"You're up," she said calmly as she walked over.

"It would appear so," Andromeda agreed, rubbing at her eyes with her right hand. "Where's Ted at?"

"He got moved to Artifacts," she replied. "You're in Spell Damages." The man walked out as well, his face somewhat off center, his robes marking him as an Auror.

"She's up," he said gruffly.

"It would appear so," she answered, rolling her eyes and then casting a brief smile on Andromeda. "Could you follow my finger please?" Andromeda nodded and let her eyes follow the woman's finger around. "Can you tell me your full name?"

"Andromeda Walburga Black."

"Is Andromeda what you like to be called? Do you have a nick-name?"

"Andromeda's fine," she answered, her eyes following the healer's finger to the extreme left. "Is Ted alright?"

"He's going to be. He actually woke up before you did, about half an hour ago."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Only a couple hours. Don't worry. It's still 1971," she said with a smile. "Can you try and move your arm for me?" Andromeda tried to flex her left arm and failed to manage the task. The healer nodded. "Right, well, that didn't work. Plan B I suppose," she sighed.

"Can you tell me what happened?" the man asked gruffly.

"Leave her alone for a while more, Alastor," the woman instructed him with a slight glare from the other side of the room where she was looking through a cabinet. "The fact of the matter is I'm surprised she's woken up this quickly. Andromeda, could you list the months backwards for me? Start with December."

"December, November, October, September, ah- August…"

"I've got to ask, Tori," he replied.

"July, June, Mar- no May, April, March, February, January. Do I start with December again?"

"No that's alright," the healer replied. "I know that Alastor. I'm telling you, not right now. We're supposed to report incidents of supposed Dark Magic as soon as we see them to the Ministry as of late, otherwise I wouldn't have told you until after both of them are better recovered." She walked back towards Andromeda. "Can you tell me your birthday?"

"How do you even know that Tori?" the Auror asked.

"She has a file here. Her little sister managed to accidentally give her a duck bill when she was five." Andromeda snorted. "Apparently your memory is doing alright." Andromeda nodded.

"I sounded vaguely like a duck for a week."

"Your birthday?"

"November 19th."

"Your year in school?"

"Seventh."

"This is going to feel a bit strange," she said, removing her wand from her breast pocket. She took Andromeda's left arm gently in hers and tapped it. Suddenly it seemed like the bones had gently dissolved. Andromeda tried to move her fingers to know avail. "It got shattered too badly for the nerves to reconnect normally. We're going to have to regrow the bones."

"Skelo-grow?" Andromeda groaned.

"No, we're not going to try that until it's a last resort."

"You jump right on the skelo-grow when it's me," the Auror complained.

"Well I just hate you at this point Alastor."

"Nice to know I've been around here enough that you can have a well founded hatred of me."

"Always a nice thing to know you're well known in your local hospital," the healer agreed before turning her attention back to Andromeda. "We're going to try something else. Goes directly to the area in question and it's somewhat less painful. The problem is that it takes a couple weeks or so before you'll get all of your bones back."

"Even when I was going to be here two weeks anyway you gave me skelo-grow," the Auror growled.

"By the way, I'm Healer Brigham and this is Alastor Moody," Healer Brigham said ignoring him.

"Why are you giving me-" suddenly Andromeda stopped and her eyes got wide. She shook her head rapidly. "You made a mistake."

"Well, obviously we've found someone who knows her potion properties," the healer snorted.

"Apparently I don't," Moody grunted.

"You made a mistake. I'm not."

"I'm afraid these things do happen," Brigham chuckled.

"Even if I had been, I got thrown against a bloody wall!"

"Thrown against a wall? By who?" Moody asked suddenly becoming alert. Andromeda bit her lip.

"That explains the concussion you had. And Alastor, I told you to wait!"

"I can't be. You do know that right?" Andromeda asked.

"It's unlikely at this point but it is a possibility. And surprisingly enough, you are."

"What spell was used? Did you catch it? Who did that to your arm?" Moody demanded.

"I can't be," Andromeda assured her.

"Now who do you think knows better about these thing, me or you?" she asked, her eyes narrowing a little. "And get out Alastor!"

"I need answers," he complained. "Unless you're trying to protect them," he growled, leaning close to Brigham, as if trying to interrogate her. She barely blinked.

"Alastor, if I was, do you really think that after all the years of healing your battle wounds I wouldn't have tried to kill you at all? I assure you, it would have been very easy," she said calmly. Moody growled at her.

"Fine, but I'll be back."

"I'll be pining for you," she replied dryly as Andromeda blinked rapidly, staring at the wall across from her.

"I'm not."

"Right now you are. Due to your injuries you may or may not be by tomorrow." Andromeda glared off into space and attempted to cross her arms over her chest. Only her right arm would move and the healer laughed. Andromeda turned her glare on the older woman. "The next couple weeks should be fairly interesting for you," she said lightly, placing her hand lightly on Andromeda's right shoulder. "You're not left handed are you?"

"No," Andromeda told her, leaning back angrily.

"Darn, I could always use some amusement."

I admit, action scenes are not my forte. So that part's pretty short I guess. I'm sorry if you wanted a more action-y/longer/both scene. I'm working on getting better but it's really hard for me for some reason. And before you kill me, Ted explains how he got there next chapter.

On the subject of the next chapters… There are, in theory, three more left. One of them is stubbornly refusing to be written the way I want it to. And having finals next week and a jamboree of tests and things this week is not helping. Apparently when I begin to feel stressed I get a large longing to write short, fluffy comedy (I wrote a 500ish word thing this morning about Nymphadora being mad at the weather but I didn't post it). Anyway, back on subject… The end is in sight (and actually written) but the chapter proceeding it is not. Which causes issues because I need to check it against the chapter right after this one before I post the chapter that comes after this one.

Hope you have a good-day and never feel in the mood to spend an entire hour glaring at someone.