Chapter Thirty-Five

Andromeda

Visit from an Old Friend

She had not been able to sleep all night long. Normally Andromeda had no problems sleeping. It used to be a running joke with her husband. Ted often struggled with erratic sleeping patterns and periodic bouts of insomnia. He would often stare at her while she slept soundly and just sigh in disgust. Usually loud enough to wake her up so she could suffer right along with him. More than one argument had been fought in the middle of the night because of it.

Sleep had been difficult to find for months. Right around the time her husband was forced to go out into the world on the run. How strange that she had gotten used to having the wizard beside her to the point that she could not relax without him stealing the blankets at night. Twenty-five years had come and gone since they exchanged vows at the Ministry of Magic with Nymphadora already present in her womb. They had not always been easy years, but they had all been full of love and laughter. Everything she could not have expected from her first fiancé.

Andromeda rolled across the mattress onto Ted's side of the bed. It felt cold, the scent of his hair completely gone from his pillow. A glance at the clock showed the time to be after one in the morning. She could not explain why she was so uneasy. It felt as if something was about to happen or perhaps, something already had. Knowing that sleep would not find her any time soon, she slipped out from under the covers. Pulling a thick dressing gown over her nightgown as she exited her bedroom, she tiptoed quietly past the room her daughter and son-in-law were sleeping in. Loud snores from within at least proved that her only child was finally able to fall asleep. She remembered how difficult it was to sleep the last few weeks of her pregnancy.

Once inside the darkened kitchen she set about brewing a pot of chamomile tea. Though she detested the taste of the liquid, she could not deny that it made relaxing quite a bit easier. Andromeda stood over the sink staring out the window to the back garden for several minutes while the tea steeped. A knot in her stomach twisted and clenched with no relief. Something was happening. Something was going on out there and it was bad. Very, very bad.

Since the day Marjorie Shafiq sent her a coded message advising her that Ted was unable to stay hidden in her home any longer, Andromeda lived in constant fear that he was going to be caught. He still had plenty of Muggle relatives that she knew would give him sanctuary in a second, but he feared putting them at risk. His warm nature and kind heart always won out over his innate need for survival. While his Slytherin wife could understand his desire to keep his loved ones safe, she had trouble at times with her frustration that he was more concerned with others than himself. It was a foreign concept in her House and in her biological family. One she struggled with consistently the longer the war raged on with her husband out there unprotected.

Quiet footsteps behind Andromeda made her jump. Embarrassed at being startled by her son-in-law, she smiled at Remus. He hastily apologized. She knew the full moon was only a couple of days away. Between that and his constant worry about the safety of his loved ones, he had difficulty sleeping as well. He had been feeling anxious about his impending fatherhood on top of everything. She pulled two teacups down from the cupboard.

"Dora is finally asleep," he stated, easing down into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. "She's been crying all day today."

Andromeda almost dropped the teapot she was carrying over to the table at his announcement. That was certainly news to her. Though she had not been around her daughter much that day, when she had, Nymphadora seemed to be keeping up a strong front. Of course, she should have remembered that though she had been Sorted into Hufflepuff, her daughter was every bit as much her daughter as Ted's. She knew when to keep a secret from her mother when she needed to.

"She's worried about Ted," he explained, though there was no need. "And Kingsley too."

"I heard him on Potterwatch the other night. He seems to be keeping ahead of You Know Who's forces. Silly man, breaking the taboo. He has always been a brash Gryffindor."

She smiled as one of many memories about her old friend crossed her mind. It saddened her a great deal that they were not as close as they once were. As soon as Hermione disappeared years earlier, they remained close in the beginning, but as time wore on, they simply drifted apart. Kingsley would always hold a special place in her heart. Her daughter thought he hung the moon and admired him greatly. Andromeda was glad that she had had the opportunity to be trained under a talented auror like Kings.

"Are you all right?" Remus asked, every inch of his exhausted face lined with concern.

She did not want to tell him the fear that had taken up residence in her gut. No matter how many deep breaths she took or how many times she silently assured herself that she had nothing to fear, Andromeda just knew that something was happening. Remus would not appreciate her keeping the secret from him no matter how bad it sounded. She trusted the man to not tell his wife anything that might upset her if it was unnecessary. Andromeda took a deep breath and sipped her tea.

"I have a terrible feeling that something bad has happened," she admitted. "It may just be further proof that I'm nothing but a silly woman, but I can't shake it, Remus. I feel like… I don't know. I feel like something is missing. Or gone."

Every word she spoke was in a whisper, but Remus did not even need his enhanced werewolf hearing to catch every syllable. He sighed. Somehow Andromeda understood that he was thinking along the same lines that she was without him even verbalizing his thoughts. The something that was wrong, that was missing, that was gone… was Ted. Her intuition told her that it would only be a matter of time before an official owl from the Ministry flew through her kitchen window bearing the news that she would never see her husband again. Remus reached across the table to take her hand in his.

"We don't know that yet, Andromeda. Best not to jump to conclusions before we have all of the facts."

Remus squeezed her hand once before pulling his back. They sat in the stillness of the kitchen sipping their tea for several minutes without exchanging another word. There was simply no need. Everything had already been said a hundred times before over similar pots of tea at the same table. Until Voldemort was eradicated once and for all, they were all in danger of the same fate that she feared had finally caught up with her husband.

A strange wave of energy passed through Andromeda's body, startling her enough to drop her teacup. It crashed to the table spilling its contents all over her lap. She jumped up from the chair, almost overturning the chair in the process. Forgetting that she was trying to be quiet for the sake of her heavily pregnant sleeping daughter, she rushed to the front door. Remus was only steps behind her, obviously concerned about the sanity of his mother-in-law.

Andromeda yanked open the front door without taking a second to even think her actions through completely. Just as she somehow knew to expect it, there was someone on the pavement outside the front gate. Dressed in dark robes and staring intently at the house, she covered her mouth with her hand when she realized who was waiting for her. Without even bothering to put on any shoes, she started to cross the threshold.

"Andromeda, no," Remus said, reaching for her arm. "You can't go out there. It's not safe."

"I am in no danger, Remus. It's an old friend come to visit."

"At after one in the morning? In Death Eater robes? Be sensible, Andromeda!"

She shrugged her arm out of his grasp. Maybe Remus did not trust the wizard standing on the other side of her gate, but she did. While she could not explain it in any words that would make sense to anyone else, she knew that Antonin Dolohov was not standing outside her front garden in the middle of the night to cause her any harm. She was not afraid of him despite his reputation and his crimes. Remus shadowed her every step to the end of the brick walkway. It annoyed her that he did not trust her judgment.

"Antonin, what are you doing here?" Andromeda asked, the strength and composure in her voice at odds with the fear coursing through her entire body.

Her old friend had never been a man of many words. It was a trait that she could respect in a world full of people who did not seem to know when to close their mouth. Without uttering a single word, he reached his hand across the top of the gate. Three items lay atop the palm of his large hand. Three items that confirmed her suspicions.

She would not break down. She would not cry. Not until she had all of the answers and she was alone in her bedroom. It did not matter that more than half of her life had passed since she was last welcomed into her family's home. She was still a Black and Blacks kept their emotions under control at all times in front of others. Only when one was alone could they crack the practiced façade of invulnerability.

Ted would have never gone anywhere without his wand or the pocket watch she scrimped and saved to give him for their third anniversary. Or his wedding ring. Seeing the simple, cheap band of gold that was all she could afford when they got married resting on Antonin's hand made everything real. More than once she had begged Ted to allow her to replace the simple band with something nicer or more substantial. Each time he'd kissed the top of her head and told her that he had no need of another ring. His was just fine, thank you.

"What happened?" she asked quietly, reaching across the gate to grasp Ted's prized possessions.

Before Antonin had an opportunity to tell the tale she knew she did not really want to hear, the night air was filled with a deep, feral growl. Remus gently pushed her aside to point his wand straight at Antonin's throat. The Death Eater did not reach for his own wand as Andromeda fully expected him to. He simply held up both of his hands to show that he was unarmed and sighed. Andromeda needed to know what happened even if she did not want to know. If Remus killed the messenger, she might never know the truth. She stepped between the two men, ignoring a second growl from the werewolf.

"Lower your wand, Remus," she ordered in a tone that would allow for no arguments. It was a tone she had heard her father use on many occasions. "There has obviously been enough blood shed already tonight."

Reluctantly, Remus lowered his wand. His eyes never left Antonin. When she was satisfied that there would be no immediate violence, she returned her attention back to Antonin and repeated her question.

"Greyback happened," Antonin answered.

Andromeda had to remind herself that she was not going to cry in front of the men. Many years had passed since Ted last crossed the path of the vicious werewolf. They had a history that Ted never fully disclosed to his wife. When she begged him to tell her why the crazed lunatic had it out for him, Ted would kiss her and plead with her to not ask any more questions. He confessed that revealing the circumstances of their disagreement would be revealing a secret that was not his to reveal.

"Greyback?" asked Remus. His anger was steadily growing. The closer he got to the full moon, the harder it was for him to keep a cool head. "What could he possibly have to do with Ted?"

"Ted and his traveling companions were tracked," Antonin explained. "Took the Snatchers a few days, but I was asked to supervise their efforts tonight. We were hoping that we were tracking Potter and his little mates. Didn't expect Ted or the others. There was a struggle with some of the others, but Ted remained calm. I claimed him as my personal prisoner. He would've been safe with me…"

Remus scoffed at the remark. Obviously he did not believe Antonin would have done what he could have to keep his old friend safe. Andromeda gave Remus a sharp, silent look to keep quiet.

"Greyback arrived a short time later. He was less inclined to be merciful."

"What did he do, Antonin?" she demanded, her tone rising slightly.

"Andy, you don't want the details," Antonin insisted.

"Tell me."

Her husband was a brave man. He died in a deplorable manner, but he was a brave man. She repeated that to herself multiple times while Antonin described in what she was sure was limited detail of how the monster savaged the man she hoped to grow old with. It was a dream that would never come true. By the time he was finished, Remus was practically bouncing in fury. His wand ended up under Antonin's chin for a second time.

"How naïve do you think we are, Dolohov? Do you really think that we believe you had nothing to do with Ted's murder?"

"I will say this only one more time, Lupin, as it's clear you did not hear me the first time. Ted Tonks was one of my best friends. I was outnumbered and my godson was there. If I was killed, he would've been too. I will always regret what happened to Ted. That should've never happened, but no, I was not involved. I did what I could."

"I don't believe you!"

Remus' hand was shaking in his anger. Andromeda placed her hand on his forearm, gently urging him to drop his wand. Forgetting that Antonin had once been a friend and had brought Ted's belongings to her at great risk to his safety, it would not do to murder a Death Eater on the pavement in front of her home. They did not need any unnecessary attention brought to their home. She knew they were already under surveillance. They would be unable to hide any violence.

"Thank you, Antonin," she said, leaning over the gate to embrace the wizard. "I am glad that a friend brought me the news."

When they broke apart, she could see Remus was bouncing again on his feet, eager to curse the man. Antonin sneered. He was not a wizard to be trifled with. Andromeda wished that Remus would calm his emotions. Harming Antonin would not bring Ted back to them.

"Out of the respect and admiration I have always had for your in-laws, Lupin, I will not draw my wand against you."

"How noble," Remus spat.

"But if you ever point your wand at me again, be prepared for a fight. I will not show you mercy a third time."

Antonin nodded in Andromeda's direction a final time. Moments later he Disapparated, leaving her alone with her furious son-in-law. He was positively vibrating with rage.

"He is a liar! If I ever see him again, I will kill him."

"For your sake, Remus, I hope you never come face to face with him again. He is not a wizard to be dismissed."

Andromeda wished to be alone. She turned around to head back to her cold, empty bed. She would not cry until she was alone. She would not break down until she was safe inside her locked bedroom.