"Charlie, no," said an exasperated Andromeda Weasley, spying the children teasing Percy with a toy held just out of his reach. "Dora, don't tease him."
Will looked slightly ashamed of himself and moved away from the twins and their little brother to play at his mother's feet. Andromeda sighed, leaning back into the couch with a small groan as she adjusted her position. It was not easy for her to get comfortable nowadays, as she was due in a few weeks.
"Dora, come here," Andromeda sighed, seeing that the girl refused to stop teasing Percy.
Dora pouted and approached her mother, reaching out and patting her mother's large baby bump. "Are you okay, Mum?"
Andromeda merely nodded, then said, "Dora, stop teasing your brother. It isn't nice to pretend to give something to him and not let him have it. You're being mean."
"But...he's funny," Dora groaned, falling onto the couch beside her mother. "He makes funny faces when he's mad."
"If you don't stop being mean, Dora, I'll put you in a ward like I did last week," Andromeda warned her. "Remember?"
Dora looked slightly alarmed, recalling the magical boundaries her mother had placed around her so that she couldn't reach anyone or anything, and they couldn't reach her. "No, no," Dora said, shaking her head quickly. She let herself slide off the couch and onto the floor. "When is Alice going to be here? Aren't we going for a walk?"
Andromeda took another deep breath. "Yes," she answered. "She'll be here in a little while."
Percy, tired of being teased, toddled over to his mother and scrambled up onto the couch next to her. "Dora bad," he huffed, burying his face in his mother's arm.
About half an hour later, there was a disturbance in the ward over the house, and Andromeda got to her feet carefully and followed her excited children to the door. She made sure it was Alice, then let the woman into the house.
"We're going for a walk!" Dora said enthusiastically as the children all gathered around their friend.
Alice smiled at them, then turned to Andromeda. "Are you going to stay home and nap?" she asked.
Andromeda sighed. "No, I think I'd like some fresh air," she said, "but I obviously won't be moving very fast."
"All right," Alice laughed. "I'm surprised you want to get out at all. Almost ready to deliver twins, and still running around like normal. I daresay I'll be a mess whenever we start having our children."
Andromeda gave a small laugh, and took Percy into her arms, saying, "I thought we could walk down into the Muggle village. Let the children run along the lane and get some of their energy out."
Alice agreed, and the Weasleys and she set off, Will, Charlie, and Dora running on ahead with Alice keeping them in sight as well as their mother. It was a rare clear day, but slightly chilly, and all of them had a jumper or a cardigan thrown on over their robes.
The older three didn't seem to notice this, but continued laughing and yelling to each other as they made their way toward the village. They had barely entered the village when Andromeda had to sit down on a bench to catch her breath, keeping Percy at her side.
Alice asked her if she was all right, and Andromeda nodded, motioning toward Will and the twins, who were headed toward the small fountain in the center of the village. The younger witch turned and hurried after them, and after a few minutes of rest, Andromeda dragged herself to her feet and went to join them.
They were getting strange looks from some of the Muggles that were passing by, but no one said anything to them, only a couple of them smiling at the children. Alice sighed as Dora, Charlie, and Will started splashing the cold water at each other, moving forward to stop them when she suddenly heard a pop!
A person appeared out of thin air on the other side of the fountain, and Andromeda gasped. "Bellatrix!"
"Andy!" said Bellatrix, looking surprised and somewhat pleased. "Oh, and who's this? Little Alice Longbottom?"
"You ought to know not to apparate into a Muggle village, Lestrange," Alice said sweetly, stepping away from the fountain as Dora took advantage of the distraction and kept splashing. "What brings you here?"
"Overshot my apparition," Bellatrix grinned at the two women, seeing the children watching her in trepidation, glancing between her and their mother. "I'll just be going."
Andromeda had a strong sense of foreboding as Bellatrix moved to walk around the fountain, but the witch seemed unconcerned by both of the women, who had their hands in their cloaks, ready to draw their wands. The children were giggling again, Will having almost fallen into the fountain, his sleeves soaked.
Bellatrix acted. Darting forward, she grabbed up Nymphadora, her left arm around the girl's waist as she hurried backward, parrying spells from both witches as Dora let out a yell and started struggling.
"Dora!" Charlie cried, and moved to rush forward, but Alice yelled, "Charlie, no!" and grabbed him by the back of his robes.
"Let her go, Bellatrix," Andromeda hissed, pushing her youngest son behind her.
"No, no," Bellatrix said, her eyes gleaming with mischief and excitement. "Little Dora's coming home with Auntie Bella."
"Let me go!" Dora shrieked, trying to kick the woman, her hair bright red in her anger.
"Bellatrix, she's a child," Andromeda said pleadingly. "She hasn't done anything!"
"Oh, but Andy, it's what she will do," Bellatrix said in amusement. "She's too powerful to be wasted on the bloodtraitor ideas of the Weasleys."
Alice began to approach, but was having difficulty keeping Charlie and Will back. "Did You-Know-Who send you here?" Alice demanded.
Bellatrix cackled with laughter at this, altering her grip on Nymphadora, but continuing to focus on Andromeda. "She's going with me," Bellatrix said quietly. "Her place is with us." The last word was full of meaning.
"The Dark Lord wants her?" Andromeda breathed, her face draining of colour. "I knew he would."
"Did you?" Bellatrix smirked, shushing Dora with no results as the commotion began to attract Muggles. "Then you won't try to find her, or get her back. You want to make sure she's safe, don't you?"
"Bellatrix!" Andromeda cried as Dora screamed, managing to catch hold of her aunt's hair and yanking it fiercely. "Bella, she's my only daughter!"
"Well, surely you won't miss her, as you're having more," Bellatrix pointed out, now trying to disentangle herself from Dora's grip.
"Dora!" Charlie cried, and Alice was forced to physically restrain the little boy, Will peering around the fountain in fright.
"Let go!" Dora shrieked. "Mum, help—"
Bellatrix backed away from the others and disapparated, the sound of Dora's cries dying away.
Charlie burst into tears, and Will cried, "Where did she go? Who was that?"
The Muggles began to talk, and Alice glanced at Andromeda's face before saying, "Come here: I'll apparate us back to your house." Andromeda walked forward as if in a daze, Percy clinging to the skirt of her dress.
The moment they appeared before the Weasley home, Andromeda barely kept herself from being sick as she stumbled forward into the house, holding a confused Percy in her arms. "I've got to tell Arthur," Andromeda sniffed, doing her best to hold herself together. "He's got to know—"
Alice entered the house, Charlie clinging to her as he cried for his sister. "Expecto Patronum," she said firmly. "Go to Arthur Weasley and tell him that there's been an attack, and he needs to come home. Everyone is okay."
Andromeda did not see what form the Patronus took before it raced away, and Will came to her side. "Mum, who was that?"
"Bellatrix," Andromeda sniffed, tears glistening in her eyes. "She's my sister, Will. She's your aunt."
Will stared at his mother. "But then Dora's okay," he said hopefully.
Andromeda began to cry silently, and Will wrapped his arms around her as Alice sat down across from them, pulling Charlie into her arms. Percy slid to the floor, crawling across the living room to his toys, and the family sat in silence for the next little while.
It was probably twenty minutes later that Arthur Weasley apparated at the gate and nearly fell over in his haste to run into the house. He burst into the house, scaring Percy as he dashed in and stared around the room. "Andromeda," he panted, "what happened?"
Andromeda was shaking as she looked up at her husband. "We went into the village," she breathed, "and...Bellatrix apparated in, and—Arthur, she took Dora—" Andromeda gave a small sob and Arthur rushed to her side, his hand on her shoulder.
"Took...Dora?" he looked around the room as if hoping he'd heard incorrectly. "Bellatrix Lestrange?"
"We were by the fountain in the village," Alice said quickly. "It was Bellatrix: I'd know her gleeful cackle anywhere. She said she'd overshot her apparition—but she was obviously lying—then went to walk past and grabbed Nymphadora, who had been playing in the fountain. We tried to stop her, but it was impossible with all the children there. She disapparated, and we came back here."
"I told you the Dark Lord would want her," Andromeda cried as her husband wrapped his arms around her. "Bella took our daughter on his orders!"
"She did?" Arthur gasped.
"Yes," breathed Andromeda, tears streaming down her face. "Dora's at Lestrange Manor, I'm sure of it."
Arthur frowned, then raised his wand. "Expecto Patronum. Albus: my daughter has been kidnapped by Bellatrix Lestrange, and we believe she's been taken to Lestrange Manor."
Andromeda pulled away from her husband. "Arthur, what are you doing?" she hissed in fright.
"Alerting the others," he said encouragingly. "We'll get her back."
"No—!" Andromeda went to cry out, but closed her mouth, seeing no way to stop what her husband had already done as the Weasel Patronus left the house. She drew several deep breaths, then said as calmly as possible, "If you're meeting the Order, I want to go."
"Andromeda—" he began, but she gave him such a look of fury that he immediately changed his mind. "Okay," he said with a sigh. "But the children…."
"I'll stay with them," Alice said quickly. "Or, if you like, we can take them to my home while you're gone. I think our wards are stronger."
Andromeda wiped away her tears and morphed away the redness and puffiness, making Alice stare at her in realisation. "No, they'll be fine here," Andromeda murmured. "She only wanted Dora."
A few hours later found Andromeda and Arthur taking the Floo to one of the Order members' houses. Andromeda had concealed her bump with an Extension Charm, and had brushed her hair again so she didn't look as crazy as she had upon arriving home from her walk.
She quickly regained her footing as she appeared out of the fireplace, Arthur waiting for her and cleaning off her dress with a flick of his wand. Andromeda recognised at once the older couple that were waiting on them: the Potters, James' parents.
A young man jumped up from the dining room table. "Andromeda, is it true?" he asked urgently.
Andromeda's eyes narrowed at her cousin and the other boy that was sitting at the table. "Aren't you supposed to be at school, young man?"
Sirius Black waved this question away as if it were a pesky doxy. "James and I heard Arthur's Patronus—Dumbledore brought us here. Is it true that Bella's got Dora?"
Andromeda merely nodded, and Sirius looked furious, but she looked toward Mrs Potter, who said, "In the sitting room. There are several already here: go on in."
The Weasley couple moved into the sitting room, Sirius and James following, and took seats on the couch. Andromeda couldn't help glancing subtly around at the Order to see if she recognised any of them. She recognised Alice's husband Frank, as well as a few others, most of them speaking to Arthur in tones of concern.
Dumbledore was there, the very object of calm as he twiddled his thumbs idly, irritating Andromeda. She couldn't imagine why James and Sirius had heard the Patronus meant for Dumbledore...unless they had been his office at the time. She held back a sound of disdain at this idea and simply leaned back into the couch cushion to relieve her aching back.
"Andromeda, isn't it?" one of the witches said to Andromeda kindly. "I thought Arthur told us you were pregnant."
"I have a concealment charm on myself," Andromeda answered simply.
"It's twins, right? When are you due?" the woman asked, and Andromeda frowned, having always been taught not to talk about such things with men present.
"Not soon enough," Andromeda answered with finality, and the woman did not ask any more questions.
A few more people arrived and the meeting started, Dumbledore turning to Andromeda. "Would you please tell us what happened, Mrs Weasley?"
"I'm Andromeda," she said before she could stop herself, but did not flinch at the looks she received. "I was in the Muggle town of Ottery St Catchpole with the children and Alice, who was helping me with them. We stopped near the fountain to rest for a bit when Bellatrix apparated close to where we were. She claimed that she hadn't meant to be there and moved to walk past us, but snatched up my daughter Nymphadora and parried our curses. We had a brief argument, and there was little fighting because Alice was trying to keep the two oldest boys from running at Bellatrix, and I had Percy with me. She disapparated with Dora."
Andromeda felt Arthur's hand reach over and squeeze hers, but she didn't respond. James' father was frowning. "Bellatrix kidnapped her own niece?"
"Not that she'd say Dora was her niece," Sirius interjected.
"She did call herself 'Auntie Bella,'" Andromeda added as an afterthought. "Bellatrix said Dora's powers shouldn't be wasted on the likes of us, and that she belonged with them."
"Alice said that You-Know-Who ordered Bellatrix to kidnap Dora," Frank said darkly. "Did she say that?"
"I don't think it was a direct order, if it came from the Dark Lord at all," Andromeda replied. "If it had been, Bellatrix would have been more violent, and others might have been with her."
MadEye Moody gave a grunt from the corner of the room. "We know Bellatrix is a Death Eater, Andromeda; there's no need to conceal the truth. Even if it wasn't a direct order, I'm sure your daughter's powers made her a certain target for their side."
Several others agreed with this, and Sirius addressed the Weasleys. "You really think she's being kept at Lestrange Manor?" he asked.
"Bellatrix said that Dora was going home with her," Andromeda answered. "She wasn't lying: she seemed to be in a very truthful mood."
"How do you know?" Sirius scoffed. "I doubt old Rodolphus would be very happy to have Nymphadora at his house."
"But he wouldn't argue with the Dark Lord," Andromeda replied sweetly. "Or do you disagree, Sirius? No, I'm fairly certain Dora's up at Lestrange Manor, probably meeting her little cousin and yelling at all three of them."
"You don't seem very upset," one of the other wizards commented to her.
Sirius shot the man a warning look just before Andromeda glared at the offender. "My daughter's been kidnapped," she snapped at him. "Just because I haven't completely fallen apart, does not mean that I am not upset."
"How are we going to get up there and retrieve her?" Sirius asked, looking around the room.
No one seemed to have a suggestion, and Andromeda said in the silence, "We can't go after her."
Everyone turned to stare at her, including her own husband, clear shock on his face. "We'll figure out something," Sirius began, but Andromeda shook her head.
"No," Andromeda said firmly, and she had concentrate very hard to keep from getting emotional. "Bellatrix threatened to harm Dora, perhaps even kill her if we try to rescue her."
"Alice didn't mention that," Frank said, frowning.
"Bellatrix didn't say it right out," Andromeda answered. "She's taken Dora for her powers, and by Death Eater standard, if they can't have something, they destroy it. Dora will be safe with her: Bellatrix won't harm her, and—"
"Won't harm her?!" Arthur yelped, and the room filled with a very awkward tension. "What's she going to do then, pray tell?"
Andromeda took a deep breath. "She'll raise Dora alongside her own son," she answered quietly. "She'll keep Dora safe."
"She's not safe there," Sirius snapped. "Dromeda, you know what Dora will go through!"
"Of course I know!" Andromeda retorted, standing up so fast that Arthur jumped slightly. "I don't like the idea either, but it beats getting Dora killed with a stupid rescue mission!"
"We'll find a way," one of the others began, but Andromeda cut him off.
"I will not risk Dora's safety," she snapped at him, glowering at everyone.
Arthur stared at his wife. "Dora is not safe anyway!"
Andromeda rounded on her husband. "They don't want her dead: they want to use her!" she snapped. "If your little friends go muddling around, they'll do more harm than good! I don't want Dora to be with Bellatrix any more than you do, but there's no other option if we want her to—"
"You can't just give her—!" Arthur said, horrified.
"I didn't!" Andromeda yelled at him, and there was an earsplitting silence. "I know Bellatrix: she's my sister. She's not going to hurt Dora or let anyone else hurt her because she needs Dora to cooperate with them." Andromeda paced to the door, turning to look at them all. "Don't risk my daughter's life needlessly."
She left the house, disapparating when she had escaped the ward boundaries. Making her way back into her own home, she dropped into a chair across from Alice, who was cradling Charlie, and burst into tears.
And I oop.
Trixie Black Lestrange