It's been a minute. Life's been crazy.
Bellatrix appeared in the Entrance Hall of Lestrange Manor with a pop! Dora's cries broke the peaceful quiet of the Manor, and as the girl looked around in fright, trying to figure out where she was, a man appeared from one of the halls, looking down at the two huddled on the floor.
"I want Mum," the little girl was crying desperately, trying to get free of the woman. "Let me go!"
"Shh, baby," Bellatrix said to the little girl, then looked up at her husband. "It went well, Rodolphus. Andromeda was no trouble at all."
Rodolphus was frowning at the hysterical child, quite disapproving of all the noise the girl was making. "Take her to her room," he ordered. "Ronan heard her yelling and it scared him."
Bellatrix rolled her eyes at this. "Fine." She lifted the girl into her arms once again, setting off a fresh wave of tears from Nymphadora, who cried, "I want to go home. I want Mum—and Charlie!" She continued to cry, and saw that as they left the room, the man was watching her with a look of distaste.
Bellatrix set the little girl down on a bed in a large bedroom carefully decorated for a little girl, and Dora curled up immediately, her hair returning to its natural form. "You're going to stay with us for a while, Dora," she told the girl in an attempt to be reassuring. "I'm Aunt Bella."
"Don't want to stay!" Dora cried, cringing away from the woman's hand.
The woman was sorely tempted to give the girl a Calming Draught. "Well, you are staying," Bellatrix said sternly to the child, and Dora stared at her, shivering and crying.
The door to the room opened, and Bellatrix frowned. Surely her husband would not be interrupting them when he couldn't help matters any? She looked lower down and found her son looking into the room, curious and worried.
"Mother, who's she?" the boy asked, walking toward Bella and the girl as the door closed behind him.
"This is Dora," Bellatrix said, grateful that Dora's cries had died away since she was now watching the little boy and rubbing her eyes tearfully. "She's your cousin, Ronan. She's my sister's little girl."
"Cissa?" Ronan said with a disapproving frown, much like his father.
"No, Ronan," Bellatrix said in amusement. "Andromeda. The other sister." Ronan looked confused, and his mother cut him off before he could say anything alarming in front of Dora. "Dora's come to stay with us for a while, and she needs us to be nice to her because she didn't want to leave her mother."
"Oh," said Ronan, moving closer and climbing up onto the bed. The girl did not take her eyes off of him, and he said to her finally, "It's okay, Dora."
The little girl's eyes overflowed with tears again. "I want Mum," she sniffed. "And Charlie...and Will."
Ronan considered her for a moment, then said, "You can share my mum" and pointed to Bellatrix. "She's nice."
"No," Dora whimpered, and Bellatrix caught the child as she was about to fling herself back down on the bed, cradling the girl in her arms.
"It's okay," Bellatrix told the little girl softly. "No one's going to hurt you. You'll be safe here, I promise."
By the time Dora had cried herself out, Ronan had already left the room, bored of the new girl's hysterics. Bellatrix lay the girl down carefully and tucked her in, deciding that baths and things could wait until the next day, and went to find her husband.
Rodolphus was sitting in the study with his father when Bella arrived, and both of them looked up at her. "What's this about you kidnapping a bloodtraitor brat?" Desmond demanded of her.
"She's here by the Dark Lord's will," Bellatrix answered haughtily. "My sister's daughter, Nymphadora. She has full Metamorphagus powers, and it would be a shame if they were wasted on bloodtraitor activities."
"Bellatrix," Desmond said firmly, "surely there are other people who could take the girl?"
"It's better that we keep her," Bellatrix told him. "She's not going anywhere." Desmond glared at her, and she hissed, "It's the Dark Lord's wish that we keep her, and Merlin help you if you oppose him."
"Father, the girl's got to stay," Rodolphus sighed. "She'll be all right once she settles down and learns how to behave."
Desmond looked outraged, and Bellatrix had to hide her amusement that her husband and his father had the same expression of anger. Bellatrix ventured to the door and said, "Dora's sleeping for now, and then we'll see what happens after this."
"And if they come to find her?" Desmond demanded.
"They won't," Bellatrix huffed. "I told Andy if she values the kid, she won't come after her." Bellatrix left the room, the door banging shut after her.
Nymphadora stirred slightly and stretched, rubbing her eyes for a moment before turning to her left to speak to her twin. Dora frowned when she didn't find Charlie next to her, and as she looked around the room, she found that she did not recognise any part of the room she was in.
"Charlie?" she called softly, but recalled seeing strange people the night before and hoped that it wasn't real. "Mum?"
There was no answer, and Dora edged out of bed, almost falling over as she had misjudged the distance to the floor. She hurried to the door, and slowly pulled it open, looking out of the room into the darkened hallway. Dora's stomach growled and she decided she couldn't just stay in the room, so she slipped through the doorway and hurried down the hall, trying a door here and there to see where they led.
Dora looked in at what looked like a meeting room of some kind, then, as she tried another door, received a small little jolt, not unlike when her mother would shock her into behaving. A little while later, Dora had tried several locked doors and found a couple more bedrooms and a bathroom when she opened another door on the hall, and seeing that it was different from the others, and had windows, she walked into the room.
She went to the far side of the room, climbing up onto the bench and looking out the window. Dora saw that the room overlooked the grounds and grinned at the flowers and trees down below, deciding that if she could, she'd go there. She was still looking outside when she heard a crack! and turned around. Standing before her, and looking slightly surprised as well, was the strangest creature the girl had ever seen.
"A little girl?" said the thing. "In Miss Bella's dayroom? What is Miss Bella doing with the child?"
Nymphadora stared at the thing, unaware that her hair had shot white until it added, "Oooh, it changes colours, too. Miss Bella must like that, to bring the child here."
Dora let out shriek of fright and ran from the room without looking back. She ran into the first room that she found unlocked, slamming the door shut and attempting to lock it before realising that it wouldn't lock. She looked around the room in fright until her eyes fell on the wardrobe, and she ran over to it as she heard footsteps, and opened it, quickly climbing in and closing the door most of the way.
The door of the room opened, and Dora watched, terrified, as someone entered the room. It wasn't the thing that had scared her in the other room, but the little boy she had seen the night before. And as she observed him, he looked around the room, then walked straight up to the wardrobe and opened the doors. "I saw you come in here," the boy frowned at her. "Get out of my wardrobe."
"There was a...thing," Dora gasped as she stepped out of the wardrobe, looking at him carefully. "It was talking, and I ran away!"
The boy raised an eyebrow, giving her an expression that was too old for his young face. "You ran away from a house elf?" he scoffed at her.
"A what?" she said, ignoring his tone.
"A house elf," the boy said, shutting the door of his wardrobe behind you. "They clean and cook for us. Come on." He walked to the door of his room.
"What?" Dora demanded, suddenly glaring at the boy. "Why?"
"Mum and Dad are looking for you," he sighed. "Dad says you tried to go into his room."
"No, I didn't," Dora huffed, crossing her arms and scowling at him.
"Dad said," the boy repeated firmly. "Come on: they're worried, and it's time for breakfast."
Dora's stomach grumbled at the mention of breakfast, and she hesitated. "But I—I want to go home."
The boy didn't move for a moment, then walked back to her with a sigh. "You can't," he said. "You're staying with us now."
"I don't want to!" Dora cried, stomping her foot, and he frowned at her.
"They won't let you go," he said. "Come on."
"No," Dora said, sniffing back tears. "No, I don't want to."
"Don't cry," the boy told her, crossing his arms and looking very annoyed for a four-year-old. Dora's hair shot red, and he didn't hear a word she yelled at him as he breathed, "Your hair!"
Dora reached up and tugged a lock of her hair before her eyes. "I'm special," she huffed, still glaring at him. Her hunger won over her fright and anger, and she followed him to the door, her hair settling back to reddish brown. "Okay," she said. "I'm hungry."
The boy laughed, then opened the door and led Dora out of the room. "Let's go: I'm hungry too."
It took them less than five minutes to find the boy's parents, who stared at the two children. "Where was she?" Rodolphus asked his son.
"Nowhere," Dora answered, shooting a glare at the boy as if daring him to tell on her.
"Now, Dora," Bellatrix said, slightly amused, "that's not true, is it?"
"She's hungry," Ronan said to his parents, looking between them expectantly. "A house elf scared her."
"Scared her?" Rodolphus said before he could stop himself and felt Bella's reproachful hand on his arm.
"Well, let's go to the table, then," Bellatrix said, and turned, leading the way to the dining room.
Dora stayed silent and observed the boy and his parents, holding back a yelp as she saw the same creatures appear and began to serve their breakfast. "You're all right," Ronan told her. "They won't bother you."
The girl didn't say anything, but ate gratefully, Ronan giving her a look when Dora stuffed her mouth too full and nearly choked. "You know it's rude," he told her, "to eat like that."
She scowled, pointed her fork at him threateningly, and said, "Shut up" through her mouthful of food.
"Dora," Bellatrix said with a small sigh, "it is unladylike to stuff your mouth like that, or talk with your mouth full." Rodolphus raised an eyebrow at her, but she ignored him.
"I'm not a lady," Dora huffed.
"And don't tell Ronan to shut up," Rodolphus said to Dora.
The girl scowled at Rodolphus, but seemed to know better than to contradict him. She set down her fork and glared at her plate. Ronan was watching her, and in a couple of minutes, said, "Eat, Dora. Aren't you hungry?"
"No," Dora said firmly, and Bellatrix raised her wand and vanished Dora's food. Dora's mouth fell open. "Hey!"
"You said you weren't hungry," Bellatrix told the child pointedly. "Don't lie to us unless you want to go without."
Dora's hair shot bright red, and Ronan looked shocked again and nervous. "I want to go home!" Dora screamed. "I want my mother!"
Rodolphus gave Bellatrix a meaningful look, and the witch said, "You are staying with us now, Nymphadora."
"I don't want you!" the child yelled angrily. "I want Charlie, and Will, and Mum and Dad! No!" She shrieked in fright as Rodolphus got to his feet, followed immediately by Bella.
"You are not going home," Rodolphus said coldly. "You are staying here, girl, and there is nothing you can do about it." He turned to Ronan. "You will meet me in the drawing room when you are finished, Ronan."
"Yes, Father," Ronan said in a very quiet voice, hardly glancing away from Nymphadora as his father left the room.
"But...I have to go home," Dora sniffed, looking between Bella and Ronan. "Mum...and Dad...my brothers—the new twins."
"The what?!" Bellatrix said in shock.
"Mum's having two babies," Dora whispered. "I was helping her with Percy because he's a baby still, too."
Ronan got up from the table and walked over to Dora, who didn't seem to notice until he had touched her arm. She jumped in fright, turning to look at him. "Mum and Dad won't let you go," he said. "You're staying with us, Dora. They'll take care of you, and it'll be okay."
Dora let out a dry sob, and Ronan glanced across the table, some of his untouched food zooming across the way to Dora's plate. "Here," he said, patting her arm. "It's okay, Dora."
"No," Dora sniffed, her hair fading to grey. "No, it's not."
The little boy thought for a moment, then said, "I'll come find you after I see Dad, okay? We can go play together."
Dora didn't answer, and with a word of warning from his mother, Ronan left to meet his father. Bellatrix sat with Dora until the girl had managed to finish what Ronan had given her, and then Dora looked up at the woman. "What's your name?" Dora asked her hesitantly, not sure how to address her.
"Bellatrix," the woman replied softly. "I'm your aunt, Dora. Aunt Bella. Ronan is your cousin, and he's four years old, just like you."
"Bella?" Dora said, and the woman said, "Hmm?"
"Who's the man?" she asked.
The woman couldn't help smiling understandingly at the girl. "That's my husband, Rodolphus," she told her. "Ronan's dad...and your uncle."
Dora seemed surprised at this. "But he's mean," she said, and Bellatrix held back a laugh.
"He likes children and things to be proper," she told Dora confidently. "He likes them to behave, and be quiet, and use proper manners."
"Mum and Dad aren't like that," Dora huffed, crossing her arms in annoyance.
"No, of course not," Bellatrix replied as the elves returned and cleared off the table. "See, Dora, we're the House of Lestrange, and our family keeps the old pureblood traditions."
Dora did not know what this meant, but said, "Well, he doesn't have to be mean about it."
Bellatrix laughed this time, and Dora cracked a small smile. "Well, see," Bellatrix told the girl, "he wants Ronan to be just like him, so he doesn't want you to teach him the wrong things."
Dora was astonished at this piece of news, but was distracted by her aunt asking, "Would you like to go to the playroom, Dora? I'm sure there are things in there that you would like."
Dora nodded eagerly and took the woman's offered hand. She looked around as they walked through the hall together, turning this way and that as she tried to see everything. Bellatrix pointed to a door that Dora remembered trying to open earlier that morning. "This is my and Rodolphus' room," she told the girl. "You can't open the door on your own; you have to knock and ask for entrance."
"It shocked me," Dora scowled, remembering.
"Yes," Bellatrix said with what might have been a look of pride. "But you didn't even cry out. That's good."
"Mum does that sometimes," Dora began, then stopped, her face falling.
"She does?" Bellatrix said, wondering at Dora's mixed upbringing so far. "Almost to the playroom," she said, briskly changing the subject. "And here we are." She opened the door and turned the lights on, leading Dora into the room.
"But these are Ronan's toys, right?" Dora asked, looking around at the many things that were placed around the room.
"Some of them," Bellatrix smiled, moving over to a closed trunk near a small comfortable chair. "But these, Dora, I think you'll like...I got them for you."
She opened the box and begin to pull out a couple toys at a time. "Here," she said, pointing them out and telling Dora what they were. "Of course, I got you a toy wand," she said, placing it next to Dora.
"But they don't do anything," Dora huffed.
"This one is different," Bellatrix said, picking it up. "This one only sparks if you do the spell properly. It'll send out the correct coloured sparks for whatever spell you're practising so you know if you did it right."
Bellatrix raised the wand, and in a blur of motion, sent sparks flying from the wandtip with every different slash. Dora watched in awe, then reached for the wand and tried to copy what Bellatrix had done, without results. "We'll work on that," Bella promised her, then went on to talk about the beautiful silver creature that she next lifted from the trunk.
"Oh!" Dora gasped, seeing the four-legged animal canter away from her across the room, its head held high. "What is it?"
"It's a toy unicorn," Bellatrix smiled at Dora's amazement. "You have to let it get used to you, and it'll play with you."
"Really?" Dora asked immediately, staring at the enchanting creature. "I love it."
Bellatrix smiled. "Well, shall I leave you to it?"
Dora nodded excitedly, already moving toward the baby unicorn, which was trotting toward the opposite side of the room, and Bellatrix left quietly, going to find her husband and son.
Ronan Lestrange left the drawing room when his father finally finished warning him about being around Dora took much, and went straight to his playroom. The boy wasn't sure why Dora was suddenly staying with them, or why his father seemed to dislike her so much, but he was curious about her and wanted to learn more.
He was very pleased to see her in the playroom already, sprawled on the floor with her head resting on the side of her toy unicorn. He shut the door quietly, but she still curled up defensively, clutching her toy as if it would help her somehow.
"Your dad is mean," Dora said, watching the boy carefully.
"Mum says he has no patience," Ronan said carefully, as if trying to remember the words she had used. "But he doesn't like kids to scream and yell in the house."
"He yelled first," Dora huffed, shooting a glare at the boy.
Ronan sighed and shuffled toward her. "Don't make him mad," he told her. "You've got to behave when he's around."
Dora scowled. "No."
He looked at her for a moment, then said, "You can pretend, can't you?"
The girl considered this, then nodded. "I don't like him."
"He's my dad," Ronan said earnestly. "He's okay, really."
"No," said Dora again, sitting up, and her unicorn jumped up and cantered away to the other side of the room.
The boy looked at her, then turned away and walked to the window, climbing up on the seat. "Would you like to go play outside?" he asked her as if she were an honoured guest in his house.
"Oh," she said. "Yes!" Dora got to her feet, ready to go immediately.
"Okay," Ronan answered, and jumped down from the seat, hurrying to the door. He led her down the hall and down a flight of stairs before moving across the floor and opening the doors into the grounds.
He was only in the lead for a few paces, and then Dora took off running toward the most heavily vegetated part of the the grounds, calling to him to hurry up. Ronan moved after her quickly, hesitant to run as he was not about to be so undignified. He caught up with her after a moment, looking around and asking, "What did you want to do out here?"
Dora eyed him for a moment, then darted forward and tapping his shoulder before running away, giggling, "You're it!" But when she turned to see how close he was, Dora saw he hadn't moved, and stopped, frowning at him. "What?"
"I'm...what?" Ronan asked.
"You're it," Dora said clearly. "You can't get me!" And she took off running again, Ronan unable to resist this tease and running after her.
They chased each other through the grounds, laughing and giggling until Ronan sat down on a bench to catch his breath, Dora joining him quickly. "You're fast," Ronan breathed. "It's not fair."
Dora watched him a moment, then shrugged. "Will's faster than me," she said, as if this made it allowable that Ronan was too slow to stay ahead of her.
A couple minutes went by with Dora looking around, swinging her feet, and Ronan said, "Tomorrow, Aunt Cissa's going to be here for dinner. And Lucius. Dad told me."
"Cissa?" Dora said, a slight frown on her face. "Mum's sister?"
Ronan nodded, looking slightly annoyed at this news. "My aunt, and yours," he told Dora. "And our uncle, Lucius."
Dora frowned even more at this, trying to remember if her family had ever mention him before, but looked up and around again as she was sure she had heard someone call her name. "Who's that?" she asked, jumping up off the bench.
"Lucius?" Ronan said in surprise.
"No," Dora snapped. "Someone called me."
"I...didn't hear anything," Ronan said slowly, looking around too. "Dora, no one's out here but us."
Dora ignored him, looking away from the house, and began to move toward where she thought she'd heard the sound. Ronan jumped up from the bench, saying, "Dora, where are you going?"
She did not answer him as she hurried toward where she thought she'd heard the voice. She was running now, wanting to see her parents, or even her brothers, and Ronan called, "Dora, stop!"
She didn't waste the breath to shout no at him, but with a severe crackle of magic, Nymphadora felt herself collide into a solid, invisible wall. She fell backward, landing on the ground, crying out in pain as she clapped her hands over her face.
"Dora!" Ronan gasped, dropping to her side when he caught up with her. "Are you okay?"
"I thought I heard Mum," Dora sniffed, her hands still over her face. "What happened?"
"It's the ward on our house," Ronan answered. "It stopped you."
"I want to go home," Dora said, looking up and peering out past the invisible wall. "I want Mum and Dad." Her blue eyes sparkled with tears, and the boy looked at her for a moment, then scooted closer to her.
Dora wrapped her arms around her knees and he put his arm around her, trying to reassure her in his little boy way.
Far up in the study of Lestrange Manor, Rodolphus and Bellatrix jumped in surprise as the wards crackled, then moved to the window to look out into the grounds. "She tried to leave," Rodolphus said in amusement.
"Well, the sooner she learns that she can't, the better," Bellatrix said simply.
"I'd prefer that she quickly learn to behave," Rodolphus muttered.
"Roddy," Bellatrix pouted, "you fwighten her."
"Ha," said Rodolphus. "If she were actually scared of me, she would behave."
"I don't think so," Bellatrix smirked. "I never behaved for my father, remember?"
"She ought to have more manners than she seems to," Rodolphus huffed. "She's Andromeda's daughter."
Bellatrix gave him a wicked grin. "But the mother doesn't matter, remember?" she nearly purred.
Rodolphus scowled. "Girls ought to take after their mother," he said firmly. "She's just wild."
"She'll be fine," Bellatrix laughed. "She only arrived last night, and it'll take time for her to get comfortable and learn how to act."
"And what if she misbehaves in front of guests before then?" Rodolphus asked, crossing his arms and frowning at his wife.
"Well, I don't plan on showing her to anyone important before she's ready," Bellatrix answered.
"When are you taking her to the Dark Lord?" Rodolphus asked in trepidation. "There's no telling what she would say—"
"I know," Bellatrix interrupted. "I'm waiting for a little while until I can trust her to keep her mouth shut and she has some sort of trust in me."
"How long do you think that will take?"
Bellatrix took a long, deep breath. "I don't know," she admitted. "But from what I've observed in watching her, she's just as stubborn as a Black, so I'd say probably it'll take weeks."
Rodolphus sighed. "I don't like it," he said. "She's too unpredictable."
"No, Roddy, she's a child," Bellatrix reminded him. "I'm unpredictable. She'll turn out all right, just...try not to yell at her. I think it has the same effect on her that your yelling at me does."
"Makes you even less compliant and more problematic?" translated Rodolphus. "You said this brat would be like Andromeda, not like you."
"You wanted a daughter," Bella sneered. "And if she's just like me, then what are you complaining about, Roddy?" She flounced out of the room, trying to decide whether she should go find out what her niece was doing now.
I know Dora is suffering and will suffer, but I love the Lestrange family dynamic, and Rodolphus and Bellatrix amuse me so much. And I loooooooooooove Ronan. Desmond...I do like him, but he's not the best version of himself in this story, and Meira is already dead, rip. Rabastan doesn't show up too often because that's not the focus of Black Widow, thank Merlin.
Hope you enjoy. The family will get through this, together, or apart.
Trixie Black Lestrange