The Houses Competition - Round 8 Drabble
Slytherin, Charms
Prompt: [speech] "Wait here, I'll be back."
Word Count: 844 (according to MS Word and Scrivener)
Betas: Aya Diefair, Butterlifes765, VanillaAshes
A/N: Not much is known about Alphard Black other than him leaving Sirius money and being blasted off the tree, so I'm taking liberties assuming he might have had a close relationship with his niece, Andromeda. Also, I got the idea of the speech prompt haunting Andromeda, like the moment she hears it, she knows something is wrong. It was all I could hear before I went with this story.
Words That Haunt You
"Wait here, I'll be back."
"I'm sure he'll visit soon," Ted soothed Andromeda, rubbing her back.
"He left Nymphadora's birthday so quickly, I don't understand. Alphard said he would be back." Andromeda shrugged him off when he tried to pull her into a hug. "Don't, Ted. I know my family."
"He'll send word soon, I'm sure." Ted pulled her to sit at the kitchen table.
Andromeda watched her husband move around the kitchen, putting the kettle on the stove and turning on the heat. Even after all these years of having his wand, he still did everything the Muggle way. She loved that about him the most.
An owl tapped at the glass of the large kitchen window, drawing her attention away and sending her heart plummeting when she recognised the bird belonging to her grandparents. Andromeda shared a look with Ted, seeing the same fear she was feeling in his eyes.
The owl tapped again, impatiently. Ted quickly opened the window, letting the bird swoop onto the kitchen table. It held a leg out to Andromeda and, with shaking hands, she took the small note.
Alphard is dead.
That was all the note said in her grandmother's neat handwriting.
X
"Wait here, I'll be back."
"Where's his body?" Andromeda demanded of Remus. "Where is Ted's body?"
"We don't know, Mum." Nymphadora reached out to Andromeda, slowly taking her hand, the other held onto her large bump. "They're doing their best to get him back."
Andromeda sighed, the tears coming. "He needs to be buried. He deserves to be buried."
Remus went to put a hand on Andromeda's shoulder, but she got up from the kitchen table, roughly pushing past him to put the kettle on the stove. "Comfort your wife, Remus," she said firmly, her voice not giving away the torrent of grief coursing through her.
"I thought he would make it to see the baby," she heard her daughter quietly say.
Andromeda remained facing the cooker, watching the kettle pot heat up. She folded her arms tightly, clinging onto herself like it would contain her pain.
"Wait here, I'll be back." Ted kissed Andromeda firmly. "I'll be back, I promise. I'll listen out for the baby's arrival." He had to prise her fingers off his hand, kissing the tips of them before leaving the house.
Leaving the kettle, Andromeda left the room. She went straight to the wardrobe in her bedroom, her clothes mixed with Ted's. They never did have a side of their own. She pulled out one of the shirts he'd left behind, sniffing it deeply.
It didn't smell of him.
She stared in horror as she realised she'd washed his clothes for when he would return. Andromeda had thought she was doing the right thing, ready to give him home comforts after being on the run. She sniffed each and every item of clothing and not one smelt like him.
"You're safe. Look after Dora. Wait here, I'll be back."
X
"Wait here, I'll be back."
"It's okay, Teddy. Grandma's here."
Andromeda paced the kitchen, rocking Teddy gently as she went. She looked out the kitchen window to see the sun coming up, the sky filled with all shades of red and orange. A silly Muggle rhyme came into her head that Ted liked to say when there was a sunset with the same colours.
Red sky at night, sailors' delight.
Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.
Teddy continued to wail, constantly spitting out the bottle she was trying to feed him with. Andromeda blindly put it down on the kitchen counter, her heart hammering against her chest as she stared at the colours, rooted to the spot.
"Mama loves you so very much, Teddy." Nymphadora showered her baby with kisses before handing him over to Andromeda. "I can't stay here not knowing where Remus is, you understand?"
"I should come with you. I've done enough idle watching." Andromeda put Teddy in his cot, following her daughter out of the room.
"There's no one else I trust Teddy with that isn't already there." When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Nymphadora turned and hugged Andromeda tightly. She could almost feel her daughter shaking. "Wait here, I'll be back."
It felt like death had a grip on her heart, but it was never for her, only the people she loved.
Andromeda looked down at her screaming grandson, his hair a bright turquoise colour, his little cheeks wet and pink. Did he feel it too? Did he feel the loss that Andromeda knew had happened?
Shifting him to her shoulder, rubbing his back, she whispered, "I love you, sweet baby. It'll just be me and you for a while and I'm not going anywhere." She kissed his damp cheek, the crying sobs slowing down. "Where you go, I go."
Teddy slowly lost the energy in his despair and fell asleep, his face resting on Andromeda's shoulder, his tiny breaths warm on her neck.
It was hours later when Harry Potter arrived at her door.
"Wait here, I'll be back."