Upon arriving at the Tonks residence, Andromeda clumsily fell to her knees and clutched her stomach.

Hoping not to have the older woman's stomach contents splattered on her shoes, Hermione stepped away from the elder witch until the coast seemed clear. When the green hue faded from Andy's cheeks, Hermione hoisted the older woman up by her armpits and helped her into the house.

At that point, Andromeda unceremoniously sprawled across the couch, which left only two seat options for Hermione. She could either seat herself in the armchair near the fire on the other side of the room, or she could move the queasy witch.

Hermione looked longingly at the chair before resigning herself to the couch. She gently lifted the older woman's petite feet and sat in the vacated spot. If they were going to view pictures of Nymph, then they needed to be near to one another.

Andromeda lifted her head enough to glance at the younger woman. Her dark hair still hung straight down her back rather than curling in every direction. Similarly, her green eyes did not seem to portray the same depth that the ones Andromeda hoped to see did: the honey colored eyes that had found their way into Andromeda's dreams multiple times in the past week. She frowned. "Can I not see your true face?"

Hermione quit tracing patterns on the arm of the couch and stared back at the nearly black orbs to her left, trying to make a split second decision. "I suppose it would not hurt anything if I changed back." It would certainly save some magical energy. She raised her wand to perform the reversal spell but stopped with the wood directly in front of her face. "No one is coming to your house, right? Harry won't be here later?"

Andromeda grinned when Hermione acquiesced, but quickly tempered her excitement. "No, I'll go retrieve Teddy in a few hours. I am not expecting anyone, and no one can get past the wards without my express permission." After the war, Andromeda had never bothered to remove the wards that were placed upon her home when it was used as a safe house. Removing her meager family's one protection from the outside world was the last thing on her priority list. It was no concern to her if it was inconvenient to others.

Hermione searched Andy's face for another moment before performing her typical nightly routine. Her hair kinked as it lightened to a soft chestnut brown, and her eyes darkened slowly, retaining a subtle green outline around her iris.

The change was just as magnificent to behold the second time as it had been weeks prior. Only this time, Hermione had been more complete in her transformation. This time, Andromeda noticed the way that the dull purple flesh encircled Hermione's eye socket and how there was a faded pink line above her left eyebrow. Sitting up, Andromeda reached out a hand to caress the light scar. She smoothed her fingers over the barely raised skin before lowering her eyes to where she knew a greater scar would be. She had never seen it in person, but Rita Skeeter had featured a photograph of the scar in an article published soon after the war ended.

Hermione did not realize her mistake until the transformation was complete. Every night, she removed every glamour and charm at the same time. Without considering the consequences, she had done the same in the presence of someone she barely knew. She sat as still as possible as she attempted to control her thoughts. What harm would come from allowing Andy to see the scars?

When Andy's fingers brushed against the light scar on her forehead, caused by a misfired spell at the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione stopped breathing. Her eyes locked on the witch, whom was no longer peering at her face. Her eyes had dropped lower, and Hermione self-consciously placed a hand over the scar - knowing that it would do no good. It had already been seen.

When Andromeda's hand gently peeled Hermione's fingers off of the scarred forearm, the elder witch finally grasped a portion of the damage that her elder sister had caused to the young witch before her. "It still looks swollen. It's not infected, right?" Dark eyes met honey, clearly searching for more than a simple yes or no.

Hermione shook her head, "It did not stop bleeding for days. Even after it began to scab over, it reopened every few days for weeks. I believe it's cursed, but I have been unable to find any way to heal it - magical or muggle."

Andy nodded. It was not unheard of for magical wounds to behave in that manner. "And it was her, wasn't it? The stories were correct?" Andy hoped that she would say no, that she had suffered this atrocity at the hands of someone who did not share her blood.

Nodding, Hermione gave her confirmation. "She did it in a fit of rage. At Malfoy Manor."

Andy traced the B with her forefinger. "Rage. That does sound like the Bellatrix you knew, huh?" Eyes focused on the jagged letter, she continued. "Her handwriting used to be different than this. It wasn't neat like mine or curly like Cissy's, but it was nothing like this. It was rushed and slanted and definitely sloppy, but it looked nothing like this."

Hermione tensed as Andromeda traced over her scar, but she did not pull away. This woman knew more about her attacker than anyone else in the world. She was likely just as damaged by those wicked hands. "Was she not always like this?" Thoughts of a young Tom Riddle came to mind as she asked that question. While he was once handsome and charming, Harry had told her that he was always twisted. The compassionate side of her wondered if Bellatrix had been the same way.

Her eyes slid back to Andromeda's face but found a vacant expression there. Hermione nearly changed the subject before Andromeda opened her mouth to reply, "No. To say she was always like this is to ignore the human she once was. She died as a monster, but once she was a big sister and so much more. Actually, she was probably not much different than you in school. She was Head Girl, top of her class, but not many people understood her. Maybe if people had..." She trailed off, not willing to dwell on what might have been.

Hermione was unwilling to continue the conversation, suddenly plagued by unwanted thoughts of a different Bellatrix. She shook her head in hopes of erasing the unwanted images. "Shall we look at those pictures now?"

After paging through a myriad of muggle and magical photographs, Andromeda was beginning to feel sober enough to consider retrieving Teddy. She was unsure how long they had been sitting there talking, but she assumed that it was late enough that it would be inappropriate to leave Teddy with Harry for much longer. She did not need to inconvenience the boy too much. Standing, she handed the last pictures to Hermione and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

Those pictures had filled Andromeda with immense pride. Her daughter had truly been a blessing to the world. She missed her desperately, but she knew that she had a lasting impact on the people around her.

Standing, she smoothed the wrinkles from her robes. "I need to go get Teddy so that I can get him to bed at a reasonable time. You're welcome to stay here while I retrieve him."

Hermione considered returning to her home for a moment, but the look on Andromeda's face convinced her to stay. "I'll wait until you get back. How long do you think it will take?"

Andromeda's eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands together. "Wonderful! I will just speak with the elves about starting dinner before I go. I expect I shall only be about fifteen minutes, but it could take just a little while longer if Harry has a significant story to tell me. In the meantime, you're welcome to make yourself comfortable in the house. There is an office down the hall that doubles as the library, so feel free to check that out. I know you might think you have read everything there, but I have just received some of the older Black family tomes, given that I am the last remaining descendant. I am quite sure that you could find something to interest you."

Hermione's interest piqued when Andromeda mentioned the ancient tomes. She had found her way to quite a few of those recently. "I may check those out, but I actually have some of my own reading to do tonight. Thank you for the offer." As much as she craved the knowledge that might be hidden within the Black family, she felt the need to research a cure for her parents first. It had to be her top priority. "I'll probably just stay in here by the fire and read while I wait for you to get back with Teddy."

Nodding, Andromeda turned toward the mentioned fireplace. "I'll just floo to Harry's apartment right quickly then be back before you even notice that I'm gone."