Narcissa had been at Grimault Place for 3 days when Sirius came to pick her up. He had offered to be there the first time she'd visit Andromeda, to help them make peace and that was today. Draco had left earlier, he wanted to show that he had changed and was helping the Wealsey Twins set up their shop along with everyone else, which would open in a couple of days now.
Those 3 days hadn't been too lonely. She had been surprised at how present Sirius had been. He didn't judge her for her life choices and he hadn't tried to make her talk about anything special either, he simply introduced, or reintroduced, her to Order member and she had been able to share her knowledge of Voldemort's plans. She didn't know much, or at least she felt like she didn't know much, but since she had been with Death Eaters all this time, she was able to give them little facts and informations that they found useful. Where they hung out, who was most likely to hang out at Riddle house, or someplace else... Who hung out with whom, where they were most likely to hide out... it wasn't much, but it helped anyway.
At first, Draco had felt bad being able to leave while she was to stay secluded, hidden, but she had reassured her son. He deserved to be free and to have fun, even if that happened with Weasley's.
"Ready Narcissa?" Sirius asked her.
"I don't know if I'll ever be truly ready... It's been so long, Sirius..." She replied, shaking her head while Kreacher brought her her hat with a respectful bow.
"Don't worry. She's knows you're coming, she knows why you changed sides and she understands. You're her last sister alive too." He replied.
"Sirius, if Regulus appeared right now, you know, alive and all, would you welcome him with open arms?" She asked and Sirius saw Kreacher stop in his tracks, listening to her answer.
"It's more complicated than your situation, Cissa. Turns out that Regulus was on our side in the end, so if he turned up out of the blue, I'd give him a good kick in the butt for not having come to me or someone else for help before he bit out more than he could shew. But after that, yes, I'd welcome him home with open arms." Sirius replied and he didn't see Kreacher smiling before he left the room.
"How do you know Regulus was on your side?" She asked, confused.
"We found out last summer... Not many people know, and it needs to stay secret but I guess I can tell you since you'll be unable to speak with anyone outside of the order. Though I must warn you, Dumbledore will be pissed off if anyone else in the order finds out. Regulus, with Kreacher's help, found out that Voldemort was making Horcruxes. He found one..." Sirius replied.
"Horcruxes? What's that?" She asked with a frown.
"It's a good thing you don't know. Let's just say that it's really dark magic. Remember when Lucius slipped an old diary in Ginny Weasley's school things at the beginning of Draco's 2nd year, before the whole Chambre of Secrets opening?" He asked.
"Of course, I didn't find out about his role in it until after it was all over though, after Potter, Harry I mean, freed Dobby. Lucius never told me much of his plans, or projects, he just constantly assumes I'll follow..." She replied.
"The diary was one of Voldemort's 7 Horcruxes. Just trust me when I saw that you're better off not knowing what it is or how it's done. It's simply disgusting and despicable to even consider doing 1 but 7..." Sirius insisted and she accepted it.
They both stepped into the chimney and Sirius used the floo, giving Andromeda's address.
.
When they arrived, Andromeda was in the living room, her back turned to them and she was looking at something Winky was showing her while Dobby was trying to measure Nymphadora who was trying to leave for work.
"Nymphadora for Merlin's sake, will you just stand still for 2 minutes and allow Dobby to take the last measurements for your wedding dress?" Andromeda exclaimed in an exasperated manner.
"Don't call me Nymphadora! And I'm going to be late for work if I don't leave now! I'm already going to be missing work for 2 weeks because Kingsley forces me away!" She replied, her hair turning red.
"You're missing work for your honeymoon! Don't tell me you were going to go right back to work!" The mother replied while the Auror stayed in place long enough to be measured.
"Remus understands that I love my job and that I want to do it while I can, especially in times like these. Anyway, we'll be able to do order missions, so it won't be too boring." Tonks replied.
"Boring? My honeymoon wasn't boring! You're supposed to keep to the bedroom and enjoy your time!" Andromeda joked, making her daughter blush and Sirius decided to let their presence known.
"Oh, I don't know Andy, I'm pretty sure a Honeymoon with Remus will be as boring as it gets. Maybe your daughter will perfect the arts of playing chess!"
Tonks waved at Sirius before she managed to slip away and leave the house once her mother turned around to look at the guests.
"Sirius, Narcissa! I wasn't expecting you two until 3pm!" Andromeda exclaimed, rolling her eyes when she saw that her daughter was gone.
"It is 3pm." Narcissa replied, looking at the clock.
"Already? Well, I didn't see time pass by today. No wonder Dora was so eager to leave for work!" Andromeda smiled, welcoming them inside while the two house elves left the room to go back to the wedding planning.
"I thought you were making the dress with her?" Sirius asked.
"We were going to, but Dora is so clumsy... She means well but she destroyed our work 4 times before Dobby stepped in and offered to have a friend of his do it. So he's measured her. Dora told him what she liked and didn't like for materials, styles and such and he's having the dress made. He says the person who's making the dress is just graduating from Hogwarts this year and wants to go into designing. The dress will be free. We pay for the material and allow her to use a few pictures of Nymphadora inside it for publicity, mention her name in the wedding announcement and that's it. Pretty good deal Dobby got us." She replied before smiling at her sister and inviting them both to join her for tea.
"How are the wedding preparations coming along?" Narcissa asked shyly, figuring that breaking the ice this way would be better.
"Pretty well. Thankfully Nymphadora wants a small ceremony. A few Order members, the Weasley, Sirius, the Potters, you and Draco of course. But that's it and since we have Winky, Dobby and even Kreacher helping out, all I have to do is supervise." Andromeda replied as she served tea.
"I'm grateful this is still far away from me. Draco is too young." Narcissa replied.
"I think it'll be Sirius' turn to organize a wedding next." Andy smiled.
"What? Why? Who?" Sirius asked in a panicked, looking lost and amusing the two sisters.
"I've heard of a certain declaration made during Christmas dinner by Fred Weasley. Didn't he declare that he'd propose to Rose some time next year or next summer and marry her as soon as she wants to?" Andromeda asked.
"How did you hear about this? You weren't there and Dora had left already!" Sirius exclaimed.
"I have my sources. Albus does love my tea. So, are you eager to start planning their wedding?" Andromeda insisted and both sisters were looking at him.
"She's Remus' Goddaughter, so I think I'll leave the wedding planning to him. I'll take care of Harry and Ginny." Sirius replied.
"What if Harry doesn't marry Ginny Weasley?" Narcissa asked him.
"Oh please, Harry and Rose are both like their father this way. They found love and won't change their mind, or hearts. Trust me on this. Anyway, I try not to think about this. I still see them as babies some time... I can hardly believe they'll be 16 soon... Makes me feel so old." Sirius replied.
"I know what you mean... I still remember when Dora was just a baby, changing her hair color when her diaper was full or when she was hungry... Then she started talking, walking, she went to school, graduated, became an Auror and now she's getting married..." Andromeda shook her head.
"Draco was a baby that cried a lot at first, I was always worried... Lucius... He kept telling me I should leave him alone, that the house elves would get it and take care of him but... I mean, he was my baby boy... He always cried the few times Lucius carried him but whenever I did, he was quiet, calm, smiling... I always worry, especially when he started getting close to Bellatrix... And then he told me the truth about what he was doing and I didn't know if I should be relieved or be worried even more..." Narcissa commented, finishing in a small voice.
"Which is why you changed your mind and joined the Order?" Andromeda asked her sister in a calm voice.
"Kind of, yes. When he told me everything, I … I knew that I could trust Sirius to keep him safe, but I couldn't... I couldn't be on a different side of this war from my son. I... I'm never going to love muggles the way Arthur Weasley does..." Narcissa started saying and Sirius cut her off with a little joke:
"Nobody does." He said with a chuckle.
"But I never hated muggleborns. I loved Lucius, and following him and Bellatrix seemed to be the best way to stay a good daughter, especially after the two of you left the family... I never really tried to think about all of this. I was never great in a fight, so I might not end up doing great thing on the battle field against the Dark Lord, but I'll do anything to keep my son safe and happy." Narcissa declared.
"Don't worry Cissa, your son will be safe. We'll watch over him, no matter what. He's family." Andromeda assured her.
"Even if … I mean, this is a war. If I end up dying, do you promise me Draco will be taken care of, that he'll be safe and happy?" Narcissa asked.
"Of course he will be!" Sirius and Andromeda nodded before Sirius added:
"When did this conversation turn so dark? Let's talk wedding cake, that's better. Will there be chocolate cake?" Sirius asked with a bright smile.
"Of course there will be, it's the only thing Remus insisted on." Andromeda replied with a smile.
"I thought I heard Kreacher and Dobby talking about Strawberries." Sirius shrugged his shoulders.
"There will be a strawberry cake too. I'm marrying my only daughter, I better have some of my favorite cake to eat my sorrow away. Ted wanted a cheesecake, so there will be one as well. With so many people, we decided on several smaller cakes so that everyone can have something they like." Andy replied with a smile.
"Is Ted still at work?" Sirius asked curiously, wondering if the father of the bride was hiding from any wedding duty somewhere.
"Yes, not everyone can be a teacher and have the entire summer off." Andromeda replied, teasing her cousin.
"Is... Is he happy about the wedding?" Narcissa asked, careful not to cross her sister since the man was the reason she had left, well, been kicked off, her family.
"He is happy that our daughter is happy, but, like most men, he looks for any excuse to be away from any wedding planning, which is why I believe he's taking up more hours at work. He claims that it's so we can take a little down time just the two of us later, but I know him. If he works, then he doesn't think about the fact that our daughter has grown up." Andromeda replied.
They spoke a while longer until Sirius felt his double way mirror get warm in his pocket. He took it out and Remus reminded him that there was an Order meeting in less than 15 minutes that he needed to attend.
"I'll leave you two to talk. Narcissa, just floo back to headquarters when you're done. Don't worry about dinner or anything, Draco will probably end up getting dinner with Harry and Rose." Sirius said before he rushed to the chimney.
"It's weird that he's both exactly the same as he was when he was a teenager and so different, all at the same time." Narcissa commented as soon as Sirius was gone.
"I've noticed." Andromeda chuckled.
"Andy, I... I know what you did for Draco when Gringotts asked you to select a fourth of Bella's money to give Draco. I know you made sure only he could use the money and I wanted to thank you for it. It's more than I could have asked for. Thank you." The Malfoy sister declared.
"Don't worry about it, Cissa. We're family, no matter what." Andromeda replied with a kind smile before she asked her sister if she wanted to stay for dinner.
Of course Ted would be there, but Narcissa decided to show that, like her son, she could make an effort to change and so she agreed.
What did you think of this reunion?
Review please
Lorelei Candice Black