Authors note: -insert general excuse about why i didnt post for 6 months-
In all seriousness i know i mentioned that i wouldnt be writing this as much as i used to but i also didnt mean to leave it this long so apologies. But also if youve been here this long its expected at this point.
Hope this 5k chapter makes up for it.
and hope to see you all sooner than 6 months later this time.
Hope everyone reading this silly little stroy is having a good day/night xxx
Sirius was eventually shooed from the room by Madam Pomfrey who came in to check how things had progressed since last night.
She didn't pester Ebony with any questions (other than the necessary, 'Does this hurt?' - which in itself seemed somewhat unnecessary since it could be safely assumed that most things hurt) and for that Ebony was grateful. She wasn't quite sure how many times she wanted to repeat the same thing over again. It had taken enough out of her to tell Sirius the bare minimum.
She could sleep for seven weeks straight.
In all honesty - Ebony had had worse. You couldn't have guessed though by the fuss that was being kicked up about it all. Her body ached and she had some bruises and scrapes but it really wasn't that bad.
Apart from her arm of course.
Madam Pomfrey peeled the bandages off of her forearm. Ebony didn't look, she faced the opposite direction and winced as her arm stung.
"I'm going to be honest," Madam Pomfrey said, a defeated tone to her voice. "I know it's very early days but I don't have high hopes for these cuts closing up properly." Ebony whipped her head around, eyes forced to Pomfrey's face so she wouldn't look down.
"You mean..."
"Whatever was used, it was cursed. The cuts aren't responding to anything." Madam Pomfrey had a grim look on her face. "I'm hoping they should heal over more than they have but-" she sighed and her voice softened- "I think you're going to end up with a rather nasty scar."
Ebony turned away again and blinked tears from her eyes. She should just look. It was probably worse in her head. She saw it once last night but her mind could very well be playing tricks on her. Besides - it was apparently now something she'd have to get used to.
So she took a deep breath and turned her head. Her heart caught in her throat.
It was ugly. There was no sugar-coating it.
Bloodtraitor
The 'B' was just below her wrist and the 'R' stopped a little way before the crook of her elbow. The letters were jagged, sharp, vicious - each at least half the width of her forearm. They were still very much open - blood dribbled slowly out of one or two letters.
"How much more do you think they'll heal?" Ebony asked, eyes stuck to her wound, trying to hide the tremor in her voice.
She couldn't bear the thought of seeing that forever. The constant reminder of all she'd ever be.
"Well they'll close up hopefully in the next few days," she replied, taking a damp cloth and wiping Ebony's arm clean. "Then we'll be able to tell a little better."
"Okay," Ebony said quietly.
Madam Pomfrey finished the rest of her checks in silence. When she was done, she made to leave and paused for a moment as if she might say something. She didn't. Ebony got a smile and then the nurse left.
She could hear her speaking in the hallway - Sirius apparently had been hovering by the door.
"How is she?"
"Well, let's..." They must have moved away from the door because Ebony couldn't make out anything else. She began to doze off again, but it wasn't the peaceful sleep the mix of wine and potions last night brought on.
Her mother's voice cackled in her ears:
Bloodtraitor.
Bloodtraitor.
Bloodtraitor.
...
Ebony didn't wake up from her restless sleep until Mrs Weasley came through with a tray of soup in the late evening. She winced as she pushed herself into a sitting position - various aches and pains just kept appearing in different places despite Madam Pomfrey seeing to everything earlier and she didn't even want to think about getting up from the sofa.
"Now," Mrs Weasley said, setting the tray over her lap, "I know you didn't fancy anything at lunchtime but I think even just a little bit of this will do you some good."
Ginny's mother had a kind smile and just generally radiated warmth. Ebony didn't think she'd met a kinder woman before. Molly Weasley was just the kind of person that made you want to smile when she spoke to you.
"I'll try," Ebony replied with a feeble grin.
"Good, because if you can manage it there's some crumble for afters."
Ebony made a general noise of approval - though desert sounded enticing, her stomach was yet to feel anywhere near steady.
"We'll get you right as rain in no time," she said as she gently patted Ebony's shoulder. "You'll see."
She kissed the top of Ebony's head and left her to her dinner.
Sirius and Molly had both done it and there was something about the gesture that Ebony couldn't explain. It was so simple but it just made her feel safe. It was something that said 'I'm here, I'll look after you, don't you worry. You can breathe now'
Ebony was more than aware that it was going to take more than homemade soup and forehead kisses to make everything okay but it was a start.
Ebony just wished it hadn't taken fifteen years for someone to do it.
The closest she'd had was Dotty who used to do something similar - she'd kiss each of her knuckles when she put Ebony to bed and it would make her giggle.
Oh, Dotty. I miss you.
She began to tear at the bread roll on her plate, forcing little bits into her mouth in an effort to soothe her stomach as it twisted at her thoughts turning back to last night.
It had all only happened last night - someone could've told her it was well over a week ago and Ebony would probably believe them. She remembered what had happened but at the same time, it was all just a blur of shouting and tears and frustration.
It all still felt like a cruel dream. As if the comfort and warmth were all just in her head and soon enough she'd wake up on the floor of her father's study and have to drag herself to her room to sleep off the pain, alone.
Ebony couldn't quite explain the courage that had come to her that night, couldn't explain the feeling of something snapping inside her, couldn't explain the feeling of finally deciding, 'No, this isn't right'.
Leaving had seemed so scary, so impossible, until she'd dragged herself down the drive and onto the Knight bus. Then she was wondering why she hadn't done it sooner.
Though she was fully aware that things were perhaps not over just yet.
It couldn't be that easy.
She wondered how her parents reacted. She tried to picture the pair of them running out into the rain once she was nowhere to be found, screaming her name to the winds, grabbing anyone who walked by to ask if they'd seen her, cursing themselves as they realised how much she'd really meant to them.
Ebony knew better though. She knew they probably hadn't noticed. She knew even if they had, they probably didn't care.
Her parents didn't care.
Her parents didn't care.
Ebony's stomach lurched and she decided she was done eating.
...
Neville got a letter back from Ginny near tea time. It was short and just stated that Professor Lupin would come and pick him up at lunchtime. He was slightly confused as to why Ginny was seemingly staying with Professor Lupin but there were several things that confused him right now so he just added it to the list.
It didn't matter anyway - he just wanted to see Ebony. Partly, of course, to make sure she was okay but also just simply because he missed her. It had only been about two weeks but he really missed her.
He'd almost had a heart attack when his necklace had buzzed at lunchtime. Ebony was awake. So that was a pretty good start.
It was hard to believe that only a couple of months ago he'd had her in his arms, they'd danced and they'd kissed. Merlin, he'd never stop loving the way it felt when he kissed her. Neville did not think himself particularly good with words so being able to express how much he cared about Ebony in that way was a lifesaver.
That and it just felt really, well, nice.
Neville decided to ask his gran during dinner. She was always saying that he needed to get out a bit more, try and connect with his friends outside of school so there was no reason she'd say no.
Unless of course, the friend he asked to go and see was Ebony Lestrange.
He understood why she was hesitant but she never let him explain, never gave Ebony a chance. All she did was change the subject.
So Neville decided to save himself the trouble.
"Gran, can I go see Ron tomorrow?" he asked in between mouthfuls of stew once they were sat down for dinner.
"Of course, you can." She didn't even look up from her food.
Neville didn't like lying to his gran but he couldn't deal with a passive-aggressive argument about whether or not he should be friends with Ebony. Ron would be there so technically it was even a lie.
"I said that I can just get the knight bus to the Burrow at lunchtime."
"You sure you're going to be okay getting it on your own?" Now she was looking at him, peering over her glasses with a slight crease on her forehead.
"Gran I'm not a baby!"
It was true he'd never gotten the Knight bus by himself before but he was nearly fifteen!
He also wasn't even going by himself but she didn't need to know that.
"Okay, okay," she said, giving in and leaning back in her chair. "That should be fine then. I don't want you getting it home in the dark though."
"Yeah, I'll sort something." He tried to hide his smile behind his fork.
Ebony, I'm coming!
...
After dinner, Sirius came into the sitting room. Ebony had dozed off again after she'd eaten a little of her tea - she could tell Mrs Weasley was a little disappointed at how much she'd managed but she didn't make a fuss, Ebony still felt guilty though. All Ebony wanted to do was sleep, her body felt as though it had lived a couple of lifetimes in just a few hours and she was more exhausted than she had ever been in her whole life.
Sirius sat down on the other end of the sofa, Ebony curled her legs up slightly to give him room. He'd had something to drink, she could smell it - though only a little. It was still enough to make her heart beat a little faster.
"You doing okay?"
Ebony was beginning to wonder how much better she had to get before people stopped asking that. She'd not even been there that long and she was already beyond tired of it. 'How are you?', 'You alright?', 'How are you feeling?'.
"I don't know," she wanted to say. "I feel like shit."
"I'm fine," is what she actually said.
Sirius raised his eyebrows at her but didn't push, instead, he said, "Ginny wrote to Neville again, invited him here tomorrow if that's alright?"
Ebony wanted to see Neville but she'd hoped it would be a few days. A few days to let the worst of things heal up. She hadn't actually seen herself yet but by how much everyone had freaked out she was imagining the worst.
She sighed. "How terrible do I look?"
"That feels like a trap."
Ebony gave Sirius a gentle poke with her foot."You know what I mean."
"You've got a little bruise on the corner of your eye and you look tired. I'm sure he's seen worse."
Neville had in fact seen worse and Sirius' words calmed her a little. Good, he shouldn't completely freak out then.
He probably would anyway, it was Neville.
Neville.
Merlin, she fucking missed him.
"You want to stay in here a bit longer?" Sirius asked, catching her before she disappeared down memory lane. "Or do you want to get settled in your proper room? One of the bedrooms on the first floor is still empty and I thought you'd like it. Or you could share with Ginny for now if you want but I think Hermione is meant to be coming."
"Proper room?" The question had caught her more than a little off guard.
"You think I'm just going to make you sleep here every time you come home?"
There was something about the word, home.
"I can stay here with you? Like, stay stay?" Ebony hadn't considered how permanent Grimmauld Place was going to be. Every good thing she'd ever had always came with a sense of being temporary - usually because of her mother's wrath hanging over it.
"No need to sound so surprised. Obviously, I'd like to get a nicer place with fewer...ghosts once I'm allowed out, I'd rather die than live here for longer than I have to. You can even help me choose, it would be your home too after all. Hopefully Harry's too at some point but that's a whole other matter."
Sirius was rambling and Ebony could only stare at him. In all the chaos of leaving and finally having somewhere to run to she hadn't even considered being able to stay with Sirius long-term. Ebony hadn't thought any further ahead than just getting out of Lestrange Manor, hadn't thought about what came after, hadn't thought about what Sirius was really offering - a sanctuary, a home.
A family.
"Only if you'd want to of course," he added quickly, rubbing an awkward hand on the back of his neck, taking note of her shocked silence. "If you want to stay with someone else I'd get it-"
"I'd love to stay with you," Ebony interrupted with a smile that was growing wider by the second. "Us black sheep gotta stick together right?"
He smiled back, his eyes wrinkling as he did. Ebony hadn't noticed how he somehow looked older than when she'd last seen him.
"But I'm alright in here just now." The thought of walking any distance further than the door made her feel nauseous.
"Alright kiddo," he replied, rubbing a gentle hand on her shin, smiling quietly to himself.
Ebony couldn't help smiling either.
She had a home.
...
Just as Ginny had said, Lupin came to collect Neville just before lunch the next day. He said hurried goodbyes and closed the front door quickly, both wanting to get to Ebony quickly and not wanting to have to answer questions from his Gran. His former teacher looked a little more worn out than when he'd last seen him but he still had the same reassuring look on his face which had for once not made Neville hate Defence Against the Dark Arts
"Hello, Neville," he said. "Ready to go?"
"Er, yeah."
They walked briskly down to the street where Professor Lupin used his wand to call the Knight bus. The purple bus exploded onto the street and skidded to a stop right in front of them. It was busy on board, they needed to go upstairs in order to find two empty seats.
"Side apparition would've been quicker," he said as they sat down, "but I thought I'd spare you, don't suppose you've done it before?"
"No, sir."
Lupin laughed. "There's no need for the 'sir' Neville, I'm not your teacher anymore."
"Sorry, habit I guess." Neville's cheeks burned a little.
"Well, I guess you can never have too many manners." Lupin stuck an arm out in front of Neville to save him as the bus tore around a sharp corner. He then brought out his wand and cast what Neville assumed to be a privacy spell.
"Now there are some things that I need to tell you before we arrive that might come as quite a shock..."
It was indeed quite a shock, by the time Neville got off the Knight Bus, his head was reeling and not just from the very bumpy ride.
Sirius Black was in fact not a mass murderer and Ebony was staying in his house.
The Order of the Phoenix was also staying in said house.
Neville was also about to enter said house.
Only one thing he knew for sure - if his Gran knew exactly where he was going, she would be furious.
...
Neville was greeted by all of the Weasleys, Ron asked him how his holiday had been and then they were interrupted by Ginny flinging her arms around his neck.
"She's going to be so happy to see you."
Knowing Ebony, Neville wasn't actually too sure about that but it didn't matter now.
He was led down a long hallway towards where a slit of warm light was spilling from a doorway. The house was giving him the creeps. Despite being the middle of the day it was dark and gloomy - not to mention the sheer amount of dust made him feel as though he permanently needed to sneeze.
"She's in there," Ginny said with a smile, patting him on the shoulder and walking off.
He walked into a dimly lit living room. Ebony was led on the sofa with her back to him but she twisted around when she heard him come in.
Ebony smiled widely when she saw him. "Hi."
She looked tired, more than that she looked exhausted.
She curled up her legs to make room for him on the sofa and pushed herself so she was sitting up a little more. Neville caught the wince that flashed across her face as she did so.
"Hi," he said quietly.
"How are you?"
Neville didn't know what to say. Ebony was in front of him - pale, exhausted and hurt - yet she was asking 'how are you?'.
"I'm better now I'm here," he said.
...
Ebony had been stressed about Neville coming but once he arrived she completely forgot why. She'd forgotten just how easy it was to talk to him, how him smiling made her feel better than she had in weeks, how his presence slowed the rapid fire of her heart.
Ebony had pestered Neville about what he'd been up to since she'd last seen him for the next ten minutes but eventually the conversation lulled and he seemed to take that as an invitation.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked it cautiously - of course he did, he knew her too well.
Took you long enough.
"When do I ever?" Ebony tried to smile but she wasn't successful.
"Have you told anyone?"
"Did you come here just to interrogate me?"
"What no! I missed you...I" Neville stammered and Ebony's stomach twisted.
"I'm sorry, I'm not annoyed I'm just-" She sighed and pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes - "I'm just tired." She hated snapping at him, hated the way it felt inside, hated the hurt look on his face every time she did it. Ebony knew that Neville didn't mean to bug her with questions - it was just his way of showing he cared, showing that he wanted to listen to anything and everything she had to say. Because just like that the air turned sour. Because Ebony had ruined it - again. She was more trouble than she was worth sometimes.
"I'm proud of you," Neville said finally. "I really am."
"Why?" His words had caught her off guard.
"You left. I know that wasn't easy to do."
"Oh...yeah...thanks." Ebony had just done what she should have done years ago, she didn't think that was anything to be proud of.
"Can I ask? What made you leave? What made this time different?"
Ebony didn't know how to explain it. Didn't know how to say that perhaps Neville had been most of the reason. That him showing her what it was like to be cared for, showing her that hands could be gentle and kind, had stirred a longing inside her. A longing to be loved.
But she didn't know how to say that. Not to him. So instead she merely said, "I got in an argument with my parents and it got a bit ugly. Then I decided I'd had enough."
"How ugly?" Neville asked softly.
"It wasn't anything out of the ordinary at first but then my mother..."
Saying she went off the rails seemed like an understatement. In all fifteen years of her life Ebony had never seen her mother so angry. She'd never been so scared.
"My father usually protected me from the worst. Usually, he'd stop her before she went too far. But that night, he just left the room. I begged him to stay, I was on my knees and I begged. Do you know what he said? 'Try not to make a mess darling.'"
"Ebony." Neville's voice was painfully gentle as always. "What did she do?"
Ebony looked away from him, her fingers carefully undoing the bandage wrapped around her forearm. She inhaled sharply as she peeled the fabric from the still-open wounds.
"That." She couldn't look at him whilst she showed him, she just stuck her arm in his direction and looked away. She heard his shaky inhale. "Among other things."
When she got up the courage to look at him he was crying. Neville was crying because she'd been hurt. Neville was crying over pain she hadn't realised she was in.
Ebony hadn't actually stopped to think about how much pain she was in. She hadn't stopped to think that the way Mrs Weasley acted was the way mother's should be. She hadn't stopped to think that Sirius was all she ever wanted from her father. She hadn't had the energy to realise what little family she had, she'd left behind.
She was struck with the sudden realisation that she was nothing more than a discarded pawn, a foot soldier disobeying orders. No one would come for her. No one would care. Ebony Lestrange would be burned off a family tree and forgotten.
Bloodtraitor.
Ebony looked at her forearm, the sharp letters smeared with blood as the cuts refused to close up. "This! This is all I am to them!" Her voice cracked as she spoke. "They don't give two shits about me but they...'' she trailed off, breathing heavily. "For the longest time, they were my whole world. I thought that deep down, they might love me."
Ebony wasn't a crier. She'd learned long ago that her mother couldn't stand the sound of little girls crying - especially when she deemed something not worth even tearing up about. So Ebony learned to save her tears for her pillow, to swallow down sobs. But now it seemed that whatever had been holding her together for so long was cracking and falling apart.
"Do you think they ever loved me?"
Ebony knew the answer.
A sob that had been suppressed too long broke free from her throat.
Neville pulled her into his chest, pressing kiss after kiss to her head. "Shhh, shhh it's okay." Her body was wracked with sobs. "I've got you Ebbie, I've got you now."
She fisted Neville's shirt as fifteen years of tears came out at once.
...
.
...
Andromeda was putting the finishing touches to the roast dinner when she heard the familiar crash of her daughter arriving.
"I'm alright!" she called from the hall.
Ted laughed and left the kitchen to check the damage whilst Andromeda laid the kitchen table. She'd been looking forward to seeing Dora for lunch - between the Aurors and the Order they had barely been able to squeeze in time for it. Luckily some overtime last week had led to an afternoon off.
"Hi mum."
"Hello, love," she replied, pressing a kiss onto her daughter's cheek. "Lunch is almost ready once you've stopped destroying the house."
Dora just flashed her a grin. "You miss the mess really."
And Andromeda had to admit she was right.
They sat at the table and listened as Dora spilled story after story of things that had happened at work. The ministry was in quiet chaos, Dumbledore and Harry not just being slandered in the press but in office gossip.
"Kingsley is getting sick of hearing it from Fudge. We've started having gossip sessions in one of the broom cupboards. One of these days someone is going to get the wrong idea."
"That poor Potter lad," Ted said. "Tries to help and all he gets is slander."
The rest of the wizarding world did seem to be putting an awful lot on the shoulders of a fifteen-year-old.
"By the way mum," Tonks said, swallowing her mouthful of chicken, "how come you never mentioned Ebony?"
Andromeda's fork paused in mid-air as she frowned at her daughter. "Who?"
"Your niece?" She continued to stare blankly, none the wiser. She had a nephew she knew that - had Narcissa had another baby? Her sister had secretly always wanted a girl. "Same age as Harry Potter?" But now that couldn't be right because she knew Draco was born the same year. "Bellatrix's daughter?"
Cutlery clattered on the plate.
"She has a child?" Andromeda couldn't believe what she was hearing. She thought about her younger sister every so often but seldom thought about her elder one. The last time they'd spoken she'd had a wand pointed to Ted's head whilst they argued so Andromeda was rather grateful to see the back of her.
"Yeah, turned up at Grimmauld place at one in the morning yesterday, soaked through and looking like a wreck."
Andromeda let out a shaky breath and Ted reached for her hand in reassurance. "Is she alright?"
"Strictly speaking - no. She looked like she'd been through hell. I mean Merlin, she's like fifteen!"
"Poor girl," Ted said quietly, shaking his head.
"It was awful," Dora continued. "Had to get Madam Pomfrey to look at her. The Lestranges are not to be underestimated if that's what they do to their own kid."
"Do you know what happened?" Andromeda knew that it didn't take a lot to push her sister over the edge and she could safely assume that Rodophus was fairly similar in that manner.
"She could barely even keep her eyes open, I don't think she got many words out."
Ted let out a long breath and put his forehead on his spare hand.
"But Poppy said that there was evidence of the torture curse."
Ted's head snapped back up and Andromeda inhaled sharply. She shouldn't have been surprised, she knew her sister better than anyone. Bellatrix had been a ruthless bully at school, never afraid to experiment with various hexes and jinxes.
But to actually torture a child? Her own child?
"That woman was always forty levels of fucked up." Andromeda elbowed her husband in annoyance but she didn't disagree.
"Oh, believe me, Sirius was ready to apparate to their house on the spot."
And with those words, Andromeda was reminded of her visit to Sirius just days after he'd arrived at the Potters. She remembered his face vividly - how her cool and suave cousin had been reduced to a terrified wreck, so unsure of his place in the world, so lost.
How fitting that her sister's child had found solace in the arms of one of the notorious black sheep of the family.
...
The rest of lunch had been a fairly quiet affair - Ted and Dora kept the conversation going but Andromeda found herself unable to speak. The other two had gone into the living room while she excused herself to go and do the washing up, a simple task that could be done with the flick of her wand but every so often she found it rather therapeutic to do by hand.
And right now, Andromeda couldn't think straight.
It had been bad enough only a few weeks ago when her daughter had sat her down and explained that Sirius had in fact not murdered anyone and was actually innocent. She'd been relieved, of course, but then terrible guilt had set in - if she hadn't been so blinded with rage, then maybe she could've actually helped, visited him, and made sure he knew he wasn't alone. As desperate as she was to see him now she also didn't know what she'd say, how she could look at him after everything she hadn't done.
Now she had a niece.
Bellatrix and Rodolphus had a daughter. A daughter that apparently wasn't up to their standards. A daughter that would rather run in the dead of night than spend another minute home with them.
Her niece had turned up in the dead of night at a house she'd never been to because she didn't have anyone else to turn to except a criminal on the run.
Andromeda should've known about her, should've offered a helping hand, should've done something. It should've been their cottage she showed up at.
She could have.
She should have.
She didn't.
"Hey." Ted's voice was soft in her ear and she relaxed as she felt his hands slip around her waist. She hadn't even heard him enter the kitchen. "Don't start feeling guilty you weren't there. You didn't even know she'd been born."
"But I should've-"
"But nothing." He lightly kissed her ear. "You can't help someone if you don't know they need it."
"She's fifteen, Ted! She's fifteen and Bella tortured her! I shouldn't have let that happen."
"Hey," he said softly, squeezing her tighter. "Don't go falling down the spiral of 'Should have done this, should have done that.' What's important is what you can do now."
Andromeda sighed softly and leaned her head back against her husband's shoulder.
"You know I'm right," he murmured and she playfully tried to push him off.
"Alright," she said, prying herself out of his arms and taking a deep breath. "I think I'll go see her and Sirius as soon as I can."
Ted just smiled his dopey smile. "I think they'd both like that."
"Do you think I should take Ebony some clothes? I should ask Dora what she arrived with. What sort of thing do you think she'd like?" Andromeda had no idea what the daughter of her somewhat deranged sister would even be like. Would she even want to see her? What vile ideas had Bella filled her head with?
"Don't go back into stressing mode," Ted replied, with a smile and a shake of his head. "Go see them, you can always go again with some things for her if she wants them."
"Right, yes."
"Come here, darling." Ted wrapped his arms tightly around her. "It'll all be okay."
There was a loud crash from the living room.
"I'm alright!"
Both Tonks' burst out laughing.
...
Neville watched Ebony sleep, tucked up in his armpit with her head on his chest. She groaned slightly and frowned, two little creases appearing between her eyebrows.
He knew how strong she was but sometimes it was like his vision shifted and it looked as though she was the most fragile thing in the world. It was a wonder that after everything she was still holding all her cracked pieces together.
He'd held her while she sobbed for twenty minutes straight. The whole time he pretended that it wasn't completely destroying him. He hadn't heard her cry before - he'd seen stray tears and red eyes but it was always silent. Listening to her wails muffled in his jumper felt like someone was slicing him open and ripping out his heart with his bare hands.
Bellatrix and Rodolphus had a lot to answer for already.
The list had just gotten longer.
He looked down at Ebony's creased forehead. He took his hand and gently ran his finger back and forth along each worried line, smoothing it out, forcing her muscles to relax.
Neville wasn't good at a lot but he was good at fixing things, mostly due to his habit of being the one to break them.
Ebony didn't need to be fixed of course but he was more than happy to help her just pick up all of her pieces, fit them back together, and smooth out the edges.