So, I am very sorry that we haven't updated in a while, we may have gotten super distracted and written this story but kinda forgotten to update. Sorry!
Please read, enjoy and leave a review if you have a moment.
Bella
"Shh, pretty girl." Dora sighed as she paced her room, Elara cradled in her arms and she stroked her back and kissed her head. "It's your birthday, you have no excuse to be sad."
"Mumma," Elara mumbled through her sniffles, clinging her small arms tightly around her neck.
"I know," Dora couldn't help but laugh slightly as she kissed the girl's cheek, smiling as the little girl looked up at her. "See, there's no need to cry, is there? It was only a small bump, there's not a mark on you."
"Bump?" Rodolphus' voice called from the doorway, the man quickly walking across to the pair as he looked to his daughter.
"She's fine." Dora sighed, recovering from the slight jump the sudden appearance of the man caused her. "She was walking around and slipped—hit her head on one of her toys. It's just the shock."
"Come here, Elara." Rodolphus ignored the woman, reaching out for the little girl as he attempted to take her from her mother.
"Mumma!" Elara screamed, her tears renewing as she grabbed onto Dora's hair whilst her father tried to take her.
"You're upsetting her, Rodolphus." Dora protested, hissing at the sharp tug of her hair. She reached out for the girl, surprised as the man reluctantly let her take her daughter back into her arms.
"I am her father." Rodolphus glared.
"I'm not saying you aren't, no matter how much I wish that were the case." Dora murmured the last part under her breath, though from the look on the man's face he had clearly heard her. She couldn't help but shiver as she stroked her daughters back, walking over to her bed and sitting down and leaning against the headrest. Elara curled into her mother, clinging onto her robes tightly as she watched her father cautiously. "All children go through a 'Mummy phase' . . . or a 'Daddy phase' I suppose . . . I spent years being a Daddy girl when I was little, then sometimes I would only want my mother . . . Teddy has days when he'll only want Mum—Or Narcissa . . ."
Rodolphus' glare barely softened, though after a few moments he looked to his daughter, all malice quickly left his face. Though all Dora could think about was how Rodolphus would blame her for her daughter's actions, the poor innocent child knowing nothing of what she had started. "Elara . . ." Dora spoke softly, smiling as the little girl looked up at her "Say Daddy . . ."
"Daddy." Elara repeated, wiping her nose on her mother's robes.
"You like Daddy, don't you?" Dora asked, smiling as the little girl nodded. "Why don't you go to Daddy? Give him a hug?"
". . . Mumma."
"Mumma's gonna be right here, sweetie." Dora kissed the girls head, slowly taking her arms off of the girl. She let her watch her father curiously for a moment before to Nymphadora's relief the girl returned her father's smile and crawled over to her father, giggling as he swept her into his arms.
"Happy Birthday beautiful," Rodolphus mumbled into the girl's hair, kissing today's deep purple locks. "Daddy loves you."
"Loves you," Elara repeated, laughing profusely as Rodolphus tickled her tummy, her hair suddenly shooting pink.
After a few minutes of Elara insisting that her father continue his attentions Rodolphus sighed and placed the girl on the floor. "I got you a pretty new dress, Elara." Rodolphus grinned as he got down on the floor with her, pulling out a pale pink dress that looked far too expensive for a one-year-old to own. Dora shook her head behind the man's back, sighing as she watched the man struggle to catch the young girl who had now decided to run after one of her toys. Though twenty minutes and lots of almost swearing at the intricate buttons on such a small dress from both parents the little girl giggled as she twirled around, hitting the puffy skirt in amusement.
"Come on." Rodolphus chuckled, picking the girl up and kissing her head. "Let's get you to your room so I can give you your presents."
Dora bit her lip as she followed the pair into the adjacent room, Elara soon wriggling to be set free again. The woman watched the man take out multiple bright pink and purple parcels from his clearly enhanced satchel. She couldn't help but think of the small bunny rabbit that she had managed to knit her daughter from a tattered old woollen jumper of her own. It hurt that she couldn't spoil the girl, nor her son, not even buy them one toy. Though she was glad at least Elara could enjoy the presents from her father, it still hurt her that she couldn't do the same for her. It took an hour for the presents to be unwrapped, mostly by Rodolphus who tried to encourage the girl to open her gifts though she was more interested in tearing the paper to shreds and throwing it in the air. Dora watched quietly from a chair in the room, trying to process how her daughter had somehow accumulated a mountain of toys and the likes that probably had a value that totalled more than all the money she had earned in her working career. Nymphadora Lupin was lost in her thoughts until suddenly her mark burned intensely, causing the girl to hiss and get to her feet.
"Standing to order, Nymphie?" Rodolphus smirked, pulling Elara onto his lap as she looked at her mother in a shocked confusion of her reaction.
Dora glared at the man "You knew this was going to happen."
"I may have." Rodolphus shrugged.
"And you're not coming too?" Dora asked.
"No," Rodolphus chuckled. "I'm off duty today. I wouldn't want to work on my daughter's birthday now would I Nymphadora?"
"You—"
"Off you trot." Rodolphus rolled his eyes "Wouldn't want to keep Bellatrix waiting. She's in a particularly foul mood today as it is."
Nymphadora glared at the man, forcing herself not to let her hair turn red. She took one last look at her daughter before with a huff of annoyance she left the room, transfiguring her robes into her Death Eater attire as she left. As she left the wards of the prisoner's wing she couldn't help but notice her mother, already storming ahead of her ready for duty. She didn't want to talk to her, she hadn't talked to her mother about her new-found loyalty since the day she had been forced to witness her taking the sickening mark now blazoned on her arm. It was easier to try to pretend that it wasn't her mother that she was dealing with right now, for all intense purposes it wasn't. Andromeda Tonks was not the woman that Nymphadora called her mother once the other Death Eaters were around. Andromeda glanced back to her as she reached the door to the meeting room, her face was already stone cold and free of emotion though she held the door for her daughter, motioning for her to go ahead.
"Nymphie!" Bellatrix cried as she jumped off of the table, ignoring the four other Death Eaters already in the room "And Andromeda." Bellatrix smirked, slowly walking towards the pair.
"Bellatrix." Andromeda nodded "How can we be of assistance?"
"Andromeda," Bellatrix scoffed "you always were very to the point, very proper. I highly doubt your daughter can be of assistance, but we must try, hmm?" the dark eyes of the woman trailed up and down her niece, the now mousey haired woman looking at her hesitantly. "Anyway!" Bellatrix chimed "We believe we may have found some hidden little rats—ah, that has your attention doesn't it Nymphie? Well, we're going to find them and capture them."
"I thought you said you already found them," Rabastan mumbled, wincing as his sister-in-law shot him a filthy glare.
"Listen, Rabastan!" Bellatrix hissed "I will curse you senseless if I have to but that means waiting for someone else to come and take your place and I haven't got the patience." She looked at the man as if daring for him to speak again, after a few moments she suddenly regained her composure, carrying on as if he had never spoken to begin with. "We need to search the area, weed them out . . . Oh come on, I'm bored now."
Bellatrix lurched forward, grabbing Nymphadora by the arm and disapparating before she knew what was going on. The younger witch couldn't help but gasp for breath as she appeared in what seemed to be an abandoned Muggle village, looking straight into her Aunt's eyes as she was so close to her their noses were practically touching. The sound of the rest appearing around them caused Bella to smirk, slowly leaning into her niece's ear as she whispered harshly. "You're going to help us find them, Nymphie. Use your stupid Order, Auror training to hunt them down and weed them out—or I might be inclined to pay your little brats a visit. Don't think Elara is safe just because of my stupid husband. Imagine if something happened to her, hmm? The heartache of dealing with that along with Rodolphus' wrath?" Nymphadora couldn't help but shiver, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried not to think of such things. The cold breathy laughter of her Aunt filled her ears before she suddenly released her arm, pushing her away from her. "Go hunt. We will split up!" Bellatrix said the last part to the group at large "If you find them, bring them here and raise the mark . . . Well, what are you waiting for? Go!"
The group sprung into action, each running off in various directions. Nymphadora didn't wait for her mother, immediately walking off before anyone else could talk to her. She swept her eyes across the crumbling remains of the houses, lost in thought as she tried to decide what to do. She knew if she put her mind to it she could probably find out where her old comrades were, though she could never hand them in. Though maybe if she could just find them . . . talk to them . . . her sanity could do with a conversation with old friends. The metamorphmagus paused, looking around the street. The only Death Eater she could see was Rabastan and he seemed far too preoccupied deciding how best to interrogate a poor young Muggle woman to bother with what she was doing, with a deep breath she ducked into a side alley and drew her wand.
Nymphadora screwed her eyes tightly shut, biting her lip before she breathed the spell "Expecto Patronum." As she opened her eyes she couldn't help but smile at the wolf cocking its head to look for her. "Ginny's here . . . I know it . . ." her voice was barely audible, though the wolf tilted its head in understanding "send a message to her . . . slowly, discreetly, tell her it's me . . ."
The wolf paused for a moment before it put its snout to the ground, slowly walking further into one of the alleyways. Nymphadora kept close on its tail as if entranced by the creature. The wolf walked past the end of the alleyway, out into the small woods behind the houses. It circled the trunks of the trees for a moment before suddenly it walked into a seemingly empty clearing, though the moment it went more than ten steps in it vanished. Dora waited, suspecting what had happened though she held her breath in anticipation. Seconds seemed to turn into minutes, minutes to hours, though in reality, she was barely waiting five minutes before a witch with blazing red hair appeared where the wolf had disappeared.
Ginny Weasley looked older than Dora could remember, even from her last meeting with her not that long ago. Her hair was pulled tightly back in a ponytail, her eyes tired yet burning with a determination to survive that Dora knew she had lost years ago. Her clothes were tattered and at least one size too large for her as she had her sleeves rolled up to her elbows whilst tightly gripping onto a wand that Nymphadora was sure wasn't her own.
"Hi." Nymphadora breathed, unsure of what else to say.
"Did you bring them here?" Ginny asked "Death Eaters? Are they here?"
"They brought me here." Dora said, "Wait—I wasn't followed, I checked before I ducked into an alley, they're busy searching the houses right now."
"Then we need to leave." Ginny nodded. "Come on."
"I—I can't." Dora shook her head, choking back tears "I have my family to think about—they're back at the Manor . . . Is—Is Fleur and the baby . . . ?"
Ginny nodded "They're fine, warded in . . . Tonks . . . ?"
Dora couldn't help but smile slightly, she hadn't heard anyone call her Tonks in such a long time "Yeah?"
"Bill . . . What— . . . is he . . . ?"
"He's dead." Dora winced "I'm sorry."
"How?" Ginny exhaled deeply, as though the weight of not knowing what had happened to her eldest brother had been lifted from her shoulders.
"You don't want to know. He's dead, that's all you need to know." Dora shook her head, the younger girl seemingly understanding as she looked at the ground, a single tear falling from her eyes.
"Dora—" Ginny paused as her eyes darted behind her, freezing for a moment before she relaxed ever so slightly "Oh—Mrs Tonks—I thought . . . What are you doing here?"
Dora spun on the spot, looking to her mother with her eyes wide and begging. "Mum . . ."
"Dora, you know better—you heard what they said." Andromeda barely flinched as she whirled her wand at the young redhead, taking her by surprise as before she knew it she was bound and on the floor ". . . I'm sorry Miss Weasley."
"Mum! No!" Dora yelled. "You can't!"
"Nymphadora, I can. I have to." Andromeda sighed before she went to walk over to Ginny, the young girl squirming on the floor as she glared up at her, only to be stopped by her daughter pointing her wand at her.
Nymphadora had bright red hair nearly matching Ginny's, staring at her mother with shocked fury as she screamed at her "You can't! They will kill her."
"No, they won't," Andromeda said, keeping her wand trained on the girl on the floor. "They know how close she was to Potter; they think she's the head of the rest of the rebellion."
"That's stupid." Ginny scoffed.
Nymphadora couldn't help but laugh slightly "Death Eaters stupid."
"Last time I checked you were one of us, Nymphie. Or is that crayon on your arm?" Antonin Dolohov mused as he approached the small gathering, he stopped short as soon as he looked at the girl on the floor, not noticing as Nymphadora quickly lowered her wand "Well well well," Dolohov laughed "What do we have here?"
"Nymphadora found her." Andromeda spoke automatically, looking to her daughter "I came here and she was already bound."
"You're telling me Nymphadora caught the bitch?" Dolohov rolled his eyes "Yeah, right."
"Well, she did." Andromeda snapped at him. "Are we taking her back or not?"
Dolohov hesitated for a moment before he nodded, going to walk over to the girl before Nymphadora stood in his way. He glared at her as she narrowed her eyes at him. "I've got her." Nymphadora said, raising her wand slightly "My prisoner, right?"
". . . Right." Dolohov scoffed "If you think anyone will believe that."
"Shut up," Nymphadora mumbled, walking over to Ginny. She leant down in front of her, their eyes meeting for a moment as Nymphadora wished she could talk to her alone. Though as it was she knew what she had to do. She took her arm and pulled her from the ground, walking her ahead of Dolohov and Andromeda. She didn't want to look at her mother at all. She had made this happen. She knew what Andromeda meant, she knew that she should have handed Ginny in to start with but Ginny was her friend, someone she had once considered as almost a younger sister. Her mother didn't have to go after her, to disturb her when she found her with her old friend, to tie her down like some pig ready for slaughter. She knew Andromeda's reasoning, in her mind, she had to start 'fulfilling her duty' as a Death Eater or face the consequences. But that didn't have to include capturing poor Ginny Weasley, did it?
"I'll raise the mark, shall I?" Andromeda's voice snapped Nymphadora back to reality, she hadn't realised they had reached the place they had originally arrived in.
"Fine." Dolohov rolled his eyes.
Nymphadora winced as she heard her mother hiss that horrible spell, watching the skull and snake rise into the air. She held her grip tighter on Ginny, determined not to let her go for as long as she could. She couldn't let anyone else touch her, she had to protect her somehow. The men would be rougher with her and although Dora could guess what was in store for the poor girl she wanted to keep her protected for as long as possible. After a sudden crack sounded and a shrill laugh that was all too familiar to her now she knew that any attempt at protecting her friend was futile.
"Nymphadora!" Bellatrix laughed, sauntering over to her as she grinned at her niece's captive like the cat that got the cream. "What are you doing?"
Andromeda stepped forward, looking to her sister "She caught her—"
"I didn't ask you!" Bellatrix hissed "You do not expect me to believe that Nymphie would willingly capture this child and bring her to us?"
"I'm not a child, you old hag," Ginny growled, glaring defiantly at the woman as Nymphadora brought her closer to herself wishing that she would stay quiet.
"Children should be seen and not heard, girl." Bellatrix narrowed her eyes at the girl, though a satisfied smirk still played on her features.
"I—" Nymphadora stopped herself for a moment, taking a breath before she looked at her Aunt. "I found her and brought her here . . ."
"You found her and brought her here?" Bella raised an eyebrow as Dora nodded. "I feel like I'm missing a crucial part of this story."
"Bella!" Rabastan called as he approached the group, missing the woman's twitch of annoyance "We have her, so we can go now. Correct? Present the little weasel to The Dark Lord?"
Nymphadora couldn't help but wince as she felt Ginny flinch against her at those words. It took every ounce of her being not to run with her, to apparate her away from it all, to at least hug her and tell her she was going to be okay—that she would protect her. Instead, she simply took comfort in the fact that at least Fleur and her baby were still safe and protected back there somewhere—Merlin she hoped Fleur had the sense to stay hidden with her baby.
"I'll apparate her to the manor, yeah?" Dora asked, her voice surprisingly calm as Bellatrix seemed to scrutinise every aspect of her being.
"Fine." Bellatrix eventually said. "I'm sure The Dark Lord has lots of plans for you, pet."
Nymphadora Lupin tried to resist the urge to vomit as she closed her eyes, holding tightly onto Ginny's arm as she disapparated back to Malfoy Manor. She didn't dare think of what plans Bellatrix was talking about, for now too upset and angry at the notion that poor Ginny Weasley had been dragged into the awful mess that had her existence had become.
