The door to Dora's room swung open silently, Narcissa quietly stepping into the room and shutting the door behind her. "Dromeda?" she asked tentatively.
Andromeda sat at her daughter's side, still clutching Dora's hand. "There's been no change," Andromeda sniffed, tears falling down her cheeks yet again at her own words. "She looks better, but she won't wake up."
Narcissa approached her sister and niece cautiously, gently placing a hand on her sister's shoulder. "He said she will recover if she wakes?"
The brown-haired witch merely nodded, unable to speak for a moment. Finally, she choked, "I'm losing her, Cissa. I pushed her away, and now I'm losing her. She doesn't deserve to die," Andromeda cried. "I do. She's too young and good, and—and—" She clung to her sister and wept bitterly. "I never do anything right!"
Narcissa didn't know what to say to the grieving witch, though she hugged her tightly. "You've done as much as you can right now," she spoke quietly into her sister's ear. "We can only wait for her to recover."
"Or die," Andromeda sobbed, and buried her face in her hands. "I can't bear it!"
Taking a deep breath, Narcissa held her sister for a few more minutes, then whispered, "I have to go back to the children. Let me know if you want me to come back."
Andromeda struggled to gather herself together and nodded, stiffening as Narcissa walked away and left the room. The mother looked down at her daughter and touched her hand, holding back a sound of anguish. Come back, Andromeda begged her daughter. Please come back. I won't even be upset. We can forget everything that happened between us. Dora...please.
Everything was black. Black, and painful. The witch writhed slightly at the bright light, however, then froze as she sensed someone nearby. She couldn't keep herself from becoming more aware, though as she dared to open her eyes just a sliver, she realised it was her mother.
Nymphadora closed her eyes fully. If there was one person she did not want to see after being horribly cursed, it was Andromeda Tonks. She wanted the witch to go away, wanted to be left alone with her pain.
She felt her mother take her hand and almost shuddered. She forced herself to remain limp, not wanting her mother to realise she was awake. "Dora?" her mother whispered tearfully, almost as if she were holding her breath, not wanting the girl to know she was there. Dora didn't move.
Several minutes went by before Nymphadora realised that her mother was full on crying as she sat on her bed. "Dora," Andromeda choked, "please don't die. Please. I haven't treated you as I should have. I've been a terrible mother, a terrible friend even. You can't leave me! Not like this!"
Nymphadora felt the witch curl next to her, the older woman's body shaking with sobs. "My daughter...my only child."
Dora could only wonder at the note of hysteria in her mother's voice before she finally decided that she should at least let the witch know she wasn't about to die. She shifted slightly, her mother immediately moving to give her room. "Mum," she whispered through parched lips.
"Dora?" her mother wept in disbelief, looking up to see her daughter's brown eyes watching her, squinting at the light of the room. "Oh, Dora!" Andromeda began to cry all over again, grasping her daughter's hand tightly.
"The Healer said you might not survive, even after he was here," Andromeda cried, staring at her daughter as tears streamed down her face. "It's been almost seventeen hours since he left, and I was sure—sure that I was going to lose you!"
"I...won't die today," Dora said weakly. "But whatever numbing spells the healer did are wearing off. I guess I made dear Aunt Bella angry again."
Andromeda brushed away her tears hurriedly and reached out for one of the potion bottles. "This should help," she said quickly, repeating Greer's instructions as she helped her daughter sit up slightly. Dora obediently took the potions that her mother offered her, grimacing at the taste of some of them.
The younger witch was silent when it was done, Andromeda still sitting on the edge of her bed and watching her tearfully. "Nymphadora," she whispered finally, taking a deep breath to steady her voice, "I've been so wrong. I've treated you terribly."
"Mum—"
"No, Dora, I've got to say this," Andromeda interrupted her, brushing her tears away yet again. "Even if you don't want to hear it, I need to say it." The witch swallowed hard, then continued, "I should have been more understanding about your friend, but—well, I thought it would be a good opportunity—it's no excuse. I don't really have a moral compass; I just...survive."
"And I'm just a little rebel," Dora muttered. "I will never understand why turning Ginny in seemed like a good idea to you."
Andromeda bit her lip. "I...I'm easily lured to the Dark Arts, Dora," she said quietly. "I get distracted, get caught up in the power, and I forget what's really important. I guess you might say that's my way of losing control. I don't know how to be any different, but I know it's awful. I never meant for it to separate us, Dora. You're my daughter: the only bit of real family that I have left. You know me better than anyone, and yet I know you feel you don't know me at all. It's my fault: I've become everything that you and Narcissa were afraid I would be. I was even taking special lessons from Bella...Ginevra's escape happened during the last one—while the Dark Lord happened to be looking on."
Nymphadora gaped at her mother. "Ouch," she breathed. "They must have known the moment she crossed the wards! But they must have known that we—well, I—framed you."
"Well, I know it felt like you did," Andromeda sighed, "and Bella's mentioned it several times. But as she herself said, I could have fought you three. I could have alerted the rest of the Death Eaters. I could have made it impossible for the girl to escape."
"But you didn't," Dora said slowly. "You kept silent, even though I had told both Draco and Ginny that you would turn us in. Maybe deep inside, you did want her to escape."
"I couldn't have turned you in for that," Andromeda whispered, her eyes haunted. "They really would have killed you—probably all three of you—if I had just told them. I couldn't face my grandchildren or Narcissa knowing that I had practically murdered the rest of their family. I do know that would have been wrong."
"They almost killed you," Dora sighed.
"They almost killed you!" Andromeda cried, tears starting to her eyes again. "Just because she was angry about the girl's escape! She knows the truth, Dora, that you were behind it. I don't think anyone suspects Draco, but everyone knows that you had to have helped. Bellatrix was going to kill you, Dora! She had gone mad with rage, didn't know what she was doing. Elara escaped Narcissa and came to see what was going on—nothing I did would help you!"
"Elara saw?" Nymphadora paled at the mention of her daughter.
"We got her away quickly," Andromeda reassured the witch. "I had to make Rodolphus summon the Healer, but he was being stupid and was almost too late." She scowled at the potions on the nightstand. "I was sure that I'd been too stubborn and idiotic and that I would never be able to tell you how sorry I am for everything that's happened between us in the last...nearly year and a half."
"I...I'm sorry too," Nymphadora murmured. "I didn't even come see you when you'd been almost killed. You'd think I would have wanted to make sure that you didn't die. We're just the perfect family, Mum."
Andromeda laughed through her tears, reaching out to carefully pull her daughter into her arms. "I'm so sorry," she sniffed, burying her face in her daughter's brown hair. "I love you."
Nymphadora clung to her mother for a moment, then whispered, "I love you too, Mother. Can we be on the same side now?"
The older witch sniffed back her tears and answered slowly, "I'll teach you how to survive, if you'll teach me how to rebel. Okay?"
The young woman's hair shifted to a soft lilac as she drew back from her mother and said, "It's a deal."
Andromeda breathed a sigh, then pulled her daughter close again, laying both of them down so that Dora could rest more. She would stay for a while longer, then go make sure Narcissa and the others were all right.
"Dromeda?" Narcissa asked tentatively when the witch entered the room as she was attempting to put Elara to bed.
"She's going to be okay," Andromeda nodded, hearing her granddaughter sniff forlornly. She walked over to the little girl's bed and picked her up, cradling the little girl in her arms.
"Mum," Elara pleaded, almost doubtfully. "I want Mum."
Andromeda nodded, and the child's eyes grew hopeful. "But Mum's hurt, Elara, so you must be quiet and gentle, okay?"
Elara nodded frantically, clinging to her grandmother. "Please," she whispered. "Please...I want Mum."
Narcissa sighed as they left the room. She had just convinced the child that she could see her mother the next morning when Andromeda had walked into the room.
"Now, remember, Elara, you must be very careful," Andromeda said quietly. "Mum's hurt." She opened the door, carrying the little girl into the room and saying, "Dora? Elara wants to see you."
"Elara?" Dora said, turning onto her back and carefully sitting up against her pillows. "Come here, baby."
"Mumma," Elara said, crawling into her mother's arms and wrapping her arms around the witch, leaning her head on her mother's chest. "Did Dad hurt you?"
Dora chilled in fright, though she answered, "No, Elara. Bella cursed me, but I'll be okay."
"Good," Elara yawned, snuggling into her mother's side. "I love you."
"Do you want to keep her tonight?" Andromeda asked her daughter, standing at the end of the bed.
"Yeah," Dora murmured, cradling her little girl. "Thanks, Mum." The words were obviously foreign to her now, though she gave her mother a weak smile. "Come check on me in the morning."
"I was planning to," Andromeda replied simply, then left the two alone.
Andromeda was startled awake the next morning, feeling Rodolphus enter the wards. She barely took the time to wrap a robe around herself before she left her room, going to meet him.
"Andy," he smirked. "As you're not in mourning, I assume Nymphie survived?"
"No thanks to you," she said coldly. "You're looking for nothing but trouble here right now, Lestrange."
"I only wanted to see my daughter," he smirked, raising an eyebrow at her. "What else would I be doing down here?"
She glared at him, then said, "Then allow me to retrieve her for you: she's currently sleeping in her mother's room, as she was terrified she would lose her!"
Rodolphus chuckled. "She wasn't going to die," he said simply. "I have more confidence in our Healer than that. Greer simply placed her in a Healing Ward for a few hours so she could recover faster. Perhaps you should pay more attention to magic, and wards, Andy darling."
Andromeda turned and walked away from him, hurrying to her daughter's room to take Elara from her before Rodolphus could disturb them. She hurried to Dora's side, finding the witch awake. "Dora," she whispered, "Rodolphus is here: he wants to see Elara. Let me take her to him."
Dora bit her lip as Andromeda took the girl away from her, meeting Rodolphus at the door to her room. He took the child, and slipped past Andromeda into the room. She glared at his back as he approached Nymphadora, the younger woman struggling to sit up. "What do you want?" she snapped at him. "Go away."
"Nymphie," he smirked, a slight note of disappointment in his voice, "am I not allowed to make sure you are recovering from your ordeal yesterday? What if you needed the Healer to check on you again?"
"I hate you," Dora snarled at him.
"Now, now, Nymphadora," Rodolphus chuckled, "what would Elara do without her mother? You wouldn't deny your own daughter a balanced childhood, would you?"
Nymphadora turned away from him wordlessly, hissing in anger as he reached to grip her chin and pull her to face him. "Let go of me!" she snapped, swatting his hand away though she winced in pain at the movement.
"Mum?" Elara mumbled sleepily. "Daddy?"
Rodolphus kept himself from slapping the child's mother just at the last second, and murmured, "Yes, Elara, Daddy's here."
Elara raised her head from his shoulder, glancing around, then sighing, "Mum...Bella hurt Mum."
"Well, darling," Rodolphus said very gently, "your mother was a bad girl, and so she got hurt."
"Oh." Elara looked over at her mother with a frown, then yawned, burying her face in her father's shoulder. "But I'm good."
"Of course you are," Rodolphus smirked, kissing her black locks. "Now let's go to your room, and I'll tell you a story, okay?"
"Okay," Elara grinned a little, trying to shake off her drowsiness.
Nymphadora watched her daughter and Rodolphus leave the room, Andromeda approaching to sit beside her. "Sorry," Andromeda muttered. "I tried to stop him."
"What story do you suppose he's going to tell?" Dora frowned, still staring at her closed door. "He had that look in his eyes..."
"What kind of a story would you like to hear, beautiful?" Rodolphus asked his daughter with a smile as he sat down in the rocking chair, the child seated on his lap.
"How did you meet Mum?" Elara asked curiously. "Nana said you met Mum during her Auror training." She grinned, proud of her ability to pronounce the words.
Rodolphus looked thoughtful, wondering too when he had met Nymphadora. Surely not during her Auror training, as that would have been many years ago...Rodolphus started in shock. She had been an Auror when he escaped prison, so that would mean—
"She said Mum saw you in—in—" Elara frowned, unable to say the word she had heard.
"Perhaps she saw me," Rodolphus said, forcing himself to keep his tone calm as he spoke to his little girl, "but we did not truly speak to each other until we met again a few years later." He was unable to hold back a shudder as he did remember seeing Nymphadora while he was in Azkaban: he had thought she was Bellatrix.
"So when did you really meet her?" Elara persisted, looking up into his face trustingly.
Rodolphus sighed, thinking back for a moment as he tried to decide what to tell her. "I didn't really ever talk to Nymphadora until she came to stay here," he said finally, "and joined the Dark Lord. Then I discovered that she was a very entertaining young woman and you were born shortly after."
"But Mum doesn't like the Dark Lord," Elara said, confused. "Why did she join him?"
"Well, Nymphadora's misbehaving," Rodolphus explained to his daughter. "That's why Bella punished her. If she would do what she's told, she wouldn't be hurt. Remember that, Elara. If you're a good girl, you don't have to worry about suffering."
"Oh," said Elara, frowning slightly. "But you want to help her be good?"
"Yes, beautiful," Rodolphus chuckled, kissing her head. "Yes, I do. Nymphie will learn to behave, one way or another."
"Nymphie?" Elara giggled. "Is that what you call her?"
"Yes," Rodolphus said, laughing outright in his amusement. "It's my pet name for her, like I call you 'beautiful.' She's Nymphie."
"You're silly," Elara grinned, hugging her father tightly, her face against his shirt as her hair shot pink. "I love you."
Rodolphus smiled proudly, hugging the little girl in return. "I love you too," he murmured against her pink hair. She seemed to be entirely loyal to him, and he loved every second of it.
"Andromeda!"
The witch turned, a look of disdain on her face as Rodolphus stormed up to her. "Watch what you tell my daughter," he snapped.
Andromeda feigned astonishment. "Whatever do you mean?" she asked, her dark eyes narrowing as she watched him.
"She does not need to be asking questions about Azkaban yet," the man hissed through his teeth, glaring at her. "You do not need to be telling her things that she will not understand for years to come."
"Are you afraid of the truth, Rodolphus?" Andromeda sighed sympathetically. "She will learn the truth one day, about everything, whether it comes from me, Dora, Bellatrix, or whomever." She raised her left hand as he started toward her angrily. "Ah, ah," she said. "The least you can do is to treat her so kindly that she still accepts you when she finds out what an awful man 'Daddy' is. Rejection by your only child is something I'm sure you don't want to experience now, is it?"
The look in his eyes was deadly as he turned away, walking straight out of their ward and disappearing from sight. Andromeda drew a careful breath, jumping in shock as Teddy seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Teddy! Where were you?" Andromeda demanded.
"Nowhere," Teddy answered. "Why doesn't he want Elara to know about Azkaban?"
"Because he's an evil man who wants Elara to think that he's brave and noble for serving the Dark Lord and going to prison," Andromeda huffed in exasperation. "Teddy, don't spy on Rodolphus. He's a dangerous man."
"So why doesn't he tell her that, then?" Teddy persisted. "He could tell her that he did it for the Dark Lord."
"She's too young to understand it the way he wants her to," Andromeda sighed. "Now stop talking about it: it isn't safe for you, Teddy. Rodolphus will not hesitate to hurt you if you say something wrong."
Teddy frowned at this, shaking his head slightly. He didn't understand how his sister's dad could be so awful to their mother, as evil as Bellatrix, and yet so perfectly kind to Elara. "I'm confused," Teddy sighed as Andromeda wrapped her right arm around him. "Why is he so bad and so good at the same time?"
Andromeda shook her head. "He's just very confusing, Teddy," she said quietly. "You'll understand more about him when you're older, but for now, trust me and do not talk about him, okay?"
"Okay," Teddy said. He leaned into his grandmother's side, wondering if the man would ever stop hurting his mother. He could tell that Rodolphus scared her, and he didn't like that at all.
When I wrote this, I was in full Andromeda mode and did not want to let her make up with Dora xD I was wholeheartedly into their argument and didn't want to let it go. But here we are, so huzzah. Nymphie gets family support again xD
Dora
