Sorry for the slight delay on this one, the personal life has been pretty bloody hectic of late.
Anywho! As always, please read, enjoy and please do leave a review if you have a moment!
Bella
"Nymphie, I—!" Delphi froze as Andromeda closed the door behind her, letting out a grunt of pain as she relaxed slightly, "I thought you were Mum for a second. Why are you here? Why isn't Nymphie here?"
"She's busy," Andromeda said, sighing as she saw the state of the girl. Delphini Riddle's face was tear stained and contorted in pain, her teeth gritted as she hunched over the edge of her bed reaching down for her damaged angle. "What happened?"
"I don't have to tell you!" Delphi snapped, "Just fix it!"
"You are like your mother," Andromeda sighed, though she walked over to the girl and without hesitating lifted her to lay her back on the bed, barely flinching as the girl screamed at the movement of her ankle, "she would always pretend she wasn't hurting as a girl. Usually, she would try to yell at someone when they tried to help." Andromeda looked down at the young girl now glaring up at her as she drew her wand. "Now, do you want to tell me what happened?"
"I didn't ask for you," Delphi hissed, "where's Nymphadora and Elara?"
"Well, you have me," Andromeda said as she sat on the bed next to her, she reached down and pulled the girl's skirts up and winced at the sight before her. It was already obvious that the girl's right leg was bent at an unnatural angle without lifting her skirts to assess the damage, but beneath was far worse. There was a clear dent in the side of her leg, bruised as blood crossed her pale skin. Andromeda didn't miss the girl's wince as she caught sight of the full damage and bit her lip.
"You have to fix it," Delphi said in a hurried whisper, reaching out and grabbing Andromeda's left arm, "if my parents find out—" Delphi looked horrified at the thought for a moment before she shook her head, "Elara will get hurt."
"Tell me what happened," Andromeda spoke calmly, gently pulling the girl's grip from her arm "then I can heal you properly."
"I—" Delphi took a deep breath before she relaxed back into her bed, shutting her eyes and speaking very quietly "I was teaching Elara how to make things explode, I gave her one of my mother's wands and was trying to get her to blow up those things on the floor . . . but she jumped when she heard a noise that scared her and her aim went off. It wasn't her fault!" Delphi looked to the woman suddenly seriously, "I told her to do it. I got her the wand. She was the one who was worried and didn't think we should. But if my parents find out they'll just twist the truth to suit them and it will be Elara who gets punished and it wasn't her fault!"
"I'm not about to get my own granddaughter in trouble, Delphini," Andromeda said firmly, "Now stay still."
Delphini Riddle hissed in pain as Andromeda pointed her wand at her leg, muttering spells underneath her breath as she ignored the girls cry at the bones clicking themselves back into place. It seemed to take forever to the young girl but eventually, the woman fixed her skirts, stood up and backed away. "There," Andromeda said as she pocketed her wand, "good as new."
The girl bent her leg gingerly, she breathed a sigh of relief as she moved to get off of her bed but just as she was about to stand her door slammed open. Bellatrix Lestrange had a wide-eyed crazed look of worry about her, her wand drawn as she paused to look at her daughter.
"Mum . . ." Delphi breathed in shock, freezing for a second before she sat herself up on the edge of her bed and forced confidence into her voice, "What are you doing here?"
"Elara said—" Bellatrix paused for a moment as she noticed Andromeda stood to the side, flashing a glare at her before she rushed to her daughter's side and looked over her, "Elara interrupted our meeting, said that you needed help."
"She what!?" Delphi yelled in shock, unable to help herself.
"Rodolphus was in a meeting?" Andromeda asked though Bellatrix ignored her question, "I would never have let her get him if I thought—"
"No, you were too busy helping to hide the fact that my daughter needed help!" Bellatrix hissed, fury bubbling to the surface again as she quickly ran at Andromeda, sticking her wand into the woman's throat. Her sister remained surprisingly calm as she didn't even flinch as the witch screamed at her, "What did your brat of a grandchild do to my daughter? Why did you have to help her?"
"She didn't do anything!" Delphi cried, "Mother, stop it!"
Bellatrix let out a huff of annoyance, forcing herself to stop her furious glare before she turned to her daughter. She slowly pocketed her wand, walking to sit next to her daughter again as she reached out and stroked her long silver hair from her face. "Tell me what happened," Bellatrix asked.
"Nothing," Delphi breathed.
"Delphi, tell me what happened," Bellatrix asked more firmly this time.
The young girl gave a hardened look far beyond her years as she looked to her mother, "I was using wandless magic—showing off—but I messed up and a spell went wrong and hit me in the leg. Elara was here which is why she knew that I had hurt myself. I knew you and father would be angry because you told me to stop doing that so I didn't want you to find out. I told Elara to get her Mum to help me because I've seen her heal herself before and knew she could do it."
Bellatrix narrowed her eyes at the girl, taking in her sure look and clenched fists before she rolled her eyes. "I somehow feel that the only truth in that story is the very last part."
"I—" Delphi went to protest but was cut off by her mother.
"Delphini, you tell the truth right now or I will take you to your father and you can tell both of us the truth." Bellatrix insisted, giving the girl a chance to speak before she sighed, "fine."
Bellatrix went to stand but was quickly grabbed by the hand pulled back down again by her daughter, "Fine!" Delphi hissed, looking across the room to Andromeda for a moment before she looked down at her mother's hand that she still had a hold of, "I was bored, I wanted to teach Elara some spells. She tried to tell me that she wasn't allowed and that it was dangerous but . . . I know how to get into the box in your room." Delphi winced as she could feel her mother tense in anger, though she took a deep breath and decided to look up at her with feigned confidence, "I used your dagger to cut my hand and got out Lupin's wand. Then we went to my room and I set out some objects for her and showed her how to make them explode. Some idiot slammed a door and she jumped, I wasn't behind her and out of her way like I should have been and her aim went off and she hit me in the leg. I told her to go and get her Mum because I didn't want you and father to find out that I had been in your things and that's what happened." Bellatrix hesitated only for a fraction of a second after the girl had stopped talking before she lifted her skirts and went to inspect her leg.
"I healed her, Bellatrix," Andromeda spoke up from her place to the side, Bellatrix had apparently forgotten she was there as she turned to glare at her, "she broke a few bones. It was easy enough to fix and she's good as new now."
Bellatrix seemed to consider the woman's words for a moment before she leant down and kissed her daughter's head. She got up as she found her voice again, "It was Elara's fault then."
"No, it was my fault!" Delphi snapped, "I convinced her to go along with my stupid idea! I did exactly what you and Father told me not to do and not only did I do magic without you I was stupid and didn't stand out of the way! Elara didn't want to do it!"
"But she did," Bellatrix said simply, "she took a wand that didn't belong to her and injured you through her carelessness—perhaps on purpose, we will never know."
"Bella," Andromeda called her sister's name above the yell of anger from the nine-year-old, "that is not what your daughter is telling you. It seems, perhaps, that the children were equally at fault here."
"How dare you tell me what my daughter is trying to say!" Bellatrix screeched, "Do not try to defend your pitiful excuse of a grandchild here, Andromeda!"
"She's right!" Delphi yelled in frustration.
"Enough!" Bellatrix snapped, fury finally taking over her as she grabbed Andromeda by the arm. "Delphini, I will be back, stay here."
"Mum—"
"I'll be back, Delphini," Bellatrix said more calmly as she looked to her daughter, "I need to talk to your father and then I'll be back to see you."
"Mum!" Delphi cried, but Bellatrix was no longer listening, she had already dragged her sister out of the room.
Andromeda let out a grunt as Bellatrix threw her into her special room, the younger woman righting herself and turning to face her sister as if she didn't have a look on her features as if she was about to kill her.
"Do you have any idea what that brat Elara has done!?" Bellatrix hissed in her fury.
"It seems that she accidentally hurt your daughter and then interrupted a meeting," Andromeda said, "Elara seemed extremely apologetic about it."
"Accidentally!?" Bellatrix screeched, "What happened to my daughter's leg? . . . Tell me!"
"It was broken," Andromeda said after taking a breath, "I fixed it though. It's good as new."
"Show me," Bellatrix growled, storming over to the other witch and pinning her to the wall with her wand at her temple.
"Bellatrix, what does that achieve?" Andromeda wrinkled her nose as she tried to pull her head away from her sister, wincing as Bellatrix grabbed her hair with her spare hand and held her in place.
"Show me," Bellatrix snarled, glaring at the woman until she gave a slight nod, "Legilimens."
Andromeda clenched her fists as she felt her sister invading her mind, reliving the moments before Bellatrix had arrived, flinching as she felt Bellatrix tightened her grip on her hair as she saw the state of Elara's harmed leg. Bellatrix didn't want to see anymore apparently, because at this moment she yelled in frustration and threw her sister as far away from her as possible leaving her to land on the floor in a heap.
"How dare you try and hide this from me!" Bellatrix growled, pointing her wand at her sister again.
"I simply went to help your daughter, who told Elara to go to the prisoner's wing for help." Andromeda sat up slightly on the floor, knowing better than to stand in front of Bellatrix again unless she enjoyed being thrown to the floor.
"She is a child!" Bellatrix hissed, "You should inform her parents!" Andromeda let out a huff of laughter from the floor, only causing Bella's eyes to widen in fury even more. "And what is so amusing?"
"Do you not see the irony, Bella?" Andromeda asked, hesitating for a moment before she decided to abandon her better sense and stood slowly from the ground. "Do you not remember when we were children? Remember the time you had come back from Hogwarts and you let me play with your wand? I hit poor Cissy in the arm. She cried and cried and you tried to heal her," Andromeda shook her head as Bellatrix seemed stunned to silence in her anger, "but Mother and Father came running. Do you not remember? I suppose you must have gaps in your memory from all that time . . . away. But you stood forward, you said that you did it and Merlin did they punish you for it. You didn't want me to take the blame because you knew I would be punished, but you didn't care about getting hurt. Do you remember?"
"What is your point?" Bellatrix hissed through gritted teeth, clearly, she did remember.
"It's exactly the same with Delphi and Elara," Andromeda sighed, "they both care for each other and do not want to see the other hurt, no matter what. You can't blame them for such things. They're almost like we once were, Bella; they're almost like sisters."
Bellatrix yelled in fury, curving her wand around in one swift motion as Andromeda went flying into the wall with a yelp of surprise and a grunt of pain. "How dare you!"
"It's true!" Andromeda yelled back at her sister, "If you hurt Elara it will only hurt Delphi! You heard her! She—"
"Crucio!" Bellatrix snarled, she waited until her sister let out an unearthly scream before she lifted the curse. "Do not ever dare insinuate such a thing! Elara is a half-blooded piece of filth!"
"Delphi is a—"
Bellatrix threw another curse at her sister, watching her as she thudded back into the wall again, she knew what she was about to say and she would not have any of it. "I believe you need to be taught your place again, sister dearest."
Andromeda glared up at her sister defiantly as she approached her already injured body, though before she knew it she was in intense agony again. Barely an hour later Andromeda Tonks lay on the floor, watching her sister's boots stride away from her before everything went black.
It took far too long for Nymphadora Lupin to gain the strength to open her eyes. She had already been laid motionless in bed for at least ten minutes, unable to explain to herself why she couldn't move. Though the moment she did open her eyes the pain became far too apparent. She couldn't understand how it was possible to be in even more pain than she had been when she had originally fallen asleep, though her stomach felt like it was on fire and her whole body ached. She lolled her head to the side, seeing the now empty glass of water on her bedside table. She could almost hear the distant echo of her old mentor yelling 'Constant vigilance!' in her head as she cursed herself for drinking what she now realised couldn't have been just a glass of water.
She flexed her fingers on the cotton sheets of the bed, groaning slightly as she tried to move her limbs. Her wand was on her bedside table now, she was sure it hadn't been there before, but she couldn't remember. Had she seen anyone since she had been here? Had she heard anything of her newborn son? Was he well? Was he alive? She gritted her teeth in determination as she slowly moved her arm to attempt to reach her wand. Her arm had barely moved a few inches an hour later when she let out a grunt of annoyance at the door to her room opening.
Rodolphus paused at the doorway for a moment as Nymphadora turned her head to look at him, noticing the back of Greer walking away behind him. She wondered what he had been talking to him about, swallowing hard as she forced herself to speak.
"Where's my son?" Dora croaked, suddenly realising how parched she was.
Rodolphus closed the door, walking over to her bed. He looked at her with a strange hint of sadness and defeat as he lifted a vial. "You need to drink this, it will help lift the remnants of the paralysis and numb the pain a little."
Nymphadora glared at him slightly as he took off the cork, of the vial and lifted it to her lips. She debated refusing it though she quickly abandoned this notion when she decided that she had no better choice. A strange, cold sensation came over her as she drank, spluttering slightly as she necked the last of it.
"Where's my son?" Nymphadora repeated as Rodolphus stepped back from her, she could feel herself more able to move and hissed in pain as she sat up slightly, "Is he— . . . Is he okay?"
Rodolphus sat in the chair next to the bed, considering the witch for a moment before he sighed. "He's alive," Rodolphus said quietly, Nymphadora letting out a breath of relief as a single tear fell down her cheek.
"But?" Nymphadora eventually asked, "You make it sound like there's a 'but'."
"But he was premature, Nymphadora." Rodolphus spoke almost impatiently, "He's small . . . weak . . . He's far better now but we must be careful with him."
Nymphadora thought over what the man said for a moment before she spoke again, "He's better now?" She asked, frowning slightly as Rodolphus nodded, "H—How long have I been here?"
"A week," Rodolphus said.
"A week!?" Nymphadora went to sit up but immediately yelled out in pain, groaning as Rodolphus rolled his eyes in annoyance and walked over to help lower her back to sit up against the pillows. "I was awake, I was—I felt much better than I do now. How have I been here for a week? I barely remember a few hours after I—Did I pass out after he was born?"
"Yes," Rodolphus said, "you started to lose a lot of blood. The healers had to work on you whilst I went with our son to intensive care with the specialists. It is my understanding that you were out cold for nearly a day after."
"So how have I been here for a week?" Nymphadora asked, unable to help the irritation seeping into her voice.
The man considered her for a long moment before he sighed yet again. "Elara—as I'm sure you know by the sounds of things—accidentally hurt Delphini. When you sent her to find me I was in an inner circle meeting—" Nymphadora's eyes widened slightly: she apparently hadn't known "—she interrupted. The Dark Lord has decided that my attentions have become diverted and he does not want to risk them becoming more so. He sent orders to St Mungo's that you were not to be able to give me any more children . . . "
"He . . ." Nymphadora gasped as she realised what he was saying, her hand moving to rest on her stomach as the cause of her increased pain suddenly became clear. "He—! He didn't! I-! No!"
"I didn't know our potential future children meant so much to you," Rodolphus sneered, glad to be able to mock Nymphadora rather than face his own anger and frustration at the situation.
"I—It's my body!" was all Nymphadora could bring herself to say.
"I believe you are more than aware you have not held the rights to your own body for years, Nymphadora." Rodolphus rolled his eyes as the woman quietly sobbed, he considered her for a moment before he shook his head, "Calm down, Reuben is being brought up."
Nymphadora sniffed, swatting away her tears as she looked to Rodolphus, "R—Reuben?" she asked meekly, ". . . You named him Reuben?"
"Yes," Rodolphus said, "Reuben Rodolphus Lestrange."
"You're shit at names," Nymphadora sniffed, wiping away her tears even as more threatened to spill.
"He will be here soon," Rodolphus said, "you will both be allowed to leave later today . . . Then we have to deal with what has happened."
"What—?" but Dora didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, at that moment the doors to the room opened.
A healer entered the room, a small bundle cradled carefully in her arms. Both parents looked to the woman, though it was Rod's gaze that made her pale considerably before slowly walking over to the witch on the bed. Dora positioned herself as best she could, holding her arms out as the woman bent down towards her and carefully laid her son in her arms. She barely noticed the woman near enough flee from the room after, nor the weight of the bed as Rodolphus sat next to her to look down on the boy. He was tiny. She let out a small breath of wonder as she pulled the blanket back to get a proper look at him. Far smaller than either of her other children had been, with a small tuft of dark hair the same shade as his fathers, eyes that she recognised to be the same as her own natural pair, though the rest of his features were undoubtedly his fathers.
Nymphadora bit her lip as he looked in her direction, moving her finger to let his tiny hand grasp hold. "Has he morphed at all?" Dora asked.
"His hair was white when he was born," Rodolphus said quietly, staring down at his son, "though he has not changed it since. The healers believe it was merely remnants of your magic showing in him, they do not believe he has the same powers as you."
Dora nodded slightly, transfixed as she stared at her son, both in adoration and worry at the size of him. He looked too small, too weak for a newborn babe, she was scared of moving even an inch in case he broke like a china doll. "He's so small . . ."
A slight anger passed Rod's face, leaning in slightly as he hissed in the witch's ear, "Yes, well, it is your fault he was born so soon. Is it not? If you could only have carried him a little longer . . . I will not forget that, Nymphadora."
Dora swallowed, a chill running down her spine at the man's words. Though truthfully, she was relieved. If Rodolphus was blaming her for their son being born so early that meant that he didn't know the real reason she had gone into labour. She didn't know how Rodolphus would react towards his daughter if he found out that she was the reason his precious son was born under such circumstances, she was willing to take the brunt of his anger and frustrations should it mean that he wouldn't find out.
"I have to talk with the healer," Rodolphus murmured much more calmly, leaning down and kissing the boys head before standing. "He has potions that he will need to take and you will need to as well. Feed him and then when I'm done we will go back to the manor."
Dora nodded slightly, though she didn't watch the man as he left the room. She adjusted her nightgown, spending a short time helping the boy find his meal before she sighed, gently stroking his cheek with her finger.
"Reuben . . ." Dora sighed, smiling slightly after a moment, "How about I call you Roo, hmm? Little Roo . . . Makes you sound like a kangaroo," Dora laughed slightly, "but we make do with what we get given, hmm? Could be worse, no-one's about to give you a name quite as stupid as mine . . . Roo."
