Dora


Teddy was alone in his room, thinking back on his time spent in training and also his mother, suffering and possibly dying in St Mungo's. He had only been sitting there for a few minutes when there was a knock on the door. The boy hesitated for a moment before getting to his feet and moving to the door.

"Teddy," said Roo, who was standing on the other side of the door. "We're meeting in Elara's room. Dad is going to tell us about Mum."

"Oh," said Teddy, then summoned his wand and followed his brother out of the room.

At the door of Elara's room, Teddy took a deep breath, then stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Rodolphus stood next to Elara's, who was seated at her desk, but Roo stayed next to Teddy.

No one spoke until Rodolphus took a deep breath and began, "Your mother has not awakened yet, but she should soon. She'll survive."

Elara couldn't look at Teddy, but buried her face in her hands, trying to stay composed. Feeling her father's hand on her shoulder, she shuddered and slipped out of the chair, going to Roo and Teddy.

"Elara," Teddy began, but she shook her head, cutting him off.

"Don't," she said. "It's not your fault."

"Does Nan know?" Roo asked his father.

"No," said Rodolphus. "You can go tell her though. I've got to go back because I want to be there when she wakes."

Roo gave his father a piercing stare. "Be nice to her," he said firmly.

Rodolphus opened his mouth, but Teddy made a sound of ridicule and opened the door, leaving with Elara right after him. "What?"

"I want to get out of here," Elara breathed softly enough so no one else could hear. "If Mum was home, it would be different, but I can't stand it."

Teddy shook his head. "School doesn't start for another three weeks. What would we do?"

"Go out to Diagon for our school things," Elara answered. "Or to Knockturn-Delphi's been talking about taking me."

"I don't think your father would approve," Teddy chuckled.

"I don't care what he thinks," Elara snapped. "I'm Delphi's, not his."

A figure stepped into the hall before them and both young people jumped. "Delphi," Teddy breathed as his heart pounded in his chest.

"Mummy's better now, isn't she?" Delphi smirked.

"If we believe Rodolphus," Teddy replied. "What news have you heard?"

Delphi refrained from telling them that Nymphadora was being used for memory experiments and said, "She should be awake soon, and in a better mental state than she's had for the last nearly ten years."

"Is there any way we can get out of here for a little while?" Elara asked her friend point blank.

"And where do you plan on going?" Delphi mused, raising an eyebrow.

"I thought maybe we could go school shopping, or...anywhere but here, really," Elara answered.

"It's a little early for that," the silver-haired girl laughed. "But we could go somewhere else...get your cloaks: it could be cold."

Teddy and Elara rushed to do as Delphi had said, and met her at the door of her room. "Come in," she said. "We can disapparate from inside my room."

Elara wondered if they ought to mention to someone that they were leaving, but said nothing as Delphi held out her hands to them. Elara took her friend's hand, seeing Teddy do the same, and soon felt the familiar sensation of apparition. Neither Teddy nor Elara recognized the village where they appeared, but they soon realised that the people knew Delphi and made little bows and nods as they passed her.

"Not to be annoying," Teddy said, "but where are we?"

"Out of the castle," Delphi replied with a smirk. "Let's take that path to the right. It'll avoid most of the villagers."

"Perfect," Elara sighed, turning straight toward the path with the others. "It's beautiful out here...no stone walls and all that. There's wood, and trees, and...water." A small stream seemed to run along one side of the village.

"Too quiet," Teddy said, shaking his head. "I don't like it."

"Teddy," Elara hissed, but Delphi merely laughed.

Minutes later when most of the village was gone from their view, Teddy asked permission, then jumped down a couple of boulders to the stream, where he tasted the cool, clear water. "It's good!" he called up to the others.

"That's disgusting!" Elara called back.

"You sound like Aunt Cissa!" Teddy retorted, throwing a handful of water toward his sister and nearly hitting Delphi with it.

"Careful," Delphi smirked. "I'd hate to take you home injured."

Teddy's first instinct was to growl at the girl teasingly, but stopped himself just in time and settled for a teasing grin. "I forgot, you're not allowed to be a kid," he said sadly, shaking his head.

Delphi raised an eyebrow, then raised her hand and caused the water to splash the boy, almost wishing she had brought the boy alone. "Now, now, Teddy Bear," she said. "Behave."

Teddy grinned and jumped back up to where the other two were, continuing to walk with them. He was happier under the sky, out of the Prisoners' Ward and free of walls. Elara and Delphi were talking together in low voices as Teddy walked in front of them, drinking in their surroundings.

It was only as the two girls were teasing a couple of squirrels along the path by levitating leaves that Teddy heard something and tilted his head slightly, scanning the area around them for any sign of what had made the noise. He couldn't see anything out of place, though he must have frowned or something because Delphi sighed, "What's the matter, Teddy? Don't like us teasing the wildlife?"

"I thought I heard something," Teddy shrugged. "But I don't see anything out of the ordinary."

Delphi raised her wand and cast a spell, and in the next few seconds, several things happened. Her spell illuminated two figures hiding behind a nearby shack, they heard a couple more pops of apparition, and the three newcomers immediately attacked them. "What-?!" Elara cried in shock, raising her wand as a spell raced toward her only to have it blocked by Teddy, who had a deadly look on his face and yelled at the people to come and get them.

"Teddy!" Elara gasped, wondering what on earth to do as Teddy and Delphi stood together, able to hold their own against the attackers. She moved to her brother's side, annoyed as he shouted for her to get back, but as a spell narrowly missed her neck, she realised she was not up to the task. Still wanting to help, she settled for staying behind Delphi and Teddy, sending a curse now and then at the others.

A spell struck Teddy in the upper arm and he let out a howl of pain, blood quickly soaking through the sleeve of his robe. Delphi covered for him, furious at what had happened, and one of the attackers made it very plain that they intended to do more than just injure Delphi herself. Teddy was shivering with shock, switching his wand to his left hand as the pain made it difficult for him to see straight. "Get out of here," Teddy snapped at Delphi. "Take Elara home."

"Don't be stupid," Delphi snapped back in battle fury. "I'm not that easy to scare."

A hand wrapped around Elara's arm and she screamed, whirling and trying to throw off her attacker. Teddy looked around, and in the same moment, Delphi cast a deadly spell at the two closest to her and Teddy. The boy bounded to the two, his spell burning straight into his sister's assailant's back, the man screaming as he fell away from her. "Teddy," Elara gasped, but the boy had turned away from her to rejoin Delphi's duel against the remaining three, and after a couple minutes, the surviving attackers took their injured friends and fled.

Elara turned to her brother to see him swaying on the spot, but it was not she that caught the injured boy. Teddy yelled in pain as his arm was jostled, Delphi lowering him to the ground. "Can you help him?" Elara asked in fright.

Delphi merely ripped open the sleeve of the boy's robe and begin to perform healing spells as the boy shivered there, doing his best not to cry out from the pain, his eyes heavy and his mind clouded from his injury. After she had managed to close the skin and remove his pain, he was able to sit up, and Delphi said, "We've got to apparate back home."

"Fine," Teddy breathed, reaching up and gingerly rubbing his now-stiff but freshly healed arm. "Thanks."

"You did well for your first real combat," she told him with a smile. "I dare say it'll take them longer to heal than it did you."

Teddy grinned weakly, and she offered her hand to him, helping him to his feet. "Leaving from here?" he asked, and Delphi agreed, holding out her other hand to Elara.

"Enough excitement for the day," she said, seeing a strange look on Teddy's face. "What is it now, Teddy?"

"Who were they?" he asked. "Rebels?"

"Probably," Delphi answered. "I didn't ask them to be there, but it was a decent test. I doubt either of my parents would be thrilled with the risks, however."

"No," Elara agreed, uncomfortable and annoyed with how inferior she felt to the two older duelists. She was glad when they had arrived back in the manor, but felt even more awkward when Delphi announced that she had to report the attack and wanted the two to go their own ways. As she walked off with her brother, she muttered, "You were great, Teddy. I did awful."

"You were fine," Teddy sighed. "You didn't get injured."

"She was proud of you," Elara huffed. "She was angry that you were hurt."

"I'm sure she intended for me to do better," Teddy said. "I doubt she was thrilled with that-can you believe that we just fought off a rebel attack with the Dark Lord's daughter?"

Elara grinned, but the look quickly faded as she said, "I ought to have been better."

"Ask her to teach you like she has taught me," Teddy answered. "It's not easy, and it honestly hurts worse than that curse just now, but it is worth it, apparently."

"I have asked!" Elara huffed.

"Don't stop asking," Teddy shrugged. "You have to annoy her a little bit for her to tolerate you."

"Weird way to put it," said Elara as they entered the Prisoners' Wing. "Do we tell the others?"

"If you want," Teddy sighed. "I'd rather they didn't worry about it."

Elara nodded, then walked off to find their grandmother and make sure Roo had updated her on their mother's situation. Teddy went to his room, sinking down onto his bed and running his hands through his hair. He had blood all over his robes, he realised. It was a good thing his mother wasn't there to see him. He quickly cleaned up his robes, deciding to go ahead and take a shower.

It was slightly upsetting to him to think that they had been attacked by rebels, and instead of helping them, as he had nearly promised a couple years ago, he had cursed them. But he had been caught up in the moment, wanting to protect Delphi and...impress her. He scowled at his own thoughts. Teddy was very sure that he had done no such thing, probably the opposite, in fact. He was stupid if he thought protecting her would make him favourable to her: she did not care about such things.

Teddy finished showering and left his room, hoping to find Roo and distract himself with a game. He wanted his mother to come home and be sane and help settle his own confusion.

The boy shook his head slightly. He was asking too much.


It was too bright. Nymphadora Lupin squinted against the lights, wishing that she had just stayed asleep. She could see a shadowy figure moving toward her and hissed, "Stay away from me!"

"Mrs. Lupin, you're at St Mungo's," said the man. "I'm the Healer assigned to you at the moment. You're safe."

She laughed at his words, glaring in his direction as she struggled to sit up. "What happened?"

"Rodolphus will be here soon, and he'll probably explain it," the Healer replied.

"No!" Dora snapped. "I don't want to see him."

"I don't blame you," the Healer agreed, "but no one else has come to see you."

Dora scowled, pulling her gown more tightly around her as they heard footsteps outside the door. She was infuriated at the sight of Rodolphus Lestrange, and sat up awkwardly, leaning back into the pillows as she was still exhausted. "Why am I here?" she demanded of him.

"Why?" Rodolphus scoffed, then shook his head. "You mean you don't remember trying to kill yourself, Nymphadora?"

"I wouldn't-"

"Leave us," Rodolphus said to the Healer, and waited until the man was gone before saying, "You made a poison and drank it. That was a very stupid thing to do."

"No," Dora began, but a dim memory of her combining various ingredients in the darkness of her room cropped up and she merely glared back at Rodolphus. "I'd rather be dead than wake up to you."

"You weren't thinking about the children?" Rodolphus hissed at her. "You didn't care enough to stay and take care of your own son, let alone my children?"

"If you weren't so awful, I wouldn't have felt the need to escape," Dora snapped. "I would never choose to leave my children in my right mind. You can't be trusted with them."

"Look who's talking," Rodolphus sneered. "You tried to kill both Elara and Reuben. I knew you needed to be watched, Nymphie."

Nymphadora eyed him with loathing. "If you hadn't done all those things to me, and tried to use my children against me, then my mind would not have been that twisted," she snapped. "I would never harm one of my children on purpose."

Rodolphus glared at her. "I'll make sure of that," he said coldly.

"When can I leave here?" Dora asked, looking around the room.

"You have to be monitored to make sure the memory potions did their job," Rodolphus answered. "I was told weeks."

"I'll kill someone if I'm stuck here with only you for company," warned Dora. "Are the children okay? What happened after I went unconscious?"

"I found you," Rodolphus said, his eyes lighting with anger as he remembered the situation. "I found you on the floor of your room, dying, and when I tried to help you, your idiot cub burst into the room and interrupted me."

"Teddy?" Dora asked, surprised. "Well, of course. He probably thought it was your fault."

"Oh, he did," scowled Rodolphus. "Though when Elara found out that he had stopped me from helping you...she was not happy."

Poor Teddy, Dora thought to herself, but did not say it out loud. "And then you brought me here?"

"Greer said he couldn't help you," Rodolphus scowled, "so I had to."

"Poor Roddy," Dora pouted. "Can't take care of his children on his own. Or are you afraid that Elara would never listen to you if I were gone?"

"She would have to if-"

"No, she wouldn't," Dora answered firmly. "She answers to Delphi, not you. Delphi has been her protection for years, and in spite of my fears about their association, it is probably for the best."

Rodolphus raised both eyebrows at this and said, "I can't tell if you are more sane or less sane now, but something surely happened to you over the last few days. I'll make sure to report to the children that you feel they can live without you."

Dora merely smirked. "Phrase it nicely, or they might be angry with you," she told him.

He did not reply, turning away and walking to the door. "You ought to behave, Nymphie, so you don't end up in the same situation again. Next time, I'll let you die."

She watched him leave, but merely smirked to herself. She didn't believe that he wouldn't try to save her. He needed her to keep Roo and Elara happy and to keep Teddy from annoying him all the time, she mused, pulling the sheet up over herself. Dora almost laughed to herself as she considered how to use this against the man, but all too soon, she found herself drifting back into slumber. She felt so much more at peace in her mind, and she hardly even remembered how she had been just days previously.