Aaaaaand as far as mass uploading goes, here is where we are currently up to. Feels strange to have the story entirely up to date as far as uploads go but I think it's a good thing!

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Bella


Nymphadora found herself alone in her youngest child's bedroom. She had almost forgotten what it was like to see the young boy without anyone else around, without people waiting outside their door or standing over them as if they were waiting for Nymphadora to snap and return to her old ways. It had taken a little while to convince those around her that she truly wasn't about to snap at a moment's notice, but finally it seemed as if she was gaining back some trust in her sanity from those around her. She closed her eyes, pulling her child slightly closer as they lay in bed together, stroking his dark hair as she waited for him to fall asleep.

"Elara and Teddy will be gone again soon . . ." Reuben mumbled, looking up at his mother through his tired eyes.

"They'll be back before you know it," Dora kissed his head, "then before you know it you'll be the one going off to school."

"It'll be quieter when they leave," the child sighed, "less fighting."

Dora couldn't help but let out a breath of laughter at his words, "siblings fight sometimes, Roo, they love eachother really. Just like you love them both."

"Yeah . . ." Roo agreed, sighing deeply before he closed his eyes and nestled into his mother's side "I can't wait to go to Hogwarts."

"That desperate to leave your old mum?" Dora let out a fake sound of pain as Roo playfully hit her side.

"No . . ." he said, hugging the witch tighter, "you're better now though. You'll be okay."

"Of course I will," Dora sighed, "we'll all be okay—provided you get to sleep soon. I don't like you when you're cranky," she teased, "that is a temper to be seen."

Roo couldn't help but giggle, "I get that from you."

Dora scoffed, "If you say so . . . love you."

"Love you too," Reuben yawned.

It took a short while for the boy to fall asleep, though Dora stayed for a little longer until she noticed from the clock on her sons bedside table that it was soon nearing nine o clock and she would surely be missed shortly. She slipped out of the room as quietly as possible, enjoying the peace and quiet of the manor as she made her way back to the prisoners wing, a peace and quiet that most certainly was not maintained within the wards.

The unmistakable sound of her two older children arguing was certainly not the evening activity she was looking for after putting Roo to bed, though taking a deep breath she made her way over to the sound of the commotion.

"I don't need you to tell me how to do it, Teddy!" Elara snapped.

"I'm only trying to help you," Teddy scoffed, "if you weren't being such a stubborn little kid you'd realise that."

"I don't need your help," Elara glared, her hair already a bright tomato red.

"Fine," he shrugged, crossing his arms, "you're going to be the one that looks like a twat when Delphi asks why you haven't done what she's asked, not me."

"You—"

"What in the name of Merlin is going on here?"

The two children turned around to see their mother standing in the doorway of what had long been known as the sitting room of the prisoners wing. Her arms were folded, much like her sons still were, and an eyebrow was raised at the pair as she waited for one of them to speak.

"Well?" Dora asked, "Why have you got your wands drawn?"

"I was trying to teach—"

"I do not need you to teach me!" Elara snapped, letting out a sound of frustration before she declared she was going to bed and stormed past her brother to leave the room, only stopping as her mother blocked her way.

"Elara—"

"I'm fine, it's nothing," Elara said, "I'm tired . . ." she leaned up to her mother, kissing her cheek, "goodnight, Mum."

"Elara," Dora sighed, though the girl continued to leave the room before she could do anything further to stop her. Instead she looked to her son, her features softening slightly before with a sigh she entered the room and sat down on one of the threadbare sofas, "Well? Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"It's like she said," Teddy shrugged, "kid's tired. Elara gets cranky when she's tired."

"Okay," Dora patted the seat next to her, waiting for Teddy to join her until she continued, "so she's tired and you both decided to get your wands out and have a friendly chat?"

"No," Teddy rolled his eyes, hesitating for a moment before he gave in under his mother's gaze and continued to explain himself, "Delphi wants us to learn this spell—nothing too serious—just the usual stuff. But Elara was struggling a bit, not that Delphi wanted to tell her that, so she told us we had to practise together."

"Teddy . . ." Dora sighed, "Why is it that you two can't be together at all without fighting now-a-days?"

"Might have something to do with me hurting her Dad," Teddy shrugged, "or the fact that I'm better at duelling than her . . . and better at spell work . . . and smarter than her . . . and—"

"You're older than her," Dora interjected, "you're bound to be better at some things . . . and maybe if you didn't insult her father at every given opportunity she might not be so touchy on the subject around you."

"You insult him all the time," Teddy huffed.

"But rarely around Elara or Roo," Dora said.

"He's a monster," Teddy stated, "I could call him every last name under the sun and it wouldn't be bad enough."

"Yes," Dora agreed, "but at the end of the day he's still their father and children tend to defend their father's no matter what."

"Well, I wouldn't know much about that, would I?" Teddy glared at the floor, "But then I have her father to thank for that, don't I?"

"In a way . . ." Dora mused, "though if we're going to start blaming people for that we should be blaming Bellatrix really . . . or Rabastan I suppose, if he hadn't gotten past me all of those years ago and managed to get to you . . ." she shook her head after a moment or two, looking towards her son as he stared at her with a saddened gaze. "Your Dad would be proud of you, you're so much like him," Dora said with a small smile, "though your Dad also knew a lot better than you when the right time to stay quiet was."

"So I take after you?" Teddy grinned.

"Cheeky . . ." Dora laughed, nudging her son before a more serious look crossed her features again, "I need to talk to you."

"We're talking now,"

"I know . . . but this is a serious talk." Dora sat up in her seat, turning to face her son, "A serious talk before you go off to Hogwarts again, there's things you need to know."

"I know more than you think I do," Teddy said, mirroring his mother's actions as he sat straight to look at her.

"I know," Dora said, "but you don't know this . . . Rodolphus—" Teddy cringed at the man's name, though she continued "—the reason that Reuben gets visions like he does is because of an old family trait on his side, much to Elara's annoyance it only affects the male side."

"I know—"

"Let me finish," Dora raised her hand, "merlin you definitely get your patience from me. Reuben only gets visions like that in his dream, but Rodolphus gets them when he's awake . . ."

"You've seen him having a vision, haven't you?" Teddy asked, his voice quiet in anticipation to hear what his mother said next as she gave a small nod, "When? What was it?"

"It was shortly after Elara found out about how . . . about how she and her brother came to be," Dora paused for a moment, taking a breath before she continued, "I didn't know about the fact that they had prophecies back then, I asked him about it afterwards if it was just when they were awake or if they get prophecies in dreams. Turns out Roo's a bit unique in that, it's always the firstborn male Lestrange, but they start when they're much older than Roo is and—most importantly—Rod can't remember his prophecies after he makes them, it's like he goes into a trance and then after that he has to rely on those that are around him to tell him what he said."

"What did he say, Mum?" Teddy asked, hanging on to every last word his mother spoke.

Dora looked to the door for a moment, drawing her wand and casting a charm to ensure the room was soundproof before she looked back to her son, "I told him that it was about the Dark Lord falling, that the suffering would be over and the Dark Lord would fall."

"I bet he didn't like that," Teddy scoffed, though a small grin appeared on his face.

"No," Dora agreed, "but I never told him the most important part, I never told him that prophecy word for word . . . I will tell you, because I think it's important that you know, though you must swear not to tell another soul. No matter how much you trust them, no matter how much you think it may be in your interest or anyone elses to do so—prophecies are a powerful thing, Teddy, people have done mad and dangerous things to attempt to decipher their true meaning or even to hear them for themselves. Promise me."

"I promise," Teddy breathed, now sat on the edge of his seat focusing on what his mother had to say.

"He said . . . 'The time will come for suffering to be over, and the Dark will fall . . . The rebel cub will be the ruin of them all.'"

"The rebel . . ."

"Teddy," Dora sat forward, taking her sons hands in her own, "you are the only one that could be about, I know it's a lot to take in but it's important for you to know. Rod looked scared when I told him half of that prophecy, I didn't tell him the full wording for your safety. You need to learn what you can, do what you can, fight like I know you can, I know it isn't fair but . . ." she reached up to touch his face, her thumb stroking his cheek, "We tried so hard to give you the life we wanted for you, I know you don't remember what it was like before, you were born into a war and grown up with the consequences of our failure to stop it—"

"It's not your fault,"

"In a way it is," Dora sighed, "that's my failure to live with, though now it's your turn. It's your turn to fight and try to put things right, I'll be with you every step of the way that I can be, but I need you to be ready. I need you to learn what you can from Delphi, I'll teach you what I can and you must above all else listen and wait for the right moment. You can't get caught up in petty arguments or draw unnecessary attention to yourself until you absolutely have to. I need you to survive and by Merlin I swear I will do all I can to help you with that, okay?"

"Okay . . ." Teddy nodded, reaching up and wiping a single tear from his mother's cheek, "I'll be okay, Mum. I promise."

"I know you will," Dora smiled, taking in the boy's features for a moment before she pulled him close and hugged him tightly, "you're strong and brave . . . I love you . . ."

"Love you too Mum . . ." Teddy murmured, resting his head on his mother's shoulder as she held him, though his mind was suddenly racing at the thought of what his mother had told him. He would put to this, and he wouldn't just put a stop to Rodolphus Lestrange, he would put a stop to it all.


Nymphadora had managed to successfully dodge Rodolphus Lestrange for some time now, though she had seen him in passing when others were around it had been a long time since she had been entirely alone with him. This was a fact that she both enjoyed and slightly feared, for she knew it was only a matter of time before this would no longer be the case despite her best efforts. It was when she was going to her youngest child's room one morning that her luck ran out. She turned into the corridor and soon saw the man leaving their child's room, her heart seemed to stop as she forgot to breath for a moment, wondering if she should run back to the prisoner's wing though she didn't even get the chance to move an inch before her eyes locked with the man. She was sure not to show her slight panic in her features as he slowly walked towards her, returning his smirk with a cold stare.

"Nymphie," her name near enough rolled off the mans tongue.

"Rodolphus," she spat in return.

"Rodolphus?" he cocked his head slightly as he looked over her, "Bit formal for you."

"Go fuck yourself," Dora said simply, moving to go towards her son's bedroom though quickly stopping as her path was blocked.

"Now now," Rodolphus tutted, "play nice."

"What do you want?" Dora asked, her hand moving to rest on her wand placed securely in her belt.

"So suspicious, Nymphie," Rod rolled his eyes, "I was simply seeing to my son. What are you doing here?"

"The same,"

"Really?" Rodolphus sighed, "Back to pretending to care about him now?"

"I do care about him, thank you very much," Dora stated, "now if you'll excuse me—Don't!"

Dora moved too quickly, almost tripping over her own feet as she tried to walk past the man only to have him move to take her arm at the last minute. She soon righted herself enough to lean back against the wall, her wand drawn and pointed directly at the man's chest. Though the man couldn't help but laugh at her she did not lower her aim, nor pay attention to her now white hair.

"Are you scared of me again, Nymphie?" Rodolphus teased, "You quite liked me a little ago, remember? Didn't want me to leave you alone . . . until you went stupid and tried to off yourself. Though maybe that was a smart idea for you, the children would be better off I believe . . ."

"I'm sure I'm not the parent they would be better off without, Rodolphus," she said, "and I am not scared of you."

"Really?" Rodolphus raised an eyebrow, pulling is wand from his robes within the blink of an eye, "Who do you think of us would win this fight, Nymphie? Because I'm sure we've played this game many times before and you know the answer to this."

"Give me a reason," Dora laughed, "give me a reason and I will happily curse you into the next century, Lestrange."

"I'll have you on the floor before you could even try," Rodolphus shrugged, "though if you'd like to go have a lay down—"

Rodolphus barely blocked the spell the woman flung at him in time, though couldn't help but laugh as she sent another spell hurling is way, blowing her now fire red hair out of her eyes.

"Try me," Dora practically growled, the pair quickly entering into a back and forth of curses and spells within the corridor.

The few occupants of the few portraits in the corridor soon scattered from their frames, one dark haired witch screeching as a large scorch mark appeared on her canvas. Though they kept fighting, an aggressive flurry of light going between them as neither relented. It had been years since Dora had fought in such a way, though she could barely catch her own breath she held her own admirably. She had managed to back down further, back to the corner which she managed to dive behind just in time to dodge a particularly nasty hex that instead dented the wall behind her.

"Don't be shy now!" Rodolphus jeered, "Come back out and play!"

The woman took a deep breath, gathering her energy again before she jumped back out ready with her next spell—though the man was much closer than she had thought and managed to dodge her just in time to throw a curse back catching her off guard. Her head hit the floor with a thud, her chest heaving and body twitching slightly at the remnants of the curse as she could hear the man's footsteps walking slowly towards her. All she could think about were all the times he had gotten his way, all of the things he had taken from her, the things he had done, she knew she couldn't let him hurt her again. She didn't blink as the man stood at her feet, not even looking at him and his cold smirk of triumph. A look she would most certainly have called premature.

"Crucio!" Dora screamed, a sense of relief rushing over her at the sound of Rodolphus falling back and yelling out in pain. She sat bolt up right, laughing herself this time as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists under her curse. Though she barely got to enjoy the moment at all as she soon felt a firm grip grab onto her hair, pulling her head back until her curse released and she was staring up into the dark features of Bellatrix Lestrange.

"I thought you wouldn't do such spells, Nymphadora," Bella smirked, almost sounding pleased at the sight, "tut tut."

"There is nothing I wouldn't do anymore," Dora spat back at her, causing the witch to let out a cackle of laughter before with a hiss of pain Dora was forced to her feet by the grip of her aunt.

"Dare I ask what was going on here, Roddy?" Bellatrix sighed, "Or are you both simply having a little sit down in the corridor? It's a good thing your precious son's room is warded, or else the poor boy would have heard all of his parent's little squabble."

"Leave us be, Bella," Rodolphus growled, pulling himself to his feet, his wand still drawn.

"No thank you," she hummed in return, "I think I would like to have a little catch up with my niece, it's been a while since she's had any duelling practice and if there's a prophecy to fulfil she best get working on it, no?"

A shit eating grin split across Bella's face as her husband glared back at her, though neither said another word as with a hiss of pain from the younger witch Bella released her grip on the woman's hair and instead took her by the arm, leading her away from the man.