Chapter 55: Branstone
18 Upper Northam Close
Southampton, Hampshire, England
June 13, 1987
"What you are suggesting is monstrous!" Andromeda Tonks exclaimed. Her ear was pressed to the muggle contraption that her husband had long ago told her was a telephone. She had to admit that the device was an interesting invention. Many of the things that Muggles created to make their lives easier were fascinating items. She had long ago mastered the use of the telephone to speak with Muggles. She used it now to speak with Corinne Branstone, the grandmother of her charge Eleanor.
Corinne Branstone was becoming a real problem.
Andromeda was beginning to find the woman intolerable and now with the woman's latest suggestion she was determined that Eleanor should be removed from Corinne's influence entirely. By all accounts, the woman had seemed to be a doting grandmother who loved her granddaughter and wanted what was best for her. The shock of learning that young Eleanor was a Witch had skewed the woman's love. Now Corinne seemed to want to "cure" her granddaughter of her "abnormal affliction."
"Your granddaughter is a Witch, Mrs. Branstone," Andromeda ruthlessly reminded her. "It was not something done to her. It is not some sort of curse. Eleanor was born this way. This is who and what she is. You have no right to even contemplate trying some sort of ritual to rid her of it," she hissed out, letting out some of her barely leashed anger. She was only too grateful that Eleanor was currently residing in her own house. She had picked Eleanor and Hermione up from their family homes the night before so that they could spend a week with her. Corinne had not wished to allow Eleanor to spend the week with her, but she was overruled by Eleanor's father, who had no problem with his daughter spending time with her Magical Guardian. Andromeda preferred to deal with Torrance Branstone, Eleanor's father, as opposed to Corinne. Unfortunately, Torrance worked long hours and since his wife could not be trusted to properly care for Eleanor, he left his mother in charge of his only child. Corinne's dislike of magic had become a strong phobia and it was hurting Eleanor.
Eleanor's demeanor had been one of relief at Andromeda's presence. It hadn't been just the usual happiness that the child displayed at seeing her. No, Eleanor had been relieved that Andromeda was there to remove her from her grandmother's presence. Once safely away from her home, Eleanor had admitted that her grandmother had taken her to a priest twice to insist that he examine her for evil forces. Andromeda had been mystified by this. She had later asked Ted what it meant, and he had explained how Muggles thought magic was evil. That put the Witch Hunts into a different perspective for her. She had known that Muggles had hunted Witches centuries ago, but she had never really paid attention to why since history wasn't one of her interests. It seemed that Corinne was one of those who believed that magic was evil.
"There must be a way to rid her of this," Corinne Branstone was saying and Andromeda had to grind her teeth not to scream out her frustration with the woman.
"That you would think to take this away from her, to damage her like this, tells me that you do not love her as much as I was led to believe when I became her Magical Guardian," she replied stiffly.
"How dare you?" Corinne Branstone snarled with wounded dignity. "I love my Granddaughter. I just want to make her well again."
"She is not ill," Andromeda said firmly. "She is a lovely young Witch who is growing into her powers every day. There is nothing wrong with her."
"Yesterday she was unhappy about something and then a window broke. No one was near the thing and it broke," Corinne's voice quivered with her dismay and there was something else, something darker. Andromeda feared that it might be fury. This woman was growing more impatient, more intolerant. Soon she would grow angry. Andromeda couldn't let the woman take anger out on Eleanor.
"If you had permitted a paid servant of Lord Black's choosing to live and serve in your home, then the window would have been fixed without issue," she said in a tone she was hoping sounded cajoling and reasonable, but she was pretty sure it came off as surly and furious.
"I wasn't going to risk a grown magic user in my home. They could bespell us and curse us!" Corinne exclaimed.
"A Witch or Wizard could do that without being in your home," Andromeda said idly. "And it is customary for magical children to have another Witch or Wizard close to them as they are growing up to better take care of them when they have bouts of accidental magic. It can be just as distressing for a child when their magic lashes out as it can be for those who witness the event. In fact, your emoting of your startled emotions probably greatly upset Eleanor," she said the last in a tone that emphasized how much she didn't appreciate Corinne upsetting her charge.
"If it upsets her so much, then she should agree with me that stopping this magic nonsense is for the best!" Corinne exclaimed.
"She does not agree with you," Andromeda reminded. "Furthermore, her father does not agree with you either. I have spoken with Mr. Branstone, the younger," she amended since Corinne's husband, Reginald Branstone was also Mr. Branstone. "Torrance understands that Eleanor was born a Witch and that this isn't some strange thing that just happened to her and can be removed. He made it clear to me that he loves his little girl and has no intention of allowing anyone to attempt to harm her."
"I am not trying to harm her," Corinne insisted. "I wish to help her be normal again."
"This is what she has always been!" Andromeda snapped. "She was born a Witch. She was doing magic before you noticed it. She is magical."
"No," Corinne said darkly. "One of your kind must have cursed her to be this!"
Andromeda sucked in a breath and she counted to ten in her head. "Mrs. Branstone, I don't think I have ever met anyone who was as sick as you," she said slowly.
"What?" Corinne replied indignantly. "I am not sick!"
"Yes, you are!" Andromeda snapped. "You once loved your granddaughter. Now every time you look at her you fear her. You fear what she does, what she can do. You have let that fear twist you and twist the love you used to have for her. Now you see her as a danger to yourself and you barely remember that you love her."
There was silence on the other end of the line for several moments. Andromeda welcomed it. It was a small reprieve. "I can see now that you will not be persuaded to help me alleviate my granddaughter of this burden," Corinne said, her voice tight with wounded pride. "Very well, thank you for your time, Mrs. Tonks."
Andromeda sighed as she listened to Corinne Branstone hang up on her. She listened to the dial tone for a moment before she placed the phone into its cradle. She shook her head, trying to clear it of the rage that she felt toward the woman. She needed to think clearly. She moved from the office and went down the hall toward the kitchen. She had left her daughter, Nymphadora, and her two charges in the kitchen an hour ago so she could talk with the Branstone woman. As she neared the kitchen she could hear laughter and she smiled as she took in the notes of Eleanor's giggles and Hermione's teasing voice. It was good to have the two girls in her house. She had always wanted to have more children, but Nymphadora was the only child she had been blessed to have. Being the Magical Guardian of two little heiresses was a great honor and in a sense, it appeased that part of Andromeda that had always wanted more children.
She paused in the doorway of her kitchen and her blue eyes widened as she took in the sight of her three girls messy with baking flour. Nymphadora had a rolling pin in hand and was showing Eleanor how to roll out the dough. Two chairs had been pulled up to the work counter so that Hermione and Eleanor would be able to kneel in them to easily reach the counter. "Okay Hermione, now sprinkle a bunch of the chocolate chips on the dough," she heard her daughter instruct. She watched with a smile curving her lips as Hermione happily obliged. It was soothing watching her three girls together and it settled her frayed nerves.
She couldn't allow Eleanor to be subjected to Corinne Branstone any longer. She was tempted to do magic on the woman just to make Eleanor safe. Ultimately the spells would fade though, and it went against her morals to use magic against muggles unless it was necessary. No, she couldn't use spells to modify the woman's thoughts and feelings. Other avenues to protect Eleanor would have to be seen to. She needed to speak with Torrance Branstone and she needed to speak with Lord Black.
Lord Black would be the easier conversation. In many ways, she felt bad for Torrance Branstone. He had married Eleanor's mother, Katherine Bainbridge, because he was attracted to her and because she was his social equal. Andromeda had felt a little bit guilty about using magic to compel him to tell her about his family life, but she had felt that she needed to understand the family dynamic that surrounded Eleanor. Torrance's marriage to Katherine reminded her of the sort of marriage that she had feared. She was grateful that she had fallen in love with Ted and had eloped with him. Otherwise, she would have ended up married to a man she could never really love. It was clear that whatever affection Torrance had once had for his wife was long dead. Andromeda had encouraged him to consider divorcing his wife and obtaining full custody of his daughter with no visitation granted to the girl's mother. He had told her he would consider it and Andromeda had not pressed since that conversation.
Torrance had a great love for his only child. He also loved his job. He was a barrister. He loved his work and enjoyed making the sort of money that he knew would provide well for his little girl. Andromeda respected him for that, though she wished he could curb his work hours to make more time for his daughter. Eleanor was dearly devoted to him. She loved him very much and it was clear that she understood that he was the better parent. She was wary of her mother and she had explained to Andromeda that she believed that her mother was a sick woman who probably couldn't get well again. She wondered how much of what Eleanor had to say about Katherine Branstone was due to her grandmother? It was clear that Corinne disliked her daughter-in-law, so it was not impossible that the woman had said things about Katherine in Eleanor's hearing. They were right though. Katherine Branstone nee Bainbridge was a sick woman. She was a drug addict who didn't care a bit about her child.
"Mother, is everything alright?" Nymphadora's voice brought her from her musings. She took in the look of concern on her daughter's face and was struck by how much Nymphadora's natural features reminded her of her own. Dora resembled her, and her older sister Bellatrix, more than she resembled Ted, though she had his beautiful hazel eyes.
"Yes, everything is fine," she said and then she smirked as she looked at the smudge of flower on her daughter's face. "You know you three will be cleaning up this mess, right?"
"We know," Eleanor said.
Hermione nodded. "Dora said that part of cooking is that you have to do prep work first and clean up last. You aren't done just because you finished cooking or baking," she recited.
"Yep," Dora said emphasizing the p. "I did say that."
"We wanted to make some chocolate chip cookies for Ted," Eleanor said with a happy tone of voice.
Andromeda smirked. Her husband did love anything with chocolate. "Chocolate-chip cookies are one of his favorites," she told them.
"Dora said that," Hermione agreed. "She also said that Chocolate Chip cookies were less complicated to make so it was better to teach us to bake those first."
"I also said to never do this at your own homes without adult supervision," her oldest girl reminded the younger two. "Please don't forget that. I'll never forgive myself if either of you does this when home alone and gets hurt, okay?"
Eleanor patted Nymphadora on the arm and dusted flower arose in the air making both girls cough. "We remembered. We will not forget."
"Well, since you three are being kind enough to make cookies, I am going back to the study. I need to have a conversation with Lord Black," Andromeda said idly. The two younger girls would not understand that Andromeda meant to have a very serious conversation with the Lord of House, but by Nymphadora's sharp look, she knew that her daughter understood that she was to keep the younger two busy until Andromeda reappeared. With a nod to her girls, she turned away and returned to her study.
She gently closed the door behind her. She leaned against the door for a moment and let herself think about how she needed to approach the situation with Lord Black. At last, she strode to her fireplace and reached for the decorated jar on the mantle that she kept the floo powder in. She dropped it into the flames and called out "Chateau Noir."
"Missy Dromeda," a House-Elf croaked.
"Hello," she said. "I wish to speak with Lord Black," she told the House-Elf. "Please tell him that it is Andromeda and that it is an urgent matter concerning the care of Miss Eleanor."
The House-Elf looked alarmed then. "I am telling Lord Black now," it assured her and then it disappeared, apparating away.
A few moments later Lord Black appeared. "Andromeda, what is the urgency?" he asked. "Has Eleanor been harmed?"
"In a manner of speaking," she said tightly. "This is a conversation better had in person."
"I see," he said grimly. "I will use my portkey to return to London then floo to your home," he said. "If that is acceptable?"
"Yes, my Lord," she agreed readily. "It is very much appreciated!"
"Very well," he said and then she cut off the floo connection.
She moved away from the fireplace and stood beside the leather sofa that her husband preferred in this room. She was more agitated than nervous about speaking to Lord Black about the situation and she took that as a good sign. Lord Black had always been kind to her. He had been very generous in how he treated her after she had eloped. Other Lords of House would have disowned females of their house who did such a thing. Lord Black had chosen to accept Ted, though he punished her by halving her Dowry. It was a small price to pay to be able to marry the man she loved, and Ted had not cared about the Dowry. He had just wanted her. Fortunately, for her and Ted, Lord Black had chosen to ensure she had a Dowry property. He bought her the home she and her family lived in. She had picked the place out and he had bought it for her. He had ensured that the home was both magical and muggle. Blood Wards protected the property and there was a Floo set up, but everything else about the house was Muggle and modern.
The flare of the floo caught her attention and she turned her gaze back just in time to see Lord Black step out of the flames. "Andromeda my dear," he greeted her with a kiss on her brow as she came to greet him. "It is good to see you, even if I will not like the circumstances."
She smiled at that. "I agree, Lord Black," she said. "I wish I could have called you for a more pleasant reason, though if you stay long enough you might partake of a taste testing," she said the last with some amusement.
"Taste testing?" he inquired, somewhat intrigued.
She grinned at that. "Yes," she said. "Dora, Hermione, and Eleanor are in the kitchen making chocolate chip cookies," she told him with some delight. "I am sure they would love for you to taste test their creations."
Arcturus smirked at that. "Well, I wouldn't want to upset the little darlings," he drawled.
She laughed at that and then invited him to sit down. She watched as he sat on the love seat and she chose a seat in the center of the leather sofa. "I picked up Eleanor and Hermione yesterday afternoon from their homes. They are staying a week with me. The Granger's are going to some sort of work convention and I thought it a good idea for Hermione to stay with me instead of with Petunia and Marius."
He nodded at that. "And since you were taking Hermione for some bonding time, you thought that you should take Eleanor as well," he said lightly. "Makes sense."
She gave a small smile for his apparent approval. "I noticed that there was some upset and tension in the Branstone home. Eleanor was not just pleased to see me, she was relieved," she said and frowned because she still could not think of the right words to convey aloud just how wrong it had felt to her that Eleanor was relieved to be away from her family.
"That sounds ominous," Arcturus mused.
"Corinne Branstone called me today demanding to know if there was a way to remove the curse of magic from her granddaughter," she informed Lord Black.
"She what?" he demanded. "She said that her granddaughter was cursed?"
"Yes," Andromeda sighed. "Muggles sometimes believe that magic is a sign of evil and Mrs. Branstone seems to fall into this category," she explained. "She insisted that Eleanor was cursed and that the magic could be removed. She was very upset when I kept trying to tell her that Eleanor was a Witch, that she had been born this way and that there would be no removing her magic."
"I see," he said with a frown. "Marius was concerned about the way she handled his explanation that Eleanor was a Witch. The woman had not wished to believe him, and he wasn't certain that she did believe it even though she verbalized that she did," he frowned. "My own dealings with the woman have been less than satisfactory. I freely admit that I have been happy to leave the honors to you. I would rather you deal with that headache than me. If left to me then she would have been oblivated of all knowledge of her granddaughter and Eleanor would live with you permanently."
"I'm tempted to do it, but there is Eleanor's father to consider. He dearly loves his daughter," Andromeda explained.
"Marius tells me that Torrance Branstone is worth cultivating and he is still quite fond of his father, Reginald," he mused. "Corinne seems to be the real problem. What is your assessment?"
She frowned in thought. "Her love is twisted by her fear and Eleanor is no longer safe with her. Corinne is used to being in control. She has resented that Eleanor is not normal, not a Muggle like her. She has resented our involvement in Eleanor's life. She has repeatedly refused to cooperate. She refuses to allow a House-Elf for Eleanor because she fears them. She refuses to have a Witch or Wizard as a paid servant in the house because she thinks they'll cast spells on her. She seems like a woman jumping at shadows."
He nodded. "But she's a decisive and strong-willed woman. A woman such as that jumping at shadows will seek out weapons to start combating them."
"That is my fear, yes," Andromeda agreed. "I think she intends to do something foolish regarding Eleanor and her magic. I don't know what she could do, but I know that fear is illogical. She'll try something, and I don't want her to have the opportunity."
"If necessary, are you and Ted prepared to take full responsibility of Eleanor?" he asked of her.
She nodded curtly. "Yes," she told him. "Ted and I have spoken of this before because of Corinne's attitude. Ted would like to see Corinne in a professional capacity, but there is no way that the woman would say yes," she admitted. Her husband was a very competent and well-respected Mind-Healer. While she had been agitated by Corinne Branstone's growing fear of her granddaughter, Ted had been professionally intrigued.
"Perhaps we should speak to her husband about such a thing," Arcturus mused. "At the least, it will show we are concerned about her and trying to help her and who knows, perhaps Ted will get the joy of having her as his patient."
She snorted in disbelief at that. "I highly doubt it," she said with a sigh. "I have the girls for a week and I do not intend to relinquish Eleanor into Corinne's care again. I will be speaking with Torrance about my fears for Eleanor. He's been very receptive thus far. I hope that speaking out against his mother will not make him close off to me."
"If he closes off and Eleanor ends up in danger, we will remove her from their care," Arcturus said decisively. "I refuse to see a child of House Black suffer needlessly."
"I agree. It would be wrong to leave her in a position for her family to hurt her because of fear and pride," she said and then with a soft smile she looked at the closed study door. She grasped her wand and then waved it to open the door.
"Girls," she greeted pleasantly. Dora looked a little bit chagrinned at being caught out at the study door, no doubt trying to eavesdrop. Hermione and Eleanor simply smiled.
"The cookies are finished, and we thought perhaps you'd like to have a few," Dora said swiftly as she entered the room carrying a plate that was piled with cookies.
"How thoughtful of you," Arcturus praised even as he reached for a chocolate chip cookie.
The three girls watched him carefully and when he reached for a second cookie they took it as a good sign that he liked them. This seemed to convince the girls that they too should eat cookies and they reached out for their own delicious treats.
Andromeda smiled at the incongruous sight of the powerful and ruthless Lord Black eating chocolate chip cookies with three young ladies of his House. None of his enemies would ever believe that he could be so kind and affectionate with the young children of his house.
She leaned back on the couch with Dora beside her and Hermione and Eleanor seated beside Lord Black. She basked in the contentment of having her girls there with her and Lord Black. They were safe and secure for now. Lord Black was now apprised of the situation and he would come up with a plan to safeguard Eleanor. If she had to move to protect Eleanor before he had a plan in place, then she knew he would back her in the situation. It was a relief to know that she would have his support. She was not vindictive like her eldest sister, Bellatrix, but Andromeda didn't deceive herself into the belief that she was a bastion of goodness. She could be ruthless when safeguarding her loved ones. Eleanor and Hermione were hers to protect and to guide and she refused to consider failing either one of them.
Thank you for reading and reviewing! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I am trying to get back into the groove of writing, editing, and posting again. I thank all of you for your wonderful support.
