A few weeks later, Andromeda and Arthur took their children with them to go out shopping for a few things. It was all a fun time until they started hearing explosions.

"Dad, what's that?" Will asked, seeing his father frowning.

"Oooh!" Dora yelled, pointing up. "Look!"

Andromeda looked up, seeing the symbol she'd only truly seen once before: the snake and skull representing the Dark Lord, clearly visible over a nearby village. Others around them began to panic, running away, and she looked at her husband as their children stared at the sky, mesmerised.

"That's too close," he said. "Will, come here. Andromeda, take Dora and let's get to the apparition point."

Carrying the twins and taking Will by the hand, they made their way down the street. They were nearly there when four masked figures apparated between them and their goal.

"Dad, who are they?" Charlie gasped, staring at the newcomers.

Two of the figures turned toward the Weasleys, and Andromeda gripped her wand more tightly. "Oooh, a whole family of bloodtraitors," one of them spat. "What would Mummy and Daddy do if the babies were killed?"

"You won't touch them," Arthur said sharply, and Andromeda moved closer to him.

"We're just leaving," Andromeda said directly to the Death Eaters. "We don't want trouble."

"Andromeda, is it?" the second man mused. "How about the little girl there? Is she worth your rebellion?"

"Leave Mum alone," Dora snapped, deciding she didn't like the way he was talking to her mother.

The man chuckled. "Don't worry, baby girl, I'm sure your dear mum will be fine."

The two men attacked, and Arthur yelled for her to get the children away, but it wasn't possible to escape the four Death Eaters as she tried to protect the three children. A curse barely missed Andromeda and her daughter, and Dora screamed in rage, her hair shooting bright red.

"Leave Mum alone!" the two-year-old shrieked, and a burst of magic came from her, knocking the man backward as everyone froze for a moment.

Andromeda grabbed her daughter and ran past the motionless Death Eater, Arthur following her with the boys. Andromeda took her husband by the arm and disapparated to their home.

The moment they got into the house, Dora burst into tears and Charlie clung to his father, whimpering. Andromeda held her daughter tightly, murmuring, "It's okay, Dora. You're safe. You did really good."

Will moved closer to his dad, Arthur wrapping his other arm around the older boy. "Who were they?" Will whispered.

"Death Eaters," Andromeda murmured, trying to comfort her hysterical daughter. "People who do bad things to those they don't like."

It took Dora a while to calm down, Andromeda having to hold her in the rocking chair for a long time before Dora quieted and merely cuddled with her mother.

Arthur came to her a little while later and said, "Come eat, girls."

"No," Dora said, clinging to her mother, and Andromeda said gently, "Mum needs to eat, baby, but you can stay with me." Dora sniffed slightly and stayed with her mother.

As the young couple had feared, Cedrella Black Weasley passed away a couple months later. Arthur seemed to take it okay, and only Will seemed to realise that she was gone.

Andromeda was very close to her due date, and Arthur had taught the children that they needed to be very careful with their mother. She didn't know who was going to take care of the little ones while she was in labour, but Arthur told her that one of his cousins could take care of them.

One night, she woke up gasping for breath, and her husband was immediately awake. "Dromeda, is it time?"

"Oh—oh," she gasped, her arms around her stomach. "How could I sleep through that? Get the Healer: I'm sure it won't be long."

Arthur rolled out of bed and did as she asked before returning to her side. "Help me up," she panted. "It hurts—I need to be able to move around a little."

She paced around the room, giving soft little groans as the contractions already hurt a lot. "Come here," she gasped in the middle of one contraction, and wrapped her arms around his neck and had him support her as she pulled down, trying to relieve some of her pain.

"Are you pushing?" he asked her, and she shook her head.

"I—I need to wait for the Healer," she panted. "But it's almost time—oh!" And she was moaning in pain again.

"Andromeda, if it's time—"

"No," she shrieked, and he was glad the room was sound-warded. "I have to wait!" He helped her to the bed and she sat down, rocking back and forth and whimpering in pain. "Oh—oh—I need to—"

Yet it was fifteen minutes later when the Healer arrived and Arthur quickly brought her upstairs to his labouring wife. Andromeda was crying as she tried to manage the pain, and the other woman quickly moved to her side.

"Your husband said you feel like you need to push?" the Healer said, and the witch nodded, groaning at the pressure she was feeling.

The moment they lay Andromeda back on the bed, she started pushing, unable to keep her body from its natural process any longer. She let out a couple of shrieks, Arthur holding her hand as she struggled to bring forth her baby.

Arthur paled as he saw the Healer reach down, disentangling the cord from around the baby's neck, but Andromeda was crying in pain, unaware of what was happening. When she'd succeeded in pushing the baby out, the Healer immediately cut the cord and placed the child under some wards.

Then Andromeda realised something was wrong with the newborn. "What's going on?" she cried in fear.

"The cord...was around his neck," Arthur murmured, and his wife began to sob in despair.

"I knew something was wrong," she sobbed. "I knew it."

"He's breathing," the Healer said, watching the baby closely. "I'll give him to you, but you need to quiet down so you can keep an eye on his breathing. The wards will stay over him."

Andromeda looked up hopefully, trying to wipe away her tears before accepting her baby boy into her arms. "I'm sorry, baby," she sniffed as the Healer took take of her, continuing to check on the baby.

"Another boy," said Arthur, shaking his head in wonder.

"Yeah," Andromeda murmured, cradling the child to herself. "Little Percy." And she smiled slightly.

The Healer finished helping Andromeda, then approached and checked on the baby again. "No harm done," she said after a moment to the parents. "Babies are surprisingly strong—how else do you think they survive birth? He's perfectly healthy."

"Thank goodness," Andromeda sniffed.

"You know what to do, Mum," the Healer smiled, gathering her things. "After twins, one baby should be easier."

"Should be," Andromeda sighed. "Thank you."

"Of course." The Healer smiled and left.

Arthur leaned closer and looked down at the newborn. "Beautiful," he said. "You have such beautiful babies, Andromeda."

She blushed. "They're yours, too," she murmured, and he kissed her forehead. "Eventually...I want to have another girl," she whispered, almost afraid to say it.

"Like I said, that might be difficult," Arthur told her. "And one at a time, remember? Besides...four children is already more than most people have."

"I feel like we're not most people," Andromeda smirked.

"You never told me how many children you wanted," Arthur replied. "I don't think it was very many, though."

Andromeda smiled at her baby boy falling asleep in her arms. "When I was a little girl, I only wanted two or three," she said. "But this feels right, Arthur."

Arthur chuckled. "Take your time to recover," he said. "Then we'll see. Don't get impatient."

"Oh," Andromeda looked up quickly. "One of the kids is awake...it's Will."

"Shall I bring him here?" Arthur asked, getting to his feet, and his wife nodded.

A couple minutes later, Arthur returned with Will at his side. "Here," Arthur said, lifting boy onto the bed. "See?"

Andromeda smiled at her oldest boy. "Hi, Will. Meet your baby brother. This is Percy."

"Ooh," said Will, reaching out to touch the baby's arm. "Oh."

"This is your little brother," Andromeda said softly. "Like Charlie."

Will frowned at the baby, and Arthur said, "He's just a baby right now, but when he grows up a little bit, he'll be able to play with you and Dora and Charlie."

"Okay," Will said, and moved to leave the room.

Andromeda glanced to her husband. "What time is it?"

Arthur looked at his pocketwatch. "Nearly seven," he answered, following Will from the room.

The mother held her newborn baby close, hoping the twins' reaction would be okay as well.

When Dora and Charlie met their little brother, Charlie seemed intrigued, but Dora was uninterested, jumping down off the bed and grabbing onto her dad's robe. "Hungry," she said insistently.

"All right," Arthur chuckled, kissing his wife's cheek before saying, "I'll be back soon." He led Dora from the room, checking in on Will and taking both of them to the kitchen for a snack.

Andromeda smiled slightly as Charlie carefully touched the baby's hand, and Percy startled, giving a little cry. "It's just your brother, baby," she murmured to her newborn. "Come over here, Charlie, let him see you."

Percy settled down, clutching Charlie's finger as the older boy giggled, and the new baby drifted off to sleep in his mother's arms. Charlie stayed nearby his mother, curling into her side and continuing to watch the little baby in fascination.

A couple of hours later, Andromeda handed the baby off to Arthur, going to get in the shower. "You'll be all right?" he asked her.

"Yes, Arthur," she said with a tired smile.

"If you feel faint or something, you call me," he told her firmly.

"Of course, dear," she agreed, then disappeared into the small bathroom. She was glad to clean up from the birth and soothe some of her discomfort in the warm water before reluctantly dressing and returning to her family.

Arthur looked up at her from his seat on the bed, and she couldn't help smiling at him and their newest son. "Done all right?" he said.

She nodded, moving toward him and saying, "I want to go downstairs and stay on the couch for a little while."

"Very well," Arthur said, getting to his feet, somewhat disappointed as she reached for the baby.

"They're mine until they're old enough to not be Mumma's boys anymore," Andromeda smirked at him.

"They're ours," he said, catching her in a slight embrace and leaning his head against hers. "I'll always definitely need your help with them."

She laughed softly, and he kissed her cheek before leading her from the room, careful to help her down the stairs and seat her on the couch before he brought her a little tea and some breakfast. "Thanks," she said to him, and he nodded, turning as Will and Charlie ran into the room.

"Dad!" Will cried, holding out his hand to his father. "Dora broke me!"

"Oh," Andromeda said, seeing that her oldest son was missing his three middle fingers.

"Dad, help!" Charlie said urgently.

"Dora," Arthur called, resisting a desire to laugh. "Dora, come here, love."

The nearly three-year-old little girl peeked into the room cautiously, seeing her parents and her brothers looking at her. "What?" Dora asked, walking innocently into the room.

Will grabbed onto his father's arm with his good hand. "Dad, they're gone!" he wailed. "Help me!"

"We'll put them back, Will," Arthur said to the boy gently, taking him onto his lap. "Dora, did you mean to make his fingers disappear?"

"No...no," Dora shook her head. "But...he tickled me."

"Ah," said Arthur. "Well, let's see…." He took out his wand, and Dora and Charlie moved closer to watch what he was going to do. Within a couple of minutes, he was able to restore Will's fingers, and the boy grinned, flexing the fingers of his hand before hugging his father and jumping down to run back to the playroom.

Dora and Charlie followed, and Arthur looked at his wife. "She does so much accidental magic, Andromeda," he said. "Maybe I haven't been around children, but she seems to be doing things like that all the time."

Andromeda nodded. "Because of her abilities, it makes her magic a little more open," she said. "When I was a little girl, I never took anyone's fingers, but I do remember healing a cut that Bellatrix had given me because I didn't want her to get in trouble. I used to accidentally fix stuff she would break until I learned how to fix it on purpose." The dark-haired woman smiled sadly at the memories of her and her sisters.

"I'm sorry I caused you to be cut off from them," Arthur told her, as he had said many times. "Even though you do chat once in a great while. I wish you had other young women to talk to."

"I'm busy with the children," Andromeda answered. "I haven't got time for prissy little tea parties."

"Well, I meant friends, not gossips," the young man said wryly. "I haven't got time for those either. Perhaps in a couple months, I'll invite some young couples I know over for dinner?"

Andromeda hesitated, wanting to say no, but she merely replied, "Just don't surprise me with guests, please."

He smiled. "Of course not," he said, patting her knee. "I know that would be a bad idea. You do like to be a proper hostess, no matter what."

"I want to bring honour to our family as much as I can," Andromeda said. "That is the proper behaviour for a wife and mother: to do everything she can to build up her husband's family."

"And you've done that very well," Arthur told her. "Well, I'm going to go out to the workshop and see about that enchanted book that I confiscated last week."

"You and your toys," Andromeda said, rolling her eyes. "Don't do anything stupid."

"As if," Arthur laughed, gave her a peck on the cheek, then got to his feet and left her there with the newborn.

Andromeda looked down at her tiny infant, softly shushing him as he stirred and gave a shrill little cry. She was fortunate that her husband was always considering whether or not she would like or approve of whatever he was thinking of doing: she really had gotten the kindest of Cedrella's sons.

Just as Arthur had said he would, he invited some friends over for dinner a couple months later, and as Andromeda figured, most of them were from Dumbledore's bunch of rebels. She recognised a couple of them, and of course, she knew Sirius and James. She appreciated Arthur warning her about their guests, but it did annoy her that he had invited Sirius when she had specifically kicked him out of the Burrow the previous year.

She didn't question who the girl was that James Potter had with him, though Andromeda quickly learned that the girl's name was Lily Evans, and that the two were dating. "Took him long enough," Sirius grinned, nudging James in the ribs.

James elbowed his friend in return, but Sirius seemed uneffected. "And these two," James pointed out the couple across from Sirius and their other friend, "just recently married."

Andromeda remembered the Longbottom boy from pureblood gatherings years before, and learned that his wife's name was Alice, and that she too was a pureblood. She rather liked the young couple, especially Alice, who seemed to have a fun, yet calm energy and usually wore a beautiful smile.

"It's been quite a change," Alice smiled. "His family is less strict than mine, you see."

"Yeah," Sirius mused. "You'd never know he was from some old pureblood family unless you knew the name."

"Calling me a commoner?" Frank raised an eyebrow at Sirius Black.

"I'd rather be a commoner than a sour old hag," Alice said promptly, making nearly everyone laugh.

The men continued laughing and talking together, and Alice turned to Andromeda. "I'd imagine you also had quite the adjustment," she said in a quieter voice. "Going from House of Black to the Weasley family. Maybe you have some advice for young girls like me and Lily?"

Andromeda noticed Sirius watching her and didn't reply at first. "I really don't think I'm the best to give couples advice," she answered after a few moments. "All the marriages I've ever known were arranged, and neither of you girls is going through that."

"Ah, but you'll have all the motherly advice," Lily smiled, looking up from assisting Charlie in buttering a roll.

"Perhaps," Andromeda said, her face breaking into a smile as she surveyed her three toddlers before looking back at Percy, her three-month-old baby. "But I've found that every experience is different."

Alice grinned at Will, who had tapped her arm and was now telling her something about the cup he was drinking from. "I would love to help you with the children, if you ever needed someone to assist," she said to Andromeda. "It seems like good practise, and every mother needs a break once in a while."

Andromeda hesitated. "Well," she said, "you can come for tea next Tuesday, but we may have to drink it cold if the children are particularly adventurous that day."

"All right," Alice agreed, seeming excited at the prospect.

Andromeda did her best to balance the conversation and hold her thoughts together until everyone left, and Alice repeated their tea time just to make sure. Arthur turned to her. "Alice is coming over for tea?"

"Yes," Andromeda said quietly, beginning to clear the table with a wave of her wand. Another flick, and the dishes began to wash themselves. "It seems she wants to learn how children work for when she has a few of her own."

"She'll learn from the best," Arthur said proudly, having to immediately turn and break up a fight between Dora and her brothers. "Really, you three," he sighed. "Maybe it'll be good for you to have her here."

"I don't know if this is a wise idea," Andromeda sighed. "But we'll see."

To Andromeda's surprise, having another young woman at the house was a welcome treat, and she played with the boys easily enough so that Andromeda was able to get some of the housework done, in between taking care of Percy. Nymphadora warmed up to the young woman fairly quickly, to her mother's relief, and played with her brothers nicely.

When the children were all down for a nap, Alice joined Andromeda at the kitchen table. "Well, those three are certainly full of energy," Alice said breathlessly. "I don't know how you handle three toddlers and a baby on your own."

"If they get to be too much, I put them to sleep," Andromeda admitted. "I did that a couple times when I was pregnant with Percy." Andromeda made herself a small snack and offered Alice some. "So. Are both you and your husband in the Order, or is it just he?"

Alice frowned slightly. "I could ask you the same thing," she replied coolly.

"Well, I have asked not to be involved, and not to know about what they're up to," Andromeda said simply. "I have children to care for and can't be involved with a rebel group, and I must be prepared to take care of my sons and daughter in case something happens to Arthur."

"Nothing should happen," Alice answered. "No one knows he's in the Order."

"Yet," said Andromeda dryly. "They will know even as bloodtraitors and the like travel in and out of this house."

"Even bloodtraitors have their pureblood circles," Alice said with a smile. "But you don't consider yourself a bloodtraitor, do you?"

Andromeda made a sound of derision, answering, "I do not. But I have no need to oppose my husband's beliefs."

The younger woman thought for a moment, then asked, "Do you think you'll ever get used to being a...Weasley?"

Andromeda frowned. "I think I'm as used to it as I can be," she said. "Arthur is very understanding: he is the best husband."

"I disagree," said Alice, crossing her arms. "Frank is the best husband."

Andromeda hesitated, then laughed, and the tension eased between them. "Mum?" Andromeda looked up to see Dora looking into the room.

"Dora, you're supposed to be napping," Andromeda said softly.

"I can't," Dora sniffed, then went to Alice and climbed onto her lap.

Alice wrapped her arms around the child and patted her back, her conversation with Andromeda over.