It was when Bellatrix heard Rodolphus yelling with Nymphadora as the obvious object of his anger that she rushed from her room to find the rest of the family in the Entrance Hall. Ronan seemed to be injured, sitting on the floor and groaning as he cradled his left arm. Bellatrix would have been amused at the sight except that Rodolphus seemed to be working himself into a towering rage, Nymphadora facing him squarely, her hair bright red in her fury.
Ronan looked over and gasped, "Mum, I think my arm's broken."
This really upset Rodolphus, and he glared between Bellatrix and the girl. "See what she's done?" he snapped. "You really think—"
"She didn't mean to!" Ronan cried. "Dad, leave her alone!"
"She purposely knocked you down," Rodolphus scoffed. "I watched her do it."
"He wouldn't leave me alone," Dora said angrily, crossing her arms.
"I'd like to see you try that with me, Nymphadora," the man told her darkly.
"So send me away," the girl sneered at him, terrified of what he might do but refusing to back down.
Rodolphus glared at her but said nothing, and Ronan pushed his mother away and got to his feet before she could heal him. "Mum brought you here," he said before anyone realised what he was saying. "Your parents didn't send you away, Dora."
All three turned to the boy, both of his parents giving him a look that clearly meant "shut up." Ronan ignored them, looking straight at Dora. "But I don't care what Mum did. I like you, and I want you to be here with me."
Dora stared at Bellatrix and Rodolphus, and as neither of them denied what Ronan had said, her lower lip quivered slightly. "Wha—what?" she whispered.
Bellatrix moved forward. "Rodolphus, take care of your son," she said, moving toward Dora.
"No!" Dora cried, backing away from her aunt.
"We need to talk," said Bellatrix.
"You're a liar!" shrieked Dora, her hair turning white as her anger turned to fear of what they were going to do to her now that she had hurt their son. "No! NO!"
"Tell her the truth," Ronan said sharply to his mother, then yelled in pain as his father accidentally grabbed his injured arm.
"I will," Bellatrix said firmly, looking at the girl. "Dora, let's go to the kitchen and talk."
Dora was shaking her head vehemently and couldn't speak for all of her emotions, seeing Ronan being marched out of the room by his father. A dry sob escaped her as she well knew that there wasn't anything she could do to escape the manor, and she kept her distance from her aunt, finally following her slowly from the room.
When they were seated at the counter in the kitchen, Dora's trembling hands wrapped around a cup of hot tea, Bellatrix murmured, "I never meant to frighten you, Dora. I didn't want you to be upset—you see, I always wanted a daughter. Your mother has children so easily, but it's not like that for me—and Andromeda has so many children that she couldn't possibly pay attention to all of them."
"You stole me from Mum and Dad?" Dora whispered.
"I brought you here to be my own little girl," Bellatrix answered. "You're special, Dora, and you deserve more attention than you were getting at your parents' house. I should have told you the truth from the start, but I wasn't thinking the right way."
"Did Mum try to get me back?" the girl sniffed, struggling hard against her emotions.
"I told her that if she cared about you, she'd let me have you," Bellatrix said quietly. "I wanted you to be my little girl, and I wasn't going to just give you back."
"But she wanted me?" Dora sniffed, her eyes bright with tears. "Mum wanted me to come back? And Dad?"
"Yes," Bellatrix replied softly. "They were very sad that I'd taken you away. I think that's why your mother had a bunch of other children: she wanted another little girl because I took the only one she had at the time."
Dora was choked with tears, but wept, "I want Mum."
Bellatrix shook her head sadly. "She's busy with the other children, Dora. You wouldn't want to be there now because she couldn't take care of all of you and her next baby girl."
Dora stared at her aunt, crushed by the last few words. "Mum only has boys," she whispered. "I'm the only girl."
"She's pregnant again, with a girl," Bellatrix answered gently. "You'll be happier here since it's just you and Ronan. You can be my daughter, just like Ronan said years ago when you came here."
There were footsteps, and Rodolphus appeared in the doorway, making Dora cringe away from him and move closer to Bella. "I'm not angry anymore, Dora," he sighed.
"Did you hurt Ronan?" Dora sniffed, feeling Bellatrix's arm around her shoulders and being unable to push her aunt away this time.
"No," Rodolphus frowned. "I healed him. You didn't hurt him too badly."
"I told her why I wanted her here," Bellatrix said softly, stroking Dora's white hair back from her face. "My own little girl—a strong little girl that I can teach to be powerful like me. She knows that Andromeda wanted her back but that I refused to give her back."
"Did you help Bella?" Dora demanded, glaring up at the man.
Rodolphus hesitated for a moment, then said, "I didn't. I didn't want her to bring you here because you're not mine."
"But you won't let me go home?" Dora asked.
"You'll have more opportunities here," Rodolphus told her. "You and Bella do well as mother and daughter for the most part, and she loves you."
"She doesn't," Dora muttered.
"I'm not outwardly loving like your mother is," Bellatrix sighed. "But I do love you, Dora. I want to protect you and help you grow into a powerful young witch."
"You're both mean," sniffed Dora, crossing her arms. "You're liars."
Rodolphus didn't speak for a moment, then said to the girl, "I'm sorry, Dora. I got mad and yelled at you but I know you're just upset because of what we've done. You have every right to be upset, and I don't blame you for being mad at us."
Dora hunched over protectively, and asked, "Can I go see Ronan?"
"Yes," said Rodolphus. "Let me go with you. I told him to stay in his room for a while."
The girl pulled away from Bella and got to her feet, leaving the room and going straight to Ronan's room, where Rodolphus opened the door and said, "Ronan, Dora wanted to see you. You don't have to stay in your room."
Ronan, who was sitting on his bed, nodded and looked at Dora in concern. Dora entered the room and shut the door in Rodolphus' face before approaching the young boy. "Are you okay?" Ronan asked almost in a whisper.
"No," Dora sniffed, and Ronan jumped up from the bed and went to her immediately.
"They didn't hurt you, right?" Ronan wanted to know, hesitating to touch the girl.
"They're liars," Dora whispered, her eyes sparkling with tears. "And they won't let me go home."
"I know," Ronan sighed, finally reaching out and hugging his friend. "I'm sorry, Dora. They'll never let you go, but I want you to be here. I'd be all alone unless you were here. You're my sister now."
"I'm not," Dora huffed.
"Well, my parents aren't yours," Ronan sighed, "but you're like a sister to me. I'd like to be your brother, if you want."
Dora walked to the bed, sat down, and started crying silently. Ronan hesitated, then sat down next to her and took her left hand in his. "I'm not mad," he said. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me, even though you did."
She sniffed and squeezed his hand, but didn't say anything more for a while, staying close to him for the rest of the evening. She could care less if Rodolphus didn't like her to sleep in his son's room: Dora didn't want to be alone anymore.
"Good job!" Andromeda praised Will and Charlie. In the new year, she had been allowing her two oldest sons to begin learning simple spells using her wand, though Percy often asked to be allowed to try too. The other twins had discovered the love of teasing their baby brother, and as she took breaks from standing up with the older two, she consistently checked on the twins and Tommy.
"Mum, is Dora learning spells too?" Charlie asked her with a frown.
"Oh, probably, dear," Andromeda answered, sitting down to rest for a moment. It was the middle of June, and she was already uncomfortable in her pregnancy, ready for her baby girl to arrive—though there were nearly eight weeks left to go.
"Do you think she'll do as good as we are doing?" Will asked.
"I'm sure she'll do great," Andromeda smiled at them. "Will, may I have my wand back?"
Will handed over the wand carefully, then glanced up, hearing his one-year-old brother yell. The oldest brother turned and hurried to find Tommy and see what was wrong. Moments later, he came back with his little brother in his arms. "Mum, look what they did," he said, half amused, half annoyed.
Little Tommy was sporting black hair and Will pulled the baby's hand forward, showing his mother that Tommy's thumbs were missing. Andromeda gave a small groan. "Silas! Regis!" she called to her twin sons.
The twins were laughing in their room, but soon came to their mother and stood at her knees, grinning up at her. "I'm hungry, Mum," Silas reported.
"Did you morph your brother, boys?" Andromeda asked them, gently healing a scratch on Regis' cheek.
"I didn't," Regis said, looking up at his mother innocently.
"Well," Andromeda said, looking from one three-year-old to the other, "in the future, why don't you morph your older brothers? It's dangerous to morph babies, okay?"
"Tommy's fiiiiiiiine," Silas groaned.
"But he didn't like it, did he?" their mother smiled, taking Tommy into her arms and putting him back to normal.
"He was only surprised," Regis shrugged. "He's okay."
"You have special powers, boys," she said softly. "You've got to be careful with them."
Silas nodded. "I am," he told her, and Regis agreed.
"Thank you, boys," she said, and Regis turned to leave, but Silas continued looking up at his mother. "I'm hungry," he said again.
"All right," she said, holding back a sigh. "I'll get you something in a minute. Mum's tired."
"Why are you tired?" Regis asked his mother, tilting his head slightly.
"Her baby makes her tired," Will said, wise from years of experience with his mother being pregnant. "It's hard work to grow a baby."
Both twins looked around at their oldest brother, then back at their mother, who smiled and patted her obvious baby bump. "Mum's having another baby," she said. "You know that, boys."
"But it's a girl," Will told them, even though the twins couldn't understand what all that meant.
"Well, I'm still hungry," Silas said petulantly.
"Have patience, love," Andromeda told him. "I'll get you something in a minute."
Silas sat himself down at her feet, leaning against her legs as he knew that his mother would not do anything unless she was ready. Tommy jumped down from his mother's lap and wandered away, his thumbs restored and his hair back to red. Charlie followed him quickly to make sure he didn't fall down the stairs, and Andromeda took a few moments to rest before she inevitably had to go downstairs to get Silas a snack.
The last few months had taken an awful toll on the world, but Andromeda herself had had a wonderful time, enjoying her last pregnancy and spending time with her husband and sons. Arthur had been even more helpful than usual since he'd found out she was expecting, and they had spent a few quiet evenings together.
Even the previous night he had rubbed her back and talked to their baby girl until Andromeda had nearly fallen asleep without putting on her nightgown. Arthur was very loving toward her, and she appreciated his concern, soaking up his affection as the war came ever closer to them.
Andromeda took a deep breath and decided that when she put the three youngest down for their naps, she would also take a nap. She was glad that her oldest three sons weren't as rowdy as the younger three and could be trusted to keep out of trouble if left alone.
It was a rather hot weekend day in August when Andromeda went into labour. She was beyond excited and called the family Healer to the house early just to make sure that everything was going to go okay. She was able to relax for a while, just moving around the house and being with her children until she needed more concentration and went to her room.
After Sirius had arrived to stay with the boys, Arthur joined Andromeda and the Healer in their room. Andromeda was sitting on the edge of the bed, but looked up with a weary smile. "I'm close," she said. "She's almost here."
"You're doing great," he answered, walking to her side. "Sirius is with the boys."
"Good," Andromeda sighed, caressing her stomach carefully and closing her eyes. "Oh..."
A little less than two hours later found her groaning in pain as she did her best to bring forth her baby girl. She was listening to the Healer's encouraging words, and after a while, her daughter was born. The instant her daughter was placed on her chest, Andromeda began to cry softly and sniffed, "Hi, beautiful."
"She's perfect," Arthur sniffed, and Andromeda looked up her husband wiping his eyes, which made her laugh and cry at the same time.
"She's lovely," the Healer smiled, quickly cleaning things up and helping Andromeda be more comfortable.
"Elsie Cedrella," Andromeda said, cradling the newborn to herself before looking up at her husband with a happy sigh. "I love her."
Arthur wiped his eyes again and looked down at his second little girl. "I do too," he agreed. "She's beautiful."
Andromeda automatically helped the tiny child latch and feed just a little bit, the joy and sorrow of her memories with Dora making her cry quietly all over again. "I love you," she whispered to her baby girl. "I promise I'll keep you safe."
"Congratulations, Andromeda," the Healer told her. "I've left you the regular potions. Let me know if you need anything, of course, and I'll be back to check on you in a couple weeks."
"Thank you," Andromeda murmured, but didn't look up from her baby girl as the Healer let herself out of the room.
Arthur sat down next to his wife, both of them focusing in on their baby girl. "Little Elsie," he sighed, and Andromeda leaned her head on his shoulder, tired but happy.
They sat there together with their new baby for a little while until Arthur asked, "Did you want to have a nap before the boys meet her?"
"That's probably best," Andromeda smiled tiredly. "But you should go talk to them and tell them that their sister is here and that they can see her after a little while."
"All right," he agreed. "You'll be okay by yourself for a few minutes?"
Andromeda nodded, and Arthur kissed her head, then got to his feet and went downstairs. Will came running to him immediately and demanded to know about the baby, and Percy looked on with interest. Charlie glanced up from laughing with the twins and pretended he hadn't heard, looking away again.
"You have another sister now," Arthur told them happily.
"Can we see her?" Will asked excitedly.
"Your mother needs to rest for a little while, and then you can go see her," their father told them.
"Okay," Will nodded, turning back to the book he had been reading.
Sirius looked up from the letter he'd been writing and asked, "You'll be staying with Andromeda until then, right?"
Arthur nodded. "If you'll continue to keep an eye on the boys for a little while longer, I'd appreciate it," he said.
"Of course," Sirius agreed, seeming to be in no hurry to leave.
"Thanks," Arthur told the younger man, then went back to his wife and daughter.
Andromeda was sitting up slightly, one arm wrapped around her stomach as she looked down at her sleeping baby girl on the bed next to her. "Can you bring me that pain-killing potion?" she asked her husband immediately. "It hurts."
He quickly obeyed, and she drank the potion quickly, closing her eyes for a few moments. "Dromeda, are you okay?" he asked her in concern.
"I...the cramps are just really bad," she winced. "But I promise Elsie's not a twin."
Arthur smiled at this, but kept an eye on his wife until the potion seemed to take effect and she relaxed into her pillows. He moved the baby to the crib next to their bed, then conjured a cot and lay down next to his wife to keep an eye on her and the baby for a little while.
It was only twenty minutes later or so when he was suddenly wide awake, glancing around the room to see the newborn still sleeping peacefully. He looked over at his wife and was concerned to see that her breathing was much more shallow than usual, her face nearly colourless. "Andromeda," he murmured in concern. "Andromeda, dear, wake up."
He found it very difficult to rouse her, and when her eyelids flickered slightly, he breathed, "Andromeda, please wake up."
"Arthur," she mumbled, seeming nearly unable to raise her head. "I'm…tired…."
"Are you feeling okay?" he asked her, beginning to be frightened at her behaviour. "You look very pale."
"So tired," she said, barely moving her lips.
"Andromeda," he began, but her eyes drifted shut again and he made a split-second decision, leaning over her and wrapping his arms around her before disapparating from their home.
The instant they appeared in the waiting room of St Mungo's, Andromeda collapsed to the floor, and a couple of witches screamed. Within a couple of minutes, a Healer was at her side, asking Arthur what had happened and taking the unconscious witch back to a room. Arthur explained that she had just given birth and that she'd just gone super pale while she'd been sleeping and wouldn't wake up.
"Where's the baby?" the Healers wanted to know, and Arthur glanced toward his wife, who had two others performing all kinds of test spells on her.
"At home," Arthur answered.
"Go get her," the lead Healer ordered. "We have to make sure it's okay too."
As Arthur was leaving the room, he heard one of the medi-witches say, "She's hemorrhaging." Fear surged through him as he returned to home, packed a bag, and cradled the baby in his arms before going back to St Mungo's. Andromeda was in the same state, and the Healers took Elsie from him, checking to make sure that the baby was healthy.
He couldn't believe that nearly a half hour before, he and his wife had been very happy with their new little girl, and now Andromeda was ill. "Is she going to be okay?" he asked tentatively, dreading the answer.
"If we can get the bleeding under control, she should be," one of them answered as if he were pestering them. "But we can keep giving her Blood-Replenishing Potions until she's better, or we can just clean all of it out at once—but it's better to do things naturally unless we just can't."
He didn't say anything, but took a seat in the far corner of the room to wait until there was a further update.
"Dad!" the boys all yelled when he arrived at the Burrow later that night. "Where's Mum and baby?" Charlie demanded.
"Mum got sick, so we went to St Mungo's," Arthur told his sons. "She's there with baby Elsie until she's better." He saw Sirius frown slightly and gave the young man a careful look.
"Need me to stay the night?" Sirius asked him.
"Yeah!" Silas and Regis cheered, and Arthur hesitated before sighing, "That would help a lot. Thanks, Sirius."
"No problem," Sirius said easily.
The boys were all disappointed that they didn't get to see their mother and sister right away, but Arthur left for St Mungo's again after a little while, and stayed by his wife's side for the rest of the night.
It was cold. She shivered, aching a little, and reached to pull the blanket over herself. She heard her name being called softly and stirred slightly, but shied away from the bright lights above her.
A sigh escaped her, and she rubbed her stomach, feeling some aches and cramps. She was startled when she heard the distinctive cry of a newborn, and opened her eyes wearily.
"Andromeda?" Arthur breathed.
Her husband was at her side, Andromeda realised, and he was holding a tiny baby. "Arthur," she murmured, her voice more clear than it had been the previous night. "What's going on?"
"You were bleeding too much," Arthur said quietly. "I couldn't get you to wake up, so I brought you to St Mungo's. Sirius is with the boys. You scared me a lot, Andromeda."
"Is the baby okay?" Andromeda asked, struggling to sit up.
"She's fine," Arthur smiled, even though the baby was crying in his arms.
"Is she hungry? Give her here," Andromeda said quickly.
"I'm not sure," Arthur began, and she gave him a severe look.
"Give her to me," she said sternly.
He smiled and carefully placed the baby girl in his wife's arms. "Got it?" he asked, and Andromeda nodded, holding Elsie to herself and beginning to feed the child.
"It doesn't hurt as much as it did yesterday," Andromeda sighed. "The cramps were really bad, but now it's okay." She stroked Elsie's cheek and smiled tiredly. "Both my baby girls have put me in St Mungo's, haven't they? But Mum loves you anyway, Elsie."
The door opened and a Healer entered the room, making both parents look up. "Awake!" the Healer said, smiling. "And feeding baby Elsie, too. How are you feeling, Mrs Weasley?"
Andromeda hid a wince at her title, even though she was far more used to hearing it by now. "Less exhausted," she answered. "I'm really hungry, though."
"All right," the Healer smiled. "We'll bring you something. We were able to slow the bleeding and you should be all right in a day or so. We do intend to keep you for another night to make sure that you'll be all right."
"Can the children come see me and the baby?" Andromeda asked the Healer in concern.
"I would think so," she answered. "Just don't overwhelm yourself at the moment."
Andromeda looked up at her husband. "Go get the boys," she said. "Sirius ought to help you bring them here."
Arthur nodded, then left for the Burrow, and Andromeda spent a few minutes talking to her baby girl while she waited for him. Sirius brought the older three into the room first, greeting Andromeda and telling her that Arthur was sorting out the twins and Tommy.
"Oh, Mum, she's beautiful," Will said in surprise, looking down at his baby sister.
"This is Elsie Cedrella," Andromeda told the boys. "She's named after your grandmother."
"Cool," Percy grinned, watching the baby wriggle in his mother's arms.
"She's not Dora," Charlie said shortly, having refused to approach the bed.
Andromeda looked up at her second oldest son. "There's no one like Dora, Charlie. Every child is special. This is your baby sister."
Charlie shook his head and looked at his feet. "I don't want her," he mumbled.
Andromeda wasn't sure what to say to the boy, but at that moment, Arthur entered the room with Tommy in his arms, the twins right after him. "Mum!" the twins cheered, climbing up onto the bed next to her. "Oooh!" Regis said in surprise, reaching out to touch Elsie's hand.
"Be very gentle," Andromeda told the twins. "She's too little to do very much."
"What's her name?" Silas asked curiously.
"This is Elsie," Andromeda answered, smiling at her husband and five sons around the bed. She saw Charlie slink back toward the door and felt saddened at the boy's reaction, though she couldn't blame him at all.
Sirius too noticed the boy and moved closer to him, but Charlie had already slipped out of the room. "I've got him," Sirius said before Andromeda could say anything, and hurried out of the room after the boy.
"Is he okay?" Percy asked, looking after his cousin and brother in concern.
"He'll be okay," Arthur told his sons, though Will looked as if he doubted this very much.
The rest of the family spent some time together with the new baby, and it was only as Silas announced that he was hungry that Andromeda and Arthur realised what time it was. He was just getting ready to take Will, Percy, and the twins back to the Burrow when two Healers entered the room unceremoniously and began to place wards on the room.
"What's going on?" Andromeda demanded of them, annoyed as Tommy began to yell nonsense in annoyance at their interruption.
"Just precautions against a disturbance downstairs," one of them answered.
"Are there Death Eaters here?" Arthur asked sharply.
"Yes, but they won't get through the inner wards," said the other Healer. "But we don't know what they want, or if they're just here to cause trouble."
"My son's out there!" Andromeda cried in horror. "Sirius went to get him!"
The Healers didn't answer, but finished placing wards and left the room. Will turned to his parents and asked, "Are they here for Charlie?"
"I doubt it," Arthur said, shaking his head. "But he'll be safe with Sirius."
The older boys didn't say anything more, and the twins and Tommy curled up next to their mother. None of the adults or the older two boys said anything for a while.
Charlie Weasley was shaking slightly as he walked with his cousin back up the stairs toward his mother's hospital room about an hour later. He had just witnessed the most violent duel he'd ever seen in his young life, complete with what he was sure was people dying all around him—he was sure Sirius had lied about that.
It had been when the masked intruders had recognised Sirius and pointed him out as the target that Sirius had tried to get Charlie to run back upstairs, but the boy had refused. He had somehow knocked back the masked man that had tried to hurt Sirius, and Sirius had been shocked at that for whatever reason, although...Charlie was not stupid.
Charlie hadn't missed the fact that one of the Ministry officials that had arrived on the scene afterward had been very suspicious of the spell Charlie had done. Sirius had claimed it was accidental magic, that the boy had simply lost control because of the danger around him, but Charlie had clearly heard the other man mention "Unforgivable Curses" and that he'd be around to "speak to the boy's parents."
"Why was he mad at me?" Charlie asked Sirius after a moment. "Didn't I help?"
"Yes, you did," Sirius said, seeming to want to smirk and trying to force himself not to. "I'm sure if he does talk to your parents you'll learn all about it."
"But why was he—" Charlie began, but Sirius shook his head.
"It's not my place to teach you and tell you things like that, Charlie," he said. "That's your parents' decision."
"I didn't do anything bad," protested Charlie. "I wanted to stop that masked wizard, and I did!"
Sirius nodded. "And you did it well," he said with a small hint of amusement. "Now when we go in, I'm going to ask to speak to your father. I want you to know that you're not in trouble, okay? I just want him to hear what happened from me, before he hears it from anyone else."
"Okay," Charlie sighed. "And why did they want to hurt you?"
"Lots of people want to hurt me for different reasons," Sirius replied. "Don't worry about me: I'll be fine."
When Sirius and Charlie knocked, then entered the room, Andromeda gasped, "Charlie!" and began to cry softly.
Charlie went to his mother and put his hand on her arm, saying, "It's okay, Mum, we're fine."
"Oh, Charlie," Andromeda sniffed, wrapping her free arm around him and hugging him tightly to herself. "I was so worried."
"He's fine," Sirius grinned. "He was with me."
Andromeda didn't even look at her cousin, but when Arthur did, Sirius motioned him toward the door, and Arthur said, "I'll be back in a few minutes, all right? I'll just be out in the hall."
"Don't go too far," Andromeda shot at the two men before giving Charlie another tight hug.
"Mum," he protested, gently pushing her away. "I'm fine. You'll squish the baby."
"I won't," Andromeda smiled, wiping her tears away. "What happened out there?"
"Dad will tell you," Charlie sighed. "Sirius wouldn't tell me, but I think those Dark wizards were after him."
"I'm so glad you're all right," sighed Andromeda, and Will and Percy nodded fervently.
"Mum and Dad were scared," Percy told Charlie.
Andromeda didn't like the sound of that, but she didn't correct him, continuing to smile at her seven children. "I can't wait to just be safely at home," she said. "Peace and quiet with my own family."
Will patted his mother's other shoulder. "Soon enough," he said in the same tone she always used on them, and she couldn't help but laughing.
"I love you boys," she said.
"And Dora? And her?" Charlie pointed at the baby.
"And Dora, and Elsie," Andromeda answered. "I will always love all of my children, no matter what."
Andromeda did not have a chance to ask her husband about what Sirius had said until she and Elsie had been discharged from St Mungo's. She asked that evening as she was nursing her baby girl at bedtime, looking up at her husband as he smiled at their daughter. "What did Sirius tell you? What happened with the Death Eaters?"
Arthur frowned, then replied, "He said they were after him, probably to bring him in regarding the whereabouts of his friends."
"And that's all?" Andromeda frowned. "He could have said that in front of the children."
"No, that's not all," Arthur sighed. "Sirius told me that Charlie did some kind of spell to one of the attackers, and that it was discovered to be the Cruciatus Curse. He said it was fairly effective." Arthur shook his head and sighed again.
"But it was accidental magic?" Andromeda said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well..." Arthur hesitated, then looked at his wife carefully. "I have to ask. You didn't teach him the Unforgivables, did you?"
"No," Andromeda answered. "I figured you wouldn't like it."
Arthur gave her a look. "So you do know them?"
Andromeda raised an eyebrow. "I was raised in the House of Black," she replied. "I know a lot of things."
"How could I forget?" Arthur muttered, and Andromeda allowed herself to smirk.
"You know you love it," she said to him. "And I'm sure your own mother was the same way."
The man smiled slightly. "She used to shock us boys when we were particularly troublesome," he admitted. "And I'm sure you've done that to our children a few times. It honestly didn't hurt me, and I'm none the worse for it. It's just if it's used to more of its full power."
"And you worry about me knowing things?" Andromeda scoffed, though she was amused.
"Not worried about you," he replied. "Just worried about what the children would do with that knowledge if they had it."
"You do realise this means that both Charlie and Dora have done Crucio wandlessly?" Andromeda asked her husband. "Without being taught?"
"When did Dora—you mean when we ran into those Death Eaters in Diagon?" Arthur asked in surprise. "That's what she did?"
"Yes," Andromeda answered. "It happens when children are scared and want to stop someone from bothering them. Causing pain seems to come naturally to some of them."
"Do you think we should have a talk with Will and Charlie about the Unforgivables?" he said quietly.
Andromeda raised an eyebrow, closing her nightgown and beginning to rock her baby girl soothingly. "Why would you ask me that?"
Arthur sighed. "Well, they're bound to hear about them sometime, and Sirius said that Charlie was asking him questions about what happened and that the boy had probably overheard Crouch talking about what he had done."
"Perhaps in a day or two," Andromeda answered. "And Percy too. He's old enough to know and he's smart for his age."
"I just worry," Arthur sighed.
"You've never been the type to worry," his wife said. "It'll just be an informative conversation. We won't tell them how to do it or anything."
"Do you think Dora's been taught how to do them?" Arthur asked suddenly.
Andromeda nodded. "Of course she has," she said. "Well, we can talk to the boys in a couple days."
Arthur agreed, and took Elsie from her mother, going to put the baby girl down in her crib for the night.