DISCLAIMER: The ideas are mine, the characters and everything in the Harry Potter Universe belongs to JK...
"This life is what you make it. No matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up."
Marilyn Monroe
Chapter 3 - 1960, autumn
Andromeda was a wayward girl.
As a child, I often wondered how it was possible that Andy should be so very different from Bella and I. After all, the three of us were brought up in the same house, exposed to the same influences, and - to a degree - put on the same path. In the years that came, each of us would stray from that path somehow, but Andromeda was the one to do it first.
At the age of five, she was already a little rebel. She snuck into the kitchen to eat chocolate frogs when no one was watching, stayed awake well after her bedtime and climbed the shelves of the library to reach for books we were not allowed to read. When we were at the dinner table, Andy was always the one to ask the forbidden or the inappropriate questions. It was not unusual for Bella and me to find ourselves laughing in spite of Mother's furious expression. Andy was something else... She was daring and so full of life!
Bella and I knew that Andy liked to leave the house and explore the property, but usually, she returned before any of the adults could notice she was missing. There was a time in the fall of 1961 however when things happened a little differently.
"Orion's on his way. Have you found her yet?" Aunt Walburga asked as soon as she stepped out of the fireplace, holding my father's arm for support.
"No," Mother answered harshly.
"I have looked through the gardens and she's not there," Father added.
"This has happened before, has it not?" Uncle Orion asked, as soon as he stepped out of the fireplace. I noticed he didn't stumble or lose balance as Aunt Walburga had. And although he was looking straight at my father when he spoke, he took a step forward and placed an arm behind his wife's back, supporting her and it was only then that she let go of my father's arm. Aunt Walburga had never been slim, but she looked absolutely large now. Even under her dark robes, I could see the curve of her belly, and she needed her husband's assistance to steady herself after spinning so many times in the fireplace. In fact, even with his assistance she still seemed a little dizzy.
"Yes, but as soon as we realise she's missing we usually find her hiding in the kitchens or somewhere else around the house," Mother explained, pacing nervously.
"And she-" Aunt Walburga started, but she stopped suddenly, holding her abdomen with one hand and taking the other one to her mouth as though she was going to be sick, "I'm sorry. She's definitely not in the house?" Aunt Walburga asked, finally, and she seemed to have regained control, although I could see uncle Orion watching her closely.
"No," my father answered, "Walburga, are you sure you-?".
"I am fine, Cygnus, it is Andromeda that-" she started, but didn't seem able to conclude her line of thought before shaking off her husband's arm, and walking away "oh, excuse me."
"Do you need me to-" Uncle Orion started, but she simply shook her head no and walked as fast as she could towards the loo.
My father was looking at uncle Orion, clearly concerned.
"The Floo network has been making her sick for the past few weeks," my uncle explained, trying to make my father at ease.
"Ah, Walburga," my father sighed, still sounded worried, "she didn't have to come."
"You should be worried about your daughter," my mother said sharply.
"Do you think for a moment that I am not?" Father asked angrily.
Uncle Orion stepped forward and touched my father's arm.
"You have a determined sister, Cygnus. Andromeda is missing. Nothing could have kept Walburga in the house. Your sister will be fine, this has happened before," he said firmly, "Let's just worry about my niece now."
Father nodded.
"Well, she's not in the house," my mother said angrily, "when I catch her, I will-"
"The house-elves haven't seen her," Father interrupted, "we have cast Homenum Revelium charms in every corner of this house. She is not here."
"What about the rest of the property?"
"She's not anywhere close to the house, but the property is far too large to search by foot, and there's only so much I can do with spells from here."
"What if we used broomsticks?"
Father pondered the question for a moment.
"It could be done. I can search the Northside of the property, that's the one that stretches the farthest. Druella can take the East."
"I could search the Westside," Uncle Orion said immediately. "Walburga and I left Sirius with Lucretia, and Ignatius should be getting here soon, he could search the South."
"We can't wait..." Mother protested.
"That's right, we can't wait for him," Aunt Walburga had returned, she looked a little flustered but otherwise unharmed. "I will search the south."
Both my father and uncle looked alarmed.
"Love..." Uncle Orion started.
"Walburga, you can't fly a broomstick in your condition!" My father sounded exasperated.
"My condition?" she sounded angry, "what do you mean, brother? Do you think I am sick, Cygnus?"
Father didn't speak for a second. He could tell he'd said the wrong thing.
"No," he started in a low voice, trying to make amends, "but we are in a difficult situation already. I don't want anything to happen to you either."
"I am perfectly capable of flying a broomstick," she started.
"We know, love," Uncle Orion stepped closer, "but at six months you shouldn't- Besides, someone has to stay behind in case Andromeda returns; not to mention someone has to watch the girls."
"What?" Bellatrix asked, speaking for the first time, running downstairs and giving away our hiding spot at the top of the staircase. "I don't want to stay behind! I want to help!"
I ran after her.
"Me too!"
Right at that moment, green flames appeared out of thin air in the fireplace and Uncle Ignatius stepped right out of them.
"I'm here, how can I help?"
The adults exchanged a quick look as my father started to brief uncle Ignatius on their plan and my mother summoned the broomsticks. Uncle Orion allowed himself to stay behind a few seconds to exchange a few more words with his wife.
"I should be going," aunt Walburga started sadly, "if anything should happen to her..."
"We will find her, love," Orion said, lifting my aunt's chin with his finger and kissing her softly in the lips, "I promise. Don't worry, please. The girls need you to be calm now. And our little one as well."
She nodded, and before they could say anything else Bellatrix tried to run past them, but she clashed against uncle Orion's legs and fell down which gave aunt Walburga enough time to grab her arm.
"Let me go!" Bella yelled, trying to shake off Aunt Walburga's hand. "I don't want to stay behind."
"Bellatrix, you can't go!" Aunt Walburga said firmly, holding my sister's wrist.
"Let. Me. Go!" Bella said again, shaking her arm violently at each word.
"Bella, stop," Uncle Orion said, kneeling down to talk to her, "I know you are worried about Andy, but I promise you we are going to find her. Everything is going to be fine."
"I can fly a broomstick too, I can help!" She insisted.
"I know, darling," uncle Orion continued, "but I need you to stay here to look after your aunt and your little sister for me. Do you think you can do that?"
Bella considered that for a moment and nodded, although she still didn't seem happy about the arrangement.
"Everything is going to be fine, baby girl," Uncle Orion said, and after a soft kiss on Bella's forehead and a meaningful look to my aunt, he left the house quickly to join the search.
Aunt Walburga straightened her back and took a couple of deep breaths, one of her hands still on her belly. Then she walked over to Bellatrix, who had turned her back on us, and hugged my sister from behind, pulling her closer. They stood like that for a minute or two before my aunt looked around looking for me.
"Come, Cissy, let's go into the other room," she said, and lead the way, holding me by the hand while keeping her right arm around Bella's shoulder. When we reached the sitting room, aunt Walburga sat down in a large armchair by the window. She conjured some hot chocolate and a few mugs, but none of us felt like having any.
I sat on the rug, and Bella climbed the window seat and hugged her knees, staring outside as if she hoped she would see Andromeda walking back to the house at any moment.
We waited for a long time. From time to time our aunt reassured us that everything was going to be fine, but other than that, none of us spoke at all. The only thing breaking the silence was the sound of my aunt shifting uncomfortably in her seat, as I watched from the corner of my eyes, and the relentless tick-tack of the wall clock behind us.
Bella kept glancing at the clock. I did that as well, even though I couldn't really tell the time, and I only turned my eyes away from the clock when I heard my aunt trying to stand up from her couch. Twice she tried and failed to pull herself up and then she had to stop for a moment and catch her breath before she finally succeeded in standing up with a hand on her lower back. Wanting to help, I walked towards her chair and stood in front of my aunt, but she must have understood that I wanted to be picked up, because she stroke my hair and said:
"Oh, baby, auntie can't pick you up right now, you're too big for that. Here climb up here," she said, indicating the window seat, and I did. Standing up there I was almost as tall as my aunt. She looked at my face for a moment and smiled at me. Then she hugged me. I loved when she did that. My mother wasn't an affectionate woman at all. I am sure she must have held me in her arms when I was a child, but I don't remember what it felt like. I don't remember it ever happening. Aunt Walburga's hugs, on the other hand, I remember well. I remember how it felt, being in her arms, feeling her pulling me closer to her. I remember trying to be very still and paying attention to the rhythm of her breath because it calmed me. I remember feeling safe...
I miss the scent of her perfume.
That day she kissed the top of my head that night and told me everything was going to be fine. I wrapped my arms around her middle as best as I could, laying my head against her chest.
We stood like that for what seemed like a long time, while my aunt stroke my hair, comforting me before she pulled me away for a moment.
"Cissy? Baby? Your aunt needs to walk around the room for a little while, okay, princess?" She asked, softly.
I just nodded and sat back down watching her as she walked around the room, with one hand on her lower back. I was still watching her when Bella finally moved and got closer to the window glass.
"It's Andy!" she said suddenly and ran out of the room. I jumped from my chair and followed her, to meet Andy in the hall. It took several moments for Aunt Walburga to catch up with us.
"Andromeda! Are you alright?" she asked, walking towards my sister as fast as she could. "I have to send your father a message. Are you hurt?"
Before long the rest of the adults were back. Andromeda couldn't understand what that fuss was all about. She said she'd been playing with her broomstick in the woodlands, and had simply lost track of time… Our father couldn't understand how she could have walked back and not have seen him, or triggered one of his tracking spells. Mother said Andy would be punished; she knew she wasn't supposed to wander off like that. They had to send messages to the rest of the family, to let them known that everything was okay and Father asked the elves to serve the table in the large dining room after Aunt Walburga agreed not to Floo back straight away.
Only Bella looked at Andy with narrow eyes, as if she knew something wasn't quite right.
It took my parents a few years to discover that the reason their spells failed to locate Andy that night was that she had been exploring the Muggle village down the road.
A/N: Thank you for reading yet another chapter, please review and let me know if you like it. I am looking for a Beta-Reader for this story, if anyone is interested, please PM me.
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