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Bella

Rodolphus was sat on his bed, flipping through the Daily Prophet that Rabastan had given to him that morning. The wizard sighing deeply as he flicked through the mornings news, though as he just managed to get past the extensive coverage of the search for himself and reached for a quill to attempt the crossword the man grunted in annoyance.

"Come in." the man called out to the visitor knocking at his door, not looking above his paper as his door opened.

"Rod . . ." Dora spoke hesitantly, slipping into the room and gently pushing the door shut behind her "Hello . . ."

With a small frown the man put his paper down, he considered the witch as she stood before him. Her long red curled hair hanging past her shoulders as he wondered if she had morphed her currently preferred dark curls away for his own sake. It didn't matter, no matter what the witch did to change her appearance all Rodolphus Lestrange could see when he looked at her was his late wife. It was almost as bad as Delphini, the younger witch undoubtedly looked the spitting image of Bellatrix though Dora was closer to her mother's age, either way seeing either witch left both longing and hurt deep inside the man. "Hello." Rodolphus spoke, his voice strained though he coughed to hide the emotion in his voice. "How can I help you?"

"I—" Dora hesitated for a moment before with a heavy sigh she walked over to Rod's bed "C—Can I sit?"

"I'm not sure, can you?" Rodolphus raised an eyebrow before shaking his head at his own poor joke, nodding "Yes, Dora, you can sit."

"Thanks." Dora smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed as she twisted her hands in her lap.

"So?" Rodolphus questioned.

"So?" Dora frowned before laughing at her own silliness "Right. I—I just wanted to see how you are . . . You haven't been out of your room at all—okay well you've been to the bathroom and I'm sure I heard you talking to the elves downstairs the other night, though you've not socialising. I mean, I get it, it's weird for you. You get taken to Azkaban and then all of a sudden you come back and—and everything's changed. It must be . . . Weird."

Rodolphus looked to the witch curiously, sighing after a moment "Yes, I suppose it is. I'm—I'm adjusting slowly."

Dora nodded, swallowing before she spoke again "Rigel wants to meet you—well, meet you properly. For some reason he seems to have slightly idolised you in his mind." Dora laughed slightly, relaxing slightly when Rod breathed a small chuckle in return.

"Where on earth did he get that from?"

"I don't know." Dora shrugged before she rolled her eyes "Probably his father."

"Well you should correct him there." Rodolphus said.

"No," Dora shook her head "let him. It is partly warranted."

"Oh?" Rodolphus gave the girl a questioning look, moving to sit up slightly.

"Well . . . I suppose he does owe his parent's freedom to you." Dora looked to the man, blushing slightly as she sighed "I owe you my life. If it weren't for you getting in the way at the battle I would have been stuck a hysterical mess in that hall. Rab never could have protected us and got us both out without you there. So, thank you . . . You know, for all you did when I was a child—"

"Dora—"

"No, hear me out. Please?" Dora looked to the man, imploring the man to understand her with her eyes so much like her mothers, it was a look Rodolphus couldn't deny as he nodded for her to continue. The girl sighed deeply before she continued, staring at a small spot of frayed carpet by her feet as pushed against it with her feet "I—I think Mum would forgive you, you know? Okay—" Dora laughed nervously "Maybe she wasn't the forgiving type. Though she'd at least be grateful, she'd appreciate it . . . I appreciate it, I forgive you . . . I have to admit; I may have even missed you."

Rodolphus considered the woman, still staring at the carpet as she blushed in embarrassment. He had to admit the sight was slightly amusing, though he was overwhelmed with a strange feeling inside of him, one of warmth that he had not felt in the many years since Bellatrix had died. "I—" Rodolphus went to speak, watching as the girl looked up to him before he rolled his eyes and sighed, murmuring "I may have missed you too."

"Really?" Dora smiled, amusement reaching her eyes "You missed me?"

"Don't push it, Nymphadora." Rodolphus warned.

"Right." Dora nodded, unable to wipe the smile off her lips "I won't push it."

Rodolphus shook his head, watching the girl move to sit cross legged at the end of the bed and smile at the man. "What else do you want, Dora?" Rodolphus frowned, studying her appearance.

"What?" Dora shrugged, scratching the back of her neck in nervousness "What do you mean?"

"Well, you have that look on your face." Rodolphus sighed as Dora raised an eyebrow at her "It's the same look Bella had if she was holding something back that she desperately wanted to tell me."

"Oh." The smile slipped off of Dora's face as she took a deep breath "Well, I told Rabastan I wanted to talk to you—because let's face it after last time it's clear he is the worst at such things. He didn't take much convincing if I'm honest but hey—I have my ways."

"I'm sure you do . . ."

"I—" Dora blushed "That's not what I meant—Well I mean that does come in handy but—You don't want to hear about that—Anyway Rab and I were talking and he agreed that I could tell you—He wanted to tell you ofcourse but I said—"

"Nymphadora." Rabastan interrupted the girl "You're babbling."

"Sorry, nervous habit." Dora blushed "Rab and I are going to have another baby."

Rodolphus watched the woman, staring into her lap as she twiddled her thumbs. Though the small smile of an expectant mother was upon her features there was undoubtedly the nervous worry there, worrying about the reaction. Worrying about what he would think. She actually seemed to care what he would think of her. He got off of the bed, moving until he stood before her and reached his hand out to her. She frowned, though despite her trepidation she took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. Nymphadora Lestrange froze as Rodolphus embraced her, returning the hug. The pair paused in their embrace, a silent understanding of acceptance passing between the pair before Rodolphus pulled back to look at her.

"Congratulations." Rodolphus murmured "You must be very happy."

"Thank you." Dora sighed in relief "I am—terrified about how we're going to keep another child safe whilst continuing to evade capture—but happy."

"Good." Rodolphus nodded before he let go of the girl "Someone has to continue the name of Lestrange, it might as well be you." Dora watched as he walked towards the door, opening it and going to walk out before stopping to frown at Nymphadora "Well?"

"Well what?" Dora frowned.

"You said Rigel wants to 'meet me properly'." Rodolphus sighed "Besides, keeping myself locked away in this room is starting to grate on me."

Dora grinned, nodding as she laughed her agreement and walked out of the room, the newly escaped Death Eater closely following behind her.

Later that evening entire household were sat around the main living room of Black Manor. Rabastan was sat on the couch, his wife laid back into him smiling in contentment as he stroked her hair with one hand, the other resting lovingly on her stomach. Andromeda Tonks was sat further off to the corner of the room, reading up on wards and protective enchantments as she kept her distance from the newest member of their household. Rodolphus had not openly voiced his discomfort at the woman's presence though he had kept a noticeable distance from her since he had left the confines of his room. Delphi shrieked in laughter as the deck of exploding snap cards herself, Rodolphus and Rigel were playing with went off in the young boys face.

"Not fair." Rigel growled, rubbing his face at the shock.

"Oh merlin," Delphi laughed "Rigel, your eyebrows."

"What?" Rigel asked, confused.

"They're singed." Rodolphus smirked in amusement, resetting the deck of cards.

"What?" Rigel widened his eyes in shock, standing up and running to the mirror "It's not funny, Delphi!" the boy snapped as he glared at the girl, his hair flashing red as he remained oblivious to each of the adults in the room trying to stop themselves laughing at the sight. "Mum! Dad!" Rigel groaned, stomping his foot as he turned to the pair on the couch.

"Rigel," Dora giggled, unable to contain herself "just morph them back." The woman summoned a small mirror, nodding for the boy to come to her as she held the mirror up to him. Rigel stomped over to her, glaring at the mirror. "Calm down first, concentrate." Dora encouraged, sitting up slightly as Rabastan pouted at her warm body leaving his own.

"Why does he need a mirror?" Delphi demanded, sitting up on her feet as she rested her hands on the small coffee table "You don't need a mirror, neither does Dromeda."

"He doesn't need a mirror, it just helps. Rigel's still learning all about his morphing, Delphi." Dora sighed, smiling and kissing her sons head as he successfully managed to morph his eyebrows back to normal as his hair returned to match his fathers.

"Did you need a mirror when you were seven?" Delphi narrowed her eyes at the witch questioningly.

"Well—I—" Dora bit her lip, knowing full well she stopped needing a mirror by the time she'd reached six.

"Ha!" Delphi smirked "So Rigel is dumb."

"Hey!" Rigel snapped, his hair returning to red "I'm not dumb! At least I can morph! You can only change your hair colour!"

Delphi's eyes widened, her mouth dropping in shock and disgust at the boys words "You—You—!" Rodolphus grabbed the girl by the arm as Delphi went to run for the boy, the table nearly knocking over as Rigel ran behind the couch, his father standing up as he drew his wand.

"Rabastan!" Rodolphus growled "Put that away!" Delphi stared at the man's wand in shock before she turned and hid herself in Rod's robes, clinging onto the material as she whimpered. "You're scaring a child." Rodolphus glared through gritted teeth.

"She's not scared! She scares Rigel all the time but she never gets bloody scared!" Rabastan hissed.

"Rab, he's fine." Dora stood up, gently placing a hand on his wand arm as she tried to calm him "They're just children being children."

"She gets away with too much, Nymphadora!" Rabastan glared intently at his brother, ignoring Andromeda as she walked over to Rigel. She bent down to his height, stroking his hair out of his face as she quietly asked if he was okay, kissing his head as he nodded with a sniff.

"Rab—"

Each of the four adults froze were they stood, feeling the immediate disturbance in the wards. Nymphadora's hair instantly went white, one hand going to her stomach as the other went to her wand "Rab . . ." she whispered.

"Stay here." Rabastan spoke firmly, drawing his wand as he and his brother exchanged knowing looks before Rodolphus walked towards the door.

"I'm coming." Andromeda and Nymphadora spoke in unison.

"No." Rabastan snapped "You are not."

"W—What's going on?" Rigel whimpered.

"Nothing, Rigel." Dora forced a smile of comfort at both her son and her sister "You two stay in here, ever so quiet and well behaved. Okay?" Dora sighed at Delphi's scowl "Please?"

"Dora you're not going out there." To her surprise it was Rodolphus who spoke, letting Andromeda walk out of the door ahead of them to search for the point of the disturbance.

"Yes, I am." Nymphadora glared "You will not stop me."

"I—"

"Stop arguing!" Andromeda snapped from the corridor "They're at the gates, four of them!"

"I'm coming!" Dora yelled, ducking out of both Rabastan's and Rodolphus's grip as she ran out into the corridor.

"You're just as bad as Bellatrix, Nymphadora." Rodolphus sighed in annoyance as he and Rabastan followed the two witches.

Andromeda and Nymphadora were stood at the door, the elder witch muttering a charm under her breath so she could see through the door whilst not being seen. There were four ministry officials, just as Andromeda had said. Dora looked to them with a look of determination as she let her husband put a protective hand on her hip. "Knock them out and obliviate them." Dora whispered even though she was sure they could not be heard.

"I say we kill them." Rabastan said.

"It has been a while." Rodolphus smirked at his brother.

"No," Andromeda hissed "Dora's right. We kill them and they'll come looking for the bodies, we need to obliviate them of any knowledge of finding us and send them on their way unharmed."

"Fine." Rabastan drawled.

"Come on, let's teach them a lesson." Dora smirked, pointing her wand at the door as she slammed it open.

Before she had a chance to run the three others raced ahead of her, Dora shaking her head in annoyance as she watched them instantly get into a heated duel. She gripped tightly onto her wand, walking forward to the duel, not missing the two children ducking out of sight of the window as she turned to look back at them. With a roll of her eyes she threw a spell at the windows, letting the children see out but no-one look in. She had no qualms with the children witnessing the fight, it would help build character (or at least stop Delphi begging to know what had happened and keep them distracted for long enough to stop them fighting with each other in the adults absence).

"It's the other Lestrange!" an Auror yelled out as Dora stood next to her husband, reflecting a spell.

"The other Lestrange?" Dora frowned, mocking offence as she watched Andromeda throw one of the Auror's off his feet "Rude."

"You're clearly not as important as us lads, Nymphie." Rabastan laughed.

"Hmpf." Dora screwed up her features in annoyance as she continued the duel. She was not surprised, though nor was she pleased, when Rabastan and Rodolphus ended up falling into their old tricks. The two men had managed to lead a pair of Aurors away from the fray, furiously duelling them in sync with each other. "Rabastan!" Dora yelled through gritted teeth, duelling as best as she could though the two Aurors were starting to prove too much for her. Andromeda was duelling furiously beside her, though a curse had already hit her wand arm and as the witch had been out of practise in duelling even when the war ended years ago let alone now. Dora was not faring much better, falling backwards as they soon started the inch towards her. "RABASTAN!" Dora screeched as Andromeda got hit full in the chest with a curse, skidding backwards across the grass though she quickly tried to regain her standing. Rodolphus looked over to the pair as he managed to knock out the last of the two opponents they had singled off.

Dora turned to turned to see Andromeda struggling back to her, wand raised "Dora look out!" Andromeda yelled.

The black haired witch turned just in time to get hit full on with a curse, not quick enough to block it herself. She cried out in agony, her husbands yell of anguish barely audible to her as she fell to the floor clutching her stomach tightly. Dora looked through tear filled eyes as Rodolphus managed to drop the last Auror.

"Dora!" Rabastan repeated, dropping to his knees as he scooped his wife into his arms, his eyes scanning her body "No . . ."

"W—What?" Dora whimpered in pain, looking to her husband before following his gaze. A yell of anguish left her as she realised what he was staring at—the blood on her skirts. A deep red beginning to seep through the thin material of her light summer dress. "R—Rab—I—I—Ah!" she hissed in pain, clutching at her skirts.

The man continued to stare at the woman, his face full of horror at what he was seeing from the woman cradled in his arms. Rodolphus moved over to the pair, kneeling in front of his brother as he firmly stared into his eyes "Rabastan." He spoke calmly "Rabastan, look at me." Rodolphus waited for the man to raise his gaze to his own "We need to get her inside, she's in pain. I'll see if I can help her at all, you and Andromeda are better at memory enchantments than I am. Don't kill anyone, okay?"

Rabastan stared blankly at the man for what felt like a small eternity to the witch whimpering in pain in his arms before he nodded stiffly, allowing his older brother to take his wife in his arms. Nymphadora clung to the wizard, her face streaming with tears as she let the man carry her back into the manor without a second thought of the people left by the gates of the manor. She was horrified. Horrified at the blood on her skirts, horrified that such a thing could happen. Though as Rodolphus tried to calm her on the way up to her bedroom all she could think about was what she had lost, how she had risked not only her own safety but the safety of her own unborn child. As Nymphadora was lowered onto the plush bedding in her own room the witch didn't dare look at Rodolphus. She merely closed her eyes and cried silently as Rodolphus tried in vain to help her.

"Dora . . ." Rodolphus sighed as he leaned over, running his wand across her skirts to get rid of the blood. The witch continued to sob, clutching her hands into the bedding. "Dora—Calm down."

The witch pressed her face into the pillows, trying to control her sobs. As she felt the weight of her mother's husband sitting on the bed beside her she took a shaky breath, biting down on her lip as she forced herself to stop crying for a moment. The older man's eyebrows were furrowed, a look of sorrow mixed with the slightest hint of disappointment in his eyes. That small part put a heavy weight on Nymphadora's stomach, she could barely cope with Rod's disappointment on the matter let alone her own husband's that she was sure to see. "R—Rab's going to hate me." Dora whimpered, wrapping her arms around herself as she curled onto her side.

Rodolphus sighed "I'm sure he won't."

Dora shook her head, screwing her eyes shut "You would have hated mum if she lost a baby, you can't deny that."

The man winced at the thought, swallowing before he replied "Probably . . . I would have hurt her."

"Exactly!" Dora cried, sitting up as she yelled at the man, tears still streaming down her face.

"I'm not Rabastan and Rabastan is not me." Rodolphus shook his head.

"He's going to be angry." Dora shook her head as she swatted away her tears.

"Nymphadora, I—" Rodolphus hesitated for a moment before he merely shook his head again. He reached out and squeezed the girls shoulder in a small attempt to reassure her though this only evoked a fresh bout of tears from the girl. With one last look at the crying witch Rodolphus let go, getting up off of the bed and walking towards the door "I'll get someone to bring you a painkilling potion." Nymphadora didn't react to his words, merely curled back onto her side and she hugged onto her pillow and muffled her tears into the feather stuffed silk. As the man gently closed the door behind him he turned to see Andromeda and Rabastan coming from the end of the corridor.

"Rabastan!" Andromeda hissed, struggling to keep up with the man infront of her.

"She is my wife and I will see her no matter what you say!" Rabastan snapped.

Rodolphus sighed, by the looks of things the pair had been arguing all the way from the gates of the Manor. "Did you modify their memories and rid us of them?" Rodolphus asked, standing in the way of Rabastans entrance to the room.

"Yes." Andromeda nodded "Tell your brother to calm down, Rodolphus."

"I am calm, woman!" Rabastan glared at the witch before looking to Rodolphus with all seriousness in his eyes "How is she? Did she . . .?"

Rodolphus nodded, wishing he did not see the sudden flash of hurt and loss in his younger brother's eyes. "She's . . . upset, to say the least."

Rabastan nodded stiffly "I need to see her." He went to move, shooting a glare at Rodolphus as he pressed a hand to his chest.

"She needs rest—and a painkilling potion." Rodolphus said.

Andromeda summoned a potion, stepping forward to the two men "Let me see her, she needs her—she needs a woman's touch."

"No." Rabastan yelled, turning around and snatching the potion out of her hands before he near enough pushed Rodolphus out of the way "Neither of you are stopping me from seeing my wife!"

Rabastan tore the door open, ignoring Rodolphus stopping Andromeda from grabbing him to stop his way. As soon as Rab got into the room he shut the door behind him, warding the room to stop the pair outside listening in or trying to disturb him. It was only as he heard the quiet, questioning call of his name from behind him that he turned to see his wife. She was a mess. Nymphadora's hair was a mousey brown, her eyes red and puffy, tears streamed her usually perfectly clear and innocent features, a look of sorrow tinged with a hint of fear in her deep brown eyes. The woman sat up on the bed, her legs pulled to her chest as she wrapped her arms around them, waiting for Rabastan to say something, anything.

"Rab . . ." Dora choked, wiping tears from her eyes as she tried to compose herself.

The man stared down at her, unsure what to say or do before he hesitantly walked over to the bed. A pang of hurt ran through his chest as Nymphadora pulled her legs closer to herself when he sat on the bed next to her. "Dora . . ." Rabastan breathed, shutting his eyes as he tried to think of something to say.

"Rab," Dora cried "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ran out there with you—I should have put protection charms on myself—I shouldn't have gotten distracted! It's my fault! I got our baby killed!"

"Dora." Rabastan looked to the woman crying on the bed, desperate in her words "Dora." Rabastan shook his head, reaching out and pulling the woman into himself. She froze, rigid as he laid on the bed and pulled her into his side. He kissed her hair, gently rubbing her back until she finally started to relax into him, sobbing into his robes. "I don't blame you." Rabastan murmured, his lips pressed to her head.

"I—I blame me." Dora sobbed, wrapping her arms around her husband "Y—You should hate me. Rod said he would have hurt mum if she had lost a baby."

"Remind me to curse him for saying such things to you." Rabastan glared at the thought before he shook his head, continuing to rub the girls back and stroke her hair, ignoring his own pains.

"H—He's right." Dora sniffed "Any pureblood husband would do the same."

"Dora," Rabastan sighed, taking her chin in his hand as he gently moved her to look into his eyes "I could never hurt you. You have already given me an amazing son, I know you would never purposely do such a thing as to lose a child. I—" Rabastan blinked back his own tears, letting go of her chin as he instead drew her head to his chest "I love you, Dora." The man whispered, unable to yet speak of the pain of losing their unborn child—he could not let Dora see him become upset when she was already hurting so deeply and freely.

"I—I love you too, Rab." Dora whimpered, grasping onto his robes as she shut her eyes trying to still her cries. After Rabastan had ensured Nymphadora had drank the pain killing potion (Rabastan did not accept her insistence that she was okay, he could always see through her tough exterior) the pair laid there in silence, Rabastan gently comforting his wife as he let her finally cry herself dry. Rabastan Lestrange did not let his own tears fall for the loss of their child until Nymphadora was soundly sleeping in his arms hours later.

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Bella