Another chapter for you! Thanksss again for all the love on our ssstories, and do enjoy thisss latessst inssstallment of Hunted. :)

Dora

Andromeda stirred softly one morning, shielding her eyes from the bright sun as she turned away from it, annoyed with the light in her face. She yawned and stretched as she tried to make herself wake up more. She finally sat up with a sigh, yawning again as she forced herself to get out of bed.

She dressed quickly, then walked to her vanity to brush out her hair. It wasn't very long until she heard a soft knock on the door and called, "Come in!" Andromeda turned slightly, and was surprised to see Delphini walk into her room.

"Dromeda?" Delphi said, seating herself crosslegged on the witch's bed.

"Yes, Delphi?" Andromeda answered, watching her in the mirror.

"Well, now that I'm eleven," she began with a frown, "shouldn't I go to Hogwarts this year?"

Andromeda stopped brushing her hair, placing the brush on her vanity and turning to the young girl. "Delphi," she said honestly, "I wish you could, and I know you are fully magical, but neither you nor Rigel can attend Hogwarts. You were born in secret, and no one knows where you are, or especially that you exist."

The girl looked down at her left arm, then said, "I can't go?"

The brown-haired witch sighed, crossing the room to sit by her niece. "No, Delphi, you can't," she said. "But I will teach you what you need to know, interrupted, I am sure, by Rodolphus. You will learn our grimoires, and whatever special things Rodolphus wishes to teach you. I'm sure he knows spells that your mother created."

"But...I'll miss Hogwarts," Delphi whispered, shaking her head. "That's...that's so wrong!"

"We are hunted," Andromeda reminded her. "We are hidden to keep you and Rigel safe, and to protect Dora, Rab, and Rod from prison."

"And you," Delphi smirked, elbowing the witch in the side.

"Hey!" Andromeda protested with a laugh.

Delphi scooted away from the witch, hissing, and Andromeda stared at her for a moment. "You know, I wish you wouldn't speak Parseltongue to me," she said.

The silver-haired girl smirked, hissing yet again before she spoke, "I wasn't talking to you." A pale green serpent slithered from her sleeve, curling around her left wrist and tasting her hand before he slithered onto her lap.

Andromeda stared in shock at the creature, then looked up at Delphi, who shrugged. "He didn't want to get elbowed," she said.

"Oh dear," Andromeda said, still staring. "Where did you get that?"

"He," Delphini corrected haughtily. "Marvolo was a gift from Dora and Rod. They sneaked out to get him for my birthday."

"Rab doesn't know, does he?" Andromeda breathed. "Oh dear Merlin, those two—"

Delphi shook her head. "We've got to find a way to break the news to him, so Dora said to keep Marvolo hidden for now," she told her aunt. "But I'm glad I have him. He's my friend."

Andromeda looked at the child for a moment, then gave her a small smile, reaching over and hugging the girl. "Good," she said firmly. "Now then. I need to finish getting ready so I can go to breakfast."

"I couldn't believe you weren't ready yet," Delphi smirked at her. "You're usually trying to wake me up."

"Well, maybe I slept in for once," Andromeda smirked in return. "Just don't tell Dora."

Delphi laughed, hugging her aunt again before taking her serpent onto her arm and getting up from the bed. "Well, I'll see you at breakfast."

Andromeda nodded. "You know, Delphi, perhaps you can carefully explain to Rigel that we can't send you to Hogwarts. Sort of smooth over things with him, and sympathize, okay?"

She wrinkled her nose at the thought. "I won't promise," she warned Andromeda, then grinned and left the room proudly, her serpent hidden under her sleeve.

Delphi walked straight to Rigel's room, biting her lip as she heard Rabastan's voice. She didn't dare stay around there, and hurried away from the corridor, wondering when she would ever be able to feel safe around him again.

"Missstress isss not going to ssspeak to the other young one?" Marvolo asked curiously.

"Hisss sssire isss...an enemy," Delphi answered. "He hatesss me because I am better than hisss ssson. Because I am the daughter of the Dark Lord."

"He mussst know power," Marvolo said. "He hatesss the young of hisss massster?"

"Old massster," Delphi scowled. "He disssrespects my father all the time, asss if he never wasss a faithful Death Eater. He alssso speaksss badly of my mother, both of which he would not do if they were ssstill here."

Marvolo seemed to agree, though she knew he had no reference for her words. "Missstress mussst wait to ssspeak to the heir of the enemy," he said, gently rubbing his scaly head against her arm.

Delphi smiled. "Of courssse," she agreed, throwing open the door of the dining room. "I will wait. Now shh, Marvolo. We will not reveal you yet."

If a serpent could laugh, Marvolo would have laughed, and Delphi giggled as she took a seat next to Rodolphus, looking from him to Andromeda. "Everyone else is late?" she frowned.

"No," Rodolphus answered. "Rigel is sick, so they won't be at breakfast. They're both too concerned about him to bother with food."

"But one would be sufficient to care for him," Andromeda sighed, and Delphi rolled her eyes.

"They baby him," she said. "No one would stay with me if I were sick."

"You wouldn't let us," Andromeda told her. "But you know I would check on you."

Delphi shrugged, and Rodolphus looked to Andromeda. "Shall we eat?"

They ate very quietly, Delphi making sure not to speak to Marvolo, even though the others in the room knew about him. She had plans for her serpent and Rigel Lestrange.

Later that week, Delphini decided that she would go to Rigel early one morning and talk to him about Hogwarts and all before the boy's birthday. She knew if he was disappointed in front of the entire family, she wouldn't be able to resist taunting him. She hurried along to the boy's room, testing the ward for a moment before she let herself into the room, silently slipping over to look at her sleeping nephew.

The girl smirked slightly, though she quickly reached out and touched his arm gently. "Rigel," she said softly, "wake up."

The boy did not stir, and she rolled her eyes. "Rigel Lestrange," she snapped, and he just pulled away from her, turning over in his sleep.

"Sssluggish," Marvolo commented, and Delphi couldn't help giggling.

"Rigel," she sighed, "wake up! I'll tell you a secret! One that even your dad doesn't know. Isn't that cool?"

"Go 'way, Delphini Riddle," Rigel mumbled in annoyance, trying to swat her away from his ear.

Marvolo hissed at a near miss with the boy's hand, and Delphi scowled. "If you hit Marvolo, he will not be happy with you," she snapped.

Rigel groaned, pulling his pillow over his head. "Then go play with him," he moaned. "If you're obsessed with pretending you have friends now..."

Delphi stared at him for a moment. "I do not pretend such idiocy!" she said in disgust. "He is my serpent friend, little Lestrange."

Rigel froze, then slowly peeked out from under his pillow. "Serpent?" he whispered.

"Greetingsss," Marvolo hissed, slithering out of the neckline of Delphi's dress, wrapping himself around her neck.

"He says hi," Delphi translated.

"That's what Dad doesn't know, isn't it?" Rigel sighed. "You know he'll be angry."

Delphi glared at him. "He always is," she snapped. "But Andromeda and Rodolphus and your mother all approve of Marvolo, and will be able to keep your father from doing anything too stupid."

Rigel yawned, then considered her for a moment. "They didn't keep him from Cursing you," he said softly. "I'm sorry."

She turned away from him. "It didn't really hurt," she muttered. "Just surprised me. I just didn't know he would do something like that. But I know better now."

The boy nodded with a sigh. "I guess Mum was upset with him," he said. "But...I'm just worried that he'll hurt her if she approves of you having a pet-"

"He is not a pet!" Delphi said quickly, her serpent hissing angrily at the same time. "He is my friend, Rigel. And your mother can take care of herself. I'm sure my mother was a perfect example of how to deal with a difficult man."

Rigel stared at her for a moment, then began to laugh. "I wonder what Rodolphus would say if you told him that to his face," he laughed, falling back onto his sheets. "Look: what else did you want to talk to me about?"

The girl sighed deeply. "I...I talked to Andromeda about something that I think you should know," she said finally, looking up to meet his gaze. "Rigel, we can't go to Hogwarts."

The boy looked shocked. "But...we're wizards. At least, I am. And you're a witch."

"But no one knows that I exist, and all of us are in hiding," Delphi told him. "We know this. It's just never meant anything this terrible."

"But couldn't we go anyway?" Rigel asked.

Delphi shook her head. "Dora wouldn't let us, I'm sure. I mean, if we left the protection of this house, we couldn't go back or everyone would know where our family is. And your father doesn't want you out of his sight, anyway.

Rigel frowned. "That is not true!" he protested. "It's just that he's worried something will happen to us. You know, Delphi; it's what Azkaban has done to him, Mum says."

"Then what about Rodolphus?" Delphi frowned. "Why isn't he half as bad as Rabastan?"

"Because Rod has no one to lose," Rigel sighed. "He only wants to help you because you remind him of Bellatrix. It's obvious that he feels that it's his duty to protect you, for whatever reason."

"He's sad," Delphi nodded. "He—he misses Mum." She looked down at Marvolo, then shook her head fiercely. "Anyway. Do you think you could break it to your father that I have a new friend?"

The boy looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "I'll see what I can do," he told her. "Now go away so I can sleep before they try to come wake me up again."

Delphi grinned, then jumped off the bed and hurried from the room.

Nymphadora leaned back into Rabastan as they sat together on the couch, Rabastan kissing her ear and making her shift away from him. "Aw, come on," he smirked, kissing her cheek.

"Not now," she muttered, not wanting to draw Rodolphus' attention.

The two men had been reminiscing about old times, and as much as she wanted to distract them, she didn't want her husband to start anything with the other man in the room. "Fiiine," he pouted, wrapping his arms around her and embracing her firmly.

Nymphadora was grateful when Rabastan picked up the paper and began to read, Dora pulling away slightly. "I'm going to make sure Andromeda and the children are all right," she murmured to him before getting to her feet and leaving the room.

She found them, as she knew she would, in their specially warded practise room. Andromeda glanced at her, then motioned her to come closer as she walked over to Rigel and said, "Don't bend your wrist as much. It must be straight, yet fluid for the curse to be as powerful as it should be."

Dora watched the two children thoughtfully, trying to discern what they were learning, but finally had to admit she had no idea. "What spell are you teaching them?" she asked Andromeda.

"Concentrate the magic, Delphi," Andromeda warned the girl. "If you use it too broadly, you will kill your victim instead of merely injuring them."

"Wouldn't want that," Delphi smirked, though she only slightly reigned in the spell.

Andromeda glanced at Rigel, then answered Dora. "We are beginning our study into the Black grimoires," she answered. "As they learn the skills necessary for these spells, they will be learning normal spells and the grimoires side by side."

Nymphadora stared at the woman for a moment, realising something that she never thought of before, but unfortunately, Delphi picked up on it at the same time. "The Purest Black doesn't know her grimoires!" Delphi shrieked with laughter. "Did Mother not think you were entitled to them?"

Rigel turned to look at his mother, and Andromeda looked shocked. "Did Bella not teach you the spells that our ancestors have handed down to us?" she asked Nymphadora in concern.

"N-no," Dora admitted, forcing herself not to blush. She had never even been curious about grimoires, even though she had obviously heard different purebloods mention theirs. Her mother surely would have known them, so why hadn't she taught her?

"Dora," Delphi giggled, "you never asked Mum to teach you these things?"

"I...was learning to be a Death Eater, and a pureblood," Nymphadora said haughtily. "I had no time for such things. And it didn't seem that I was much of a Black at the time, either."

"You could join us," Rigel cut in, interrupting Delphi as she went to make another comment. "Join us in learning, Mum." He walked over and wrapped an arm around her. "Andromeda wouldn't mind, I don't think."

Andromeda smiled at the boy slightly. "Of course not, though I do think Bellatrix should have taught her those to begin with. For her to forget something like that..."

"Wouldn't be too unusual," Nymphadora sighed, slipping her arm around her son. "I would like to learn as well, then."

"Good," Andromeda nodded. "Dear Aunt Walburga would be horrified if she knew that the Head of our House does not yet know the grimoires." She laughed slightly, shaking her head with a sigh. "So let me explain what Delphi and Rigel are supposed to be practising."

The children turned back to practising when they heard Andromeda's tone of voice, and Nymphadora smirked slightly as she listened to the witch explain what they were doing.

A couple nights later, Rabastan lay in bed, watching his wife sit at her vanity, half undressed as she read a book she'd been quite fascinated with the last few nights. "Dora," he said presently, his voice soft and low.

"Hmm?" she asked, not looking up from the book.

"I was thinking," he said slowly, not taking his eyes off her, "we should have another child."

"'Kay," Dora answered distantly without looking up. Rabastan couldn't help laughing, though she finally glanced at him in concern. "Why are you laughing?" she asked.

Rabastan chuckled, sitting up in bed. "I said, I think we should have another child."

Nymphadora bit her lip, her eyes suddenly sad. "I-I-" she hesitated, then looked down at her book.

"I understand," Rabastan said quietly, getting up and walking over to her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "But we both know it was an accident. It won't happen this time."

"Who's to say that?" Dora whispered.

"If you'll let us protect you," Rabastan said gently, and she sighed, standing and wrapping her arms around him.

"Rab," she breathed, "I-please not yet. I-I've got to learn my family grimoires first..." She shifted in his arms, showing him the book she'd been reading, which was worn and faded.

Rabastan gave her a strange look. "You don't know the House of Black grimoires?" he said in shock.

Dora pouted. "Don't make me tell you you sound like Delphi," she warned him. "Because she went down that road, too."

"I'm just surprised," he answered, pressing a kiss into her hair. "So no babies until you've learned how to turn things inside out?"

"Yeah," Dora giggled. "But...you know-"

He cut her off with a kiss, taking her book from her hand and setting it aside in spite of her protest that he'd lost her place. "You can find it tomorrow," he mumbled, then picked her up and carried her to the bed. "I claim you right now."

Giggling, Dora clung to him happily, the grimoires suddenly the farthest thing from her mind.