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Bella

Nymphadora nestled into her husband's arms, letting the man stroke her hair as she absentmindedly drew circles on his chest.

"What are you thinking?" Rabastan murmured.

"Nothing . . ." Dora sighed, letting herself let out a huff of laughter as Rabastan went to move, looking up at him before he could move her chin to raise her gaze to his own, she knew him too well. "You're going grey."

"I think I began going grey many years ago," Rab smirked, "though thank you, as always, for pointing that out to me."

"You're welcome," Dora smirked, kissing him briefly.

"I'm sure you'd be grey if you didn't keep morphing your hair," Rabastan shrugged, though laughed as his wife hit his chest.

"I am not old," Dora pouted.

"You're fourty-ei—"

"Shh," Dora shook her head, "no need to say it out loud."

"Fine," Rabastan rolled his eyes in amusement, "care to tell me what's on your mind instead then?"

"Nothing," Dora shrugged, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Fine, we can talk about other things, how although you may tease that I am old you are my wife and we have a ten and twenty-three—"

"Alright, alright," Dora groaned, "you are a bad man."

"And I never get tired of you telling me that," Rabastan said, settling his hand on the small of Dora's back, "but tell me what is on your mind."

"I—," Dora sighed, "it's September 2nd."

"And . . . ?"

"And it just . . . I can't help but think about Hogwarts this time of year," Dora sighed, rolling onto her back and staring up at the ceiling, "how Rigel should have gone . . . how Bella should be going next year . . . it's not fair."

"It keeps them safe," Rabastan said, "besides, you and Andromeda can teach Bella well enough, you did a good job with Rigel, that boy is too smart for his own good I swear."

"It's the experience though, isn't it?" Dora said, "Away from home, you can make friends, get into duels with people your own age, join the Quidditch team . . . Even the first day is exciting . . . or terrifying," Dora turned on her side, resting her head on her hand as she propped herself up to look down at her husband, "I mean, can't you remember the excitement of your first day? Or was it too long ago to remember?"

"Cheek," Rabastan rolled his eyes in amusement, though sighed and frowned in thought as he remembered, "My first day, Rodolphus dropped me off at the station. Mother was sick, and father was busy, so they couldn't take me and I think Rodolphus had gotten into a fight with your Mother so was glad of the excuse to get away from her. I sat on the train with Regulus and Barty . . . It was pretty standard I assume. Some mudblood's tried to talk to us but we quickly put them off . . . What about you?"

Dora sighed, sitting up and getting out of bed, "I offended Bill Weasley on the train to school, got called a mudblood then a half-blood by some bitchy little first years, got told by the sorting hat I was born of scandal—which makes a hell of a lot more sense now than it did back then—then wrote a letter to Andromeda whilst hiding away in bed upset because everyone hated me."

"Ah," Rabastan said as he got up as well, "seems like an experience our children are thoroughly missing out on,"

"I was a special case," Dora rolled her eyes, walking over to her wardrobe to find an outfit to wear, "it wasn't my fault."

"No," Rabastan agreed, though decided not to mention that their own children would probably have far worse problems at school than she did, being the descendants of murderous Death Eaters and all. Instead he let his wife live in her little fantasy of what wonderful times they would have had, surely it was better than the inner battle he had constantly damning himself for giving their children a life of secrecy and hatred for merely carrying his name.

Nymphadora sat herself down at the dining room table, followed closely by her husband as he slipped into a seat beside her. She frowned as she looked around the room, everyone was gathered already yet the breakfast was not on the table. A strange silence had fallen as they had entered the room though she had only just really registered it as she looked to the faces of the other three adults in the room.

"You know, you don't have to wait for us to summon the elf to serve breakfast," Dora said.

"That's what I said," Bella huffed, "but they were too distracted to care."

Dora clicked her fingers, instructing the elf to bring the breakfast though she looked to Andromeda with a frown of confusion even as little Bella groaned "Finally," and tucked into her eggs.

"What distracted you?" Rabastan asked, sharing a glance with his wife.

Andromeda sighed, pushing the mornings copy of the Daily Prophet to Rabastan, "This."

"Dad—" Rigel began, though his Uncle raised his hand to gesture the boy to let the man read.

"Page three," Rodolphus murmured.

Rabastan nodded slightly and opened the paper, pushing his breakfast to the side and scanning the article. His eyebrows raised slightly in surprise for a moment before he took a deep breath.

"What?" Dora asked, a slight hint of panic in her voice now, "What is it? It's not Delphi is it?"

"Maybe . . ." Rodolphus said.

"What do you mean maybe?" Dora asked, ignoring the strange look her daughter gave her at the annoyance in her voice. Rabastan finished reading the paper and shook his head.

"Probably," he sighed.

"It's idiotic," Andromeda said matter of factly, "she'll get herself into trouble sooner rather than later if she goes on like that."

"We don't know it's her," Rigel protested.

"Well—"

"Oh for merlin's sake!" Nymphadora hissed, drawing her wand and summoning the paper from her husband, "Let me see it," she shook her head as she flattened the paper, choosing to ignore her daughter's startled gaze, she had never raised her voice in front of Bella to her memory. She scanned the page quickly, then read it multiple times over to make sure she had read it right. Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter had gone missing from the Hogwarts express on their way to their fourth year at school. She stared at the picture of the two boys, both grinning up at the camera in their Slytherin uniforms as they sat in the grounds of Hogwarts the previous year. "Why would she do that . . ." Dora barely whispered.

"It's Potter's kid, isn't it?" Rigel asked "And Draco's. He's your cousin, right?"

"Right . . ."

"She has no reason to do such a thing," Rodolphus said, his voice sounding rather defensive of the young witch.

"I don't know," Andromeda shook her head, "there hasn't been any disappearances of children like that since . . ."

"Maybe they ran away," Rodolphus glared, "maybe Potter and Draco aren't cut out to be parents and their brats had had enough of them. Besides, the Potter child, Slytherin surrounded by Gryffindors? I can see why he'd want to escape the Weasley clan."

"What if it is though?" Rabastan asked, "Why would she do such a thing?"

"Maybe she's given up," Rigel shrugged, "maybe she failed with the time turner now she's seeking revenge on—"

"She has not given up!" Rodolphus hissed, glaring furiously at the young man, causing his sister beside him to sink into her chair slightly.

"Do not yell at my son, Rodolphus," Rabastan growled, "it's a fair point."

"It is not!" Rodolphus snapped, "Delphini Riddle is not about to give up on her life long mission and dream to restore her parents to their former glory. She knows what she's doing, she'll be well on task by now."

A silence hung in the room again. It was clear that Rodolphus, perhaps more than anyone else within the manor, wanted more than anything for Delphini to succeed in her cause to 'put the world to rights'. Though it was unclear as to if this did have anything to do with Delphi there had been no news of the girl since she had left them so long ago now and this was not the first time something in the prophet had caused for a heated discussion such as this. Though usually it did not get so intense, the last time for example had been a simple debate over a small article about an attempted burglary at the ministry in the records of magical persons department.

"Potter . . ." to everyone's surprise, it was Andromeda that murmured this name, causing each of the others to stare at her in confusion.

"What about him?" Dora asked, confused though curious.

"The prophecy . . ." Andromeda said, looking to Nymphadora, "When spares are spared, when time is turned, when unseen children—"

"murder their fathers," Nymphadora continued, suddenly understanding what the woman was trying to say, "will The Dark Lord return."

"What?" Rabastan asked, "What does the prophecy have to do with two boys going missing?"

"Because it isn't just any two boys," Andromeda said, looking to the man as if she was trying to explain the most simple thing in the world, "one of those children is Harry Potter's child."

"And?" Rabastan asked.

"And a child needs to murder their father," Dora couldn't help but laugh slightly.

"Delphi's going to make someone kill someone?" Bella asked, sounding concerned and even a little frightened.

"Rigel take your sister elsewhere," Rabastan turned to his son.

"But Father—"

"Now," Rabastan said more firmly this time.

The young man grumbled under his breath, going on about not being trusted and being a glorified babysitter, "Come on, Bella,"

"But my breakfast!" Bella moaned.

"Here," Rigel rolled his eyes, picking up the plate and pointing to the door, he watched as she stomped off out of the room, then glanced back at his mother "You'll tell me everything later?"

Dora hesitated for a moment, she didn't like getting Rigel too involved in such matters and part of her found it hard to believe that he was truly a man now and not a child to be hidden away from the nastiness of their past such as Bella was. Though reluctantly she nodded, waiting for the two children to leave the room before she placed a ward on the room to stop them trying to listen in on their conversation for now.

"Explain your theory then, Andromeda," Rabastan demanded, ignoring the woman's disapproving tone of having such a voice used on her before she carried on.

"Well, we've had certain things figured out of the prophecy for a while now," Andromeda said.

"Like Diggory being the spare," Rodolphus interjected.

"Yes," Andromeda rolled her eyes, she did not enjoy being interrupted by anybody, "but the 'when unseen children murder their fathers' that could never have been about Delphi, because she wouldn't murder her father and—well, he's already dead. But Harry Potter . . . if he had died long ago, before the Battle of Hogwarts, perhaps The Dark Lord would never have died. Perhaps she needs the Potter child, to go back in time with her—or for her—because the prophecy never directly related to or mentioned Delphini when you think about it carefully, the only thing that ever had anything to do with her was that her father is The Dark Lord. Though perhaps she's merely the starting tool in all of this, the thing that starts the events to get the spare spared and her father risen again."

". . . Shit," Dora breathed, "that makes sense."

"So . . ." Rabastan paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, not looking at any of them as he continued, "you think Delphi is with the Potter boy? Enacting the prophecy right as we speak?"

"Maybe," Andromeda sighed.

"What about Draco's son?" Dora asked, "What's he got to do with this?"

"Maybe Scorpius will kill his father too," Rodolphus scoffed.

"I hope not," Dora sighed, "Aunt Cissa never deserved that."

"Or maybe he's just a coincidence in all of this," Andromeda rolled her eyes, "is it not easier to convince a child to follow your plans if you have their friend beside them, convincing them too and having an extra sense of false security for the Potter boy because they're together with a stranger?"

"Sometimes your ability to think like a Death Eater worries me," Dora mumbled, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice as Andromeda laughed slightly.

"You forget how I was raised, dear," Andromeda replied casually.

"So," Rabastan spoke again, though there was an undeniable hint of something in his tone, perhaps worry or even fear, "if this all goes well . . . The Dark Lord could return soon?"

"And Bellatrix," Rodolphus smirked, raising an eyebrow at his brother, "scared, brother?"

"Why would I be scared?" Rabastan snapped.

"You tell me," Rodolphus shrugged, "you don't exactly seem excited."

"I'm simply not getting my hopes up, brother." Rabastan snarled, "You put too much hopes in the talents of a lone child."

"She is not a child," Rodolphus growled, "she is a grown woman and heir to The Dark Lord, our master, lest you forget."

"What are you insinuating?" Rabastan asked, standing up to glare down at his brother as his wife sighed and rested her head on her hand, clearly having enough of the men fighting already.

"Nothing," Rodolphus said sarcastically as he raised from his seat to meet his brother's glare, looking down at the slightly shorter man, "unless there's something you're not sharing with us."

Rabastan continued to glare furiously at the man, gritting his teeth as he tried to calm himself for a moment before without warning he let out a yell of annoyance and strode from the room slamming the door behind him.

"Rab . . ." Dora sighed, biting her lip for a moment before she ran after him.

"You did that on purpose," Andromeda shook her head, picking up her knife and fork as she began to eat her breakfast as though nothing had happened.

"What?" Rodolphus huffed, hesitating for a moment before he took a swig from his cup of coffee.

"You antagonised him," Andromeda said simply.

Rodolphus considered the witch for a moment before he shrugged, "He's a traitor."

"That's a bold statement to make," Andromeda raised an eyebrow.

"He doesn't care about the Dark Lord," Rodolphus said, bitterness in his tone, "he would be happy to hide away with his little perfect family in this hole for the rest of his life."

"I would hardly call the Black home a 'hole'," Andromeda said, "besides, can you blame him?"

"What?" Rodolphus stared at the woman.

"Well, say you were Rabastan," Andromeda said carefully, aware of the man's quick temper, "or even if Delphi had no desire to go off and go on with her plans to bring back her father—" she decidedly ignored Rod's scoff at the notion, "—imagine it was Dora that wanted to do it, to bring back her mother. Merely by stepping foot outside of this home we risk all of us getting caught. It puts everyone in danger if she shouldn't succeed, would you be happy for Delphi to be in that danger? Or . . . if you had your own children to protect?"

Rodolphus stiffened slightly, his grasp on his coffee mug tightening for a moment as he tried to remain composed, "He does not fear her failure, he fears her success. He hasn't exactly always treated Delphini in the kindest of ways, he practically hated the girl for years—probably still does—he tried to palm her off on anybody else but him when the Dark Lord fell and Delphini knows that. He will not sit in favour of the Dark Lord should that get back to him."

"You think Delphi would do that?" Andromeda asked, "She may not care for Rabastan but I feel she does care, even slightly, for her sister no matter how little she shows it. She knows Dora fought for her."

"It doesn't matter," Rodolphus said, surprising the woman as he abandoned his untouched food and raised from his chair once again, "she has to succeed first and I for one am entirely rooting for her. Unlike others."

Andromeda watched as the man left the room, shaking her head to herself as she sat back in her chair. She couldn't help but wonder what would happen, if Delphi should succeed. Would she still be with Nymphadora if time changed? Would she still be living alone in the Tonks home? Would she have had to go into hiding from the Dark rather than the Light? All she knew in that instance was that she knew better than Rabastan; she could not let her worries or fears show to the rest.

"Rab?" Dora called as she entered the study, forcing a slight smile as she saw her husband sat at the desk eating his breakfast. Ever since his argument with his brother the day before he had refused to be in the same room as him, taking all of his meals in here, it was a promise he had made to her that so far it seemed he had intended to keep.

"What?" Rabastan asked, looking to the paper in his wife's hands for a brief moment before he shook his head and sat back in his seat, "I'm not going to the dining room."

"I didn't ask you to," Dora said, walking over to her husband she pressed a kiss to his head, "though Bella keeps asking when you're going to 'stop stropping'."

"Cheek," Rabastan scoffed.

"Just like her mother," Dora winked before she slipped into her husband's lap, resting her head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her.

"True," Rabastan let out a huff of amusement before his gaze returned to the paper in the woman's hands, "what's going on in the world today?"

Dora sat up and took a breath, flattening the paper out on her lap and finding the article she needed, she glanced at her husband for a moment before she began to read, "The two Hogwarts students that managed a great escape from The Hogwarts Express on September 1st have been found, within the grounds of Hogwarts itself. Albus Severus Potter, Gryffindor child of the famous Harry and Ginny Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, Slytherin child of ex-Death Eater Draco Malfoy, were heard to have found to be safe and with no harm to them. The Daily Prophet has as of yet been unable to get an exact reasoning to their disappearance, though it seems this may have been a foolish childhood adventure. Perhaps young Potter is trying to find adventures such as his father? Both the Potters and Malfoy were approached for comment but each refused to speak to us."

Rabastan let out a breath he did not know he was holding as he leant his head back on his chair, closing his eyes, "So they weren't kidnapped or any nonsense? No mention of your sister?"

"No mention of Delphi," Dora confirmed, putting the paper down on the desk before she turned to face her husband, "Rab . . ."

Rabastan hesitated for a moment, letting the sense of relief flood over him for a little longer before he opened his eyes to look at his wife, "Yes, Dora?"

"You don't need to be scared," Dora said quietly, "whatever Delphi does to bring back The Dark Lord—if she manages to bring back The Dark Lord . . . she won't bring down your name—our name."

"How can you possibly know that, Dora?" Rabastan asked, though he did not meet his wife's eyes.

"Because she told me so," Dora said, flinching slightly as, as she predicted, Rabastan sat straight upright and stared straight at her in worried shock.

"What?"

"We talked before she left," Dora said simply, "she knows that you're worried—I didn't tell her! She's very perceptive . . . She's only worried about bringing back her father, she doesn't care about what's happened in her life up to this point."

"But you can't know that she won't say anything—even if she told you, Nymphadora," Rabastan spoke more firmly as Nymphadora went to interrupt him, "Besides, what if The Dark Lord questions us? Questions Rodolphus? Questions Andromeda or the children even? We won't lie, we can't lie, he will know that I tried to get rid of her, one way or another . . . whether it be the day he returns or at some point in the future, it will happen."

"And what if no-one knows what happened?" Dora asked, "If the time turner works right then I don't think any of us would remember this life . . . if The Dark Lord survived things would have been different . . . Rigel would have gone to Hogwarts for one, Bella—" Dora froze, clearly having thought of something that she had not before.

"Bella was conceived in the time after his downfall," Rabastan said darkly, clearly, he had thought of it, "it may have been that she wasn't conceived at all . . . or goes by a different name . . . or an entirely different personality than that of what we know her to have, she would have been raised differently."

"Shit . . ." Dora breathed.

Rabastan sighed, wrapping both arms around his wife and pulling her fully into his embrace as he leant back in his chair.

"Would we be the same?" Dora asked quietly, leaning her head on his shoulder and resting a hand on his chest, "Would—Would anything be the same?"

"I don't know, Dora . . ." Rabastan muttered, "I'll always love you though, you know that. We were married before he fell,"

"B-But Diggory . . . he died before—"

"Don't think of it," Rabastan said, stroking the witch's hair as he closed his eyes again, "your mother will most likely have survived, we wouldn't be in hiding, we would be back to the inner circle helping rule the world most likely . . ."

"But . . ." Dora shook her head, closing her eyes and curling further into her husband, "it will be okay."

"I know Dora," Rabastan said, "we always survive."