Sorry for the long wait for an update! BUT, we now have this whole thing written and edited. Soooo, I'll be uploading a chapter a day and this story will be done before the year is out!

So please read, enjoy and please do leave a review if you have a moment!

Bella

"I am not changing the wards!" Nymphadora yelled as she slammed her fists down on the dining room table, her hair was a wild curled red as she glared at Andromeda.

Rodolphus and Andromeda had pulled her into the room when they had seen her trying to leave the manor, ignoring her angry protest as they tried to reason with her that they just wanted to talk. Rodolphus now sat at the table, rubbing his temple as he rested his elbow on the table, Andromeda sat opposite him as she flinched at the sudden movement of Nymphadora.

"He understands the risk," Andromeda spoke firmly but quietly, "we all understand. We agreed this years ago and we should have done it by now. If he's been caught—"

"He's not been caught!" Nymphadora snapped.

"You can't know that," Andromeda shook her head, "it's been two days now."

"H-He might have been followed for a while," Nymphadora shrugged, straightening herself up as she tried to convince herself that the worst had not happened to her husband, "he's shaking them. We can't change the wards and stop him being able to get back in, that's ridiculous. How would you like it?"

"I would expect it, Nymphadora," Andromeda said, a slight pleading look in her eyes as she looked up at the woman, "It leaves us exposed, it leaves your children exposed."

"Don't you dare bring my children into this!" Nymphadora yelled, "You forget this is their father you are talking about banishing!"

"Dora—"

"I'm not doing it!" Nymphadora glared furiously, "You can't change the wards without me and I fucking refuse!"

"You have to," Rodolphus mumbled, not looking up from the table as Nymphadora gave him an incredulous stare.

"What?" Nymphadora breathed.

"He knows, Dora," Rodolphus said quietly as he raised his gaze to look at the witch, "he would have expected you to do it by now."

Nymphadora looked to him for a few moments longer, shaking her head slightly as she considered his words, "That's your brother . . ."

"I know," Rodolphus said, "you can't accuse me of not caring. If it weren't for him I never would have found this place, Merlin knows where I would have ended up after I escaped Azkaban. I could have ended up straight back there or dead even. But he knows what has to be done."

The metamorphmagus merely continued to shake her head, though the red in her hair faded to black and her dark eyes glimmered with tears. "No . . ." she sniffed, "he'll come back . . ."

"Dora," Andromeda spoke gently, walking towards the woman and placing a hand gently on her shoulder as she looked into her eyes, "he'll find a way back to you—back to us all—but this is to protect us all . . . he would want you to do it."

"I—" Nymphadora swallowed hard, closing her eyes for a moment before she looked to Rodolphus, "I have to, don't I?"

The man hesitated for a moment before he gave the slightest of nods, immediately looking away from the witch as a single tear escaped her eyes.

"I—"

The room froze as the wards quivered. Nymphadora's eyes went wide in shock.

"Is that?" Dora whispered.

The door burst open, Rigel running into the room with a grin on his face, "Mum! It's father, he's back!"

The room seemed to pause for a moment in the shock of events before all at once it came to life again. Nymphadora ran from the room, ignoring Rodolphus and Andromeda's yell for her to wait. She didn't care, her feet pounded against the hard floor as she bound through the room. As she reached the main entrance hall of Black Manor she froze, watching as a hooded man entered the door.

"Rab?" she called, her words barely audible though the figure turned to her.

They lowered their hood. A sheepish grin shone back at her, "Hello, Dora," Rabastan breathed.

She ran to him, throwing herself into his arms as with a grunt he fell back into the wall at the force of her weight. Though she clung to him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck as he buried his face in his hair and wrapped his arms around her, breathing in every ounce of her. They clung to each other desperately.

"Dora," Rab murmured into her hair, "I—"

"You idiot!" Dora yelled, hitting his shoulder as she pulled herself away from him, glaring at him though her cheeks were streaked with tears, "How dare you make me worry like that!" she hit him again, "How dare you leave me!" she hit him again, "We were about to change the wards on you!" she hit him again, punctuating each of her words with a further thump though he merely flinched and casually protected his head with his arm, "You. Had. Me. Worried. Sick!"

"Get away from him," Rodolphus growled as he strode forward, the couple not even realising that he had been there (nor the fact that Andromeda was also there, now fast approaching with her wand drawn). He ripped the man away from her, Rabastan sighing a breath of relief for only a split second before he held his breath in his throat as Rodolphus dug his wand into the man's neck.

"What are you doing?!" Nymphadora demanded, "I'm allowed to bloody hit the idiot, you can't curse him!"

"Shush, Dora," Andromeda said, looking to the two men as she pulled Dora away from him.

"What did I say when I found you and Nymphadora together the first time?" Rodolphus asked, shaking the man as he looked to his wife and forcing him to look back at him.

"You called me an idiot!" Rabastan glared, "You called me an idiot, called Nymphadora a 'plaything' and said Bellatrix would murder me—in French, which made you look like a twat because you didn't realise Dora could speak French."

Rodolphus considered the man for a moment before with a nod he let him go. Rabastan looked to his wife, the woman taking a step towards him, "Please don't try and hit me again," Rabastan sighed, though the woman merely shook her head, walking towards him and wrapping her arms around him again as she rested her head on his shoulder. He stroked her hair, resting his head against her own as he sighed, "make your mind up, woman."

"I'm still mad at you," Dora mumbled.

"Where have you been?" Andromeda asked, not looking so ready to forgive the man as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I—" Rabastan hesitated for a moment as he caught the curious stare of his brother.

"Dad?" Rigel grinned as he walked around the corner, his younger sister by his side.

"Daddy!" Bella yelled, running to her father and near enough jumping into his arms as Nymphadora managed to jump out of the way at the last second, "I missed you!" she cried as he sighed and hugged her, her arms wrapping around his neck "Where did you go? Why did you go? They were starting to think you wouldn't come back—but you said you'd be back soon. This isn't soon though, is it Daddy?"

"Sorry princess," Rab sighed, kissing the girls hair, "I'm back now. We're all okay."

"Rigel," Dora sighed as she looked to her son, "can you please take Bella to her room? I need to speak to your father."

"No!" Bella whined.

"I'll send him to you as soon as I'm done with him, Bella, okay?" Dora reassured the girl, raising her eyebrows at her pouting face before the little girl huffed and pulled away.

"We all need to speak to your father, Belle," Rodolphus said, "he'll be up to see you soon."

"I need to speak to you first," Dora shook her head, "alone."

"Dora—" Andromeda went to speak, though suddenly all of the adults in the room froze.

Rigel frowned, "Was that—?"

"The wards," Dora breathed.

"Rigel, take Bellatrix upstairs, now." Andromeda said firmly.

Bella whined, not fully understanding the severity of the situation, "But—"

"Now!" Nymphadora yelled this time, the little girl's going wide in fear as she was not used to her mother yelling at her.

"Come on, Bella," Rigel rushed forward, sweeping the ten-year-old into his arms, he looked to his parents, panic settling in his features.

"It will be fine," Rab said calmly, "it's fine. Go upstairs."

Rigel hesitated a moment longer before with a small nod he ran upstairs to hide.

"How have they found us again?" Dora asked, her hair now pure white as she rushed to peek out of the small window by the front door, "They haven't been here since . . . they can't be here again!"

"They're tearing down the wards," Andromeda muttered, her wand now drawn, "we haven't got time to reinforce them. Do we go out there? Or wait for them to come in here?"

"The children . . ." Dora breathed, wrapping an arm around herself as she pulled her wand from her robes.

"What have you done?" Rodolphus gritted his teeth as he looked to his brother.

"It's fine," Rabastan shook his head, "they won't . . . I— . . ."

Dora winced as the wards began to crumble, catching sight of the group of Aurors now trying to invade their home.

"What did you do?!" Rodolphus bellowed at his brother, though the man merely winced and shook his head.

"This is not the time to yell at each other!" Andromeda glared at the two men, "We need to fight. Dora," Andromeda walked over the woman, placing a hand on her shoulder and forcing her to turn to look at her, "if we begin to lose you go to the children and get them far away from here."

Dora shook her head, "Rigel knows, he-he knows to run if he has to."

"We need to lay down our wands," Rabastan said, his voice calm and collected though the rest of the room turned to stare at him as if he had just grown an extra head, "we need to surrender."

"You've done something," Rodolphus hissed, "I know you have."

"They won't hurt us—not if we surrender," Rabastan shook his head.

"I am not willing to test that theory, Lestrange!" Andromeda hissed, storming past Nymphadora and looking towards the window, "They're coming . . . they aren't peaceful. They've already put anti-apparation wards up, if a peaceful surrender was on the cards they would have tried to talk to us by now. You brought them here, Rabastan, you were followed."

"You should—"

"Enough!" Nymphadora yelled, "If Rabastan was followed here it was not his fault! Now we need to deal with this. We will guard the stairs, we don't let them get upstairs—we need to keep them away from the children. We stick together and we do not run outside to meet them—this isn't ending up like last time . . . No-one is getting hurt. Understood?"

The room was silent for only mere seconds. It was soon too late to argue again even if they had wanted to. The wards crumbled. Without a sound Andromeda and Rodolphus ran towards the stairs, Rabastan hesitated slightly, looking towards the oncoming Aurors as if dumbstruck at the sight of them.

"Come on!" Nymphadora yelled, grabbing the man's hand and running to meet up with the others.

"Don't throw the first spell," Nymphadora commanded, as if back helping her mother lead the Dark Lord's troops into a dangerous mission, it was instinctive, "let them fire first."

"We can't fight them," Rabastan shook his head, though as his wife shot him a glare he drew his wand regardless.

The sound of the front door smashing into a thousand pieces echoed throughout the manor and Nymphadora couldn't help but jump in fear for a moment before she hardened her glare. Footsteps pounded throughout the manor, each running off in different directions. Four Aurors ran towards the stairs, stopping the moment that they saw the family.

"Drop your wands!" one of the men said.

"No thank you," Rodolphus growled.

"Agreed." Andromeda glared.

"They're here!" one of the female Aurors cried.

Rabastan stood forward, his wand drawn though held at his side, unlike his family who all had their wands pointed towards the intruders in their home.

"Put your wands down," Rabastan said simply.

"Rabastan!" Dora hissed, grabbing his arm with her free hand and trying to pull him back, though he did not budge. Even when more Aurors rushed towards them he did not move. They were now outnumbered, at least two to one.

"Potter," Rodolphus laughed as he saw the man with the shadow of a lightning bolt scar on his forehead step forward, "all grown up."

"Lay down your wands," Potter said, though he was mainly looking towards Rabastan.

Nymphadora's eyes flickered around the room, trying to assess the situation as a thousand ideas ran through her head. It was only as she was looking around the room in the silent standoff that something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. There were only a few portraits hung around the stairs of the manor, Narcissa's portrait had run the moment the Aurors had arrived, Druella was currently stood with her lip curled as she muttered something under her breath about scum, a few scattered frames stood empty (whether they had fled at the sight of the intruders or had never been there Nymphadora did not know), though it was the portrait of Rodolphus that caught her eye. The man's younger portrait self stood watching them curiously, though suddenly he turned as if he had spotted something in the distance to the left of his frame. Nymphadora tried not to watch, tried to stay focused, though as she watched the portrait form of her late mother rush into the frame she couldn't help but watch. The woman's heavy-lidded eyes widened in shock for a moment, pausing briefly to take in the scene before she rushed forward, her painted husband grabbing onto her arm as she let out a scream of fury that echoed the room.

"Kill them!" Bellatrix screeched, "Kill them all!"

But they didn't get a chance to move. The yell from the portrait of Bellatrix Lestrange was enough to set the scene into motion. Without warning a spell came hurtling towards the family as the first Auror threw the spell. Portraits were quickly emptied as spells began to ricochet off the walls, wood splintering all around them as even the walls began to become scorched and dented.

"Stop it!" Rabastan yelled, though he threw spells at their foes they were arguably less harmful than the rest of his family's.

Nymphadora was on auto-pilot, blood rushing to her head as she fought for her life, panic running through her like she hadn't known in years. She became locked in battle with a pair of Aurors, the two women flinging spell after spell at her as she tried her hardest to defend herself. She was fighting remarkably well, she would not fall like she had last time. A sickening thud rang out through the room. A yell of pain coming from Andromeda Tonks as she was hit square in the stomach with a curse, she skidded across the room and collided with the wall. She went to reach for her fallen wand but before she could move it skidded away from her and instead her whole body was bound as ropes flew towards her.

"Mum!" Nymphadora screamed, not even berating herself for the slip of the tongue that caused her to call the woman her mother as she continued her fight despite her fears.

"Get out of here, Dora!" Rodolphus growled, "Take the children and go!"

"No!" Nymphadora cried, blinking back tears as she continued to fight.

The two Aurors that had been fighting Andromeda quickly turned, one to run to the witch and point her wand at her to ensure she wouldn't move though she merely let out a groan of pain as she rested her head on the floor, the other to help in the fight against Rodolphus. Though Rabastan was the next to fall. It had almost seemed as if he had purposely dropped his wand from what Nymphadora had managed to see from the corner of her eye, but soon he was on his knees, his hands bound as he looked desperately to his wife.

"Dora!" Rabastan cried, "Surrender! It will be okay!"

"I am not going to Azkaban!" Nymphadora yelled, continuing to fight.

"You won't!" Rabastan yelled.

"Don't listen to him!" Rodolphus growled as he continued to fight, "He's probably under the imperius!"

Dora gritted her teeth, backing up the stairs as she tried to hold off the three Aurors now coming after her, but the terror in her was quickly rising. She couldn't do this. She couldn't fight. She couldn't win. Rodolphus let out a yell of pain as the side of his robes suddenly tore open and blood began to flow from his side, he hunched over, the moment of vulnerability causing him to be caught off guard as he too was thrown viciously to the floor.

"Stop it!" The yell of Rigel Lestrange sounded as he rushed down the stairs.

"No!" Dora cried, "Get back upstairs! Run! Get your sister and run!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Rigel yelled, throwing a curse at one of his mother's foes.

"Don't hurt them!" Rabastan yelled before turning to Potter, "You said! You said you wouldn't hurt them!"

Dora froze, realisation suddenly washing over her as Potter yelled at an Auror to go heal her brother-in-law. Rabastan had turned them in. She was about to be captured because of her own husband. A spell went whizzing past her, narrowly avoiding her side as she shrieked and deflected another curse. She ran up to her son, standing in front of him in an attempt to shield him, she grabbed his wand hand before raising both of her hands in the air and yelling, knowing it to be the only thing to do.

"Stop!" Nymphadora yelled, screwing her eyes shut as tears flowed down her cheeks, "Don't hit me! I'm pregnant! Please! I surrender!"

Rabastan felt his blood run cold as he stared at his wife. The woman was terrified, unable to stop her tears as her white hair fell in front of her face. He had done this to her. Without even knowing that his wife was carrying his unborn child, he had put her in the exact same situation she feared more than anything. He had put their child in harm's way by having Aurors at the Manor yet again, running the risk that the woman he loved more than anything would relive her worst nightmare.

"Dora . . ." Rabastan breathed, the woman opening her eyes to look at him through her tears though she dared not move an inch. The Aurors approached her and Rabastan turned to Potter, glaring furiously at him. "You said! You said you wouldn't hurt them! Don't hurt her!"

Nymphadora gritted her teeth, trying to stop her tears as she felt her son's hand on her shoulder.

"Mum . . ." He breathed.

"It's okay . . . You're innocent . . ." Dora whispered.

She stared directly at the Auror approaching her, fear running through her despite her greatest effort to stay calm. The Auror kept their wand raised even as Nymphadora dropped her wand, the sound of wood clattering to the floor echoing throughout the room. Without warning a bright light raced towards her. Nymphadora heard her husband yell out in protest, the sound echoing through her mind as the world went dark around her.