Author's Note: I updated my profile – so now it's no longer that worthless five-sentence joke it used to be. Now it's all Harry Potter-ed out J
Chapter Five
"For the hundredth time tonight, Lucius, I am fine."
Narcissa Malfoy spoke into her husband's chest as the couple lounged in front of their massive white marble fireplace. Lucius gingerly kissed the top of her head.
"I'm just concerned," he said. "You're awfully quiet tonight."
"It's nothing," she said dismissively. "It's just...Well, I just worry sometimes...about you and Draco."
Lucius chuckled softly. "You have nothing to be afraid of, Narcissa. We're under the Dark Lord's protection. Do not underestimate your son and I; we're quite capable wizards, you know."
Narcissa opened her mouth to speak again but decided against it. They fell into a comfortable silence. Minutes passed, and the only sound came from Lucius' clinking wine glass and the popping of the blistering, burning firewood. Narcissa allowed herself a contented sigh.
Their peaceful moment of solitude was crudely interrupted when the giant oak double-doors swung open with a resounding bang. A disheveled-looking woman stumbled in. The Malfoys turned around to see Bellatrix Lestrange throwing her black cloak on the ground, visibly upset.
"Cissy," she gasped, voice cracking. "Cissy, I need to talk to you."
"What is it, Bella?" Narcissa asked impassively, turning back to the fire.
"I need-" Bellatrix froze when she caught sight of Lucius' blonde head. She straightened, her usual haughty posture and expression reappearing.
"This does not concern you, Lucius," she said, disdain dripping from her words.
"Indeed?" he drawled. "Funny, I was under the impression that we were in my house."
His eyes sparkled mutinously, but Narcissa gently squeezed his knee. "Lucius, perhaps you should step out for a second," she whispered.
He nodded briskly and stood, pressing his lips to Narcissa's hand. He marched towards Bellatrix, a contemptuous smirk playing across his face. He stopped centimeters away from her.
"The time will come when your sister will stop letting you bully everyone," he breathed, his cold gray eyes bearing down into hers.
"I don't need her permission, you weak, pathetic man," she snapped, staring daggers back at him. The smirk vanished, and he brushed by her and out the door. Bellatrix's tough exterior faded, and she swept over to Narcissa.
"Cissy," she said again, collapsing on her sister's shoulder and curling her feet underneath her. "I - I did something terrible."
Narcissa cocked an eyebrow. "And this is news?"
Bellatrix was back on her feet and pacing wildly, cursing under her breath. Narcissa watched her with mild interest; she was used to her sister's explosive tantrums and knew it was best to wait patiently until they subsided.
"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Narcissa asked evenly after a few minutes of listening to Bellatrix's inane mumbling and swearing.
Bellatrix stopped abruptly and spun on her heel. She looked down at Narcissa in that insufferably superior way of hers.
"I saw Andromeda."
And with that simple sentence, the world crashed down around Narcissa's eardrums. That name. A name she hadn't heard in a lifetime. Druella standing in front of another sizzling singe on the ancient tapestry, forbidding her heartbroken husband and daughters from ever speaking that very name again. "Betrayal and shame brought to this house." And then there were two. How many years now? The blonde snapped back to the present and froze against the back of the velvet couch. The smallest "What?" escaped from somewhere within her.
"I saw her, Cissy," Bellatrix repeated, voice uncharacteristically softer.
"Where?" Narcissa asked, trying to find her voice. Everything was getting blurry. Her brain was reeling.
"At some Mudblood hideout."
"Did you...did you...?" Her throat constricted. She couldn't bring herself to finish the question. She stared warily at her sister.
Bellatrix began pacing again, annoyance renewed. "No," she said finally. The anger came back. "No, Cissy, I didn't kill her." She grabbed the fire poker and clutched it desperately. "I didn't kill the blood traitor."
Narcissa sighed. "And you're angry with yourself," she said placidly. Andromeda's soft brown hair and kind dark eyes swirled in front of her, a face she fought so hard to forget so long ago. Hearing her sister's name again was like discovering she came back from the dead.
"I let her go!" Bellatrix screamed, slamming the brass poker against the hard marble mantle. "I should have killed her, Cissy. I promised the Dark Lord." She choked on that last part, fear filling her face.
"Why didn't you then, Bella?" Narcissa asked quietly, staring into the fire's flickering embers.
Bellatrix crumpled on the couch again. For a long minute, she didn't say anything at all. Then she muttered something inaudible.
Narcissa turned her head a fraction of an inch, still mesmerized by the flames. "Hmm?"
"She was wearing that necklace," Bellatrix said again, a nauseated look on her face. "That damned necklace."
Narcissa breathed in sharply. Her hand made an involuntary movement towards her sister, but she drew it quickly away. "Bella..."
"Why should it matter?" Bellatrix interjected, fury mounting yet again. "Why should it mean a thing to me, Cissy? Now? After all these years?!"
Bellatrix was back on her feet a third time, clearly beside herself. "Andromeda made her choice between her beliefs and her own family 25 years ago," she ranted, stalking like a caged animal. "Why should I have done any different!? She was right there. Wandless. Defenseless. That pathetic, useless look on her face as always! Why didn't I kill her!?"
Narcissa reached out and grabbed Bellatrix's arm firmly, stopping her in her tracks. She looked up at her sister and smiled sadly.
"Because sometimes, Bella, blood's thicker than cause."
The glow from the fire highlighted a single tear streaking down the Death Eater's cheek.
...
Andromeda Tonks landed on the grassy incline a few meters away from her door. She sat there for a moment, breathing in ragged gasps. She stared at the ground, the last hour's events replaying at high-speed in her mind. To see her older sister after so long, even in the most unpleasant of circumstances, had been a complete shock to her system. Her cruel, merciless killer of a sister. And yet she had lived. She had been spared the same horrible fate to which dozens of others had fallen victim. Overwhelmed, Andromeda buried her face in her hands and sobbed freely.
After finally composing herself, she looked up at her secluded home. A light was on in the front room. Diethelm must have arrived safely. She took a deep, calming breath and headed inside.
Diethelm was tending to a tea pot hanging over the lit fireplace. He looked up upon hearing the sound of the door opening.
"Mrs. Tonks!" he brightened. "You're alright! Here..." he lifted the kettle and poured the steaming water into a tea cup. "Drink up."
Andromeda smiled gratefully, wrapping her fingers around the warm porcelain. "Thank you, Mr. Stoole."
She sank into an armchair as he bustled about the kitchen. "I hope you don't mind me rummaging through your things, ma'am," he called.
"It's alright," she said distractedly, staring at the dregs of tea leaves in the bottom of her cup. He reemerged with a tray full of food. He placed it on a coffee table and sat in a chair across from Andromeda. He studied her over the top of his mug as she grabbed a biscuit.
"That was your sister, wasn't it?" he finally asked.
Andromeda hesitated. She cringed. There was no use in denying it. "Yes," she said, a muscle twitching in her jaw.
"Did she find you after I left?" he pressed.
"No," Andromeda lied. No need to complicate things. "No, I hid again. Just in time, too. She searched the house for a few more minutes then left." She looked up at Diethelm, who was still staring at her intently. "Look, Bellatrix and I -"
"-are connected by blood and nothing more," Diethelm finished simply. "Forgive me, Mrs. Tonks. I didn't mean to sound accusing. It's rather clear that you and your sister chose very different paths."
Andromeda nodded. "That was the first time I've seen her since I married my husband over 20 years ago," she said faintly. For a wild moment, she thought of the silly running joke between her and Ted: Andromeda, the "not-so-Black" sheep of the family. Ha. But now he was gone - and the laughter left with him. She looked back up at Deithelm, again noticing the deep gash on his face. Her sister's handiwork.
"I'm truly sorry," she said sincerely.
"They were brave," he said distantly as he gazed into the fire, and she assumed he was referring to the doomed Muggleborns. "Maybe a few escaped..."
Andromeda, who wasn't so naive, felt slightly sick. She stood suddenly.
"Pardon me for excusing myself, Mr. Stoole, but tonight's events were quite exhausting. I best retire to bed," she said. "Feel free to stay here as long as necessary. There's a spare bedroom down the hall."
He raised a hand in thanks, and she climbed the stairs to her bedroom. She crawled into the sheets, staring at the empty spot next to her once occupied by her husband. She traced the vacancy with her fingers and felt the oddest sensation. For the first time in weeks, she had company in the house. She was finally growing accustomed to Ted's disappearance, and here appeared a nice, warm body inside her home. A smiling face and much needed interaction. He was her sanity's saving grace.
Yet, for some unnamed reason, Andromeda Tonks had never felt more alone.