Chapter Six

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As the sun rose above Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, bathing the ruined castle in light, Andromeda Tonks sat in utter stillness beside the lifeless bodies of her daughter and her husband.

She could hardly believe it. Just a few hours earlier, Nymphadora had left the house, promising that she would return in two days at the latest. Now, less than one had passed, and here she lay, dead upon the floor.

Tearing her eyes away from her precious daughter, the brunette turned to look down at the two children in the travelling basket at her side. They were both asleep at present, clutching to each other's hands just as their parents did beside them, but had been inconsolable since the early hours of the morning. Since Remus and Dora had died. 'How can they possibly understand?' Andromeda found herself asking. She knew that she would not find the answer, but nonetheless, she asked. 'They are too young to, yet they knew that something had happened to them, even before I did.'

As she looked up again, and glanced around the hall, Andromeda could see the extent of the devastation that the war had caused. It had hardly let anyone be on either side, and bodies littered the floor of the room. There were some who were even younger than Dora, the woman noticed, most notably the young son of the Weasleys, Fred, and a young boy who could only have been sixteen at the most. Each of the Wizarding families seemed to have suffered in their own ways, and it was not only her marital family that the woman thought of.

Although she had left the pair of them when she was just turned seventeen, Andromeda had by no means forgotten either of her sisters. She did not think that they had forgotten her either, but neither did the brunette think that the other two women held her in high regard after the incident. But it did not matter now, whichever way they had thought. The three of them were destroyed. She was left with only the children, Bellatrix lay dead on the floor, and Narcissa was almost reduced to tears of anguish, which the elder could see from where the younger was sat on the other side of the room, locking her precious son in her embrace while her husband wrapped his arms around them both.

For a moment, at the back of her mind, Andromeda wondered whether she should approach her estranged younger sister, to offer her some comfort, in light of Bellatrix's passing, but she soon decided not to do so. After all, Narcissa had her own life to lead, her own family to get through the time with. She may possibly need her sister in time, but for now, the twins needed their grandmother more.

As she returned her attentions to the tiny children, who seemed to have woken from their slumber, the woman's composure almost fell to pieces as she saw the tears glistening in the eyes of her young granddaughter. It was evident that, though she was all of twenty minutes younger, Selena was certainly the more delicate of the two, and the most easily upset. Beside her, Teddy lay, with hardly a sign of sadness visible. 'So young, and yet he is already staying strong for his sister.' she thought with a sigh that clearly showed how saddened she was by this herself. It was setting the standard for a long few years to come.

'What will happen to them, now that their parents have fallen?' Andromeda wondered, a stinging pain searing through her chest as she thought of the girl who had once lain sleeping in her arms. Something that young Nymphadora had hardly ever experienced for herself, and never would again. 'They could never go to the care of the Ministry. I would never allow it. But I don't know if I can care for them, particularly Selena, if I watching them grow up, watching her turn into Nymphadora. I can't do that to myself, or to them. But if I don't, who else will?'

It was at that moment that Andromeda's prayers were answered, as an arm wrapped around her shoulders and a figure knelt to the ground beside her. It only took an instant for the woman to realise who the figure was. He was the figure that had started it all, and ended it all as well. The children's godfather. Harry Potter.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Mrs. Tonks. I really am. Remus and To- Dora were good people. They didn't deserve to die." Harry said to the woman, though reaching into the basket as he did so, adjusting the blanket covering his godson and goddaughter, a slight smile reaching the corner of his mouth for a moment, before fading away. "Especially not so soon after their children were born."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. Your sympathy is comforting for me to hear, but I wonder what will happen to the children now. I can't raise them properly myself, not when Selena will most likely grow to be more like my Nymphadora by the day. It would not be fair, to them or to me, if I was solely responsible for their care." Andromeda confessed, though she hung her head a little, as if she were ashamed to have said such a thing.

For a minute or two, the conversation was halted, both of the participants lost in thought. Then, taking a deep breath, Harry made a suggestion.

"Why don't we take them? Me and Ginny? After all, they're our godchildren, so it seems right that we should look after them if you can't, because that was exactly what Remus and Tonks asked us to do. If you agree, that is."

It took a few seconds for her to consider the offer, but eventually, Andromeda nodded her head in agreement, and watched as Harry took the basket from the hall, bidding farewell to them with a slight wave of her hand.

True, the children had been taken from her, but it was best for all of them. At least for now, they would be safe.

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