It was a bad morning at the Tonks House.
Andromeda had locked herself in the bathroom. Harry allowed it for
twenty minutes past the hour it usually took her to show before he
broke the door down.
He meant that quite literally. Andromeda's 'keep out' wards stopped
Harry's magic but not the pillow he transfigured into a stone and
smashed the door off its hinges with. All done under a silencing spell,
of course, so that he didn't spook Teddy who was entertaining
himself in his enlarged play crib, under the watchful eye of Wendy
Bird.
"Andromeda," Harry sighed when he stepped over the wreckage that
only minutes ago had been the bathroom door.
She was sitting on the floor of the shower stall. Her arms wrapped
around her knees. She had put a spell on the showerhead so the
water stayed hot and on.
Harry took one look at the ward and knew he wouldn't be able to
bypass it to turn off the water. Andromeda had an odd way of using
magic, sometimes it was as if she didn't know when was using
magic.
With all his clothes on he stepped into the spray of the hot shower
and sat behind her on his knees. He bent over her back, she had
begun to shiver the moment Harry's body blocked the water. He put
his arms along the length of hers so that he was helping her hold
herself. Harry was soaked in a matter of moments, his shirt clung
between them. He rested his cheek against the side of her head.
"Andromeda," Harry said softly, closing his eyes as he wasn't able to
see through the water drops on his glasses anyway. "You're not
alone. You still have Teddy and me. And we still need you."
She tucked her face against her knees and for the first time since
Harry had arrived here, she cried.
Her tears were lost in the pounding water.
Harry had just finished combing out Andromeda's hair, both of them
now in dry clothes when there was a knock on the door.
No one he knew of who should be knocking on their door. He passed
the comb to Andromeda and flicked his wand from his sleeve.
Wandless magic was fun but Harry knew how to cause a great deal
more damage with his wand.
He cracked open the door and was startled by the sight that stood
before him.
Narcissa Malfoy in all her regalness stood straight backed and proud
in muggle Britain. She wore black and cream robes, her golden
blonde hair curled up neatly on the back of her head, her eyes were
a striking blue, and in her hands, she held a medium sized box with
gold and silver wrapping paper.
"Mrs. Malfoy," Harry greeted, raising his voice so Andromeda would
know who it was.
The next thing he knew Andromeda was at Harry's side, pulling the
door wide open.
"Cissa?"
Harry couldn't quite place the emotions or the tone Andromeda used,
neither empty nor filled with emotion.
Narcissa's expression stayed cold but she held the box out to Harry,
yet she kept her gaze on her older sister. "I brought a gift for your
grandson," she directed the comment to Andromeda.
"Thank you," Harry said, taking the box, doubting it would be cursed
seeing as this woman had gone to the trouble of saving his life.
There was a long awkward silence.
"Would you like to come in?" he asked.
Narcissa didn't move, until Andromeda stepped back out of the
doorway in a wordless assent. Nodding, Narcissa entered,
scrutinizing the little house the moment she crossed the threshold.
The room was modest, but it wasn't stuffy or prissy like the Dursleys'
house had been, the rooms were tasteful in a timeless sort of way.
The sofa was a soft cream, the currents were white, the walls a pale
olive green. The floors were polished dark wood with a plush Persian
carpet. The fireplace was the centerpiece of the room. There were
still landscape and oceanscape paintings on display, the moving
family photographs had all been kept on the second floor.
"Small," Narcissa remarked icily, "but not unpleasant."
Andromeda stood in the center of the room, looking lost, as if she
were waiting -waiting for what, Harry wasn't certain.
"Would you like a cup of tea?" he asked.
She gave a single nod, "I suppose the sofa is the only seating in this-
" she stopped herself from saying something unfortunate, though the
pause alone was insulting. "-house," she finished lightly.
"We have a table in the kitchen, if you would prefer," Harry offered.
"Yes, that would be preferable," the blonde affirmed.
Narcissa followed Harry, Andromeda trailed after them both like a
phantom.
Harry started the water on the stove and prepared the teacups.
While the water was still heating up he checked on Teddy who was
happily teething on a rubber toy as he had his stuffed animals knock
into one another with his other hand. Harry returned to the stove
while Andromeda and Narcissa remained seated across from each
other in stubborn silence.
"Sugar, cream-" Harry started to ask.
"Black, dear, I always take my tea black," Narcissa said.
A part of Harry wanted to roll his eyes, another part of him was
reluctantly impressed by Narcissa. She was a hard woman, a high
standard kind of person, and she was someone who would do
anything for her son.
Despite the sides they had fallen on during the war, he respected
her.
Harry hesitated when he went to pour himself a cup of tea.
"You are the man of this house, you will sit with us," Narcissa
instructed.
Harry's eyebrows shot up. He glanced at Andromeda whose
expression remained focused on her sister. So Harry took it as an
invitation to join the nonexistent conversation between the two Black
sisters. "Do you consider Draco to be 'the man of the house'?"
"Of course not," Narcissa said crisply. "My husband isn't dead."
Andromeda visibly flinched.
Narcissa's eyes narrowed, "But then my husband was never a-"
"Don't you dare," Andromeda threatened, her low voice dropping
lower. "Don't you dare speak a word against him. Not here, not in our
home."
"You left us for this?" Narcissa snapped, "For this tiny cottage,
surrounded by muggles. By all that is magic, why did you do this to
yourself?"
"I was happy."
"Doing what?" Narcissa hissed. "I understand wanting to raise your
daughter, but what did you do in this little prison when she went to
school? When your husband went to work?"
Andromeda was silent.
"What did you do?" Narcissa demanded. "What could have possibly
compelled you to stay in the muggle world?"
"I taught dance."
"You did what?" Narcissa asked, had she had a little less dignity her
jaw seemed as though it might have dropped to the floorboards.
"Dance, dancing. I was a dance instructor, ballroom, jazz, anything
that wasn't tap or ballet. I took a few classes to get back in shape
after having Nymphadora. I loved it. We were never allowed to
participate in any sports but for dancing at parties and I- I am good at
it. I went to college for it."
"You went to a muggle school?" Narcissa reiterated, "For dance?"
"Nymphadora was three years old when I started going, night
classes mostly. Ted would take earlier shifts so he could watch her.
When I got my degree, I found a local dance studio, I got hired, I
taught when she was at school."
"You sent your daughter to a muggle school?"
"I didn't want her to have the life I had."
"Our lives were not bad."
Andromeda shook her head, "No, your life wasn't bad because Bella
and I took the brunt of the horrific realities. We shielded you from
their-"
"You left me! You left the year after Bella married."
"Marriage," Andromeda scoffed. "You mean when she was sold away
like chattel and adopted into the Dark Lord's cult along with that fool
of a man you call your husband?"
"Marrying Lestrange was the honorable thing to do."
"I would have sooner married Sirius than a Lestrange, or Malfoy for
that matter."
"My husband loves me."
"I don't doubt it," Andromeda retorted, "you are a thousand times
better than what he deserves."
"And that Hufflepuff was so much better than your own kind?"
Narcissa hissed.
Andromeda leaned back in her chair, "I lost my daughter and my
husband to this war. But yours is rotting in jail and Harry tells me
your son has lycanthropy. That he was bitten the summer after the
fifth year because your husband failed the Dark Lord."
"I am not a Death Eater," Narcissa said coldly.
"You married one and you allowed your son to become one. All that
fine breeding, and they threw it away. I can only imagine how proud
Mother would be. I suspect she would put Draco down herself or
force you to do it."
It was Narcissa's turn to flinch, "At least they are alive, and my
husband will be out of jail by the end of the week. The case against
him isn't strong enough."
"Um," Harry said, "your husband set a basilisk loose in Hogwarts."
They both turned him.
Narcissa asked sharply, "Lucius did what?"
"He gave one of Voldemort's cursed items to Ginevra Weasley in my
second year which ended up letting a basilisk out of the Chamber of
Secrets."
Andromeda asked, "What happened to the basilisk?"
"I stabbed it with the sword of Gryffindor, and almost died. Lucky for
me, phoenixes make good friends."
Andromeda and Narcissa shared a look before Andromeda said
sardonically, "Yes, because marrying a muggleborn was such a step
down from that."
"I was unaware of his actions," Narcissa said frostily.
"Unaware of his actions?" Andromeda repeated, "I don't know how
you let that man touch you."
"He is very good in bed," Narcissa said with a sly smirk.
"How would you know? He's the only man you have ever slept with,"
Andromeda shot back.
Harry felt like this wasn't a conversation he should or ever wanted to
be a part of.
"I didn't have to swim around when my first dip was that good."
Narcissa argued, "In turn, I have ensured that whatever my
husband's crimes, infidelity has never been one of them."
Harry's feeling of being extremely out of place at this point in the
conversation.
"And yet you come here, a week before your husband's release,
right before you're about to be put back on your leash."
"I have no leash."
"Then why are you here?"
"To meet your grandson."
"Liar," Andromeda spat.
Narcissa let out a breath, not quite a sigh and said, "Our parents did
not pick Lucius, I did. I know how it looks, but I married for love. And
yes, I did let him lead. I trusted him, I trusted that the old ways would
get us through. I didn't realize until we were too deep in that there
was no turning back. Had I run, taken my son and disappeared, we
would be dead too."
"I have the same nightmare every time I close my eyes," Andromeda
said.
Narcissa waited.
"I am standing in the greeting room of Grimmauld Place. You, Mum,
Sirius, Regulus, and Aunt Walburga are there. Mother and Aunt
Walburga tell Sirius and I that we can have our loved ones back if we
kill Regulus and you."
Narcissa asked, "Did you kill us?"
Andromeda shakes her head, "I raise my wand but before I can
decide, Bella appears to stab Regulus and you in the side. You both
die slow, and she laughs. She laughs, kills Mother, Aunt Walburga,
and Sirius. I am alone with her, she keeps laughing at me. I turn my
wand on her. My spell cuts her deep, her blood bled black and she
keeps laughing because it was never her, it was my own reflection."
"And then?" Narcissa prompted.
"Eventually, I wake up." Andromeda looked at her sister directly, "We
lost. In the end, it didn't matter what our beliefs were, the choices we
made, eventually we all died."
"You're right," Narcissa said. "None of what we were taught
mattered, except what we taught ourselves."
Andromeda cocked her head, "And what, pray tell, was that?"
"Take whatever we can because-"
"We lose everything in the end."
"That's bleak," Harry said.
"The three of you are welcome to come to dinner this Saturday
night," Narcissa said.
"And what will Lucius have to say about that?" Andromeda asked.
"Lucius will have nothing to say on the matter," Narcissa said
severely. "Azkaban without dementors isn't so terrible that he will not
be recovered by then and after what he has done... Well, I am the
Lady of the House."
There was something in the way she said it that made Harry think
that Lucius was going to miss his government imprisonment
compared to what his sweet darling wife was going to do to him.
"Very well," Andromeda said, then almost smirked after a moment of
thought, "We will be there, if just to watch him squirm."
"Do you want to meet your grand-nephew?" Harry asked, correctly
anticipating that there would be no hug and make up between these
two sisters.
Narcissa stood, "Before I leave, yes, that would be acceptable."
Again Harry felt the urge to roll his eyes, but with a herculean effort,
he restrained himself.
When they entered the nursery, Wendy Bird was floating upside
down. A flying bird is not a remarkable thing. An owl with her wings
tightly pinned to her sides still clinging to her perch, a perch that was
undulating from side to side like a pendulum was…
"He's powerful," Narcissa remarked. "That's good at least."
Harry gave her an exasperated look as he drew his wand, on the
chance that Teddy might drop the bird perch and the bird on himself.
It was Andromeda who said, "You always were a bit of bitch. The
only baby you ever liked was your own."
Narcissa turned up her chin, "Draco is perfect."
"You know my husband worked in the maternity ward?"
"What of it? He wasn't there when I had Draco."
"No, but healers talk," Andromeda said, then smiled, "For a fortyseven hour labor, he better be perfect."
Harry blanched as he looked between the women in horror, "Two
days? It took you more than two days to give birth?"
"Yes," Narcissa said, her voice glacial.
He silently thanked whatever powers there were that he had not
been born a woman.
"I also heard in the last hour you splintered every door and window
sill on the floor as they had only warded the glass," Andromeda
pushed.
"And your pregnancy went so smoothly?" Narcissa growled.
"Nymphadora was out in twenty minutes, Ted caught her. The entire
neighborhood had a blackout that night but it wasn't the most
physically tasking thing I've ever done."
If looks could kill Andromeda would have been so much minced
meat on the carpet..
Harry had picked Teddy up and had coaxed Wendy Bird onto his
shoulder.
Teddy giggled and pointed at Harry's owl who had a single feather
sticking up on the top of her head.
Distracted as Harry was with entertaining Teddy, he didn't hear the
rest of Black sisters' murmured conversation.
"Why didn't you have more children, then?" Narcissa asked.
"Why didn't you?"
"We tried but it wasn't meant to be."
"Ted and I tried too, but he… there was an accident during his
training."
"Did it hurt his performance?"
Andromeda chuckled, "No, but he wasn't fertile afterward. They
never found a fix that wouldn't risk his life."
"You are a witch, Andromeda."
She glared at her younger sister, "I know what I am."
"You're still young enough."
Andromeda frowned, "Young enough for what?"
"To try again," Narcissa said. "To start over."
"What are you talking about?" Andromeda asked, though she knew
perfectly well what Narcissa was referring to.
Narcissa gave a meaningful look in Harry's direction, "He's a good
man, powerful, handsome, what more could you want?"
Andromeda hissed at her, "I am old enough to be his mother."
Narcissa gave a graceful shrug of her shoulders, "He's living in your
house, why not enjoy the benefits?"
"Get out."
Narcissa smirked, "You were always fun to rile. I will see you soon,
along with your son and your kept man."
Andromeda wanted to be outraged, but looking at Harry who was
encouraging Teddy to wave goodbye to 'Aunt Cissa' she felt
something deep in her heart flutter.
She squashed that feeling. She didn't know if it was the whispers of
lust or something more, but she knew Harry deserved better than the
broken scraps of an old witch.