3
“When can we expect Miss Granger to wake up Mrs. Tonks?”Dumbledore asked in a voice that was trying and failing to disguise his frustration and anger. Andromeda fought back the urge to correct the old man and tell him her and Hermione’s last names were actually Black. She couldn’t do that however because although they completed the bond and were magically married no one could know about it. At least not yet. There were many things that needed to happen before they could go public with their relationship including Andromeda going through a mourning period for her husband. Even though the man was a bastard it was important for her to make people believe that she was in love with him and a dedicated member of the Order. If they didn’t it would affect her and Hermione’s plans. That didn’t mean it wasn’t hard for Andromeda to hold back from showing her affection to her young lover. Especially in situations like they were in right now with Hermione laying in a hospital bed after being severely tortured. Something that Andromeda had many questions about as that wasn’t part of the plan. Seeing the ring on Hermione’s finger made her even more curious because it seemed that Sirius was involved as well.
“She has been hit with I don’t know how many curses to include some unforgivables. Her body has shut itself down to recover. That being the case I won’t be able to give you a set time for her to wake up.”Andromeda wasn’t happy with the condition of Hermione’s body but knew the girl likely let it happen to cover up Sirius’ murder as there was no way Hermione of all people wouldn’t fight off such an attack.
“Send for me as soon as she is awake.”Dumbledore told her.
“Of course.”Andromeda wasn’t going to do that as she was going to talk to her lover before anyone else.
“The rest of you should get some rest. You have had a trying day.”Dumbledore said before giving Hermione one last look and leaving the room.
“Is she going to be ok?”Ron asked.
“We won’t know until she wakes up.”Andromeda wasn’t to worried as Hermione had been through a lot worse than this and gotten though it. That being something she wasn’t going to tell the others as Hermione’s past in the muggle world was none of their business.
“I just don’t know what she was thinking going after Bellatrix alone.”Nymphadora was kicking herself for not paying attention and stopping Bellatrix from hurting Hermione.
“I don’t understand why she killed Sirius.”Harry couldn’t believe that Hermione would have the ability to use the killing curse on anyone let alone on Sirius.
“It was obviously an accident.”Ron knew that Hermione wouldn’t kill Sirius on purpose.”She was probably trying to kill Lestrange and Sirius got in the way trying to save her.”
“Regardless of what she was trying to do I want to know why she is the new Head of Household. It should have went to Harry.”Ginny didn’t know why the ring went to Hermione and not Harry as Harry was Sirius’ heir.
“Was Harry ever added to the family tapestry?”Andromeda knew the answer to that question but needed to lead the others to laying the foundation themselves to believe the lie she was going to tell them.
“I saw the tapestry once and I wasn’t on it but neither were you Mrs.Tonks.”Harry told her.
“You know I always wondered about that. Why didn’t Sirius reinstate you into the family mom?”Nymphadora would have expect that would have been one of Sirius’ first actions when he because Head of Household.
”He never brought it up and I never asked. I figured he just didn’t think of it.”Andromeda knew that Sirius didn’t reinstate her into the family because of his deep hatred of her and her sisters.
“Do you think Hermione will reinstate you?”Ron asked.
“The title isn’t really Hermione’s it’s Harry’s. So it would be up to him if anyone is reinstated.”Ginny had been counting on Harry being the Head of the House of Black so that she could be the matriarch of a pureblood family. It would give her the respect she never got as the youngest child of the Wesley family.
“Is there even a way for her to transfer the title to Harry?”Nymphadora had never heard of anyone transferring a title before.
“If it were any other pureblood family I would say it would be easy to transfer the title. The Black family however prides itself on having its own family spells and traditions. That being said the spell to transfer the title was brought up once when Bellatrix was younger and it is very dark magic that includes human sacrifice to complete.”Andromeda was of course lying. The spell was quite safe but she wanted everyone to think it was to extreme to even attempt. That way it would keep anyone from insisting that Hermione transfer the title to Harry as the only one who Hermione was going to transfer the title to was Bellatrix.
“Merlin.”Harry definitely didn’t want the title bad enough to sacrifice someone’s life for it.
“There is no other way?”Ginny was sure there was a way around human sacrifice.
“The only other way for Harry to get the title is to kill Hermione.”Something Andromeda knew that Harry would never do. That and Hermione wouldn’t be killed without a fight. A fight with her skills she would more than likely win.
“Well that’s not happening.”Harry would never kill the girl that he considered his sister.
“Maybe you and Hermione can work out a way for you to still have ownership of the Black family’s assets.”Ginny suggested.
“That wouldn’t work as only members of the Black family be it by blood, marriage or like Hermione gaining her place by right of conquest can visit certain estates and can access the vault. They are heavily warded with blood magic and would attack anyone who isn’t related to the Blacks under those circumstances.”Once again Andromeda was lying. Hermione could grant access to others to the estates and even the vault. She wouldn’t however because not only did she and Andromeda not want anyone having access to the Black family’s assets they all belonged to Bellatrix. That being the case it wasn’t there right to make decisions for the family.
“Can Hermione transfer the gold out of the vault into another one?”Ginny wasn’t willing to just give up on getting the Black family fortune.
“Why are you so worried about the Black family estate? Your friend has been severely tortured by the most sadistic witch in the world and you are worried about what she is going to do with her gold?”Nymphadora didn’t understand why Ginny was so focused on the Black family’s assets when Hermione had been so badly hurt.
“I’m just thinking about Sirius’ final wishes. I mean the man loved Harry like he was his own son. It’s only right his final wishes be followed though on.”Ginny was actually worried about her own future. Without the gold she wouldn’t be able to live the life she always wanted. That meant she would have to look into getting a new boyfriend because hero or not if Harry couldn’t give her a life of luxury she wouldn’t stay with him.
“If he loved Harry like his own son he would have officially adopted him into the family. He knew how it was done as his brother was adopted. The fact that he didn’t doesn’t make sense.”Andromeda was confused by the fact that Sirius never went though with the adoption. He had plenty of opportunities to do it.
“His brother was adopted?”Harry hadn’t known that.
”He was the child of one of my uncle’s best friends. When the man and his wife died my uncle took him in and to make it official completed the Black Family Blood Bond. It’s used for adoptions or marriages.”Andromeda was leaving out the changing muggleborn and halfblood’s blood as she didn’t want anyone to know there was a way to make others purebloods. It was only from what she knew a Black family spell and Andromeda didn’t want someone like the Dark Lord or his followers to get the information.
“Why didn’t he adopt Harry then?”Ron asked.
“He could have easily done it before he went to prison or after he escaped as the ritual is easy to set up and only takes about an hour to complete.”Andromeda told them.
“Does that mean he didn’t really want me to be his heir?”Harry couldn’t think of any other reason Sirius wouldn’t have adopted him.
“We will know for sure once we get a copy of his will. That is if he had one.”Andromeda was very interested in seeing what Sirius had decided to do with his belongings.
“How do we get a copy of it?”Ginny wanted to see what Sirius had to say so that they could see what he wanted left to Harry. That way they could get Hermione to give it to him.
“I think we should worry about Hermione not Sirius’ motives.”Nymphadora was starting to become very suspicious of Ginny’s insistence on learning about Harry’s inheritance. It was like the only thing she cared about was Hermione handing over the Black family’s assets and not Hermione getting better.
“I am worried about Hermione. I just am very curious about a man who we all thought loved Harry like his own son not doing what he could to insure that he was taken care of.”Ginny told her.
“Finding out he purposely didn’t adopt me makes me not even want to get one piece of gold from Hermione let alone benefit from the rest of the Black family estate.”Harry didn’t think his godfather had any good excuse for not adopting him. The only reason he wouldn’t have was if he didn’t want Harry to be a member of the Black family.
“Harry don’t say that. We don’t know what Sirius was thinking.”Ginny couldn’t let Harry give up on fighting for the Black family estate. Her future depended on it.
“His will will be filed with the ministry but the only one who can ask for a copy would be Hermione as his Head of Household. Although Dumbledore can most likely get a copy as well.”Andromeda figured Dumbledore already got the document to find out if Harry really was Sirius’ heir so he could begin planning on how to have Hermione hand the title over.
“I guess we will have to ask the headmaster.”Ron was just as curious as everyone else as to why Sirius didn’t adopt Harry.
Andromeda was about to reply when she heard a groan coming from Hermione. Putting her hand on her cheek she spoke softly.”Hermione can you hear me?”
“Ugh.”Hermione groaned again.
“Hermione open you eyes.”Andromeda’s eyes filled with tears once Hermione’s eyelids opened and she was met with a pair of dull brown blood shot eyes. The pain she saw in them made her want to weep but she kept herself together being mindful of the crowd.
“Where am I?”Hermione asked in confusion.
“You’re in the Hogwarts hospital wing. What’s the last thing you remember?”Andromeda badly wanted to enter Hermione’s mind and have a private conversation with her but with the amount of torture she went though it would hurt Hermione to much.
Hermione took a moment to go through her thoughts. Memories of talking to Bellatrix and killing Sirius flashed through her mind.”I remember Bellatrix capturing me. Then the Order showed up and I was able to escape her but she started chasing me. I fought as hard as I could but she was to strong. The last thing I remember is being in so much pain I couldn’t see or hear anything so I just fired off any spell that came to mind and then eventually the pain became to much and I backed out. What happened to everyone else?”
“Well Hermione I don’t know how to tell you this but it appears you accidentally killed Sirius Black.”Andromeda didn’t believe Hermione’s story at all but could admit it was a good cover for what was most likely her purposely murdering Sirius. Andromeda really wanted to ask about Hermione talking to Bellatrix as she had searched Hermione’s clothes when she was brought into the infirmary and noticed the bag Hermione kept with her at all times in case of running in to Bellatrix or Narcissa was gone.
“I what?”Hermione made sure her voice held the right amount of disbelief needed.
“I’m sorry Hermione. I know you didn’t mean to but not only did the killing curse come from your wand but you are wearing the Head of Household ring for the Black family.”Harry’s heart broke for Hermione knowing that she would never willingly kill anyone not even a Death Eater.
“No.”Hermione shook her head as she looked at the ring on her finger.”I couldn’t have killed him he wasn’t there and I would never use that curse.”
”He is telling the truth. Somehow Sirius got in the way of your fight with Bellatrix.”Nymphadora figured that Sirius had rushed to save Hermione and got caught in the cross hairs of Hermione trying to fight off Bellatrix.
Hermione hung her head and let the tears flow down her face.”I would never have used that curse.”
“Oh you poor girl.”Andromeda pulled Hermione into a hug and held her while she sobbed. It was a beautiful performance and Andromeda was once again impressed with Hermione’s acting skills.”It’ll be alright.”
“How?”Hermione asked in between sobs.
Harry put his hand on Hermione’s back and rubbed circles on it hoping to calm her down.”We will get through it together just like with everything else.”
“You must hate me Harry.”Hermione whispered when she finished crying and lifted her head off of Andromeda’s shoulder.
“I could never hate you Hermione. You’re my sister and I know that you didn’t mean to do it. You aren’t the type of person who would murder a good man like Sirius in cold blood. Especially knowing how much it would hurt me.”Harry fully believed that Hermione had been trying to defend herself and his godfather had gotten in the way trying to save her.
“You aren’t the type of person to murder anyone. Not even an animal and because you actually used the killing curse you must have been going through hell to get to that point.”Ron felt the same as Harry. He knew that someone as sweet and caring as Hermione wouldn’t kill anyone on purpose.
“Honestly all I remember is the pain and desperation to make it stop.”Hermione told them.
“Ah Miss.Granger good to see you awake.”Dumbledore said when he walked up to the group.
“Hello sir.”Hermione couldn’t wait until she could finally tell the world about her marriage to Andromeda and they both could use their proper last names.
“How are you feeling?”Dumbledore honestly didn’t care how the girl was feeling he just needed to figure out what happened and how to transfer the Head of Household title to Harry as the boy was much easier to control than Hermione.
“After finding out what happened not the best sir.”Hermione felt a nudge at her mental walls that she knew was Dumbledore trying to read her mind. The flash of frustration that crossed his features showed he wasn’t having any luck.
“Can you tell me in your own words what happened at the ministry that led to Sirius dying?”Dumbledore asked.
“As I told everyone here I was being restrained by Bellatrix when the order showed up and I was able to get away. Bellatrix went after me and before I knew it we were in an abandoned hallway far away from the fight. It was as I came to the conclusion that I had been led there on purpose is when she stop playing with me and starting firing curses at me. I fought as hard as I could but I was no match for her. In the end I was on the floor barely aware of my surroundings just firing off any spell I could think of. Eventually I blacked out.”Hermione told him.
“You don’t remember Sirius being there?”Dumbledore believed the girl was telling the truth it just messed with his plans for using the Black family’s assets for the Order. Especially because he was more than sure if Hermione kept the title she would reinstate Andromeda. That would give her access to the vault and the ministry seat. Both of those things he didn’t want.
“Honestly at one point I wasn’t even sure that Bellatrix was there anyone. I never saw Sirius or heard his voice. I just kept firing off spells until I blacked out.”It made Hermione want to laugh at how easily Dumbledore was believing her story.
“You should be proud that you survived a fight with my sister. Many can’t say the same.”Andromeda knew that Hermione survived on purpose but the girl should still get credit for going through the torture.
“I always forget that Lestrange is your sister.”Ron said.
“So is Narcissa Malfoy.”Nymphadora wasn’t pleased with having either woman as her aunts.
“That means you are related to Draco.”Ginny had been eying Draco as a replacement for Harry if the war started turning to the Dark Lord’s side. He was rich, had a good pedigree and was from an influential family. He would give her the life she always dreamed of.
“He’s my cousin.”That was another relative that Nymphadora wasn’t proud of.
“Let’s get back to Miss.Granger. As I’m sure you have discovered you are now the Head of the Household for the Black family. I inquired about Sirius’ will and appears he didn’t have one but as we all know he named Harry as his heir so you will need to transfer the title to him.”Dumbledore was very upset that Sirius didn’t leave a will as it would make it impossible for Harry to legally claim the Head of Household title if Hermione wouldn’t give it up.
“It’s already been discussed and I don’t want the title.”Hearing Sirius didn’t leave a will just added more proof to Harry that he didn’t really consider him his heir.
“What are you talking about? It was Sirius’ wish that you take over his family for him.”Dumbledore didn’t understand why Harry was declining the title.
“If that were true he would have adopted me with a Black family blood bond like his brother was to become a member of the Black family. The fact that he knew about it and didn’t do it just proves he wasn’t planning on me taking over. Learning he left no will just adds on to that proof and because he didn’t want me to have the title I don’t want it and even if I did I’m not willing to go through the Black family ritual to transfer the title.”Harry would never be involved in human sacrifice for something as silly as a title.
Dumbledore fought the urge to glare at Andromeda as it was obvious who told Harry the information about the adoption and ritual. A ritual he didn’t know the specifics of but figured if it had to do with the Black family it involved dark magic.”I think that Sirius just got caught up in his mission and didn’t put aside time to adopt you before he was killed. As for the transfer of the title even if you aren’t willing to go through the ritual we can still have Hermione adopt you and give you control of the family that way.”
“I’m sorry headmaster but I don’t want anything to do with a family that didn’t want me.”Harry knew in his heart that Sirius purposely didn’t adopt him or leave anything to him in a will. He didn’t know why but he knew it was done on purpose.”Hermione is more than welcome to be in charge of the Black family. It actually would be a good idea that she is as she would do a better job at it than I would.”
“Are you sure Harry because I would happily give you control?”Hermione asked.
“I’m sure. Who better than to run a pureblood family than a muggleborn? Plus I know with you at the helm you will be able to do a lot of good in the world with all that money and influence.”Harry thought that Hermione was the perfect person for the job.
“Would you be willing to help me with this?”Hermione asked Andromeda.
“Of course. I will give you whatever help you need.”Andromeda was very happy things were turning out the way they planned. Even Dumbledore couldn’t force the title away from Hermione with all the witnesses and Harry’s support. The only regret she had about Sirius’ death was he would never get to see Bellatrix wearing the ring.
“I think the first thing we should do is figure out how to reinstate you.”Hermione already knew how to do it. Once she had found out about Andromeda’s history she researched until she found the spell to add her back into the family and put her back on the Black family tapestry.
“I actually think that you should make me your magical guardian. You are an underaged witch and legally won’t be able to make decisions for your house so you need an adult to do that. Mrs.Tonks has never had to deal with running a pureblood estate so I would be the best choice.”Dumbledore would of course use that authority to empty the vault and sell off the many properties to get as much gold as he could get out the estate.
“After using the time turner last year I am now a legal adult so I don’t need a magical guardian and Mrs. Tonks is the only one who not only that has the time but the knowledge to help me sort out the estate because she has the most experience with everything.”There was no way Hermione was going to let Dumbledore gain control over the Black family.
Dumbledore cursed his decision to let Minerva give Hermione the time turner.”I must object as I have plenty of experience with pureblood houses.”
“I doubt that the leader of the Order and the headmaster of Hogwarts has time to spend on something as inconsequential as dealing with a pureblood estate. I mean what could you possibly gain from wasting your time on watching me sign paper work instead of using it for Order business or running Hogwarts?”Hermione asked.
“I have witnessed enough of my father’s work to know how to help her. So you don’t need to worry about it.”Andromeda knew that Dumbledore was just trying to get his hands on the estate but she and Hermione were not going to let that happen.
Dumbledore searched his mind for an excuse for why he needed to help but couldn’t find one. He wished he had this meeting in his office because he could have just compelled Hermione to sign everything over to him. Now he couldn’t because of all the witnesses.”It’s settled then.”
“I’ll make an appointment with the goblins for you this weekend. That will give you plenty of time to rest and recover.”Andromeda told her.
“Thank you Mrs.Tonks.”Hermione said.
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Andy.”Andromeda hated that she and Hermione had to act so formal around each other. The fact that Hermione called her her ex-husband’s name pissed Andromeda off and she knew it pissed Hermione off as well. Luckily when Andromeda was reinstated to the family she could use the last name Black again. As the Head of Household Hermione could as well without it seeming strange or tipping people off to their marriage. A marriage that they would one day file with the ministry and make it legal.
“It’s not proper Mrs.Tonks.”Hermione replied the same way she always did when she and Andromeda had that conversation.
“Maybe now that we are family it might change your mind.”Andromeda said.
“I didn’t even think of that. If you reinstate mom that means you’re my Head of Household.”Nymphadora hoped that she would be able to change her last name to Black. With Hermione at the helm it would be a hell of a lot more respectable than the last name of her bastard of a father.
“Well I’ll leave you to your recovery Miss. Granger.”Dumbledore needed to regroup and figure out a different approach to gaining the Black family estate from Hermione.
“Thank you for visiting Headmaster.”Hermione called to his retreating back.
“I think the group of you should leave as well so that Hermione can get some rest. She has a long recovery ahead of her and sleep is the best way for her to get better.”Andromeda told them.
Harry leaned down and gave Hermione a gentle hug.”I’m glad you’re ok Hermione.”
“Thank you Harry.”Hermione patted him on the back and released him. She held back a sneer when Ron leaned in for his own hug.
“I’m glad too.”Ron held onto Hermione until she pushed him away.
“Welcome to the family Hermione.”Nymphadora said as she leaned in for her own hug.
“You are probably the best thing that comes with the title Dora.”Hermione told her.
“I know I’m great.”Nymphadora was very happy to have a tie to the Brightest Witch of Her Age and an overall wonderful person like Hermione.
“See you soon Hermione.”Ginny got her own hug. Pulling back she was already making plans on how she was going to become Hermione’s best friend so that she could benefit from Hermione’s new title. She had always suspected Hermione was into women and if she was Ginny was going to make a move.
“Bye guys.”Hermione waved at the group as the left.
Andromeda watched the door making sure everyone was gone and it was shut before pulling her wand out and casting some privacy wards then turning to Hermione leaning forward and kissing her softly on the lips.”I was so worried when I got the call to come check on you.”
“Honestly I wasn’t planning on getting tortured but when Sirius showed up I knew it was the perfect chance to get the ring.”Hermione didn’t regret how things turned out.
“What really happened?”Andromeda wanted to know the real story not the lie Hermione told the others.”How did you guys end up in the ministry?”
“Harry the idiot he is didn’t understand that the Dark Lord could show him false visions through the horcrux. So when he saw Sirius being tortured in the Hall of Prophesies he decided that he was going to go get him. I of course told him it was a trap and we should at least send a message to the Order to see if they knew where Sirius was. Harry refused to listen and after some arguing we all decided to go with him.”Hermione still didn’t know why Harry was so stupid.
“That boy is going to get you killed one day.”Andromeda didn’t like how reckless Harry was with other people’s lives.
“It got worse when we went to the ministry. The idiot didn’t even hesitate to grab the orb that had his name and the Dark Lord’s name on it. Of course that set off the trap and Lucius and a bunch of Death Eaters surrounded us. That reminds me did you get the orb from my hiding spot?”Hermione asked.
“I already had one of our elves take to it to my house and put it in the safe.”It wasn’t known to anyone but Andromeda actually employed numerous house elves. They were paid a high salary and happily did the tasks that the pair set out for them. Most of those tasks were done from the shadows and them being invisible was very important. That’s why even Nymphadora didn’t know they worked for her mother.
“Good.”Hermione was very relieved to hear that.
“Get back to what happened at the ministry. The bag was gone so I assume you talked to Bella.”Andromeda knew that her sister wouldn’t have even known where the bag was unless Hermione told her.
“Once Lucius began his horrible negotiations I reached out with my mind and linked it with Bellatrix’s. At first she thought it was part of the curse but I was able to convince her that it was me by revealing the bond between us. Something she was extremely shocked by.”Hermione told her.
“I bet she was.”Andromeda knew that her sisters would have likely never expected her to tap into the family magic after running off so many years ago.
“She didn’t know that Ted was dead until after I told her what happened to you and me killing him. She was very angry about that. Actually she was very angry about most of the things I told her. Especially that the Dark Lord knew the cure for the Black family Curse. I had to talk her out of rushing off to kill him by herself.”Hermione truly thought Bellatrix was going to leave.”The only thing that stopped her was me mentioning I needed help saving you and Narcissa.”
“That curse has hovered over Bella’s head like a storm cloud ever since she was child. Any time she acted out or had a magical mishap the curse was blamed. She was treated like a ticking time bomb that would explode if provoked. I personally had feared that Azkaban would have pushed her over the edge. How did she act with you?”Andromeda asked.
“She was intense. Her thoughts were erratic like she was trying to focus and just couldn’t. That being said she was able to communicate just fine and follow through on a plan. One thing I did notice is once she was convinced the Dark Lord was lying to her everything inside her rallied against him. It was like a switch was flipped. All that love and devotion she had to the man was turned into complete and utter hatred. There was no lingering feelings of familiarity or thoughts of the good times she had or anything like you would expect from someone who was just told that everything in their life was a lie.”Hermione hadn’t really understood how Bellatrix could brush off her loyalty so easily.
“It’s part of the curse. You become obsessed with things to the point you revolve your whole life around them. I always believed that’s why Bella is such a dedicated follower to the Dark Lord because he must of done something that made her loyal and the curse latched on to that feeling and made it all Bella could focus on. I also think that is why she has put up with the abuse for many years because my sister is not one to lose a fight or take a beating without retaliating. Another thing about her is she is very vain. Growing up and before she went to prison she prided herself on her looks. I was jealous of her because she was always called the prettier twin because of how much we look alike. Seeing her in the paper with her rotting teeth, straggly hair and wearing rags covered in filth is not how my sister normally presented herself. I think it’s the curse’s influence that is making her do everything the Dark Lord says and ignore her true self.”Andromeda knew that the Bellatrix from their teenage years would be horrified with the way she was living her life now.
“From what I read in Cygnus’ diaries and the Dark Lord’s research is that the counter curse we gave her to use will fix the damage it did to her magic but it might not repair all the mental damage. The Dark Lord noted that Cygnus became more concerned about how much money he was giving the cause where as before he had given the Dark Lord anything he asked for. There were other instances of Cygnus being more aware of his actions and what was going on around him but the Dark Lord claimed in his writings that he was still able to easily manipulate him. Your father was also 20 years older than Bellatrix when he was cured so she may be able to hold on to more of her mind than he did.”Hermione at least hoped Bellatrix regained some of her sanity.
“I aways thought his relationship with my mother was gross because of their age difference but I really can’t judge him to much as our’s is 3 years more than their’s was.”Andromeda wasn’t bothered by their age difference. She just knew it would be something that would be brought up a lot once they went public.”Now tell me what else happened.”
“After speaking to her and telling her that I had a bag that had a letter from you that would explain everything she needed to figure out how to get she stepped out of the shadows and antagonized Harry and Lucius. I took the opportunity to fire a stunning spell that hit Lucius then I gave the signal and my group all started destroying the shelves of prophesies to give us a chance to escape.”Hermione told her.
“Whose idea was that?”Andromeda had a feeling she knew she just wanted it confirmed.
“Like anyone but me could come up with something like that.”Hermione was the only one who came up with any plan.
“Very true.”Andromeda knew that Hermione was the only reason group came out of it alive.”After you escaped what happened?”
“We rushed around until we got caught by the Death Eaters. Bellatrix was my captor and while I was restrained she was able to get the bag from my pocket and secure it on her person. Once that was done the Order showed up. I noticed Sirius was there and told Bellatrix to lead him to an abandoned hallway. I gave them a head start then when no one was looking I went after them. When I found them Sirius had his back to me so I cast the killing curse on him. Knowing I needed a cover story I had Bellatrix torture me so it would look like an accident. She did a pretty good job because a couple times I actually felt extreme pain. I used the pill we came up with to make myself pass out and now I’m here.”Hermione and Andromeda came up with a pill that would help Hermione sleep. It was a fast acting medicine that Hermione only used on very rare occasions. She always kept some on her though just in case she needed one.
“I don’t like that you have such a high tolerance for pain.”Andromeda hated that Hermione went through such horrific trauma that a torture session with her sister the most feared witch in the world barely bothered her. Based on the cuts and bruises Andromeda knew that her sister didn’t hold back on Hermione either.
Hermione shrugged.”That’s just part of the life of a princess.”
“Being kidnapped and tortured when you were a child is not part of the life of a princess. That’s not part of anyone’s life.”Andromeda didn’t like that Hermione was so nonchalant about the incident that led to her living in hiding with the Grangers.
“You don’t need to be angry for me. I have long ago gotten over what happened. Plus my mother made sure that the people responsible were made examples out of.”Hermione may still have nightmares every once in a while but she mostly worked out her issues in the regular therapy sessions she went to when she was back in the muggle world.
“I liked that they posted the pictures of their bodies online.”Andromeda had been shocked and pleased to learn that once they rescued Hermione and found all the people responsible for the kidnapping that the Queen invoked mid evil punishment and stripped the perpetrators naked, then cut their bodies hundreds of times and hung them up on the royal palace gates for the birds and insect to feed on them while they slowly bled to death for all the world to see.
“She is very proud to claim the moniker the Bloody Queen.”Hermione’s mother relished in her reputation for being ruthless against anyone who targeted her child. Hermione yawned.
“You should get some sleep darling.”Andromeda told her.
“I don’t want our time together to end so soon.”Hermione felt she never got enough time with Andromeda.
“I’ll come check in on you and then we will go to Gringotts this weekend.”Andromeda felt the same as Hermione. They were apart way too often.
“Alright.”Hermione wanted to fight but there really wasn’t anything they could do to change their situation.
Andromeda leaned down and gave Hermione another kiss.”I will miss you. If you need me send an elf.”
“I will miss you too and you do the same.”Hermione said.
“Bye sweetheart.”Andromeda waved her wand and undid the privacy wards. Giving her young lover one last kiss she made her way out of the room thoughts of everything Hermione had just told her running though her mind. She wasn’t happy that Hermione got tortured by Bellatrix and although she knew Hermione was the one who told her to do it Andromeda was going to have words with her sister about how she treated Hermione. The only good thing that came out of the situation was that Hermione got the Head of Household title from Sirius. The fact that Andromeda was able to convince Harry to not want the title before Dumbledore could influence him was even better. Harry had made it clear in front of many witnesses that he didn’t want the title. Then in front of those same witnesses Hermione was able to get Dumbledore to back off from helping her with the estate. That would allow Hermione and Andromeda to protect the family until it was time for Bellatrix to step into her role and while they were waiting for that to happen both Andromeda and her lover were going to do all they could to make the Black family the most wealthy and powerful pureblood family in Britain. With the allies that the two of them had been gathering it shouldn’t be to hard. Andromeda just hoped that after all the hard work that she and Hermione were putting into the cause that her sisters would be standing with them when it all came to a head. She wouldn’t know until she got a letter back and with that thought she hurried home.