Andromeda
Chapter 13: Andromeda
“Bella, please! Don’t you understand? I love Ted!” Andromeda pleaded with her sister, wrapping both of her hands around Bellatrix’s free one.
Bellatrix raised her wand, pointing it under the younger witch’s chin, and Andromeda went silent.
“Andromeda, you can’t honestly think I would understand. Tom and I have been working so hard to prevent exactly what you’re doing! You’ve been undermining us and our family! A MUDBLOOD?!”
Andromeda flinched away at the slur.
“He’s NOTHING! He will never be powerful, if anything he’s draining you of your power! Wouldn’t he just love to bankrupt the Noble House of Black of one of our strongest witches! What a fool you are!” Bellatrix berated, still pressing the tip of her wand up into her sister’s throat.
“Bella,” she rasped out, tears gliding quickly down her face, “we’re sisters. Can’t you put aside your prejudices for one minute? How can you let Tom’s hatred fill you so?”
The black haired witch cackled, and Draco saw just how long ago his aunt had become unhinged. Tom? Does she mean Tom Riddle? As in VOLDEMORT?! Aunt Bella’s been training with the Dark Lord since she was a teenager?! Draco was disgusted; he felt bile rise up in his throat at the thought of his family being so deeply intertwined with such darkness.
“You are no sister of mine,” Bellatrix said in a low, threatening voice.
“Y-you-you can’t mean that!” Andromeda shrieked, fear filling her face.
“Bella, no!” The blonde girl was back—Narcissa now, he recognized the young face of his mother. She was younger than the last time he time travelled to her, but still old enough to know what was about to happen.
While Bellatrix turned her attention to Narcissa, Andromeda pulled out her wand, casting Stupefy! so strongly the oldest sister was knocked off her feet and rendered momentarily unconscious.
“Dromeda, no! What did you do?” Narcissa cried as she fell to the floor next to Bellatrix, checking her pulse and breathing. Satisfied she was still alive, she drew her own wand to cast a Renervate, but Andromeda stilled her hand.
Tears flowed freely down both witches’ cheeks, their eyes filled with equal sadness.
“Why?” Narcissa whispered.
“She’ll kill me,” Andromeda answered, looking down at her older sister. “She looks so peaceful like this…like herself…what he’s done to her,” The girl looked away, back to Narcissa, “she’ll never be the same.”
“What does that even mean? You’re both so ambiguous and secretive!” Narcissa demanded, pleading for some sort of information to make this whole scenario make sense.
“Stay away from Tom, Cissa, he’s trouble and dangerous,” she warned, an idea suddenly coming to her, “Come with me, Ted has a place and you can stay with us!”
“Come with you? Dromeda, I still have a few years left at Hogwarts, what will father think?” The youngest sister tried to think it through. She was sure the way Andromeda was talking would get her disowned at best, hunted and killed at the worst. No one in the Black family was to speak against Tom. No one. Especially not a daughter, and one in love with a Muggleborn, at that.
“Please, Cissa? I’ll keep you safe, father and Bella won’t ever find us! We can be free to do whatever we want, love whoever we want,” Andromeda said dreamily.
“But I know who I love, sister. Lucius will be waiting for me at Hogwarts, and then we’ll be betrothed within the next year. If I leave, Abraxas will never let that happen. Then what? I either lose the man I love or I lose my sister. How could I ever choose?” Narcissa began to sob again, dropping her head to Bellatrix’s unconscious chest.
“You don’t have to. Make Lucius choose. You or his birthright,” she said softly, placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder.
Narcissa jerked her head up. “Don’t be stupid,” she spat, “like he would choose me over his inheritance. He’s a Malfoy—the sole heir—he could have any pureblood witch he fancied.” Narcissa glared at her sister. “For some reason, he chose me,” she softened for a second before settling her resolve, “I won’t throw that away.”
“Cissa, why then, if he doesn’t even love you?” Andromeda questioned.
“Because he will love me.”
Footsteps stomped up the stairs, echoing off the walls. “YOU!” The voice of his grandfather, Cygnus Black bellowed out. “I SAID GET OUT!” The man pointed a stubby finger accusingly at Andromeda before noticing his eldest daughter knocked out on the floor. “Bella!” He squealed, running to her side, pushing Narcissa out of the way.
“Come with me!” Andromeda pleaded one last time, but her younger sister met her gaze with more tears.
“Go,” she whispered.
Cygnus clumsily stood up, barreling toward Andromeda in a rage, wand raised.
“Papa, no!” Narcissa jumped in front of the wand and Andromeda disapparated with a CRACK! The youngest daughter took a hard slap to the face and she crumpled at his feet.
Draco smashed his hands over his mouth to stifle his gasp. As his own grandfather dragged his mother by a fistful of blonde hair over to where Bellatrix was stirring. He grabbed onto both girls and disapparated. Draco felt a tug behind his navel and he twisted in and out of existence at the same time. He now recognized he was in the room at number 12 Grimmauld Place that held the Black family tapestry.
“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!” Walburga shrieked obnoxiously.
“We must disown Andromeda. She must be removed from the tapestry, NOW!” Cygnus replied, equally shrill, choking on the words he never thought he would utter about his own daughters.
“What has the girl done to deserve such a fate?” Orion and Alphard casually entered the room, each sipping on glass tumblers of firewhisky.
“She has run away with a Mudblood!” Cygnus roared, his face going from red to violet.
“A MUDBLOOD?! FILTH! SHAME!” Walburga cried, frantically waving her hands about in anxious flutterings.
Orion began to pace, pensively smoothing his mustache and muttering something along the lines of “this won’t do,” and “not at all, won’t do at all”.
Alphard, on the other hand, propped himself up against the wall, smirking at the crazed scene before him. “Good for her, someone’s finally done something interesting around here for once.”
“ALPHARD, THIS IS NO TIME FOR ONE OF YOUR TERRIBLE JOKES! THIS FAMILY’S REPUTATION IS AT STAKE!” Walburga wailed, which only egged her brother on.
“Dear, Walburga, your poor nerves must be quite shot from the shock of all this! Won’t you go lie down for a bit? Have a brandy to take the edge off,” he mockingly placated the woman for a moment, and the second she was out of the room, everyone took a collective sigh of relief aside from Cygnus.
“DO NONE OF YOU UNDERSTAND THE SERIOUSNESS OF THIS CRIME?!” He growled at his brother and brother-in-law.
Orion paused in his pacing to observe Bellatrix and Narcissa standing behind their father with eyes downcast. Alphard also watched the girls before rubbing his temple with his free hand and using the other to finish off his glass.
“And what of these two?” Orion jutted his chin toward Cygnus’s two remaining daughters.
“They have chosen to uphold the family name in its rightful place of prominence and nobility. Haven’t you?” He declared without so much as a glance at either of them.
Draco gulped. His mother had never told him how this had played out, only that there had been a fight and Andromeda left. She was blasted off the tapestry and never to be acknowledged again by any member of the Black family. His eyes landed on his mother’s lithe frame, her usually perfect hair was knotted and frizzing from her father’s rough grasp. She was subtly shaking, eyes darting up every few seconds to see what was happening.
“Then you shall do the honors,” Orion gestured to the ornate and magical tapestry hanging on the wall behind him.
Cygnus turned, his deep set eyes roving over each embroidered name. Wand raised, he summoned a precisely sized fireball, sending it hurtling into Andromeda’s face. When the flame faded, all that was left was a charred, black splotch with her name barely readable underneath.
Orion treaded slowly to pat the man on the shoulder, offering condolences as if she were dead. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Cygnus. The ancient and noble House of Black has truly suffered today.”
At least they realize they lost a powerful witch. If they had thought this through before, they could have found a way to keep her around! So what if she loves a Muggleborn?
“Indeed,” Cygnus replied, accepting the newly filled glass of firewhisky from Alphard. “Our House has suffered a great embarrassment today, but we shall overcome it. Stronger. Better!” He said, a glint of determination in his eyes.
“Too true,” Orion agreed. “Rather fortunate it wasn’t one of the other two,” he chuckled. “I’d hate to see our close connection to the Dark Lord severed or damaged. And the young one will soon make a strong alliance with the Malfoys.”
“Oh, yes, we will merge the two strongest and oldest sacred families, how could the end result be anything but great power?” Cygnus proclaimed proudly.
Draco wanted to vomit. Immediately. His mother was not some cheap thing to be traded off or worse…bred like some animal! He hoped the time turner would take him back soon—he wasn’t sure how much more of this he could watch.
A pull from his navel twisted inside him once again, and he found himself reappearing in front of a small cottage —he couldn’t be sure where, but the home seemed rather secluded. Confused as to what had pulled him to this spot, Draco inspected the front of the cottage. The windows were mostly blocked by large shrubbery, but he found an opening and was able to get a look inside.
Andromeda sat at a small wooden table, her head in her hands, while a young man knelt next to her, rubbing small circles on her back. Alphard sat across from the young couple, a grim look resting on his features.
“I’m sorry, Dromeda,” the older man spoke, sorrow in his voice.
“They can’t do that! She’s still a Black!” Ted Tonks shouted with righteous fury. “They can’t just take away her family!”
Andromeda lifted her head, her tears dried but her cheeks still stained. She looked over at Ted, cupping one side of his face with a delicate hand. “Oh, Ted, don’t you see? You are my family now.”
Ted looked at her incredulously. “You would leave it all behind?”
“Without a doubt,” Andromeda smiled sweetly, placing a kiss on his forehead. “Besides, apparently I already have.” She winked.
“Marry me?” He grabbed both of her hands in his, already down on one knee.
Draco stood gobsmacked. Did he really just witness a marriage proposal? Before he could ponder the extreme rollercoaster of emotions he had just experienced, Alphard had stood and begun the bonding ceremony. Oh, they mean get married, like, right now—
A ring of bright, golden light shimmered around Ted and Andromeda. They were magically bound forever. His aunt had just left behind her old life and become Andromeda Tonks.
As the golden light faded, Draco felt the growingly familiar spin of time swirling around him. He squeezed his eyes shut, noting that it helped somewhat with the nausea that had increasingly accompanied his time travel.
…
Draco found himself exactly where he had been standing prior to the most recent time jump. It was still the wee hours of the morning, but he hadn’t forgotten his initial reason for using the pocket watch. He still needed to perfect his two-way Protean charmed parchments to send to Granger. Draco could see the first hints of pink light emerging over the horizon, casting a faint, hazy glow over the gardens.
He shoved down the growing anxiety in his gut, and turned the little hourglass over four times again. This time around, the pocket watch had the desired effect, and Draco was able to achieve the desired result within another hour. He attached the package to Aquila and sent the large eagle owl off to deliver the gifts, hopefully before sunrise.
With the spare hours he had left, Draco climbed the marble staircase to the suite of bedrooms on the floors above. He crawled into bed, exhausted, wishing for a dreamless sleep and to avoid processing his aunt’s and mother’s troubled past.
…
Draco had planned on having a lie in, but to his great misfortune, Theo and Pansy decided to jump on his bed for a solid five minute around six in the morning.
“Wake up! Wake up!” Theo shouted dramatically.
“Presents! Now!” Pansy screeched in his ear.
“I had nothing to do with this, so just be grateful they didn’t wake you up first,” Blaise said glumly before yawning and lying down on the chaise at the foot of the bed.
Pansy dropped to her knees and leaned into Draco’s ear, then screamed “GET UP YOU PRICK STOP TRYING TO RUIN CHRISTMAS!”
Draco urgently covered his ears and tried to pull the covers over his head, but Theo yanked them away and pushed him out of the bed, headfirst.
“It’s best not to fight it,” Blaise grumbled without opening his eyes.
Pansy locked her icy fingers around his upper arm and dragged. Draco unwillingly followed along, and the witch used her other hand to hoist Blaise off of the chaise, dragging the pair downstairs.
The morning moved quickly, when they arrived in the drawing room, presents were cascading from under the large, perfectly flocked Christmas tree in the center of the room. Pansy and Theo took turns passing out gifts, and Narcissa sat on the settee, enjoying a cuppa with a delighted smile and occasional giggle at their enthusiasm for the presents.
The four teenagers spent the next few hours acting like young children. Pansy squealed in delight at unwrapping several new garments out of the newest spring line, straight from Paris: one from each of the boys and two from Narcissa and Lucius. Of course, Narcissa had hand picked them all and had them ordered to Pansy’s measurements, but she gave the boys a wink letting them know the tags said they were from them. They each gave her a grateful nod, vowing to pay her back in some way for not having to shop for the high maintenance witch. Blaise opened his gifts next—Pansy and Theo had teamed up to get the sneak-o-scope and some sweets, and all the Malfoys had gotten him a rather expensive foe glass. They each took a turn passing the two objects around to see if anything would set off the sneak-o-scope or any shadows would appear in the foe glass. Draco thought he saw a flash of a shadow when it was in his possession, but chalked it up to lack of sleep. He couldn’t have gotten much more than three, maybe four hours before he was so rudely woken up.
Theo opened his gifts next, finding a package of tightly sealed dung bombs from Blaise, two pots of vanishing ink from Pansy, a handwritten list of loopholes in some lower-level Ministry laws from Lucius, and a pair of new dress shoes the contained an anti-scuffing charm and were enchanted to grow with his feet for the next five years from Narcissa. He opened his gift from Draco last—“TICKETS TO THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP?!?!”
Draco and Lucius shared a smirk before the older man quietly bade them all farewell, off to another “meeting” supposedly.
“How did you get these? Tickets aren’t even supposed to go on sale for another couple of months!” Theo giddily danced around the drawing room, hugging anyone who would let him. He even planted a sloppy kiss on Draco’s cheek, and they all exploded into laughter, reminiscing on the game of truth or dare in the commonroom last year.
“Dad got them from the Minister, himself! Said we could all go, but I know you love Quidditch the most out of all of us so, happy Christmas!” Draco shrugged, but genuinely happy at how excited his best friend—brother was over the tickets.
“So what if I don’t take any o’ yous,” Theo teased, squinting at each of his friends.
“Now, Theodore, is that any way to treat your friends?” Pansy pouted, and Narcissa tinkled a laugh at how well her ‘daughter’ was learning to manipulate the men around her. She was a quick study.
Draco opened his gifts last, preening under the attention from the whole room. He took his time, carefully unwrapping each gift as if he was trying to save the wrapping paper.
“Oh, get on with it will ya?” Blaise called, fidgeting with his new sneak-o-scope and shoving a fizzing whizbee in his mouth.
He finished unwrapping the first gift, a new gobstones set and a fanged frisbee from Theo. Blaise had given him a revealer for invisible ink—knowing what Pansy had planned to give Theo as part of his gift. Pansy bought him a box of licorice wands and detachable cribbing cuffs that would change color to match whatever went best with his facade. The final gift was a medium-sized, silver wrapped box. The tag read from both his parents, and he gently lifted the lid off to find…the Hand of Glory! Father must’ve remembered!
Draco quickly and carefully put the lid firmly back on the box and grinned like an idiot. Narcissa eyed him warily before giving him a stern, “I don’t want to hear about you using it for any sort of criminal activity, do you hear me?”
He nodded vigorously, “Never! Thank you so much, mother!” He sprang from his spot on the floor and threw his arms around her neck, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and she softened.
“Well, I’m glad you like it, your father was adamant that it was what you wanted.”
“I can’t believe he remembered!” Draco whispered to himself in disbelief.
“Is anybody gonna tell us what it is?” Theo bounced anxiously, trying to lift up the corner of the lid, but Draco snapped it back shut.
“It’s a Hand of Glory,” Draco said in awe.
“Whoah! No way!” Blaise flipped from his lounging attitude and Pansy inched closer as well.
“Oh, come on, show us!” Pansy pleaded. “I’ve never seen one in real life.” She gave him a puppy dog pout.
“Later,” he whispered, seeing his mother’s discomfort at the thought of a dead man’s hand being passed around her home right in front of her. The look of relief on her face affirmed his suspicion and he tucked the box into the pile of gifts he’d received.
“Did I miss all the fun?” Sirius called as he ambled into the room. He was looking much better—apparently he had finally made friends with the shower and taken to a new set of clothes. Pansy definitely took notice, cartoon hearts all but erupting out of her eyes. Sirius winked at her, and Draco swore she nearly swooned.
Narcissa rolled her eyes at the ridiculous display of flirting that she had certainly seen numerous times in their youth. “Sirius, darling, lovely of you to join us,” she smiled demurely.
“Yes, well,” he checked the grime under his nails, “had to wait for Lucy to leave and all that business.”
“We’ve discussed this at length, cousin, Lucius is not who he once was,” Narcissa defended, but Sirius didn’t seem interested in rehashing an old argument and waved her off.
“Neither here, not there, I must apologize though—I didn’t think to bring any gifts, not that I have much access to my vaults at the moment,” he chuckled grimly.
“Nonsense, no gifts are expected or needed, however I did find something you might like in one of the unoccupied rooms,” she smiled, wandlessly and wordlessly conjuring a small looking glass.
“Is that…?” Sirius looked taken aback.
“It is,” she smirked, extending the ornate handle of the mirror to him.
Sirius quickly grabbed the mirror and held it up, just as Narcissa conjured an identical one, holding hers up in front of her face.
“I knew you three were hiding something!” Sirius grinned with mirth, while Blaise, Theo, and Draco all exchanged confunded looks. “You three were always sneaking out and somehow you knew everything that was going on at home before the post was even delivered at Hogwarts!” The two cousins chuckled together, reminiscing on their childhood.
“There’s three mirrors, we each have one but Bella won’t be needing hers, so I thought it might be nice if you had it,” Narcissa lamented.
“What abou—“
“I don’t know if she kept hers, she’s never called,” she answered nervously before he could even get the words out.
“Have you tried calling her?” Draco cut in, catching the two adults completely off guard.
“I beg your pardon?” Narcissa gasped, scandalized by the implication. Sirius looked him over, intrigued.
“I’m just saying, you never mention her,” Draco grumbled as he held his hands up in defense, trying to back out of the conversation he’d so un-eloquently dived into.
“Don’t mumble, dear, it’s unbecoming,” she scolded gently, never losing an ounce of grace. “A warning, though, do not pass judgement on things you know nothing about.”
Theo cleared his throat, “I should really take all this stuff up to my room, thanks again!” He awkwardly backed out of the room, followed by Blaise dragging a gossip-greedy Pansy behind him as he called, “yes, thank you from us too!”
“I understand perfectly, mother,” Draco said, quiet yet firm.
“And how could you possibly understand?” Her voice grew shrill, her eyes narrowing. Draco recognized this look—he would need to tread carefully or he’d end up grounded the rest of the Christmas hols, or worse…
“I saw it happen. I was there—“ he said, unyielding.
“That’s not possible, I was fourteen!” She retorted, shocked at his unusual defiance.
“Mother, at the beginning of the school year, I was given a time turner—a pocket watch—“
“Show me,” Sirius commanded, stepping into the fray.
Draco pulled the pocket watch out, keeping hold of it while presenting the object to them both. Narcissa gasped at the sight of the heirloom. So she’s seen it before, then. Sirius moved closer, running a finger over the engraving on the back.
“You both know it then?” Draco asked, a little surprised.
Sirius nodded, never taking his eyes off the pocket watch. His mother however, pulled him into a tight hug. “Are you okay?” She whispered.
“‘M fine, mum, why?” He asked, confused.
“Blood magic exacts a price, darling—for it to have worked as you claim, there must’ve been—“ she sniffed, trying to keep her composure.
“The hippogriff attack, that’s when it started. I was in the Hospital Wing and tried to use it, but it took me back to seeing you in the Forbidden Forest with a wolf and Professor Lupin…” Draco paused to see how his mother would react.
She closed her eyes slowly, and Sirius’s eyebrows shot way up in surprise. “You and Mooney?” Sirius whispered to his cousin.
“I looked after Remus in his human form, while my friend did so in his wolf form,” she said sadly.
“Accalia?” Draco and Sirius said at the same time, the former in confirmation and the latter in remembrance.
“I haven’t spoken of her in her wolf form in a very long time,” Narcissa said mournfully, turning away from them both.
“She was one of the wolves born in the forest, the pack your father likes to bring up as the ‘werewolves living in the Forbidden Forest’. Their existence has long been used as a way to frighten students from entering the woods,” Narcissa explained timidly. “Accalia was conceived and born of two werewolves under a full moon. She did not transform every moon, but remained in a wolf form throughout the moon’s complete cycles.”
Draco and Sirius were absorbed into the story, and when she paused to gauge their reactions, they said nothing so she continued. Her shoulders sagging with every word, as she unloaded her burden of so many years.
“I was out one night, collecting ingredients for a new potion I was attempting. It was a full moon, so the flower I needed would be at its peak of magical use, but when I found the clearing I had been searching for, there was a wolf standing guard. Bella had spent the entire summer training me in Occlumency and Legilimency, so I reached out to see if it was a werewolf or if I could proceed—“
“You were still going to go if it was a normal wolf? Mum it would’ve eaten you either way!” Draco scowled at his mother’s recklessness.
“Hush now,” she scolded him into silence. “As I was saying, I used Legilimency, but what I found was so shocking. I expected to hear howling, or feel pain, but I only found curiosity. She was just as interested in me as I was in her. I moved into the clearing and she met me half-way, I felt no threat from her. With my Legilimency and her human intelligence, we could communicate, and became fast friends. I met with her every full moon, and she kept me company as I harvested various plants and herbs.
“The following year when I returned, on the first full moon, I arrived early—eager to see my friend I had missed so dearly. We heard painful howling coming from the newly discovered shack near Hogsmede. I followed Accalia to the edge of the forest, but when she picked up the scent she sent me back to the castle with a promise for me to come back in the morning as the sun rose.
“I returned the next morning as instructed, and that was when I met Remus. The poor thing had mauled himself, being locked up in that shack. That was our new routine. I would bring Remus to and from the shack before and after each moon, and Accalia would care for him during his transformations. He still attacked himself, but it was never as bad as that first night once he had her to care for him.
“I did my best to help Madam Pomfrey care for the boy without drawing suspicion. I never asked questions and she was under the impression I was going to become a Healer upon graduating.”
“You could’ve been, you know,” Sirius winked.
“A career was never in the cards for me, as you well know, sweet cousin,” Narcissa blushed at the compliment.
“It could’ve been,” Draco said sadly, realizing just how much his mother had given up to be with his father. A father who was rarely present, and had twisted their family up with the Dark Lord, reformed or not.
“And I wouldn’t have had you, darling,” she reached out and took his hand lovingly.
“What happened then?” Sirius pulled them back to the story.
“Well, by the time I left Hogwarts, you and your friends were nearly anamagi and would keep him company during the full moons. Remus, or Mooney rather, had grown to not need Accalia as much, and she kept him company more than she needed to keep him from harming himself.” Sirius nodded in understanding.
“So where is she now?” He asked. “She was never around when we were with Mooney for his transformations.”
“She left Hogwarts once I was able to procure a space large enough for her. I worked tirelessly for months on a charm or potion that would allow her to turn into a human, and finally…just before our engagement party, I succeeded,” her eyes shone with pride at accomplishing such a feat at the age of seventeen.
“How?” Draco marveled.
“A combination, actually. The Homorphus charm and an amulet charged under the full moon each month…made from adularia,” she looked at Draco as the pieces fit together.
“Wait. No. No.” Draco squeezed his eyes shut. There’s no way. That would make Theo—
“My mum was a werewolf?” Theo whispered from behind them as the door creaked open, revealing Pansy, Blaise standing behind him looking guilty for being caught eavesdropping.
“Theodore, dear, she didn’t want you to know—“ Narcissa tried to explain, but the boy took off, escaping onto the grounds outside the Manor. She hurried after him, finally letting go of the tears she’d kept at bay.
“I’m missing something,” Sirius said dryly.
“Theo’s mum was friends with my mum…she always wore a necklace made from adularia—moonstone,” he explained at the still-confused look on his cousin’s face. “I never made the connection until now—when I saw the past with the time turner, I knew the wolf’s name was Accalia but I’d never really known Theo’s mum before she died. Besides, how was I to know she turned into a human?” He said regretfully.
“I don’t think he blames you, Draco,” Sirius clapped a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I think he was just given some earth-shattering news, and needs some time to come to terms with it.”
Narcissa returned, her cheeks stained pink, her face splotchy. “He’s gone, I can’t find him,” she sobbed.
“I’m sure he’s not gone, mother, Theo’s main skill is blending in and not being found,” Draco shook his head, feeling somehow responsible for his friend’s pain.
“I’ll find him, eh? You both should probably have a chat with the other two,” Sirius offered, jutting his chin toward Pansy and Blaise who were whispering wildly between themselves, trying to work out what had happened.
“Thank you, Sirius,” Narcissa squeezed her cousin’s hand before he shifted into a large, black, shaggy dog and padded out the door toward the gardens. “Blaise, Pansy? A word, please?” She called, and the pair anxiously re-entered the drawing room.
“Are you going to tell us the rest?” Pansy asked eagerly. Blaise elbowed at her hard, but she angled her hips too far forward, so he barely missed.
“I suppose I might as well, now,” Narcissa sighed. “Theo’s mother met his father at our engagement party. By the time of our wedding, they too were engaged. Theodore Nott—the first—was always a man to take what he wanted, and unfortunately, Accalia was swept up in his sweet words and lascivious taste. Three months later, they were married and. Ted started cutting off her time outside of the Estate, and therefore with me. By the time the war officially started, I hadn’t seen Accalia in nearly a year. When things started getting bad, Lucius started to lock me away too—being pregnant with Draco,” she smiled brightly at her son, wiping away a fresh round of tears. “Theo was born first, and I was sent to the Estate via Ted’s wishes to help protect and take care of both Theo and his mother. Once I had Draco, I stayed with them until the war was over.
“When the Dark Lord was destroyed, and Lucius was exonerated, he came and collected me and Draco, bringing us back to Malfoy Manor. We saw so little of Accalia and Theo over the following years, and the time we were allowed to visit grew shorter and shorter, until eventually, we weren’t allowed at all.
“I fear Ted found out about what she was, or maybe she just gave up…but the day Lucius came home and told me Accalia had died, I knew he’d finally done it. He’d destroyed her.”
Draco held his mother as she collapsed onto the settee in sobs. He’d never seen her so broken, aside from when she thought he would die. How could one person bear so much suffering? She’s lost both sisters, her parents, her best friend…
It took all of his self control and determination, which admittedly wasn’t much at the moment, to not break down with her right then. His mother had been so strong for so many years, carrying all of these burdens.
“Does father know all of this?” Draco asked, hoping she at least had one confidant.
“Of course not, he sees Nott Sr. on a near daily basis. Anything he knows would be from that man, if I told him the truth, he’d blow his cover and we’d all be in over our heads,” she said, shaking at the thought.
Draco hugged her tighter. “I’m going to find Sirius and Theo,” he said as he let go of her. “They’ve had enough time for a little heart-to-heart. He needs his friends.”
He led Pansy and Blaise out to the gardens, where he could see the two wizards sitting on the snow-covered steps of the gazebo.
“So am I a wolf?” Theo was asking Sirius as the three teens approached, all clutching warm cloaks around them in the frigid winter air.
“I don’t think so,” Sirius said, sniffing the air. “I’d be able to smell it on you, I think. Once I became an animagus, I’ve always been able to find Remus easily due to the canine smell, but I’d reckon there’s a good chance your animagus form will be a wolf or at least something canine in nature,” he said, lost in thought as he theorized.
“At least I could control it then—“ Theo said optimistically, though his furrowed brows told a different story.
“Mate, hate to break this up and all, but it’s freezing out here!” Blaise whinged, and the rest of the group agreed, slowly moving back toward the Manor.
“Wouldn’t you have transformed by now if you were really a werewolf, Theo?” Pansy pointed out reassuringly.
“Yea, I guess you’re right,” he squeezed her in a tight hug. “Thanks, Pans,” he whispered in her ear.
Mippy had a simple lunch waiting for them back inside the Manor where they reconvened with Narcissa. “Sorry for running off,” Theo apologized, embarrassed for his outburst.
“Oh, Theodore, I’m so sorry I kept it all from you. I was trying to do right by your mother, but I can see I was wrong,” she embraced the lanky boy, who now stood an inch taller than her.
“It’s alright,” he sniffed, hugging her back.
They enjoyed the meal placed before them, and when they were finished, Narcissa requested that Mippy bring down the box of Accalia’s things from Theo’s room. Nervously, Theo agreed to whatever she had planned to do. It was a lovely show of trust on his part, and that alone brought a small smile to Narcissa’s lips.
When Mippy popped back in carrying the wooden box, she set it in front of Narcissa, who then gently opened the lid. Removing the moonstone pendant, she held it up to Theo in offering.
“Would you like me to refashion it so it’s a bit more masculine?” She asked tenderly.
“I—I think I would like that,” he said with thanks and relief.
Narcissa raised her wand and delicately twisted and turned the tip of it. The silver chain thickened slightly and the setting for the amulet reshaped into a more robust and round framework in comparison to the dainty teardrop shape it had held before. To finish it off, she lengthened the chain just enough he could hide it under his clothes, and she placed it over his head.
Theo fingered the pendant fondly before tucking it in his shirt, holding his hand over the spot it settled into. “Thank you,” he said softly before standing and enveloping the older witch in a tight hug once again.
“Alright, well that’s enough hugging for me,” Sirius announced with a smirk, making his exit.
“Yes, I need to tend to some last minute details for the gala,” Narcissa agreed, though they all knew she needed to be alone for now to get her emotions back in check according to their pureblood society rules. Draco, Pansy, Blaise and Theo excused themselves as well and returned to Draco’s room.