#andromeda;1

[bellatrix-lestrxnge]

Starter for: Andromeda Tonks @tonksxandromeda Where: Bellatrix's office When: middle of the working day

Just returning from a particularly tedious excursion with the Auror Department, Bellatrix did not expect to find disturbance in her team. She ran a tight ship with an iron fist. Everyone knew their place and their responsibility. They all knew her rules and the consequences for breaking them. She was efficient and meticulous, ambition and determination having fuelled her path within the Ministry. But like everything else in her life, her hard work was equalled by an unhealthy helping of fear. She didn't mistreat her team, but neither did she suffer fools and her demand for excellence was often unreasonable and always unrelenting. So everything ran like clockwork, yet all were poised upon a knife's edge while trying resolutely to meet her expectations.

The tension was palpable when she entered the room. Slender fingers reached to grip the hem of her jacket, straightening it with a harsh tug as she looked around at the sea of uncertainty. It was like appraising infants, the mere sight of them pissing her off beyond comprehension. Quills scratched as she moved between desks, the sound of her deliberated steps cutting from beneath her thick skirts. Just outside her office, her secretary told her about her guest.

She entered the room like a storm cloud, all silent glowering rage, lingering in the doorway as though not quite believing what she would find within. But then her sight fell upon a face so very like her own. Her lips twitched, revulsion and fury boiling beneath porcelain flesh and sadistic impulse.

"Get out."

Soft enough to be lethal, bluntly enunciated and lacking tolerance. The gall of this whore, invading her space as though she owned it. There was a time when Bellatrix would have welcomed Andromeda with open arms and unceasing affection. But that was long ago and this bitch was dead to her.

[bellatrix-lestrxnge]

Solo featuring Alecto Carrow, Andromeda Tonks, Rodolphus Lestrange, Ted Tonks @alectocarrowx @tonksxandromeda, @xrodolphusxlestrangex, @tonks-ted When: Diagon Alley NYE street party, when Nymphadora goes missing.

Too many children.

Burnished eyes scoured the surroundings, several feet above the offending, excitable youngsters. Bellatrix didn't dislike them as such, but intent upon following the narrow path towards Knockturn Alley, she found herself irked by their presence. Crowding the cobbles like a swarm of ants with stuffed toys and candyfloss, she swatted a few of them aside before her stare fell fatefully upon the little girl with unnaturally orange hair. Well, she certainly wasn't a Prewett or a Weasley. The eldest Black knew precisely who she was. Turning swiftly, her conclusion was verified by the sight of Andromeda and her beast of a husband, his hands upon her, defiling her purity with his loathsome filth. Years had passed. Oh-so many years. Yet this vision sent her rage into overdrive, her skin suddenly feeling like she wanted to rip it off. It crawled, itching, scratching as though knifes etched from the inside out, a yearning to set the world ablaze cutting deep into her bones and causing dour irises to snap wide.

For another moment, she stood, taking steadying breaths while her fists clenched and unclenched beside her hips. Her emotions enraged her. It was not correct that she should still experience upset, and so she cast that feeling aside, tossing it asunder with the determination of a witch who would stop at nothing. A different certainty filled her ravaging thoughts, her focus beelining quickly and expertly towards a far better outlet for her frustration. She turned on her heels, her rich crimson dress swishing the pavement like the world's finest dust cloth as she stalked back towards the little ones and knelt down to address the group.

Her foul temper had disappeared. There was nothing but jovial pleasantry, a bright smile and dancing eyes as she joined them in admiring the shop's contents through the window. She had flipped a switch and it was all thanks to her very own cruel intentions. As the children reacted positively, encouraging her plan, she began to spiral towards a more genuine pleasure. Perhaps she might enjoy this, after all.

"Do I?" she asked with false surprise, as Nymphadora told her she looked 'just like her mum'. Laughing widely, she stood and cast a charm into the alley to make it glow brighter. "I'm getting ice cream. Would you like some?" The girl hesitated. But a swift Confundus had her following in no time at all, Bellatrix gripping her hand as though she were a precious thing that could not possibly slip from her grasp. Right now: she couldn't. A few others joined them in the alley, redundantly summoned by the residual effect of her charm. Caring nothing for them, they wandered away while she paced towards where she'd left her husband sitting with Alecto. He was now alone, and he looked up and laughed, wondering what the fuck his wife was doing now.

After sitting the girl down, she then did indeed obtain ice cream and several other excellent treats, getting her to chat about all things Ted and Andromeda. Discovering that her parents were worried about the war and always busy and tired was mildly satisfying. To her surprise, Bellatrix discovered the girl was a little spitfire, filled with a rebellious spirit that reminded her of herself at that age. It was repulsive. If she hadn't been that mudblood's offspring, she might actually have liked her. That metamorphmagus gene sure as hell didn't come from Tonks's muggle family, and it was with that which she truly wanted to play, getting the child to replicate both her and Rodolphus's appearances until she was satisfied that she'd be able to mirror them from memory. If would be more than enough to push her darling sister's nerves over a cliff, and perhaps she'd do them all a favour and drag that bastard Auror husband with her.

It was a good thirty minutes before she returned to the main bustle in Diagon Alley, and another fifteen before she located Andromeda rushing around frantically. Sending Nymphadora on her way, she strode a retreat, congratulating herself as she joined Rodolphus once more.

Sly eyes raised through heavy lashes, meeting his and finding them equally entertained. It was hardly the brutal thrill that usually got them hot and bothered. But it would do for now. She placed a hand to his chest, lips parting as a sour chuckle trailed her teasing tongue.

"Bets on how long it'll take Andromeda to come for us?"

With any luck, not long at all. She wouldn't mind sending her sister to an early grave.

What an excellent start to the new year that would be.

[tonks-ted]

Starter for: Andromeda Tonks @tonksxandromeda Where: St Mungo's Hospital When: the end of her shift

It wasn't every day that Ted and Andromeda's shifts aligned. Their hours were often long and unpredictable, leaving Ted very grateful for their ever patient friends and family who were always willing to take Nymphadora at the drop of a hat. God only knew how they'd be able to function without other people around to help out. But fortunately, though they had a long list of problems thanks to this never-ending war, childcare was not one of them.

Ted had finished early today, clocking off as soon as he was finished with the latest developments of his most recent investigation. Having put everything into order, he'd look at it more closely in the morning. A good night's sleep did wonders - though it seemed to be a rarity, of late. Between the two them, he was not sure who was sleeping less. He'd noticed the deepening shadows under his wife's eyes and in his own reflection. So since he was done around the time her shift ended, he decided that was it - he'd go straight to St Mungo's and would not take 'no' for answer if she told him she had to work double.

So here he was, pacing through the wards that had been destroyed not so long ago, in an attack that had made him want to forbid Andromeda from returning. Not that it would have done any good, so he didn't even try. Stopping to charm the receptionist, he abandoned her promptly upon spotting his wife along the corridor, and stepped towards her instead, pulling her into - what turned out to be a broom closet.

"Wotcher, love of my life." Smiling warmly, he then looked at the surroundings regretfully. "I'll admit, I didn't think this would be a cupboard. Let's go home? You're nearly done. I'll have no 'double shift' malarkey tonight."

[r-lestrcnge]

Solo mentioning: Andromeda Tonks @tonksxandromeda Apolline Beausejour @apollinebeausejour Bellatrix Lestrange @brutal-bellatrix Rodolphus Lestrange @xrodolphusxlestrangex

Lestrange Manor was home. When facing impending death, it had been Rabastan's instinct to return here, to the place where he would be shrouded by the impenetrable bonds of blood loyalty and the protection of the thickest, darkest magic. He knew the house inside out, years spent roaming its rooms, discovering its secrets and respectfully keeping them. It would never be his. But it would always contain a part of him.

So far, he'd been there for only a few days. But he'd seen more of his parents than in total over the last month. He lingered unwell in his childhood rooms, too exhausted to do very much. Finding comfort in the familiar surroundings, he was even grateful for his parents' daily visits, when usually he would prefer to be left alone. Each day they would study him, patiently waiting until he was fit enough to hold a conversation for longer than a few minutes. At that point, he summoned them along with Rodolphus and Bellatrix, and shared everything pertinent that had happened, for it affected all of them. A family should not keep secrets that could damage its components; a family's strength was only as good as its unity.

The fact that Andromeda had discovered his secret was dismissed as non-essential; they decided that Rabastan would speak with her himself.

The rest of the conversation, which centred on Apolline and the resulting error in his work, was one of the most uncomfortable discussions they'd ever had. It was a curious thing to watch both parents pale and darken at the same time. But somehow they managed this impossible feat, and it rendered them silent and glowering.

"Are you certain," his father eventually bluntly began, "that she will not come to us in a few months, claiming she carries an heir?"

It was the final straw for his naturally mild mother, who rose to her feet and strode behind her son's seat, placing her hands flat against his chest in a fierce act of maternal protection. Her passivity had gone to the wind, thrown aside in the face of a threat against her family. She was repulsed. Rabastan could feel her nails gritting into his shirt, her quiet fury as heated as the fire that blazed behind his father's ordinarily stoic eyes.

"Do something, Corvus," she demanded. "Do something, or I will kill that unnatural half-breed and her Veela mother myself. For too long, they have been a stain in our lives."

The Lestrange patriarch looked between his wife, who he valued but had never loved, and his youngest son, who he had never wanted but who was proving his worth. There was no warmth within this family. But there was savage, unyielding loyalty.

The Beauséjours would pay.

Within minutes, a letter was dispatched, informing them that ties would be cut due to the violation of their son and the cause of his near-death. By the end of the hour, they ordered the withdrawal of all gold from their shared investments. As evening approached, they had devised a more personal punishment, suitable enough to satisfy a quintet of malicious intentions.

[r-lestrcnge]

Starter for: Andromeda Tonks @tonksxandromeda Where: St Mungo's Hospital

From time to time, danger caught up with Rabastan. His work was a minefield, fraught with potential chaos and an ever-present threat of death. It was ironic that a man so restrained and logical would choose a profession that was completely at odds with his natural tendencies. But he'd always cherished dark magic. He craved the expansion of skill and knowledge. He thrived working alone and put his mind to solving puzzles with relentless vigour.

Today, he'd misjudged the curses in front of him. Unravelling one too many, far too quickly, he had not been able to contain the forces that were unleashed. Fire and ash had flown up like an apocalypse, deadly screams filling the space with the voices of those whose lives had been claimed before. He'd left within split-seconds; an instinct that probably saved his life. But it had not saved his wand. Appearing at home, he took one look at the splintered weapon then left immediately for Ollivander's, where he'd stubbornly remained until he could take it away with him again. Prioritising the wand over his health was not wise by most people's standards. But to Rabastan, there was nothing more important than the control of his magic. His worst fear was to lose it. He would not leave the wand, for it was a part of himself.

So when he finally attended to his injuries, the curse had already taken hold. He had forced his way to the front of the public triage through sheer demanding presence, and was currently berating a Healer for the absence of Miray Selwyn. He wanted no one else. Only her. Eventually, he agreed to wait in a room while they looked for her. And there he sat, neither expecting nor desiring Andromeda to walk in.

"Tell me they haven't sent you, instead." At this point, he'd take his chances and let his father - or perhaps Bellatrix - take a shot at some counter-curses.