Chapter 37
ANDROMEDA BLACK
Andromeda had never thought that her life would turn out like this. Yet here she was, with bags in her hand as she stood outside a rather simple and obscure home located just at the edge of town.
For a second as she stood there, she feared that he would not come. That Ted might have lied to her or grown cold feet, yet the shifting of the locks and swinging of the door tore away at those crawling doubts quickly, as Ted appeared in front of her once again.
"You are here," Ted whispered, his own voice filled with relief as Andromeda found herself nodding.
"Of course I am," she said, and she dropped the bags and let her arms wrap around him as she let her body soak in his warmth, as a silent tear slid down her face as she mourned the loss of her family for one last final time.
Ted, for his part, did not say anything as he let her hug him for as long as she needed, only for her to push him away, as he gave her a reassuring smile.
"Come in," he said before he turned his head slightly.
"You too, Narcissa," and for all the family that she had lost, Andromeda had gained a new family. A kinder and gentler family.
"Thank you," Narcissa answered nervously as Ted led them into his House, and it was a rather small and untidy house, with paint tubs, rugs, and wood placed all around it.
"Don't mind the lounge. I set up the rooms first. The rest of the House will be done in a few days," Ted added softly, as he made to quickly tidy up the couch for them to sit down, and this was new and strange for him as well.
He seemed nervous, before he added quickly.
"Would you like some tea?" he asked.
"I will go make it," and seeing him like this, she was reminded of their first meeting as she rose up herself.
"I will help," she said, and as she walked beside him, she found herself imagining a future life in the rather small and tidy home. She saw it for what it would become, of what a future life together with him could look like in this place.
"You can put the water on the stove. I will get the tea leaves," and most of the utensils were all new, she could spot the boxes and wrapping papers piled up in the corner.
"You didn't have to do all this," she said as she filled the pot with some water and put it on the stove.
"I wanted to," Ted said as he took out the crockery and began to set it all up. The cups were glass rather than china, and the tea was cheaper than the one she was used to back home.
But it was enough. No. It was all more than enough, as both of them stood face to face against one another, and Ted finally asked her the question.
"So, is it over?" and she felt her heart strain at those words, yet the answer was a nod.
"It is," and her marriage contract had been annulled, and now she was free to marry him.
"I won't ever make you regret this," and she gave him a brittle smile as he drew closer and held her hands.
"I know you won't," and she felt tears gather in her eyes as she let him crash his lips onto hers, and let her body soak itself in his comfort as the tea simmered behind her.
It was only minutes later that she walked out of the kitchen with him to see her sister sitting there nervously.
"You could have gone and gotten easy," he suggested.
"I have set up a room for you upstairs already," he added, and that was kind of him.
"I will come and help you set things up after tea," she added, as an older sister should.
"Where is Alder?" Narcissa asked nervously as Ted's face shifted.
"He is at the McKinnons, but he knows that you are here and will be here tomorrow morning," and that made her frown.
"Why is he at the McKinnons?" she asked.
"For safety," Ted answered her as the three of them plopped down on the sofas and began to sip their cheap tea.
"The Death Eaters, they have been hunting for the one responsible for leaking their plans to the DMLE, and we believe that they have gotten quite close to figuring out that he was the one who did it," and Andromeda nearly choked on the tea, as she hastily put down the cup.
"WHAT!" she asked in surprise, and Narcissa's surprise mimicked her own as Ted seemed baffled by their reaction.
"You did not know," and Narcissa shook her head.
"No. He did not tell me anything of the sort," and to think that he had kept such a thing to himself, yet it explained his rather disturbing mood over the end of the school year, and how he always seemed so busy and worried.
"Well, he only told me the truth a few weeks ago, when he came over to sign on the deed for the House," and that made her raise a brow.
"This is Alder's House?" she asked, and Ted shrugged.
"It is ours," Ted answered, as he rubbed his head nervously.
"I wanted to pick a nice and livable place, but it was a bit out of my budget, so Alder put up the rest. He owns like thirty percent of it for the time being, but I intend to buy it off of him as soon as my practice at Ogden's takes off," and with the NEWTS wrapped up, Ted had secured himself a position at Ogden's, and was now working under one of Britain's most well-respected barristers.
And at that, he turned towards Narcissa and added.
"Still, Alder and his family have been living at the McKinnons for the Summer break," and now, with the vote over and the trial date set, tensions within their world were very high.
"He wanted to come and help me set up the House, but he couldn't. Still, he promised that he would be here in the morning," and Narcissa nodded.
"You two should sleep. I will try to tidy up as much...."
"I will help," she added, and there were but a few hours left in the night, and she could not quite stand to see the House in its current state.
"You don't have to," Ted added, and she smiled.
"I want to..." and so began the work, and just as they tidied up the lounge, a bright and gleaming Doe strode into the House, to her surprise, and came over to Ted, whose face paled at the sight of the patronus.
"Whose patronus is that?" she asked.
"Lily's," Ted answered as the Doe came and circled him before Lily Evans' voice left its mouth.
"They attacked last night..."
SPLATTER!
And her head snapped towards the source, as she saw Narcissa's face pale as she dropped the vase in her hands.
"Alder..."
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ALDER EVANS
The voices came first, one and two at first, followed by shouts and screams, before a louder voice came in and reigned in the noise.
"I won't have a shouting match in my Hospital. Everyone out," and by now the voices had become a whisper as he heard the shuffling of shoes and people.
"Only one person stays in the room. One person," and no one protested to the tone, as the pain followed the noises, and soon enough, the thirst hit him as well.
It was a struggle opening his eyes, and as he pushed the lids open, the light hit him hard before he noticed a mess of red hair beside him, along with those familiar green eyes.
"Lil..." and her twin's face was flushed, as she sniffed loudly, and he felt her grab his hand.
"Yeah, it's me, Lily. Your own twin, you idiot," she spoke, half crying, half laughing, as the Healer came in and began to examine him.
"Mr. Evans. Mr. Evans, can you see me?" he asked, as he waved his wand over his body.
"I can," and his throat was dry, and it hurt quite a lot just to speak.
"Do you know where you are?" he asked, as Alder caught the glass of water to his side, and yet as he tried to reach for it, he couldn't feel or move his arm much to his surprise.
"Do you know where you are?" and he struggled again, yet his arm refused to budge, and the Healer finally noticed his gaze and picked up the glass and slowly put it to his lips.
The water soothed his throat as the Healer smiled.
"You need not worry about your arm. We have just immobilised it until your bones have regrown fully. Otherwise, the pain would have killed you," he added, and Alder nodded, as he noticed the bandages and cast covering his entire arm.
"You were in a pretty bad state when you were brought to us. You had your whole shoulder and arm decimated with rather strange magic. In the end, we had to remove all of the bones and the dead tissue just to start the healing process," and Alder nodded.
"Thank you," and the Healer smiled.
"There is no need for that. We just did our job. It seems like you are conscious enough, so I will leave you to chat with your friends and family. But do alert me if anything changes," and with that, he gave Lily a final nod and walked out of the room, and his twin wasted no time.
"Do you have any idea how scared we were?" Lily began. Her nostrils flared with rage as she tried to keep away her tears.
"I am sorry," he apologised.
"Merlin's Balls, we always knew that you were meant for great things, but did you really have to start so soon?" Alder smiled as Lily gave a small chuckle.
"How long?" he asked, for given how she looked, he felt that quite some time had passed since he had been brought here.
"Three days," and his eyes widened at the answer, as the implication began to set in.
"Shit!" he cursed as he remembered his promise and tried to push himself out of the bed.
"What the hell! What are you doing!" Lily shouted as he grunted in pain because of the rapid movement, and his muscles were sore from disuse.
"I need to speak to Ted urgently. Just...."
"She already knows." Lily's words halted his panic as she gave him a mischievous grin.
"More like the entire world knows," and with that she reached for the table, and picked up a copy of the Prophet and placed it in his lap, and as he stared down at it, he found his own face plastered on the first page.
~THE HERO AT THE MCKINNONS! ALDER EVANS~
by Elizabeth Hawkins
~THE REAL STORY BEHIND ALDER EVANS! THE BOY WHO UNCLOAKED THE EVIL OF THE DARK LORD AND HIS FOLLOWERS!~
by Rita Skeeter
~WAR IT IS! MINCHUM RESIGNS! BAGNOLD TAKES OVER AND VOWS TO PUT DOWN THE DARK LORD AT ONCE!~
~IT'S RAINING ANIMAGI! THE FOUR NEW ANIMAGUS FROM HOGWARTS!~
And the paper was filled with articles about him and the attack at the McKinnons, and also the entire backdrop of it. He did not know how, but Rita Skeeter had somehow gotten her hands on the truth, and now the entire world knew of his exploits.
"Shit!" he cursed, as Lily slapped him on the head.
"Language," she uttered, mimicking his tone, as he gave her a sharp glare.
"How is everyone else?" he asked, and Lily's smile stiffened.
"They are fine. Marlene's grandmother took a beating and is one level down, but your condition was the worst. Probably because you were their main target," and indeed the major bulk of the force had focused on him, and that was why he had forced Voldemort to chase after him, for he knew that unless it was the Dark Lord himself, the McKinnons could hold their own against the Death Eaters.
"Yeah, that I was," and the reason for that was obvious enough.
"That is good," and Lily's face finally had a smile on it as she nodded.
"Yeah, mother was pretty mad that you did not tell her the truth. But in the end, the fact that her dear old son had found himself a girl blasted that away rather quickly," and he winced at that, for he had hoped to avoid this interaction happening so quickly.
"They have met already?" he asked, and Lily answered with a wicked smile.
"You have no idea, dear brother. No idea," she began, and he knew that what awaited him was a whole slew of questions.
"She has already worked up a diet to bulk her up," and that was both good and awful.
"Are you done now, Lily?" Their father's voice came from the door as Lily gave a smile.
"I will let the others bash your head now," and he prepared himself for a lot of shouting and screaming as Lily walked towards the door.
"And Alder," she stopped at it as she turned to face him.
"I don't know about the others, but I am proud that you leaked that information to the DMLE," and there was a beaming and proud smile on her face as she added.
"Thank you...."
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