["Kaleidoscope" update] Breaking Point
Believe it or not, this fic was originally inspired by the last rt_challenge ficathon, back in March (although I've forgotten what prompt it was supposed to be for). I've been working on it off-and-on ever since. Tonight, I decided to celebrate the end of a nastily busy work week by hauling it out and polishing it up to post.
Title: Breaking Point
Author: shimotsuki
Word Count: 2821 words
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Torture (but no more graphic than the graveyard scene in GoF); mild profanity
Summary: In the dark hours after Bill and Fleur's wedding, Andromeda begins to think a little better of her own new son-in-law. But even an Order veteran who can stand up to a Death Eater's Cruciatus Curse has his limits.
Author's notes: Many thanks to tegdoh, mrstater, gilpin25, jncar, and katyhasclogs for discussions about canon timeline and character motivations that directly or indirectly influenced my approach to this story.
Breaking Point
Andromeda lay crumpled on the living-room floor, her limbs shaking uncontrollably. Every nerve shrieked as her body tried to recover from the sustained Cruciatus, but listening helplessly to Ted's strangled yells was no less agonising.
"Crucio!" shouted the rough, cruel voice yet again.
Ted screamed. Andromeda sobbed.
"Where did Potter go, you Mudblood filth? You will tell me! Where?"
She didn't recognize the Death Eater behind the white mask, but it was a man-so at least she knew that it wasn't Bella.
"I...don't...know!" Ted ground out, and then he screamed again. Andromeda bit down on her tongue to keep from crying out his name and giving the intruders reason to prolong his torment.
"Enough," warned the second Death Eater, the one illuminating the room with his wand. "You know we mustn't kill them, or break their stubborn little minds." He chuckled, an evil sound that crawled up Andromeda's spine. "Not yet." He prodded Ted with the toe of his boot. "Potter may come to them again."
"Nothing more to do here, then," said the rough-voiced Death Eater, sounding disappointed. "Might as well-"
There was a soft knock at the front door, and then the sound of the locks turning.
Andromeda's heart stopped.
"Nox." The second man's voice was oily with anticipation as he plunged the living room back into darkness.
Andromeda retched in terror, even though her stomach was empty. Not my little girl, please no, please no...
The door creaked open.
"Death Eaters!" she cried desperately, but her words were nothing but a faint croak, and their captor's Stupefy was faster. She saw the bolt of light blaze right through the centre of the open doorway-
-and dissipate harmlessly into the night air.
"What the hell?" The first Death Eater advanced toward the door with his wand drawn.
"Incarcero!" came a hoarse shout from outside. Not Nymphadora's voice-Lupin. The Death Eater toppled to the floor as ropes snaked around him and bound him from head to foot.
The remaining intruder snarled and slashed at the air with his wand, firing curses through the doorway, but spells flew back into the house just as fast. A china vase on the mantlepiece shattered. The aspidistra, repotted after its recent encounter with Hagrid, hurtled across the room. Finally, with a wordless shout of rage, the Death Eater grabbed his companion by one foot and Disapparated.
They were gone.
Andromeda took several gasping breaths in the sudden silence.
"Ted?" She could see her husband's huddled form from where she lay, sprawled on her stomach, but the feeble glow from the street light outside wasn't enough to let her see his face. She scrabbled frantically, trying to push herself up on her hands and knees, but her shaking body would not support itself, and she collapsed again.
"Dromeda-we're all right, girl. It's over."
Ted's voice was weaker than hers, but he was conscious. Alive. The pain that stabbed at her body remained, but her panic began to fade.
The front door closed quietly, locks clicking into place. A lamp came on, and Andromeda squinted against the sudden brightness.
"Dora?" Ted rasped.
Andromeda looked up in time to see Lupin shaking his head. A small cut over one eye was bleeding slightly, but otherwise he seemed to have come through the duel unscathed. "Nymphadora is still at the Burrow-she's fine," he added quickly, when Andromeda's eyes widened in a fresh surge of panic. "I only came ahead so that I could warn you." His mouth pressed into a thin line. "We thought they might come here, since you helped the Order move Harry, but we didn't think they would act so quickly."
Andromeda tried again to push herself up from the floor, but her muscles were not ready to obey. Lupin came and knelt beside her, looking concerned. "Hold still, just for a moment. This will help." He leaned over and ran his hands firmly down her back, and then along each arm and leg. At first she flinched at the prospect of being touched at all, but somehow, miraculously, it was the right thing-the warm, steady, normal touch of a hand helped dispel most of the internal agony from the Cruciatus.
He knows what to do, she understood suddenly. He's seen this before.
With Lupin gently supporting her, she managed to sit up, leaning back against the base of the sofa. He gave her a swift, relieved smile before turning to look after Ted.
Once Ted was upright too, propped against the ottoman a few feet away, Lupin got slowly to his feet. Andromeda thought he looked a little unsteady himself. Maybe that Death Eater had landed a blow or two after all.
Lupin drew a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment, and produced a Patronus. "Dora," he told it, "they did find your parents, but they've been and gone, and everyone's safe. Don't rush home-take your time." In a flash of silver, the Patronus vanished, and he produced another, a little more easily. "Poppy, please add Ted and Andromeda Tonks to your list. Not an emergency."
Then he started toward the kitchen. "I'm going to make some tea." His voice was still quite hoarse. "Poppy Pomfrey should be here soon-she's checking on everyone the Death Eaters have tortured."
Andromeda shuddered. "So it wasn't only us."
"No," said Lupin grimly. "They've been busy tonight, looking for Harry." He rounded the corner out of sight.
Ted hitched himself stiffly across the floor until he was sitting against the sofa beside her. She reached up and touched his face, and he grinned, crookedly. He pressed his shoulder against hers, and she leaned back into him, feeling stronger.
Their son-in-law returned with a tray bearing three steaming cups of tea, handing one to each of them with an encouraging smile before joining them politely on the floor with his own cup. Andromeda watched him, secretly fascinated. This Lupin, veteran member of the Order of the Phoenix, was a completely different person from the glum sullen shadow who had moved into their house only days before. Tonight he was once again the quietly warm, capable man her daughter had brought home for dinner once-before all hell broke loose at the Ministry and Nymphadora ran off and married him.
And lost her job, and her flat, for the privilege.
Just then the locks rattled, and the front door opened again to reveal Nymphadora herself, with her lovely ice-blue dress robes in disarray and her hair hanging plain and brown.
"Mum-Dad-are you all right?"
"We're fine, love," said Andromeda, as briskly as she could from her undignified position on the floor. "All's well that ends well."
"Come on inside and close the door," Ted added, pushing himself up to sit on the sofa and giving Andromeda a hand up too.
Nymphadora locked the door carefully behind her, but before she could come any closer, Lupin was on his feet with his wand raised-although, Andromeda noticed, he didn't actually aim it.
"To what song did we first dance tonight?"
A watery smile played across her face. "‘You Cast Your Spell And I Was Stunned.' Celestina at her worst."
Lupin shoved his wand into his pocket and practically flew across the room, pulling her into his arms. "Dora."
Andromeda's eyes softened. Lupin was always so reserved, at least in front of her and Ted. It was nice to have a visible sign that he really did love her daughter.
"Shhh." Nymphadora ran her hands over his back. "Everyone's okay."
He released her and backed away far enough to look her up and down, although he kept hold of her hands. "Are you really all right? I didn't expect you to be able to Apparate this soon."
She flushed. "I'm fine now. I don't know what happened-I'm usually quite good at Cruciatus resistance. I have no idea why I needed so much time to recover."
Andromeda felt the blood drain from her face. "They tortured you too?"
"Mum," said Nymphadora, softly, "I've trained to fight Dark wizards, you know. I can handle it." She sighed. "I was more worried about some of the others, especially Arthur and Molly, and Ginny. And Remus." She slid an arm around his waist, and his arm went around her in response, his thumb sketching tiny circles on her shoulder as she nestled against him. "He and Arthur got the worst of it, as the ones most likely to know where Harry might be." Then she turned toward her husband and touched a finger to his forehead, just above the cut over his eye. "But that happened here."
Lupin shrugged. "There was a bit of a duel, and an urn in the garden got smashed-that's all." Their gazes locked; Nymphadora's was full of concern, and Lupin's was steadfastly reassuring.
Andromeda might almost have chuckled, if she hadn't been so sore (and if she hadn't been raised a Black). Death Eaters were torturing innocent people and the Boy Who Lived had gone missing, and it was Nymphadora's werewolf who was emerging as some kind of anchor of sanity.
She almost thought she could understand what her daughter saw in him.
"Where is the Potter boy?" Ted asked, puzzled, and Nymphadora and Lupin broke eye contact to turn back to him. "I'd guessed he was going to be at the wedding with you lot!"
"Ted." Andromeda's voice was sharper than she had meant it to be. "Are you sure we want to know where he is?"
Lupin laughed ruefully. "No matter-none of us does know. Harry and his friends Ron-that's the youngest Weasley boy-and Hermione were at the wedding, but they Apparated away just as the Death Eaters arrived."
"We're pretty sure Dumbledore left Harry with some kind of mission," Nymphadora put in. "Arthur's known for a while that the three of them were planning to set off somewhere. But we have no idea what they're trying to do."
"I'd hoped to have a talk with them before they left." Lupin's expression was grim again. "There may be things the Order can do to help, even if Harry can't tell us what his mission is."
He exchanged another long look with Nymphadora. "I spoke to Molly and Arthur before I left the Burrow," he told her quietly. "I said I'd check the Shrieking Shack, and the cave outside Hogsmeade, and Grimmauld Place, in case they're hiding out somewhere familiar."
"I'll go with you," said Nymphadora at once. "Or we can split up and cover the ground twice as fast."
Lupin hesitated, darting a glance at Andromeda and Ted before replying. "It might be a good thing for your parents to have an Auror here just now."
Nymphadora frowned, looking thoughtful, but then she nodded.
Just then, a cloud of silver poured in under the front door and took the shape of a large St. Bernard. "I'm here," it said in Poppy Pomfrey's voice. Andromeda and Ted both managed to stand, shakily, but it was Lupin who went to open the door, greeting the matron with a wide affectionate smile.
In no time at all, Madam Pomfrey had Andromeda sitting on the sofa and Ted in the armchair, and was deluging them with one diagnostic spell after another. "Hrmph," she muttered, finally. "No lasting harm done, thank goodness." She handed each of them a small vial of cherry-coloured liquid. "Drink this-it should take care of any tremors you're still experiencing."
"Could you have a look at Dora and Remus too?" Ted's voice had stopped shaking. "It sounds like they've had an eventful evening themselves." Andromeda reached across and took his hand, and he squeezed hers gently.
"Remus first," said Nymphadora at once.
Lupin started to protest, but Madam Pomfrey already had his arm in a firm grip. "I've been wanting to have a good look at you, young man, ever since you came back from that godforsaken mission of yours. Now hold still." She healed the cut over his eyebrow with a swift flick of her wand.
Nymphadora settled onto the sofa next to Andromeda as the matron set to work examining Lupin. "It was just awful tonight, Mum. The Death Eater who had Remus under Cruciatus went on for the longest time." Andromeda saw her daughter's eyes shine with pride and respect. "Remus didn't make a sound, though. Not even once."
Lupin, looking sheepish, gave a shrug, which made Madam Pomfrey cluck disapprovingly and start a diagnostic spell over again. "I didn't want to give them the satisfaction," he said quietly.
Andromeda now had first-hand knowledge of just how thoroughly the Cruciatus Curse made one want to scream. Things that Nymphadora had told her about the ordeal of Lupin's monthly transformations poked at her memory. This man, for all that he looked so peaky, was strong.
"Well," said Madam Pomfrey, fishing in her pockets, "a bit of this should have you more or less recovered from the Cruciatus." She handed Lupin another vial of the red liquid and watched him swallow it. "But I'm not at all impressed with your overall health." She frowned at him, looking almost angry. "You've been back for more than a month now, but you're still undernourished." She handed him three more vials, filled with liquids of different colours. "Vitamin potions," she explained brusquely. "Drink."
Lupin downed the potions, one after the other, his gaze fixed on the floor. Andromeda watched his face close in on itself again. The capable soldier from Dumbledore's Order was gone, leaving the sullen silent houseguest in his place once more.
Except-was that really sulkiness? Or was it simply shame burning dully in his eyes? Andromeda suddenly thought of how galling it had been, when she and Ted ran off together with less than nothing between them, to have to accept help from old Mrs. Tonks, as gracious as she was about offering it.
Lupin handed the empty vials back to Madam Pomfrey, but he still wouldn't meet anyone's gaze. The matron sighed. "I don't know what you're playing at, Remus, but you won't be doing the Order any favours if you collapse."
"I don't have a job, Poppy." He crossed his arms over his chest without looking up. "In my situation, certain economies become necessary."
"Oh, Remus." Nymphadora's face was white and strained. "I'd been wondering."
Andromeda hadn't been, and now she felt a flare of guilt for her easy assumptions. I prefer toast for breakfast, he had said, in that mild polite voice of his. No thank you; I don't generally eat lunch. One piece of toast and a small portion of supper each day-and she'd simply shrugged and put it down to werewolf metabolism.
"There is a difference," snapped Madam Pomfrey, "between being stoic and being stupid."
Lupin said nothing.
The matron glared at him for a moment, but he refused to look up, and after a moment she sighed and turned to Nymphadora. "Now you, Miss Tonks."
Andromeda smiled inwardly in spite of herself. Madam Pomfrey always did have a terrible time with the married names of her former students. Andromeda had been "Miss Black" until about the time that Nymphadora had started at Hogwarts.
Nymphadora stood obediently and held her arms out to her sides. Madam Pomfrey began her diagnostic spells again. But then she lowered her wand, abruptly, and went quite pale. "You were under Cruciatus tonight?" she asked, her voice sharp.
"Yes," said Nymphadora, looking puzzled, "but it wasn't the first time-it's not a big deal. I had a little trouble Apparating at first, but I feel fine now."
"It's no wonder you had trouble with Apparition!" Madam Pomfrey's face was dark and angry again. "Cruciatus, in your condition! At least it seems there was no damage; that's a real stroke of luck."
Her condition. The matron's words took Andromeda's breath away. As if in slow motion, she saw Nymphadora frown and knit her eyebrows, tilting her head, waiting for elaboration. So this was news to everyone-even now, Nymphadora didn't understand what Madam Pomfrey had meant.
But Lupin clearly did.
From where Andromeda sat, she had a perfect view of him over Nymphadora's shoulder. The first thing that crossed his face was a mixture of joy and awe-a light in his eyes so bright it brought a lump to her throat.
But then he tensed, and the light faded.
Lupin's face twisted into the stiff, closed mask that Andromeda found so unsettling. She could almost feel him pull back inside himself as he turned away, hiding from Nymphadora.
Hiding from all of them.
He could face a Death Eater's Cruciatus without flinching, but he couldn't look his pregnant wife or her parents in the eye.
If you break my daughter's heart-
Andromeda found that she was clenching her fists.
-I will wring your neck with my bare hands.
. * fin * .
This story does end on a bit of a dark note, so if you'd like to see things look more hopeful again, try the follow-up, All That I Am. "Kaleidoscope" series index
.
Title: Breaking Point
Author: shimotsuki
Word Count: 2821 words
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Torture (but no more graphic than the graveyard scene in GoF); mild profanity
Summary: In the dark hours after Bill and Fleur's wedding, Andromeda begins to think a little better of her own new son-in-law. But even an Order veteran who can stand up to a Death Eater's Cruciatus Curse has his limits.
Author's notes: Many thanks to tegdoh, mrstater, gilpin25, jncar, and katyhasclogs for discussions about canon timeline and character motivations that directly or indirectly influenced my approach to this story.
Breaking Point
Andromeda lay crumpled on the living-room floor, her limbs shaking uncontrollably. Every nerve shrieked as her body tried to recover from the sustained Cruciatus, but listening helplessly to Ted's strangled yells was no less agonising.
"Crucio!" shouted the rough, cruel voice yet again.
Ted screamed. Andromeda sobbed.
"Where did Potter go, you Mudblood filth? You will tell me! Where?"
She didn't recognize the Death Eater behind the white mask, but it was a man-so at least she knew that it wasn't Bella.
"I...don't...know!" Ted ground out, and then he screamed again. Andromeda bit down on her tongue to keep from crying out his name and giving the intruders reason to prolong his torment.
"Enough," warned the second Death Eater, the one illuminating the room with his wand. "You know we mustn't kill them, or break their stubborn little minds." He chuckled, an evil sound that crawled up Andromeda's spine. "Not yet." He prodded Ted with the toe of his boot. "Potter may come to them again."
"Nothing more to do here, then," said the rough-voiced Death Eater, sounding disappointed. "Might as well-"
There was a soft knock at the front door, and then the sound of the locks turning.
Andromeda's heart stopped.
"Nox." The second man's voice was oily with anticipation as he plunged the living room back into darkness.
Andromeda retched in terror, even though her stomach was empty. Not my little girl, please no, please no...
The door creaked open.
"Death Eaters!" she cried desperately, but her words were nothing but a faint croak, and their captor's Stupefy was faster. She saw the bolt of light blaze right through the centre of the open doorway-
-and dissipate harmlessly into the night air.
"What the hell?" The first Death Eater advanced toward the door with his wand drawn.
"Incarcero!" came a hoarse shout from outside. Not Nymphadora's voice-Lupin. The Death Eater toppled to the floor as ropes snaked around him and bound him from head to foot.
The remaining intruder snarled and slashed at the air with his wand, firing curses through the doorway, but spells flew back into the house just as fast. A china vase on the mantlepiece shattered. The aspidistra, repotted after its recent encounter with Hagrid, hurtled across the room. Finally, with a wordless shout of rage, the Death Eater grabbed his companion by one foot and Disapparated.
They were gone.
Andromeda took several gasping breaths in the sudden silence.
"Ted?" She could see her husband's huddled form from where she lay, sprawled on her stomach, but the feeble glow from the street light outside wasn't enough to let her see his face. She scrabbled frantically, trying to push herself up on her hands and knees, but her shaking body would not support itself, and she collapsed again.
"Dromeda-we're all right, girl. It's over."
Ted's voice was weaker than hers, but he was conscious. Alive. The pain that stabbed at her body remained, but her panic began to fade.
The front door closed quietly, locks clicking into place. A lamp came on, and Andromeda squinted against the sudden brightness.
"Dora?" Ted rasped.
Andromeda looked up in time to see Lupin shaking his head. A small cut over one eye was bleeding slightly, but otherwise he seemed to have come through the duel unscathed. "Nymphadora is still at the Burrow-she's fine," he added quickly, when Andromeda's eyes widened in a fresh surge of panic. "I only came ahead so that I could warn you." His mouth pressed into a thin line. "We thought they might come here, since you helped the Order move Harry, but we didn't think they would act so quickly."
Andromeda tried again to push herself up from the floor, but her muscles were not ready to obey. Lupin came and knelt beside her, looking concerned. "Hold still, just for a moment. This will help." He leaned over and ran his hands firmly down her back, and then along each arm and leg. At first she flinched at the prospect of being touched at all, but somehow, miraculously, it was the right thing-the warm, steady, normal touch of a hand helped dispel most of the internal agony from the Cruciatus.
He knows what to do, she understood suddenly. He's seen this before.
With Lupin gently supporting her, she managed to sit up, leaning back against the base of the sofa. He gave her a swift, relieved smile before turning to look after Ted.
Once Ted was upright too, propped against the ottoman a few feet away, Lupin got slowly to his feet. Andromeda thought he looked a little unsteady himself. Maybe that Death Eater had landed a blow or two after all.
Lupin drew a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment, and produced a Patronus. "Dora," he told it, "they did find your parents, but they've been and gone, and everyone's safe. Don't rush home-take your time." In a flash of silver, the Patronus vanished, and he produced another, a little more easily. "Poppy, please add Ted and Andromeda Tonks to your list. Not an emergency."
Then he started toward the kitchen. "I'm going to make some tea." His voice was still quite hoarse. "Poppy Pomfrey should be here soon-she's checking on everyone the Death Eaters have tortured."
Andromeda shuddered. "So it wasn't only us."
"No," said Lupin grimly. "They've been busy tonight, looking for Harry." He rounded the corner out of sight.
Ted hitched himself stiffly across the floor until he was sitting against the sofa beside her. She reached up and touched his face, and he grinned, crookedly. He pressed his shoulder against hers, and she leaned back into him, feeling stronger.
Their son-in-law returned with a tray bearing three steaming cups of tea, handing one to each of them with an encouraging smile before joining them politely on the floor with his own cup. Andromeda watched him, secretly fascinated. This Lupin, veteran member of the Order of the Phoenix, was a completely different person from the glum sullen shadow who had moved into their house only days before. Tonight he was once again the quietly warm, capable man her daughter had brought home for dinner once-before all hell broke loose at the Ministry and Nymphadora ran off and married him.
And lost her job, and her flat, for the privilege.
Just then the locks rattled, and the front door opened again to reveal Nymphadora herself, with her lovely ice-blue dress robes in disarray and her hair hanging plain and brown.
"Mum-Dad-are you all right?"
"We're fine, love," said Andromeda, as briskly as she could from her undignified position on the floor. "All's well that ends well."
"Come on inside and close the door," Ted added, pushing himself up to sit on the sofa and giving Andromeda a hand up too.
Nymphadora locked the door carefully behind her, but before she could come any closer, Lupin was on his feet with his wand raised-although, Andromeda noticed, he didn't actually aim it.
"To what song did we first dance tonight?"
A watery smile played across her face. "‘You Cast Your Spell And I Was Stunned.' Celestina at her worst."
Lupin shoved his wand into his pocket and practically flew across the room, pulling her into his arms. "Dora."
Andromeda's eyes softened. Lupin was always so reserved, at least in front of her and Ted. It was nice to have a visible sign that he really did love her daughter.
"Shhh." Nymphadora ran her hands over his back. "Everyone's okay."
He released her and backed away far enough to look her up and down, although he kept hold of her hands. "Are you really all right? I didn't expect you to be able to Apparate this soon."
She flushed. "I'm fine now. I don't know what happened-I'm usually quite good at Cruciatus resistance. I have no idea why I needed so much time to recover."
Andromeda felt the blood drain from her face. "They tortured you too?"
"Mum," said Nymphadora, softly, "I've trained to fight Dark wizards, you know. I can handle it." She sighed. "I was more worried about some of the others, especially Arthur and Molly, and Ginny. And Remus." She slid an arm around his waist, and his arm went around her in response, his thumb sketching tiny circles on her shoulder as she nestled against him. "He and Arthur got the worst of it, as the ones most likely to know where Harry might be." Then she turned toward her husband and touched a finger to his forehead, just above the cut over his eye. "But that happened here."
Lupin shrugged. "There was a bit of a duel, and an urn in the garden got smashed-that's all." Their gazes locked; Nymphadora's was full of concern, and Lupin's was steadfastly reassuring.
Andromeda might almost have chuckled, if she hadn't been so sore (and if she hadn't been raised a Black). Death Eaters were torturing innocent people and the Boy Who Lived had gone missing, and it was Nymphadora's werewolf who was emerging as some kind of anchor of sanity.
She almost thought she could understand what her daughter saw in him.
"Where is the Potter boy?" Ted asked, puzzled, and Nymphadora and Lupin broke eye contact to turn back to him. "I'd guessed he was going to be at the wedding with you lot!"
"Ted." Andromeda's voice was sharper than she had meant it to be. "Are you sure we want to know where he is?"
Lupin laughed ruefully. "No matter-none of us does know. Harry and his friends Ron-that's the youngest Weasley boy-and Hermione were at the wedding, but they Apparated away just as the Death Eaters arrived."
"We're pretty sure Dumbledore left Harry with some kind of mission," Nymphadora put in. "Arthur's known for a while that the three of them were planning to set off somewhere. But we have no idea what they're trying to do."
"I'd hoped to have a talk with them before they left." Lupin's expression was grim again. "There may be things the Order can do to help, even if Harry can't tell us what his mission is."
He exchanged another long look with Nymphadora. "I spoke to Molly and Arthur before I left the Burrow," he told her quietly. "I said I'd check the Shrieking Shack, and the cave outside Hogsmeade, and Grimmauld Place, in case they're hiding out somewhere familiar."
"I'll go with you," said Nymphadora at once. "Or we can split up and cover the ground twice as fast."
Lupin hesitated, darting a glance at Andromeda and Ted before replying. "It might be a good thing for your parents to have an Auror here just now."
Nymphadora frowned, looking thoughtful, but then she nodded.
Just then, a cloud of silver poured in under the front door and took the shape of a large St. Bernard. "I'm here," it said in Poppy Pomfrey's voice. Andromeda and Ted both managed to stand, shakily, but it was Lupin who went to open the door, greeting the matron with a wide affectionate smile.
In no time at all, Madam Pomfrey had Andromeda sitting on the sofa and Ted in the armchair, and was deluging them with one diagnostic spell after another. "Hrmph," she muttered, finally. "No lasting harm done, thank goodness." She handed each of them a small vial of cherry-coloured liquid. "Drink this-it should take care of any tremors you're still experiencing."
"Could you have a look at Dora and Remus too?" Ted's voice had stopped shaking. "It sounds like they've had an eventful evening themselves." Andromeda reached across and took his hand, and he squeezed hers gently.
"Remus first," said Nymphadora at once.
Lupin started to protest, but Madam Pomfrey already had his arm in a firm grip. "I've been wanting to have a good look at you, young man, ever since you came back from that godforsaken mission of yours. Now hold still." She healed the cut over his eyebrow with a swift flick of her wand.
Nymphadora settled onto the sofa next to Andromeda as the matron set to work examining Lupin. "It was just awful tonight, Mum. The Death Eater who had Remus under Cruciatus went on for the longest time." Andromeda saw her daughter's eyes shine with pride and respect. "Remus didn't make a sound, though. Not even once."
Lupin, looking sheepish, gave a shrug, which made Madam Pomfrey cluck disapprovingly and start a diagnostic spell over again. "I didn't want to give them the satisfaction," he said quietly.
Andromeda now had first-hand knowledge of just how thoroughly the Cruciatus Curse made one want to scream. Things that Nymphadora had told her about the ordeal of Lupin's monthly transformations poked at her memory. This man, for all that he looked so peaky, was strong.
"Well," said Madam Pomfrey, fishing in her pockets, "a bit of this should have you more or less recovered from the Cruciatus." She handed Lupin another vial of the red liquid and watched him swallow it. "But I'm not at all impressed with your overall health." She frowned at him, looking almost angry. "You've been back for more than a month now, but you're still undernourished." She handed him three more vials, filled with liquids of different colours. "Vitamin potions," she explained brusquely. "Drink."
Lupin downed the potions, one after the other, his gaze fixed on the floor. Andromeda watched his face close in on itself again. The capable soldier from Dumbledore's Order was gone, leaving the sullen silent houseguest in his place once more.
Except-was that really sulkiness? Or was it simply shame burning dully in his eyes? Andromeda suddenly thought of how galling it had been, when she and Ted ran off together with less than nothing between them, to have to accept help from old Mrs. Tonks, as gracious as she was about offering it.
Lupin handed the empty vials back to Madam Pomfrey, but he still wouldn't meet anyone's gaze. The matron sighed. "I don't know what you're playing at, Remus, but you won't be doing the Order any favours if you collapse."
"I don't have a job, Poppy." He crossed his arms over his chest without looking up. "In my situation, certain economies become necessary."
"Oh, Remus." Nymphadora's face was white and strained. "I'd been wondering."
Andromeda hadn't been, and now she felt a flare of guilt for her easy assumptions. I prefer toast for breakfast, he had said, in that mild polite voice of his. No thank you; I don't generally eat lunch. One piece of toast and a small portion of supper each day-and she'd simply shrugged and put it down to werewolf metabolism.
"There is a difference," snapped Madam Pomfrey, "between being stoic and being stupid."
Lupin said nothing.
The matron glared at him for a moment, but he refused to look up, and after a moment she sighed and turned to Nymphadora. "Now you, Miss Tonks."
Andromeda smiled inwardly in spite of herself. Madam Pomfrey always did have a terrible time with the married names of her former students. Andromeda had been "Miss Black" until about the time that Nymphadora had started at Hogwarts.
Nymphadora stood obediently and held her arms out to her sides. Madam Pomfrey began her diagnostic spells again. But then she lowered her wand, abruptly, and went quite pale. "You were under Cruciatus tonight?" she asked, her voice sharp.
"Yes," said Nymphadora, looking puzzled, "but it wasn't the first time-it's not a big deal. I had a little trouble Apparating at first, but I feel fine now."
"It's no wonder you had trouble with Apparition!" Madam Pomfrey's face was dark and angry again. "Cruciatus, in your condition! At least it seems there was no damage; that's a real stroke of luck."
Her condition. The matron's words took Andromeda's breath away. As if in slow motion, she saw Nymphadora frown and knit her eyebrows, tilting her head, waiting for elaboration. So this was news to everyone-even now, Nymphadora didn't understand what Madam Pomfrey had meant.
But Lupin clearly did.
From where Andromeda sat, she had a perfect view of him over Nymphadora's shoulder. The first thing that crossed his face was a mixture of joy and awe-a light in his eyes so bright it brought a lump to her throat.
But then he tensed, and the light faded.
Lupin's face twisted into the stiff, closed mask that Andromeda found so unsettling. She could almost feel him pull back inside himself as he turned away, hiding from Nymphadora.
Hiding from all of them.
He could face a Death Eater's Cruciatus without flinching, but he couldn't look his pregnant wife or her parents in the eye.
If you break my daughter's heart-
Andromeda found that she was clenching her fists.
-I will wring your neck with my bare hands.
. * fin * .
This story does end on a bit of a dark note, so if you'd like to see things look more hopeful again, try the follow-up, All That I Am. "Kaleidoscope" series index
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