New Beginnings

Part 10

"What do you think, Falcon? Too mushy?"

Emmett shook his head. "No, it's just right. Short, to the point."

Draco's studying had paid off. He'd miss living in a castle, with all its twists and turns. But at least he'd met Emmett Falcon and Astoria Greengrass. Emmett was paying a visit this beautiful summer day, and they sat on the patio outside Malfoy Manor. He didn't mind anything Draco had done, what his family had stood for.

Well, all but one surviving member of his family.

He read over his letter again:

Dear Andromeda Tonks,

My name is Draco Malfoy. You've probably never heard of me, but I'm your nephew. I'm 19 years old. For those 19 years, we've never met. I want to change that. Please reply so we can arrange a meeting. I hope it's not any trouble.

Sincerely,
Draco Malfoy

"Stop torturing yourself," Emmett insisted. "Just send it."

"Easy for you to say. I'm forbidden from talking with her."

"Yes, but you aren't eleven years old anymore! You're an adult, Draco Malfoy, and your mother can't do anything about that. Maybe this is just what she needs."

"Who? My mum or Andromeda?"

"I meant, they. Both of them."

Draco chortled, amazed by Emmett's wisdom. Cressida soon flew away with the message bound to her claws.

Narcissa was still none the wiser about his secret plan. He finally told her while they were eating dinner together.

"Mum, I wrote to... to your sister. Andromeda. I asked if she wanted to meet."

His mother's knife dropped onto the dining room floor. "What?" she replied in a whisper. "You dare talk with her-"

"Oh, come off it. The Black sisters were legends in Slytherin House. I think we can forgive her, can't we? Especially in light of recent events? Her daughter is dead. Her husband is dead."

"That Muggle-born man, Tonks? He's dead?"

"Killed by Snatchers, I found out," he confirmed morbidly. "All she has now is Nymphadora's baby boy to care for."

"I think Nymphadora preferred using just her last name, actually."

So, Narcissa had been keeping track of her sister's family.

"Would you maybe want to come with me, to surprise her?" Draco asked.

His mother looked melancholy, but there was a tinge of happiness in her face. "Well... you've already contacted her. I suppose I could."

Andromeda's response came the next day. To Draco's surprise, the Black family crest was embossed on her parchment. Something she must've been given before she married Ted Tonks.

Dear Draco,

It's no trouble whatsoever. Yes, I know about you and what you did to capture your Aunt Bella's dreadful husband. I've always wanted to see you, especially since I have no other nieces or nephews, but, as I'm sure you know, our family disowned me decades ago. It's time we start afresh. Do come over to my home whenever you'd like. I stay here most days, lately. Dora's son is quite a handful!

Love,
Your Aunt Andromeda

Her address was listed below.

It wasn't long before the Malfoys Apparated on Andromeda's doorsteps. She lived just outside of London, in a brick townhouse apartment.

Narcissa hid behind a tall shrub as Draco knocked. A middle-aged, brunette woman answered the door. She could've been Bellatrix's twin, but somehow, Draco could tell she wasn't anything like her. Her expression was gentle and kind. Draco had to pinch himself. Andromeda Tonks had always been the 'bad seed' in the Black family, the subject he was never allowed to bring up. Yet he'd dreamed about her often.

He felt at a loss for words. What if this doesn't work?

"Draco," Andromeda said.

"H...Hello..."

"Call me Andromeda," she replied.

Draco nodded, swallowing a lump in his throat. "Hello, Andromeda."

"My dear nephew."

"Yes."

Unexpectedly, she pulled him to her. She looked over the moon to see him. How did she manage it, after what she'd been through? Draco would be- was furious that his grandparents had shut their daughter out so harshly. They'd robbed him of an aunt, and her of a nephew.

"Oh, you look so much like your mother," she gushed.

"That he does," Narcissa whispered.

Here it goes, Draco thought. His mother appeared in the doorway.

Andromeda's eyes widened. "Cissy? Is that you?"

"I didn't think you'd recognize me."

"I'll be checking into St. Mungo's the day I forget my little sister's face!"

The sisters embraced, and in a flash, more than twenty years apart seemed to evaporate.  They were overwhelmed by tears.

Andromeda brought them into her living room for privacy. Baby toys were strewn across the floor, but Draco didn't care. She obviously wasn't attempting to seem all high and mighty, unlike other Blacks he knew.

He liked his aunt more and more by the second.

"Dear Bella would be laughing if she were here right now," she went on. "The Black sisters, reunited! I miss her laugh... I always hoped you, me and Bella would be together again one day. Mum and Dad, too... There's so much I never got to say..."

Narcissa choked down a sob. "Mum and Dad fought over you constantly. Even Lucius- Even Lucius thought it was too harsh, disowning you."

"Oh... I hadn't realized... I- I heard about him... It was seven or so months ago, wasn't it?"

"Yes. We're doing all right."

"Ted's been gone for nearly a year and a half," Andromeda noted, staring off towards a photo on her fireplace mantle.  Her younger self was blushing in a white lace dress. The man with his arm wrapped around her could only be Ted Tonks. Another picture showed a pink-haired woman, grinning next to Cornelius Fudge as she received her Auror badge.

Draco's aunt sighed. "My precious Dora."

They suddenly heard an infant, crying from the next room.

"Oh, he's awake," Andromeda said. She waved Draco and Narcissa to follow her. In a crib beside her bed, the baby boy lay wide awake. He was growing into his hair, a nice brown color. It quickly turned a bright violet.

"Draco, I want you to meet your cousin, and Cissy, your great-nephew-"

Narcissa gave her sister a friendly slap. "Now, now. That makes me sound old!"

"We're not getting any younger, so you might as well embrace it- This is my grandson, little Teddy Lupin. He's a Metamorphagus, like Dora. Isn't that incredible?"

Draco felt a little jealous that Teddy wouldn't need Polyjuice Potion to change his appearance.

The four of them moved back to the living room and settled down on Andromeda's couch. For hours, they shared tales of family and Hogwarts, while Andromeda fed the baby a nutritional potion. Draco  realized just how empty his family had been without her.

His mother volunteered to lay Teddy down for another nap, making faces at him as she went.

Andromeda smiled at Draco. "So... You're all done with Hogwarts. Passed your N.E.W.T.S. What are you planning to do now?"

It was a very good question, indeed.