Soul Bound 4

“How did you get here so fast?”Bellatrix asked Andromeda when she noticed her sister sitting on the couch in the living room holding Hermione. Jean had just invited her and Narcissa into the house and Bellatrix wasn’t expecting to see Andromeda for at least a little while. It annoyed Bellatrix that her sister got there before she did because she was able to hold Hermione first. It was Bellatrix’s plan to get to Hermione before either sister and hog the baby for the entire visit. Now she was forced to sit next to Andromeda and only look at Hermione. Not that looking at Hermione was a chore. Bellatrix wasn’t being biased when she said that Hermione was the cutest baby that ever existed. She was most definitely cuter than Lucius’ bastard. The boy probably looked like a house elf.

“What do you mean how did I get here so fast? I’ve been here most of the day.”Andromeda had arranged for Nymphadora to have a play date and a sleep over with a babysitter so that she could spend time with Hermione.

“You’ve been here all day?”Narcissa asked.

“Yes, I got here mid morning.”Andromeda told her.

“Well if that’s true let me hold Hermione.”Bellatrix held out her arms expectantly.

Andromeda sighed. She shouldn’t have told them when she got there. Kissing Hermione on the forehand she handed the baby to Bellatrix.”Now why are you both surprised I’m here.”

“Andromeda you got a letter.”Denis said when he walked into the room holding an envelope.”I didn’t have any owl treats so I gave it some of the steak we had for dinner. I hope that’s alright.”

“That’s perfectly fine Denis. Thank you for doing that.”Narcissa was pleased that Denis treated her owl so well.

Andromeda took the letter from Denis and read it over.”Why did you want to meet up?”

“We think the war is going to end tonight.”Bellatrix made silly faces at Hermione laughing when the baby smiled.”She is smiling at me.”

“She is a very happy baby. Always smiling.”Jean couldn’t have asked for a better baby. Hermione barely cried and slept through the night. It was like a dream for her and Denis.

“You said the war is ending tonight?”Denis asked.

Narcissa nodded.”Yes we believe so.”

“Why do you think that?”Andromeda would be extremely happy if it did. Then she wouldn’t have to hide her relationship with her sisters anymore. She could also divorce her husband because he would no longer be needed for her to keep her cover.

“The Dark Lord pulled us and most of his Death Eaters into a meeting. He then told us about the prophesy. Apparently it states that a male child will kill him. It didn’t say how or when just that the boy would kill him. He narrowed down who the boy was to two names and is planning on taking himself, the Lestrange brothers and Lucius to kill both boys. We think something is going to happen to him while he is on the mission that will result in him needing to be resurrected.”Narcissa explained.

“Makes sense. Especially if the prophesy was given by a weak seer and didn’t have many details. We know that it’s you three and Hermione that are going to be what ultimately defeats both him and Dumbledore.”Jean said.

“Who are the boys?”Andromeda wanted to know who would be targeted.

“Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter.”Bellatrix told her.

“That’s too bad. I always liked the Longbottom family.”The group were very welcoming to Andromeda when she first joined the Order and she considered Augusta a friend.

“All of us hate the Potters.”Bellatrix couldn’t stand how self-righteous James was or how cruel Lily had been to Severus.

Narcissa was thinking the same thing as her sister.”Lily is a horrible human being and Severus deserved better. She and the rest of her group should have put in Azkaban for their role in his suicide.”

“If he makes it through the night we will make sure Hermione steers clear of Harry. Even if he isn’t like his parents he is still a Potter.”Andromeda wasn’t going to let Hermione hang around with that kind of riffraff. 

“Another one she won’t be hanging around with will be Lucius’ half blood bastard.”Bellatrix said.

“Did you confirm it?”Andromeda asked.

Narcissa smiled.”Not only did we confirm it but the idiot admitted that the boy had a muggle mother in front of everyone at the meeting including the Dark Lord.”

“Why did he do that?”Andromeda didn’t think that Lucius would admit that to anyone.

“I goaded him into it by pointing out that Narcissa had been seen by many healers who declared her healthy while he refused to go to any to see why Narcissa wasn’t getting pregnant. He got angry and said that it wasn’t his fault using the fact that he had a child with his mistress as proof. The Dark Lord walked in after that and asked why the room was so excitable. I told him what Lucius said and the Dark Lord then proceeded to make Lucius admit that the mother was a muggle.”Bellatrix was very proud of herself for forcing the issue the way she had.

Andromeda laughed.”How stupid could he be? If he went to the Dark Lord privately they would have just forced Narcissa to claim the child as her own. Now she has no reason to even associate with it.”

“We thought the same thing. The boy is two months old and we assume it’s living in the muggle world with it’s mother.”Bellatrix was going to look into it.

“I don’t want him and his mother living on any Malfoy properties.”Jean knew enough about Lucius and the rest of the Malfoy family to know she didn’t want Hermione near them.

“We already decided against that. Not that it would even be an option. We are hoping Lucius gets arrested tonight along with everyone else and put into Azkaban before he has a chance to give the boy rights to the estate. His mother being muggle will prevent her from benefiting from anything but if the boy has magic with Lucius’ permission he will be able to access it when he turns 11.”Narcissa would have access to the estate until she divorced Lucius. Which would happen as soon as Hermione was old enough to claim her titles.

“Do you know why Hermione has to be 12 to claim her titles? It just seems like a random age to give someone legal ownership of a pureblood house.”Denis could never figure that out and Sofia didn’t know.

Bellatrix took Hermione’s hand in her own, lifted to her mouth and kissed it.”I don’t know but I think it goes back to when Hogwarts started for students when they were younger. I think that they graduated when they were 12. Then they went on to study for their masters or started apprenticeships.”

“I’m just grateful that she will have the three of you looking out for her.”Jean knew without the sisters’ support Hermione would be an easy target for the many wanting to take advantage of her.

“We will do anything we have to do to keep her safe physically, emotionally and mentally.”Andromeda would stand against Morgana Le Fay herself to protect Hermione.

“I hate that we won’t be able to provide for her but instead we will have to rely on her to provide for us.”Narcissa was very embarrassed by the fact that she wouldn’t be able to survive without Hermione funding her lifestyle.

“I don’t even have to be seer to know that won’t matter to her. The girl from the prophesy wouldn’t even care if you weren’t soulmates she would help you.”Denis trusted Sofia and the prophesy she told them about Hermione proved to him that his daughter was going to be a very kind, caring person.

“Even if that’s true I still hate it.”Narcissa said.

“I’m thinking about getting a job at Hogwarts in a few years to be there when Hermione attends.”Andromeda told them.

“That’s a smart move.”Bellatrix wondered if she could get a job there as well.

“Yes it is.”Narcissa was kicking herself for not being the one to think of it.

“We would feel better if you were there.”Jean would like having the sisters being there to watch over Hermione.

“We need to worry about what happens tonight first then we can plan our futures.”Narcissa would be putting out feelers to see if Dumbledore was hiring.

“Speaking of the future. I brought some outfits for Hermione to wear in hers.”Bellatrix maneuvered Hermione so she could unhook the small bag hanging on her belt. Once she did she handed it to Jean.”I even went shopping in the muggle world to get them.”

Jean smiled at Bellatrix’s enthusiasm. Opening the bag she noticed it was lot larger inside than it was supposed to be. Pulling out one of the onesies she laughed.”I love it.”

“What does it say?”Andromeda rolled her eyes seeing the text on the garment Jean held up.

“Bella that is not appropriate.”Narcissa knew she should have gone through the items before she let Bellatrix bring them over.

“I’m a itch with a capital B.”Denis read out loud.”I like it too.”

“Please tell me the other ones are better?”Narcissa asked.

Jean gave her a sympathetic smile and held up the next one.”I’m afraid not.”

“I’m a breast girl.”Andromeda shook her head as she read the block lettering on the garment.

“It’s true. She’s breast fed.”Bellatrix didn’t care that her sisters weren’t impressed. Jean and Denis liked them that’s all that mattered.

“This one just has a bunch of green and silver snakes on it.”Jean held up another one.

“That’s in honor of our house at Hogwarts.”Bellatrix told her.

“A house that Hermione is going to be a part of.”Andromeda knew their soulmate would be a proud Slytherin.

“I know that crest.”Denis was very familiar with the family crest depicted on the onesie.

“At least you got something decent.”Narcissa greatly approved of Hermione wearing clothing with the Black family crest on it.

“I take it this is your Hogwarts house crest?”Jean held up a green and silver onesie with the Slytherin crest on it.

“Yes that represents Slytherin House. All three of us were a part of it and we are hoping that Hermione will be too.”Narcissa figured if they could instill enough house pride in Hermione before she went to Hogwarts that the hat would be forced to put her with the rest of the snakes.

“She is a Black of course she will be put in Slytherin.”Bellatrix would light the hat on fire if it chose any other house for Hermione.

“Sirius wasn’t a snake.”Andromeda reminded her hoping to get a rise out of her sister so she could hold Hermione again.

“Sirius is a weak, spineless bastard who is madly in love with James Potter.”Bellatrix didn’t count her cousin as a true Black family member.

“Bella language.”Narcissa scolded.

Bellatrix ignored Narcissa.”He isn’t even worthy of having the last name Black and once Hermione is old enough I am going to have her strike him from the tapestry. After you Andromeda are put back on it of course.”

“It would be nice to be a member of my own family again. Especially because I am more of a Black than Sirius is.”Andromeda was still somewhat bitter Sirius hadn’t reinstated her now that he had the power to.

“What is his excuse for you not being put back on the tapestry?”Narcissa asked.

“He claims it can’t be done.”Andromeda knew it was a lie because she and her sisters researched how to do it. Not that she cared about being a member of the family until Hermione was in charge she just wanted to be able to monitor how Sirius was running it.

Bellatrix scoffed.”We all know that’s a lie.”

“If what Sofia said was true he probably wouldn’t do it even if he knew how to. She mentioned that Sirius hated the three of you because you excelled at so many thing while you were at Hogwarts when he barely passed his classes. Sofia was actually really worried about what Sirius would do if he got the title before Hermione. She was afraid he would empty the vault and sell off the rest of the estate.”Jean had been afraid of that as well.

“Luckily Sirius is determined to keep his status of being the Head of Household of one of the wealthiest pureblood houses. He constantly brags about how much gold is in the family’s vault and would never allow the amount to get any smaller. Instead of giving gold to the cause he gave them his childhood home for the Order’s headquarters. The only things he really spends his coins on are alcohol and prostitutes.”Andromeda told them.

“How many of Sirius’ illegitimate children are running around magical Britain due to that?”Narcissa knew Sirius wasn’t smart enough to use protection.

“He is an easy mark because he likes to tell everyone about his title. I bet he has women trying to purposely get pregnant just to get their hands on the Black family estate.”Not that Bellatrix would let it happen.

“Any that succeed will be very disappointed when Hermione comes into power because there is no way any of us are going to let her be saddled with the responsibility of taking care of Sirius’ mistakes.”Denis wasn’t going to allow anyone to try and take advantage of his daughter. No matter by what means they tried to do it.

“I had a thought. If Lucius is going to go to prison like you planned then could you Narcissa move the contents from the Malfoy vault to another one to prevent the boy from having access to it?”Jean asked.

”I do have access to the vault and the authority to do with it what I want.”Narcissa thought about it.”If you would be willing to go to the bank with one of us to set up a vault for Hermione I could move all the contents of the Malfoy vault into it. That way no one not even myself could access it and the child would have no legal claim to it. He could sue me or Hermione for it but he wouldn’t win because I have the legal right to do anything I want with the contents.”

“It just shows how little Lucius knows you for him to give you that much authority over the vault. I personally wouldn’t give anyone who wasn’t my soulmate or the people in this room access to my wealth or properties. Especially if it was an arranged marriage. There is no loyalty in those types of matches.”Bellatrix didn’t think out of the current pureblood married couples that any of the couples actually loved each other.

“His stupidity works in our favor.”Jean was happy the man underestimated Narcissa. It gave them a way to secure Hermione’s inheritance.

“That said I think it’s a good idea.”Andromeda would prefer Hermione having the gold and valuables before Lucius’ heir had a chance to take them.

“I do to.”Bellatrix wanted everything to go to Hermione.

“I don’t mind going to the magical world if it will help Hermione.”Denis didn’t feel safe amongst large amounts of magic users. That being because of Sofia’s warnings of him and Jean being targets once everyone found out about Hermione’s heritage. He had trained extensively with muggle weapons and taken self defense classes but he wouldn’t last long against more than one magic user.

“It you need gold Cissa we will just take it out of the Lestrange vault.”Bellatrix told her.

“It’s where I get my gold.”Andromeda happily accepted the gold Bellatrix transferred into her personal vault. She didn’t make much at her job at the hospital and Ted was unemployed. He had a few jobs over the years but always got fired for incompetence. 

“Even if Rod noticed I took it he would never confront me about it.”Bellatrix helped herself to as much gold as she wanted out of her husband’s vault. The man and his brother may be cheap but that didn’t mean Bellatrix was going to be. She was used to a certain lifestyle and wasn’t going to give it up because of her weak pitiful husband.

“Hopefully he and his brother along with Lucius get caught while they are out on their mission with the Dark Lord.”Narcissa would accept gold from her sister as she knew it was the only way to secure the Malfoy fortune for Hermione. That and Hermione was going to be supporting them in the future anyway. Something Narcissa didn’t like but couldn’t do anything about until this war was officially over and she could plan her future.”Speaking of the mission Bella let me hold Hermione. We have to leave soon and I haven’t gotten a chance.”

“I don’t want to move her she is sleeping.”Bellatrix liked the fact that Hermione felt safe enough in her arms that she could sleep.

“Then Andy at least move over so I can sit next to her.”No matter how much she wanted to hold Hermione Narcissa wasn’t going to wake her up.

“Fine.”Andromeda was only moving because she had spent so much time with Hermione that day.

“Do you think you will get called away as well Andromeda?”Denis asked.

“Probably. Although they still don’t trust me to go on missions they are all to happy to let me heal all of them when they need it.”Andromeda wasn’t fully trusted due to her well known close relationship with her sisters. Something she thought was smart of them.

“I’m honestly surprised they let you tend to their injured. If you wanted to you could hurt them a lot worse and no one would be the wiser.”Bellatrix wouldn’t trust Andromeda with the wounded.

“Molly Weasley is very vocal in her disapproval of me even being at the meetings. When I heal someone she hovers over my shoulder the entire time.”Andromeda told her.

“Merlin I hate that woman.”Narcissa had hated Molly since the first time she heard her speak at Hogwarts.

“Everyone hates that woman even her own family.”Bellatrix said.

“A family that Hermione is going to take over.”Andromeda was pleased that Hermione was going to be in charge of Molly’s family.

“Which family is that?”Jean asked.

“The Prewett family. Molly is the youngest of three. Her brothers are twins and the elder of the two Gideon is the current Head of Household.”Narcissa told her.

“Gideon and Fabian are decent people and I doubt they will put up a fight when Hermione claims her titles. If anything they will be excited to have another family member. They are really proud of their house. Molly on the other hand is a very materialistic, opinionated woman who has weak magic and believes that all women should be housewives. That and give their husbands lots of children.”Andromeda had heard Molly give many speeches about the importance of a woman having many children. It was the main topic Molly talked about.

“Well she has a dozen already.”Bellatrix said.

“I don’t know how she can afford to support them because with the very little income her husband makes and her spending habits it doesn’t leave a lot left to take care of their children’s needs.”Narcissa didn’t care how many children people had as long as they could properly take care of them.

“She doesn’t have a job to cover her expenses?”Denis was of the same thought as Narcissa. He didn’t care how many children people had as long as they were taken care of.

Andromeda shook her head.”She is a firm believer that a woman should stay at home to take care of the house and the children. Something that is popular amongst pureblood households. However those households can afford for only one parent to work. Molly and Arthur can’t.”

“Her brothers don’t support her do they?”Jean didn’t want Hermione’s house giving money to someone to lazy to work.

“No her brothers hate Molly more than we do. They don’t approve of her attitude about many things and dislike the way she treats others. The reason they don’t support her financially is that she used her access to the family vault to steal a large sum of gold and put it in her personal one. They sued her to get the gold back and won. Molly tried to get out of repaying them so they pressed charges for theft. The charges were dropped after she gave every last coin back that she took from them. After that they disowned her from the family and she has no rights to the estate.”That being something Narcissa was very happy about. 

“Good.”Denis said.

“She will likely fight Hermione’s claim as she has fought her brothers’.”Andromeda expected Molly to file the law suit within a few days of Hermione getting the rings.

“Not that it will result in anything other than Molly wasting gold paying for a lawyer.”Bellatrix wasn’t worried about Molly getting anything from Hermione.

“What does her husband do?”Jean asked.

“He was also disowned from his pureblood family but not for stealing it was for his love of muggles. At least that was the official reason. I personally believe that his family was embarrassed by him and used the muggle excuse as way to get rid of him. Now he works in the ministry in the muggle relations department. From the rumors I’ve heard he is mostly given busy work to keep him away from anything important due to his history of incompetence.”Narcissa hadn’t encountered one person who respected the man.

Before anyone could reply a duck looking to be made out of smoke appeared in the room in front of Andromeda. It spoke in a male voice.”Andy we are under attack. We need you. Meet me at headquarters. There are many wounded.”

“Well I guess it seems I have to go.”Andromeda was not happy about having to leave Hermione.

“Unfortunately that means we do as well.”Narcissa like Andromeda didn’t want to leave Hermione.

“She’s still sleeping though.”Bellatrix not only didn’t want to go she didn’t want to wake up Hermione.

“If this is the end of the war like we think it is then we will be seeing a lot more of her very soon.”Narcissa at least hoped it was the end of the war.

“And that is the thing that keeps me going.”Andromeda said.

“It keeps us all going.”Bellatrix would have given up a long time ago if it wasn’t for Hermione.

“Here let me take her.”Jena made her way over to Bellatrix and held out her arms.“She should be hungry when she wakes up.”

Bellatrix gently leaned down and kissed Hermione on the forehead.”I’m going to miss you.”

“We all are going to miss her.”Andromeda was going to make sure to get some time to come visit the next day.

Narcissa gave Hermione her own kiss on the forehead.”You are my heart.”

“I should go.”Andromeda stood from the couch and gave Hermione a kiss as well.”We need to take some pictures soon.”

“We have an appointment with a professional muggle photographer next week.”Denis and Jean wanted pictures as well.

“I’ll make sure to bring over the outfits I picked out for her to wear for a couple of the pictures.”Narcissa had some traditional wizard clothing made for Hermione that she wanted to have pictures taken of the baby in.

“I’ll bring some props.”Bellatrix wanted Hermione to be photographed with some of her personal items.

“I have some things as well.”Andromeda said.

“We figured you would want some input.”Jean wasn’t upset the sisters wanted to have a say on the pictures. If she was them she would have wanted to as well.

Bellatrix sighed as she handed Hermione to Jean.”Let’s get this over with.”

“Let us know how it goes when you get a chance.”Denis wanted to know if the war was really ending.

“We will visit as soon as possible.”Narcissa didn’t care what was going on she would find time to see Hermione.

“The practice is closed for the next two months so we will likely be here. If we go out we will leave a note telling you where we went.”Denis pulled three keys out of his pocket and handed one to each sister.”We forgot to give these to you last time you came. They are for the front door.”

Bellatrix gripped the key tightly in her hand.”We will keep them safe.”

“We know you will.”Jean didn’t doubt it for a second.

“Now I really do need to go.”Andromeda gave Hermione another kiss.”I will be back soon sweetheart.”

Narcissa followed her sister’s example and gave Hermione a kiss.”Be good my little darling.”

“We will make sure this war ends tonight one way or another.”Bellatrix promised giving Hermione her own kiss.

“Good luck and be safe.”Denis called after the three.

“Thank you and we will.”Narcissa replied as she followed her sisters out of the house.

“Hopefully I will see you both soon.”Andromeda hated being away from her sisters almost as much as she hated being away from Hermione.

“You will. Let us know how it goes and we will let you know how it goes with our side.”Bellatrix told her.

“Bye.”After receiving a hug and kiss on the cheek from both sisters Andromeda was left alone in front of the Granger’s home. Her instincts were telling her to go back inside but Andromeda fought against them. If everything went as planned she would soon be a regular fixture in the Granger’s home. She would like to live with them but it wouldn’t be feasible with her life in the magical world and the fact she had a daughter. Then again maybe after brainstorming with her sisters and the Grangers they could make it happen. Andromeda knew that her sisters were hoping to live with the Grangers as well. It would be nice to be living with her sisters again. Even seeing them as much as she did she still missed them. They had been close all their lives. Their bond becoming unbreakable once they learned of the prophesies. Now that Hermione was here they all just wanted to start living their lives and they couldn’t do that with Andromeda standing in front of the Granger’s house daydreaming. Pulling on her magic Andromeda gave one last look at the house before leaving.