Reading the Will

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

Reading the Will

Chapter 6

Angelica stood in the shadows of the neighbouring doorway, watching as Draco disappeared from sight, wondering why Severus had cared so much for the boy. She had asked him once and received only his silence in reply, a silence that she had come to know as him.

He would not speak to her about that night with Albus, and all that had happened. She knew a piece of him had died with the old man, and try as she might she could not find that piece to force it back into him, to give him life again.

That was when she knew he had prepared for what was to come. She had watched him accept the fact that he would not survive, but had not wanted to believe it herself. Then she watched as he burnt one red journal and inscribed a new one for his godson. She knew then that she would live to see him buried.

She swept back into the Hog's Head, pulling her hood down low as she walked to the bar and tossed down her gold.

"I need a room."

"And who would you be?" Aberforth peered at her. "I know who stays here or they find someplace else to take their troubles."

"Ah, now Abe, you know me," she sighed as she lifted her chin and pulled the hem of the hood back enough for him to see her face. "Won't be kicking me out now, will ya? Not on a cold night like this."

"Haven't seen you around these parts." He quickly glanced around at the few customers to make sure no one else had seen her. "Thought the talk was wrong. Said you were dead, they did."

"Highly exaggerated, that. Although I once read in the Prophet that I had lost my soul." She smirked. "Must have been the Blacks that started the rumour. One mad, one gone to her husband's Dark Lord and one Muggle lover was enough for them. They don't need another crazy bitch in the family."

"What brings you back?" He reached for a bottle of scotch and set it down in front of her with a clean glass that he brought up from under the bar.

"Missed my favourite barkeep, Abe. You know I was always in love with you." She smirked as she pulled her hood forward to hide her face again.

"For him?" Aberforth frowned at the door. "That Malfoy kid?"

"Nah. To him, maybe, but not for him. Just delivering something." She picked up the shot glass and knocked it back, trying not to choke as the liquid hit the back of her throat.

"Out of practice?"

"Aye, the cheap stuff does that." She pushed the glass at him and tossed another Galleon on the bar.

Aberforth put the bottle back and pulled out a bottle of Ogden's, poured her a half glass and pushed it back to her along with her money.

"Money's no good here, girl. Let an old man buy a beauty a drink, makes me feel young," he chuckled.

"Read you had closed down. The Prophet said that between the damage and what happened up at the school you'd had enough."

"Thought of it." He poured himself two swallows in a glass. "Won't do no good, though. What's done is done."

"I wanted to apologize for that night we..."

"Yep, done is done. Don't want to hear 'bout a damned war almost twenty years over when this one is still too close. Lost too much this time 'round. How 'bout we talk about it in twenty years more?"

"Deal," she laughed, feeling relief wash over her. "So, do I get that room, old man, or do I see if the Black House is still standing?"

"Ya know that Potter kid owns the house now, Sirius left it to him. Weren't no-one else," he shrugged his shoulders. "Would have thought you were dead he woulda, but not sure he even knew of you."

"Thank Merlin. I remember being scared of that place when I was a kid and we visited my crazy aunt, the heads and all. Those people were crazy," she sighed. "Haven't been there since I was a kid. Even then, it was falling down. I imagine my name was blown off the wall long ago."

"Andromeda would take exception to that, the being crazy part."

"Gypsies must have left her on the Black door step. She was never like the others, never wanted more than she got." Angelica looked up at him, pulling back the hem again. "She still around here? Read about her daughter. Dora was it, died on the last day?"

"Nymphadora, she and her ... well ... her and Remus Lupin, they passed together in the last fight up at Hogwarts." He shook his head and reached for his rag to wipe at the glasses again. "Shame 'bout that, place has enough orphans. One more kid to grow up wondering what his parents were like, and getting in trouble with the looking. That one is going to have problems, already there is talk about him and what he will grow into."

"He? Nymphadora and Remus? Remus Lupin?" She frowned at him. "They only mentioned her as Ted's daughter in the Prophet, Ted Tonks. He died a little while back if I remember right."

"Did you know Lupin?" He looked at her strangely. "Would have been about your age."

"No, I know of him, but... listen," she whispered and leaned over the counter to speak quietly. "Keep a room open for me, but I have something to do first. Where do I find her? Andromeda."

He turned around and grabbed a key from its peg on the wall, rolled it around in the palm of his hand, then shrugged and put it in her open hand.

"Doors are warded when I call it a night. You're in by then or you stay out all night."

"Abe, I really need to find her." She bit her lip and hesitated.

"Don't rightly know if it's right. Don't know after what happened to Ted and all if she would want to see you. Some still think you were in it with that bastard back then."

"I'm not her sister, you know," Angelica hissed. "I left him before he ..."

"I know that, girly, but she doesn't. She just knows you're a Wilkes. She lost a lot, you know." He peered at her. "See those three at the table, the one by the door? Ask for Dean, Dean Thomas. He's been there."

"Right," she mused after looking over her shoulder at the table. "Two Aurors and some old guy. Should I just go over and introduce myself?"

"Thomas, over here," Aberforth called across the room, then jerked his head, indicating that the young man should join him at the bar.

"Yeah, Abe?" He frowned as he neared the bar.

"This witch needs to get to Ted Tonks' place. Apparate, she may not be welcomed by Floo."

Dean looked down at the cloaked figure, scowling, then back to Aberforth. "You vouch for her?"

"Good Merlin, boy, she just needs to visit. She is a shirttail Black, wants to see Teddy is all."

"Shirttail or not, being a Black is not a recommendation." Dean shook his head at Aberforth.

"Are you calling me a fool, boy? Now do what you are told." He leaned over the bar and glared at the young wizard.

"Sure, but if Andromeda gets mad it's going to be you that takes the blame for this." Dean stepped away from the bar and started walking to the door with Angelica following closely behind. Once outside, he pulled her into his side and, with a crack of thunder, took her to the bottom of a sloping path that led to the house.

Angelica stood looking up at Andromeda's door. Angelica was unsure as to the reception she would receive. If she were received at all. She stood, biting her lip, and pushed her hood back, turning to thank Dean for his help only to see him disappear without a word.

She turned back to the house and began the short walk to the door. Andromeda knew her, had attended her wedding as had many of the Blacks, and would recognize her at once. Angelica approached a rusty set of gates as she felt the wards drop and allow her to enter. She stopped, turning in a complete circle, scanning the grounds for someone who had seen her, and finding no-one she scowled as she approached the door.

"Angelica?" Andromeda opened the front door before Angelica had climbed the stairs.

"Andromeda, it has been a long time."

"I don't know if I should say too long, or not long enough," she said, frowning. "I guess that's what you are here to tell me."

"Ah," Angelica smiled, "so if the choice be mine, I would say too long."

"I didn't ask," she said coldly. "It is just me and the little one so if it was..."

"No, it is you I want to talk to. I shan't be long."

"I was just making a fresh pot of tea when I heard the wards fall," she said, biting her lip, and then turned around, looking into the house behind her. "You are welcome to a cup, but that is all."

Angelica followed her into the kitchen and slipped off her cloak. She looked around the Muggle-style room and grinned.

"Always a treat to see a Black live like this. I was sorry to hear about Ted and Nymphadora."

"What of you? How have you been living? For that matter, where?" Andromeda put the teapot on the table and grabbed two mugs from the counter, ignoring her comment. "Still take it black?"

"Only you would remember how I take my tea after all these years." Angelica reached for the pot and poured the tea as Andromeda gathered up milk and sugar.

"It was good to hear the wards fall. I hate to admit it, but it was," Andromeda sighed as she sat down. "They still recognise the Black blood, but not many come around anymore."

"Cannot be many left," Angelica said quietly.

"You avoided my question. Where have you been?" Andromeda's voice turned hard. "Last I heard you were still with that Wilkes, still running after Voldemort. Tell me, did you leave him before he died? Or were you still hoping his Dark Lord would spare him?"

"Voldemort did not..."

"Of course he killed him, you fool. He sent his Death Eaters out to die for him. Surely you were not so stupid not to realise that."

"I'll not go into that, not today," she sighed. "Ah, Andromeda, must we start this again? Must we re-fight a war over almost twenty years? A war I was too young to understand or to see for what it was? My gods, Andromeda, I was seventeen and married. What do you want me to say? I made a mistake? I shouldn't have married him?"

"I have my life in the other room, asleep in a cot in the corner of my bedroom. Angelica, I cannot risk losing him. I will not risk losing him. Say what you have to say, then leave. I'm sorry for it, but leave."

Angelica reached inside her robes and pulled out a dark red journal. "This was left for his father."

"Left for his father?" Andromeda reached and took the journal she was offered. "Whatever ..."

She paused as she opened the cover and saw the inscription to Remus. "A little late, I must say. He could have used this when he was still alive."

She tossed the journal back on the table and rose to begin clearing off the tea service. "I think it is time you left."

"Keep the book, it may have some value. If the baby..."

"He does not need the potion." Andromeda turned angrily. "I am sick of people who don't know what they are talking about acting as if he is dangerous, or that the full moon has any meaning to him. Take it and leave."

"I did not mean that, Meda. I meant it is Professor Snape's own potion, the one Remus took. You could sell it for the boy. It would bring a tidy sum."

"We have no need of it, I tell you," she hissed tearfully. "Remus never had much, but I have enough for the boy. We will be just fine."

"Others do. It would be a waste to throw it out, to not make use of it."

"Then give it to St. Mungo's!"

"Right, good idea Andromeda. I'll just walk in and plunk it down in front of an Auror instead. Since I have no-one left to speak for me it should go smoothly."

Andromeda looked at the journal and then back to Angelica. "What did he mean by the other things? The things about my daughter?"

Angelica picked up the journal and opened the cover, reading the whole inscription for the first time. She looked up at Andromeda and smirked.

"You mean, what did he say about you? I guess that he respected your strength. He didn't play with words, he wrote what he meant."

"Give me that." Andromeda grabbed the book, sat heavily at the table to flip open the cover, and read the inscription again, slower this time, wiping her eyes as she saw her daughter's name.

Mr R. Lupin

I am sending you the directions for the monthly potion, as the one you receive from St. Mungo's is not adequate for your needs. Understand that it is not your safety that I fear is in jeopardy. You do, however have a wife, and from what I heard at the meeting the other night, she carries your spawn.

Since she is incapable of walking without doing herself damage I hardly think she is capable of handling your monthly problem. I would also suggest that you do not entrust her to brew the potion, or to prepare the ingredients.

Her mother is quite adept at potions and judging by what I see of her offspring must have the patience necessary to complete the brewing. She has always impressed me as a level headed individual capable of this task.

Professor S. Snape

"I think it was really for Tonks," Angelica said quietly. "I shouldn't have brought it. I thought ... I don't know what I thought... perhaps that ..."

"Perhaps that I needed it?" Andromeda wiped her eyes and looked up at her. "That I needed to know that she would have been safe with him, or that someone else worried the same as I did? My Nymphadora always said he was a git, but a good, trustworthy one. She thought highly of him - regardless of what she said, I know she thought well of him."

She licked her finger and began to turn the pages one at a time, glancing at the neatly written lines, in the small, precise script, but lost in a sea of memories. She did not see the potions but the look on her daughter's face when Remus had come home after too long gone. She saw the way he looked at her when he thought no one was watching, and the way he would be sure to hold her elbow when she climbed the stairs to their room. She remembered the way Tonks had hurried to him that last day, anxious to be with him, and afraid to leave her son. Torn between the two, somehow knowing that whereas Teddy was safe and at home, Remus needed her to go with him to whereever the last battle took him.

She swallowed hard as she continued to turn the pages, seeing potion after potion put down on the pages. She paused to read one and recognized a modification to a children's cough syrup, and turned the page to find a potion for teething pains and earache. She gasped as she turned the last page and looked up at Angelica.

"So you loved him? You really did?" Andromeda looked at her, stunned.

Angelica tore the book from Andromeda's hand and stared at the last page, horrified at what it may contain, wishing she had burnt it with the cottage.

Mr Lupin

The bearer of this book I entrust to you. She is of the Black family, albeit distantly. As such, she is a relative of your wife's. Thus, you are now in a position of some responsibility to her. A position you are not able to ignore by Wizarding Law.

Angelica Wilkes is my only family and the only thing I have of any value. Since you are incapable of harming even your enemies, I feel she will be safe under your care. I have seen to her financial future to ensure that she is not a burden to you.

Severus Snape

"Damned git!" she fumed, almost seeing him as he would have smirked, writing this last page. Her hands shook as she slipped her cloak over her shoulders and turned to leave, not wanting to break down in front of Andromeda.

She ran down the hall and out of the door, ignoring Andromeda's calls. She needed to leave, to hide, to be rid of the looks and unspoken words. How could you would be the next thing out of Andromeda's mouth. Angelica's question had always been how could he?