The Time of Good and Bad

Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns.

As long as she lived, Andromeda Tonks would never forget the night her cousin came blasting into her house, long after the children were in bed. She never thought of it without fear, distress, and anger. Years later, a bit of pride was mixed in, but more anger had been too. He arrived in the front garden with a noisy crack and immediately started banging on the door. Andromeda could hear Ted getting out of bed and putting on his dressing gown as she peeked out the window.

"Sirius! Get in here and stop making noise. What's the matter with you?"

"James... and Lily..." a sob broke his voice.

He immediately had her attention. The Potters had been targeted by Lord Voldemort and had been in hiding for months. "What's the matter with them?"

"Killed. He found them and he killed them. Dumbledore told Hagrid to take the baby... somewhere."

"Oh, Sirius, I'm so sorry..." She tried to hug him and comfort him, but he threw her off.

"We knew it was somebody. James and I thought it might be Remus, but it was the damned rat. I have to find him. Andromeda, whatever anyone tells you, it wasn't me. If something happens to me...whatever it is, can you take care of my flat? Hagrid has my bike, so that's ok."

Her head made a circular motion before nodding. "Yes, Sirius, anything you need. Shouldn't you go to Dumbledore, first?"

"He'll never understand. I have to take care of this." He hugged her tightly. "Thanks, Andie. I know I can count on you."

She should have kept him at her house. She should at least have made him wait until Ted came downstairs to talk it over. He couldn't go to his parents, and there were ways in which Andromeda and Ted filled that gap for him. That night, they failed him. Days, weeks, months later, she counted off all the spells, potions, and devices that she could have used to keep him with her and prevent what happened next.

She tumbled restlessly through the night. Ted occasionally patted her shoulder and sleepily mumbled, "It will come out all right, Dromeda..." The next day was equally restless, and she snapped at the children from time to time until at last something happened. Dumbledore came and personally told her that Sirius had betrayed the Potters. She refused to believe him and told him so.

"Headmaster, he came here that night after it happened. He told me that he needed to find a rat, that the rat had done it. Do you know who he meant?"

The older wizard, aged decades by the events of the last two days, shook his head kindly. "It's impossible, dear. Sirius was the secret keeper. He was the only one who could betray them, and it's his fault that they died."

"He said..."

"Even if he didn't cause the death of the Potters, there's the fact that he killed Peter Pettigrew and twelve Muggles. Cornelius Fudge had to take Peter's finger to his mother because that's all that was left after Sirius blasted the street apart. Andromeda, a great many things have happened in the past few years. Many people have been affected in ways we don't expect or understand. We need to allow for the fact that Sirius was turned."

There was nothing she could say. She couldn't fit the information Dumbledore gave her with what Sirius himself had said. She couldn't believe Sirius could do such things, but others believed it. Their logic was that he was a Black, after all. She recoiled in horror at that idea. She was a Black, too.

The only thing that Andromeda could figure was that it had to do with the death of his younger brother two years earlier. Reggie had been a quiet boy, and Andromeda didn't get to know him before she left the family. She assumed he didn't ever contact her because he was as ashamed of her as her parents, sisters, aunt and uncle. Oddly enough, the rumor she heard through Sirius was that he had tried to leave the Death Eaters and was killed in retaliation. At any rate, after Regulus died, Sirius had become more thoughtful for a while. Had he started planning his change of heart at that time?

Andromeda followed the events of the next weeks avidly. She read the Daily Prophet every day, looking for information about her cousin. In the end, it didn't matter. Dumbledore's information was damning. Sirius was sentenced to Azkaban, without a trial.

The situation was not without its good points. Lord Voldemort was killed when he tried to kill the baby. Harry Potter had stronger magic than any wizard to come before him. The Killing Curse had never rebounded on its caster, before. That the caster of that spell was so powerful and knowledgeable meant that Harry must be the most powerful wizard ever, perhaps more so than Dumbledore, who was considered to be the greatest wizard since Merlin.

Because he had asked her to, Andromeda went to Sirius's flat to pack up his things. She was surprised at the number of family pictures he had. There were some of her with Ted and the kids, and there were several of Uncle Alphard. She found one of the three Black girls and both Black boys, taken before Bellatrix married Rudolphus, before Sirius started at Hogwarts, before anything had happened to disrupt the family. The children in the picture were jostling each other and arguing.

Andromeda put her hand over the glass and traced their outlines. She could barely remember what was happening that day. Sirius had put his arms around his older two cousins, and they had suddenly started itching. Trixie had discovered that he was playing with itching powder and had gotten angry.

Andromeda hadn't wanted to argue, but she did have to scratch. She sat on the couch with her shoulder twitching uncomfortably. Regulus, who in those days still idolized his older brother, sat on the corner of the couch and laughed at them. Only Cissy sat quietly in the middle of the couch, looking like a demure fashion plate. The Andromeda of a decade later wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

The front door opened and closed. She stood and took out her wand, pointing it in front of her as she went into the hallway. It was Narcissa, so she put down her wand. "Why are you here?"

"I came to get his things."

"He asked me to do it."

"It turns out that he belonged to our side of the family after all, and Aunt Walburga wants his things."

Andromeda sighed. Maybe Narcissa was right. Sirius did seem to have changed his colors at some point, if he could betray the Potters so easily. There was no reason at all not to let Narcissa have all the work, except...

"He specifically asked me to do this. I think I had better. If you want to help, that's up to you."

During the next hour, the still-young witches packed up the contents of Sirius's dresser and closet, marking those items for a second-hand store. His books and papers had already been packed up by Andromeda and sent to her cottage with Birdie. Andromeda didn't bring those items up. The sisters spent the rest of the time silently looking at pictures. In the end, they split them. Those of Sirius with his Hogwarts friends went with Andromeda while the family photographs went to his mother.

Andromeda wondered why she cared so much that Aunt Walburga now had those pictures. The older witch had few enough comforts. Her sons had disappointed her, and now she had no prospect of grandchildren, a fact that made her little better in the eyes of society than Trixie, or Bella, or whatever name Bellatrix went by these days.

It was time to go. The sisters stood awkwardly and looked at each other. Finally, Andromeda made the first move. She pulled her sister into a hug and patted her stiff back. She let her go rather quickly. "Take care of yourself, Narcissa."

"Try to remember you're a Black," was the rejoinder.

After Narcissa left, Andromeda went through the flat one last time. Not knowing why, she went to the clothes boxes and took out a couple of robes. She sealed the boxes back up and cast a spell sending them to the consignment store. Then she walked out of the flat and locked the door. She went home and discovered that Birdie, bless her, had fixed a good dinner.

Ted watched his wife carefully as he ate his chicken pot pie. She was quiet and withdrawn. She didn't eat very much, and she was extremely gentle with the children. He watched her negotiate a small spat between them with delicate grace. There was something so endearing about her just then. The father of the family assisted with baths and getting ready for bed, ensuring that the process would not take very long.

Instead of letting her go back downstairs, he tugged her into their bedroom. He unpinned her hair, letting it cascade around her, something that never failed to thrill him. Summoning her hairbrush, he started to ply it, massaging her head and untangling the brown tresses.

After a while she became relaxed and sank into his arms. He slid his hand along the side of her face and kissed her carefully. She responded with hunger. His blood instantly quickened, and he helped her with her clothing. He wasn't sure what happened to his own, only that it was gone quickly. She took from him that night, looking for the proof that she wasn't as lifeless as the members of her family. He gave her the reassurance of their love and the hope that their lives would improve. At the end, she whispered his name as she trembled in his arms. He held her there, kissing her face from time to time and willing her to feel safe.

"I don't understand," she began. "He had so much, with his friends and the respect of everyone. I know why he gave up being an Auror. James had to give it up, and it was only a lark for Sirius, after all, but I don't understand the rest of it. He never had a steady girlfriend and never looked for a day job. All that he ever did was spend time with the Potters and work for the Order. How did Voldemort get to him? What could Voldemort have that Sirius wanted?"

"I don't think we'll ever know," answered her husband. "Sirius had concerns you didn't know about."

"I know," she answered. "Maybe that's what worries me. Am I so tied up with this small cottage and garden that I'm completely unconnected to the outside world? Worse yet, is there something in me because I'm a Black that will cause me to do something like Sirius has? I don't know what to make of it."

"Oh, my poor love," he whispered to her. "You couldn't do something like that. Somehow I think we'll find the solution to what Sirius did, exactly, and why. You just rest for tonight. Tomorrow you'll play with the children as they learn the lessons you set them, and everything will right itself."

She was unconvinced and started to cry. Ted Summoned a handkerchief for her and helped her use it. It made her giggle a little bit and then she relaxed in her husband's arms. She was safe from the world, from confusing family members, and even, if she needed it, safe from herself. He held her through the night, and when she woke from a nightmare and needed his love, he gave it without her needing to ask.

It seemed that the nightmare would never end. A few weeks after the deaths of Lord Voldemort and Lily and James Potter, Bellatrix was arrested. From what Kingsley told her, Andromeda realized that Trixie had completely been lost into this new person called Bella. She had been so distraught over the loss of her leader that she, her husband, brother-in-law, and some poor kid named Crouch went after the Longbottoms. Between the four of them, poor Alice and Frank were Cruciated to the point where they were insensate. Alastor Moody had caught them, and there was to be a trial at the Wizengamot.

Andromeda went to the trial, although she wasn't sure why. Her best answer to such a question was that she wanted to see if she could recognize the older sister who had a mean streak as wide as the British Isles. However, at moments, she had been as kind as she knew how and tried to lend a hand to Andromeda's upbringing. It was a heavy hand, to be sure, but it showed that Trixie had cared, at least.

She wore her most concealing cloak and sat in the back of the trial chamber. As she watched, Barty Crouch was sentenced first, and then the Lestrange trio were brought into the room. Andromeda recognized her sister's face as being very similar to the one she saw in the mirror, but beyond that, all similarities to her sister, Trixie, were seemingly gone. This woman was a bit crazed.

When Trixie had first befriended Voldemort, he was a still-handsome man. Andromeda had seen him at her uncle's funeral and thought that, perhaps due to some magical experimentation, the man had stopped looking human. She caught a glimpse of the man when she put her head in at her father's funeral and was shocked to see that he had resembled nothing she could identify. Yet, it seemed that the less that creature seemed human, the more Trixie...or rather, Bella...seemed to love him.

The woman in the courtroom cared nothing for what happened, if she could be re-united with her lord, as she called him. Her husband didn't seem to mind, which troubled Andromeda somewhat. The unhealthy tenor of the relationships was difficult to understand. Andromeda watched avidly as the case was discussed. Finally the authorities announced their verdict: guilty, with a sentence to Azkaban. Andromeda watched as her sister's face turned white. For the smallest fraction of a second, there was uncertainty, distaste, and fear in the face of the witch. For that fraction of a second, Andromeda knew that the soul of Bellatrix Black Lestrange was still alive within her sister. It was the last moment that would ever truly be the case.

A/N: Thanks, as always, to Trickie Woo for her beta reading!