Harry Potter and Lord of House Black

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'It's not working out… not working out at all!' Andromeda thought with a heavy sigh, pressing her hand to her forehead in frustration.

Before her lay several letters, responses to the ones she'd sent out. And, unfortunately for her, none of them contained what she'd hoped to hear.

While Andromeda felt frustrated and tapped her fingers on the table, Nymphadora dashed into the study with two letters… "Mum…"

"What is it, love?" asked Andromeda, not raising her head.

Nymphadora paused sensing that her mother's mood was probably not very joyful, she hesitated and slipped one of the letters in her hand into her robe before once again running towards her while clutching the other letter. "Mum, another one's come through…" she said, handing it over.

Andromeda looked up, her eyes lighting up with a fresh spark of hope. She took the letter from her daughter's hand, broke the seal, and pulled out the parchment, "Dear Mrs. Tonks…"

But barely a moment later, her excitement faded. She let out a sigh and set the letter down.

"What's wrong?" Nymphadora asked, picking it up and starting to read out loud herself.

Dear Mrs. Tonks,

Thank you for your interest in joining Nimbus Racing Broom Company and for taking the time to write to us.

After careful consideration of your application, I regret to inform you that we are seeking candidates with recent, specialized experience in broom making. As you have not been employed in a professional capacity since your graduation and have primarily managed household responsibilities, we are unable to offer you the position at this time.

Please accept my sincere apologies for any disappointment this may cause. I wish you the very best in your future endeavours and job search.

Kind regards,

Devlin Whitehorn

Nimbus Racing Broom Company

"It's the same story… rejected 'cause of lack of proper experience…" Andromeda murmured with a heavy sigh.

Seeing how much the response mirrored the others, Nymphadora scowled. "Everyone's after experience… but not a single one's willing to give you the chance to earn it! Don't they realise what a talented witch you are?!"

Frustrated, she scrunched the letter into a ball and chucked it at the wall.

Andromeda chuckled quietly to herself, murmuring, "It's probably not that simple…"

"What d'you mean, Mum?" Nymphadora asked, raising an eyebrow.

But Andromeda said nothing more. "It's nothing…"

She clearly didn't want to get into it, especially with her feeling so frustrated.

While getting rejected by every company she'd applied to, all for the same reasons, did make some sense, no one's likely to hire someone who's never worked a day in their life. But she also suspected there was more to it than that.

Being labelled a 'Blood Traitor' surely played a big part. No business, big or small, would want to employ a blood traitor and risk offending the powerful wizarding families, especially the Blacks, who are more often than not the important customers for them.

It'd be bloody disastrous for their reputation and trade.

Maybe they'd think twice if she were bloody brilliant, an expert in her field worth the bother of ruffling feathers with the pureblood families just for her talent. But as it stands, she's got no experience… not a jot of it. Hence, there is no point in hiring her. After all, no one's daft enough to cut off their own legs for the sake of pity or goodwill.

"What about your mates and acquaintances from Hogwarts? Didn't you say you were also writing to them for a bit of help?" Nymphadora asked, switching the subject.

Andromeda sighed. "No response from any of them…"

The truth was, most of her mates were pureblood Slytherins, and naturally, they weren't too keen on staying close to someone branded a Blood Traitor. Not that she minded much, she was more than happy to cut ties with those stuck-up, racist, prejudiced, hypocritical, and bigoted sorts. They'd parted ways on a sour note when she married Edward, and she saw no reason to look back.

But now… well, it seemed like she'd been daft to do that, 'cause of course they wouldn't be up for helping her. Why would any pureblood offer a job or pity to a blood traitor, especially someone who'd scoffed at their old-fashioned views?

"Doesn't that mean there's bugger all options left…" Nymphadora asked, sounding a bit hopeless.

Andromeda didn't answer right away. Instead, she pulled her daughter into a hug and said, "I'll… I'll sort something out. You don't need to worry."

Nymphadora looked a bit doubtful but gave a small nod. "Hmm…"

"Right then… off to your room. Do whatever you need to," Andromeda said, forcing a smile as she gently patted her daughter's cheek. "I'll call you for dinner, yeah?"

Nymphadora hesitated, like she wanted to say something but figured it best not to. Instead, she just nodded quietly. "I understand…"

She decided not to take out the letter from her robe pocket and left the room without another word.

Left alone in the room, Andromeda slumped over the table, her face heavy with despair. She'd been at it for days, trying everything… but nothing was getting through.

"Sigh, what'm I supposed to do now…?" she muttered, frustration mounting with every passing moment.

As things stood, finding a job anywhere seemed bloody unlikely. Well, there was one option: accepting the offer from her cousin's kid. But taking that meant selling her dignity and swearing an unbreakable vow of servitude, giving him total control over her.

She didn't want that… She didn't want that at all!

But if not that, then there was bugger all else she could do.

'Maybe I should start me own company?' she thought with a wry smile. If no one's willing to hire her 'cause of her lack of experience or for being a Blood Traitor, she might as well take matters into her own hands.

But the idea was dashed as quick as it came. "Yeah, right… like that'd ever work…"

Starting and running a business wasn't a walk in the park. You needed a decent product, a solid customer base, and a fair pile of galleons to keep things ticking over until you started turning a profit.

And, unlucky for her, she had none of those.

No product to sell.

No customers lined up to buy anything.

And most importantly, no galleons to kickstart or keep the business afloat.

'Maybe I could ask Gringotts for a loan?' she mused, though half-heartedly.

But she knew those greedy goblins wouldn't lend her a knut, let alone a heavy pouch of galleons, unless she could properly convince them they'd get their money back and make a profit no matter what, even if the business tanked.

Without any decent collateral, a loan was out of the question.

And she doubted any goblin, or anyone else for that matter, would invest without seeing a clear profit.

So, she knew the whole idea of starting a company was a bloody stupid one.

Not to mention, she desperately needed galleons—galleons to buy her daughter's school supplies soon, since the Hogwarts letter should be arriving any da—wait a minute!

Thinking of the letter, Andromeda suddenly froze. "Her Hogwarts letter… why hasn't it turned up yet? What's the date today?" she murmured, quickly getting up to check the calendar.

"It's already the 8th of August?"

She'd been so wrapped up in everything else, she hadn't paid much attention to the passing days.

And with August here, those Hogwarts letters ought to have arrived by now.

Yet her daughter hadn't mentioned a thing.

"Don't tell me…" Andromeda thought before hurrying out of the study, calling, "Dora…"

…

"Dora… what's the meaning of this? Why'd you hide it and not show me?" Andromeda asked, frowning as she held the letter stamped with the Hogwarts seal.

"Well…" Nymphadora shifted awkwardly and glanced away.

"Dora…" Andromeda gave her a sharp look.

Nymphadora lowered her gaze and said quietly, "I didn't think I'd be going to Hogwarts… so I saw no point in showing it to you…"

"And why'd you think you weren't going to Hogwarts?" Andromeda asked, her voice heavy with worry.

"It's not like we've got the galleons to buy all those books… robes… and course materials," Nymphadora replied, clutching her robes as tears welled up in her eyes. "Besides… I… I can't leave you on your own… not after what happened that night…"

"Oh, love…" Andromeda's heart ached seeing her daughter like this. She gently put down the letter and bent down to wrap her arms around her.

The moment she was held close, Nymphadora broke down, burying her face in her mother's bosom as she sobbed, "Mum… I'm scared… I miss Dad… Why did he have to leave us…"

Andromeda held her daughter tighter, her own heart breaking in the quiet of the room. "I know, love. I miss him too. More than you can imagine."

They stayed like that for a long moment, the only sound the soft sniffles from Nymphadora. Eventually, Andromeda pulled back slightly and gently wiped away her daughter's tears.

"We'll get through this, Dora. Somehow," she promised, her voice steady despite the storm inside. "We might not have much, but we've got each other, haven't we? That's more than some families can say—especially when the dear daughter of this house is brave enough to be the one protecting her mother… isn't that right?"

Nymphadora gave a small, hesitant smile. "Umm…"

Andromeda smiled back and said, "As for you going to Hogwarts, that's not even up for debate… you're definitely going. And I'll make sure of it," she added in a firm, determined voice.

"But what about the galleons?" Nymphadora asked.

"Don't you worry about that…" Andromeda said, not keen to dwell on money just yet. She sat down on Nymphadora's bed and added, "For now, let's have a look at your scores… how'd you do in your second year?"

"I wasn't brilliant at the theories… but I reckon I did alright," Nymphadora replied with a smile, settling beside her mum.

"Is that so…" Andromeda murmured as she broke the seal on the letter.

…

Midnight,

"Dad…" murmured Nymphadora in her sleep.

Andromeda gazed softly at her daughter's sleeping face, a storm of conflicting thoughts swirling in her mind.

"Haha… our girl's really grown up, hasn't she, Ted?" she murmured, reaching out to gently caress Nymphadora's cheek.

As she did, the thoughts kept churning, and she bit her lip, lost in worry and helplessness.

A brief silence followed before she whispered an apology, "Forgive me, Ted… but for our daughter's future… I don't seem to have any other choice."

Resolved, she slowly rose and slipped quietly out of the room, making her way downstairs.

Once there, she paced back and forth, frowning. "Rigel Black… how do I get in touch with him? Do I need to write? But where would I even send a letter?"

She paused, shaking her head. "How do I…?" Then, suddenly, a thought struck her. "Right… Kreacher… maybe he'd answer if I called him…"

"Kreacher!" she called out. With a sharp crack, the old house elf popped up right in front of her.

Kreacher gave Andromeda a scowl and spat, "Speak… filthy traitor…"

Keeping her temper in check, Andromeda said, "I want to speak to Rigel Black."

"Kreacher will inform Master Rigel," he replied before vanishing, leaving Andromeda to breathe a quiet sigh of relief.

Not long after, Kreacher reappeared with another crack, this time with Rigel beside him, still in his sleepwear.

Rigel yawned, rubbing the drowsiness from his eyes. "Well, my dear Aunt… Kreacher tells me you wish to speak. Calling me out in the middle of the night… I wonder what this is abo–…"

Before he could finish, Andromeda said. "I… I'll do it. I'll make an unbreakable vow of servitude."

Rigel chuckled as the last of his sleepiness faded. Hands clasped behind his back, he stepped closer, amusement flickering in his eyes as he studied her desperate look. "So… what's brought on this sudden change of heart?"

Andromeda looked down, clenching her fist. "I… I need to make sure Dora gets to Hogwarts… and for that, I need the galleons." She paused, then added, "I've tried everything I can… but nothing's working."

"I see… well, that's understandable given your lot," Rigel replied. "Not many want to employ a blood traitor—either they're scared of the fallout, or they just sneer at someone like you."

Andromeda took a deep breath. "But I need the galleons. I'm desperate… so… so I'm willing to…" She hesitated, lowering her voice as she fought the struggle inside her heart, "…make the unbreakable vow of servit—!"

Before she could finish, Rigel cut her off. "So you say that. But, my dear Aunt… the situation's changed, and with it, the terms have too. If you want my help, you'll have to sacrifice more now…"

Andromeda blinked, fear creeping in. "Wha… what do you mean? Didn't you…"

"No need to panic, hear me out first," Rigel said, stopping her from spiralling. "The old terms still stand, you'll work as my maid for life and please me whenever I fancy. That includes bearing my children, should I want."

Andromeda nodded, torn but not surprised. It was what she'd expected, given what Rigel said before, and she had come to terms with this.

Seeing her steady so far, Rigel smiled, amused. Leaning in to gauge her reaction to the next demand, he said, "On top of that, you'll have to publicly declare at the Wizengamot that your marriage to Edward Tonks was the result of you being under the influence of Amortentia, the love potion. That you never had a shred of real feelings for him… it was the love induced using potion… that he tricked you with the potion and took advantage."

"What?" Andromeda was stunned, struggling to believe she'd heard him right. "You… you want me to say that Ted… fed me… Amortentia?"

"That's right," Rigel nodded.

A fierce anger churned inside Andromeda at hearing this condition. She could swallow her pride and dignity, sure, but being forced to slander and defame her late husband? That was something else entirely. Still, she knew better than to lash out at the one person who could help them. So she swallowed her fury and tried to make him see reason.

"But… but he never used anything like that on me… my feelings for him are gen—!"

Rigel shrugged, cutting her off again. "Irrelevant," he said bluntly. "Your feelings and your thoughts… None of that matters. What counts is whether you agree to speak this at the Wizengamot or not, as per the orders of your master, that being me." He paused, a wicked smile creeping across his face. "This will be your punishment… rejecting my kindness, humiliating me the other day by giving a slap on my ego… this ought to make you understand not to hurt a man's ego…"

Andromeda stood frozen, clearly at a loss for what to do.

Rigel continued, "Think about it, my dear Aunt… on one hand, it's the reputation of your late Muggle-born husband, someone no one really gives a toss about, except perhaps you and your lovely daughter. But on the other hand, it's the future of the very same daughter… your one and only living daughter. The choice's simple, really… someone who's dead, or someone who's alive. Dead Husband… or alive daughter. I'd say that the choice is easy and rational…"

But not everyone can make the most rational choice, especially when their emotions are in a mess. Andromeda was no different. She remained silent, stuck in her struggle.

Seeing it all play out on her face, Rigel smiled and said, "Well… I suppose I can give you some time to think it over. I reckon you'll know what the right choice is." He paused, then added, "When you've made up your mind, call Kreacher, just like this time. He'll let me know you've made your decision. For now, though, I will go back to sleep, and you should too. But then again, I doubt you'd be catching any sleep… But that's your problem… Anyhow, I'll be waiting for your response…"

Without waiting for a reply, Rigel vanished from the room with Kreacher.

Andromeda stood frozen, her face twisting with conflicting emotions as one thought kept running through her mind, 'Ted or Dora… Ted or Dora… Ted or Dora…'

…

12, Grimmauld Place, London,

Back home, Rigel made his way to his bedroom—but not before giving an order to the old house elf. "Kreacher… find that bloke named Drek William."

"Kreacher obeys," came the gruff reply before the elf vanished with a pop. Meanwhile, Rigel rubbed his eyes, still rubbing off the last of his sleep, and headed back to his room.

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