Andromeda POV
I have been secretly dating Ted Tonks for almost a year now. He had been the one to comfort me after Krios had been badly hurt in Russia and we had been dating ever since. If my family or anyone in Slytherin found out that we were dating, I had no doubt that Ted would be killed without any evidence to suggest that he was anything but a missing person. But he didn't care. We had been paired up as Potions partners last year and had fallen in love.
Ted didn't care that my family was forcing me into a marriage with Rodolphus Lestrange. I had come to him in tears at our meeting place, a hidden room on the seventh floor tonight. We had found it when we were hiding from Filch in May, and it had become our spot ever since. He comforted me and reassured me that Krios may be leaving, but that Krios would make sure that I was protected from Rabastan. And that he knew a way to protect me from the Lestranges forever.
Ted then got on one knee and proposed to me, and asked me to marry him over the summer holidays. His family was rather wealthy, and Ted had kept up on his studies in the Muggle world. He had inherited a house from his eccentric uncle in Central City, Missouri* where we could stay. He even had been accepted to Central City University thanks to his family's connections. We could leave this prejudiced world behind while keeping our magic a secret until it was safe for them.
I didn't hesitate in saying yes. While I would miss my sisters and Krios, I couldn't imagine marrying anyone else. I knew that Lord Black would be furious and that I would be disowned. I knew that the Lestranges would be furious and might try to kill us. But that didn't matter. I know that the love that Ted and I share would triumph in the end. He was my first kiss, my first lover, and the love of my life. I felt complete when he slipped my diamond engagement ring on my finger.
We then made love to celebrate. The room seemed to know what we needed, as there was a bed nearby. I have always wondered what this room really was capable of, but had never gotten the chance to investigate. I preferred to cherish my time alone with Ted, especially after acting like we barely got along the rest of the week As we lay there basking in the aftermath of our lovemaking, Ted suddenly sat up and stretched.
"It's almost curfew. We should probably head out, I told McKinnon that I would cover for her tonight. It's a good thing that my patrolling partner for tonight is also my fiancé," Ted said with a teasing smile.
"Prat," I said, swatting his shoulder lightly with a smile on my face. I was so glad we were both prefects. And it helped that Susan was a good friend of Ted's and often switched shifts so that we could be paired together. She, Narcissa, and Ted's best friend Jack Norrington were the only ones that knew that we were dating. Susan was even keeping it a secret from her prat of a boyfriend. She deserved better than Amos Diggory.
Amos had never been able to get over his jealousy of Ted when he was chosen as a prefect over him. I can't imagine how Ted has survived rooming with arrogant prats like Diggory, Terrance Smith, and Brian Threadwell for the last six years. It was fortunate that he had Jack. I only had that vapid, prissy bitch Vandelle and her two hanger-ons left in my dorm. Lucretia had been the only decent Slytherin girl in my year, and we had developed a tentative friendship before she left. She didn't deserve to share the fate of her awful family. At least I had made some good friends in Ravenclaw.
We got dressed and freshened up a bit before we made our way out of the room. I put a powerful Disillusionment Charm on the ring, making sure that no one else would be able to see it. Only Ted would know that it was there. As we stepped out, I saw Ted stiffen in alarm. I turned my head to see one of the last people I wanted to find out about me and Ted. My cousin Krios.
It would be easy to convince anyone else that would cause problems about our relationship that we had discovered a passageway while on patrol. Secret passageways that appeared and disappeared all the time at Hogwarts, so no one would think twice about it. And we could find away around someone knowing about the room for future meetings. But Krios was another story.
He had been taught from a young age by Lord Black how to read even the most seasoned politicians and discern facts from conversations. He was a natural Occlumens, making him impossible to read without a powerful and direct Legilemency attack on his mind. So while he couldn't read minds, he was good at reading people. And he knew me better than anyone in my family, except Narcissa. But Narcissa already knew, and had kept it a secret, despite her vocal disapproval. I wasn't sure Krios would do the same. He has always been rather overprotective of me and my sisters.
Krios strode towards us, his face expressionless. "Hey Dromeda. I had been wondering where you were? On patrol tonight?" he asked. Ted relaxed slightly beside me. Krios didn't suspect a thing.
"Yes, we just started. Better get back to the dungeons, it's almost past curfew," I said with a small smile.
"Don't need to, my room is hidden nearby, remember? Being a Lord has its moments," Krios said with a smirk. I had forgotten about that, the lucky little bugger. What I wouldn't give for my own room.
"Honks, right?" Krios said to my fiancé who stiffened at the butchering of his name. I grimaced. If that wasn't intentional, I would eat a flobberworm. Krios knew who all the prefects were. Shafiq was a notorious gossip and a goldmine of information, and I knew Krios listened to her when she talked. I've lost count of how many times my cousin has said "knowledge is power." He was just being an asshole for some reason.
"It's Tonks, actually," Ted said, gritting his teeth at the insult.
"Right. I need to borrow my cousin for a while. House of Black business. I hope you don't mind finishing your patrols by yourself, I'm sure they wouldn't have made you a prefect if you weren't capable of holding your own," Krios said, smirking slightly at him. I held back a groan at the veiled barbs that were buried in that comment. I had often heard similar comments at the fancy dinner parties we occasionally attended. Why my cousin was being a Slytherin lordling right now was beyond me.
"That's fine. I'll meet up with you later, Andromeda," Ted said stiffly. I sighed and nodded, before turning around to walk towards my cousin's quarters. As I did, I saw Ted trip over his robes as he walked away from my cousin. And out of his robe pockets fell the box that had held the diamond engagement ring that he had given me. Krios stiffened, and picked up the box. He opened it, and then looked at me in shock. I knew my face would tell him all he needed to know, and the furious look on his face confirmed it.
"Expelliarmus," Krios said, disarming Ted who had pulled his wand instinctively when he realized that they had been found out. I pulled my wand to defend Ted, only to be disarmed as well. And I knew then that we were in trouble.
"Both of you, with me. Now," Krios said coldly, pointing his wand at my fiancé and pointing my wand at me with his other hand, having put Ted's wand in his robes. We slowly walked towards Krios's room, with Krios walking behind us with his wand at the ready.
Krios POV
I had not expected this. I had suspected that Andromeda had been up to something for months, but I had ignored it. And when I saw them, I had planned on letting it go after a few barbs, a veiled warning to Andromeda, and a tripping hex. Hopefully my attitude would make them make them think about what they were doing and keep them from doing anything stupid before I got back from Russia. Apparently I was too late.
Now I had to do damage control, which was the last thing I wanted to do on my last night of my second year of Hogwarts. All I wanted was have a short conversation with Andromeda to reassure her that I had a plan to deal with the Lestranges. Instead I have to deal with this shit and try to get them to put an end to this nonsense. If they didn't, the Lestranges or Arcturus would undoubtedly kill Ted, and possibly Andromeda as well.
Ted Tonks POV
Everything had been going so well. I had proposed to the girl of my dreams and got engaged. I had even convinced my father over the summer to accept the lucrative job offer in Central City. It was not only in order to keep them safe from the war here, but because it was an amazing opportunity. An old friend of my father's had just moved his company's research facility to Central City from Gotham City. He wanted my father, a well-respected biochemist, to lead the research facility that would be based there.
Unsurprisingly, I didn't need to do much to convince him to take the offer. We all missed America, as we were all born there. My grandparents are there as well. We moved to England when my father got a research job as a Biochemistry job at Cambridge University when I was seven. I got my acceptance letter to Hogwarts four years later, and the rest is history.
I intend to leave Hogwarts at the end of the year. It has become clear to me that I have no future in the Wizarding World outside of getting killed for being born to parents without magic. Fortunately, I realized that this world was prejudiced early on and made a plan in case I couldn't get a decent job in the Wizarding World because of my non-magical family.
I had kept up with my studies in the real world, and will be graduating from high school in the summer. I will then follow my parents to Central City to attend Central City University, where I will get my degree in business. And I have a standing offer to work in the financial department for my my father's friend's company once I finish school, as he was my godfather. I knew I would be able to live comfortably in Central City, as the pay at my godfather's company was excellent.
And Andi had agreed to go with me as my wife. Something that I still couldn't believe had had happened. When I had first become interested in her in the beginning of our fourth year, I had told Jack that I was going to ask her to Hogsmeade. He had laughed at me, due to the fact that he thought I was joking. When he realized I was serious, he told me that I had no chance.
Jack Norrington was a half-blood from a Wizarding family that had been founded in the thirteenth century. They had made a fortune in the trading and shipping industries during the first four centuries after they were founded, and had invested that wealth well enough to still be well-off, and their family had a hereditary seat in the Wizengamot centuries ago.
But despite their wealth, they were looked down upon in the Wizarding World due to frequently marrying normals and occasionally giving up their magic to leave the magical world so they could live in the real one. A lot of children of those Norringtons ended up as Squibs and became rather famous after leaving the non-magical world, such as Jack's great-great uncle, Sir Arthur Norrington. Jack once mentioned that there was even an Squib that became an Admiral in the Royal Navy in his family tree somewhere.
So when Jack told me that no witch or wizard born in a Muggle family had married a Black in written history, he knew what he was talking about. But I didn't listen to Jack, and I asked her out in January of last year. We had been dating ever since. And while I loved Andromeda and had no regrets, I was beginning to become really concerned that I wasn't going to survive the wrath of the House of Black.
We arrived at the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy moments later. "Hyperion," Krios said, causing the tapestry to swing open, revealing a passageway. Krios then motioned for us to go in with his wand, which was still pointed at my back. We walked in, with the door behind closing with an ominous thud. It was a really nice room, with the fireplace crackling and two chairs and a nice couch placed in front of it. Krios motioned for us to sit down on the couch, which we did.
"Andromeda, what have you done? Do you have any idea what Arcturus is truly capable of, especially with the Lestranges involved? Do you have any idea how much danger you have put yourselves in?" Krios asked his cousin, glaring at us angrily as he spoke.
"Krios, please! You can't tell anyone! I love Ted, and he loves me. We're getting married and moving to America in the summer. We'll be safe there, and Ted has a job and everything!" Andromeda pleaded, grabbing my hand and clasping it as she did.
"Andi, Rabastan already suspects you are seeing someone, as I had. While I was willing to ignore it as long as it was discrete, Rabastan will not. He is watching you, and he now suspects that it is a prefect, thanks to Montague. They have already narrowed it down to Tonks and Wallington in Ravenclaw, with Wallington the most likely suspect since you spend a lot of time with the Ravenclaw girls. They have noticed that you two are friendly though, and they will figure it out sooner or later," Krios informed them, his anger lessening slightly.
"You knew?" I asked in surprise. I had figured that Krios would have castrated me if he had known that we were dating.
"I started suspecting something was up over the summer by the amount of letters Andi was sending. When you have a cousin who sends maybe four letters on average over summer, it is rather noticeable when her owl is almost always gone. Even Arcturus noticed, which is why I didn't investigate. I had told him that it was probably your new friends in Ravenclaw, and that it wasn't anything to worry about. And if I started investigating, he would know and would start intercepting your mail, which would have ended badly," Krios explained.
Andromeda looked as stunned as I felt. Neither of us had even considered that her family outside of Narcissa would notice that. Andromeda had once told me that her social life was beneath her family's notice. Apparently she was wrong about that.
"And I haven't had the time to investigate since we got back to Hogwarts. I don't know if you noticed, but I have been rather busy the last three months," Krios said dryly.
I couldn't help but snort at that sarcastic comment as Andromeda let out a long-suffering sigh, There might be a few wizards living under a rock somewhere in an isolated corner of the world that hadn't heard about what had happened to the Malfoys and his engagement to the princess. As insulated as the Wizarding World was, the end of an old and prestigious line like Malfoy and the engagement between the Russian princess and the Black Heir was front page news internationally from what Andromeda told me.
Apparently the dowry that the Lestranges were paying to marry into the Blacks after hearing about Krios's engagement was rather substantial. Apparently Lestrange had screwed up a betrothal with the Blacks last year and had to give up quite a lot to convince Arcturus Black to agree to the betrothal. I've been told that the business opportunities that would come from Andromeda marrying Rodolphus would make the Lestranges richer than ever before. It was still mind-boggling how backwards the Wizarding World was sometimes. I couldn't wait to leave it all behind.
"Yeah, figured you hadn't missed that. But getting back to the problem at hand, Rabastan will have it figured out soon, likely by the end of the month. And it'll be a fucking mess when he does," Krios said with a grimace.
"Language," Andromeda scolded, causing Krios to glare at her in anger.
"Andromeda, considering I am likely the only thing that is standing between you and certain death, I will swear as much as I fucking want to. This is the last thing I need to deal with right now after everything I have and will be dealing with. And now my ass is on the line as well. I risk everything if I keep this a secret, as you well know," Krios said coldly.
I felt the blood leave my face at his statement. Krios may be a good person, but he was a Slytherin, and an extremely ambitious one at that. I watched as Krios's expression shifted from conflicted to determined. And then he raised his wand and everything went dark.
Krios POV
I sighed as I looked at the unconscious forms of Andromeda and Ted. This was by far the most difficult decision of my life here so far. Especially
since I have a feeling that my grandfather may be hesitant to completely wipe out the last members of an old pureblood family despite his anger, and the marriage has its benefits for our family. So Rodolpus and Rabastan were likely safe at least until Andromeda had a Lestrange heir. Which makes this decision even more difficult, as it gave me multiple scenarios to consider.
If I was sure that my grandfather was planning on wiping all of the Lestranges out, leaving us with Andromeda as Lady Lestrange, I would let Ted go tonight unscathed after getting a vow that he and Andromeda would wait until after the Lestrange wedding. Convincing them that I had found a loophole that would annul her marriage and allow them to live their lives in peace was definitely something I could do. I knew Andromeda didn't want to be completely cut off from us.
Andromeda then could marry him after she had officially become Lady Lestrange. As head of a old pureblood line, she could marry Ted without having to cut out her family. We would have to see her at formal events, and I could work that to our advantage down the road as far as her relationships with our family. Keeping the Lestranges as allies would likely be more important to my grandfather then her marriage to a muggleborn.
And if she decided to leave the Wizarding World behind with Ted for the Muggle one, she would be forced to name a proxy for her holdings, including the Lestrange seat in the Wizengamot. Which would undoubtedly be me, seeing as I had been the one that had ensured her relationship had survived. I was certain that I could place the blame on my grandfather for the death of the Lestranges, leaving me in the clear and in charge of another title and seat in the Wizengamot. This was definitely the option I liked the most.
But I couldn't guarantee the death of all the Lestranges until I talked with my grandfather. So I hastily scribbled a note. "Do the sins of the father become the sins of his sons, or will their blood spare them?" I then summoned Gremlin to take it to my grandfather, and told him to wait for a reply. While I waited, I bound Andromeda and Ted. I couldn't have them waking up and escaping. As I finished, Gremlin popped back into my room with a stack of documents. There was a note pinned to the top of them.
"The plans have changed. Lord Lestrange has made arrangements to marry Rabastan to a rich Greek heiress from a pureblood family known for their fertility. They will be married after Rabastan finishes his OWLS in the summer. Lord Lestrange has also agreed to abdicate his Lordship in five years to Rodolphus in exchange for moving the wedding to this coming June, two days after the end of the term at Hogwarts. I had just finished meeting with him when your note arrived. The wedding will now go through with no problems for anyone. Please inform Andromeda of this, as the announcement will be in the Prophet tomorrow morning. Feel free to read your copy of the betrothal contracts for both you and Andromeda. You will need to know how to word them in the future."
Damn. Apparently Lestrange is smarter than I thought. Although I suppose paranoia and good business sense do usually go hand in hand. And there was no doubt that Reinhardt Lestrange is a good businessman, despite his underhanded dealings and being a despicable human being in general. I honestly think that he would be awful even without Tom Riddle's influence.
I decided to read my betrothal contract first. The dowry was a bit higher than I expected, but I'm not too surprised at that. I am getting married to a princess after all. Everything else in the contract is pretty straightforward and nothing that was considered uncommon outside of the settled life debt between myself and Natalia. Our families were now officially allies, and the contract made sure that neither of our families could intentional and fatal harm the other.
I am slightly nervous at the idea of getting married to be honest, especially knowing I will have to do so three times. I hadn't been married in my past life, so this is new territory for me. And despite being a child myself, my mind was significantly older than my body. So the idea of marrying someone closer to my physical age is something that I am not totally completely with. But it needed to be done in order to make sure that my family and the Wizarding World survived the trials to come.
Andromeda's contract was worded rather similarly to mine, with only a couple differences. Neither Andromeda or Rodolphus were allowed to try to kill each other. All current and future Lord Blacks were forbidden to take any action to kill any members of the Lestrange family as long as Andromeda and her children were alive, and the Lestranges were forbidden to kill any members of the Black family. This kind of alliance was not uncommon in the Wizarding World, especially when arranging marriages. But attaching the rules to the future Heads of House was rare, and was usually reserved for families older and more prestigious than the Lestranges.
The marriage contract also guaranteed that Voldemort would't attack our family in retaliation for the imminent death of Pollux Black and would leave our family alone if we continued to officially remain neutral and stay out of the coming conflict. Apparently, Voldemort didn't want anymore problems with the House of Black. That was undoubtedly what sealed the deal for my grandfather, as it gave him time to plan for the inevitable conflict between Voldemort and the Ministry. I couldn't help but be surprised that Voldemort agreed to this.
The Pollux Black part wasn't too surprising, as he had screwed up royally by trying to kill me. I doubt Voldemort had wanted to have me killed just yet. I'm a rich pureblood heir young enough to change my mind on Voldemort, and far too valuable. But agreeing to a truce with us was definitely a surprise, as I thought Voldemort's ego wouldn't allow him to agree to such a thing. Either Lestrange had given these terms without Voldemort's permission, or Voldemort was a lot cleverer than I thought, which was a very disturbing idea.
Voldemort aside, it is clear that Lord Lestrange was extremely determined to bind our families together, considering the money involved and that he had likely gotten a temperamental egomaniac like Voldemort to agree to a truce. That took serious balls, and I couldn't help but be slightly impressed with him for it. As I neared the end of the contract, I found the reason why he was risking so much, despite the dowry amount being a lower amount than usual.
It appears that Lord Lestrange has been very busy making business deals recently. From what I understand, his alliance with my family will guarantee him some lucrative business deals that will make the Lestranges one of the ten richest Wizarding families in Europe. I am sure a lot of it will go towards funding Voldemort's activities. Terrorist operations are expensive, after all. And with the death of Abraxas and the loss of the his funds, Voldemort undoubtedly needed more financial backing. Which explained Voldemort agreeing to the truce.
After I had finished reading both contracts, I started considering how could I best protect Andromeda in this situation without risking everything. My grandfather's message and some of the terms of the contract had thrown all my most viable plans out the window, including my long-term plan of searching the Lestrange vault for the cup, which was a huge blow. Now I only had four options left to deal with this situation.
Option number one was to have Ted killed in order to make sure that the wedding went as planned. Option number two was to break them up for the same reason. Option number three was to let my cousin leave the Wizarding World and her family to marry Ted and live in the Muggle world. Option number four was the riskiest, as it would require me to hold Ted prisoner until the wedding reception. I would hire assassins to kill the Lestranges, leaving Andromeda as the widowed Lady Lestrange. She could then marry Ted with the political clout to survive the backlash from marrying a Muggleborn.
Option number one was repulsive to me for a few reasons. For one, it would destroy Andromeda and would undoubtedly end any relationship between us if I got caught. I don't mind killing evil shit stains that join the Death Eaters like Rodolphus Lestrange who enjoy hurting others. Breaking them up would be difficult to do in one night, although that was definitely an option to consider trying first. Ted is a good man, so I could possibly convince him of the danger he was in. He could also be useful to me as a contact in the Muggle World, making options number two and three appealing to me.
Option number four was my personal favorite, as it allowed me to achieve my personal goals as well as allow everyone to live happily ever after. Except for the Lestranges of course, but their deaths would certainly make the world a better place. However, that option had a lot of variables and carried a lot of risk. A lot could go wrong, and any mistake on my part or that of the assassins could put me in the crosshairs of three powerful wizards.
Voldemort would be furious over the death of three of his most loyal followers, Arcturus would be angry that I defied his orders and allowed Andromeda to marry a Muggleborn, and Dumbledore would be upset that I hired assassins to kill a family for personal gain. Not to mention the majority of the Wizarding World would likely want my head on a plate as well. I would definitely be spending the rest of my life in Azkaban, and that was if I was lucky.
I decided to discard option number four immediately, as the risk was far too great, even with the rewards it would bring. Even if I hired someone competent like Kincaid or someone from the League of Assassins, there was no guarantee that I would be able to cover my tracks well enough. Especially since me and my grandfather would be the obvious guilty parties, as we have the most to gain. And my strong relationships with my cousins is no secret. And organizing something like that while on another continent would be next to impossible, especially under the watchful eyes of the Royal family and my cousin Bellatrix.
Option number one was an option I absolutely hated. But I couldn't deny that it was a practical one. It would allow my family to be protected from the Dark Lord for the rest of my time at Hogwarts, giving me and Arcturus time to gain strength and make plans. Option number three had a lot of problems as well, including the Lestranges themselves and the fact that the magical world had their ways of making sure that Muggleborns stayed in the magical world. Option number two was my first choice, but I needed a backup plan in case I failed to convince them to break up. I finally decided that I knew what I needed to do, and promptly summoned Kreacher and gave him some very specific instructions. I also got a report from Mipsy, who had some very interesting news for me.
I then walked out of my room to where Andromeda and Ted were unconscious and bound. Only to find out that they were neither unconscious or bound, and were searching for their wands that I still had in my robes. I cleared my throat loudly, causing them both to jump. They turned and looked at me fearfully.
"Andromeda, did you really think that I would leave your wands lying around where you could find them?" I asked with a smirk. Andromeda put on a brave face and glared at me.
"Let us go, Krios," Andromeda demanded.
"I will, after I make a few things clear. You two are to stop this nonsense immediately. You have no idea what kind of shitstorm that you have walked into. Your lives are not the only one at risk here. Who do you think will be forced to marry Rodolphus if you don't, Andromeda? Are you really so selfish to ask Narcissa to take your place?" I asked her furiously. Andromeda paled and opened her mouth to respond, but I was on a roll, and cut off her response.
"And for what? A man who wants you to abandon your family? Who wants you to throw away your magical gifts and live without them? You are willing to sacrifice everything, your family and magic itself, for a teenage crush born out of rebellion? You are no better than Cassiopeia if you are willing to betray our family for such madness," I ranted angrily.
"I am nothing like her!" Andromeda protested angrily.
"Difference side of the same coin. You are splitting away from our family because we aren't willing to risk the Statute to use our magic to help Muggles. Cassiopeia split because Lord Black refuses to use magic to rule them. And you are both short-sighted and foolish. Conquering them is a fool's errand, and expecting them to accept our gifts peacefully when we reveal ourselves is naive and foolish. They will either try to exploit our gifts or kill us. The main religion calls for witches to be burned after all," I retorted.
"They're not all like that," Andromeda protested.
"The ones who are in power are. Please imagine how our Ministry would react if they were told that there was an entire race of people that could bend reality to their will and take their powers away with a few words and a stick. It would end badly, just like it did when the goblins rebelled and when dark wizards attempted to seize power through force. Their goverments and wealthy elite are exactly like ours. All it would take is one wizard caught attacking a Muggle to start a war. The only reason it hasn't is because we have people in our government keeping our secrets. And they don't let Muggleborns escape the magical world without taking precautions," I replied.
"What precautions?" Ted asked in alarm.
"You really think the Ministry or the ICW is going to let people with knowledge of our world slip away and work with the Muggles? You think you're the first Muggleborn to try to use magic to make a fortune in the Muggle world? What do you think we have the ICW for? The entire purpose of that group is to protect the Statute of Secrecy. There are multiple departments in the Ministry and the ICW dedicated to protecting our secrets around the world 24/7 every day of the year. The majority of the Muggleborns who leave England because our Ministry is rather prejudiced against them end up working for the ICW or Ministries overseas. The ones that don't have to take an Unbreakable Vow not to reveal their magic to anyone not aware of our existence. The ones that don't are killed or imprisoned," I told them. Both Andromeda and Tonks looked shocked at this information.
"So we don't stand a chance, then? Is that what you are saying?" Ted asked fiercely.
"That's exactly what I am saying. Lord Black and Lord Lestrange have connections overseas. Connections that owe them favors. They will find you. Andromeda will be dragged back to England to marry Rodolphus and you will be killed in a likely painful way. Your family will likely be killed too. If you went to America by yourself, you will be allowed to live a normal life as long as you keep the magical world a secret. But Andromeda doesn't have that luxury. Believe me, I would love to let you both go somewhere away from the war that is coming for us. But it's not in the cards. The contract with the Lestranges made sure of that," I told them. A moment of shocked silence followed my statement. Andromeda broke it.
"Krios is right. I love you, Ted, but I can't abandon my family like this. And I can't lead you to your death by staying with you," Andromeda said, tears starting to run down as she took the ring off her finger. She then handed it to a speechless Ted before breaking down sobbing. I felt terrible, but I would rather her be sad then dead.
"Mipsy!" I called. My dutiful house elf that I got from the Malfoys popped into the room. She was one of the three elves that I had appointed as my personal assistants that I got from the Malfoys. The rest were maintaining the dozen or so properties that made up the Malfoy estate, excluding the destroyed Malfoy Manor that I had no intention of rebuilding.
"Yes Master Krios?" Mipsy asked.
"Take Andromeda to my cottage outside of Inverness. She's had a rough night," I told him, handing a sobbing Andromeda her wand and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. I handed Gremlin a letter to give to her once they reached the cottage hidden in the Scottish highlands that once belonged to the Malfoys. I had written it while she was unconcious, for I had to make sure she understood why I intervened. Gremlin then grabbed the hand of my sobbing cousin and disappeared with a pop, leaving me alone with a stunned Ted.
"You know, this is nothing personal. I would rather a decent person like you marry my cousin instead of someone like Rodolphus Lestrange. But there is far too much at stake to stop their betrothal even if I could. And my cousin's safety is more important to me then her happiness, because happiness is rather meaningless to the dead," I said seriously.
"Yeah, right. Me being a Muggleborn has nothing to do with it," Ted said sarcastically.
"It doesn't actually. I prefer to judge people by their character. I don't know if you noticed, but being a pureblood hasn't stopped people like the Lestrange brothers and Amos Diggory from being cunts," I said dryly.
Ted let out a snort of laughter at that. "Fair enough. But the fact that you are only doing this to protect your cousin doesn't make this any easier," Ted replied bitterly.
"I didn't expect it to, honestly. I personally keep hoping Rodolphus dies in some freak accident or gets killed during one his nightime masquerades," I said.
"I wouldn't shed a tear if that happened. You really think Rodolphus is a Death Eater?" Ted asked curiously.
"I don't think, I know that he and his father are Death Eaters, probably right up in the Inner Circle too. Problem is, no one can prove it and everyone is too afraid to accuse them. Power and money often do a lot of the talking, you know," I replied.
"I'm aware. It's one of the reasons I'm leaving. At least the corruption in the normal world isn't as widespread, especially back home in America," Ted grumbled.
I barely stopped myself from laughing at that. "Oh buddy, just wait a couple of years. I'll have to remind him of this when Nixon is forced to resign," I thought to myself humorously. "Right. Sure it is. Speaking of which, you should probably head back to America. I overheard Diggory bragging to his friends after he got out of the Hospital Wimg that he found out a way to get revenge on the both of us tomorrow at breakfast. I think you know what that means," I said grimly. It was actually Mipsy who overheard him, but Ted didn't need to know that. I am so glad I had him tailed in case he started plotting revenge for his humiliation on the pitch earlier.
"Amos has always been a cunt, and he never did get over me getting the prefect badge instead of him. But I never thought that he would stoop this low. Why are you telling me this? Wouldn't it be a lot easier for you to let the Lestranges kill me when they find out?" Ted asked after he had taken a moment to process the information.
"Honestly? Yeah, it would. It would be so easy to have you killed and toss your body into the Forbidden Forest where no one would ever find it because it was eaten. But I'm not the type to kill innocent people just because they aren't born to a Wizarding family. Which is why I stepped in when I did. If I were you, I would take one of the secret passageways out of Hogwarts tonight. I already had one of my house elves bring your things down. I also bought you a plane ticket for a flight to Central City tomorrow morning. I would make sure you don't miss it," I told him.
Ted didn't look entirely convinced that I was doing this out of the kindness of my heart, and apparently had a bit of Gryffindor in him, as he decided to voice it. "Why are you doing this? I have heard more than once that you are the best thing to come out of Slytherin in living memory, but you were put in Slytherin for a reason. What do you get out of this?" Ted asked, eyeing me warily. I was rather impressed by that assessment, as it was entirely correct.
"I can see why you were handpicked for a job at your godfather's company at such a young age. Don't worry, it's nothing that you won't be comfortable doing. In fact, it will make us both a lot of money," I said with a grin.
I could tell Ted was hooked by the time that I had finished my sales pitch. He even signed a business contract that I had Kreacher get my account manager at Gringotts to draw up on my orders. By the time Ted had grabbed his things and made his way out of Hogwarts, I had gained a loyal man in a good position to make me a ton of money investing in the Muggle world. I then spent the next hour finishing ironing out the details of my plan to deal with Diggory's accusations that he planned on spreading in the morning. which actually called for me to make a deal that I rather wished I didn't have to make. But it was a small price to pay for my family's safety and happiness.