Healing the Broken

Chapter 39- A Due Death

"It reminds me of Grawp, and honestly, he kind of scares me." She had told Harry.

"Hi Teddy!" Hermione smiled, but she was already beaming, so her smile only grew. "Are you ready to stay here?"

He nods happily.

Harry takes Hermione's free hand and turns to Andromeda. She was looking pale and feverish, and their were beads of sweat glistening on her forehead. Nonetheless, she was smiling contently. "How many words does he know?" Harry asks.

She glances at Teddy. "Just simple names and words- Hermy, Harry, Ron, and Annie, which he calls me... and then hungry, tired, thirsty, yes, no...potty... I think that might be all- oh. And he knows how to say mom and dad... but you can imagine he- he doesn't use those two much." Her voice fades and is clouded over by sadness.

Harry nods. "It's alright, Andromeda- and thank you, for bringing him to me. Are you feeling alright? Do you need to stay the night?"

She shakes her head. "No, thank you- the two of you have been very kind. But I won't intrude on your first night in your new home." She glances down at her watch, which read that the time was half past three. "I best be going- things to do. Errands to run. Take care of him for me." A tear drips from her eye, but she wipes it away, and gives Teddy one last hug, and a kiss on the top of the head. "Goodbye Teddy."

She turns shutting the door behind her.

"Andromeda!" Hermione says suddenly. "Here, Harry, take Teddy- Andromeda!" She rushes after the witch, out the door and into the front yard, which is a bright green lawn and a quite untidy flower bed, complete with a brown, wooden front porch. "Andromeda." She catches the woman's wrist.

Andromeda turns, and there were black tear tracks down her face. "Oh- Hermione." She makes to wipe away her tears, but Hermione catches her other wrist.

"Is everything alright? Harry told me you were sick, back when you sent him the letter about us adopting Teddy... have you gotten any better?" She asks, trying desperately to look into her eyes.

Andromeda shakes her head sadly. "No, my dear, I'm afraid I have only gotten worse."

Hermione nods. "Maybe if you tell me, I can help you-"

She shakes her head vigorously. "No. It won't work- I'm cursed, Hermione. A cursed sickness set upon me by my dear sister. I'm due to die in eleven days."

"You- You're cursed? By Bellatrix?" Andromeda nods, and Hermione lets out a frustrated cry, releasing Andromeda's wrists and kicking her lawn. "Why does Bellatrix have to ruin everything? Why? Can't we just have one happy moment, without her tarnishing it? Even when the stupid witch was dead, she still managed to cause havoc- and even capture a student! And now, here she is, letting you die because of some silly curse she set upon you?"

Andromeda, who was now alarmed, sets a calming palm on her shoulder. "My dear, I understand that my sister has done nothing but bad, I do. I was fighting my sister on a mission during the war, when it had not yet ended, and she cursed me- an ancient spell, who's cure had been long forgotten."

Hermione looks down at Andromeda's pale hand, which was ice cold against Hermione's skin- she was wearing a tank top. Her nails were messily painted blue, with nail polish splattered onto her skin. Hermione knew instantly that Teddy had painted them for her. "So you're just going to... die? Just like that? You haven't tried any potions, or spells-"

Andromeda frowns. "I've tried everything there is to try! None of it has worked in the slightest. I'm still sick, and I'm still going to die in eleven days."

"How do you know it's eleven days?"

Andromeda presses her her lips into a thin, pink line. "I did some reading on it- I have the Doomed Of Death Curse. After the curse is set upon you, you will live exactly two more years, before dying the day you were cursed."