Aurelian (Dramione)

Chapter 19: Black Past Revealed

"No, I don't," Draco admitted. Just like in the pensieve, he felt a little uneasy about meeting his aunt for the first time. He hoped that Potter had remembered to mention that he would be coming with them, but he couldn't bring himself to ask.

"That's fine. You'll just have to side-along," said Harry. Both he and Hermione offered their arms simultaneously. They looked at each other in surprise and Harry quickly lowered his arm. Hermione blushed and Draco looked at them both suspiciously. After a second's pause, Draco lightly took hold of Hermione's proffered arm. As soon as he did, he felt the familiar pulling and stretching sensation of Apparition. When his body felt firm and natural again, he took a moment to survey his surroundings.

The three of them stood on an empty sidewalk of a very familiar looking residential neighborhood. It was one that Harry and Hermione had seen many times before, but Draco had viewed only once in the pensieve. He recalled that memory well and automatically reached for his wand pocket. Harry stayed his arm.

"You won't need that. This isn't the memory and I saw her just yesterday at the Burrow when she picked up Teddy," Harry told him.

Draco nodded. "Habit."

"A good one, but we don't want her to feel uneasy or suspicious."

Draco nodded and he and Hermione followed after Harry. Their walk through the neighborhood was a quiet one, each of them concentrating on their own thoughts and questions. It was only a few minutes later that their walk led them up a small worn path to the front door of a small white house. Harry knocked twice and the door opened almost immediately.

"Ah, Harry," Andromeda greeted when she opened the door. "Right on time, as usual."

Harry glanced at his watch and saw that it was indeed eleven o'clock on the dot. He was actually rather surprised. He was almost exactly on time whenever he came to pick up Teddy to visit, but that was because he was usually excited to see the boy and waited by the floo for the clock to strike the hour. He loved his godson very much and desired to be a large part of his life. Arriving by Apparition with two guests though, he was surprised at how well they managed to time things.

"Thank you," Harry said as the woman let him in.

"Hermione," she nodded. "Draco."

Draco was surprised to hear her use his first name, but even more surprised by the ease with which she spoke it. They had never technically met.

"Nice to see you, Aunt Andromeda," he said cordially.

"You don't have to say that, you know," she told him.

"No," he said, taken aback. "I mean it." He was rather surprised to find that he actually did. It was difficult for him to accept that he had so few living relatives. But even more troubling was that he had two living relatives not far from him that he had never met because of an old, petty family dispute.

"Well, in that case, I'm pleased to finally meet you," Andromeda returned with a smile. "But, let's not just stand at the door. Let us move to the sitting room. Harry?"

The house was quite small, so Harry, being at the front of the group, led the way. When they entered the small sitting room, Harry took a seat at the far-side of the settee. Hermione sat next to him and Draco took the other end. Andromeda smiled to them and summoned an armchair, so that she could sit opposite them across the coffee table.

"So, may I offer you some tea?" she asked before sitting.

"Uh, no, thank you," Harry declined. "This is just meant to be a short visit."

Andromeda looked at him sternly. "It does not matter how long the visit or how well one knows their guests, it is proper to have tea with a conversation," she stated. Draco stared at the woman and felt that he knew her so much better already. That very phrase had been told to him by his mother many times. Even just between the two of them, a proper conversation could not be made without tea. She looked rather like his mother also. In fact, Andromeda looked like a rather perfect cross between her older and younger sisters. Her long shiny hair was medium brown in color and was swept into a sleek French twist. Her heart-shaped face was neither as soft as his mother's, nor as sharp as Bellatrix's. She looked both youthful and worn. She was a woman who had lived a difficult, but satisfying life, and it shown in her eyes.