This is just a one-shot.

I wrote this because I hate it when people make Bellatrix out as this completely heartless and evil person. I wanted to make her human.

oooOoooOoooOooo

Andromeda Tonks stood outside the large, imposing mansion with determination on her face and fear in her heart. She stood, waiting for someone to open the heavy oak door, in front of her older sister's house. Bellatrix was home, Andromeda was sure. She had double checked everything. There was no way that Bellatrix wasn't home.

She felt a jolt of fear as the door opened, revealing her none-too-happy brother-in-law. Rodolphus did not look pleased to see her. It was a shame, too, that Rodolphus hated her. They had always gotten along, before she revealed her relationship with Ted, that is.

"What do you want?" Rodolphus snapped, an angry scowl etched onto his face.

Andromeda folded her arms over her chest and glared. Yes, they had always gotten along and she liked him fine, but she did not like being talked to the way he was talking to her. "I want to talk to Bella. I know she's home."

"She is. You can't come in." Rodolphus mirrored her posture mockingly.

"I'm coming in. You can't stop me." Andromeda raised her chin and gave him a look that dared him to challenge her.

"I can't? Why is that?" Rodolphus asked, biting back a genuinely amused laugh.

"Because if you harm one hair on my head, Bella will skin you alive." Andromeda answered confidently. She knew that, despite their differences, neither of her sisters would ever hurt her or let anyone else hurt her.

The irritated look she received from her oldest sister's husband told her that he knew it too. Andromeda smiled coldly at him, and motioned to the door in an effort to get him to move amicably. Normally, she would have cursed him out of the way, but she couldn't afford a duel right then. It would be too risky. She only hoped he wouldn't call her bluff.

He didn't. He let out a menacing growl, worthy of a werewolf, and moved out of the way. Andromeda made her way into the cold and immaculate house. She didn't pause to let Rodolphus lead her to Bellatrix, or to have him tell her where to find her. Andromeda knew exactly where Bella would be.

Andromeda walked right through the house, and out the back door that led to the courtyard. Once there, Bellatrix was easily spotted. She was kneeling in a garden of flowers, mostly roses, and attending the garden in a most muggle fashion. It was a secret humiliation amongst the family. Bellatrix had always insisted on having a garden and keeping it the muggle way.

The whole family had been sworn to secrecy. Not even Bella's closest friends knew about it.

Andromeda took a moment to watch her sister. For a moment, just a moment, she felt like she was fourteen again.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

Andromeda sat on the ground, next to her kneeling sister, and wrinkled her nose. "Why do you insist on rolling around in the dirt like a filthy muggle?"

Bellatrix let out an irritated huff, and rolled her eyes. "It relaxes me."

"Why do you need to garden to relax? Can't you just shag Rodolphus, or something?" Andromeda asked, picking up a small shovel-like object that Bella used on her garden.

"Because shagging Rodolphus isn't exactly something we can do together, now is it?" Bellatrix snapped, grabbing the shovel-like thing away from her.

Andromeda laughed, "No, I suppose not."

"We don't spend much time together. Even if you're going to ask me absurd questions, I enjoy doing things with you."

"What about when you insist on gardening alone?" Andromeda asked, wiping invisible dirt off of her shoulder.

"There are two reasons I garden. To spend time with you or Cissy, and to remember." Bella asked, pulling a weed out of the garden.

"Remember?"

"I like to just remember."

Andromeda nodded. "I'm not going to dig in the dirt."

Andromeda sighed. She wondered what Bella was remembering. She took a deep breath and gathered her failing courage. It was times like these that she wished she'd been in Gryffindor with Ted. She marched, purposefully, for her sister, stopping only a foot away. There she just stood, knowing that Bella knew she was there.

"What do you want, Andy?" Bella asked, pausing a moment before she stood up.

Andromeda watched her stunning sister remove gardening gloves and decided she couldn't tell her what she'd come there to tell her.

"I can't come to visit?" Andromeda frowned.

"No. You can't." Bella stated simply.

Andromeda wrung her hands together. "I have something I want to tell you."

Bella gave her an annoyed look. "I know this, that's why you're here."

Andromeda nodded, absent mindedly. "Yeah, but, the thing is... I'm not ready to say it out loud."

"Then why don't you leave, and come back when you're ready?" Bella snapped.

Andromeda looked Bella in the eye. "Do you really want me to? We haven't spoken in months-"

"We haven't spoken since you ran off and eloped with that disgusting mudblood." Bella interrupted, hatred burning in her eyes.

Andromeda stopped and stared at her sister. She knew that Bella would never accept Ted, but she had at least hoped that... she didn't know what she had hoped, but she certainly hadn't wanted to see that hatred in Bella's eyes. She had always known that Bella held true hatred inside of her, but she had never once thought that the hatred inside her would be aimed at her.

To be honest, she hadn't really believed that she had lost her sisters until that moment. She had always secretly believed they would eventually accept Ted, and that they could be sisters again someday. It was idealistic, and Andromeda had always laughed at idealists, but she couldn't help it. She loved her sisters unconditionally, she'd never let herself think that love wasn't returned.

When she noticed Bella's face soften, she realized that a few tears had slipped out of her eyes. Andromeda quickly wiped away her tears and looked at Bella.

"Why do you hate me so much? Was marrying Ted really so wrong?" Andromeda asked.

"Yes it was. He's mudblood and that is unforgivable. Don't you believe in what our Lord is fighting for?" Bella asked, pushing her dark hair out of her face as the wind picked up.

"Your Lord, Bella. He is not, nor has he ever been, my Lord." Andromeda snapped. She would not let Bella group her in with the pureblood fanatics, not anymore, not ever again. She ignored the hurt that came when Bella didn't deny hating her.

Bellatrix stopped and looked and Andromeda. It felt, to Andromeda, that Bella was seeing her for the first time. She didn't look completely horrified.

"I don't hate you." Bella said, quietly, keeping their eyes firmly connected. "I could never hate you."

"But you can't ever forgive me, either, right?" Andromeda finished for her.

Bella looked a little sad as she nodded.

Andromeda nodded back, and gave her sister a sad smile. "That's good, because I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive you either."

"Then why are you here?" Bella whispered, walking so that they were just inches apart.

Andromeda's sad smile fell from her face as she looked away from Bella. Her eyes locked onto the garden. "What are you remembering?"

Bellatrix turned to glance at the garden before turning back to Andromeda. "You. Before you became a filthy mudblood lover. Aunty Black burned you out of our family tree, did you know?"

Andromeda nodded. She'd figured. "I consider that an honor."

The two of them fell into a familiar, comfortable silence; lost in their thoughts. Andromeda was pleased to know that, after everything, they could just spend time together like they used to... even if there were some rather large elephants surrounding them. She could never forgive Bella for the atrocities she committed as a Death Eater, but she could never feel anything other than love for the woman--her sister.

Growing weary of the silence, Andromeda decided to tell Bella and get it over with. She placed her hand over her lower stomach and took a deep breath. She remembered why she was there, and pulled strength from that.

"I'm going to tell you why I'm here." Andromeda stated. She was shocked at how firmly her voice had flowed from her mouth.

Bellatrix quickly turned to give Andromeda a suspicious look, but nodded her to continue.

"I'm pregnant."

It was a simple statement, but suddenly both women were winded, as if they had been hit in the stomach. Bellatrix's face was emotionless, she was like stone. Andromeda couldn't tell what was going on inside her sister's mind, it was as if Bella's eyes were at war.

After a tense beat, Bellatrix set her jaw. She didn't look at Andromeda, she just started toward the house. She whispered six small words as she passed Andromeda.

"Get out. Don't ever come back."

It's amazing how six little words can completely shatter a person's heart.

oooOoooOoooOooo

Thank you for reading, I really like this one-shot, I want to know if you do!

This is a ONE-SHOT! Don't ask me to update soon, don't tell me you like where this is going. Don't put this story on your story alert list (but feel free to add it to your favourites!)

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