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Chapter – 6 A Widowed Mother and Her Daughter II
"Drek… what in Morgana's name are you doing here…?"
He didn't turn around.
He knew that voice.
Andromeda.
The moment he heard her, the storm of thoughts in his head shattered.
"What was I?" he murmured, blinking his eyes, looking around, a bit confused as his eyes landed on the bed. There was little Nymphadora, fast asleep on the bed…
And there he was, just a few steps away, staring at her like some lost soul.
What had just played out earlier, him choking the little girl to death, had all been in his head.
He hadn't actually laid a finger on her… not yet.
He was only toying with the thought, weighing it up in his drunken haze.
But Andromeda's sudden arrival had snapped him out of it.
"Drek?" Andromeda called again, stepping into the room. "You've been gone for several minutes now… weren't you just off to the loo?"
He finally turned to face her.
"I was… just…" he mumbled, the rest of his words catching in his throat as he met her gaze, brows furrowed, lips tight. A suspicious and distrustful look. A look he didn't like, and wanted to be looked at with.
He let out a sigh. "I just wanted to check if Ted's daughter was sleeping peacefully…"
A lie, of course.
He couldn't exactly tell her he'd wandered in here out of intoxication and was having murderous thoughts toward the little girl just moments ago—could he?
"I see…" Andromeda murmured.
Her instincts screamed that Drek was lying. The way his eyes darted, the unease in his voice, all pointed to something off. But she couldn't quite pin down his intentions.
She walked over to her daughter.
Seeing the girl sleeping soundly, she chose not to press Drek any further.
"She's sleeping peacefully…" she said softly, brushing a gentle hand across Nymphadora's forehead.
Then she turned to Drek and added, "Come on… let's not disturb her rest. Let's go."
"Yes…" Drek nodded, stepping out of the room.
Andromeda cast one last look at her daughter before quietly following him out.
As she pulled the door shut behind her, she noticed Drek hadn't gone down. He was still standing outside Nymphadora's room, only now, his eyes were fixed on another door… the master bedroom. His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.
"Drek… let's go downstairs," Andromeda said gently from behind. "Anna's waiting… It's getting late."
Snapped from his thoughts once again, Drek muttered, "Yeah… I should be heading home. Probably had one too many…"
He turned and started down the stairs, but had barely taken a step before his foot slipped and he nearly lost his balance, stumbling forward.
"Drek!" Andromeda cried, grabbing his shirt just in time.
He caught himself against the banister, panting. "Y… yeah," he said with a shaky laugh, "I might've had a bit too much after all…"
"I… I'll support you," Andromeda said with concern as she slipped an arm around him to steady his weight.
It wasn't easy, Drek was much heavier than she should be able to balance normally, but she managed, almost like it wasn't her first time doing so.
With her help, Drek stopped stumbling, and the pair slowly made their way down the stairs, one step at a time.
As they descended, Drek found himself watching Andromeda's face—how lovely she looked, even now.
Even though it had been more than fifteen years since their graduation from Hogwarts, his heart still thumped when he looked at her.
But seeing her strain herself to help him made him feel guilty. "Sorry for causing you trouble," he muttered, shame flickering across his face.
"It's alright," Andromeda replied with a faint smile.
"Sometimes… Ted would come home just like this. Drunk as anything and barely able to make it up the stairs. I'd help him too, back then… so…"
But the moment Andromeda murmured Ted's name, Drek's mood shifted. His expression soured, and he muttered in a slightly irritated tone, "I see… so you've done this before—with him, yeah?"
She gave him a puzzled look, hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yes," she said, before eyeing him warily. "Is there a problem with me helping Ted when he's had one too many…?"
Drek scoffed quietly, shaking his head. "Yeah… always Ted, innit?"
Andromeda blinked, confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He stopped halfway down the stairs, forcing her to stop too, and spoke to her in a low, bitter voice. "It's always been him, hasn't it? Even when we were back at Hogwarts… you never even looked at me. Never once. Just him. Even though I—"
Andromeda's expression tightened, and she interrupted him, "Drek… you're drunk. Let's just get you down and—"
But he turned, suddenly stepping in front of her, blocking her path. The alcohol made his movement sluggish, but there was something heated, restless, in his eyes. "I waited, you know. For years. Thought maybe you'd see me someday. Thought maybe… but no… You never did… never once did you see me… What was so good about that moron… that—"
"Drek—stop," Andromeda warned, her voice firm now.
He leaned in closer, his breath heavy with all the beer he had chugged down, eyes locked on hers. "I loved you, Andromeda. I still do."
She took a step back, her spine brushing against the wall.
"That's enough," she said coldly, her posture stiff, gaze sharp now. "You're not yourself right now. I'll call Anna—"
But he didn't move. Just stood there, swaying slightly, jaw clenched, fists trembling at his sides.
"You don't get it, do you?" he hissed. "Ted's dead. He's gone. You don't have to keep harping on about that filthy mudbloo—"
"I said that's enough!" Andromeda snapped, her eyes blazing.
Her hand flew before he could finish—crack!
The sharp sound of the slap echoed down the hallway, sharp enough to carry into the other rooms.
Anna, waiting in the other room, turned her head at the noise and got up with the bottle of butterbear in her hand, and decided to check out what the sound was.
Even Nymphadora, who'd been fast asleep in her own room, stirred awake, blinked her eyes open.
"Andromeda…" murmured Drek with his head tilted from the slap, and his long blonde hair covered his face.
Andromeda took a breath, steadying herself. "You need to leave, Drek. Now."
But things weren't going to end there… oh no.
Drek was far too pissed to take a slap in the face and simply walk away.
Years of buried rage, jealousy, envy, frustration, and obsession all came boiling to the surface at once.
His eyes burned red as he glared at Andromeda, and for the first time, she felt a chill under his gaze that was not just the uncomfortable feeling… but real fear.
Before the witch could react, he lunged, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her back against the stairwell wall.
"Drek!" Andromeda gasped, shocked by his sudden move, trying to push him off—
But he was far too heavy, far too strong for her to manage.
"Andromeda… just look at these beautiful eyes… these lips…" he muttered with an obsessive smile, tracing his fingers along her face, reaching toward her mouth.
"Let… let go of me…" she cried, recoiling from his touch, trying desperately to reach for her wand, and almost took it out.
But Drek spotted it before she could raise her wand. With a sharp movement, he drove his knee into her hand, knocking it clean. "Aaah…" she cried in pain, her grip loosened, and the wand clattered down the stairs.
He didn't spare it a glance.
Instead, he seized both her wrists and yanked them upward, pinning them together with ease.
"I've had enough of holding back when Edward was alive… but now he's gone, and I can't do it anymore," he hissed, breath hot and ragged.
"I don't want to hold back. Tonight, I'm going to make you mine… even if by force!"
He leaned in, eyes fixed on her lips.
"No… stop…" Andromeda sobbed, tears running down her cheeks as she shook her head. Seeing he wasn't stopping, she pleaded, "Please… stop… you have a wife… for Anna's sake, Drek… just stop…"
That name—Anna—made him freeze.
His twisted smile collapsed into a sneer.
"Wife? For Anna's sake? That filthy Mudblood?" he spat. "She means nothing to me! The only reason I even married her was 'cause I was losing my mind when I found out you were marrying Edward! I don't need her—I don't want her—I've never loved her!"
He leaned in again, snarling, "The one I've always loved is you… only you—!"
But before he could force his lips on her—
"Depulso!"
The shout rang out from above.
A blast of invisible force slammed into Drek's back. His eyes went wide in shock as his grip on Andromeda was torn away.
The sheer impact hurled him down the staircase like a ragdoll. He crashed to the floor below with a sickening thud that rattled the whole hallway.
Andromeda gasped, clutching her throat, eyes darting upwards toward the voice—
—And there she was.
At the top of the stairs.
Trembling, wand held in both hands, pale as a ghost and breathing hard—
Nymphadora.
Her voice shook, but her words didn't.
"Stay… away… from my mum."
…
Andromeda stayed where she was, back pressed against the wall, her breathing ragged, forehead sweaty, heart thumping in fear.
Wide-eyed, she looked at her trembling daughter who had just saved her, then turned toward Drek, who was already pushing himself up from the floor.
"Bitch!" he roared, his voice echoing through the hall as he whipped out his wand.
The murderous intent he'd barely held back earlier had now fully erupted.
The tip of his wand lit up with a brilliant green glow, bright and deadly, aimed straight at Nymphadora.
Andromeda's heart dropped. She knew that spell. She knew it too well.
"Dora—hide!" she shouted, panic flooding her voice as she scrambled, reaching out desperately for her own wand.
Crash!
The sharp sound of glass shattering rang out across the hall.
All eyes snapped to the source—
There stood Anna, tears brimming in her eyes, a broken bottle at her feet.
Shards of glass lay scattered around her, and a pool of spilled butterbeer soaked into the floorboards.
"Anna…"
Both Andromeda and Drek said her name at the same time.
The woman stood frozen, heartbroken—she'd seen it all, heard every word with her own ears.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she let out a bitter, hollow laugh.
"Haha… so I was always just a…"
She couldn't even finish the sentence, the weight of the word too heavy, too vile to say aloud.
Spinning on her heel, she bolted, racing toward the dining hall and straight for the exit.
She couldn't bear to stay there a moment longer.
Didn't want to. Not even for a second.
She just wanted to vanish—disappear completely… go anywhere but here.
Clicking his tongue in frustration, Drek shot a glare at both Andromeda and Nymphadora before rushing after her.
"Anna—wait!"
But Anna didn't wait. She burst out of the house and, with a sharp crack, Disapparated on the spot.
Drek skidded to a halt just outside the door, realising she was gone. His face twisted in fury as he stomped the ground. "Aaarghhh!"
After a moment, he turned on his heel and stormed back toward the house—only to find the front door shut tight.
"Andromeda! Open the bloody door!" he shouted, fists pounding against the wood.
Silence.
"Aaarghhh!" he screamed again, rage boiling over as he fired a spell at the door—only to have it bounce back; repelled by the protective enchantments Andromeda had cast from within using her wand.
"ANDROMEDA—OPEN—THE—BLOODY—DOOR!"
Snarling, he cast spell after spell, one right after the other, at the door and the walls around the house, but the wooden door or the walls didn't so much as creak.
Breathing heavily, his eyes locked on the unyielding door, jaw clenched, magic spent.
Left with no other option, he gave the house one last bitter glare—
—and Disapparated.
Not long after Drek vanished, silence settled over the seemingly empty street.
But the truth was… it wasn't empty.
From one shadowy corner, there was a pair of eyes, had been watching everything unfold.
The owner of the black eyes murmured quietly, "As I suspected…"
It was none other than Rigel.
Having witnessed the entire scene, Rigel wore a thoughtful expression before his lips arched into a smile, "I know what to do…"
A plan was already beginning to take shape in his mind.
Once he was sure there was nothing more worth watching, he turned to the old house-elf standing behind him.
"Come on, Kreacher. Let's be off."
Kreacher gave a small nod, and with a soft crack, the two of them Disapparated.
…
Meanwhile, inside the house, Andromeda clutched her wand tightly, her hand trembling as she kept the protective charm active.
She was far too shaken to rest easy, too scared to even breathe properly.
Even after the sounds of spells crashing against the enchantment had stopped, she didn't dare let her guard down.
Somewhere in her mind, the fear lingered, 'if I drop it for even a second, he would blast the door open… carry on where he left off.'
She couldn't risk it.
Not for a second.
Nymphadora stood behind her, trembling just as much.
It was only after more than half an hour had passed in utter silence that Nymphadora finally whispered,
"Mum… he's gone… he's really gone…"
The moment those words reached her ears, Andromeda collapsed to her knees.
The thought of what could've happened, what almost happened, if her daughter hadn't appeared at just the right moment, made her whole body tremble.
Nymphadora, seeing her mother in such a state, rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her.
"Mum… he's gone…" she repeated, her voice soft and shaky.
And only then, only when she heard it again, did Andromeda completely break down, sobbing uncontrollably as she clung tightly to her daughter.
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That's it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading this one!
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