A Familiar Bond

A comprehensive silence stretched out in the living room of #12 Grimmauld Place as Andromeda Tonks stared at her little sister, her mouth open in shock. Her husband, Ted Tonks, and her daughter, Nymphadora 'Don't-call-me-Nymphadora' Tonks followed suit and slowly stood up with shock visible on their faces.

Valerie's mind had gone blank. She could not believe her sister was right there in front of her, and in no time at all, she had recognized her as well. She did not look how she used to in her younger years, but somehow her sister had managed to discern who she was. Her eyes had filled up, her breath coming in short gasps as she stood there, dumbfounded.

Sirius did not know what to think. He had had a feeling that he recognized her when he first met her on the platform, but he had shaken it away as some nonsensical thing. But it was true, and so was his hunch. It was Bella. He searched her face from the side, looking for all the similarities, and he slapped himself mentally when he realized that the signs were there for all to see.

The silence stretched for a few more seconds until Tonks got in her 'Auror mode' and before anyone could blink, she flung a vicious stunner right at Valerie. Her eyes widened when Valerie turned slightly and the stunner harmlessly passed her.

The sudden firing of a spell brought everyone back to reality and Valerie turned to look at where the spell had come from. She fixed her eyes on Tonks, who was glaring at her with murder in her eyes, and she blinked back the tears that threatened to fall.

Sirius was jolted out of his shock and he quickly fished out his wand, intent on stunning the bitch who had somehow ensnared his godson. Before he could even move though, he felt someone grab his hand. He turned around and saw, to his immense surprise, that Harry was looking at him with a stoic look before he shook his head. Sirius' eyes widened in bewilderment.

Harry stared at his godfather for a few more seconds before he released his hold and Sirius shook his hand slightly. He turned around to look at Tonks who had recovered from her surprise and saw that she was ready to cast another spell. However, before she could do anything else or he could react, Valerie pulled out her wand and as quick as a flash, a bolt of light blue shot forward at a rapid pace.

Tonks had no chance to react and she felt her limbs bind together. She could not even look up in surprise before she began to fall backward. Right when she thought she would collide painfully with the table behind her, she felt levitated until she was laid down gently on the floor. From the angle she was in, all she could see was the emotionless look on the face of the dark witch as she gazed back at her before turning her eyes away.

Ted and Andromeda looked on in stiffened shock as their daughter was petrified and laid down on the floor. They slowly turned to look at Valerie who was looking at Andromeda with a small smile.

"Andi…" Valerie whispered, taking a small step forward.

"Stop right there," Andromeda hissed, brandishing her wand, and pointing at Valerie, who abruptly stopped and looked at her with slightly widened eyes.

"I- "

"How dare you!" Andromeda continued, not giving Valerie a chance to speak, "how dare you do all those things and yet have the gall to show your face in this house!? You who killed and tortured so many innocents, all for the sake of your twisted sense of pleasure and loyalty to an evil tyrant! How dare you show your face after all these years without any shame whatsoever!? Why are you even alive!?"

Valerie looked on with tearful eyes as Andromeda broke down in front of her, her back hitting the table behind her with her eyes full of disdain as she let it all out.

"You have no idea how we've felt all these years ever since you gave yourself to that evil son of a bitch! You don't know how much we've been hurting all along, knowing the girl we all used to dote on turned out to be such an evil bitch!"

Andromeda glared at her hatefully.

Valerie could only look on with tearful eyes as her sister continued to verbally lash out, her wand still pointed at her.

"That's enough," a calm voice cut through the morose atmosphere and Andromeda turned to see Harry walk forward with a serious look on his face. Her face morphed into surprise and confusion when she saw him.

"Harry what are you doing?" Sirius intoned, still bewildered at the behaviour of his godson.

Harry didn't deign to reply, instead walking forward without any care whatsoever, and came to a stop beside Valerie. She only turned to give him a smile which looked more like a grimace, and Harry took her in his arms.

"Harry! What the hell are you doing!?" Sirius shouted, now totally shocked beyond words. He unconsciously raised his wand and was even more shocked to find that his wand was pulled out of his grasp.

Eyes wide, he looked up and saw his godson holding his wand and giving him a chilling stare.

"I told you not to do it Sirius," Harry intoned, staring at the shocked visage of his godfather.

"Harry…" Sirius whispered in shock, looking alternately at his godson and the evil witch who had somehow ensnared him. A gasp tore his gaze away from the two, and he saw Andromeda looking with widened eyes at Bellatrix who was holding her wand in her hand.

"Now that you're disarmed, can we have some calm minds here?" Harry asked, his soft voice carrying throughout the room, and as one, everyone turned to look at him.

"Calm!" Sirius exclaimed, looking at him with wide eyes, and Harry looked at him.

"Didn't you hear it!? That is not your childhood friend. That is Bellatrix Lestrange! Fucking Voldemort's evil bitch," Sirius glared at her. Valerie only looked at him with sadness.

"That's enough!" Harry's voice rose a bit, "Come here and sit down, Sirius. I will explain everything. Do not make me use force, please. You know I will," he warned, and Sirius looked at him with wide eyes.

"What the fuck are you on about!?" He whispered. Harry stared at him.

"Sit and I'll tell you everything."

Sirius' mind worked overtime until it finally clicked.

"You knew…" he whispered, looking at Harry with a betrayed look, "you knew who she was. Yet you got with her… how… how could you do this!?"

Andromeda looked at the couple with wide eyes as she fell on the chair behind her, her strength finally leaving her. Her husband quickly sat beside her and took her in his arms, and she clutched at him fiercely, her eyes not leaving the couple as she took them in.

Harry nodded.

"I have known everything. Ever since I did the ritual with her. It did not only bind us together, Sirius. The ritual also made us see each other's lives entirely. She knows all about me, as I do about her."

Sirius' eyes widened.

"Do you really think I would stay with someone like Bellatrix Lestrange? You think I could love someone so evil?"

Sirius stood there in shock, unable to form a coherent response.

"I have seen it all, Sirius. I have felt it – what happened to her, what she went through. Just come here and sit down, and I will tell you everything," he pleaded.

"Give me this one chance to prove, Sirius," Harry intoned further. Sirius looked at him with wide eyes, before looking at Valerie who was looking back with hopeful eyes. Something flashed in them and at that moment, Sirius did not see the evil witch in her. Instead, he saw his little cousin who used to ride on his back around his room all those years ago.

Without bothering to respond, his feet took him over to the table where he took his seat beside Andromeda and stared ahead. Harry sighed and guided Valerie to a seat before taking one right beside her.

Andromeda was staring at the table, her mind numb. She had come over with her family to meet her cousin and his godson, but never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that she would meet her estranged sister who was reportedly dead. She had seen how her sister looked now. Anyone else might have overlooked it, but it was impossible for her to not recognize the little girl that she had practically raised until she had to flee from her family.

Valerie looked around the table before she placed the two wands that she had with her on the table. Immediately, she saw eyes refocus on where the twin pieces of wood rested until Harry put Sirius' wand in the middle.

She whipped her wand to the side and they saw Tonks quickly stand up. However, before she could do anything, she found herself on the receiving end of Harry's wand.

"I do not know you. But I would suggest you take a seat so that we can talk and sort this out," he remarked steadily.

"Like hell I will!" Tonks exclaimed.

"You might be older, miss, but are you sure you want to cross me right now?"

"Enough of this," Ted Tonks spoke for the first time, and everyone turned to look at him. Everyone apart from Sirius, who was still staring at the wands on the table with an unfocused gaze.

"Dora, sit down and let him speak," Ted told his daughter.

"But dad she's a wanted- "

"Not anymore. The ministry declared her dead. Dead people are not wanted by law. You do not have any obligation right now if we follow the letter of the law. Sit down."

Tonks stared at her father in shock and it took her a few seconds to comprehend the legal assertion he had just put forward.

"B-but- "

"Dora… sit down please," Ted asked gently. With a huff, Tonks took her seat beside her mother. Ted smiled before giving his wife a small squeeze and turned to look at Harry. With all seriousness he could muster, he began.

"Mr. Potter, I had hoped we could have met in different circumstances. But no matter. I am Ted Tonks and I am a solicitor by profession. I do not know how much my word will be worth to you, but for the sake of your godfather and my wife here, I hope you have a good explanation as to why you continue to associate with her."

Harry looked at the man closely. He was your typical middle-aged wizard with nothing standing out. But his gaze was sharp and Harry discerned he was quite an intelligent fellow. He simply nodded and was rewarded with one from the man in question.

"Can you get the family pensieve out? It would be better if we showed you instead of explaining it all," Harry began, and Sirius finally looked up at him and nodded. He looked around and saw that everyone else was paying attention, even the pink-haired woman opposite him.

Sirius picked his wand up, glancing at Valerie out of the corner of his eye who smiled at him sadly. He did not respond and looked at Harry before flicking his wand.

The Black family pensieve materialized on the table in front of them – an ornate bowl with runic engravings surrounding the clear liquid in the middle. Harry looked at Valerie and nodded.

She smiled before placing the tip of her wand against her temple. They watched as a long strand of silvery wisp was pulled out and she dropped it inside the bowl.

"Me and Val do not have to watch any of it. You can go ahead and we will be here when you are done," Harry remarked in a final sort of tone to his voice, Sirius exchanged a look with Andromeda who nodded before they dipped their heads inside the large bowl. Ted gestured for his daughter to follow suit, and she sighed before complying. He smiled at Harry and looked at Valerie for a second before he too submerged his face inside the pensieve.

Once they were alone in the room, Harry turned around in his chair and brought it closer to Valerie's. She looked at him as he wrapped his arms around her, and burrowed her face into his chest. Soft sobs escaped her, emotions she had been trying so hard to suppress for so long finally coming out in full force until she was crying her heart out against her husband.

All the while, Harry simply held her, rubbing her back gently as he kept his arms wrapped around her. He knew how she was feeling; the past few days had been emotionally charged for her. Sirius' monologue the previous evening had been fresh in memory, and dumping this episode on top of that was bound to be draining mentally for anyone, let alone someone who had suffered so much trauma.

Just because she was slowly recovering from the ordeal did not mean she was back to normal. Harry had observed during the past few months how she would sometimes go into a melancholy state. They had talked between themselves about what she had endured while under the influence of the ritual. The only saving grace that she had admitted was the fact that she had not been touched sexually. Rudolphus had taken her to his master right after they had made the marriage official, and the ritual had been performed before they could have proceeded further.

Since the ritual, she had transformed so drastically that Rudolphus could not come close to her. It did not help that his first attempt had horribly backfired. He had tried to force himself on her after she would not give him any attention since she was entirely devoted to Voldemort. However, even before he could have gone any further, she had cast a vicious Cruciatus on him, powerful enough that the message had sunk in.

However, even though she had not been sexually violated, her mental fortitude had been in constant battle with the ritual – bent and broken for over a decade during which an evil witch ruled over her body. She was recovering brilliantly thanks to his constant love and support, and the accidental ritual they had undertaken themselves, yet there was a lot of ground to be covered.

Harry hoped things would sort themselves out once Sirius and the others finally got to know the truth about Valerie and what she had been through. He wanted her to get her family back. He would always be with her, but there was something different in having people you grew up with love and care for you. He knew Sirius would love her as much as she did, and he wanted her to have that.

"They will understand, Val. They will all do. You will see. They did not know how much you suffered. Now that they will, you will be back to being as close as you were all those years ago," Harry whispered, cupping her cheek lovingly and wiping her tears away. It hurt to see her so vulnerable and sad, and Harry resolved to grow strong enough with her that they became capable enough to effectively manage life's inevitable negativities.

Slowly, Valerie's tears subsided and she wiped the tracks away. Harry flicked his wand and summoned two cups of coffee. They took one each and started to sip away, waiting for the foursome to emerge from the pensieve.

XXXXX

Over an hour had passed from the time they had gone inside the memories. Valerie had given them her memories from the time she had been wed to Rudolphus to when she had been sent to Azkaban. Not every second of the day, but moments which were interconnected to make it clear to them what had happened to her during all those years during the blood war.

And what they had seen so far had shaken them to the core. Tears were running down their faces as they saw the mad witch torturing Alice Longbottom alongside the Lestrange brothers and Crouch, with not a hint of remorse on her face.

Andromeda had her hand outstretched in front of her, the other fisted into the shirt of her husband who was also looking on in sadness and simultaneously holding his wife tightly. Andromeda was looking as if she was trying to hold the witch back from torturing the innocent parents of a year-old child. However, try as she might, there was no stopping the barbarism that was unfolding right before their eyes. No one had seen how the Longbottom couple had lost their sanity, but now that they had, they were wishing they just had not.

Nymphadora 'I-hate-my-name' Tonks had tears running down her face as she looked at the scene before her. All of them had already seen how Bellatrix had her mind entirely subjugated by Voldemort, and to associate the pure spirit that she had been with this evil witch was heartbreaking. Earlier, she had wanted to take the bitch down. However, the truth had been devastating to bear witness to, and she could not hold back tears when she realized how much her aunt had suffered.

However, the biggest shock could be seen on Sirius' face. He had not moved a muscle ever since he had seen the ritual taking hold of his baby cousin. He had watched, rooted to the spot, as she had transformed right before his eyes, going away and committing every horror deed imaginable at the behest of the cunt of a dark wizard, all the while having no control over herself. He had watched everything unfold with a static posture and an ashen face – the same ashen face that was watching her torture Frank and Alice. He dared not move, and even if he had dared to, he'd have found he couldn't. His face was chalk white, and his very soul wept at the thought of his Bella living in this hell for so many years.

Just like him, she had suffered the horrors of Azkaban for over a decade while being innocent.

Thoughts coherent and incoherent ran through his mind and the minds of the other three as well as they saw the aurors drag the madly kicking and screaming witch to her cell and throw her inside. They saw the angry snarl on her face and the swirling madness in her eyes, the purple sclera imbibed with malicious crimson as the world around them dissolved into nothingness and they found themselves back to reality.

XXXXX

The moment the foursome arrived back from their trip down memory lane, their bodies jerked back and the couple who had been waiting for them all this while stood up abruptly.

Andromeda failed to hold it in and bent over to the side, retching all over the floor and massive sobs wracked her body. Her husband held her hair out of her face and rubbed her back, still trying to control his emotions with his Occlumency as he did so. He saw his daughter sit still in her seat, her eyes staring ahead into nothingness and left her to her devices.

Another sob tore out of his wife's throat and he rubbed her back gently. He fixed her face and vanished everything from the floor with a wave of his wand and his wife slowly stood up.

He saw her eyes lock with her sister's and smiled.

Andromeda looked at her sister with tears in her eyes and in no moment, she crossed around the table and pulled her in her arms, embracing her tightly. Huge sobs escaped her as she held on, incapable of forming words. Valerie also wrapped her arms around her sister, finally holding her after so many years, and she could not hold back the tears.

Finally, the two sisters pulled back and looked at each other with tearful eyes.

"I… I- " Andromeda tried to get the words out, and Valerie shushed her.

"I know… I know," she whispered and nodded before pulling her back into an embrace.

Harry looked on with a small smile as the two sisters reunited, and the pure bliss on Valerie's face made his heart swell. He saw Andromeda's daughter also come forward and talk to Valerie, who smiled at her along with Andromeda and embraced her.

With a smile, he turned around to look at Sirius and saw that he was still staring ahead with his face white as a sheet and his hands gripping the table and his wand tightly.

"Sirius…" Harry implored cautiously, and everyone turned to look from him to Sirius. Abruptly, Sirius rushed out of the room, and all of them ran after him.

They saw him go down into the basement and as they reached the bottom, they saw him pull out a portrait that was covered with a black cloth and throw it on the ground. The cloth slipped to show the visage of a woman with dark hair.

"Walburga…" Andromeda hissed and they saw Sirius take the cloth off. Instantly, Walburga's eyes focused on her son and she snarled.

"You worthless- "

That was as far as she could go as a vicious ribbon cutter shot out of Sirius' wand and cut her body inside the portrait in half. Her eyes widened and she looked down at her body when Sirius shot a multitude of spells in rapid succession.

Angry bolts of red, green, and purple struck the portrait at different spots, pulverizing and taking chunks off it. All the while, Walburga kept on cursing Sirius.

Finally, a heaving Sirius unleashed a powerful bolt of electricity from his wand and they saw as the portrait caught fire before exploding in a shower of sparks. Still heaving, he turned around, only to stop abruptly when he saw Valerie standing right in front of him. His eyes widened when she wrapped her arms around him.

Slowly, his palms opened and his wand slipped out of his hand where it hit the floor with a loud clatter. Tears sprang in his eyes as he cried his heart out. All the while, Valerie held him close, barely keeping her sobs away as the others looked on. Harry looked at his godfather crying in her arms, constantly apologizing to her for his inability to do anything to keep her safe, took a small breath, and smiled.

To be continued…

Check out patreon.com/Vedros if you can't wait for more chapters and if you want access to character artworks. Thanks for reading.