address in the stars

What do I do with all I need to say

So much I wanna tell you everday

Cleaning the attic had felt like something that she needed to do. She had come up here, looking for Blair’s old journals, and when she had found them, she had found everything else that was up here too. It was like a vault… The possessions of the late Ladies Lestrange. Blair. Bella. Calisto. It was all here. Everything that had been theirs, that hadn’t been valuable enough to actually lock in a vault. The elves had moved it all up here. And Andromeda knew that she didn’t really have a right to all of it, but she was the Lady Lestrange now. And from the looks of things, she was the only Lady Lestrange that they were going to have any time soon.

Still, while there was plenty that Faye had helped her actually clean up in here this afternoon, there were some things that she just wanted to do herself. She wanted to go through the things that had belonged to her sister. She wanted to go through the things that had belonged to Blair. And it had been in a chest of Blair’s things that she had found some trinkets that she didn’t think belonged up there. It had been then that she had sent Faye to go and collect Davina, and she had gone back downstairs.

The boys had been playing in the nursery, the muggle baby monitor telling her that they were fine while she was upstairs. They were big enough that she could be in the other room, and not worry too much about them, but she collected them with her, and let them cling to both hands as she helped them down the stairs, one painfully slow step at a time. Because they were big now. They had told her so, this morning. When she had tried to carry them downstairs to breakfast. Which had resulted in a tantrum of colossal proportions.

“Mama!” Andromeda was pulled out of her thoughts by the tugging on her hand as she let Roarke get more than a step ahead of where Arcturus had stopped to pick something up off of the stair. “Hold on, please.” Andromeda looked pointedly at Roarke before she turned her attention to her other son. “Arcturus…”

Her son’s grey eyes turned to meet her own, and for a moment she could so very clearly see his father in them, “Mama?” Shaking her head, the witch bent at the knees and scooped first one, and then the other toddler onto each of her hips. The resounding chorus of her name from each side of her head had her sighing as she headed down the stairs, but they were over it almost as soon as they had started. Instead ducking back and forth over her shoulders to try and be on the same side of her body as each other.

When she heard the Floo go off in the sitting room Andromeda smiled and bounced both boys on her hips as she shook her head between them, “Okay you two… Aunt Davina’s here.” Whether or not she had brought Ava would be the deciding factor on whether or not the boys were going to be all over them, or content to play with their cousin. She almost hoped that she had brought the little girl with her. Andromeda loved her very much, and she doted on her. If she would have had more time to shop, she was sure that she would have found the little girl quite spoiled.

Putting them down and letting them run ahead of her into the room she chuckled when they both went running for Davina. A chorus of “Aun Vina!” as they headed in her direction. They loved her, and she didn’t blame them. She loved the witch too. Moving to the end of the couch that she normally found her husband in, it was the best spot in the room, after all, she brushed her lips over Davina’s cheek before she flipped her skirt around her legs and settled with them curled underneath of her. “They were excited to see you.”

Davina Rhiannon Yaxley • 683 • andromeda's outfit
arcturus's outfit + roarke's outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[nospaces]

[attr="class","cbg"]

[attr="class","cbgtop"]

[attr="class","cimg"]

[attr="class","clbox"]

[attr="class","ctopline"]I stumbled across your picture today

[attr="class","cscriptspeci"]i could barely breathe

[attr="class","cline"]

[attr="class","clyrics"]The moment stopped me cold,[break]
Grabbed me like a thief

[break][break]

[attr="class","cbody"]Leaving Hogwarts when the registration had started had been the right decision. Well, she couldn’t even say that it was when the registration started that she had left, because that hadn’t actually been the reason for leaving. The dance had happened, and Griff had been among the Death Eaters that had shown up. When he wanted her to leave with him, she hadn’t thought twice about it. He had known that she was uncomfortable at the school with Sebastian in charge. She had been planning on leaving anyway, when the term had come to an end. They had just decided to do that a bit early, and it had been because of Andromeda that she’d gotten her next job at the hospital.
[break][break]
Admittedly, that hadn’t lasted all that long. Davina hadn’t gone on maternity leave thinking that she was never going to go back to the position. She enjoyed it. The hospital might not bring back the greatest memories, but she could still tolerate being there and she had liked the work. But she’d had to stop coming in after the whole near-coma thing had happened and then once Ava Blair had been born, she hadn’t been able to imagine going back to work and leaving her.
[break][break]
That left her with a whole lot of free time. It had been nice when she had been watching Arcturus and Roarke too, because the three of them had kept her busy, but she’d understood when Andromeda had decided to get a nanny instead. Just having Ava Blair in the house was not all that much of a challenge after having her and two Lestrange boys, but she knew that it wouldn’t be too long until there were more kids in the house. Eventually. Griff wanted to wait a certain amount of time, but that was fine with her. After everything that had happened during her last pregnancy, she didn’t mind taking a bit of a break from all of that. She was worried that she’d end up in the exact same situation the next go-around, after all. Having gestational diabetes in one pregnancy did raise the chances of having it again in future ones.
[break][break]
But there was just no reason to worry about that. For now, her biggest concern was finding time to see Andromeda when the woman’s schedule was so busy. Luckily for both of them, her schedule was far less busy. That meant, on the off chance that Andromeda was free, there was a very good chance that Davina was too. Unless Griff had made plans, or they had gone out to eat or something.
[break][break]
That hadn’t been the case today, though, so when Andromeda had asked her to come over, she had gotten Ava Blair and had gone on her way. She’d known that the boys could use someone else to play with for a little while. They had been so used to seeing her nearly every day, and she had been so used to seeing them, that she thought they’d miss each other. When they made it through the Floo into the sitting room, it wasn’t long at all until she heard the sound of little footsteps racing in their direction. “Well hello,” she said, with a wide smile, before giving into her daughter’s protests and letting her down to play with her cousins. “What can I say, they love me,” she teased, before sitting down on the couch too.
[break][break]

[attr="class","cnotes"]572 ● @ andi + the boys ● outfit + ava blair's outfit (probably with different shoes)

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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ADDRESS IN THE STARS

WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL I NEED TO SAY

SO MUCH I WANNA TELL YOU EVERDAY

This was her home now, and she knew that. But she also knew that many of the things in the attic did not belong to her. This castle was very old and had been passed down through the Lestrange family for years. Even as it had sat in disrepair and decay, the elves had done what they could to make sure that some of the things hadn’t been destroyed, and that included the things in the attic. Whether that was out of a duty to her husband and brother-in-law, or out of their loyalty to the castle itself, she didn’t know. She didn’t really mind either way. What she knew for certain was that the things that she had found up there, were not hers to keep. Not all of them.

There were some things that she had taken for herself. Some bits and baubles that had belonged to her sister. Or to her mother-in-law. Those she had kept. She had seen a necklace amongst Calisto’s things that she planned on asking if she could have. But she didn’t think that the things that had been Blair’s were hers to take. Not all of them. She had taken the journals. The things that Davina had no real use for. The things that Andromeda needed. They had been part of the reason for going up there anyway. But there were some things that she had found that she thought that Davina needed to have the chance to take for herself.

And perhaps she wouldn’t want them at all. That was fine. She wasn’t going to force her to take them. But she thought that it was better to at least offer. If she didn’t want them for herself, she might have wanted them for Ava Blair. The child deserved something from her namesake after all. Andromeda would make sure that she taught Roarke about his mother. What she knew of her, everything that she had done for them. How brave, and wonderful she was. But there were things in here that she knew that he wouldn’t want. Things that belonged with a girl.

So, she had sent for her. She had sent Faye after her, and she had gotten the boys downstairs, as much of a fight as that was when they just wanted to fight with one another, and then she headed for the front parlor. The castle was plenty big enough, they could have moved out of the main parlor, but there was no sense. She had no idea where Rodolphus was, and she hadn’t seen Rabastan in a couple of days. They all lived here, under the same roof, but there was plenty of space, they wouldn’t need this room in particular. She could have it for the afternoon.

She watched as her son’s hugged the other woman’s legs, and then laughed as they ran off to play with the smattering of toys that had been left down here earlier. Her niece trailed after them, younger by enough that it was still noticeable at this point, but still walking. And starting to talk. They were all growing so fast. Andromeda simultaneously wanted them to be little forever, and couldn’t wait to watch them grow, and hopefully in the case of her sons, become better people than their parents were. That was all that she really wanted for them. Better than what she had had. Better than what they had all had.

“They do. There’s no doubt about that.” Andromeda watched as Davina sat down on the other end of the couch across from her. “How are you? I feel like I haven’t seen you in far too long.” Honestly, she didn’t know when the last time they had gotten a chance to talk without other people around. The children, obviously. But their laughs and shrieks as they played were not the same as having other adults around, having their own conversations, and being pulled into those. Her eyes darted to the trio on the floor as a shrill squeal came from Arcturus and she shook her head, “Careful…”

@ daughter + ava • 680 • andromeda's outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[nospaces]

[attr="class","cbg"]

[attr="class","cbgtop"]

[attr="class","cimg"]

[attr="class","clbox"]

[attr="class","ctopline"]I STUMBLED ACROSS YOUR PICTURE TODAY

[attr="class","cscriptspeci"]i could barely breathe

[attr="class","cline"]

[attr="class","clyrics"]THE MOMENT STOPPED ME COLD,[break]
GRABBED ME LIKE A THIEF

[break][break]

[attr="class","cbody"]She didn’t want to admit it, but sometimes it was still hard to be in this house. Merlin knew that she had been in it enough since Blair’s death, but there were still times when she felt like she could feel her here. Times when she could remember so vividly visiting her and on those occasions, when she heard footsteps coming around a corner, when she heard that sound echoing through the halls, she could be so sure that it was going to be Blair coming around the corner. And then in those moments, there was always that silly moment of letdown when she remembered, of course, that that wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t going to happen ever again.
[break][break]
Davina knew that her sister was at peace now. She knew that she was happier out wherever she was, far more than she had ever been when she had been alive. Their father had made sure of that and, in some ways, Davina took the blame for that as well. She had never known that her father had been going into Blair’s room at night, same as her. She had never realized that he had hurt Blair in the same way that he’d hurt her. If she had, she wasn’t sure just what that would have changed. It certainly would not have changed her need for escape after graduation. It wasn’t as if her parents had wanted her around either. Not when they had considered her wrong choices already made.
[break][break]
But Blair had been left alone with Roderick, even more so once Moira had died. She had been subjected to years more of him than Davina had. She’d had time to cope. She’d been able to get away from it. There were still times when she thought about it, when she had those memories, or those occasional nightmares where she woke up and it all came rushing back. But that was such a rarity these days. It had been so long. It had been two decades since her father had been able to hurt her like that. But the same could not have been said for Blair. She’d dealt with it for years. Davina knew what that could do to a person. She knew what it had done to her growing up. When she had sacrificed herself for Andromeda, Davina knew it had been because she truly felt like she couldn’t be happy here. That had been a part of it, at least.
[break][break]
That knowledge didn’t make it easier on the days when she came to Lestrange Castle and felt like she could feel Blair everywhere. There was no way to make that easier. Davina assumed it was something that would just go away entirely over time—and as much as that should relieve her, a part of her was afraid of that happening too. As upsetting as it was to feel like she was all around her here, it was just as hard to know that there might come a time when she didn’t feel like that at all.
[break][break]
All of the time that they’d spent here while they were all sick though, had helped a little. It helped her push past that feeling that she got sometimes. Seeing Ava Blair play with Arcturus and Roarke put a genuine smile on her face too. It was nice to see them altogether. She missed when she’d had the boys over with her during the day. Sometimes, anyway. Other times, she did not miss having three babies to look after all by herself, all day long. “I know—I don’t even know why. It’s not like I’ve been particularly busy.” Just the opposite really. Without magic, she couldn’t do anything with her potioneering, so mostly she was just watching after Ava Blair. “You have, though. And Griff. Between the pair of you, I don’t know who’s at the Ministry more.” She worried after both of them, working as much as she did. She didn’t even realize that her response hadn’t even answered Andromeda’s question about how she was doing. It was just easier to focus on how they were doing.
[break][break]

[attr="class","cnotes"]689 ● @andi + the boys ● outfit + ava blair's outfit (probably with different shoes)

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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address in the stars

What do I do with all I need to say

So much I wanna tell you everday

Setting about the task of cleaning the attic, she hadn’t meant to do it and find things to give away. But she had come across some of Blair’s things, and she knew that she didn’t have a right to them. The journals she was keeping. She had need of them. But the other things. The things that had been Blair’s, she didn’t know if Davina would want them or not. It was hard to tell. She knew that going through Bella’s stuff had made her cringe. There were things that she hadn’t wanted to think about. Things that she hadn’t wanted to see. And then there had been a locket. Old. And silver. She didn’t know if the other witch had even worn it. But it had been Maman’s…

And as much as Andromeda had hated her maman, she had killed her in the end… She didn’t want to see the locket tucked away in the attic for the rest of her life. That would never do. Would she wear it? No. But she would put it in her jewelry box, and she would remember. She would remember everything that she came from, and everything that she had to lose now… She knew that it was more complicated than she had ever dreamed that it would be. Being careful was her priority, and she knew that simply raising her sons would never be enough.

Making sure that they had the best life that she could give them was something that she was intent on doing though. They would want for nothing, and all she wanted was for them to grow up better than her, better than Rodolphus. Happier than Blair. She wanted their lives to be easier, than hers had been, than Rod’s had bee. She didn’t know if that was possible. But she wanted to make it so. And that was partially why she had the position that she did. She wanted to be with them. She wanted to be hands on as much as possible. But she also knew that she wanted a brighter future.

And crafting that future was partially in her hands now. She had that control. And she knew that she had to be careful with it. She couldn’t think about the problems too directly, or she was going to cause herself to worry about the things that she couldn’t control. The Epidemic being one of those things. She couldn’t do anything about that at all, and yet, she wanted to. She wanted to do something about all of it.

The reason for calling the other witch here could end well, or it could end very badly, and Andromeda didn’t want to ruin actually just visiting for a while by bringing it up too early. She didn’t want to make Davina sad. Or angry, or anything else that something that had once belonged to her sister might stir up. She knew that the relationship that she had with her sister was different than either of the ones that she had with her own. There had been no redemption arc for Bellatrix in Andromeda’s eyes. And her relationship with Narcissa would always have its fair share of complications.

There seemed to be no relationship in her life, save for the one that she shared with Arcturus, that was not overly complicated. Even the relationship she had with her younger son was tainted by the absence of his biological mother. Andromeda would always be his mother. She would make sure of that. But when he was old enough, she was sure that he deserved the truth. That he needed to know about Blair, and who she was, and who she had been to each of them.

“I feel like I’m always busy.” And she was. She had five countries to run through an Epidemic that was stifling the economy, and still controlling their very being. “Today though, it appears that he is winning. I think Rod’s there too...” Possibly, he wasn’t here. But it wasn’t like she kept incredible track of where her husband was all of the time. Andromeda shook her head a little bit and called softly for Faye. She looked at Davina with a gentle raise of her eyebrow, “Would you like something to drink?” She wanted wine. It had been an emotional trip to the attic, and she was sure the end of this conversation would sway in the same way.

@ davina + ava blair • 738 • andromeda's outfit
arcturus's outfit + roarke's outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[nospaces]

[attr="class","cbg"]

[attr="class","cbgtop"]

[attr="class","cimg"]

[attr="class","clbox"]

[attr="class","ctopline"]I STUMBLED ACROSS YOUR PICTURE TODAY

[attr="class","cscriptspeci"]i could barely breathe

[attr="class","cline"]

[attr="class","clyrics"]THE MOMENT STOPPED ME COLD,[break]
GRABBED ME LIKE A THIEF

[break][break]

[attr="class","cbody"]She hadn’t been planning for much of anything today, until Faye had stopped by and had told her that Andromeda wanted her to come over. With how busy the other woman was, Davina was obviously not going to say no to that. She missed her. It seemed like so long ago now that they had both been at Hogwarts, that they had seen each other every day. It was difficult to even imagine that now, and it had not been that long ago. It truly hadn’t. But they had seen each other all of the time in the castle, and she’d liked it. It was where they had first become friends.
[break][break]
But there was no denying that a lot had changed since then. Even when they had both left the school, albeit at different times, they had still seen each other often. It had only been in recent months that it had gotten more difficult. It wasn’t that Davina was particularly busy. She wasn’t. She had Ava Blair to take care of, and that was about it, since she couldn’t do her job without magic. Brewing without magic was just not possible, so there was little reason to even try. Yes, she knew that she could do some of the steps and Griff could help her, if she really wanted to, but she wasn’t that desperate to brew—not when it would barely feel like doing the work herself. At that point, it just wasn’t even worth it.
[break][break]
It left her with a lot of free time, though she didn’t mind it that much. Being able to spend more time with Ava Blair was never a bad thing. She had chosen a job where she could work at home for that reason, after all. But the people in her life that she cared about the most were certainly busy now. They were busier than they ever had been before—Andromeda not only had the job of Minister, but she had the job of Minister in the middle of a crisis. Davina had no idea how she even managed to balance work with being at home with the boys. Somehow, she managed to do it all, so it wasn’t as if she could blame her for not having time to see her too. It was a miracle that she had enough hours in a day to get everything done, but she did.
[break][break]
So, if she wanted her to come over, obviously she would have dropped just about anything to spend time with her, even if she’d had plans. Even if there was something that she had been doing, she very much doubted that it would have been more important than seeing Andromeda. But she hadn’t been doing anything, which had made it easy to pack up Ava Blair and head over there. Davina was sure that her daughter would be excited to see the boys, since she had gotten used to seeing them far more often when Davina had been nannying them during the day. It had been a strange adjustment for Ava Blair to get used to not being with them all of the time. She’d been incredibly cranky as she had adjusted to that new normal.
[break][break]
Seeing them together made her happy, because it very clearly made her daughter happy too. But she did have to wonder if there was any particular reason why Andromeda had wanted her to come over. It had been very spur-of-the-moment, and there was nothing wrong with that, but it did make her curious. “Well, I’m glad you’re taking the day off at least. Next, I’ll just need to convince Griff.” That would be easier said than done. He was at work far more often than he was at home these days, and while she understood why, she thought she still would have liked to convince him just once. “Sure. Whatever you’re having.” She wasn’t all that picky. If Andromeda was in the mood for tea, or coffee, or wine, or whiskey, Davina didn’t honestly mind.
[break][break]

[attr="class","cnotes"]672 ● @ andi + the boys ● outfit + ava blair's outfit (probably with different shoes)

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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