Madame Minister 4

“Have you been eating your vegetables?”Hermione rolled her eyes when she heard Andromeda ask the question. When Hermione went looking for Andromeda in her office Gerold Andromeda’s assistant told her that her meeting with Celine had been pushed to that morning instead of that afternoon. When Hermione inquired where Andromeda was Gerold told her that the older witch had made mention of visiting her daughter. Hermione had immediately made her way to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement offices hoping to save Nymphodora from the embarrassment that was her mother. Seeing Nymphodora’s bright red hair matching her bright red face it seemed Hermione was too late.

“Mother please leave.”Nymphodora pleaded swatting her mother’s hand away from her cheeks.

“Sweetheart I’m just worried about you.”Andromeda told her.

Nymphadora perked up seeing Hermione walking towards them.”Madame Minster.”

“Hello Dora.”Hermione greeted ignoring the way everyone in the room’s eyes were on her.

“Hello Hermione what brings you to this part of the ministry?”Andromeda held back from giving Hermione a proper greeting that included a hug and a kiss that would leave more than Nymphodora blushing. She couldn’t do that until they went public with their relationship. Something not only Andromeda but her sisters and Hermione were hoping would happen soon.

“I was looking for you.”Hermione said.

“Well as it seems that Hermione needs you I guess you need to go.”Nymphodora would have to do something nice to thank Hermione later as she was positive that Hermione had come specifically to save her from her mother.

Hermione cut in before Andromeda could object.”Yes she does.”

“No I don’t.”Andromeda hadn’t even started embarrassing her daughter yet.

“I wanted to show you the estate I bought that I told you about this morning.”Hermione told her.

“I thought you were just looking at it not that you had bought it.”Andromeda was sure that was what Hermione told her.

“After I had lunch with Narcissa I stopped by my lawyer and signed off on the paperwork. It was a little more than I wanted to spend but I thought it was a good investment.”Hermione also bought it quickly so that when the vampires showed their interest they wouldn’t be taken advantage of.

Andromeda smiled knowing exactly why Hermione bought the property.”I think it is a good investment as well.”

“Good then why don’t the pair of you go check out that good investment and I’ll get back to work.”Nymphadora suggested.

“We will.”Hermione put her hand on Andromeda’s arm and started leading her away from Nymphadora’s desk.

“Wait she still hasn’t told me if she is wearing clean underwear.”Andromeda called out causing numerous people to start laughing.

“Let’s go.”Hermione sent a look of sympathy over her shoulder to Nymphodora who had sunk further in her seat.

Andromeda allowed herself to be led towards the atrium.”I don’t know why you insist on stopping my fun.”

“Because the poor girl is trying to get the respect of her peers and you going in there embarrassing her constantly isn’t going to help her gain that respect.”Hermione wished Andromeda would just leave Nymphadora alone.

“She’s a Black. She needs to toughen up.”Andromeda had been estatic when after her divorce to Ted that Nymphodora had asked to change her last name to Black. Especially because the divorce was very contentious and there was a lot of mud slinging on both sides. The way Ted acted just proved to Andromeda that divorcing him was the right thing to do. Luckily with Hermione’s lawyer representing her Ted wasn’t able to benefit from her being reinstated into the Black family as the man was pushing for a large portion of the estate. It was the first time that Andromeda was happy that she was a pureblood and had a Head of Household because everything belonged to Hermione not Andromeda. In the end the judge decided that everything would be split equally so they sold the house and split the money in their shared vault. Andromeda actually would have given it all to Ted if he didn’t turn into such a bastard.

“Regardless of who she is she is still trying to do her job in piece. It doesn’t help that she has to deal with the people that claim she only has her position because of me.”Hermione had done nothing to help get Nymphadora ahead except for giving her a good character reference when she had been under review for new opportunities.

“Are we really going to go check out those Nott estates?”Andromeda didn’t care what Hermione said she was still going to bug Nymphodora.

Hermione nodded.”Yes I figured that we look to see what we need to do to get them ready to be livable.”

“Well then after you.”Andromeda held the door to the ministry open for Hermione.

Once they were far enough away from the wards Hermione pulled her wand and held her arm out.“Be on guard I’m not sure what will be waiting for us when we arrive.”

“I’m not worried.”Andromeda pulled out her wand and wrapped her hand around Hermione’s arm. Taking a deep breath she felt like she was being pulled through a tube. When the sensation ended she looked around in awe at the large manor and various other smaller buildings built into the side of a mountain.”How have I never heard of this place?”

“Did you socialize with the Notts a lot?”Hermione asked as she took in their surroundings. The area was heavily forested with trees covering most of the grounds blocking out the entire sky. If Hermione didn’t know for a fact it was a bright sunny day she would have thought that it was the middle of the night. It was the perfect place for vampires.

“The Notts weren’t well liked by many. Even though they were purebloods they got little respect. That was because they didn’t conform to the norms and didn’t have any talented witches or wizards in the last few generations. I had heard my father and a few of his friends talking about killing them off and taking their title to cleanse the sacred 28 of their family.”Andromeda told her.

“The Nott I went to school with was an idiot and one of Draco’s best friends.”Hermione had never understood how the boy passed his classes.”He could barely do first year spells.”

“Draco was just like his father. Keeping company of stupid people who were to dumb to question their agenda.”Andromeda said.

“Regardless are you ready to go see what kind of treasures they left behind in this home?”Hermione wanted to know what the Notts had collected over the years.

“They didn’t clear anything out?”Andromeda would have expected that the family would have taken the valuables.

“Apparently Theodore’s wife wants him to get rid of most of the family heirlooms. She thinks if she can start fresh that the wizarding world will respect them and their children. That is also why they are selling off a bunch of their estates. She wants the ones that have been the sight of horrible things to no longer be linked to them.”Hermione explained.

“It’s going to take more than getting rid of stuff to change their reputation.”Andromeda didn’t think anything other than Hermione becoming their Head of Household would change the public’s opinion of them. Something some of the other Heads reached out for Hermione to do. Hermione of course wasn’t fooled by the offers and declined each one.

“Well I’ve already sent a representative to meet with her to acquire whatever she trying to get rid of.”Hermione told her.

“Do they know it’s you who bought everything and are interested in the other stuff?”Andromeda asked.

Hermione began walking towards the main house with Andromeda by her side.”No of course not. If they did they would charge me twice as much and brag to everyone I was interested in their family.”

“True.”Andromeda could easily believe that the Notts would let it be known far and wide that Hermione wanted some of their belongings trying to use that as proof the family couldn’t be that bad if the savior herself wanted to own a part of it. Stopping at a large door Andromeda could feel the ancient magic coming from it.”That’s blood magic. How you going to bypass that?”

Hermione pulled a vial of red liquid out of the satchel she always carried.”Initially they wanted to escort the buyer to the properties personally but I gave them some extra gold to give me blood instead.”

“That just shows how stupid they are. I mean you could do a thousand horrible things with a drop of their blood. With that vial so much more.”Andromeda couldn’t believe that someone would be stupid enough to give a stranger their blood.

“I think we have established the Nott family aren’t that smart. Now then let’s play with some blood wards.”Hermione opened the vial and dipped the end of her wand it. She then waved it around chanting softly.

Andromeda watched with bated breath as Hermione’s wand movements became more pronounced and her chanted got louder. She knew her love was good with magic but blood wards were dangerous no mater who you were. When Hermione finished chanting and the door creaked open Andromeda let out the breath she was holding.”It’s looks like it worked.”

“It will work on not only this property but the other ones I bought as well.”Hermione had expected something stronger but wasn’t going to kick a gift horse in the mouth.

Andromeda pushed the door open wider and walked into the forur. It was covered in dust and dirt and there were obvious signs of neglect in the crumbling walls and broken windows.”It looks like no has been here for a while.”

“This was the estate that the family was most interested in selling. They lowered the price numerous times since it’s been on the market.”Hermione said.

“I bet it has a very dark history then.”Andromeda could see the place being the place of something dark happening.

“Come on let’s check out the rest of the place. Then we can decide if it’s something we should fix up or rent to the vampires as is and let them fix it up.”Hermione told her.

“You aren’t going to sell it to them?”Andromeda asked.

Hermione shook her head as she walked down the hallway stopping at the first room she came across. Walking in she noticed it was a sitting room filled with covered furniture and a thread bare rug.”No because they are foreign magical creatures and regardless of the breakthroughs you have made in the ministry they would be targeted and harassed if they tried to own land.”

“That’s a good point. They would be charged all kinds of extra taxes and have a lot of restrictions on what they could do with the place.”Andromeda thought Hermione renting it to them was the best idea.

Hermione waved her wand over the couch removing all the dust and the covering revealing a beautiful 19th century piece of furniture. Repeating the process to the rest of the pieces she uncovered a matching set with a chair, love seat and a settee.”Cissa would love this.”

“Yeah she would.”Andromeda agreed.

“I’m going to take it home with us.”Hermione waved her wand again shrinking the items down then collecting them and putting them in her bag.”That will be a nice gift after being late to our lunch.”

“Why were you late to lunch?”Andromeda asked as she walked around the room looking at the random items that were in it.

“Bella kept me. Even though I told her I was on a time crunch.”Hermione told her.

“If you told Bella you were meeting Cissa of course she was going to make you late.”Andromeda figured Bellatrix had done it on purpose.

“I hear that you helped rile her up by detailing our bedroom activity to her.”Hermione said.

Andromeda made her way over to Hermione wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed her hard on the mouth.”Sweetheart I detail our bedroom activities to anyone who will listen. Of course I don’t use your name but I am not shy about bragging about my young, hot, lover.”

“That is going to come back and bite me when it’s revealed that we are together.”Hermione could already see the headlines.

“No it will get you a lot of respect for being able to satisfy all thee of us.”Andromeda knew that once the public caught on Hermione would be seen as a Casanova.

“I try my hardest to satisfy all three of you.”Hermione always worried that she wasn’t enough for the three sisters.

Andromeda kissed her again.”And you do a damn fine job at it. Why I bet that not only is Bella passed out in her bunk after spending time with you but Cissa has probably had to take a pepper up potion to get through the rest of the day after your visit.”

“Cissa did have to take a potion to get through the rest of the day.”Hermione had declined the potion herself having gotten energized from her time with Narcissa.

“See you have nothing to worry about. You know full well that one of the reasons Cissa allowed me to begin a relationship with you was that she wasn’t able to keep up with you.”Andromeda had happily accepted that challenge.

“That’s not why she allowed you and I to start a relationship. She allowed it because she loves you and knew that you had feelings for me.”Hermione reminded her.

“Well it was hard not to have feelings for you.”Andromeda had never even considered being in a relationship with a woman until she had met Hermione.

“Did you know that Bella was trying to deny that she was madly in love with me when I was brought to the manor?”Hermione still couldn’t believe that Bellatrix thought she could deny it.

Andromeda laughed.”Bella was in love with you at the ministry.”

“She also tried to claim that I turned Cissa into a sex fiend.”Hermione said.

“I think I have to agree with her on that one.”Andromeda had caught her sister and Hermione many times in sexual situations. Narcissa was shameless and didn’t let a thing like no privacy stop her from pouncing on Hermione. The only real rule she had was that she was careful around the children and made sure they never caught them.

“I think Cissa has always been passionate. She just didn’t get a chance to explore that passion until I came along and freed her from her marriage.”Hermione knew that Narcissa was more than just the ice queen. She just never had the opportunity to be anything else.

“You freed all three of us from our marriages.”Andromeda was very thankful that Hermione saved her sisters.

“I was just in the right place at the right time with the Malfoys and the Lestrages.”Hermione didn’t do anything that impressive.”As for you. You would have eventually gotten out of yours.”

“No I wouldn’t. I would have stayed with Ted until either one of us died.”Andromeda was telling the truth. She didn’t have the courage to leave her husband.”It wasn’t until I met you that night at the Order meeting that I even imagined a different life than the one I was living.”

Hermione tightened her arms around Andromeda thinking about that night.”I had met Bella and had all these dealings with Cissa and there you were. This person who was larger than life in my mind. Then as I observed you you seemed so meek and weak. I couldn’t understand how the formable Andromeda Black I had researched and heard so much about turned into Andromeda Tonks the meek healer housewife. I didn’t even know how to approach you. Then Ted had tried to bully me talking about how now that I was the Head of Black family I had an obligation to reinstate you and support your family.”

“As soon as I heard what he was saying I was furious. I almost pulled my wand on him right then.”Andromeda had remembered how mad she had been hearing Ted trying to bully Hermione into giving him gold.

“I know you were. That’s why I politely told him to go to hell and excused myself from the situation.”Hermione had been tempted to pull her wand on Ted but held back.

“And in my anger I followed you to the library where we had our first conversation.”Andromeda smiled at the memory.

“I was so nervous. I had already been seeing Cissa randomly although we never really said that we were even friends let alone a couple. I just felt like I needed to make a good impression on you if I was going to pursue your sister like I planned to.”Hermione smiled along with Andromeda thinking about her blubbering.

“You were so cute. Apologizing for being rude to my husband and offering me the opportunity to be reinstated if I wanted. It was as I listened to you stutter and ramble and trying to build a case for yourself to be a good Head of Household for me that I lost my heart to you.”Andromeda had been head over heels in love with Hermione by the time she left the library that night.

“I was just as smitten but wanted to be respectful of your marriage.”Hermione said.

“That night when I went home with Ted we have a big argument about you and as he tried to convince me to challenge your claim on the Black family I knew that our marriage was over.”Andromeda had started sleeping in the guest room that night and never returned to the martial bed again.”From then I followed all your adventures and made sure I was at all the Order meetings hoping to catch a glimpse of you. When I found out that you had been taken to the manor I had to be stopped from going after you myself. Then when they brought you to shell cottage to recover from what the snatchers did to you I couldn’t believe what you told me about my sisters.”

Hermione had been so overjoyed to tell Andromeda that her sisters were not lost to her.”Well we never mentioned you at the manor but I knew that they would be happy to have you in their lives again.”

“I was more than happy to have them back as well.”Andromeda reuniting with Narcissa and Bellatrix was one of the greatest things that happened to Andromeda.”After the war going to the mind healers was the greatest blessing I ever received because it bought Cissa and I close again and it gave me permission to act on my attraction to you.”

“Imagine my surprise when my girlfriend comes home and says that I am now dating her sister. She didn’t ask me she told me. She said Hermione I have given Andromeda permission to date you. So you will get your lawyer working on her divorce so it doesn’t cause a scandal.”Hermione told her.

“Classic Cissa.”Andromeda wouldn’t expect anything less from Narcissa.

“And now we are here years later standing in the home of the enemy reminiscing about our lives.”Hermione said.

“Life with you has been amazing and I can’t wait for the future.”Andromeda had so many plans for her future with Hermione.

Hermione kissed Andromeda before pulling out of the embrace.“Part of that future is touring these buildings and removing any curses we come across.”

“I hope we finds something fun. I haven’t had a good challenge in a while.”Andromeda said as she wrapped her arm around Hermione and pulled her close to her side and began walking.

Hermione wrapped her arm around Andromeda’s waist and walked beside her.”I’m thinking there will likely be something in the dungeons.”

“Even a less than stellar pureblood family will have some kind of decent defense in the dungeons.”Andromeda said Hermione humming in agreement. Andromeda happily walked by Hermione’s side feeling honored that she got the opportunity. Her love had everything going for her when Andromeda made her interests known. Savior of the wizarding and Head of five pureblood houses Hermione was the most eligible bachelorette on the market. Men and women vied to be her love interest. Andromeda on the other hand had been married to a man and had done very little in the war. She was an old woman who had a child and a husband who had tried to bully the savior into supporting him. Luckily none of that mattered to Hermione. Once she was given permission from Narcissa Hermione immediately acted. She moved Andromeda into her home, hired a lawyer and had taken Andromeda on the most romantic date of her life. The first of many. Andromeda fell more in love with Hermione after ever gesture and words of love and devotion and knew without a doubt that Hermione felt the same way about her. She not only never hid it she went out of her way to make sure that Andromeda knew that although she was with both of her sisters as well that Hermione was just as devoted and in love with her as the other two. Life with Hermione was spectacular and Andromeda couldn’t wait until they could finally be married. Then she could go after all the people trying to win Hermione’s hand.