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Part Three / Chapter Sixty-Seven
Venus had never been good at goodbyes.
Not with her parents, not with Harry, not even with her old raggedy Ann doll Tonks gifted her when she was four ( she regretfully threw it out when she was 13 ) and now she was saying goodbye to Ted, who was anxiously packing his book-bag in the living room. Andromeda had been pacing back and forth in the kitchen. Her long dark hair tied back showing her pale, skinny face watching her husband get ready to hide away from oncoming Death Eaters.
Venus and Tonks sat on the stairs watching Ted scour the entire house one last time. The stakes for Muggle-borns had went from horrible to absolute hell since the Ministry had fallen. Death Eaters no longer had to keep in hiding, they strolled the streets like common citizens. Occasionally beating and arresting witches and wizards along their path. Muggle-borns expressed a worse fate: death.
"Be safe. If you find an ally, stick by them. I swear if you're not careful or try and be heroic, I will kill you myself." Andromeda hit his chest with both hands, ultimately collapsing into them, crying into his shirt.
"I'll be alright, darling. Don't worry about me. Worry about the girls." Ted whispered, kissing the top of her head.
Tonks and Venus had abandoned their place on the steps, breaking out into a fleeting run into Ted's arms.
"You two, take care of your mother and take care of each other."
Tonks gave an immediate nod, clasping her arms around his neck again.
"I love you, dad." Tonks kissed him on the cheek, retreating back to Andromeda with a quick sniffle. She didn't want to cry in front of her Ted.
"Venus?" Ted perked up.
Venus couldn't even look him in the eye. The anxiousness burrowed in her chest worsened since August. Everything scared her now. The slight breeze that rocked the trees, the creek that came from the third step on the staircase, random flashes of light that came from neighboring homes. Anything could indicate Death Eaters or Metatron, even if it their was a reasonable reason against that. Now, Ted was going to be out there all alone, where anyone could be lurking, just waiting to claim another kill.
"Can I?" Venus pointed to his forearm.
Ted looked down at his arm and back up at Venus. He had no idea what she was implying, even so, he nodded. Venus let her hand hover over his arm, the sigil she'd seen being inscribed so many times was carved into Ted's arm. She'd expected him to recoil in pain, but his arm remained still. In such a way that almost shook Venus to the core. The circled encompassed the center of the sigil, culminating the last of the symbol. The carving gave a soft orange glow before etching onto Ted's skin like a tattoo.
