A Fairy's Gift

Andromeda is sitting behind the bar with his head down and calculating accounts. He has an open kraft paper account book, flipping through the data in his left hand, and holding a pen in his right hand to tick the numbers.

Her long black hair was pulled back behind her head, with a few strands hanging down by her ears, revealing the side lines of her neck.

When she heard the bell, she put down the pen in her hand, raised her face, and showed a gentle smile, "Bonsoir, bienvenue."

Regulus walked to the bar.

Baruk turned the spider's head from left to right on his shoulder, and its eight amber eyes began to look at the chandelier on the ceiling, the sugar bowl on the bar, and the croissant in the glass cabinet one by one.

He put his hands on the edge of the countertop and said in French: "Un express, avec du whiskey pur feu."

For a cup of concentrate, add Firewhisky.

Andromeda saw Regulus.

Wearing a dark gray suit, white shirt, and no tie, he is taller than the last time we met, the contours of his face are clearer, his eyebrows are higher, and his jawline is harder.

When I was twelve years old, I looked like a grown-up, but now I am a full-grown boy.

There is a small dark red thing lying on the shoulder, the size of a palm and many eyes.

Andromeda was stunned for a moment, then he laughed, his eyes curved upwards, the corners of his mouth stretched to both sides, and his whole face lit up.

There was a smile in her voice, "Little wizards can't drink."

She came around from behind the bar.

Regulus Only then could he see her belly. The dark blue maternity skirt stretched out a round arc on her belly, which looked like she was five or six months old.

The skirt is made of cotton and linen, with loose cuffs and a hem that reaches the calf. A knitted cardigan is worn outside, with the sleeves rolled up to the forearm.

Andromeda walked up to him, looked him up and down, and smiled happily, "You have grown taller again."

Baruk made a sound on Regulus's shoulder, eight amber eyes turned from the ceiling to Andromeda's face, and its chelicerae opened.

Andromeda's expression paused subtly.

Regulus patted its back. "Don't be scary."

Baruk ignored him and continued to stare at Andromeda.

"It's called Baruk."

When Baruk heard his name, he raised his front legs and waved. Andromeda laughed out loud and also raised his hands and waved.

There was movement from the direction of the operation room, and a man with light brown hair opened the curtain and walked out. His hands were still stained with coffee powder. A dark blue apron was tied around his waist, and his sleeves were rolled up to the elbow.

He saw a young man in a suit standing in front of the bar. He was stunned for a moment, then saw Andromeda's smiling face, and then saw the appearance of the person.

Black hair, gray eyes, Black family's iconic silhouette.

"Regulus!" Ted walked over quickly, rubbed his hand on the apron twice, and stretched it out.

Regulus shook it and said, "Ted."

Ted looked at him and grinned. "You are more energetic and stronger than the last time we met."

After a brief exchange of greetings, Ted was very discerning. He looked at Andromeda, his eyes lit up and he wished he could sit down and chat for three hours immediately. He looked at Regulus again, and reached behind his back to unbutton his apron.

"I'm going to the market to buy some things and come home for dinner in the evening."

He folded his apron twice and placed it on the edge of the bar. He turned to Andromeda and said, "You guys talk first."

Andromeda smiled and nodded.

Ted picked up a cloth bag from under the counter, nodded to Regulus, opened the door and went out.

The brass bell on the door rang again.

Andromeda turned around, took a white porcelain cup from the shelf, and worked in front of the coffee machine for a while.

Concentrated the extract, poured it into a cup, added hot milk from the jug next to it, and placed the cup on the tray.

"Café crème, no Firewhisky."

I poured myself a cup of chamomile tea. The light yellow liquid was steaming in the glass. I was pregnant and had quit caffeine.

Andromeda brought the tray to the small round table by the window and smiled easily, "Drinking coffee at this time, are you still going to sleep tonight?"

"I didn't plan to go to bed early." Regulus shrugged, walked over, sat down, and tapped the table with his finger, Muffling Charm.

The sky outside the window was almost dark, and the street lights were all on.

On the second-floor balcony of an old apartment building across the sidewalk, a woman was watering flowers. The water dripped from the bottom of the flower pot and fell on the first-floor awning, pattering.

The bakery across the corner was closing its stall, and the clerk stacked empty baking sheets at the door.

A young mother pushing a stroller passed by the window. A chubby little hand stretched out from the stroller and scratched in the air.

Andromeda pushed the coffee in front of him and sat down opposite him with a tea cup. "When did you arrive France?"

"Just this month, my family has property at Provence, so I came over to handle some matters."

Regulus picked up the cup and took a sip. The coffee fat and milk were mixed together, making it taste better than the one Dupont brewed at the manor.

"It's done, let's see my cousin."

Andromeda tilted his head. "Handling things? You?"

Regulus looked at her and pulled the corner of his mouth to the side.

Andromeda laughed.

She is a descendant of Black family, and she knows that the heir of Pureblood families will start to be involved in family affairs when he reaches a certain age.

Regulus Although it was a little early to do these things at his age, he was only thirteen years old, but he was not an ordinary little wizard, and she had known it for a long time.

She didn't ask further questions and changed the subject, "You haven't been to Paris yet, have you?"

Regulus nodded. "This is my first time in the city."

"Where did it land?"

"Panthéon over there."

"Then you've been gone for a while," Andromeda picked up the tea cup and took a sip. "Do you like it? Paris."

Regulus thought for a while, "Clean."

Andromeda was amused by this answer and laughed for a while, "It is indeed cleaner than London."

Regulus shook his head inwardly.

I'm not talking about comparing it with London. You'll know what's going on in thirty years.

He also smiled and said in a friendly tone, "How is it at Paris? How long has the store been open?"

Andromeda leaned back and put a hand on his stomach. "It opened last year, and the location is not very good. It is on the tail of Mouffetard Street. People on the road may not turn in.

But gradually we started to have repeat customers, including several families living upstairs, the owner of the bookstore, and a few Sorbonne students who came to sit there every afternoon."

She tilted her chin toward the bar. "Ted learned how to make French coffee, which is much better than UK's."

"UK people are like that?" Regulus raised his eyebrows.

"UK people just pour coffee powder into hot water and stir it." Andromeda's tone sounded condescending towards UK's diet after France has lived there for a long time.

"It's different here, in terms of concentration, milk foam, ratio, and temperature. He's been learning for more than half a year, and now he's better at latte art than me."

"Ted is talented and can do anything quickly," she said with a smile, "The same goes for French. After being here for half a year, I can already quarrel with stall owners in the market."

Regulus raised the corners of his mouth. "What about you?"

"Me?" Andromeda touched his belly. "I'm responsible for greeting the guests in front of me, and occasionally making desserts. Ted thinks the crepes I make are too sweet, but the customers like them, and they are sold out within half an hour of making them."

She said with a proud expression on her face, "Do you want to try it? I'll make one for you."

"No need," Regulus shook his head decisively. "Just have dinner tonight."

Andromeda smiled, holding his stomach and leaning forward, his eyes narrowed. "The store occasionally uses a little Magic to help. The stirring spoon stirs by itself, and the coffee pot keeps warm by itself. Muggle can't tell."

Regulus's eyes flashed with amusement. "Has anything gone wrong?"

Andromeda thought for a while and covered his mouth, "Once, Ted forgot to collect the mixing spoon. A customer walked into Kitchen to borrow the bathroom and almost saw the spoon spinning on its own in the air."

Regulus asked cooperatively, "Then what?"

"Then Ted told the guest that it was the principle of the magnet and explained it for three minutes," Andromeda suppressed a laugh, "The guest looked confused after he left. He is probably still wondering why Kitchen's spoon can be picked up by the magnet."

Regulus twitched the corner of his mouth.

The cafe was very quiet. There was a middle man wearing glasses sitting at the table in the corner, looking through an old dog-eared book. There was a cup of cold black coffee in front of him.

There was no one on the stools around the bar, and the second hand of the wall clock was ticking, pointing to half past seven.

Andromeda talked about some daily things again, saying that the neighbors on this street were pretty good, the bakery proprietress would give her an extra croissant, and the old man at the fruit stand knew she was pregnant and would pick the best oranges for her every time.

She looked at the street outside the window, her eyes softening. "It's pretty good, much more comfortable than when I was at UK."

Regulus Listen and look at the expression on her face.

The whole face is relaxed, the brows are relaxed, the corners of the mouth are naturally curved upward, and fine lines appear at the corners of the eyes when smiling.

At last year's wedding, she was still trembling when she held his arm and walked down the aisle, her eyes red several times. Her happiness at that time was bought with courage, and she was afraid of breaking it when she held it in her hands.

Now she has turned this happiness into a daily life.

Among the three sisters of Black family, Bellatrix is becoming more and more quiet and dangerous in the shadow of Voldemort, and Narcissa is under the shadow of In the Malfoy Manor, she maintains the dignity of a noble lady. Andromeda serves coffee to customers in a small cafe in Paris. She is pregnant with a child and secretly administers Magic.

Regulus raised her chin and looked at her belly. "How many months has it been?"

Andromeda lowered his head and touched it, drawing a small circle on the skirt with his fingers. "It's been almost six months."

"Have you chosen a name?"

"It's up," Andromeda's expression softened, with a hint of pride unique to the namer. "It's a girl, her name is Nymphadora."

Regulus's expression changed slightly.

The corners of his mouth moved, but he didn't say anything. He narrowed his eyes, and it was really uncomfortable to hold in his mouth.

Andromeda saw his reaction and laughed, "What's wrong?"

Nymphadora, nymphadora, a gift from the fairy.

Black family There is a tradition of naming children based on zodiac signs and mythology.

Andromeda left Black family, was expelled, married Muggle-born wizard, and opened a cafe in Paris, but when it came to naming her daughter, this aesthetic obviously did not leave her.

The name she gave her daughter was still in the style of classical mythology, fairy, gift, long and gorgeous.

His own name is regulus, Regulus, Leo the brightest star.

Sirius is called sirius, Sirius.

Bellatrix is called bellatrix--

I paused for a moment when I thought of this, bellatrix, a female warrior, is also the name of Bellatrix.

A bit unlucky.

Bellatrix Why is it called this name?

I have to find an opportunity to change it for her.

He took his thoughts back and Andromeda was still looking at him with a smile.

Regulus also looked at him, with a crooked corner of his mouth and an expression that was hard to describe. "Cousin, your daughter will probably not be called by this name in the future."

"Why?" Andromeda asked confidently.

"It's too long and too flowery. I was laughed at by my classmates when I went to school."

Andromeda was unimpressed, unmoved, and even looked proud. "I think it sounds very good. A gift from a fairy, it suits her very well."

Regulus shook his head and said nothing more.

The name Nymphadora sounds classical, exaggerated and pretentious in English, which is very out of place in modern daily life.

It's like a Chinese child named Tiansend Fairy Boy who was laughed to death by his classmates on the first day of school.

Tonks hates this name because it's too ugly and too pretentious.

Every time she was called by her full name, it was like reading a poem full of gorgeous adjectives in public, so she forced everyone to call her only Tonks, and would fall out with everyone who called her Nymphadora.

When this child comes out, grows up, and knows shame, his reaction will be very interesting.

"Just watch," Regulus looked at Andromeda's belly and said with certainty, "She will ask everyone to only call her by her last name in the future."

Andromeda didn't believe it. "No, Nymphadora sounds so good."

Regulus narrowed his eyes and did not argue with her.

Poor child, your cousin helped you fight for it, but your mother insisted.