Family and Protection

Ted brought up a pot of beef stew Burgundy. The red wine and beef had been stewed for almost two hours, and it fell apart as soon as I picked it up with chopsticks.

Next to it is a basket of sliced baguettes, a small dish of olive oil, a plate of vegetable salad, and a few pieces of Brie.

Andromeda stood up and walked to the cabinet at the door and took a bottle of Bordeaux. It was not new, so it was probably bought from the small supermarket on the corner.

She took out another bottle of sparkling water from the refrigerator and handed it to Regulus. She came back and put the sparkling water in front of Regulus.

Regulus lowered his head and looked at the sparkling water in front of him, and then at the bottle of Bordeaux on the table. Then he raised his eyes and looked across the table to Andromeda's face.

Andromeda shook his head firmly, as if this matter was not negotiable.

Regulus shrugged and slapped his mouth.

Ted stood by the table holding a spatula, grinning happily when he saw this scene.

Three people sat down around the dining table, Ted, Andromeda, Regulus, and Baruk lying on the corner of the table.

There was a small plate in front of Baruk, which contained Andromeda's broken bread and a small piece of Cheese.

It picked up a piece of Cheese with its chelicerae and stuffed it into its mouth. After chewing it twice, the spider tilted its head as if it didn't like it.

Cheese was spat out and rolled out of the plate, and it went to eat bread again.

I chewed it twice and spit it out.

After a while, the area around the dish was in a mess.

Andromeda looked amused, picked up the cup and poured a few drops of red wine into Baruk's plate.

The spider leaned its head forward and sniffed it, then opened and closed its chelicerae twice to show that it was not interested.

Ted looked on from the side, the fork stopped in mid-air, his expression confused and a little funny.

Regulus used serving chopsticks to pick up a piece of beef in the pot, flicked his wrist, and threw it onto Baruk's plate.

A look flew over. "Eat honestly."

Baruk's chelicerae have just opened, ready to take out this new piece of stuff.

The outermost secondary eye caught the look of Regulus. The chelicerae hung in the air and stopped, then slowly closed it, picked up the beef and stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it, and chewed it again.

The spider's head is no longer tilted, and its eight legs are no longer flopping around. The whole spider is lying on the corner of the table, gnawing and gnawing attentively.

Andromeda held the wine glass and raised an eyebrow. "When did you raise it?"

Regulus thought for a while, "Shortly after your marriage."

"Quite cute." Andromeda looked at Baruk thoughtfully, then turned his head and glanced at Ted beside him.

Ted almost choked on the mouthful of beef. He took a sip of the red wine at hand, put down the glass, and said earnestly, "Andromeda, you have a child in your belly, so it's not suitable for pets."

He also looked at Baruk, who was concentrating on eating. The spider's claws were holding the last piece of beef and bringing it to his mouth. There were red wine stains on the bristles, and there were bread crumbs and Cheese crumbs all around the plate.

Ted's expression went back and forth between what was so cute about this thing and forget it, don't ask.

"Black's aesthetic." He muttered.

Andromeda pulled his face back and asked him to look at her, "Did I say I wanted to raise it? I just said it was cute."

Ted stared at her, with a face full of hesitation, muttering to himself, last time you said that the tabby cat raised by the owner of the bakery next door was very good, and you started putting cat food in the bag that afternoon.

He took a breath and gave up resistance. "My dear, it is indeed cute."

Then he turned around and smiled sheepishly at Regulus.

Regulus looked at them, and the corners of his mouth turned up.

Ted put several pieces of beef into Andromeda's bowl. After Andromeda took a few bites, he put down his fork, leaned on the chair, and supported his waist with his hands.

The belly is getting bigger and bigger, and there is not much room in the stomach. It fills up after just a few mouthfuls.

Ted stood up, took the wool blanket from the sofa, folded it into a small cushion, and stuffed it between her lower back and the back of the chair. Andromeda said nothing and put her hand on his arm.

Regulus picked up a piece of beef and put it into his mouth. The meat was stewed thoroughly, and the taste of red wine penetrated into the meat fiber. It was salty and salty just right.

After Ted finished his work, he sat down across from him again, cut a piece of bread and handed it to Regulus, and started chatting.

"The coffee drinking habits of France people are completely different from those of UK people. UK people enter coffee shops to sit down, but France people really come to drink.

I drank a cup of espresso and left without even sitting on a chair. When I first opened the store, I set up six tables, but later I found that three of them were redundant."

Andromeda added next to it, "He brought up the three extra tables, and one of them is now the one you are sitting on."

Regulus lowered his head and took a look. Indeed, the top of this table is newer than other furniture.

Ted continued talking about coffee, "UK people can't wait to pour half a pot of milk into it and add two spoons of sugar. France people just have such a small cup of concentrated coffee, drink it in three or two sips and then leave."

He laughed when he said this, "When I first came here, I thought it was because my cooking didn't taste good, but later I found out that this is how people drink it."

Regulus actually has no interest in the topic of coffee, but he still asked, "What is the best selling thing in the store?"

Ted thought for a while, "Espresso and French cream coffee."

He broke off a piece of bread and dipped it in some olive oil. "France people are very stubborn. They are used to drinking whatever they want. I tried making several new fancy coffees and adding chocolate powder, but no one ordered them after a month."

"Don't be discouraged," Andromeda comforted with a smile beside him, "Someone ordered it, that old gentleman wearing a beret."

Ted glanced sideways at her. "He ordered it, took a sip, and put it down, and he never ordered it again."

Andromeda held back laughter and put his hand on his stomach.

Ted shook his head and shrugged at Regulus with a calm expression. "But life is going well. Although the store is not big, it is enough for us. The rent at Paris is cheaper than London, at least here at Mouffetard Street."

Andromeda was watching him speak, with the corners of his mouth raised.

Regulus looked at the way Ted took care of Andromeda.

When passing water, your hand will touch the wall of the cup to test the temperature before passing it over.

When Andromeda stood up to get the salt, Ted subconsciously stretched out his hand to support her elbow. Before she stood up, he just stretched out his hand and touched it gently, waiting for her to stand firm before taking it back.

Ted is indeed mediocre on Magic. In the eyes of Regulus, he is not even considered a beginner. But he knows how to make a person live comfortably, and this ability has nothing to do with Magic.

After dinner, Ted cleared the table, slipped the wand into his hand from his cuff, and the dishes floated into Kitchen's sink. The faucet was turned on, and the sound of foam and water came from Kitchen.

He stood at the door of Kitchen, with his back to the living room. The dishes were tumbling and washing in the sink. He turned his head and glanced at Andromeda and Regulus in the living room. The two siblings were sitting on the sofa talking.

He leaned against the door frame, leaving room for them.

Andromeda took the wool blanket to the sofa, unfolded it, covered his legs, and nestled into the corner of the sofa.

It was completely dark outside the window, and the Paris night spread out.

The street is much quieter. Occasionally, a car will pass by, and its headlights will sweep across the wall of the building opposite. The light and shadow will disappear after a flash from left to right.

There was a church bell in the distance, ringing about eight or nine times.

Regulus sat next to her for a while, the fire in the fireplace crackled, and the blue-green edge jumped.

He stood up, walked to her, squatted down and said, "I'll leave something for her."

Andromeda looked at him squatting in front of her, his gray eyes looking up at her with a serious expression.

She tilted her head, curiosity flashed in her eyes, but she didn't ask anything.

Regulus stretched out his right index finger and gently touched Andromeda's belly.

Blue-white light seeped out from the fingertips, and the light spread along the contact point, passing through the skin, through the muscles, through the amniotic fluid, and touched the little life curled up in the mother's body.

Gently spread Guardian Will of Bellatrix around the fetus.

Andromeda felt something warm and stable seeping in from the outside and covering the child very lightly.

There is no intrusion or oppression, just guarding there.

She looked down at her belly. A small piece of skin on her belly shone faintly with a blue-white light, and then sank out of sight.

He reached out and touched the spot where the light was shining just now. He could feel the warmth of the skin, and then he raised his head and looked at Regulus.

"Protect her," Regulus retracted his finger and said softly, "I will know if anything happens."

Andromeda's eyes lit up, and he nodded without asking anything.

A Black family woman has grown up with Dark Arts and curses, and knows that there are some things that don't need to be asked.

The cousin left a Protection for his unborn niece. This is enough in itself. As for how to do it, that is Regulus's business.

She covered it with her palm and felt the new layer inside. After a while, she raised her head and said softly, "Thank you, Regulus."

Regulus shook his head, stood up, and said with a smile, "She is also my relative."

Andromeda also smiled, his eyes turned slightly red, he didn't say anything, he just nodded hard.

Baruk ran over from the window sill, stepped on the floor with eight legs, jumped on Regulus's shoulders, glanced at Andromeda with its spider head, and clicked its chelicerae twice.

Andromeda stretched out his finger, hesitated, and lightly touched Baruk's front leg.

Baruk turned the spider's head, its amber eyes stared at her fingers for a while, and then shrank back to the back of Regulus's neck.

Andromeda said to his belly, "It is also protecting you."

Regulus heard two squeaks from the back of his neck.

The church bell struck again.

Regulus said, "It's almost time to go."

Ted walked out from Kitchen and wiped his hands on his apron.

He walked up to Andromeda and put a hand on her shoulder. Andromeda stood up using the armrest of the sofa. The wool blanket slipped from his legs. Ted bent down to pick it up.

"The baby is born, I'll come see you again." Regulus looked at Andromeda, then at Ted.

Ted nodded, walked over and stretched out his hand, Regulus shook it.

"Thank you for coming," Ted said, "I will stay at home next time. The sofa can sleep on the sofa."

Regulus twitched the corner of his mouth, then turned and walked towards the door.

Walking to the door, he put his hand on the doorknob, without looking back, and said in a casual tone, "Your life is very good now, just live like this, it's pretty good."

Andromeda stood behind Regulus. When he heard these words, the smile on his face faded a little.

She is not stupid. The rumors in Pure-blood Circle, the expansion of Death Eaters, and the name of Voldemort changed from whispers to open fear. These things can be smelled through English Channel.

She knows what Regulus means, don't go back, don't get involved, that's it, that's fine.

She didn't say anything. After a while, she smiled and nodded.

Regulus opened the door and walked out, the wooden stairs creaked under his feet.

After taking two steps, the voice behind me caught up. "Regulus."

He looked back.

Andromeda stood at the door, holding on to the door frame. The light shone from behind her, casting her shadow on Corridor's old wallpaper.

She looked at him, opened her mouth, wanted to say something, but in the end she just said, "You are fine too."

Regulus smiled and continued walking down.

Andromeda turned around and walked back into the house, came to the window, and opened the window.

Paris The night air rushed in, bringing with it the coolness of April and the aroma of the last bakery before closing in the distant bakery.

The street lights were on, and the warm yellow light shone on the stone road. There were still pedestrians walking in twos and threes on Mouffetard Street.

Downstairs, a young man in a dark gray suit walked out of the apartment door and took two steps.

The light from the street lamp shone on him, making his shadow long.

Then he disappeared.

Andromeda leaned against the window frame and looked at the street below.

Ted came over, stood behind her, and put his hands on her shoulders.

Andromeda Put your hand back up.

The little thing in her belly kicked her again, not hard enough, just enough to make her look away from the window, look down at her belly, and smile.

The church bell in the distance rang again.