I can't sleep with rain. Andromeda Tonks starred blankly out into the dark window. It was nearly midnight. In her arms she held a baby girl. Her baby girl. Her husband, Ted Tonks stood behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Suggestions for names?" He asked, smiling.
The two hadn't really prepared for a baby. Ted was usually quite disorganized. She had been born with brown hair and dark eyes. Her eyes stared into the ones of her happy parents and the soft tuft of brown hair changed into a nice, soft bubble-gum pink. Her parents gasped.
"She's a Metamorphmagus!" Ted cried, jumping up.
"I want to name her Nymphadora. " Andromeda said suddenly.
Ted looked surprised. "Dromeda? Darling…well…that's, er, special…"
"Well, she's special too." Andromeda retorted. "And you like the name Dora, don't you?"
"Okay, it's settled!" Ted said quickly. "We name her Dora!" He took the baby from Andromeda's arms and swung her around. She giggled softly, and her hair turned a shade of violet.
"No! Ted! You can call her Dora, but her name will be Nymphadora Tonks!"
Andromeda's voice was so stern that Ted didn't bother arguing. "Ah, alright, Dromeda Darling. Nymphadora Tonks, then."
"Thank you." Andromeda replied contently.
"You look tired. You go on to sleep. This little one is tired too." Ted kissed his wife's cheek and she smiled gratefully.
When she was walking away, he whispered playfully to his baby, "When you wonder someday about the complete randomness of your name, please, Dora, blame your mother."
Andromeda giggled as she walked up the stairs. The pattering of the rain was still so loud. As she got up to her room, she recognized an owl. She quickly opened the letter.
Dear Andromeda,
Congratulations on the little one. Boy or Girl? I'll be sure to visit some time sometime. Maybe during Christmas, James and I will stop by. Best of luck!
Your Favorite Cousin,
Sirius.
She smiled while reading the letter from her favorite cousin. He was almost seventeen, and had run away from home. Just like her, she thought sadly. She loosened up when she thought he was better off living with his best mate, James Potter, then with his own family. She had invited him to live with Ted and her, but he had already moved in with the Potters, who he considered his own family already.
She quickly scribbled a reply.
Sirius,
We are doing great, thanks. She's a girl and a Metamorphmagus! I think Ted thought I was crazy when I suggested the name. I'll bet he will come up her any second telling me I'm insane. We named her Nymphadora.
Love,
Andromeda Tonks.
P.S We'd love to have you and James over for Christmas!
She sent her letter with the owl and went into bed. She stared blankly out the dark window, into the rain. Or at least for a little bit. She hadn't even noticed the rain stopped until she got another letter.
Nymphadora?! Why?
P.S James says hello
Andromeda smiled as she read those words. Why, indeed had she named her daughter Nymphadora?
She thought of her little cousin. They were so similar, both the oddballs of the Black family.
It was now 12:38 am. She heard soft snoring from the baby room. Her husband was fast asleep in the extra bed they put there, just in case. Then she looked into the crib, and saw her little sleeping baby. Her hair brown again. She walked to her room again. She picked up her quill and decided on what to write to Sirius.
xxxx
Nine year old Andromeda Black was looking out of her large window of her large room. It was raining.
"I can't sleep with rain," She muttered to herself.
She sighed, quite unhappily. She got out of bed and ran in the halls. Everyone was asleep so far. It was late. Her Aunt Walburga and Uncle Orion were over for the weekend, wishing her sister, Bellatrix luck. Sirius, who was two, was also with them. Andromeda loved playing him. Aunt Walburga said she'd be a great babysitter when they needed her. She remembered beaming with pride. Everyone was asleep now. Every room was dark except for one.
Andromeda knocked. "Bella? Bella, can I come in?"
"Go right ahead, Drommie." Andromeda entered the room and sat on her sister's bed. She was quickly preparing herself, making sure she didn't miss anything.
"Bella, I don't want you to go!"
"Aw, Drommie, two more years, and you'll be at Hogwarts too!"
"Two more years! That's ages! I'll probably have wrinkles like mother and Auntie Walburga!"
"Shhh!!" Bella giggled. "They'll hear you!"
"Bella! There are boys at Hogwarts too! Why do you want to be near boys?"
"Drom! Boys aren't all bad! Except muggle boys. Muggle boys and mudblood boys!"
Andromeda nodded. "There will be mudbloods there, Bella! Lots!"
"But not in Slytherin."
"Oh."
"That means I have to get into Slytherin. That means you too, Drommie!"
"I know."
"Hey Drom?"
"Yeah Bella?"
Bellatrix went to sit next to her sister on her bed. "You wouldn't ever like a mudblood would you?"
"Course not, Bella." Andromeda wriggled her nose as if she smelled something sour. "Mother and Father and Uncle Orion and Auntie Walburga would have our heads. Plus they are mudbloods!"
"Good!" Bella smiled "Let's make a pact?"
"A what?"
"A promise, Drommie!"
"Oh okay."
Bella made a ominous voice, low and steady. "In the name of the family Black, we will not be tainted with mudbloods or muggles, and if we do, we shall…name of our first daughter Nymphadora!"
"Bella!" Andromeda shrieked with laughter. "Why Nymphadora?!"
Bella smiled. "Cause it's silly. Like mudbloods." She growled the word, but Andromeda took no notice.
"What if we only have boys?"
"Um, it has to be called Nymphadora, too."
"Bella, don't be cruel!" Andromeda giggled.
"Fine. Um…Nymphalex."
"That's not a name!" Andromeda pouted.
"Better than Nymphadora? For a boy, at least?" Bella reasoned.
"I suppose…"
"Good!" Bella kissed her sister's forehead. "Are you going to sleep?"
"I can't sleep with the rain, Bella." Andromeda said sincerely.
"Silly, the rain has stopped."
"Oh." Andromeda quietly opened the door. "Good night then. Bella."
"Goodnight, Drommie."
"I can't believe I'm last!" Narcissa screamed. "It's not fair!"
"Narcissa, be quiet! You're too old for this sort of tantrum!"
"Cissy, calm down. It's not that long."
"Easy for you to say, Drommie. You get to go to Hogwarts tomorrow."
Andromeda tingled while thinking about it. Finally! But she looked at her little sister. Narcissa was the youngest of the three.
"Hey Cissy. I think I know what'll make you feel better. Let's make a pact."
"A what?"
There it was. Platform 9 ¾ .
She was waving goodbye to her parents and her sister. Sirius, who was now four, hugged her leg. "Bye-Bye Andy!"
"Bye-bye Sirius! Bye Cissy!"
She boarded the Hogwarts express.
"Hey Drom. You don't mind if I go sit with some of my friends, do you? I mean, this'll give you a chance to mingle with other Slytherin first-years."
"Oh yeah, sure Bella." She said confidently. But in her mind she was begging her sister to stay.
When her dark hair left the compartment, Andromeda got a bit scared. What if I'm not in Slytherin? What am I talking about, I was born to be in Slytherin.
"Can I sit here?" Andromeda barely looked up. That wasn't a pure-blood talking. She knew all the pure-blood first-years. She was related some way to all of them. Before she could say, No, you may not sit here and thank you for interrupting my thoughts, she looked up. She saw a fair-headed boy. She didn't know why, but she felt weird. As if her heart was racing. She coughed to distract herself from it. She looked up into his eyes, until she realized he asked a question.
"Oh. Yeah. Sure."
"Ted Tonks." He says.
"Andromeda Black." She replies.
His eyes widen as if he knows who the Blacks are. "Maybe I should leave…"
"Why?" She asks, as if she doesn't already know.
"I'm muggle-born." Ted looks down. "My brother is a wizard too. Is Bellatrix Black your sister?"
Andromeda nods.
"Oh. I think I should-"
"No!" she was rather alarmed by her voice. "I mean, you don't have too."
Like a sign, the train started to move. So Ted Tonks, muggle-born sat down with an infamous Black.
Andromeda managed to convince herself, that there was an itty-bitty chance that Ted could be in Slytherin, and Bella did say to go meet new people.
At the end of the train ride, a small voice inside her head squeaked, Nymphadora isn't too bad a name.
As she heard, "No more than four a boat!" Yelled out, she turned to Ted.
"Would you like to share a boat?" She asked shyly.
"Yeah." He said, surprised.
"You know, my brother said some things about the Blacks…."
Andromeda pretended not to hear that. When she didn't say anything, Ted looked embarrassed.
As Hogwarts was reached, Andromeda thought as she looked at Ted, there were worse names…
When the sorting ceremony started, Andromeda was third.
"SLYTHERTN!"
Bella clapped the loudest as she went to join her sister.
"Did you meet anyone on the train?" Bella whispered as "Tonks, Ted!" was called.
The hat was on for about ten seconds before it screamed, "RAVENCLAW!"
"No one in particular" Andromeda replied.
Andromeda was a bit disappointed but she didn't get her hopes up too high on him becoming a Slytherin. Bella wrinkled her nose as he sat down to the cheering table with a low whisper "mudblood."
He's history.
Ted looked at Andromeda from across the tables and smiled a little bit.
Then again, she thought, Nymphadora has a nice ring to it.
xxxx
A promise.
Andromeda smiled. But then she added something else.
Don't bother replying. It's late go to sleep.
Potter House:
"A promise? What does that mean?"
"No idea, Padfoot. Your family is kooky."
"You said it Prongs. Hey what do you think of the name Nymphadora?"
James looked confused, then shrugged. "Has a ring to it."