Worth Dying For
AN: This is written for the Speed of Lightning Challenge, and the prompt was 'To die for'.
Tonks sat at her sons bedside for hours, watching him sleeping peacefully. Her husband, Remus, had left a couple of hours earlier, joining the group assembled at Hogwarts, preparing for an attack or a siege of the school. She had received no news of what was going on there, yet, which she hoped meant there was no bad news, at least not for now.
She thought about the last few months, since You-Know-Who had overthrown the Ministry of Magic and effectively taken over the Wizarding world. She had thought it was bad before, the few years since he returned, but now she realises it was nothing compared to how it is today. Although she was too young to remember properly, she had known the First Wizarding War had not reached such a critical state, either. The Death Eaters were ruthless. She wasn't foolish, she knew their resistance was crumbing, with almost half of the Order dead and many more in hiding. Muggle-borns were being rounded up, students were left under the mercy of the Carrows, with them powerless to help. It seemed to be almost over. He had won.
The months had been very hard, so many deaths in such a short space of time. Mad-eye, fallen trying to protect Harry and get him to the Burrow safely. Her father, killed on the run as he refused to sign the Muggle-born register. A handful of fellow students she had known from Hogwarts. An Auror who sometimes worked with her team. Mary Mckenzie, a muggle-born and her best friend from her Hogwarts days. Each one felt like a physical blow, making her sick to her stomach.
In the long hours of the night, she made up her mind. This resistance at Hogwarts could be their last chance to overthrow the regime. If they fail, all hope would be lost. It would be the end of the already crumbling underground resistance of the Order and their allies. He would have well and truly took over the Wizarding world. So, she decided. She would join this last stand.
"Goodbye, my son," Tonks whispered, placing a delicate kiss on little Teddy's forehead. She gathered her cloak around her and ensured her wand was in its holster, before standing up. As she reached the door, she looked back at the baby sleeping peacefully in his cot. She took in every detail of her son; his tufts of turquoise hair, his chubby cheeks, his hand curled around his teddy bear, a gift from her father before he had been forced to flee. Then she left, closing the door softly behind her.
"Where do you think you're going?" a familiar voice stopped her as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
She turned around slowly, coming face to face with her mother.
"To Hogwarts," she said determinedly. She had made up her mind, and nothing would stop her now.
"What about Teddy?" she asked, and Tonks could see the concern in her eyes. She didn't want her only grandson growing up without his parents. Or, to lose her only daughter.
She thought of her son, asleep soundly upstairs, not knowing or understanding what was going on. She tried to imagine him growing up under He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's regime, and shuddered. She thought of the Death Eater's ideals, how they would treat a half-blood whose father was a werewolf. Whose grandmother was a traitor to pure-bloods. She would not let her little boy experience that.
"Mum," Tonks said, softly but determined. "There are some things worth dying for."
"Oh, Dora," Andromeda said, her voice thick with tears. Tonks had never seen her mother cry before, she had always put up a strong front. Andromeda stepped forwards, pulling her daughter into an embrace. She held her tight, unwilling to let go. When Tonks eventually pulled away, she saw the fierce determination in her daughters' eyes and smiled. She knew that look; she had seen it in her own face many times. When she ran away with Ted, when she told him she wanted to fight in the war. And she had seen him wear that look, too, when he decided to go on the run, to protect them.
"Go, Dora. I'll look after Teddy, no matter what," she said, the meaning words hung unsaid. If you don't come back.
With one last look at her mother, she stepped out of the house and apparated into Hogsmeade.