Growing up, there were a few things that Nymphadora had always known and relied on from her childhood.
One was that she was not to ask questions about her mother's family, or about her past, for that matter. It was a forbidden subject that if brought up by her would only make her mother look very distant, and reply that it was not a proper subject, and that she had work that had to be done. The first time she had asked was when she was five, after her cousins and aunts and uncles had left their house. It had been the first time she had ever stopped and thought about why she had never heard anything about the people on her mother's side. Her father had been showing her a family tree of all of his siblings, after she had shown great interest in her cousin's school project.
As Ted Tonks pulled out a blank piece of paper, and had designed a rather messy family tree that had only the names of his siblings, and their children, Nymphadora tipped her head to one side. She followed the trace-marks of the lines between them with her index finger, confusion on her face.
"Annabella and Will married... right? So they had family before them that are my family...too." Her tone was in wonder as she made the connection. It was the age where she began to put things she had always known together, and actually thought about them to find out what they meant.
"That's right," Ted said, grinning at his daughter as he reached down to ruffle her short hair. "So you see, your mother and I married, and we had you." With his quill, he scribbled her long name out, and she crinkled her nose up at its length. Her mother had given her the name, and many-a-times did she attempt to convince them to change it, coming up with multiple possibilities that did not consist of Nymphadora. "See that circle? That's you."
She leaned in closer to have a look, and her eyes wandered up to the place where her parents' names were scribbled. Above and on the side, Ted had names and lines scribbled, with all of the family members she knew very well. As she looked over at her mother's name, she blinked. "How come mum has no family?" she asked suddenly. Never before had she thought of it that way; to her, family had always meant the cousins, the aunts, and her best friend Evan. But they were all from Ted's side, and now she could see the blank side of the paper that had Andromeda's name, and she found herself wondering why her mother had never brought her family over.
Her father looked rather uncomfortable as he drew back in his chair, running a hand through his hair. "Uh, honey.. Well your mother's family doesn't like to keep in contact with us. They had a few misunderstandings a few years back, and the contact has been minimal since then." His voice was careful as he tried not to say it outright, but his words were too intricate for Nymphadora to understand entirely.
"You mean they don't like us?" she asked, understanding only that from his words.
He laughed uneasily. "Of course they do, dear. They would love you if they knew you, certainly." Talking about it made him appear to be walking on broken glass, as if he were careful to not open any curiosity in the young girl's mind. He knew how much it hurt his wife to be reminded of them. "Nymphadora, I'm going to tell you a secret, okay? But first you have to promise to not ask your mother about any of it, understand?"
Her doubt vanished from her eyes, and she leaned her elbows against the table, grinning at the idea of sharing a secret with her father. She reached her hand out and extended her pinky-finger towards him. "`Kay," she said, expecting him to shake on it to show she would keep the promise. "I won't breathe a word." Her tone was too eager, as she did not understand the careful subject that would be brought up from the first time.
Ted smiled fondly at her, and obliged, wrapping his finger around hers. They shook on it, and Nymphadora had a quite important look on her face as she sat back in her chair, trying to look as mature and proper as mother always did.
"Your mother had an argument before you were born, and they haven't spoken since then. And they... they aren't very nice." He looked as if he were going to add more, but as Nymphadora tipped her head to one side in confusion, he knew that she hadn't understood what he meant.
The young girl hesitated, her eyebrows furrowing as she thought it through. "You mean that they're... bad?" she asked finally, her eyes widening as she thought about it.
Again, he looked uncomfortable. "Ah... something like that. I promise you that I'll tell you more about it when you get older." He raised an eyebrow and gave her the sternest look he could, which still didn't seem very hard. Ted always had a soft spot for his daughter, and it was hard for him to set down many rules for her, despite what Andromeda said. "But you have to keep your side of the bargain now, missy. Don't mention this at all to your mother."
Nymphadora nodded seriously, and hopped off of her chair, which was much higher up than her legs reached. She reached up and snatched the paper that her father had scribbled on, and held it close to her chest. "I'll keep this," she declared. "But I'll make sure mother never finds it." After what her father had said, she somehow knew that it was of vital importance to not mention any of this to her mother.
So it was a forbidden subject. She never broke her promise to her father once, though the more she grew, the more curious she became. Often there were times when she wished she could spill everything she knew, and demand for answers. But whenever she would open her mouth to do so, she couldn't find words. It was as if an unbreakable vow had been placed upon her, though it hadn't in reality been. Often she would take the family tree out from the chest she kept underneath her bed, and crawl under the covers to look at it with a flashlight. The empty side of the paper where her mother's name was never was filled, and it wasn't until many years that she found anything more about them.
All of her life, Nymphadora had always counted on her best friend to be there. His name was Evan Rossier, and he lived next door to their small house in the countryside. It was as close as a next-door-neighbor could be, as the only house that was close by was about two miles up the dusty rode. Though the distance was long, she would always walk the few miles up through the countryside to see him, and he would do the same.
His father had left them before he could remember, and his mother, being distraught by the betrayal, had abandoned the pride of being a pure-blood, and had gone against her family's wishes to live nearby Andromeda. The two women had gone to Hogwarts together, and had been the best of friends. After she had been burned off the tree for marrying Ted Tonks, they had lost contact, more because Martha Crouch (Evan's mother) had been told by her husband that she was a bad person that she must not mix with. This of course, was never told to Nymphadora, or Evan.
The two children were brought up very differently, though their differences bonded them closer together, making them inseparable, almost as brother and sister. His mother tried, though only half-heartedly, to tell her son that he needed to be put into the house of Slytherin, as his father had been. He was brought up being told that the house was the best, and that it would honor everyone with his surname if he was placed in it. Though Evan would nod and agree with his mother, he didn't really keep it as much importance. After all, playing in the fields with his sister was much more interesting.
Nymphadora was brought up by her parents with as much love as Evan had received, though doubled by the unity that her parents had between them. They had each sacrificed so much to make a life together, and they focused all of their love into raising their daughter. Though she wasn't spoiled, Nymphadora was a smart girl, and she understood the boundaries that she was to not cross, and when to push to get something that she wanted. At times she could weasel out some extra privileges from her parents if she helped clear the table, or if she acted extra nice, and helped her mother with chores.
Her parents taught her about magic, and made her understand the important difference there was from the two worlds. They made it quite clear that muggles were not to be told of their abilities, and that they were just as equal as pure-bloods, half-bloods, or muggle-borns. It was a given that she would one day go to Hogwarts, and she been raised being told about all of the houses and their virtues. They had told her that each house had its qualities, and they would be so proud of her no matter which she would be placed in. When Nymphadora had asked her mother about Slytherin's good qualities, a dark, distant expression had come over her, and she had said in a soft voice; "They are very cunning." Almost instantly she had understood that her mother didn't like to speak about the green house, and she vowed that she wouldn't be placed in it.
The two children were complete opposites. Nymphadora, being the born leader, was always the one to come up with ideas on what to play next, or different subjects to talk about. They would often go on missions after mysterious creatures that she would invent, and would enjoy every second of the hunts. Evan, on the other hand, was more of follower. He loved every moment he spent with Nymphadora, and agreed to every idea she had, for they were all good ones to him. Though he wasn't as original and scatter-brained as she, he had a heart of gold, and he would never tell a lie. The two of them would often discuss things that would go on in their households, and honesty was one of the things that they valued in their relationship. Nothing could happen in either of their houses that could remain unsaid to the other.
On one day when the two were seven, when the sun was on its way down from its highest point in the sky that Nymphadora had sent him her owl with a letter that demanded him to meet in their club-house in the fields in between their houses. It was there, while they huddled in their wooden house, that Nymphadora told him all about what she and her parents had talked about.
"My parents say there are four houses at Hogwarts," she explained, as if she had discovered something quite valuable. Her eyes were bright with enthusiasm as she continued; "They say that I'll go there one day, and that you will too. We'll go to learn magic."
For once, her tale was one that was familiar to him, and he smiled back, leaning against the back of the wooden side. "Yes, my mother told me of that too. We're supposed to get our letter when we turn eleven."
Nymphadora grinned, and she pulled her knees up to her chest, excitement flowing off of her in waves. "There are four houses... Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and... Slythering?" She ended the sentence in more of a question, and she tipped her head to one side, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling.
"Slytherin," Evan told her, seeming quite knowledgeable as he pushed his large glasses further up his nose. He had poor eye-sight, and had always wore the dorky spectacles. "My mother says that's the house I should be sorted into... she said that my father went there, and that it wold be good for their pride."
She nodded slowly, though didn't understand what he was saying. "Well I don't care what houses we get sorted into," she declared. "No matter what, you and I will always be best friends. Right?" If that meant being sorted into Slytherin, she would face the consequences that her mother had obviously faced. Anything to conserve her friendship with Evan. "Right," Evan replied, his smile as bright as hers.
Since birth, birth, it was of second-nature to Nymphadora to be able to change her appearance. She was a metamorphmagus, meaning that she could change her appearance at will. This meant, most importantly, that she could always dress up the best when she and Evan played make-believe. When she would impersonate a princess, she would make her features incredibly beautiful, and grow her hair out to be long, shiny and blonde. Though she had the ability to change her appearance whenever she pleased, she didn't try and make herself the most beautiful girl she could. Instead, her hair was mostly short and straight, and her features quite plain, though pretty.