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Prompt from Ch. 11 "The Bribe"
"Even her own family is disgusted by our marriage, what parents want their only daughter to marry a werewolf?"
What exactly DID Andromeda and Ted think of Tonks and Remus' relationship?
Andromeda's POV set in between HBP and DH.
The streets of Hogsmeade are particularly crowded, but I suppose that's to be expected given the event that has just taken place. The funeral of the greatest wizard of our time. Albus Dumbledore. And I know for a fact that our daughter Nymphadora was in attendance.
Her father and I have worried for some time now that she has got herself involved with Dumbledore's secret society The Order of the Phoenix, and her presence at Hogwarts on the night the headmaster died seemed to confirm our worst suspicions.
Its not that we don't think it is a good cause- we do; particularly because it is fighting against the overwhelming prejudice Ted and I had to face from nearly all of my family so long ago. But those wounds have healed as time has gone on, and I have learned to cope without them. And now our main concern is our daughter.
She was always head- strong and determined to make her own way in life, but I can't pretend we were thrilled with the profession she has chosen- so dangerous. And I had hoped she would grow out of the phase of turning her hair silly colours, and wearing scruffy tomboyish clothes.
This past year she seemed to have turned a corner where her hair was concerned, I was quite pleased she had decided to go back to her natural brown- after all they do say men prefer women to be au natural. However Ted and I were less pleased to find that this sudden change in hair colour was less to do with a growth in maturity and more to do with the fact that she physically couldn't. She hasn't confided in me exactly why her morphing abilities ceased to work; however I have strong suspicions it has to do with a man. A mother always knows.
I wonder if this has to do with the same man in the newspaper picture. Dumbledore's funeral has been plastered all over the press worldwide. A few days ago you'd have had to be blind to miss the white tomb shining out from News Stands all across the country.
And there bold as brass stood Nymphadora, her outrageously pink hair standing out from amongst the mournful crowd. The picture was taken from the back of the rows and rows of filled seats with the long aisle in the centre leading up to the white tomb in the distance. She was on the end seat of a row but one. The seat next to her on the very end of the row was occupied by a man- a man she appeared to be holding hands with.
When I saw him I couldn't help but be intrigued- who was he? I felt some delight at the prospect that she might have actually found herself a real boyfriend at last- one she could have a serious relationship with- even (I dared hope) marriage!
Those other boys she used to bring home didn't count- they always seemed to be in some form of band/ music group or other equally unstable profession. Most appeared to be hygienically challenged- in fact some looked as though they had never seen a bar of soap in their lives let alone used one, and none of them had had any manners to speak of, they seemed to communicate in the form of grunts.
However, I later found out that this man surpassed all others in the unsuitability stakes. This man was Remus Lupin. When she said the name it sounded familiar. When she had said he was one of Sirius' best friends I began to remember. A pale young man with light brown hair- but surely, if he was Sirius' age he was far too old for her. She had scoffed when I said this
"it's only thirteen years mum, that's not too old".
I tried to remember more about the man I met all those years ago when Sirius had come to visit bringing with him three friends. Something stirred in the back of my mind, there was something wrong with this man, Sirius had said, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was. It was then Ted had spoken up- he had come to it quicker than me-
"Remus Lupin- wasn't he the werewolf?"
When I turned to Nymphadora she avoided my gaze slightly.
"No!" I said in disbelief "Tell me he's wrong- you are NOT seeing a werewolf!"
It was then that she looked me straight in the eye her face set and determined readying herself a fight and I knew she was about to confirm the worst
"I love him Mum, and he loves me."
Well after that, the discussion became very heated Ted and I couldn't understand- can't understand- why she is being so stupid. He's a werewolf! That should be the end of the discussion right there.
The argument became very bitter very quickly, and a lot of things were said in the heat of the moment, but it climaxed with Nymphadora giving Ted and I an ultimatum. Either we accepted her relationship with the werewolf, or history would repeat itself and she would do the same thing I did all those years ago and forsake her family for the man she loves. After delivering this ultimatum she preceded to storm out.
It is because of this that we are in Hogsmeade today. We are meeting our daughter and her fiancée for the first time in The Three Broomsticks. It had to be in Hogsmeade because Nymphadora is still stationed there, and it is convenient because her fiancée is staying with her, but a part of me can't help think that she is slightly relieved we are meeting in a public place because it prevents Ted and I saying what we really think and picking up from our confrontation the other day.
We love our daughter, and nothing would make us cast her out of the family never to see or speak to her again. We have had to accept (grudgingly and very reluctantly) her relationship with a werewolf - nothing could ever make us do as my family did - but that doesn't mean we have to like it.