A Newsreaders Evening – Rating T
Summary – Muggle-born Newsreader, Ted Tonks, talks to his wife, Andromeda Tonks, about his feelings, having found out about their friends, James and Lily Potter, have died.
Pairings – Ted/Andromeda
-A Newsreaders Evening-
London Weekend Television Studios, The South Bank, London, England
1st November 1981
"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"
"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight. Back to you Ted."
The camera panned back over to Ted, who closed the news episode with a recap of the day's news. Ted Tonks, a muggle-born wizard who was born on 17th February 1950, unfortunately knew what was the cause of the mass of owls and shooting stars were, and it saddened him. Mere hours before he arrived at work at the television studios, he had received a report from his wife's cousin, Sirius Black, that Lord Voldemort had murdered their friends, James and Lily Potter. The son, Harry, who was the godson of Sirius, had survived the Killing Curse that Voldemort threw at him.
Ted changed his tie and collected his overcoat from his dressing room, so he could leave work for the evening. Upon leaving the studios, he caught a bus from Waterloo Station, which was nearby, and headed to Charing Cross, for the Leaky Caldron, the Wizarding pub. When he arrived at the Leaky, he headed to the bar to get himself a drink of Firewiskey. Once he had drank his drink, sitting in silence, not celebrating the defeat of Voldemort because of the loss of his friends, two great people, he decided to head to the Floo to head back to his home of Riverbank Cottage.
Riverbank Cottage, Sevenoaks, England
1st November 1981
Ted arrived at Riverbank Cottage to an empty living room. After taking off his shoes, overcoat and blazer, he sat down in the chair next to the fire, placing his slippers on his feet and picked up his pipe and his Daily Telegraph. Suddenly he heard a plate in the kitchen crash onto the floor.
"Nymphadora? Are you helping your mom cook your tea tonight?" Ted shouted through the door.
"Yes daddy." Nymphadora said, running into the living room from the kitchen to hug her dad. "Mommy's been crying daddy. Why is mommy crying?"
"It's a long story Little One. You see, a bad bad man went to visit Aunty Lily and Uncle James." Ted stated to his daughter. "The bad man hurt Aunty Lily and Uncle James very bad."
"So Aunty Lily and Uncle James were hurt really bad daddy? Is that why mommy is crying?"
"No my sweet Little One. You see, Aunty Lily and Uncle James, well they were hurt that bad, they had to go to Heaven." Ted said, hugging his daughter. "The bad man tried to hurt little Harry too, but instead the bad man hurt himself."
"That mean old bad man shouldn't have hurt Harry." Nymphadora said, enjoying the hug her dad gave her.
After a while, Ted's wife, Andromeda, came into the living room, having finished cooking the family's tea. When she came in, Ted kissed her on the cheek and said hello to her. She summoned the food to the table and the family started eating. Once they had finished their tea, Andromeda and Nymphadora left the room to head upstairs, so Nymphadora could have a bath.
Whist his wife was getting his daughter ready for bed, Ted left his seat at the table and headed to the fireplace to try and Floo his wife's cousins, Sirius Black, who was the godfather to Harry Potter. Ted tried to contact him nearly half a dozen times, but was unsuccessful at getting though to him every time he tried.
"You trying to get hold of Sirius dear?" Andromeda said, twenty minutes later, having returned from putting their daughter to bed. "I've been trying all day but I've had no luck myself. I've even tried Amelia's house but I've had no luck whatsoever. She says that she hadn't seen him since he visited her this morning. Remember that he said to us that he was going 'rat hunting'."
Ted got up off the floor and turned to his wife. "I thought that he was joking when he said he was going 'rat hunting. Turns out he was serious," he said, "There again, grief does do strange things to a man. I mean, when my mother died, my dad never recovered from the grief. He ended up going just mere months later."
"I know dear. It's hard to believe that James and Lily were killed. I used to enjoy it when Lily brought Harry round and babysit Nymphadora those few times," Andromeda said sadly, "I remember, last time she brought Harry round, Harry touched Dora's head and it went pink! It was as pink as bubblegum!
"What makes it worse is that Sirius and James were brothers in all but blood. Even though I was four years above my cousin, and in Slytherin," she continued, "I could tell from day one that they would make a difference, and James and Sirius did, in a roundabout way, for the Quidditch team, and their pranks. Did you know that I was one of the only few Slytherins that they never pranked. They pranked Narcissa no end of times!"
"When I passed through the Leaky on my way home, people were saying that Harry survived the Killing Curse. I don't know how he managed that!" Ted said, holding his wife's hand
"Only thing that bugs me is that Amelia said she never saw Harry," Andromeda said, confused at what she was thinking about. "Sirius said that he was near enough forced by Hagrid to give Harry to him. Surely Sirius and Amelia, as godparents, have had custody of Harry? Unless, and I don't know why, but Dumbledore has put Harry into hiding? Didn't Lily once tell us that she had an older sister somewhere?"
"I think she did dear, but I can't remember where she said they lived." Ted said, feeling confused. I know Lily said that Petunia didn't like magic. I know they'd probably let us see him, especially once they saw who I was. That's if I could remember the dammed address!"
It took Andromeda a short while until they eventually found where Harry was. They, along with Amelia Bones, tried to petition for custody of Harry but every time they tried to get a case in front of the Wizengamot, Dumbledore, as Chief Warlock, refused to allow it to go before the members. He claimed it was 'For the Greater Good.'
Nymphadora was the first person out of the Tonks family to actually spend some time with Harry, and despite not believing the hype around the 'Boy-Who-Lived' legend, found him a really fun young man to be with. When she married Remus Lupin in 1997, and was pregnant with her son, it was an easy choice for her on who to name godfather to young Teddy Lupin. In fact, some would say that the choice was easier for her then it was for Remus!
And as for Andromeda, she eventually got to spend virtually every weekend with Harry, his girlfriend/fiancé/wife, Ginny Weasley, and his Consort, Susan Bones, when he visited to look after little Teddy, who had the opposite of what Harry had had as a child, because despite his parents being dead, Teddy had a family who loved him.
In the end, all was well.
-A Newsreaders Evening-
A/N – Story based on characters and storylines introduced in JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. All rights to their various owners/creators. Some of the text was from JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
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