"I do not understand why you testified for them," Andromeda told her daughter about a week later after the trial. "Who knows why you want them running around the Wizarding World, making people miserable and reminding them of what has happened to their families."

"That's exactly why I did it," Nymphadora told her mother, looking away as her hair flickered to brown. "They lost Bellatrix, and I lost Remus. I saw what Rodolphus felt, Mum. I had to do something to help him—them. He's lost without her, and—I couldn't let the Dementors have him. I just couldn't."

"I wonder what they think about their freedom," mused Andromeda, more to herself than her daughter.

Nymphadora answered anyway. "When I released Rodolphus from his chains, he looked up into my eyes and said, 'Girl, you're an angel.' It's a miracle they could only dream of, come true," she told her mother with a sigh, taking her son into her arms. "I love you," she whispered to the boy, touching her lips to his soft cheek. "Your father was so proud of you. He loves you too, you know."

Teddy Lupin was studying his mother with wide eyes, just an instant before his hair flashed pink and he let out a pointed squawk. "You want to see my pink hair, don't you?" she sighed, holding him closer. She sighed again, then took a deep breath before quickly changing her hair to pink. The baby happily grabbed hold of a couple strands of her hair and tugged, crowing proudly.

Suddenly, the hair was drawn out of his hand, and he began to cry unhappily at the sight of his mother with short brown hair. "I'm sorry," Nymphadora whispered, tears coming to her eyes. "I can't keep it pink: that's happy and normal, and I'm not. Please don't cry! I didn't do it on purpose!"

Teddy cried louder, and Andromeda came over, taking the child into her arms and distracting him with a shiny symbol on her necklace. Nymphadora left the room, her hair turning black without leave.

Once she was in her room, Nymphadora sank into one of the chairs that were close to the window and buried her face in her hands, shaking. She was thinking about what the brothers had told her, and was wondering if they'd told her the truth. She had about two weeks until the full moon to decide what to do with her husband's body—she had not burned it yet, and didn't know if she was going to.

Her indecision tore her up, and she looked up, glancing out the window. No one knew that she hadn't burned the body. Her own mother would probably have a fit if she knew what Nymphadora was thinking about doing.

At that moment, a knock sounded on the door and Andromeda came into the room without waiting for an answer. "Dora," she said softly, coming over to her daughter and putting a hand on her shoulder, "you need to move on. Don't dwell on the past."

Nymphadora looked up at the brown-haired woman with a frown, her eyes glittering black. "It's too soon," she said, with pain in her voice. "It hurts too much." She looked away again, and her mother sighed.

"I understand," said Andromeda. "Everything you see reminds you of him."

"Yes," Nymphadora whispered, putting her hands over her face with a groan. "I can't escape it! And it feels like being hit with Crucio!"

"You have to remember what good times you had with him," her mother told her. "Focus on the happy memories you have of him."

Nymphadora jumped to her feet, shaking off her mother's hand and turning to look out the window again. "I can't," she whispered. "I can't face it yet. Please—I don't want to talk about it." Tears slid down her face, her body trembling.

"But you're not talking about it at all," Andromeda persisted softly. "Your friends and I are worried about you, Dora. I don't want you to become a recluse."

"I won't!" cried Nymphadora in a choked-up voice. "I'm not ready to talk. I can't talk about it!" Dropping her hands to her sides, she turned to look at her mother, her eyes shining with tears. "Please, Mum," she whispered. "Let me deal with this myself."

Andromeda sighed. "All right," she replied, "but we're here for you when you need us."

Nymphadora didn't reply, and her mother left the room after a moment. Tonks' shoulders drooped and she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the window. There was a tear on her face, and another running down to join it. Her black hair hung down in a tangle, and she tried to run her fingers through it, but couldn't. Summoning her hairbrush, she stood in front of the mirror and yanked the brush through her hair.

"I wonder if I am as wild as I look," she mused, staring at her startled self in the mirror. A sudden tapping on the window made her turn back to it again.

An owl was sitting on the sill, a letter in its clutches. Nymphadora quickly hurried over and raised the sill, thanking the owl and untying the letter from its leg. Opening the letter, she realized that Molly Weasley wanted her to come for tea the next evening.

"Oh, goodness," Nymphadora sighed, absentmindedly stroking the owl. "I've forgotten to go there for the last week." She sat down to write a letter back to her friend, and the owl hopped onto the arm of her chair, watching her.

"There," the girl finally said, folding the letter and putting it in an envelope. She tied the letter to the owl's leg and added, "I told her I'd come, but I'm not sure that I can come every day. Thanks."

The owl hooted softly and flew away.

Nymphadora, just getting off Auror duty for the day, apparated to the Burrow. She marveled at how quickly the Burrow had been rebuilt, then scolded herself sternly and knocked on the door.

When Ginny answered the door, she yelped, looking at Nymphadora in slight shock before recovering herself and inviting her in. "Sorry," she said softly, biting her lip. "You reminded me of—of—oh, goodness, please be careful if Hermione comes down. She's sure to react badly because you look like—you know, Bellatrix."

Ginny looked away quickly, and Nymphadora stared at her before snickering. "You're not okay, are you?" Ginny asked in concern. "Let me get Mum."

"I'm right here," Molly interrupted. "No need—goodness, Nymphadora!" Molly had seen Tonks' appearance. "Well, come in, then; the tea's ready."

"Thanks," Tonks said, looking at Ginny apologetically before walking away.

"Are you okay?" Molly asked her gently. "I mean, other than your loss."

Nymphadora looked down into her tea. "I—I don't know," she said. "Mum's worried about me, though."

Molly nodded. "And so am I, Tonks. We were shocked that you vouched for the Lestrange brothers." Mrs. Weasley could barely bring herself to say the words. "They're evil, and they're running around free, thanks to you."

The black-haired girl didn't look up. "Yes, thanks to me," she said. "I'm an angel."

Molly's concern increased. "Nymphadora, what has happened to you?" she asked.

"Nothing," replied Tonks, "except—you know, war."

"We've all been touched by war," Molly told her friend sternly, "but we don't have to act like it's the end of the world."

"I'm not," said Tonks stubbornly. "Is that what you think I'm doing?"

Molly sighed and took a drink of her tea. "We're worried about you," she said. "No one wanted the Lestranges to go free, Tonks."

Nymphadora almost smiled and looked up at Molly. "I did," she said, trying not to sound proud of herself.

"But why?" burst out Molly. "They were supposed to be in Azkaban for life, and now—now they're who-knows-where, doing who-knows-what!"

"Yes," Nymphadora agreed quietly, "but you know their conditions, don't you? They've been told that if they get in trouble with the law again, they'll be sent straight back to Azkaban."

"Why did you do it, though?" Molly persisted.

"Because I felt sorry for them," Nymphadora answered finally. "They've been hurt by war; I've been hurt by war, and I wanted to help them."

Molly shook her head in disbelief. "But they're war-hardened, Dora," she said. "They're used to it—callous to bloodshed. And they don't care about anyone, not even their own people."

"Sure they don't," Nymphadora said, staring down into her teacup again. "That's why Rodolphus was so deeply disturbed when his brother reminded him that Bellatrix was dead: the poor man was almost in tears!"

A snort escaped Molly, and she quickly hid her face behind her teacup. "I find that hard to believe," she said finally.

Tonks frowned, stirring her tea thoughtfully. "Didn't you see him when they were brought into the Great Hall? Didn't you see his reaction to his wife's dead body?" Tonks' eyes flickered, but she was able to keep them from completely changing colour.

"Is that why your hair is black?" Molly asked. "For them?"

"Probably," Tonks replied. "I can't keep it brown or pink: it just won't stay. I'm not ready to be normal again—well, as normal as I can be."

Molly didn't reply, and Tonks was thankful. She didn't want to be scolded about dwelling on the past again. A door slammed somewhere in the house, and footsteps pounded down the stairs. A shriek came from the brown-haired girl that had just walked into the room, and a red-haired boy grabbed her as she whirled to leave.

"Hermione, it's just Tonks!" Ron exclaimed, finding himself on the floor as Ginny stopped Hermione from getting up the stairs. Ron jumped up and rushed to Hermione. "It's okay," he said to her softly, putting his arm around her. "It's just Tonks."

Hermione turned to look at the black-haired woman sitting at the table before stepping closer to Ron and laying her head against his shoulder, her face pale. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Tonks pushed her hair back out of her face and put it in a ponytail over one shoulder. "Sorry," she told Hermione. "I should have changed it when I scared Ginny. I'm just not thinking right now: I think my brain died or something."

"Or something," Ron said sharply, frowning at Tonks.

"Now, Ron, she did apologize," Molly told him. "Go on and do whatever-it-was you were heading for before you stopped." Ron and Hermione instantly left the Burrow, apparating away.

Ginny sat down at the kitchen table beside Tonks. "I guess you know what her problem is—I mean, why she acts that way," Ginny hastily added when Mrs. Weasley frowned at her.

Tonks nodded, not looking at Ginny. "Yes, and I was stupid to come like this: I could have done something else," she sighed. "I just can't—" She buried her face in her hands, shaking her head before completely shaking herself and looking up. "Oh, goodness," she breathed, thinking of how her day had gone. "I guess I should tell you that I can't come over as often as I used to, Molly."

"You started back to work today, didn't you?" Ginny asked. "How was it?"

"Um, well, the others wanted to know why on earth I spoke for the Lestranges," Tonks sighed. "Other than that, they left me alone. My hair wouldn't stay brown, and I suppose it worried them." A grin broke onto her face.

"You think it's amusing?" Molly said, shaking her head. "Be careful, Tonks."

"Yeah, others might not find it so laughable," Ginny cautioned, grinning at her friend.

Nymphadora nodded. "Thanks, Molly," she said, standing and stepping back from the table. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Leaving so soon?" Ginny asked in surprise. Nymphadora nodded apologetically and Ginny jumped up, hugging her friend. "We love you, Tonks," Ginny said. "Remember that."

Tonks hugged Ginny tightly, then hurried from the Burrow. Ginny turned to Mrs. Weasley and said, "She's definitely lost it."

"Ginny, you sound like Ron," Molly scolded. "Don't say things like that! She's grieving in her own way, just like all of us are."

"She's going to do something stupid, and we'll never get her back," Ginny told her mother flatly. "She's just bonkers enough, especially after the stunt she pulled with the Lestranges."

Molly frowned. "Be quiet, Ginny," she told the sixteen-year-old girl. "I already told you that she's hurting because of Remus' death!"

Ginny bit her lip and looked away. "Mum, she's not acting normal," Ginny stated. "Never before would she have spoken for any Death Eater, let alone the Lestrange brothers."

"I don't know," Molly sighed. "She seems to think that she identifies with their loss of Bellatrix."

Ginny stared. "Oh, Merlin," she groaned, "It was my fault she died!"

Molly frowned at Ginny. "It was not! She was evil, and got her comeuppance!"

"And Tonks feels sorry for the brothers? Because she figured they'd—oh, goodness, Mum, that Hufflepuff compassion—" Ginny rolled her eyes. "If they step out of line, their actions could come back on Tonks!"

"Most people won't blame her for what they do, Ginny," Molly reassured her daughter, banishing the cups to the sink. "Don't borrow trouble."

Ginny grinned. "I am trouble, Mum," she said, grinning before she turned and dashed away up the stairs.

About ten days later, Nymphadora was rocking her little boy to sleep, thinking of the plans that she'd been planning to carry out. Her son did not seem to want to go to sleep, but was watching his mother carefully.

"You know I love you, Teddy," she whispered to her child. "I guess I can't explain how I feel, but I just feel like I have to do something. Everyone is about to drive me mad, talking about me and the Lestranges, and how weird I've been acting. I can't help it, Teddy."

Nymphadora shifted her position and continued rocking the little one. "I told Mum to take care of you once I get sent to St. Mungo's, and she was not impressed with my humour. Honestly, I was only joking!"

Teddy seemed to smile slightly, and Tonks grinned sheepishly. "I guess I was being a little dramatic. My sense of humour isn't the most innocent, I guess," she sighed before grinning. "It's that Black blood, you know. So hard to overcome—"

"What in Merlin's name are you talking about, Nymphadora?" came a sharp voice, and Nymphadora found herself pointing her wand directly between the speaker's eyes.

"Mum!" scolded Tonks before half-relaxing back into the rocking chair. "You always told me not to eavesdrop!"

"And did you ever listen?" Andromeda retorted when Nymphadora withdrew her wand from her mother's face.

"Of course not," said Nymphadora proudly, trying to hide her satisfaction by grinning at her baby, who had been quite surprised by his mother's reaction to the other woman.

Andromeda shook her head. "He's a baby," she told her daughter. "Don't go filling his head with nonsense about his ancestry."

Tonks grinned. "I'm gonna teach him to be proud of his blood," she told Andromeda seriously. "He's gonna walk like he owns the world—"

"Don't say 'gonna,'" Andromeda told her daughter sharply. "Unrefined speech does not become my daughter."

"She ignored what I said," sang Tonks happily. "Teddy's gonna—I'm mean, going to" she corrected as her mother raised an eyebrow at her "going to—"

"Going to make me dizzy if he keeps doing that," Andromeda said, watching the child's hair change colour rapidly.

Giggling, Tonks stroked her son's hair, which was lime green, then dark red, then sky blue, before streaking the colours of sunset and then settling on black, just like his mother. She regarded him proudly. "You want to be like Mummy, don't you?" she cooed. "My hair's not normally black: it'll probably change again."

Teddy just looked up at her with wide, innocent eyes. Andromeda suddenly giggled in spite of herself. "He pulls off the look of innocence way too well, Nymphadora," she said, laughing. "That Black blood is hard to overcome!"

Mother and daughter laughed together, Teddy looking at them quizzically. "Are you going to keep your hair black?" Andromeda asked Nymphadora after a few minutes.

"I don't know," Tonks replied, still grinning. "It seems to want to stay black. Why?"

"Because—" Andromeda Black Tonks looked away from her dark-haired daughter, her voice strained and tired "because you look like Bellatrix."

Nymphadora looked up at her mother, then said, "Do I, now?"

Andromeda looked back to find that in place of her daughter now sat a near-perfect replica of her older sister. "Nymphadora," snapped the brown-haired witch, "just because I know who you really are doesn't mean I won't curse you just for the satisfaction of it!"

"How dare you—" began Nymphadora, enjoying her charade. She blinked, and found Andromeda's wand inches from her nose. "Surely you wouldn't curse your own sister," she teased, a smirk forming on her lips.

"Nymphadora," growled her mother dangerously, "come out of it right now."

The threatening tone in Andromeda's voice brooked no argument, and Nymphadora pouted a minute as Bellatrix before changing into her own father. He looked up at Andromeda with a lopsided grin, Teddy looking shocked.

Andromeda cried out, pressed her hand to her mouth, and ran from the room. "Ooops," Nymphadora said to Teddy. "That was not smart of me." Standing up, she changed back to herself, keeping the brown hair, and calling after her mother, "I'm sorry, Mum!"

There was no reply, and Nymphadora felt very guilty. Hurrying to the nursery, she put Teddy down and put protective enchantments around him. "Can you be a good boy for Mummy?" she asked him, testing the protections. "I have to go see my mum right now. I'll be back." Teddy looked up at his mum and cooed contentedly. "Thanks," said Nymphadora, leaving the room.

She knew that her mother hadn't gone to her room, as her footsteps hadn't gone in that direction, so Tonks headed downstairs. In the kitchen, she found her mother leaning against the counter and staring out the window, her shoulders shaking. "Mummy," Tonks whispered, horrified to see her mother cry. Quickly going to her side, Tonks put her arm around her mother and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Andromeda turned and clung to her daughter, crying into her shoulder. Nymphadora stood there awkwardly, trying to reassure her mother without bursting into tears herself. "I said goodbye, and he went on the run," Andromeda whispered once she was more calm. "I never saw him again—never even got to see his body. You're blessed, Dora. You were with your husband."

I was too late to save him! Nymphadora thought in shame. Would that I hadn't seen him die when I couldn't stop it from happening!

"I miss them all so much," Andromeda breathed, barely audible. "Your father, Sirius, Remus—even Bellatrix. I miss my entire family." Her face blanched, and she added, "I had hoped Narcissa had changed, come around to a more neutral worldview, but it seems I was wrong. She still won't speak to me."

"Perhaps her wounds run deep as well," Nymphadora said softly, and her mother flinched.

"I hurt her when I left the family," Andromeda whispered, shaking her head. "She begged me not to go, and Narcissa never begged for anything." Tonks listened very closely, for her mother rarely spoke of her leaving her parents' home. "I couldn't stay: I couldn't keep the secret marriage a secret anymore. I told her about you, and she was both thrilled and horrified. She said quite a few things that sounded like propaganda from Bellatrix, and then burst into tears, also something she never does, and told me that she loved me. She called me sister. For the last time."

Tonks squeezed her mother tightly, unable to speak as tears ran down her own face. Andromeda sighed and continued, "I secretly packed everything that I owned before telling my parents and Bellatrix what I had done. Narcissa played her part perfectly, and acted as if it were all new to her as well. My parents had no time to say anything before Bellatrix lit into me with a Crucio. I saw Narcissa turn a shade paler before I was distracted by Bella's entertaining Curse."

"Didn't let go of your wand?" Tonks questioned suddenly, and Andromeda snorted.

"Of course not! Didn't need Moody to teach me that!" she scolded Tonks. "Anyway, Bellatrix stood over me and screamed all sorts of things that I'd been taught my whole life. I only half-listened. Then, she yanked up her sleeve to show her Dark Mark and snarled that she and Rodolphus had joined the Dark Lord to rid the Wizarding World of people like me. She came at me with another curse, not Crucio, but a Dark curse, and I just barely avoided it. Mum and Dad were so shocked at my secret and at Bellatrix's secret that they didn't even interfere in our mad duel."

Tonks shook her head in disbelief. "What a way to find out that you have more than one rebel in the family!" she said in amazement. "They didn't want her to be a Death Eater?"

Andromeda shook her head. "They practically forbade it because they didn't think that she, as a woman, should be running around fighting wars. But Bellatrix is Bellatrix, and so she defied her parents. That's another reason my parents were so angry: they learned that they had two delinquent daughters instead of just one. Bellatrix screamed at me that my 'antics' were the very kind of thing that had begun to lead Sirius astray."

Smiling painfully in remembrance, Andromeda went on. "I told her that Sirius was rebellious enough without encouragement from me. I also told her that they were going to lose Sirius just like they'd lost others through the years. That's when both of my parents—your grandparents—jumped up and drew their own wands. They were ready to drive me off, but Bellatrix delayed them by proposing that she take me to her Dark Lord." Andromeda's lip curled in derision. "Mum and Dad refused. That was when Bellatrix tried another Crucio, but I escaped it. I made Bellatrix furious by only protecting myself and not even trying to retaliate on her because of her curses. I left the house, and didn't look back."

Tonks squeezed her mother reassuringly. "You were very brave, Mother," she said softly. "It takes courage to defy tradition like you did."

"Many times after that, I felt very unsure," sighed the brown-haired witch, stepping back and regarding her daughter. "I wondered if I made the right choice to leave my family instead of to stay with them and try to repair the damage that I had done, as Narcissa suggested." Her face grew stern. "But I couldn't. I came to your father, and I was with him until he had to leave." Andromeda looked down.

"He loved you very much, Mother," Tonks told her with a smile. "He once told me that he loved you even more because you made a huge sacrifice for him. And I love you too, of course. Even if we drive each other bonkers sometimes, I'm rather glad that you've been here for both me and Dad."

Andromeda nodded, then bit her lip. "I—I heard today that the Lestranges have been getting attacked for the sole purpose of getting them thrown in Azkaban. Is that true?"

The Metamorphagus's hair turned black again, and she nodded with a sigh. "We've been keeping an eye on them," she told her mother, "trying to keep them out of trouble, but it's hard. Many people are trying to spite the Lestranges on purpose. They're nasty. But the boys have been holding up very well so far." A smile of pride crept onto her face.

"Did Narcissa really kick them out of Malfoy Manor?" Andromeda asked, trying not to grin at the look on Nymphadora's face.

"No," the girl replied. "I personally think that Lucius wanted nothing more to do with Bellatrix and the brothers, so he turned them away. We really don't know why they aren't up there. It might also be that, with Bellatrix gone, they are no longer considered family."

"So where are they staying? Do you know?" Andromeda asked curiously.

Tonks shrugged. "Don't know. There's got to be a ton of places they know that we know nothing about," she replied. "I think the Lestranges have a mansion somewhere: I heard one of the Death Eaters mention how the Lestranges bragged about running the Muggles out of it. They might have gone to their mansion, if that's the truth, but I don't know for sure."

Andromeda looked seriously at her daughter. "What if, next time we see one of them, we invite them to stay here until they can get settled somewhere else?"

The black-haired witch stared, then reached up and touched her mother's forehead. "Call the medi-wizards," she teased. "Mum's delirious with fever!"

"I mean it," protested Andromeda. "Goodness knows you've got me feeling sorry for them."

"I know," Nymphadora said proudly, throwing her arms around her mother before dancing away up the stairs. "It's the best and craziest idea I've heard since forever!"