So, I know I said I wanted to give limited connection between her and the Marauders, but Lily is bae.
I mean, she'll go into hiding soon and that'll be that, but for now...
Also, when I do bring the Marauders in, it's just going to be James and Sirius. Because maybe they're already suspecting Remus as a spy and Peter's just a tool, who knows. You can decide on that.
Lily had taken a liking to Nymphadora, that much was clear when she showed up the next day with bags of her old clothes plus some "Absolutely adorable, I couldn't resist!" clothes she had bought from London shops.
She showed up two days later to change the colors of the walls in the guest bedroom. Three days later, and she brought Sirius and James to help her bring in some furniture more suited for a five year old girl. Anytime either Kingsley or Alastor said "We were going to get to that", she would just scoff and continue her work in the bedroom.
"I would like to know why you chose pink." Alastor said, leaning against the doorframe. "It's a dreadful shade, reminds me of bubblegum, it's too bright."
"Well," Lily said. "I think it's the perfect color for a young girl. When she's older, she can choose a new color if she wants!"
"You do know Nymphadora's not yours?"
"If you have to say it like that, Dora's not yours either. But she will need a female rolemodel in her life." Lily said, raising an eyebrow. "Who is going to teach her the fine art of rejecting boys?"
"And I think Lily already claimed that spot." James said casually. "She knows a lot about rejecting people."
"Is she sleeping?" Kingsley asked as he dropped onto the edge of their bed and began unlacing his boots. For the past few days, they had been able to convince the Ministry to give them opposite shifts so one of them could be home- something they knew could only work temporarily.
"She doesn't want to, but yes." Alastor said, leaning against the headboard. "Did you know Lily's been calling her Dora?"
"Huh?" Kingsley asked as he tossed his boots towards the closet. "Oh yeah, she started that the other day. It's easier than always saying Nymphadora, isn't it?"
"Bloody ridiculous name is what it is."
"Which? Dora or Nymphadora?"
"Both. I would have thought after Andromeda was disowned, and with how much she hated that family, that she would have wanted to stray from tradition. You know, use a muggle name, not a name that was clearly chosen from her pool of exceedingly dark family members."
"There's never been a Nymphadora in the Black family." Kingsley said calmly.
"Well, there definitely wasn't one in the Tonks family until now, either!"
"Well, we can't change her name."
"Aye, I know that." Alastor grumbled. "You know what really bothers me about this?"
"I'm sure you're going to tell me." Kingsley said half-heartedly as he began a search through the dresser drawers for pyjamas.
"They were hiding, they didn't want to be known Order members. Because of that girl." He gestured towards the bedroom door. "And still, they wound up dead."
"That bothers a lot of people-"
"I'm not finished! What bothers me is that she isn't. Rodolphus told Bellatrix that Nymphadora was. Why? I won't believe for a second that he had a sentimental moment and couldn't kill his own niece."
Kingsley paused his search through the dresser drawer and turned to Alastor. "What do you think it was, then?"
"They've obliterated families before, no problem. I think he left her as a message to us."
"A message?" Kingsley asked, folding his arms and leaning against the dresser. "What kind of message is that?"
"What better way to break people's spirits than to orphan a child who had nothing to do with the war in the first place? The war's been going on longer than she's been alive, she doesn't even know what's going on, for Merlin's sake. A perfect target, the perfect way to show us what they're willing to do."
It was silent for a few minutes as Kingsley frowned at him, then Kingsley spoke again. "I handed in my resignation today. You'll be back to day shifts tomorrow, Proudfoot took your shift for tonight."
"We were going to talk about that, about who'd resign."
"Yes, well, I figured it'd better be me. I'll go back when Dora's of Hogwarts age. You're one hell of an Auror, Alastor. The Ministry and the Order need you."
...
So, I may skip little bits here and there- weeks at a time, maybe months. idk. I'm not patient enough to write a day-to-day story.