So, a *slightly* more upbeat AU.

Slightly.

...

I have changed my course.

I will cover the werewolf issue, Harry's visions, some next gen weddings, and have snapshot chapters to cover the years.


I don't know how many people are reading this still but I'd love some reviews, they fuel me.

Thanks so much for everyone who has reviewed so far!


I'd really love some reviews so that I know I have someone reading this? lol


She had told Dawlish it was fine. She had said nothing would happen, Remus had set up more wards before he left. Roofie's unexplained absence still bothered her, and it bothered Dawlish too.

And now she was here. She had heard Teddy cry, and rushed upstairs- forgetting her wand in the living room- and found Petra sitting calmly in her son's room, a sleeping Teddy in her lap.

"Petra?" She gasped.

"Nymphadora." Petra calmly raised the wand and the door to the bedroom swung shut behind Tonks.

"It was you."

It wasn't a question, and Petra knew it. "It was me."

"Why?" Tonks asked. "What did I do to you?"

Petra stood slowly, lifting Teddy and placing him in his crib.

"What did you do to him?" Tonks demanded, taking a step forward but pausing when Petra raised her wand.

"Sleeping potion." Petra said, standing between Tonks and the crib. "I don't plan to kill him, you know."

"Why me? Why my family?"

"You always annoyed me. You always had the good friends and the good grades and the boys- you had both Charlie Weasley and Rufus interested in you-"

"I didn't date either of them!" Tonks cried. "They just simply didn't like you!"

"But of course! Who would like me, or even look at me, when they could have had you?"

"This entire thing- the threats- is all because we didn't get along in school?"

Petra shook her head slowly. "Oh, no, it's much deeper than that. You see, you've always had it better than me and you knew it." Petra said slowly. "The Metamorphmagus, the teacher's pet, everyone was always so fascinated by you. You got into Auror training, and where was I? Working in the Leaky Cauldron. I was nineteen when I was bitten- nineteen. When you were nineteen, where were you? You were safe, living at home with Mum and Dad, huh? You didn't have to walk through Knockturn Alley to live in a flat with a busted door lock-"

"Petra-"

Petra raised a hand. "You joined the Order. Brave Nymphadora joined the Order. Brave Nymphadora fought in many battles- both with the Aurors and the Order. Meanwhile, where was I? I was living in tents, a whore to a werewolf who decided I was his property. My daughter's been suffering since the day she was born."

"I'm sorry for what Greyback did to you, Petra-"

"And you? You're a whore to a werewolf as well, aren't you? But at least he doesn't treat you as such! He loves you, he worships you- as everyone else has your entire life-"

"What on Earth are you talking about?" She demanded.

"Nymphadora, the Auror! The Metamorphmagus! The one who survived, just as Harry Potter did!" Petra cried. "Why you? Why did you survive, or your husband, or that Weasley boy, or that Mudblood kid? My husband died!"

"Petra, I am sorry for everything that's happened to you, I am-"

"You know how difficult it is to be both a single mother and a werewolf?" Petra demanded. "Of all of the people who fought that night, you were the only one I hoped to die."

"Why?" Tonks asked. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"Your son doesn't get to suffer, does he?" Petra demanded. "Your son gets a normal childhood, the next one gets a normal childhood- but my daughter is going to be hated by a society that you claimed the Order was fighting to fix."

"We are! We are fixing it." Tonks said. "Petra, I can help you, just tell me how. I am willing to help you however I can-"

"Oh, you're helping me plenty." Petra said. "The pack knew about your son. A Metamorphmagus, with werewolf genes? What a weapon he could be, he could transform by choice- infect people even when the moon isn't full-"

"That's not how it-"

"This is what's going to happen, Nymphadora." Petra said. "You left your wand downstairs, like the smart Auror you are, and the moon will rise in less than ten minutes. When that door shut, it sealed the wards. Only I can break them. I'm going to infect your son, I'm going to kill you."

Tonks' eyes flickered towards Petra's wand, and Petra tightened her grip, still pointing it at Tonks.

"I'm going to kill you, but not your son. Your husband will come home tomorrow, and he'll call for you. He won't understand why you didn't answer- not until he comes upstairs and finds you. I'll be long gone, I'll take Teddy with me. And I'll raise him to use his morphing to infect people who deserve it the most. Perhaps Harry Potter himself."

"You didn't love Greyback, why-"

"Love doesn't matter." Petra snapped. "I'm doing what Greyback wanted, I'm the alpha now. I'm expanding my pack."

"How did you even get in here?" Tonks asked.

Petra smiled slowly. "Apparently Rufus can't fight off the Imperius Curse. Brought me straight here."

"Where is he?" Tonks asked. "Did you kill him?"

"I don't like to kill people I don't need to, so no." She said. "How upsetting for him. He was meant to be here tonight. Instead, he'll hear that you've been killed, because you couldn't protect yourself."

Tonks took a step forward. "I'll take that wand from you-"

"And do what exactly?" Petra asked coolly. "Are you going to pry it from my hands to Stun me? Get into a physical fight and simply kill your second child a little faster? Because if I wanted to- I could do it now- one spell, and you'll be in such debilitating pain that you simply won't be able to fight me. What a shame for a husband to have bury his wife and unborn child, while his other child is missing. Truly a pity, perhaps I'll at least tell Remus that Teddy will survive."

Tonks didn't say anything. She was pretty much trapped in a corner here- she could try to fight Petra, but at the risk of a miscarriage, in which case Petra would have an easier time killing her. Or she could simply stand aside, and wait to be killed.

"Petra, you don't have to-"

Petra grabbed both ends of the wand, bringing down onto her knee, snapping it. "I'll simply have to borrow yours in the morning. You won't mind, will you?" Petra asked. "Your poor husband, your poor mother. Perhaps I'll attend the funeral."