They appeared at Andromeda and Ted's house and Tonks had to admit that her heart was in her mouth. Remus didn't look to good either, his face was all pinched with worry. She couldn't help but remember that he had probably been in far too many of these situations before where you were rushing to see if loved ones were still alive. Unharmed. Check if they were unharmed. She had to think positively about this. There was no Dark Mark above the house so that had to be a good thing, right? Right?

Tonks actually had the wits to pause after apparating. She wasn't sure how she managed that considering her parents were in there. Hopefully.

"The wards are down," Remus said in a whisper, wand out.

A muttered spell from Tonks confirmed that all of the wards were down. Not just a few. It was like someone had blasted right through them instead of taking them down, which was never a good sign.

"I can't hear anything," Remus said, straining his ears.

What? What was that supposed to mean? Was it just that there was no talking or did that mean there was no breathing as well? Yeah, positive thoughts had pretty much flown out the window now and Tonks raced towards the door. She just had to know.

Remus was close behind her, telling her to slow down. But she couldn't. Her parents were in there!

Thankfully no one burst out from behind or door or wall at her. So, that was a good thing.

Her senses came back to her and she raised her wand. She gave the hall and stairs a good check for any spells or enchantments before she moved on. Remus had now caught up to her.

"Dora, don't do that-" he scolded her but was stopped when she pushed open the living room door with a 'BANG!'

If there was anyone behind there, they were almost certainly a pancake now.

"Mum! Dad!" She shouted as she saw her parents toed up in the middle of the room.

"Is there anyone else here?" Remus asked, looking around.

The room was a mess, with all the furniture shoved out of the way and some picture frames smashed.

Andromeda and Ted shook their heads and mouthed something. They had been silenced as well! That's why Remus hadn't heard anything from the house!

Her and Remus soon got them free and unsilenced. They immediately started rubbing their arms, who knew how long they had been tied up like that? Then they tried to stand. Worryingly, they were awfully shaky. Remus grabbed her dad and heaved him up while Tonks went to support her mum.

"I'm fine, dear," Andromeda said faintly but Tonks ignored her and led her to the sofa.

Remus had done the same with Ted, who was looking very pale.

"I'll get some tea," Tonks said, wanting to give her parents some privacy as the sorted themselves out a bit.

Remus joined her and soon there were four steaming hot cups of the stuff. Tonks even put it on a tray for them all.

"Nymphadora, Remus, what happened?" Andromeda asked after ingesting a healthy gulp of tea.

There was no way that her nerves could be calm yet but Tonks had to admire her fortitude. Her mother composed and collected and ready for anything. Her dad, on the other hand, had shaking hands and Tonks wasn't entirely sure that any of his tea made it into his mouth.

"Sorry," Ted apologised as Remus offered him a hankie to mop himself up with. "All the adrenaline must be leaving me now. I was pretty steady during the whole thing."

"You were," Andromeda agreed. "Calm and collected."

The compliment made Ted smile and he actually managed to get some tea into him. Yuck, how could her parents be all soppy even after a situation like this?

"Ah, that's the stuff," he said appreciatively, then looked hopefully towards the kitchen. "Though maybe something a bit stronger would help more."

Remus agreed with that sentiment and stood up to get it for him (and hopefully for the rest of them as well, Tonks was also starting to feel the effects of adrenaline wearing off) when Andromeda held up a hand to stop him.

"Not until we've recounted everything."

Tonks and Ted groaned at that. That was just unfair.

"It would help?" Tonks tried only to pout when her mother sent her a look. "Maybe not then."

"We don't want to leave anything out," Andromeda said firmly.

They all reluctantly agreed to it, mainly because she definitely wasn't going to budge on that.

So, Andromeda and Ted, in somewhat halting voices, told them what happened. It had just been the Lestranges that came but that wasn't too surprising. And then torture and threats and whatever usual madness Bellatrix added to things. A recipe for disaster and yet somehow her parents came out of it reasonably unharmed. Not that Tonks would refer to being tortured as unharmed but it really could have been worse. A lot worse.

"And that's it?" Dora checked.

"That's it," Andromeda confirmed, stretching her arms delicately. "Nothing much to it at the end of the day."

"I'm just glad she didn't do anything worse to you."

"I'm surprised," Andromeda admitted with a small shudder.

Tonks didn't really want to know what dear Aunt Bellatrix threatened or did to her parents. It was enough just knowing enough that she did do those things. She had seen some horrid things as an Auror, Moody made sure of that, but it was different when it came to your loved ones, you know?

"What happened to you lot at the wedding?" Ted asked. "I assume they went to the Burrow as well?"

"At the end," Remus said. "Bill and Fleur got their wedding but I'm not sure if they'll fondly look back on the day."

"Hey, it was a little excitement," Tonks tried to injection some levity into the situation but it didn't really work.

"Was anyone injured?"

"I don't know," Tonks admitted after exchanging a look with Remus. "A bit of fighting but really not a lot. It was like they were-"

"Looking for something," Remus finished. "Or someone. Harry. They were most likely looking for Harry."

"The Burrow is the first place for them to check," Andromeda told them, notably not asking if Harry was indeed there.

"They must have gone for all the safe houses," Remus said, running a hand down his face. "We were all attacked that night when we got him. They would have figured out where most of them were since then. They would have just had to check where we all disappeared and then checked who lived were."

Tonks hadn't actually thought of that. In that case they could all be very easy to find, which was not a good thing.

"We're going to have to make this place unplottable," Ted said, he must have been thinking the same way as her.

"Or put us under the Fidelis," Andromeda suggested.

Tonks honestly didn't know which was better in this situation. The Fidelis? It wiped the memory of the house from everyone who could know until the secret was shared.

"We'll sort it out," Ted said amicably, colour coming back into his cheeks.

"Soon," Remus requested and then gestured at her. "We'll do the same."

Yeah, it looked like they were going to have to.

AN: Please check out my story 'Safe House' to see what happened to Andromeda and Ted during this.