Why was it when you were just starting to sort things out that the universe had to just... crap itself all over it. Because Because what happened, didn't it? In fact, the universe decided to have bloody diarrhoea!

Was this an inappropriate reaction to the incomprehensible news she just received? Yes. Did that stop the thought running through her head? No. Not by a long shot. It was like her brain had short-circuited.

And could you really blame her? It was only the most logical thing to do when your father said something like this to you. Tonks now fully understood the urgency in her mother's tone in her patronus when she instructed her and Remus to apparate over. Which they did because you always did what Andromeda Tonks told you to do no matter who you were and what age you were. Tonks still swore that Dumbledore himself would snap to it in her mother's presence.

Then the bombshell was dropped on them with no care considered for them.

Her father had apparently decided that he needed to go on the run. As in, leave the house he and her mum had got together after years of hard work. Nothing was ever just handed out to two rebellious teenagers, after all. And he was just giving that up?

"But, why?" Tonks asked, completely bewildered.

Which wasn't her fault because as soon as she and Remus had arrived, they had been pulled into the house by an extremely worked up Andromeda and shoved towards her dad who was sitting on a chair, a stubborn look on his face.

Which Tonks should have known meant that things were not going well but hindsight was twenty-twenty.

She and Remus then got a very quickly spoken, very loud explanation that didn't make much sense. Something about her father leaving (that much she gathered), the Ministry was the problem (whoever would have thought that?) and that her mother was very, very displeased. Which, again, didn't make much sense so Tonks was feeling very confused. She looked at Remus who also looked confused so that was good. She wasn't just being an idiot then.

"Did you see the paper today?" Ted asked quietly as soon as Andromeda had stopped her almost incoherent rant.

Tonks shook her head.

"We haven't yet," she said. "My head's been down the toilet all morning..."

Yes, they may have got the balance of potions right for her morning sickness, nausea and general pregnancy achiness but it wasn't perfect. And it wasn't always effective. Especially when you completely forgot to take your dose the night before. Because she was an idiot.

And then the rest of the day kind of happened but she was pretty sure that Remus had read the paper and hadn't said anything.

"It is not a good reason for being an idiot," Andromeda said with a sniff.

As much as her mother was trying to be scathing, Tonks caught the shake in her voice. She was upset. Worried. Things Andromeda Tonks rarely was which raised all sorts of red flags.

Ted reached to the floor and picked what must be the newspaper in question up. It was the Evening Prophet. Which was why she or Remus hadn't read it yet.

"Muggleborn Registration," Tonks read at the page it had been folded to.

"What?" Ted turned it around and frowned. "Oh, wait. Wrong page. This is the page."

"Muggleborns that dod not show up for the Registration," Tobks read.

A sinking feeling hit her stomach. There was no way that this was going to give them any good news. The article went on to say that these people were wanted for questioning effective immediately and that suspicions had been cast upon them because only people with things to hide wouldn't sign a simple registry. Yeah. Tonks snorted. Because that's all it was.

The list was, helpfully, in alphabetical order. Tonks got as far as 'Granger, Hermione' before her hands started to shake and she couldn't read the paper anymore.

Remus took it over and started scanning the lists. He muttered surnames and Tonks could swear she recognised a few of them. People from school? Work? These were real people on this list. People with lives, families.

"Tonks, Ted," Remus said quietly.

Everyone froze at that and Tonks swore that the temperature in the room had dropped several degrees.

"You didn't actually think that I was going to sign it, did you?" He asked.

Tonks shook her head as Remus replied, "Of course not, Ted."

Obviously her dad wasn't stupid enough to turn up to the Ministry when he was one of their least favourite type of people. No. Obviously, that wasn't going to happen. It didn't mean it still wasn't shocking to see his name there. It made this whole thing even more real. Which was stupid, Tonks knew but it made sense to her. And in a world that was very quickly not making any sense at all, she was going to hold onto that.

"And now they want to question me," he continued.

"Thays what the article says," Tonks said in a shakey voice.

She felt like this in a direction that she already knew she wouldn't like. Her hair suddenly fell to her shoulders, the tension she was feeling making it that she couldn't hold the changes to her appearance.

"Tell them what that made you want to do," Andromeda said, finally retuning, back scarily straight.

"It's not that I want to do it, Annie, I have to do it."

"You have to do no such thing."

"I do."

Tonks waved an arm in the air. "Does anyone want to explain what exactly dad wants to have to do?"

It was a poor attempt at levity and it didn't work. Not even a little bit.

Ted looked to Andromeda, who turned away from him, and then back to them, taking a deep breath.

"I need to go on the run."

Silence. Absolute silence. You could have beard a piece of parchment drop, never mind a pin.

"What?" Tobks croaked put because there was no way she heard that right.

"I need to leave. I need to go on the run."

Right, he head heard that correctly the first time. Tonks shook ger head, trying to clear it. Suddenly, her thoughts weren't as jumbled.

"Dad, you can't be serious."

There was just no way. Of all the ridiculous, stupid, hare-brained -

"I'm completely serious."

Andromeda threw her hands up in despair and stomped out of the room.

"Talk some sense into him, you two!"

"Ted," Remus began. "Thats an extremely drastic move."

"Because this is drastic," Ted said, jabbing a finger at the paper. "Don't you understand? I'm a muggleborn. I'm a target. They know where we live and they'll be able to track us down and-" He broke off unable to voice the rest of his thoughts.

"Then we'll go into hiding," Andromeda said, perching on the arm of his chair. "We'll do it together. You don't have to do it alone."

Yes, that made far more sense! But Ted was shaking his head again.

"No. Who knows what will happen to people "harbouring a muggleborn"," he said using air quotes.

"But you can't leave," Tonks said helplessly.

"I'm going to have to."

How many times could your world start to shatter before you couldn't put the pieces together again?