A shrill wail woke Tonks out of her slumber, far more abruptly than she would have liked. She had rolled out of bed, wand at the ready, before she realised that it wasn't an attack that had woken her up.

Another cry made itself heard.

Well, not the attack she was thinking of. This was an attack on her eardrums but, unfortunately, no spell would fix this. Well, technically there was a spell but putting Silencing spells on infants were frowned upon.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she grumbled, dragging herself out of bed.

Still Teddy wailed. Didn't he hear her? She was coming! She knew she shouldn't grumble - Teddy was just doing what babies were supposed to do. Cry when they needed something. She was just tired. And crabby.

Crabbiness that went away as soon as she slipped into Teddy's room and saw him. Sure, he was lying flat on his back and bawling his eyes out but she still found him to be the most amazing thing in the world.

Tonks now knew why babies were so stinking adorable. It was so that their poor parents didn't do anything to them as they shrieked and barfed and peed and pooped and Merlin knows what else all over them!

Seriously, babies were gross little creatures and they didn't even know it! Or maybe they did and the big eyes and gurgling trick were just a part of their whole master plan. For what? World domination? She didn't know. But Teddy definitely knew what he was doing with those eyes of his. Yes, she was wrapped around his little finger and she didn't even mind.

"You're just too cute," she said again.

She said that a lot. Because it was true. He was adorable with those big eyes and those little wisps of hair that almost constantly changed colour. She hadn't managed to figure out if certian colours corresponded with certain moods like hers used to (and still did if she let her control slip). Maybe it wasn't a universal Metamorphmagus thing? It wasn't like there was a lot of research about them. Which sucked. But at least she and Renus had more to go on than her parents did. Which was a start.

Teddy was staring cross-eyed at her, finally stopping crying.

"What are you doing up, huh? What are you doing up?"

Teddy, of course, didn't answer her except make a grizzling noise.

"Right, yes. You want fed. Sorry," she said, pulling her pyjama top up.

Okay, maybe she should have just pulled the neck down because now she had material all bunched under her chin and it was not very comfortable. But she couldn't fix it now because Teddy was firmly attached and she'd already learnt that it was not a good idea to remove him until he was done. Seriously, how did babies manage to be so loud? They were so tiny!

Teddy made happy noises as he rooted around on her chest as he fed. There was another thing she never thought she'd do. Breastfeed. The concept had always, inexplicably, squicked her out a bit whenever she was younger. Which was stupid, she knew, because it was natural and all that. But still. Too close to a cow for her comfort. Not that she thought that now. But she had done.

But now she breastfed. Because it seemed like the right thing to do. And she did like it. Enjoy it even. Most of the time. Just not in the middle of the night.

"It is a very good thing that you're cute," Tonks whispered into Teddy's head as she swayed with him. Of course, he didn't answer her because he was one, a baby woth no talking skills yet and two, a bit busy trying to drain her dry (or, at least, that's what it felt like. Merlin, how did Molly nreastfeed twins?).

It was moments like these that made up for everything else; the sleepness nights, the constant spit up, the inexplicable crying. They were just moments between her and him. Mother and son. A special sort of time.

"Dora?" Remus asked in a sleepy voice, standing in the doorway.

"Sorry, did we wake you?" She asked, gesturing to a now sleeping Teddy.

He shook his head. "Your side of the bed was cold."

"So we did wake you."

He made an exasperated noise at her which she just grinned at.

"He okay?" He asked, nodding at Teddy.

She grinned at him. "He's perfect."

[xxxxxx]

Tonks gave her mother a disgruntled look the next morning. Because her mother was all alert and awake. Unlike her.

"How come you slept last night?" She complained.

Even that came out as more of a whine. She couldn't help it! She was sleep deprived.

"Silencing charms around my door," Andromeda said happily, even humming.

Now that was just rubbing it in. Silencing charms? Really? That just wasn't fair. It wasn't like she and Remus could just do that.

"Is that not technically a security risk?" Remus asked in concern.

Which Tonks was happy to grab a hold of.

"Yes! Exactly! What if someone creeps into our house at night and attacks us all!"

Hey, it had been happening for months now, it was definitely a valid concern! Andromeda couldn't deny that. Then she realised that both her mum and her husband were giving her weird looks.

"What?"

"That was a little tactless," Remus said hesitantly.

Andromeda was shaking her head. "You still have no filter, Nymphadora."

"You know it could happen! Constant vigilance and all that!"

Remus groaned. "Please don't you start using that phrase."

Tonks couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, someone has to carry it on."

"They really don't."

She giggled at his exasperation, feeling happy that thinking of Mad-Eye didn't hurt as much as it used to. Actually, it didn't hurt at all there. She just felt a rush of fondness at the memory of her Mentor. That was good... wasn't it? It was progress anyway. Who knew, maybe tomorrow she'd be bawling her eyes out over the fact that he wouldn't scold her about her chewing gum anymore. Actually, that thought made her feel a little bit teary, time to move on.

"I think I do."

Remus just sighed in exasperation but he was smiling! That made it okay!

"Anyway, back to my main point," Tonks said, turning to Andromeda. "Silencing charms on your room at night seriously couldn't end well."

She should suffer Teddy's cries just like her and Remus. They were all in this together.

"It's only directed at Teddy's room," Andromeda said with an eye roll. "Honestly, Nymphadora do you really think that I would be so idiotic to put a Silencing spell on my room when we are in the middle of a war?"

Tonks kept her mouth shut knowing that there was no answer that wouldn't get her into trouble.

"And, honestly, think of the fire hazard that would be," she continued.

"I will be a fire hazard if I am woken up by a baby," Andromeda said drily.

Tonks held Teddy in front of her and turned her nose into a pig snout making him gurgle with glee.

"It's a good thing your cute."