A/N: My Youtube friend, Kitty, who makes fanfic trailers for me, made a trailer for this story (just search for the title of this story and it should come up) go on there and comment her (she loves comments like I love reviews!) and watch her other vids (she makes some really funny Harry Potter MVs)! Sorry, had to endorse my friend because she endorses me! ;)
Tonks, never letting her tight grip on Teddy loosen, flew all night, as Andromeda had instructed her to. The night remained her friend: quiet, calm, clear, bright, and without Aurors chasing her around (although Tonks was still moderately paranoid over the subject and kept looking over her shoulder ever few minutes). Because of her fear of being found, Tonks decided to change her appearance for the first time since Remus' death. The Aurors looked for a brunette with shoulder-length hair and a heart-shaped face. So Tonks turned her hair red and grew it out until it brushed the top of her buttock. She then opted to make her face a little rounder, and her nose a little less pronounced. As she reached the Alps, Tonks climbed in altitude a bit in order to glide over them safely, and before long, Tonks began seeing the bright lights of some small villages. She could only assume she was safely in Switzerland now.
And Andromeda was still nowhere in sight.
The sun was beginning to peek over the horizon and light the path for Tonks and Teddy as she approached from overhead a wad of lighted buildings. She could only assume that this was Zurich, Switzerland. Breathing heavily and looking over her shoulder for any trace of her mother one last time (there was none), Tonks began her descent over the city, making her thestral land on top of the roof of a Muggle hotel (it wasn't a problem, after all, Muggles couldn't see thestrals even if they had seen death). She got off and looked at the horizon opposite the rising sun. Tonks wanted to cry. It looked like her mother was lost now, too. She pated Teddy's head and went inside, finding a set of stairs leading right to the lobby on the ground floor.
Luckily for Tonks, Andromeda had stuffed several wads of Muggle money (how PAPER could be worth anything was beyond Tonks' comprehension) in Tonks' pocket, charmed with a unique charm Ted once told her about, automatically converting the change into the type of currency used in the country the cash was located. Tonks used the emergency money to buy a room for a few days for her and her son.
But eight-o-clock in the morning, Tonks had settled into the room and was now sitting in a deck chair on the small porch her room provided. It overlooked the very heart of Zurich. Down below, the Muggle Swiss folk went about their daily lives. Tonks wondered if she could find a wizard or witch in this town. Probably, this city looked fairly big. What Tonks wouldn't do for a firewhiskey…
Teddy was fast asleep on the single bed in the room. He looked so peaceful. Tonks felt so…so UNpeaceful. Where was she to go from here? Andromeda was the one who knew where they were going! Wasn't she supposed to be going to Vienna today, or soon after? Where did she go from there? Lost, Tonks wondered if she should just Apparate herself and Teddy home. After all, she had absolutely nowhere to go from here.
But Tonks still felt the two wedding rings on her left ring finger, and with each passing day, they grew heavier and heavier. The whole point of this trip was to find what she had lost. Her heart beat heavily and painfully against her chest, as if punishing her for even THINKING of giving up. After all, in the very hour of his death, Remus had insisted on not Disapparating out of the very room her was to be killed in. He finished her battle, and Tonks so wanted to finish hers.
And thus her decision was made.
Tonks took a four-hour nap, and woke up by around two in the afternoon. Suddenly feeling incredibly hungry, Tonks awoke and changed Teddy, and then decided to head out into the city to try and find something decent to eat (also, she had hopes of possibly finding her mother in the crowds).
The day was as busy and bustling as Diagon Alley on a day right before a Hogwarts term started up. Tonks hadn't expected so many people to be staring at her despite her Muggle attire and naturally-human-colored hair (okay, maybe it was a really intense red).Tonks was very aware not to get too pissed off or emotional in any way, so her hair or face wouldn't change. To be 'uncovered' in a foreign country and in such a busy city was incredibly dangerous. Despite being an adult, Tonks felt helpless without her mother.
Tonks, luckily, kept herself under control despite the fact that she was all alone. She found a nice little central park area and a food vendor, from which she bought an early supper. She sat down on a bench big enough for two, and sat Teddy down beside her. Teddy, apparently had learned to sit up (when the hell did he learn THAT?) and was supporting himself and sitting up like a good boy. He looked up curiously at his mother as she ate her ham sandwich. Tonks couldn't help but see Remus in Teddy's mouth, chin, neck, and in the texture of his hair. The eyes, nose, and of course the blue hair (which some of the Swiss Muggles stared at) were all Tonks' genes. Woefully, Tonks snarfed the rest of her sandwich, suddenly not in the mood to eat, scooped up Teddy and wondered if the pool at the hotel was open.
On the way towards the entrance to the park, Tonks noticed a small fountain near a few willow trees. A dark-haired woman, looking much worse for the wear, sat perched on the edge of the fountain.
Tonks immediately recognized the woman and sighed with relief, walking briskly towards the woman. However, the woman immediately stood up and pointed her wadn at Tonks.
"Mum, it's me! Tonks! And Teddy!" Tonks assured, suddenly realizing her change of look wouldn't automatically convince Andromeda. It wasn't like she could change her appearance here, anyways.
"When, where, and how did you meet your husband, and where is he now?" asked Andromeda. Tonks realized she was checking to see in case Tonks was a French Auror in disguise. Tonks took a deep breath and begun her story.
"After Harry Potter saw Voldemort come back, you and I went to Grimmauld Place on a summoning from Sirius Black, your cousin. Remus Lupin, my husband, was there with Sirius when we got there. Remus Lupin is currently—"
Tonks was about to say "dead" when she took a deep breath and thought a more…lighthearted thought.
"Remus Lupin is currently waiting for me on the other side of the Border River in the Himalayan Mountains."
Andromeda seemed to smile at Tonks speaking this, and she put her wand away (again, people stared at the odd-looking woman holding a stick up as if it were a weapon against the other woman with long red hair).
Tonks and Andromeda embraced, with Teddy squished in the middle (although he seemed to like it).
"Mum! What happened? Where did you go?" Tonks asked worriedly.
"They caught me and threw me in the cell again and went out looking for you. But while they were out after you, I pulled the same stunt I'd done before and managed to make it out this time. Did they chase you for long, Nymphadora?"
Tonks shook her head energetically. "No, they didn't even catch me! I arrived her at dawn and sepnt the day pretty much sleeping and walking."
"I just arrived. My thestrals' on top of some medical building with a tooth puppet in the window," Andromeda said, looking over her shoulder.
Tonks laughed. For being a pure-blooded witch sometimes made her a little 'unaware' of the Muggle realm. "That's a dentist's office, Mum!"
"Oh, you'll have to explain that to me later. Where is your thestral?"
"On top of the hotel I'm staying at! It's only a few blocks down this way," Tonks said, pointing.
"You go back to the hotel, and I'll Apparate my thestral and I over, then we can retire to your room for the night."
Tonks sighed in relief. "I think that's a great idea!"
"And the weather forecast for the Southern half of Europe over the next few days looks very testy as far as traveling of any kind. A huge cold front is shredding it's way over the Western half of the continent heading due east at approximately 30 kilometers per hour, bringing with it violent thunderstorms, hail, rain, flooding, and even a few reports of tornado touch-downs in Luxembourg and Belgium. Already State of Emergency reports are coming in from several provinces in Western France, Portugal, Spain, and so forth. The front is expected to arrive in Bern and Zurich by tomorrow mid-afternoon, so only travel if it is absolutely necessary…"
"Balderdash!" Andromeda huffed, turning the television in the hotel room off. It was now coming on nine at night. The sky was quickly fading and now was almost black (although one could hardly tell with all the city lights).
Tonks sat on the edge of the chaise longue, stroking her son's cheek as he slept.
"Are you absolutely bonkers, Mum?!" Tonks said, sounding and looking horrified. "The weather reports are all telling us to TAKE shelter! So let's stay here until it passes before we move on!"
"Oh, Muggles are all such dramatic whiners! It's probably just a rain shower!" Andromeda said, pacing the room. "Besides, Vienna's not nearly as far a journey as the past few days have been. If we start out ahead of the storm , we should be in Vienna well before the storm!"
"Mum, these are old thestrals, they fly at no more than 20 kilometers an hour! The storm WILL catch us!" Tonks pleaded. "Think of Teddy!"
"So far, that son of yours has survived a brutal arrest, a night in a jail cell, nearly hurdling to his death after falling off a thestral, and now you're worried about a thunderstorm? Besides," Andromeda said, holding up her wand, "we have THESE!"
"Mum, I don't think the Muggles of Europe would very much appreciate us altering their weather!" Tonks snapped.
"No, but we can certainly protected OURSELVES from the nasty weather! Besides, it doesn't really look so bad. What are tornadoes anyway?"
Tonks wished she could answer that, but she barely knew herself.
"Mum…fine, we'll get up and head out ahead of the storm front tomorrow, but we really need to be careful!" Tonks said. "And you need to stop acting like me and more like you!"
"Ditto," muttered Andromeda. She sat down next to Tonks and looked at her grandson. "We really are changed, aren't we, Nymphadora?"
Tonks nodded and threw her arms around her mother, like a little girl. "What do you expect? It hasn't even been a fortnight, and we've won a war, lost our husbands, and started out on a rather EXHAUSTING trip to find them again in a place that a PAINTING of our cousin told us about!"
"What did Ted do to deserve what he got? And Remus? Remus was such a sweet lad…" Andromeda muttered.
Tonks felt tears come to her eyes at her mother's mentioning of Remus' name. "He was entirely too good for me," she said. "To think, if he hadn't gone against his will and married me, he might have lived, seeing as he wouldn't have needed to defend me from Dolohov—"
"—don't think like that, Nymphadora!" Andromeda pleaded. "It's true, Mum!" Tonks said back. "Sometimes…I think he married me because I cornered him the day in the hospital wing…that he felt forced. Maybe he didn't love me after all," Tonks whispered with a hint of fear in her voice.
"No, Nymphadora! If he really didn't care about you, then Teddy wouldn't be here."
"Mum, he ran out on me after I told him about my pregnancy, and it took a seventeen year old boy on the run to convince him to turn back."
"Did he ever TELL you he loved you?"
Tonks thought a moment, then nodded. Andromeda continued. "Remus Lupin wasn't a liar, my dear. He wouldn't have bothered to tell you if he didn't mean it! He loved you and Teddy very, very much. I know that for absolute certain. After all, he wouldn't have given his life for you had he not loved and cared for you."
Tonks fiddled with a piece of Teddy's blue hair. "What about Daddy?" she asked suddenly.
Andromeda giggled in the back of her throat at the mentioning of her own husband. "Your father was a silly old man," Andromeda mentioned. "He had a heart the size of all England, but as you well know, you get your rather, ahem, off-balance traits from him—"
"—my klutziness, you can said it," Tonks said, nodding.
"Actually, when he first proposed to me, we were standing on the London Bridge, and he almost fell over the side!"
"He didn't!" Tonks gasped, almost laughing.
"He ALMOST did!" Andromeda said back. "He was so fond of you and Remus, Nymphadora. He was so glad that you were happy. I bet when we see him again, he's going to ask you to marry another, just so you can find your happiness again."
Tonks shook her head. "I will never marry again, mother," she insisted.
"Like hell you won't," Andromeda said. "You aren't even thirty. You expect to be in mourning the rest of your life?"
"What about you?" asked Tonks, getting up and going to the mirror on the opposite wall of the bed.
"I'm much older. Ted was the love of my life. I'm old. My cycles have stopped. I'm a grandmother. I don't think I'll love again, Nymphadora."
"Yes, well neither will I!" Tonks said.
"Whatever you say, Nymphadora. Whatever you say," Andromeda said, shaking her head. She looked out the window, the dark, ominous clouds of tomorrow already seemed to be visible on the horizon…