"Wait, I thought dragons laid eggs?" asked Andromeda later that day. Tonks, her mind having been made up (Charlie posed quit the argument), had gone to Andromeda and asked her to go for a stroll through the fields where the dragons grazed. They sat in a closed-off backyard in the back of the boardinghouse. Tonks sat on a lawn chair in the sunshine. Andromeda was doing her normal pacing routine like when she always argued with her daughter. The day was warm and nice enough, but, as always, for Tonks and Andromeda, it could have been raining pigs and neither woman would give a damn.

"Charlie told me that most do, you know, Ridgebacks, Crimson-Snouts and such, but few people know that Horntails actually give birth live," Tonks informed her mother. Andromeda nodded.

"And you actually saw this Horntail have its' baby?" asked Andromeda.

"Yes," Tonks said. "Not the cleanest of events—"

Andromeda chuckled. "Well, Teddy didn't exactly come out of you clean as a whistle, and my dear Nymphadora, you were one of the messiest and most difficult births I've even witnessed or endured."

"I thought I was an only child?" Tonks asked, raising her eyebrow skeptically.

"Of course you are,' Andromeda said. "But I don't know if you remember, during the 13 years in between the Wars, I worked as a midwife to wizard mothers."

"I was too young to remember most of that," said Tonks.

"Hard to believe it was only a few years ago, actually."

Tonks nodded, fondly remembering those good-old days.

"But anyways, back to the point, Charlie Weasley, noble as his intentions are, can absolutely not, under ANY circumstances, come with us!" Andromeda snapped. She angrily whipped her head around, her pale brown hair (which was dry as a bone and lacked the luster it used to have long ago) fanned over her back in an almost perfect arc.

Tonks rolled her eyes and cleared her throat nervously. "Mum, I already presented an incredible argument on his behalf!" she protested. "Don't forget, he can see his brother! Would you deny him THAT because it's slightly more dangerous for four than it is for three?"

"Shouldn't you be with Teddy? He's still got that terrible cough," Andromeda said. "Instead, you fool around dragons with him, and I thought you said you'd never love again!"

Tonks paused. "I did, and I meant it. Mum, what are you implying after only two days here?"

Andromeda didn't answer her daughter. "Nymphadora, Teddy will be better earlier than expected, so we should be able to take off for Istanbul by Friday."

"What about our thestrals? Their still pretty pooped out. We are not leaving before Sunday," she said. "Mum, I really think Charlie should be able to come with us.

"Nymphadora, the subject is closed."

"Like hell it is," Tonks argued. "Mum, he clearly will NOT be a liability. There's no reason he should be, so why not take him with us?"

"He HAS his place here, I will NOT concern the lad with our personal affairs," Andromeda said. Tonks growled under her breath, something neither her father nor her mother ever did, but Sirius did so quite often.

"So this is a matter of pride, is it?" Tonks asked angrily. "You don't want anyone other than Teddy to see us humbled and worn out…"

"Nymphadora, you'd be wise to shut up, right now," said Andromeda with a harsh and almost threatening tone of voice. "He's already seen us humbled and worn out."

"Mum, it's been a fortnight since the final battle. We've been flying for a week and already we're so tired! I think it'd work to our advantage to have Charlie fly alongside us on a dragon—"

"—a DRAGON?! Good Merlin!" Andromeda gasped and sat down.

"He said he'd take along a Short-Horned Greenscale. They don't breathe fire, they are very gentle dragons, he assures me," Tonks said. "Plus, they're larger, so they'd certainly be more stable than thestrals. I'd be safer for Teddy too!"

"Nymphadora, really—"

"—plus, he knows this part of the world much better than we do. He knows a direct and easy path to Istanbul that can get us there in a day without any crosswinds or tight international borders to cross!"

Andromeda seemed to think a moment and turned to face her daughter again. "Do you think Molly Weasley would approve of us taking him along on such a dangerous trip? As grown up as he is, she is still his mother…"Tonks was ready to leap to another line of defense…when she realized, she didn't have any. Andromeda had pulled the mother-of-an-adult card. Damnit.

Tonks sighed and decided to at least try. "Mum, she doesn't have to know…"

Andromeda looked genuinely hurt. Tonks snapped her finger. Damn, wrong choice of words.

"He's grown up, like I am! We're not babies! When are you going to realize that?! Sure, you're my mum and Molly is his mum, but be that as it may, we've done so much for ourselves and we've endured so much on our own that I think sometimes, you need us more than we need you!"

Tonks stood up, finding her stride at last. Now she was flat-out pissed. Andromeda still looked pained. Tonks didn't buy it.

"If you're insisting that we continue on with just us next Monday, then you can go on alone, and Charlie and I will find our own path to the Himalayas."

Tonks turned her body and jumped over a section of fence, then ran out into the field to find Charlie, who was tending to a Crimson-Snout's egg this afternoon.

Andromeda just stood there, struggling to get over the initial shock of her daughter's rebellion.

Dinner that night was very quiet. Kelly was telling a story to Andromeda about a rare dragon she'd found in Zimbabwe a few weeks ago. Tonks ate in silence as the Lithuanian Healer told her about Teddy's improving condition and how he'd be well enough by the weekend to continue travel, although he'd still be weak.

Charlie wasn't there.

After about ten minutes, Tonks realized she couldn't eat, and she excused herself to find where Teddy was. She found him in a small, dark room at the end of the long hallway where the dragon-scientists stayed. There were two empty, neatly-made beds and a crib. Someone sat by the crib already.

Charlie turned at the sound of Tonks shuffling in. Charlie smiled.

"He doesn't look like you enough," he said. "I think the only thing he got from you was your unique power."

Tonks blushed mildly, but her facial expression, which was on the negative side of neutral, didn't change.

Charlie caressed the infant's cheek as he slept. His hair was a brighter green, rather than the sickly olive green from before. "He's not contagious anymore, which is a good sign."

Tonks sighed woefully and peered over the edge of the crib. "I'm putting him through so much just so he can see his Daddy again."

"Have you talked with your mother?"

Tonks nodded. "She's stone."

Charlie nodded, seemingly disheartened. "So I told her off," Tonks continued. "She can go find the river herself, and you can come along with Teddy and I."

Charlie shook his head. "No. You and your mother need each other more. I can't do it if it's going to tear you apart."

Tonks looked at Charlie. Charlie seemed very…well…awkward around her. Andromeda's words about Charlie fancying her echoed in her ear. Tonks almost threw up in her mouth with that thought in her head. Charlie was a nice bloke, but Tonks felt nothing for him back. She would never love again, regardless of what her dear old Mumsie said.

Charlie sighed and looked down at the sleeping baby again.

"He's not a werewolf?"

Tonks shook her head. "Nope. Remus was worried he would be. He does have the blood in him, though. During the full moon, his hair turns a little grey and it grows out a bit, only to shrink the next morning, but the Healers confirmed that he doesn't transform."

Charlie nodded. "I don't think werewolves are born, their made with a bite from another werewolf, right?"

"That's what I kept telling him. The Healer who delivered him insisted that it's impossible to genetically transmit a disease like lycanthropy from a father to a child, but he refused to listen. Even ran away when I first told him."

"What happened?"

"He came back after a week. He threw himself at my feet and kissed my hand like a sappy ass," Tonks recalled, almost chuckling. Then she grew serious again. "He never left my side after that."

Charlie nodded. "He sounds very loyal, for the most part."

"He died for me. Of course he was."

Charlie paused a beat before asking. "So, that's what happened? He was protecting you during the battle?"

Tonks bit her bottom lip, feeling a painful beat in her chest. Charlie gasped.

"I didn't mean t pry, Tonks. I am very sorry…"

"…you didn't mean to," Tonks said woefully. "I tried to convince Mum to allow you to come with us," she said, purposefully changing the subject.

Charlie caught on. "It's alright. I'm needed here still anyhow. With all the eggs and babies needing attendance, and Mayu in Japan for her friend's wedding—"

"—it's alright, Charlie. You may come," said Andromeda, who suddenly appeared in the doorway.

Tonks and Charlie turned their heads at the same time and gave her the same look of surprise.

"Mum?" asked Tonks.

"I am a stubborn woman, Charles Weasley. I would never allow you to come with us, and I forbid it still. But Nymphadora is just as stubborn, if not more, than I."

"Mrs. Tonks, it's not—"

Andromeda held up a hand to silence Charlie. "But I am going to consent to allow you to accompany us to Istanbul when we leave next week. If, by the time we reach Turkey, you prove yourself to be an asset to us, I may be convinced to allow you to go further."

Tonks looked from her mother to Charlie with a hopeful look.

"So be on your best behavior between now and Istanbul, Charlie," Andromeda warned, peering out of the end of her nose.

"Yes, ma'am!" Charlie said. Andromeda smiled very mildly, and then went to look into the crib.

"How is my grandson?"

"Doing much better," Charlie said. Andromeda nodded with a satisfied look.

"Good, very well. Very well." Andromeda then turned to leave the room. She then turned back to face only Tonks. "Please come to my room before you go to bed tonight?"

Tonks nodded silently. And with that, Andromeda left. Charlie looked at Tonks and grinned. "Wow, you really can work you mother over, can't you?"

Tonks shook her head and went to leave the room herself. "No more than Teddy could, actually."