The next morning, Andromeda was somewhat surprised when she awoke to find Tonks curled up in the bed next to her, her hair, long, curly, and red, fanned out on the pillow. Andromeda gently leaned down to her daughter's ear and whispered, "I thought you'd be back at Grimmauld Place by now," she whispered. Tonks moaned.
"Five more minutes," she whispered back. Andromeda smiled. Tonks was always a heavy sleeper, just like a teenager.
"I'll make some breakfast tea," she said, going over to the hot pot provided by the room and filling it with water from the bathroom sink. Andromeda grinned to herself. She half-expected Tonks to come back all along. The only question on her mind was how she was convinced to do so. But in the end, Andromeda decided not to pry. They had a long journey ahead of them today, their longest yet if they stayed on course.
A knock on the door startled Andromeda and almost completely brought her out of her tranquil state of mind. Going to answer it, Andromeda quickly shoved a bathrobe at Tonks. "Nymphadora, up! You slug!" she moaned. Clearly her father's daughter. Ted would be in bed until noon on some days, which annoyed Andromeda to no end.
Tonks shot up and groaned, taking the bathrobe, slipping it on, and going into the bathroom for a shower, closing the door behind her. Andromeda opened the door to see Charlie in the hallway. Andromeda smiled. "Yes?"
"Did she come back last night after I—? I mean, she didn't come back WITH—"
Andromeda smiled and understood immediately. She gestured to the far bed, and Charlie noted its' unmade appearance. He smiled. Andromeda licked her lip. The constant change in climate was really drying her lips and skin. "I'm making tea before we go, if you'd like some."
"No thank you," said Charlie. "I was just downstairs and had some in the dining room." Andromeda invited Charlie in. He could hear the faint sound of running water. Looking over at Teddy, Charlie noted his hair was a vivid orange for some reason today. Andromeda had fashioned the chaise longue into a surrogate crib, and Teddy was lying in it, fingering the fabric.
"Hope you had plenty to eat," Andromeda warned. "We've got no time for pit stops today."
"Where are we going?" asked Charlie patting Teddy on the head rather roughly. Teddy looked a little annoyed, and his hair faded ever so slightly.
"Aktas," announced Andromeda. "It's a small village in Kazakhstan, wizard-only. We'll be able to make it by twilight IF we keep up a constant speed and fly high. The winds are favorable and light, so we've got as good a chance as ever." Charlie nodded. Andromeda continued. "If we keep the same formation we had yesterday, and have Nymphadora send up sparks every few hours or so—"
The bathroom door opened, and a burst of steam filled the room. Tonks' distinctive voice could be heard. "Mum, why are there no towels?"
The steam quickly cleared, and Tonks emerged from the steam bare naked, dripping wet. Charlie wanted so hard to look away, but the testosterone in him refused him that wish, and his eyes remained fixed. Tonks didn't seem to notice him sitting there, staring at her, at least for a moment.
But, funny thing was, even when she did find him, she didn't bother covering up. Rolling her eyes, Tonks groaned. "Mum, you could have TOLD me!"
Charlie's jaw hung halfway to the floor. Tonks was seriously wet and naked, standing full-frontal right in front of him. Have of him wanted to shove Andromeda and Teddy out of the room and lock the door. The other half was thanking Merlin that Remus wasn't here. If he was, he'd have been kicking Charlie's ass from here to Aktas.
"For goodness sakes, Nymphadora!" Andromeda said, her voice high-pitched, embarrassed on Tonks' behalf. "Cover up!" She took off her own bathrobe, revealing that she was already fully-dressed underneath it anyways, and shoved it at Tonks, who put it on. Charlie felt like he'd just been broken off from a hypnotic wavelength.
"Oh, he's a man! It's not like he wasn't perverted like every other man in school and looked at dirty magazines!" Tonks said. "Besides, it's not like I have a terrible growth on my ass."
"Oh, its' true," said Charlie, sweating and red, embarrassed out of his mind. He could barely stutter. "I was just like all the other boys at Hogwarts, I look at those magazines all the—"
Oops. Charlie wanted to smack himself when he looked at the looks on both women's faces. That was NOT the right choice of words at all! He should have just said nothing.
Andromeda whistled. "Well, why don't we go round up Mashka and the thestrals and leave Istanbul before this awkward scene gets any worse, shall we?"
Charlie blushed. Teddy's hair suddenly got brighter and brighter until it could've glowed.
Up until about noon, the flight was completely eventless. It was certainly a breath of fresh air for Tonks, who slowly got over her fit last night and decided to do what Charlie said: to make the best of what she was given. The opportunity put before her, while in the end wouldn't do much, would help ease her mind now. And Aktas WAS their halfway point!
They flew over desert under a hot sun now. It wasn't necessarily sandy desert like Tonks would've initially imagined, but a lot of the terrain was rock and gorge. There was some sandy dunes here and there, and every few hours the trio flew over a small oasis or a small camp of gypsies or nomadic herders. But for the most part, there wasn't much to see, so flying higher didn't come with much loss. Every two hours, Andromeda instructed Tonks to send up sparks (her being highest and in front like yesterday) to see if any wizards were nearby. Once, she had gotten orange sparks, meaning a few wizards were about. This had to be done because they were all in clear daylight, and any Muggles seeing them would be disastrous. Of course, none were seen all day other than the occasional tribe, and none of them even seemed interested in looking up.
The noon hour was almost unbearable as far as heat went. The little breeze there was didn't do much good for cooling the travelers down. Charlie wrapped Teddy in a blanket to keep him from getting burned. Tonks lightened her red hair to a strawberry blonde so the sun wouldn't absorb the heat so much, as well as shortening and thinning it several inches. Andromeda took off her black traveling cloak and only used the hood as a tool to keep the sun out of her eyes.
Tonks looked ahead of her. A small island-like oasis was appearing above the horizon, about a mile or so away, and it looked like a few palm trees surrounding a small lake or pond, nothing more…
Suddenly, Tonks heard a loud, unbearable yell from behind her. It was Andromeda's thestral. He'd suddenly lost control and begun diving headfirst towards the ground. Tonks yelled as her own thestral, startled, began flying down to chase after it. Charlie drove Mashka just in time to catch Andromeda on its' back, and he took them safely to where the fallen thestral had landed. Tonks' thestral didn't land so easily. Seemingly frantic, Tonks had to dive off before she was smashed, and she managed to land on a softer pile of sand. Having landed several feet away from the rest, she got to her feet (her ankle was twisted, she walked limping on the right now) and headed over to where Charlie, Andromeda (who was alright) and Tonks' thestral were gathered around the fallen one, which was writhing on the ground in agony. Mashka was standing off to the side, out of the way.
Charlie was examining the thestral. Andromeda looked at Tonks, concerned. "Are you okay?"
Tonks nodded. "I think my ankle is twisted, but I'll live," Tonks answered. Charlie looked at Andromeda. Tonks noticed that the thestral wasn't writhing anymore.
"He's dead," he said.
"What? Why?" Andromeda asked, a little alarm in her voice.
"I'm not a thestral expert, Mrs. Tonks," Charlie said. "If I had to guess, I'd say heat stroke or heart attack."
Tonks put a hand over her mouth. Her thestral suddenly began calling out with that awful noise she'd heard in the air.
Andromeda let a few tears escape from her eyes, but then she regained her composure and turned to her daughter.
"Well, no use mourning. This will put us behind schedule. I can ride on Mashka, right, Charlie?"
Charlie nodded. "It will be a close fit, but sure." Everyone took another brief look at the dead thestral and then got themselves together. Charlie, Teddy, and Andromeda mounted Mashka, who dutifully got ready for takeoff, but when Tonks made an attempt to mount her thestral, she was just bucked right off, and her thestral ran back to her companion's side. Tonks tumbled right back to the ground. Only this time, there was no sand to break her fall, and she landed on rock instead.
Tonks brushed herself off and got to her feet, wincing. That certainly didn't make her ankle much better. Andromeda hopped off Mashka and ran to Tonks' side.
"Nymphadora!"
"Mum, what…why? She won't let me ride her!" Tonks said, puzzled.
Andromeda thought a moment. "Well, they WERE mates, you know."
Tonks automatically understood where her thestral was coming from. She looked back to Teddy, Charlie, and Mashka. "There's no way Mashka can carry all of us to Aktas!"
Andromeda shook her head. "Indeed not."
They ventured over to Charlie. Andromeda explained. "She won't fly, it's impossible."
Charlie thought a moment. "I have an idea. Tonks and Teddy will stay behind. They can stay in the oasis over there for the afternoon, where there's water and shade—"
"—leave my daughter and grandson behind? Like hell, Charlie. I thought you were smart!" Andromeda spat.
"Let me finish, Mrs. Tonks," said Charlie assertively. "You and I will carry on to Aktas, then you can Apparate to the oasis and side-by-side Apparate Tonks and Teddy back in seconds!"
Andromeda turned to Tonks. "Nymphadora? What say you?"
Tonks nodded quickly. "What choice do we have?"
"True, very true," Andromeda nodded. She looked up at Charlie. "Well, meet us at the Oasis. If I'm Apparating there, I'll have to familiarize myself with it first…"
It was a moderate walk over to the oasis. It was big enough. Not huge, but about the size of the block that 12 Grimmauld Place sat on. A small, clear pond with cool water sat underneath a small grove of palm trees that seemed to bear some kind of fruit that looked unfamiliar to Tonks. But they were green anyways, so they probably weren't ripe just yet. Andromeda took some mental notes about the oasis and where it was located, then went to Tonks, who was holding Teddy and sitting on a large brown rock sitting above the pond. She had taken her shoes off and was dipping her tired feet in the water.
"You'll be alright?" asked Andromeda. Tonks nodded.
"It's only for the afternoon, right?"
Andromeda nodded. "Hopefully, because it's only Mashka, we'll be there by sunset. So I'll be back to you just after dark."
"Yes, mum."
"Take care of Teddy," Andromeda said, patting her grandchild's head. He was fast asleep. Apparently the heat had tired him out too.
"As if I won't," Tonks replied. "I'm sleepy, so we'll probably just nap, the two of us."
"And if there's any trouble, just send a Patronus after me, okay?" Andromeda instructed.
"Mum, you'd better get a move on!" Tonks said. Andromeda nodded. She gave Tonks one more worried look and turned to go. Through the small grove of palms, Tonks could see Charlie giving her a small, playful salute as he helped Andromeda onto Mashka and prepared for takeoff.
Andromeda called one more time. "If there's a problem, I'll just fly back on Mashka and send blue sparks ahead of me, alright?!"
Tonks rolled her eyes. The woman was relentless. She waved with the hand that wasn't holding her son as Mashka flew off toward Aktas.
Tonks didn't know why her mother seemed so worried. This was an empty oasis in the middle of nowhere. What could possibly go wrong?