After the full day of sleep and relaxation that Andromeda promised, she, Tonks, Teddy, and Charlie, after buying two thestrals from a farmer in Aktas and took off for their final leg of the journey to the Borderland.
They woke and took off very early the next morning on their thestrals and Mashka. Charlie held the still sleeping Teddy in his arms on Mashka. Tonks still led the way, and Andromeda still brought up the rear.
The day was full of confidence and courage. Tonks could feel the strength of the day brush against her cheek as she ascended higher and higher. The sun beamed brightly as it did before, but it wasn't nearly as stifling hot out (this was partially due to Andromeda insisting they fly at a higher altitude). Looking down at the earth below her, Tonks could see the end of the sands of the Middle East as they flew over the rocky, dry terrain of Pakistan. There were no nomadic tribes here, but small permanent villages set up instead. Tonks thought they were darling.
Meanwhile, Andromeda couldn't help but keep her breath shallow with anticipation as the terrain got more and more elevated below her. She hadn't told Tonks, because she wasn't one hundred percent sure yet, but if the weather remained this calm, this would be the day they would reach the Borderland. Tonight was the night that she and her daughter would reunite with their husbands, and Charlie would see his brother again. Teddy would see the father he was fated never to know. After an entire month, here it was. One more day, and all the trials they'd endured would pay off.
By noon, the weather showed no signs of rebelling as the rocky hills and craters gave way to snow-capped mountains beneath the two thestrals and the dragon. Tonks almost became sleepy watching the gorgeous scenery go by. She leaned her head on her hands, folding on her thestral's neck, and carelessly, lazily flew. Andromeda had to yell had her several times.
"Nymphadora! Be careful!! We wouldn't want another disaster!!" Andromeda warned.
Tonks smirked and mocked nodding. Andromeda sighed and took another quick look down. A thestral's cry snapped her attention above her. Tonks was flying higher with her thestral, even doing a few somersaults in midair. Tonks screeched with delight. Charlie whooped, and Teddy giggled at the silly sight.
Andromeda wondered why Tonks was so happy now. But she didn't see why it wasn't obvious. She somehow sensed this was the night she would reunite with her love. She'd come to the end of an emotion-jerking, exhausting journey, and life just seemed to be looking up. Andromeda had to admit she felt like doing the same as Tonks, if she wasn't thirty-plus years older and wiser!
The rush that Tonks got made her feel so free and easy. The air blew colder, and she sensed they were close.
The mountains were getting higher and higher, and Andromeda instructed Charlie and Tonks to fly lower so that the air wouldn't get too thin for the thestrals. They grazed the mountain tops and had to watch where they flew now. Andromeda yelled to Charlie to wrap the blanket bundle tighter around Teddy so he wouldn't get sick again. After all, it was a little less than two weeks ago that he'd had whooping cough after nearly dying in that storm above Charlie's dragon farm. Charlie obeyed. Looking up, he could see Tonks' clear change in perspective. She wasn't nearly as gloomy, nor depressed-looking. Charlie smiled feebly.
She was going to see HIM again. The man who was slightly less than twice her age, whom she went and fell for. The man who made it impossible for him to be with her. Charlie couldn't help but feel a bout of bitterness. Charlie had met Remus briefly in his life, but he didn't want to meet him again. He knew what Tonks would do. She'd be all ecstatic and thank the gods for Remus, and then they would fawn over their creation, whom he himself now held.
Charlie couldn't help being so selfish. Tonks wasn't what mattered now. At least, she shouldn't have been. Charlie had a long list of things to talk of with his brother. No use mourning over a love that could never be in the end.
A little more time passed, and the mountains became even taller. Tonks noticed a strange silhouette in the distance. She realized what it had to be, and uttered a loud, shrill cry of absolute joy. Andromeda was caught off guard and nearly fell off her thestral.
"What is it??"
"Over there!" Tonks pointed due east. Andromeda squinted to see two large mountains rising above the rest. "The two tallest mountains on Earth!! We're there! Oh, Mum! We're there!"
The air was as crisp and as cold as a winter in Hogsmeade when the travelers landed their animals and got off. Although the valley between the two tallest mountains was covered in snow that was as deep as Tonks' knees, the river, indeed, ran free, without so much as a chunk of ice floating in it. Tonks expected the place to be rather windy, but it wasn't. The sky was light purple and rose colored with the last of the sun's beams reflecting of the nearly overcast sky, for it was still an hour until moon rise.
"Brr! Chilly, isn't it?" Andromeda noted quite obviously, conjuring three woolen blankets. She gave one each to Tonks, Charlie, and Teddy, and she herself pulled out her thick black hooded traveling cloak and put the hood up.
After that, none of them spoke for a solid ten minutes. They simply stared at the small, shallow river that was the Borderland. It was almost surreal, as if they were all dreaming it. They'd made it. Once the moon rose—
—suddenly, a terrible thought hit Tonks.
"Mum! Tonight's not the new moon!" Tonks said, panicking.
Andromeda nodded. Tonks stopped panting nervously. "Shush, Nymphadora! Tonight's not the new moon, but look at the sky!" she said, pointing up.
Tonks squinted to look up above the enormous masses that towered above her. From what she could see, the clouds completely covered them.
"But Sirius said…"
"…Sirius said when there were no moon beams out, the dead can be seen. He didn't necessarily mean a new moon had to be out."
Tonks looked at her mother admiringly. How could she be so…so SMART? Andromeda sighed deeply and observed the surrounding area.
"Well, it's bloody cold, and we have a little while, so why not settle down for a bit?" she suggested, waving her wand in a circular pattern. A thin, orange dome fell over the four people, the two thestrals, ands Mashka, who was carelessly licking her hind parts like a cat. Tonks suddenly felt a warming sensation overcome her, and she shed the cloak Andromeda had just given her. The snow they stood in melted and gave way to dry, lush green grass, perfect for sitting and/or lying down in.
"Charlie, may I have Teddy?" Tonks asked, holding out her arms. Charlie nodded and handed over the baby to his mother, who found a soft patch of grass and decided to catch forty winks before nightfall. Charlie took a look at Tonks and Teddy, frowned, and turned to go give Mashka a post-flight check up to occupy his time.
Andromeda found a dry rock and sat on it, perched on the edge like an eager pigeon, looking intensively at the river, praying for nightfall. She had a feeling that the night wouldn't come very quickly...
…and, of course, it didn't. Night was a long time in coming. The moon was at a waxing gibbous stage when it first peered over the horizon. Andromeda only hoped the clouds would roll back in soon.
Tonks and Teddy were still sleeping. Tonks was curled up in a fetal position, holding Teddy in her grip like a child might hold a Teddy bear. Charlie, after examining Mashka and finding her to be perfectly fit, had fallen asleep beside the dragon. The two thestrals grazed happily on the rare patch of grass in this snow-laden area. Andromeda couldn't sleep.
Looking around, Andromeda sighed. Was coming here really a good idea? Looking at exactly how much near-tragedy had happened to her and her family, Andromeda still couldn't quite get a grasp on the fact that this was the place Sirius had told her about. This was the place where the dead could meet with the living. Somewhere behind that very river, Ted Tonks waited for her. Could he see her now? Or did the whole moon-beam rule work both ways?
Bundling her black cloak around her again, Andromeda stepped outside the barrier of the Warming Charm and went for a stroll along the riverbank. So lost in thought she was, that she failed to notice the moon fall behind a thick cloud. On the other side of the bank, two people appeared as if from thin air.
A man, tall and carelessly handsome, was strolling alongside the opposite bank, with the other person, a woman with curly, waist-length hair the color of a pine shrub, on his arm. The man looked up and noticed Andromeda. Andromeda still failed to notice him.
"DROMEDA!!!" the man hollered from a cross the bank. "ANDROMEDA!!!"
Andromeda looked up and around. It took a few moments for her eyes to wander across the river, to where both Sirius Black and Bastet Pollux stood, waving madly. Andromeda felt tears well up in her eyes as she let out a shriek of utter ecstasy. Sirius and Bastet jumped into the river, the water coming up to their knees. Andromeda followed suit and fell into the water and ran to embrace her beloved cousin. She didn't expect to actually find him solid. She'd anticipated him a ghost of sorts.
But Sirius was, indeed, solid. And in her arms. After so long
"Oh, my cousin! Oh! Oh!" Andromeda muttered hysterically. "It's you! It is really YOU, Sirius!"
"You made it! A bit longer than I expected, but no matter!" Sirius said.
Andromeda turned to Bastet. "It's been even longer," she muttered. "I haven't seen you since the last time Sirius brought your around, at LEAST eighteen or twenty years ago!"
Bastet took her hand and smiled her crooked smile. Bastet's hand was much smaller than Andromeda's. "Let's not talk about that now. There is so much more catching up to do."
"How are you two? What happened when you came here, Sirius?" Andromeda asked. Sirius could've sworn her voice sounded like it'd shed ten years of age in the last two minutes. It was melodic, young, and chipper again.
Sirius put an arm around his love and sighed happily. "It was a happy reunion. We're together now, and we've never been happier."
Bastet rolled her eyes. "I was a little dismayed to see him arrive here so soon, considering he was still too young, and of all people, your insane sister does him in…"
"Dismayed?! You lie, Bastet, my baby! You jumped my bones when I wasn't even thirty seconds behind the veil!" Sirius laughed. Andromeda grinned. Even when he was dead, Sirius was more alive than she could've ever hoped to be.
Bastet blushed. "Well, it HAD been fourteen years…I missed you."
Andromeda sighed. "I…I can't believe it. We came all this way, endured so much, and it's…we're…WITH you again!" Andromeda began sobbing. Sirius put his free hand on her shoulder.
"You can tell us all the details of your trip later," Bastet assured. "The night is still young."
"There was so much worry, so many near-death incidences! Now I'm HERE with YOU!" Andromeda was truly beside herself with happiness, exhaustion, and even more happiness.
"So happy after seeing only us," Sirius tsked. Bastet grinned.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Bastet said. Sirius nodded and turned to Andromeda.
"Wipe your tears, Dromeda and go get Tonks and Teddy," Sirius advised. Andromeda nodded. "I think a big family reunion is in order here…"