The next few days passed in a hazy blur of motion. All Tonks could remember was waking up to Charlie offering her something to eat. She was sure she woke up a few times to go to the bathroom, but she could not recall ever actually doing it.

It was a good thing Kingsley had given her a couple days off, because she would have been fired by now. That or, someone would be sent to check on her well-being. Considering Kingsley was her boss, it would be the latter.

One of the few things she was sure of when she woke up was a clanging sound coming from the kitchen. It was what woke her.

"Charlie?" she called, remembering him giving her some kind of food in the middle of the blur.

"No," a woman's voice answered her and she registered the voice almost immediately. In response she groaned and pulled the blanket over her head. But then she heard footsteps and someone pulled it back down. She glared at her mother.

Instead of responding, Andromeda held out a plate. On which food was covered. Tonks's stomach growled at the sight. She grabbed the plate and fork also offered, propped herself up on the pillow, and began to devour the food. All of her thoughts and concentration went to the consumption of every bit of eggs, bacon, hash, toast, sausage, and the orange juice her mother set on the table in front of her. It was all so good that it was gone within a few minutes.

When she was finished she drank the rest of her juice and put the dishes down onto the table. Then she laid back into the pillow and pulled the covers around herself. It was then that her mother came into view once more, only to take away the plate. Tonks closed her eyes and waited for her to come back. There was no doubt in her mind that there was going to be a talk.

Just when she thought that she heard her mother's soft footsteps. Her feet were lifted on the couch, only to be placed back into Andromeda's lap. "Nymphadora," her mother began. She opened her eyes for the speech. "You shouldn't do this to yourself."

All of a sudden, she was not so groggy anymore.

"He's just a bloke. You are losing sleep, missing meetings, and having to take time off work. Charlie tells me that you are even taking a sleeping drought to help you get rest. This is not you Nymphadora. You were always so chipper and upbeat. Nothing could ever get my little girl down."

"Well 'were' is obviously the key word there."

"Look at your hair," the sadness in her mother's voice surprised her. Then Tonks noticed the tears in her eyes and had to fight back a lump in her throat. "It's just so… normal. What happened?"

"Mum," Tonks had to fight her voice to stay even. "What would you have done if dad had not fallen for you?" She heard the story countless times. Against all odds, her mother fell in love with her father. When she told him that, though, he did not push her away. He had returned her affections and they brought their relationship into the world.

"You really want to know?"

Tonks nodded.

"I have not the faintest idea. I love your father with every ounce of my being. If it were not for him, you would not have been born. You. My beautiful baby girl. It hurts me so much to see you like this. I can't begin to fathom what you are going through. You're so strong."

A sob broke through Tonks's heart, and she closed her eyes against the pain. Then she was eleven again, sitting up so she could be wrapped into her mother's arms while she cried. Her legs tucked themselves underneath her body. Every ounce of pain that surged through her brought on a fresh wave of wails. The pain was so vivid that it seemed someone was slicing a hole through her chest.

Her mother had been making cooing noises to try and make her feel better, but it was only when she calmed down that she could hear them. Then she just sat in her mother's arms while being rocked, crying in silence.

Finally, she pulled away and cleared her tears with the back of her hand and top of her shirt. Sniffling, she looked down at the wet spot on her mother's blouse. It looked like she had spilled water on herself. "Why…," she sighed and cough-sobbed. "Why doesn't he love me?" her voice almost cracked on the last word. It was a question she had been asking herself for what seemed like forever. Now that she asked it outloud it felt as if it was set in stone. He did not love her. Not even a little bit.

A hand on her chin made her look up at her mother's kind face. "I don't know dear," she whispered and kept her caring gaze. "You are so easy to love, such a wonderful witch. He must be insane not to love you."

"Not insane. Just a werewolf."

"Yes, well, that and he is quite the old man."

"Mum!" then she saw the wink.

"Look, if the age difference doesn't bother you, I should not have a problem with it."

"Yeah, well he does."

"That does not mean that you isolate yourself from everyone. Your friends are worried about you."

"The old me," she said before she could stop herself.

"What does that mean?"

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

"Do you really think you have changed that much?"

The silence was her answer.

"Oh sweetie," her mum pulled her in for a tight hug. "You can't believe that. And even if you had changed, that's why they are your friends. They accept you no matter what. Now you are going to the next meeting. BEFORE you interrupt, Charlie told me that he is not going to be there. There is no reason for you not to go! If I catch word that you did not attend, I'll take him up on his offer to drag you there himself."

Tonks smiled, despite still feeling terrible. "When was it that you had this conversation with Charlie? You keep mentioning him."

Andromeda stood up and gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead. "While you were asleep. He stayed here for two days, taking care of you and checking that the drought did not do any damage. I came to visit and he told me all about what happened. Well, the parts that I did not already know."

"I love you mum."

"I love you too," she grabbed her coat and opened the door to leave. Then she paused in the open door. "Maybe you should get a pet… something to think about. It would take your mind off him and give you something to do."

The door clicked shut behind her and Tonks fell back against the pillow. It was nice to know that no matter what, her mother could make her talk about things she refused to say out loud. It was also nice that she was telling her daughter to resort to an animal so early in her life. Not long before she was the lady with twenty-five cats.

She smiled to herself at the thought and flung the covers off of herself. When she glanced at the window she saw that it was dark outside. A quick glance at her clock and she saw that it was nine in the evening. Her mother knew just how comforting breakfast for dinner always was to her.

Pulling the covers back up to her chin and rolling over, she fell asleep once more.