[Andromeda Tonks]
Friday, January 23, 1981
Hello Harry. Your parents invited me over this afternoon, and I was glad of the chance to come and meet you. I had not yet had the chance, you see. Your parents are very busy people, and I of course have my own obligations. It's an honor for Lily to ask me to write in your Wizarding Book. Naturally I asked her to do the same for Nymphadora.
I know James through Sirius, naturally. And while Sirius certainly was a nuisance as a child, he's the only family member left that I still talk to. I do tend to avoid him during holidays, though. Bad memories. Sirius was a little hellion, and for a while, James only made it worse. But Lily's delightful, and I think she's been a wonderful influence on the both of them.
[Note: for some reason on the wikia, it says that Sirius did not meet Ted or Tonks until after he came back from prison. I could not find where that was mentioned, but it seems a bit odd to me that he never saw Andromeda after she left the Black family, especially when they were so close. He would have had five years during which they were both exiled.]
My husband, Ted, is here as well. I believe he's chatting with Lily at the moment. They've only met a few times so far, but both being muggleborns, they have quite a lot to talk about. I believe they're becoming fast friends.
And Nymphadora came along as well, or 'Dora' as she's insisting we call her. Ted's taken to it, but I'm still unsure of how I feel about the nickname. She wanted to hold you of course, but she's a little young for such a responsibility. Dora insisted though, so we had her sit down first. Don't worry- we wouldn't let her drop you.
I was thinking that I might introduce the second Weasley boy, Charlie, to Dora. He's only a year older, and I've heard that he's a nice boy. I went to school with Arthur and Molly, you know. They're only a couple of years older than me. We never became friends, though, because I was a Slytherin, and they were Gryffindors. Ted's friendly with Arthur, though, I should ask him if he's met young Charlie.
I've heard that they have six children, all under Hogwarts age. Imagine that, Harry, six children. I had my hands full with Dora! Lily and James are young, but they also only have you. I have no idea how Molly manages to do it. How can she possibly have enough time? It's a mystery.
You're doing well, naturally. You're becoming quite interested in being mobile, though, which I imagine vexes your mother. You do that little scoot that Dora used to do. You're not yet crawling, but you do seem determined to move about, so I imagine it shan't be much longer.
Dora has already begun attempting to teach you the proper way of playing. She has not had much luck, though. There she is, talking to you, and you only giggle back at her. Dora is persistent, though, so I doubt that she would give up so easily.
You've been an angel during my visit, Harry, you're a very well behaved baby, despite the fact that you're teething. It's probably not a pleasant experience at all, but you have hardly cried at all when I've been here. Perhaps you have been on your best behavior? That's very kind of you.
I do hope that I will be able to see you again sometime. But you should not be surprised if you don't see my handwriting again for a while. Times are dangerous at the moment, and sometimes it's safer to stay at home, however isolating that may be. But you've got over sixteen years of letters to read through, so you'll likely hear from me again.
I suppose that I must stop writing now. There's no exact amount that I am supposed to write, though somewhere under a thousand words is customary, though I'm not sure why. I certainly don't intend to go back and count my words, though, so we'll just have to be satisfied with what I have here already. I hope you're having a nice time reading your Wizarding Book, and I wish you the best.
With love,
Andromeda Tonks
Author's Note: a few people have asked for a relative of a Slytherin that Harry knew, someone Harry would not at all expect. This was a compromise for me. It's not that I'm against the idea of writing from a Slytherin's point of view, it's that I'm not sure how the rest of you would feel. A Slytherin that would be trusted enough to visit Lily and James? It would have to be an OC. Which I mean, I could do, but I've been trying to keep this in cannon as much as I can.
So please voice your opinion, ESPECIALLY if you feel strongly one way or the other. You can review with or without an account, plus I read and answer private messages.