Chapter Twenty

Sirius meets baby Tonks

"Andromeda! Ted! I'm chuffed to bits! Pleasure to see you! Been looking forward to this all bloody summer!"

Sirius shouted out in excitement after just shutting off the noisy rumble of his Muggle motorbike engine. He hung his helmet loosely on the handle bar and hopped off the seat. He was visiting the Tonks family on his summer break at the end of July 1973.

As the years went by at Hogwarts, tensions had sharply increased between Sirius' parents and him over his scandalous placement of him in the Gryffindor house. He had also grown very weary of the all hurtful shaming by his family about his associations with non-pure blood individuals. The perfectionist comparisons of him not measuring up to his younger brother had quickly gotten old as well.

He welcomed the opportunity to escape the drama by visiting an already sawed off branch of his family tree. He was also thrilled to have the opportunity to meet the new emerging branch of his baby girl cousin that had been born nearly three months prior.

Ted walked up giving him in a warm hug. He asked, "Don't you think you're a wee bit of a young chap to be riding one of them? I'm surprised you don't have the Coppers coming after ya'."

Sirius winked at him and replied, "Come now, Ted, don't ya' think I've learned a thing or two at Hogwarts these past two years about invisibility spells? Not to worry. Might of turned some Muggle heads in confusion by the sound, though - ha ha ha!"

Andromeda was standing close by holding a wiggly, pink haired baby Tonks. The infant was busily waving her arms up and down excited to see a new face. She also looked very intrigued by the sight of a motorbike parked in their driveway.

Andromeda stepped forward eyeing him from head to toe. She declared,

"Why Sirius! Merlin, you've grown into such a handsome young man - you must have hordes of girls that are flying their broomsticks after you at Hogwarts."

Sirius gave her a charming smile and replied, "As always, Andromeda, you're really too kind!"

He gave her a sort of side hug as she was holding baby Tonks on the other arm. Then he squat down anxious to see his new baby cousin and said,

"Well, here she is! Hello little one, I'm your cousin, Sirius Black. Oh Blimey! Would you look at that! Pink hair? My God, that's extraordinary, is she a ...?"

"A metamorphmagus? Yes. She is indeed. Her name is Nymphadora," Andromeda answered.

Sirius's mouth dropped looking at baby Tonks in wonder. Her little twinkling brown eyes looked right back at him fearlessly and she made some incoherent babbling sounds. Then her tiny hand reached out and yanked a handful of his curly dark hair.

Suddenly, baby Tonk's hair morphed from pink color to the exact same dark brown color and curly texture as Sirius's hair. Sirius burst out laughing and then exclaimed in amazement,

"Merlin's beard! That's really quite remarkable, isn't it?Can I hold her?"

Andromeda nodded and passed baby Tonks over to him carefully. Sirius seemed to be a natural at handling babies and not at all awkward. Baby Tonks seemed immediately taken with him and completely comfortable. He gave her some playful swings in the air spinning in circles and she immediately giggled in delight.

"Nymph-nymph-nymphy, Nymphadora!" he sang out playfully to her and she loved it.

Sirius sat lightly against the long leather seat of his motor bike and supported baby Tonks carefully under her arms to stand upright on the seat. Her little baby legs were already quite strong. She had a highly amused expression and she bounced her little knees repeatedly. She proudly tried out her supported standing position, however, Sirius held her firmly as her balance seemed off and she was prone to slip.

Sirius leaned down and asked her playfully,

"Perhaps I should of gotten myself one with a side car for you, Nymphadora. What do you think of that? We could be riding mates."

Baby Tonks reached out and firmly grasped one of the handlebars. Then she let go and banged on it several times with a flat hand. Ted laughed and said jokingly,

"From the looks of it, I think she would prefer you to be the one to ride in a side car."

"Quite right!" Sirius laughed.

"Cuppa' tea?" Andromeda asked.

"Yes, indeed. That would be lovely, Andromeda. Cheers."

As they walked inside the Tonks's home, Sirius was still lovingly holding his new baby cousin. He looked down and suddenly gasped a sharp inhale of surprise. He said,

"Merlin, would you look at that, she did it again!"

Baby Tonks had been gazing up nonstop at Sirius and then shocked him by getting a cheeky expression mimicking his facial hair; sprouting a bit of dark hairs on her upper lip like his mustache. Sirius laughed, got a rather goofy expression on his face and told her,

"Why Nymphadora, a mustache, aren't you quite the daft little thing!"

He wiggled his pointer finger in front of her face and then pressed it one time on the tip of her tiny nose with a "boop!" sound. She giggled some adorable little baby laughs so Sirius 'booped' her nose a second time.

"She's always full of surprises, that little one," Ted commented and then leaned over smiling lovingly at his baby girl.

When they got settled in the house and Andromeda was pouring Sirius a cup of tea, she asked,

"How's your younger brother, Regulus? It was his first year at Hogwarts last year, right?"

Sirius answered facetiously, "Oh yes, I do believe you're right. Come to think of it, there was a boy there that looked an awful lot like my brother. Not entirely sure, though, the chap never spoke a word to me."

Andromeda frowned, took a sip of her teacup and then muttered, "No doubt he got sorted into Slytherin house much to your parents delight."

Sirius rolled his eyes and then said with a groan,

"Of course, it's one of the many points mum and dad have been rubbing my nose in all summer long. Blimey, I was starting to feel like I could hardly breathe with their constant criticism and comparisons of how I don't measure up to their ridiculous standards like Regulus. Ugh! I can't thank you enough for giving me an exit here, cousin Andromeda."

Andromeda gave him a warm smile and said, "Sirius, it's really no bother. We are delighted to see you. I'm so pleased you can meet our beautuful baby girl, too. You can put her in that pram over there, you know, if you'd like to free up your hands to drink your tea more properly."

Sirius was still enjoying holding baby Tonks and his teacup sat untouched on the coffee table in front of him. He had her straddled on his knee bouncing lightly. He shook his head and told her,

"No, I'm fine. It's a honor to see Nymphadora get her first pretend broomstick riding practice here on my knee. At this rate, she'll be making the transition to her own little toy one in no time. Right my lil cousin, Nymphy? You'll be zooming all over the place as faster than I can say hovering Hippogriffs!"

Ted had been watching them seated in a nearby chair and nibbling on a biscuit topped with lemon curd. He set the biscuit down and scratched his head with an expression of befuddlement. He asked,

"Why is it that Regulus started this last year at Hogwarts and it was only your second year? I'm confused he's just one year below you there. I must of been mistaken when I thought the two of you would be farther apart at school. I mean, I thought he would be starting Hogwarts your third year, this fall."

Sirius waved a hand at him and scoffed, "Yeah yeah, it did almost work out that way. It's because of my late birthday in November. I was only two months shy of turning eleven and almost of the right age to start Hogwarts in the fall of 1970. But my parents made me wait another year and start in fall '71. It's alright, though, I've got myself a splendid little group of mates now in my class year."

"Ah-ha, got it. Right. That makes senses now. Oh look at that - she's flashed to turquoise colored hair now," Ted said while marveling at his daughter's morphing wisps of hair.

Later that night, Sirius was upstairs in their guest-bedroom and noticed it was a full moon through the window. He decided it was a good time to sit down at the small desk and write a letter to Remus.

He wasn't too good at correspondence over the summer or writing letters to anyone for that matter. But before they had parted ways at the end of their second year, he had promised James, Peter, and Remus that he would write them each at least once. He had left his snowy owl back at home with his parents. He determined that his owl would likely never forgive him if the cage was strapped precariously to the motorbike. Ted and Andromeda would surely allow him to use their owl to send the post to Remus.

Meanwhile, Lyall, Hope and Remus had decided to return to the lovely little sea-side rental cottage in northwest Scotland for a holiday together. It was precisely the same cottage they had rented many years prior when Remus was much younger; the same location where father and son had flown over the Minch and back again in hopes of a lycanthropy cure.

However, comparatively speaking the timing was planned quite differently for the Lupin family this particular trip. Instead of leaving right after a full moon to go there, they planned to be there during a full moon.

Lyall decided that they would try Remus having a transformation in a uninhabited, remote forrest in the Highlands. He had scouted out a good location on some solitary broomstick trips before Remus came home that summer.

Lyall planned on staying out on his broomstick during the full moon night at a safe distance to track his whereabouts. Hope had made him promise that so Remus would not wake up lost. It also soothed Remus' worries his father would help prevent him from coming near or hurting any humans despite his repeated reassurances there was nobody around for many kilometers in the area.

Thankfully, it all went fairly smoothly as they had hoped. They were all pleased the morning after that Remus did not sustain any self-inflicted injuries. The freedom to let the werewolf just run free in the forest had prevented it from turning the aggression inward on himself. He only had a few minor brush scrapes and insect bites.

Both father and son returned on their broomsticks to the cottage quite exhausted and were welcomed by a very relieved Hope that morning. Once she made sure their bellies were full of a hearty breakfast, they both passed out asleep for the rest of the day utterly knackered from the long night.

Hope decided to only wake Remus when an unexpected owl post arrived for him in the evening. She kneeled down next to the sofa-bed in the living room and ran her fingers through his messy hair. Then she picked out a tiny dried leaf out of a clump of hair above his ear. Remus' eyes slowly fluttered open at her gentle touch.

"Hi mum," he whispered drowsily.

Hope smiled sweetly as she watched him open and close his mouth in a big yawn. She told him softly,

"Hello love, I'm sorry to wake you. I would of let you keep sleeping until tomorrow but I thought you'd want to know right away that an owl post arrived tor you this evening from your mate, Sirius Black."

She held up the letter and handed it to him. Remus's face brightened with excitement. He coughed a few times and replied hoarsely,

"Oh! Yes indeed. Cheers, mum."

He glanced curiously around the room and by the front doorway. Hope saw his inquisitive eyes darting around and she answered his unspoken question.

"The owl is gone now. It didn't seem to want to stay long after I gave it a treat. I'm sorry if let it go too soon, if um, if you wanted to write him a letter back and send the post back with it."

Remus looked down at his hands. They were shaky and weak. He held up his right hand and observed how it was more sore than usual; it was difficult to even ball into a fist. His fingernail beds were still mildly throbbing from the claw transformation. I must of been running hard last night.

"Tis' alright, mum, it's fine, I can't write anyway, I..." Remus trailed off with a scratchy voice and began coughing again.

"Fancy a cuppa' tea?"

Hope offered thinking about his ghastly howling the previous night hurting his throat. Remus nodded and wearily pushed himself up in the bed.

However, his mother didn't get up right away to go put a brew on. She hesitated and continued to stare mournfully at her son. He picked up on the pitying look in her eyes and sighed a deep breath of the salty air. Then he reached out and gently squeezed her warm hand. Remus told her with a somewhat forced smile,

"I'm alright."

She nodded quietly at him seemingly reassured. Then she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on his forehead.

Remus added some more light to the dark room by magically lighting a candle next to the sofa bed using only his hand. He couldn't remember momentarily where he had put his wand.

Hope reminded him in a sentimental fashion, "Hey... I remember you first doing that trick successfully in this very same cottage a number of years ago. As I recall, you made us a candlelit brekky with chocolate frosting on your face."

Remus blushed a bit, cleared his throat and said, "Yes. Quite right. Wand-less Magic is no small feat to accomplish, it's a wonder I pulled it off that young."

Hope gave him a little smirk and said, "Oh I don't think it's a wonder at all, Remus. As usual, you're not giving yourself enough credit for being such a clever boy with powerful magic."

"You're too kind, mum," Remus muttered doubtfully.

"No I mean it," she said in earnest, "You're growing into a powerful wizard, whether you're willing to admit it or not. Well, I'm sure you fancy reading that letter now so I'll be off to put that brew on."

When she walked away, Remus tore anxiously into the letter from Sirius. It read:

Dear Remus,

Thought of you, mate, looking out my window tonight at the bright night sky...hoping this letter finds you well and not poorly. Miss you and the others- haven't heard much from James and Peter. I assume they're peachy-keen.

I've had a barely tolerable summer with my barmy parents and younger brother. It's been rather miserable actually hearing them tear me to shreds in criticism and complaints over how I don't (and never will) measure up to the likes of my perfect brother, Regulus.

He's a perfect blooming brat - enjoying every disgusting minute of their bigoted, unwarranted and fallacious comments to me. Regulus fancies himself the bee's knee's, but if you ask me I say he's quite the wanker.

I had enough of that rubbish so I took off on my Muggle motorbike here to me favorite cousin's house, Andromeda (Black) Tonks and her husband, Ted. Yes, they're the same ones I told you have been blasted off the despicable painting of the Black family tree. I won't be a bit surprised if my bloody name get blasted off that tree soon one of these days. It's a wonder, really, they haven't already done so for me being in Gryffindor.

I made sure to sprinkle Wartcap powder from me folks biting silver snuffbox all across my brothers bed right before I left the place. It's that beige colored, pulverized magical substance Professor Slughorn taught us about in Potions last year that we used to make the Fire Protection Potion.

By tomorrow it should be forming his skin into an unpleasant, thick hard crust and he'll be stiffly crawling out of his bed like a pitiful crustacean. I say it serves the little tosser right. Perhaps that act alone will get me off the family tree - ha! See if I care.

My cousin had the most lovely thing that's happened to me all summer - a new baby girl cousin I got to meet at last. She was a miracle really for them as they've been unsuccessful at starting a family for many years... born three months ago in May, she was. Oh! and she's a metamorphmagus! That doesn't happen very often. I can't believe we have one in the family!

Her hair is pink! Bloody pink! Can you believe that? But it's not always pink, of course. It must be her favorite when she's not playing with some other color, like turquoise blue. Today she not only copied my curly dark hair all over her head but even made a very laughable tiny mustache like mine right on her little upper lip. It's quite extraordinary.

The baby's name is Nymphadora. I like to call her Nymphy for short. It's different than the ridiculous trend in my family of choosing star or constellation themed names. My parents probably wish now they had given my brother my star name meaning the brightest star in the night sky - ha! I'm sure you remember me making jokes and sending greetings to my various family members those nights during Astronomy class such as "hello great aunt Cassiopeia, hello great grandfather Cygnus of the Northern Cross."

This evening while my cousin was preparing a delicious supper, I was playing Peek-a-Boo with Nymphy's teddy bear and she suddenly morphed her ears into fuzzy little bear ears. It looked so odd but somehow cute at the same time - a baby with teddy bear ears!

I do hope you get to meet Nymphadora someday. I love her already, she's a feisty little doll. I'll bet my wand on it...she's sure to be a brilliant mischief-maker, especially at disguises.

Merlin, I'm incredibly relieved I've got a place to escape here at my cousins house with their delightful new baby who seems to be never lacking in surprises.

This evening late I caught my cousin weeping while she was washing up the dishes from supper. She didn't want to tell me why at first but then finally told me she worries about their safety during this bloody war. Even though Ted trained at Hogwarts, those fucking death eaters could make quick work of him to disappear off the map. Merlin spare us that day and grant us mercy to remain alright.

I hope your family remains alright, too, Remus.

Wishing you safety and an enjoyable time for the remainder of our summer holiday! Looking forward to seeing you and the others in just over a month at Platform 9 & 3/4.

Yours truly,

~Sirius

Remus folded up the letter and carefully tucked it back into the envelope to read again later. With a somewhat shaky hands, took another soothing sip from the tea cup his mum kindly brought him while he was reading.

His stomach clenched with anxiety that didn't let go at the thought of his Muggle mother being one of the next to disappear. His eyes were growing heavy again but soon Hope was at his side again insisting he eat a bowl of potato leek soup to get his strength back up.

She watched his difficulty grasping the spoon and his hand shaking in weakness as he dipped it slowly in the soup bowl. Without asking she gently took back the soup and fed him spoonfuls with her steady hands. He wasn't able to eat much with his stomach in knots.

"Love you, mum," Remus told her calmly trying to hide the gnawing feeling of worry inside of him for her safety.

"Same, love you to the sun and back," Hope replied and gave him another kiss on his forehead. Her nose wrinkled a bit as she pulled back from him. Then she remarked, "Oooof, I'll set out some bath towels for you."

Remus smiled sheepishly, "Oh. Sorry about that. I just need some sleep first."

Hope ran the back side of her hand tenderly down his cheek and reassured him,

"Yes, of course. It's quite all right, sweetheart. I'm just glad your back with us safe and you and your father did fine out there."

He nodded and yawned again.

Not long after that Remus thankfully slipped into a peaceful slumber and had a brief, pleasant dream about encountering a girl with fuchsia-colored hair.