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Remus snuck through the forest, hoping no one had followed him. He had gotten the letter three days ago and wasn’t sure he was going to come until this point. At first he had thought it was Andromeda that had sent the letter, then as he read it again and again he realised it wasn’t her handwriting. It was someone else’s that knew about their hiding place. That could only mean one thing- Andromeda was in danger and she had told whoever it was that he needed to be contacted.
So he had decided to risk everything and go find out what was going on, what he didn’t expect was what he found when he got there.
A young woman about nineteen years old was standing in front of the cottage, peering around the place as if lost.
“Hello, you called me here. What is wrong with Andromeda? Is she okay?” Remus questioned the girl.
“She’s okay, I just wanted to see you and see if what she said was true,” the girl said.
“And what did Andromeda have to say about the man that abandoned her?” Still wondering who the girl was, he took a few steps forward.
“She said that one day you would be able to be saved and that it was all worth it. All the secrets and the hiding that we have had to deal with,” the girl said, a slight spark in her eye that made him curious.
“Who are you?” Remus asked unable to stop himself any longer.
“Nymphadora Tonks but I prefer Tonks,” the young girl said.
“Why would Andromeda tell you anything about me?” He asked.
“Because I’m your daughter,” Tonks said, knocking the breath right out of Remus.
“Wha… you’re my what?” Remus said.
“Your daughter. She was pregnant when you ran away and luckily my dad was a loving sap when it came to her and married her straight away so I would appear to be his and not a Death Eaters child,” Tonks said, a scowl moving across her features.
“Why didn’t she tell me?” Remus asked.
“Because you made it perfectly clear that the darkness was where you belonged at that point in your life, maybe now you have something to return for?” She questioned him.
“I need to talk to Andy, I need to see her.” Remus said desperately.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, I don’t know anything about you besides what she’s told me. You could be out to hurt her.” Tonks said, folding her arms across her chest in a defensive manner.
“I would never hurt her,” Remus said.
“You left her, that hurt her.”
Remus suddenly found his toes more interesting than looking at the woman before him, how could he debate that. He had left and it had hurt Andromeda. For the first few months after he had watched her, the only reason he stopped was he had seen one of their friends doting on her.
So he had stopped thinking and let the darkness take over completely, this had been the first time in years that he had allowed himself a moment to think about her and this is where it got him.
“I did leave her, but it was for a good reason,” Remus tried to reason with her.
“You could have fought the darkness, you could have chosen her and your friends. You were just being a coward,” Tonks said.
“I’m not a coward.”
“Yes you are, Remus. Now that I’ve seen you I’m not quite so sure that I want to, I have to go,” Tonks said, turning and leaving Remus to fall to his knees.
He had thought he was making the right decision all those years ago, but seeing his daughter in front of him and knowing the love of his life had moved on he wasn’t sure it was anymore.
xXx
“You did what?” Andromeda yelled at her daughter.
“I went and seen him, I wanted to see if he lived up to what you always said,” Tonks said regretting her decision to hide it from her mother.
“He is a Death Eater, Nymphadora.”
“Don’t call me, Nymphadora!” She exclaimed.
“I will call you by that name when you are acting like a child, why would you do that?” Andromeda shouted.
“Hey, hey, hey what’s going on in here?” Ted came in and asked the two volatile women.
“Your daughter decided it would be a good idea to meet up with a Death Eater,” Andromeda said pointing at Tonks.
“Why is she my daughter when she’s doing something reckless?” He asked.
“Because you taught her everything you know!” Andromeda exclaimed.
“He is my father,” Tonks said.
“You don’t have to agree with her,” Ted said.
“Not you dad, I mean Remus. I went and seen him last night,” Tonks said, shrugging her shoulders.
“YOU DID WHAT NOW?” Ted shouted, his magic firing up and shaking the furniture, “He is a Death Eater! How could you think that was a good idea, Nymphadora?”
“I just wanted to meet him,” she said dejectedly.
“You should have spoken to us before you ran off half cocked!” Ted exclaimed.
“Never meet him without telling us, what if he had hurt you?” Andromeda asked.
“He wouldn’t have,” Tonks stated.
“You don’t know that!” Ted said, pacing around the room he couldn’t stop thinking of how he could have lost his daughter.
“He was shocked, he wants to talk to mum.” Tonks said locking eyes with Andromeda.
“He does?” Andromeda whispered.
“He said he needed to talk to you and see why you hid me from him,” Tonks explained.
“Like hell will you be meeting him,” Ted said to his wife, he wasn’t going to lose her.
“Love, maybe I need to. Just to explain things,” Andromeda said, placing her hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him.
“What if this is a trap?” He asked.
“It’s not,” Tonks said, slightly angry.
“You don’t know that, he could have just been waiting for the perfect moment to strike,” Ted said.
“Then you will be there, I won’t go alone if that’s what you want,” Andromeda said to placate him.
She had to explain things in person. She owed him that.