The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part Two

Quidditch in the Yard

"Nymphadora, keep your hair brown, please, don't make me tell you again."

"I don't LIKE IT BROWN!" Nymphadora whined as she was led through the gate by her mother's hand, and along the little walkway through the growing garden in front of the Potter's house. Ted Tonks closed the gate and loped after his wife and daughter, careful to place his footing on the stepping stones leading up to the door.

Andromeda paused at the door and turned, kneeling to look at Nypmhadora. "Please, listen to me. I am your mother and I am telling you this for a reason. It is not proper for little girls to have brightly colored hair. Do you know anyone else who has bright pink hair?" She stared into her daughter's eyes.

"No," Nymphadora admitted. "But I'm not everyone else. I'm me."

"Yes, but people don't just have hot pink hair. It's not natural. And people will think that I don't take good care of you if they see you're running about looking like that."

Ted stood behind them. "C'mon Andy... does it really matter here? Why don't we just, you know, let it go for tonight...?"

Andromeda looked up at Ted with a frown. "Ted - she has to learn! She never listens to me and if we let her get away with it --"

"I don't understand what the big deal is, Andy," he whispered.

"That's because you don't get the looks from every person that sees her running around with her hair like that. Things like that always go back to the mother, not the father... it's me they judge for it, not you..."

Ted shrugged, "As if other people judging you for making unique decisions has ever bothered you before?"

Andromeda frowned. "Ted, please. Why can't you just have my back on this?"

He sighed. "Dory, honey," he said looking at Nymphadora, "Brown, please? For mummy and daddy?"

Nymphadora scowled and folded her arms over her chest.

Ted looked at Andromeda helplessly.

Andromeda knelt back down. "Nymphadora. I'm going to start counting, and if you haven't changed your hair back by the time I get to three, I swear on Merlin's pearly white beard, I'll --"

The door suddenly opened. "Hey! I thought I heard somebody out here!" Lily Potter grinned at their guests as Andromeda stood up and squared her shoulders, flushing at having been caught reprimanding her daughter. Tonks promptly ran past Lily into the house the moment Andromeda's hands had released their grip on her daughter, nothing but a streak of hot pink hair. Lily laughed, "So much energy, you'd think she was related to Sirius or something." She stepped back and waved for Ted and Andromeda to enter.

Ted smiled and steered his wife inside. "There's a certain family resemblance that runs the gamut between the three Blacks on site this evening." He squeezed Andromeda's shoulders.

Dora appeared then coming 'round the kitchen island toward the front door.

"Auntie Mia!" Andromeda cried, grinning upon seeing Dora and wrapping her arms 'round about Dora's neck. It had been actual ages since Andromeda had seen Mia Black, of course, since she had snuck off with Fleamont Charlus Potter ages and ages ago, when Andromeda herself was a mere tiny child. Dora grinned and hugged her neice-or-cousin-or-some-relationship that was so convoluted and wrapped about itself (as most relationships in the Noble House of Black were) that they weren't even sure themselves the full extent and correctness of numbers of times removed or not removed they were exactly.

Dora wrapped her arms around Andromeda and squeezed her tight, then shook hands with Ted, smiling at the handsome, brown-haired man who had been the reason Andromeda was disowned at a young age. "I assume that delightful pink-haired streak of energy I saw go past me a few moments ago was little Miss. Tonks?" Dora had met Tonks before, via Remus when he'd baby sat her at the Lupin House, and even met Ted and very briefly Andromeda herself, though those previous meetings had all been Resistance or Order related and they'd not been given a time to get to reunite properly...