Longing for You - Deamus

Chez Tonks

After an hour on his broomstick, Dean was tired and weak but still hopeful. He had bewitched a Satnav to take him to the house of Ted and Andromeda Tonks and attached it to his broomstick earlier.

The cottage before him was rather cute, he thought, quaint and slightly overgrown, the sort of place where he might like to live with Seamus. And yet it had a sort of unwelcoming atmosphere. There was a mysterious pile of metal scraps in the front yard, the curtains were drawn and the front door must've had at least 5 locks on it which seemed a rather unnecessary precaution for a wizarding household.

Then Dean had an unsettling thought: what if they had gone already? What if they were on the run from Death Eaters and had gone into hiding halfway across the world? There was no plan B for Dean, what would he do if the door didn't open? He couldn't just go back home. Doubtfully, he walked up to the peeling, blue door and knocked three times.

The wait seemed like forever, thoughts coursed through his brain, wildly unlikely what ifs seemed convincing until the door finally opened. Dean didn't even have time to breathe a sigh of relief when someone yelled, "EXPELLIARMUS!".

In a second, Dean's wand was out of his hand and, along with another wand, being pointed at his face through the open crack of the door.

"Who are you, boy?" came the angry voice.

"My name's Dean Thomas. You knew my father, Orson Thomas. He came to stay with you during The First Wizarding War but never returned, I came to ask what happened to him." Dean explained, hurriedly.

The wands lowered slightly, but still not completely.

"And why now? Why during the beginnings of a war, when we are being hunted do you decide you need to know about your father's life? How can I know you're not a Death Eater in disguise and you're about to torture me for information on Harry Potter?"

"I'm a friend of Harry's. We're in the same year at Hogwarts, we share a dorm, we played Quidditch together once, I'm a member of Dumbledore's army and I am prepared to fight for him. And as for knowing about my dad, there's no record of him ever existing. They think I'm a muggle-born. I need to prove that he was or is a wizard so I can get back to Hogwarts and fight. I need to find him."

The wands were finally lowered.

"Well don't go spreading all that around! Come in boy, come in!"

Dean followed a short, plump, balding man inside the cottage. It was almost out of a storybook; warm magnolia wallpaper filled the house in a not-unpleasant way, family pictures lined the walls and various magical and non-magical knickknacks littered every surface.

"Sorry about the mess, I'm afraid we weren't expecting anyone. Well, no one we were prepared to let in anyway."

"No worries, I think it's charming." replied Dean, enthralled by everything that was going on inside the topsy-turvy kitchen.

"Meet my 'Dromeda! Married for 35 years and still going strong - pride of my life she is!" Dean smiled sadly. That's exactly what he wanted but he couldn't help feeling like it wasn't what he was going to get.

"Cup of tea, darling?" sang a sweet voice from across the kitchen.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks" mumbled Dean. He was overwhelmed by it all. He hadn't really known what it would involve, being on the run and searching for his dad but he hadn't imagined that he'd be sat in another family's home drinking a cup of tea.

"You look like him you know, your dad, you have his nose," said Ted who was busying himself with a plate of biscuits while Dean, who had never seen his father's nose and had not paid any special attention his own, tried to interpret this as a compliment.

Finally, everything was ready and the three of them were sat around a small, circular table in the middle of the kitchen, sipping tea out of floral mugs.

"So... my dad," started Dean, hesitantly. He wasn't sure whether he was supposed to bring it up or wait until someone else did. "Where did he go with you during the war? And why didn't he come back? And where is he now?"

Ted held up his hands, obviously overwhelmed by all the questions spouting from the boy's mouth.

"Oh dear boy, I'm afraid you ask too many questions which I cannot answer." Dean's face fell considerably at this. "Your father came to me in 1979, in the heights of The First Wizarding War. He was a muggle born you see, we were all being hunted down by death eaters. Your father and I were well known by You-Know-Who's following as helpers of the Order of the Phoenix and that put us and everyone close to us at a great risk."

"I, of course, already knew this," interjected Andromeda, "and I was used to it as the Death Eaters already hated me. A member of the black family marrying a muggle born? Why, an act of high treason! No, they were already set on killing me before the war even began so I was aware of the danger. Your mother, however, was not. She had no idea of the trouble going on in the wizarding world and what danger she would be in if they found her harboring a muggle born."

"So said muggle born left," continued Ted, "and turned up at our door the next morning crying  his eyes out and explaining what had happened. Obviously, we took him in - what else was there to do? He asked me to run away with him, told me he was going into hiding with a friend from school - Dirk Cresswell his name was. He said all us muggle borns need to stick together and get out of the danger, go somewhere the Death Eaters wouldn't find us. Unfortunately, 'Dromeda was very sick at this point, I thought she might not pull through - thank Merlin she did though! And I had a 4 year old daughter to look after as well as Order business to attend to. No time for running away I told him, and I definitely wasn't taking my Dora with me. So I didn't go. He left with Dirk and I never heard from him again. Sometimes I feel like maybe I should've gone with them." He stared glumly at his shoes.

"No, Mr Tonks." said Dean, though slightly disappointed, "you did the right thing - no decent person would've run away and left their sick wife with a toddler if they knew they might not come back." As he said the words, he felt a stab of hurt because he realised that no decent person would ever leave their pregnant wife alone if they knew there was a chance they might not come back.

There was silence for a moment or two before Dean announced, "Mr Tonks, do you think you could help me find this Dirk Cresswell?"

('>')

Hi, hello, I'm back again yes. Sorry for the massive chunks of dialogue in this one, it's hard to get the information across in small ones oops. But hey you've made it and the adventures beginning - it's gonna be a good one!

I saw Cursed Child last weekend and OMG I'M SHOOK but I'm not gonna tell you anything cos #keepthesecrets and all that jazz hehehehe. If you're in London or nearby and you're patient then you need to go see it honest - I know the book was utter shite but the performance is insane!

Anyway, bye for now!