alt_nymphadora: (Quirks)
2015-09-01 01:29 pm

CODA

NYMPHADORA TONKS lives with Charlie, Bea, and Adam in Grimmauld. Charlie's injuries leave him with many challenges, and those first few years are especially rough going, but Tonks is rather good at calling out Charlie when he gets too snappy, and they find a good rhythm after a fashion. She keeps close with Draco, Hermione, Hydra, and all their children, and thoroughly enjoys having a pile of kids over for regular playdates. She also has a standing weekly tea-date with Frank, and invites old Order members to visit often.

The house at Grimmauld accommodates all sorts, including several host-children from the Goblin Nation, which proves to be an adventure for all involved. As a result of Charlie's work, the house at Grimmauld is often a place for highly informal diplomatic gatherings and dinners, and, if they end up playing a (rather intense) strategic game of Goblin origin, it's not unheard of to have various ambassadors (and once, rather famously, a few heads-of-state) kipping there over the weekend, which she finds endlessly amusing.

She and Charlie have a fairly pleasant arrangement, with occasional boyfriends and girlfriends added to the mix, and although there is some rather saucy gossip about it, she thinks it is hilarious, and keeps a scrapbook of the juiciest articles.

Tonks contributes regularly as an advice columnist for the Albion Free Press, and, once Bea starts Hogwarts, she decides to write children's books for the six and under set that do fairly well.
alt_nymphadora: (Subdued)
2015-08-30 02:01 pm

Private Message to Charlie, Hermione, Draco, and Hydra

So it looks like Chuck and me are going to be settling in Grimmauld.

I know you lot are looking to spread your wings, and thinking about other places you might stay, but I wanted all three of you to know that you've got a home base here whenever you need it. And regardless of where you end up settling, that includes a standing offer for any babysitting, holiday visits, and possibly a dinner once a month if you'd like it. (Can't guarantee it won't be slightly burnt if I'm the one cooking it, but these sort of things aren't just for the food, right?)

Anyways.

I know it'll never be quite the same, without Remus and Sirius and Severus there, but it is a home, and we're family, so feel free to come back to the nest now and again for a visit, yeah? I'd like that quite a lot.
alt_nymphadora: (Got You)
2015-08-29 04:39 pm

ORDER ONLY: Private Message to Hydra

I'm part of the back-up crew. Round two.

Today has been a really, really awful day. I know it has.

I need you to promise me something, though, all right?

I need you to stay here, and keep safe, at least for tonight. Because there's a lot up in the air, and let's just say that with one parent in the hospital and three looking to jump into the fray, I need to know down to the bottom of my feet that my kids are going to be looked after, no matter what happens. Otherwise, my head won't be in it. And knowing you're safe, that helps.

Greatly.

Will you do that for me?
alt_nymphadora: (Subdued)
2015-08-19 10:57 pm

ORDER ONLY: Private Message to Charlie

Hallo, luv.

I managed to extricate Dree from a rather damp and enthusiastic Mrs Weasley thank you earlier. Good on her and Em for getting you here.

I know things are all sorts of Not Particularly Fun right now, but I am beyond glad that you're here, and between you and Ginny both coming home nearly on the same day, it's rather like Weasley Christmas has come early.

In all seriousness, my dear sweet lovely amazing Chuck, thank you for holding on all this while, and for coming back home where you belong. We'll sort the rest out, I've no doubt.

I know you were rather insistent on limiting your list of visitors this evening. Don't blame you for that in the least. I'm sure it's been a rather horrible day all round. A rather horrible row of days, really. I do want to say hallo in person very much, just because it's one thing to hear someone's safe and alive, and another to see them for yourself, and my imagination has gone to some rather dire places of late, and I don't mind about your hair or any of the rest of it, but I don't have to fling myself over your hospital bed and weep with thankfulness just yet.

I'm ever so glad you're here.
alt_nymphadora: (Subdued)
2015-08-07 11:49 pm

ORDER ONLY: Private Message to Charlie

For the record, Sir Adam was most displeased by the actions of the Wards committee. He simply wasn't having it at all, and screamed himself into exhaustion after about twenty minutes of mighty tantrum throwing. There were so many utterly random things happening, I had this wild thought he was causing it all, but the reports were coming in odd across the board, so either our Adam is the most powerful wizard ever, or it was the stones and not him at all.

He's sound asleep, and appears to be having a rather interesting dream by the looks of it. We'll see how he is tomorrow.

I wonder if you could see anything from where they've got you squirreled away?

Adam misses his da most mightily, and so do I. I'm sending every positive thought I can your way. Consider this one of them. Come home soon, luv.
alt_nymphadora: (Subdued)
2015-08-05 08:12 pm

ORDER ONLY: Private Message to Charlie Weasley

There's a certain amount of poetic justice in both of us being stuck somewhere with a wolf at the door, isn't there?

I suppose the best thing for both of us to do is to wait as patiently as we can for it to pass.

Adam's so very confused. It's like he's lost his sense of balance the last couple of days. I hope he'll get some of it back once you're here safe and sound, but I'm trying my best to keep him from getting too frustrated by everything. Bea is switching back and forth between being the Best Older Sister Ever and an absolute brat, but that's decidedly understandable.

I miss you.

Come home soon, yeah?
alt_nymphadora: (Subdued)
2015-06-10 08:08 pm

(no subject)

D'you know, a few years back, I was one of those unlucky sods who got struck with a nasty case of the plague?

It's probably more accurate to call it 'Rookwood's Paralysis' instead of 'Black's Paralysis' -- the Department of Mysteries had their signatures all over that particular mess -- oh, don't even get me started, it's all quite the rabbit hole, believe me, but anyways, a couple of years back, I found myself very ill, and in an extended stay at St M's.

There are bits I don't clearly remember, of course. Great huge lengths of time that are just simply missing because I was too out of it. But whatever memories I do have make it clear that the Healers of St Mungo's were there with me every step of the way. Making me as comfortable as possible. Working round the clock to come up on something, anything that'd help me feel better. Keeping me fed and bathed. Pushing me to keep my muscles active, to walk and hold a quill again, and cheering me with every milestone I passed.

I imagine they must've been worried about catching it themselves, and I wasn't anyone special by any stretch -- a halfblooded bog cleaner isn't someone you normally go out of your way for. But that's the thing about Healers. At least the ones I know, and I have the great privilege to call a few of them friends. Healers don't give a damn what you do for a living. They work as hard as they can to help as many people as they can, and there's something deeply admirable about that.

Helping people because they're people who need help. Full stop. It's simple, but so very profound all at the same time.

I owe my life to the Healers at St Mungo's. So many of us do.
alt_nymphadora: (On It)
2015-05-25 04:03 pm

ORDER ONLY

Taking a mo to catch our breath.

Working our way through our chunk of the list. Haven't had any run-ins yet, knock wood. We've run into a few sites that've been cleared, but we've also come across two more that've been Fideliused already, so that's something.

Glad we've got Colin along - secret keeper extraordinaire, purveyor of salt, obtainer of random sandwiches. (Seriously, I've no idea where he managed to get some, but they were fabulous.)

Everyone all right? Staying safe?
alt_nymphadora: (On It)
2015-05-16 11:17 am

ORDER ONLY

Had quite a night at the staging grounds last night.

Someone or another liked the idea of your sing-along, Pansy and Sue, so between our own version (I'll bet we had more drinking songs than you lot) and the radios, we managed a reasonable racket. I couldn't get much sleep, so I stayed up half the night reading the letters that've been pouring into Grimmauld, folks asking to join up, addressed to me, Sirius, Draco, and Harry. (Feels a bit odd opening your post, gents, but I figure someone has to sort through it all.)

Might be worth tracking down some of them after the dust settles.

There was this one woman, Patricia Roundtree, who went on and on about how she was a mum just like me, and was worried about her kids, and would do just about anything to keep them safe, and she figured it was high time she did something about it instead of sitting on her arse and worrying. (Her words, not mine. I rather liked Patricia. She seemed a regular spit-fire.) And there was another one, Jonathan Middleton, who talked about how he'd gone to school with Muggleborn people, and was good friends with many of them, and thought about them every day. He wanted to know what he could do to track his friends down to see if he could help them, and just seemed almost sick with guilt that he hadn't done something sooner. And there were loads and loads more. Some of them were people who'd actually kept servants, or worked in camps, and didn't quite know what to do about what they'd done, or weren't sure how they could be of much use but listed all the things they were good at to see if it'd help, and some were scared half to death about what sort of world we'd have planned, but thought this one was in bad enough shape they were willing to throw in with us, and a fair number called us terrorists and hypocrites and blamed us for tearing apart the country, so there's that too.

They all took an enormous risk writing us, and it looks to me that there's enough of them who are ready for a change and willing to help. We might have to land the first hex, and it'll be bloody, but I have a feeling that there are far more people who want us to succeed than not, and quite a few who'll want to join in on the next round, too.
alt_nymphadora: (Default)
2015-04-25 04:21 pm

(no subject)

I've been thinking quite a bit about love lately, and how very important it is.

As well as how difficult it is to deny, control, and stamp out.

Love is sort of mad like that, isn't it? It's tenacious and fierce, and grows under even the harshest environments. When we love someone, really, truly, deeply, it's one of the strongest kinds of magic there is. It makes us brave, and gives us hope beyond hope, and makes us into our best selves.

My parents met while they were in school.

My mum, Andromeda, was one of the Blacks, and as such, came from a long line of people who were exceedingly proud of their magical heritage, and she was told from a very early age that because she was a Black, she was superiour to pretty much everyone -- obviously, because she was magical, she had to be better than non-magical people, and because she was a Black, she was better than all those people who had magic, but didn't have that tradition, that geneology, that history stretching back across generations.

My da, Ted, his dad was a banker, and his mum taught primary school. He first found out about Hogwarts when he got his letter at the age of eleven, and went without the slightest idea of what to expect. He told me later it was like moving to a new country, because the language, the history and culture, the traditions were just so different from what he'd grown up with. Not necessarily bad, just different.

And these two people from totally different worlds fell head over heels in love for each other. Despite everything that was trying to keep them apart, they found a strength they didn't realise they had inside of them, and they stood together, hand in hand.

I am proud to be the child of people from two different worlds. I am my mother's daughter, but I am most certainly my father's daughter too.

Love is defiant. Love is beautiful. Love is radical. It transcends differences and conquers fear. And no matter how hard some people work to tell us who we ought to love, and who we shouldn't, it finds a way.
alt_nymphadora: (In Action)
2015-04-07 08:26 pm

ORDER ONLY: Private Message to Sirius and Remus

The broom closet in which we are waiting is quite cozy -- I must've elbowed poor Remus about twenty times already. (Sorry about that, Remus!)

The cleaning crew doesn't get here until ten, so we've another ninety odd minutes. I'm perched on a bucket, looking firmly down at my journal, and Remus is trying to preserve his dignity while he wriggles into his guard trousers. (It's sort of impossible, but he's trying very hard.)

This is utterly mad.
alt_nymphadora: (Rosy)
2015-04-02 08:33 pm

ORDER ONLY: Private Message to Hydra

Hallo, cuz!

I know your hours are rather spoken for, and it'll be difficult to slip away, but if you can, I wanted to let you know that I'd love to visit with you over hols. You'd be welcome at Grimmauld, of course, any time you'd like, or if it'd be easier for you to meet somewhere else, it wouldn't be a bother on my end at all. And when I say any time, I mean it! I keep all sorts of mad hours. A late night cuppa or an early, early morning cocoa wouldn't go amiss.

I also want you to know that even though it'd be really lovely if you got the chance to come over, I would understand if it'd be too much for you to get away, or if you'd just rather not. You're the one who knows what you can get away with.

(Ah, for the simpler days of Tea Appreciation! I miss having you lot take over our shop.)

All my love,

Tonks
alt_nymphadora: (Got You)
2015-03-13 07:45 pm

ORDER ONLY

Good news -- Cerys Archer is out of the camps. She's currently putting her feet up after a nice hot bath, and will be our guest at Grimmauld for a few days before she is ready to sort out a more permanent place to stay.

Poppy, it looks like she's in fair health, all things considered, but it might be worth your visiting just in case.

She's very eager to get her hands on a wand again, and is quite set on getting word to Igraine, understandably so. Just wondering what you lot at Hogwarts think would be best. Are they intercepting owls regularly at Hogwarts these days? Can you slip her something without her tracking it to one of you? I'm thinking it's big enough news that maybe putting a note on her pillow might be better than getting hit with a figurative bludger in the Great Hall over morning porridge.
alt_nymphadora: (Default)
2015-03-03 01:47 pm

My name is Nymphadora Tonks

And I am a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

I'm other things too, mind. I'm a mum. Former shop-keeper. Hogwarts alum. Rather terrible cook.

I remember what it felt like when I was first approached by a close friend, someone I trusted, and I was told that there were other people out there who thought like I did – who were horrified by the cruelty and restrictiveness of the Protectorate, and who wanted to change things for the better. Until that moment, I don’t think I’d ever realised just how hopeless and alone I’d always felt – and what an enormous relief it was to know that I wasn’t the only one who thought that way.

I was worried at first about what I’d gotten myself into. Whether the people I was throwing my lot in with would be just as brutal and cruel as those I was trying to fight against. But when we have meetings, we drink tea, sometimes something stronger, and eat biscuits with jam, and argue, and think up solutions to problems, and try to figure out how best to move forward, and laugh, and mourn, and really, I don’t think I’d ever imagined how shockingly normal it is.

And how wonderfully freeing.

I was forced into hiding a few months ago. And I've had time to think about what this change has meant for me and my family. For instance, I find it really telling that now that I’m a fugitive, I feel more free than I ever have. I don’t have to worry about my children seeing others being tortured and killed because of compulsory attendance at some sort of ghastly circus, or that they’ll be subjected to cruciatus if they get in trouble at school. I don’t have to watch every word I say. I don't have to be careful in case my neighbours see me reading a forbidden book, or listening to the wrong station on the radio. I don’t have to worry about whether I’m bribing the Watch enough so they won’t break the windows in my shop, or whether the graffiti across the street will get me arrested.

It doesn’t have to be this way, you know.

It hasn’t always been like this, after all. It was different twenty years ago, and it can be different again.

One of the things I’ve been particularly struck by since I’ve taken a step back from the Protectorate, as it were, is how deeply afraid everyone is about everything. Including the people in charge.

Here’s what I mean. Do any of you lot know someone who is perfectly capable of passing judgement on other people, but can’t stand it at all when the same is done to him? The second someone says anything critical about him, he’s looking to throw a tantrum or pick a fight. Awfully insecure chap, isn’t he? Thin-skinned. No sense of humour.

And if I were to say, for example, that the Lord Protector wears frilly knickers to bed, or that his lifelong ambition was to decorate cakes, only he was absolute shite at it, so he decided to torture everybody instead because he was a petty, sick bastard, that’d be rather juvenile of me, to be sure. But it’s clearly a joke, isn’t it? It’s meant to poke fun at a powerful man. Which is something people do, by the way. And have done pretty much ever since we started writing things down.

Only we can’t do that here. It’s not allowed. And the only reason I can get away with saying this where other people can see it and not get dragged in for questioning or punishment is because I’m in hiding.

Awfully insecure of them, isn’t it? Almost like they’re afraid, or have something to hide. Frilly knickers, perhaps? Who’s to say. All I know is that a place that doesn’t allow free journalism, that shuts its borders, that doesn’t have a fair system of courts, that imprisons and tortures its citizens, and that has no bloody sense of humour, that place is a dictatorship, not a paradise. And even though the person in charge is powerful, he is just a man.

That's all for now. I hope you had a bit of a laugh. I think we could all use one from time to time, don't you?
alt_nymphadora: (Smiles)
2015-02-25 08:47 pm

ORDER ONLY

Merlin, my legs are sore. Anyone need a bloke who can run them ragged and make them regret all those hours spent eating sweets on the sofa? Because Frank Longbottom's rather good at it.

Oh, and Alice, my first field Fidelius worked like a charm, as it were. The Knights send their thanks and regards. Pulled it off without a hitch, and can't wait to do more.

I'm working on my 'I'm a member of the Order' bit. Let me know if there's anything that you lot think needs saying, ey?
alt_nymphadora: (Rosy)
2015-02-18 09:22 pm

ORDER ONLY: Private Message to Alice, Frank, Sirius, and Remus

Trying to get back into the thick of things after months of sitting on my arse is hard. I've no idea where I'm needed most. What d'you lot think?

I need to train up a bit, I know that much. And Wee Ickle Adam is still terribly small, so I can't hare off for too long at a time, but a few hours here and there are certainly workable, and I want to be of help. And stretch my legs a bit too, yeah?

I was thinking if we nosed around the camps again, perhaps I could give a hand - there are two babies in England we haven't picked up yet, aren't there? Buraq and Thomas? I know security was tougher before Christmas, but it might be worth our while to head back, and I'd save us a dose of polyjuice.

And I'm definitely prepared to help with the Fidelius efforts, too.
alt_nymphadora: (Hufflepuff)
2015-02-06 05:44 pm

ORDER ONLY

Thanks to all for your well-wishes and visits. It's been a whirlwind, to be sure, but Adam is a delightfully easy-going baby (just like his da, that one), and hasn't given us a spot of worry yet. We're still all settling in to the new pace of things, but I'm very much looking forward to stretching my legs a bit tomorrow and seeing as many of you as can make it on Sunday, and making introductions.

Alice, any suggestions in mind for where my Saturday afternoon can be used best? As long as it involves a bit of out of doors in it, and some walking around (not too much, mind!), I have a feeling I'll be in heaven. (I do want to stop by and see Cecelia, regardless.)
alt_nymphadora: (I Tell You What)
2015-02-02 12:06 pm

ORDER ONLY

Right.

So.

This is rather inconvenient and everything, but my water just broke.

Remus and Sirius are rather knackered, but they're here. As is Evs. But Poppy, Charlie, if you want to join the party, you're more than welcome.
alt_nymphadora: (Orange)
2015-02-01 11:55 am

ORDER ONLY: Private Message to Grimmauld and Charlie

You lot getting on all right?

I'm huddled round the radio with my journal wide open, well, as 'huddled' as I can get, and Evs is having a tea party with Bea in the corner.

I think she's rather frustrated to be packed off to babysit Bea and me.

I can sympathise.

No baby yet, though.

Sirius, sounds like it got a bit dicey for you back there. Did you get to the safehouse?

Sorry. I figure everyone is very, very busy. Hope you're all in good shape. Wish I was there to lend a hand.
alt_nymphadora: (Got You)
2015-01-13 06:28 pm

ORDER ONLY: Private Message to Grimmauld

Right.

As everyone now knows, the portrait has the memory of a goldfish.

Training does not work on the portrait. In the least. And while it's monumentally satisfying to break china in front of it, therapeutic even, it does not appear to work unless it's really constant.

I've very nearly finished work on a lovely little glass box we will install around the portrait. It has curtains, and soundproofing. It'll look like a window. A window with particularly lovely curtains, if I do say so myself.

Remus, love, care to give us a hand testing out the spellwork?

Also, I think I managed to convince Frank to stop by for tea on Thursdays for the near future. Just so's everyone's aware. I'm not sure he's up for too much by way of socialising, but there's no need to tiptoe around him either, so feel free to say hallo.