"To Understand and To Be Understood" (Molly Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks)

[friendshipmods]

Author: Anonymous
Prompt/Prompt Author: "They appear to be close-ish in canon. What kind of friendship is it? A few ideas: Maybe Molly sees Tonks as the woman she might have been if she'd made different choices. Does she urge Tonks to pursue Lupin, and maybe get pregnant, out of supportive friendship, or is it something else? Or take the opposite

Comments

[anne_arthur]

What a lovely story! You've written them both perfectly, and their relationship is completely believable. I also liked your beautifully plausible explanation for the tales of werwolves in the Forbidden Forest - and Tonks's impersonation of Dumbledore had me in stitches!

[delphipsmith]

The bit about werewolves in the Forbidden Forest actually comes from Pottermore.com. (I didn't know much about werewolves when I started writing this, so I had to do some studyin' up on it.) Glad the Tonks/Dumbledore scene made you laugh -- maybe some clever artist will draw it someday ;) Thanks so much for reading/commenting!

[lash_larue]

Absolutely marvelous!

What a lovely portrait of real friendship.

"The same wolf that tried to eat the pigs?" * snort *

Having a child is...well, it's to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. No matter where they go or what they do, a piece of you will be out there wandering the world with them."

Never heard it put half so well.

A delight from start to finish, even the tragic bits were just-so.
Kudos!
L

[delphipsmith]

Thanks so much for the kind words -- glad you enjoyed it :)

[minervas_eule]

How I love different POW canon stories..... and this one is just perfect!! Everything falls into place! Thank you so much, such a treat ♥

[delphipsmith]

New views of canon scenes/events are a favorite of mine too -- I was really pleased that this prompt let me work so many of them in. Glad you enjoyed it!

[orlando_switch]

Utterly brilliant way of fleshing out the characters and weaving in details from canon. Though it's not meant to be a read leaving you warm and fussy, it strangely did nevertheless. The love and warmth of it outshone for me the bitter sweetness that is has as well. Wonderful.

[delphipsmith]

The love and warmth of it outshone for me the bittersweetness that is has as well. -- What higher praise for a story about friendship? Thanks so much!

[squibstress]

I'm so delighted you took this prompt, Mystery Author! I've always liked to think of Molly as a bright, powerful witch who has chosen to use her other gifts in her life's work, and this story does that so beautifully, with the contrast with Tonks.

The friendship between the two women is so believable, in spite of their apparent differences. I love that each respects and supports the other, even though their choices are so very different.

Fred and George are, of course, so much fun!

Some things I particularly loved:

The massed shout of "SURPRISE!!!" sent her hair a shocking neon green Love it!

I never really thought about the difficult position Tonks would be in, family-wise, as an Auror.

But I suppose my way of battling those sorts of beliefs was by raising our children to understand that every life is valuable, be it Muggle or Wizard. Nicely said.

"Occasionally, yes." Molly waved her wand at the toasting fork, which picked up four slices of bread and propped itself in front of the fire. A moment later a plate of hot

[delphipsmith]

This was a fabulous prompt, with so much scope for bringing in different aspects of friendship, bits of canon, theories about magic and power, and the many different ways to use one's talents to shape a fulfilling life. I was so excited when I received it and am thrilled that the result pleased you. Thank you for the lovely detailed comments! ::skips back to re-read them again::