𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚 || 𝘳.𝘢.𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

057. the cottage on the hills

Running her hands over her face, Maria purses her lips and shakily stands up, her legs having stopped aching from her run down the driveway. She begins walking at the side of the long road.

Eventually after what feels like hours, Maria reaches a muggle village and sees a small door leading into a wizard restaurant she'd been to a couple of times with her parents and she knocks on the door four times — two slow knocks, two fast knocks — and the door pops open, her pushing it to reveal the multiple tables with candles illuminating the room.

"Maria?" Maria spins around.

Of course, it shocked Andromeda Tonks when she saw the messy haired girl that her cousin is in love with stood in a nightdress with bruised arms and legs, very nasty purple bruises around her ankles.

"Are you alright? You look freezing." Andromeda ask in concern, reaching for Maria's arm but as soon as her hand makes contact with Maria's skin she gets sudden flash backs of the men from the previous night, dragging her up those stairs making her rapidly shrug Andromeda's hand off her.

Andromeda's eyes soften at the teenagers actions, looking at her horrified, light brown eyes and her disheveled hair, knowing exactly what the girl had been through.

"Please, let me help you." Andromeda holds her hand out for Maria to take, the Potter's hand shaking softly as she slowly slides it into Andromeda's before nodding as they disappear from the restaurant.

Maria feels her bare feet touch grass and smiles discreetly at the sounds of birds chirping and leaves rustling softly. Slowly opening her eyes, she sees a lovely cottage before them with a washing line outside in the front garden. She likes it. It's isolated yet doesn't feel lonely. The sheets on the line blow back and forth in the breeze and Maria looks behind them seeing a woodland a few yards away and then a stream behind the house before some beautiful, grassy hills.

"Okay, now Dora isn't exactly subtle." Andromeda sighs, twirling her wedding ring around her finger nervously. "She's rather. . .excitable—if you want I can ask Ted to take her to a muggle park, I'm sure she'd like it." Maria nods, feeling guilty for putting the family through some trouble. "That's fine, I'll just go tell them—you can wait or—"

"I'll wait, it's fine." Maria forces a tight lipped smile and Andromeda nods, walking into the home through the birch wooden door and Maria hears the excited sound of a little girl running to greet her mother.

Looking down, Maria wipes a tear from her cheek and walks towards the stream slowly, sitting next to it and letting her blooded feet soak in the clear water.

"I sent a patronus to Reg, Remus sent one a few hours ago saying that you were missing but I didn't expect to find you." Andromeda sighs, sitting next to Maria and offering her a small plate of fruit. Maria smiles gratefully and takes it, eating some of the grapes but as soon as they hit her stomach she hurled over and vomited them up, Andromeda quickly reaching over and gathering her hair behind her head.

"Sorry." Maria mumbles, wiping her lips on her sleeve and Andromeda shakes her head, passing her some clean, folded clothes that she'd brought out with the fruit.

"It's all right, Maria, you can change if you'd like, there's a spare bedroom inside, second door on the first hall." Andromeda directs softly, thinking it's best not to mention what she'd figured out and Maria nods. "Why don't you try and get your head down for a couple of hours, I'm sure Reg will be here soon."

"Thank you. . .for everything." Maria says quietly and Andromeda shakes her head dismissively.

"Go get some sleep, you need it."

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"Where is she?" Regulus asks urgently as he enters the Tonks cottage and Nymphadora instantly perks up at the sound of her cousins voice, looking over the back of the sofa and grinning, hopping over, her hair turning a bubblegum pink as she runs into Regulus' open arms. Smiling, Regulus lifts her into the air, resting her tiny form on his side as she hugs him.

"She's sleeping." Andromeda says softly as James, Sirius, Remus and Peter walk in also. James' eyes widen at the sight of Regulus Black, sat on the sofa with a giggling child sat across his lap. "Don't wake her, she needs rest."

Spotting his cousin, Sirius sighs and rushes over, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her into a hug just as he would a sister. Andromeda smiles over his shoulder and closes her eyes.

"Did she say what happened to her?" James asks as he sits on a sofa and Andromeda sighs as she hands him a mug of tea just as she'd done with the others.

"She didn't have to." Andromeda says, sitting on the arm of the armchair that her husband is sat on with a sleeping 6 year old lying on her father's chest. Regulus is bouncing his knee nervously as he stares at the orange flames in the fireplace. "Just, don't bombard her, when she's ready she'll tell you."

"Of course." Remus smiles, gulping some of the hot chocolate Andromeda had made him and Peter down.  

Their conversation is interrupted by a horrific scream coming from across the hall and Regulus immediately is on his feet, rushing into the spare bedroom of the Tonks cottage and seeing Maria frantically scrambling back in the quilts of the bed, running over he grabs her arms to stop them from flailing around, making her panic and leg out another cry.

James has tears flooding his eyesight as he watches y trying to calm his little sister.

"Hey—Ria! Ria—it's Regulus! Hey!" Maria's eyes widen as she calms down slightly, letting out a small sob at the sight of Regulus' stormy grey eyes. "Shh, you're okay it was just a dream." Regulus says as she collapses into his arms, her body shaking slightly and quiet sobs that are muffled by Regulus' side as he rubs her back, her arms clinging to his body like if she let go he'd disappear. "You're safe now." Regulus whispers, kissing the top of her head and stroking her hair, looking up at the others with a concerned look.

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