Rapunzel, Rapunzel

The twilight was deepening into night when a tall, robust man drew the curtains closed. He opened them again at the insistence of a small girl, no older than five, sitting up in her bed within the room. The man then strode to a small bookcase and selected a volume of stories. Muggle fairy tales, he called them.

"My mother used to read to me from this book," Ted Tonks said reminiscently, as he pulled up a chair alongside the little girl's bed. "Your mother doesn't see the point in reading you these Muggle stories when we know real magic exists but I think you'll like them."

Ted opened the storybook to a page entitled "Rapunzel". He held the book so the little girl could see the beautiful illustrations that accompanied the story.

"Once upon a time, long, long ago..."

"How long ago?"

"A very long time. Anyway, long ago in a place far away..."

"How far away?"

Ted gave his daughter an exasperated look. "Very far away. Farther away than even America."

This answer seemed to satisfy the little girl and she settled down again.

"There lived a man and his wife with no children. They lived in a cottage with a window from which they could see a beautiful garden with the finest rampion."

"What's rampion?" The little girl's eyes squinted in curiosity.

"Well, it's--" Ted paused. "I don't really know. It must be some sort of delicious vegetable because the woman in the cottage desired it greatly."

The little girl laughed. "No one wants vegetables! Mummy is right, Muggle stories are silly."

Ted smiled and continued on. "The woman didn't dare take any, though, because the garden belonged to a witch of great power. But with each day, the woman's desire grew. She told her longing to her husband with such anguish that he went to the garden, in the dead of the night, and stole a handful of rampion."

"Why--"

"The witch knew, of course," Ted went on hastily, cutting off another interruption. "The man went to steal more for his wife and that old witch appeared before him. The witch, however, did not curse the man. Instead, she told him that he could take as much rampion as he liked for his wife on one condition."

"What condition?"

"If you would let me continue, I was just getting to that. The man was to give the witch the child his wife would shortly bear. The man was terrified of the witch's power and immediately agreed." Ted waited for another interjection but his daughter only snorted indignantly. "The child was born and the witch took her away soon after, naming the child Rapunzel."

The little girl was delighted at this. "She has a funny name, too!"

"Rapunzel grew up to be the most beautiful child in the land. When she was twelve-years-old, the witch locked her up in a high tower that had no stairs or doors and only a small window at the very top."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did the witch lock her up?"

"Erm." Ted looked at book and wondered why he had never questioned the motives of the evil characters. "Because-- well, because she was an ugly, old hag and wanted to see the beautiful child suffer as she had."

"But--"

"Anyway, Rapunzel lived in the tower for years and her hair grew very long during her captivity. Whenever the witch wanted to get in, she stood at the foot of the tower and sang out: 'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your long hair.' And Rapunzel would let her long, golden tresses out the window where it hung all the way to the ground." Ted turned to a full-page illustration of Rapunzel letting her magnificent hair hang out the window.

The little girl was entranced. "Wow! Look at all her hair! Mum's hair isn't even that long!"

"No, but you two are a couple of Rapunzels yourselves," Ted said, patting the little girl's long, plaited dark hair. Both her and her mother had hair that fell nearly to their waists.

"I wish I had long, golden hair like Rapunzel," said the little girl wistfully, screwing up her face to imagine it.

Then something extraordinary happened, which made Ted's jaw drop in surprise. He had been part of the wizard world since the age of eleven but he had never seen anything like this happen without a spell or potion.

His daughter's dark hair had turned golden blonde and the plaits were now several meters long, ending in a large pile on the floor.

"Andromeda!" Ted shouted. "Andromeda, come here!"

"I shan't come anywhere unless you use the magic word," she called back faintly from another room.

Ted groaned in exasperation. "Please!"

Moments later a petite woman with a lovely, heart-shaped face walked into the room. She looked even tinier than she was, standing beside her tall husband. She looked at him expectantly and he pointed at their daughter. Far from being shocked, however, Andromeda shrieked with delight and ran to embrace her child.

"My little Nymph! Darling, you really are exceptional! I can hardly believe it! My daughter, a Metamorphmagus!"

Ted raised an eyebrow. "Dear, you're cutting off her circulation, let up a bit. Just what is a Meta... that thing?"

Andromeda loosened her hold on her daughter but only slightly. "Metamorphmagi can change their own appearance without any spells or concoctions. They are extremely rare and I haven't heard of one being born since my great-great uncle. Oh, Nymphadora, I'm so pleased!"

"Does this mean," Nymphadora began, struggling against her mother's hugs, "that I can change what I look like whenever I want?"

"Yes, but I suggest you try to keep your own face most of the time, darling. Your father and I will get dizzy if you keep switching your appearance on us." Andromeda finally let go of Nymphadora and stood up. "It's time for you to get some sleep now. Come with me, Ted, we should write to your parents at once and tell them the good news!"

Andromeda kissed Nymphadora on the forehead and bounded happily out of the room.

"My parents are Muggles, they'll just be confused..." Ted mumbled but he followed her out anyway, pausing to blow a kiss to his daughter and put her lamp out.

Nymphadora turned over on her side and stared out her window, watching faint clouds drift past the moon. It occurred to her that her story hadn't been finished and she thought about the fairy tale as she began nodding off.

"But why did Rapunzel let the witch climb up her hair?" she murmured drowsily just before she fell asleep.