Tonks's age: A possible solution RE: [the_old_crowd] Re: Snape the Half-Blood Prince WAS RE: Page-filler Lupin

[Amanda]

Eileen wrote:

> If Andromeda is the youngest of the three sisters, as the family 
> tree combined with "Will and Won't" would indicate, that means 
> that if Andromeda married and had Tonks after finishing Hogwarts, 
> it'd be June 1972 that she'd leave school. 

Actually the family tree indicates that Andromeda is the middle 
sister.  Her name is centered between Bellatrix - on the left (our 
left looking at the tree) and Narcissa on the right.  Bellatrix - 
Andromeda - Narcissa.  1st - 2nd - 3rd.  That is how all family 
trees are constructed with the oldest on the far left, as we read 
left to right.

The Black sister's birth order does work out with the births of 
Tonks and Draco, too.  I don't have my notes with all the exact 
years on me, but it's along the lines of Bellatrix being the same 
age as Lucius Malfoy, Andromeda 3 years younger and Narcissa another 
two or three years after that, making Cissy the same age as the 
Marauders.  Andromeda and Cissy both had their kids young like Lily 
Potter, Merope Gaunt and quite possible Molly Weasley.  Young 
mothers seem to be a theme with Rowling.

Of course that doesn't help your theory that Snape was closely tied 
with Bellatrix if they were 6 years apart but it's not outside the 
realm of possibility.  

Mandy