Andromeda hated, hated, that she was afraid to take a shower
alone. She wasn't sure if it was the narrow space or the pounding
water, but the feeling of isolation was all encompassing.
It was another world filled with hauntings of her memories, passing a
microphone to her thoughts.
No matter what she did, no matter how far she ran, she couldn't
escape her own thoughts.
She turned up the heat on the water, but it was too little too late.
She was already too far gone.
The cold had begun to creep into her bones.
Dread peeling back her skin.
The truth laid bare before her consciousness.
In this room, a part of her could imagine that her daughter and
husband were in the house.
Allowing her to hit her like the next crack of whip on already torn skin
that they were never coming home.
Ted would not come in to interrupt her, laughing, to either join her or
complaining she would turn herself into a prune while holding out a
towel.
Nymphadora would not be clanging around the house.
They were dead.
The steam in the room, the water streaming down around her.
Andromeda could only pretend that she wasn't crying.
Teddy was screaming.
And not the cute laughing scream that made his joy of life
unignorable, but a siren's wail and yell of anger.
Harry was completely unrepentant.
In fact, he took his coffee and his slice of raspberry jammed toast,
taking a seat across from his godson. Calmly, he took a sip from his
coffee mug.
Teddy was mad. He held his breath, before letting out a shout. He
screamed wordless at his godfather, his godfather who snapped his
fingers, creating a sound barrier between them. When next he yelled
it was only he who heard himself. His hair turned neon orange and
his eyes darkened to black.
Harry lazily pointed his wand at the teacup Teddy shot flying at the
seasoned wizard. Followed by the rest of the good china. Harry's
spells caught them all and restacted them neatly on the counter.
Teddy's outbursts of accidental magic were quite common but this
was the first Harry had seen it used in a purposeful manner.
He probably should have been trying to calm the boy down, but
Harry wasn't in the mood to take pity.
Teddy had almost pulled a teapot of boiling hot water on himself,
after Harry had specifically instructed him not to.
Teddy had treated Harry's warnings like a joke and reached for the
stove, eyes on his godfather.
Harry had that boy in his arms and stuck in his height chair quicker
than one could say Hogwarts backwards twice. It was Teddy's first
time out, his first punishment, and he seemed altogether displeased
to find that the person who typically gave him everything he could
think to ask for wasn't playing with him.
Andromeda came into the room dressed to the nines with a bag of
potions supplies. She had started leaving the house on her with
more regularity in the last two months. Partially due to the fact that
Harry got somewhat harassed any time he set a toe into the
Wizarding World.
"Fleur and Bill are coming over today," Harry said, not in anyway
acknowledging the child desperately holding out his arms to his
grandmother to save him.
Andromeda caught on instantly and ignored him. She walked around
Teddy's height chair and she bent down to give Harry a kiss on the
cheek before turning her back on the table to empty certain
ingredients into the fridge.
Teddy gaped at his Grandmother, his jaw was swinging in the
breeze. His expression clearly said that he could not believe that
both Grandmama and Mapoppy would turn on him on the same day.
Harry stifled a laugh. Andromeda and he had both lectured him
before, especially during the full moon when it was sometimes
impossible to see the spaztic-wolf as a human baby. But today was
the first time Teddy was in any sort of real trouble.
"Are they staying for dinner?" Andromeda asked Harry.
"Nope, just lunch, they'll be here in an hour or so."
Andromeda pulled a jar of pickled mushrooms out of her bag and
stored it in the fridge before shutting the fridge door. "So," she began
casually, "what happened?"
Teddy automatically launched into an explanation, waving his arms
and pointing at Harry to emphasize his points.
When his grandmother merely raised a brow at him, his cheeks
burned re and his hair shifted to a pale pink, and his eyes turned to a
deep brown like hers. He had just realized he was still silent under
his godfather's spell.
Harry picked up the conversation then, "I instructed him not to touch
the stove, not to go near the teapot with boiling hot water and he
deliberately reached for it while I was watching."
Andromeda crossed her arms and gave Teddy a look.
A look that had him sinking into his height chair. Unless he was in
true pain Teddy didn't cry, which aside from a bee's sting or a
stubbed toe was not often. Nevertheless, Harry could see his eyes
squinting with the effort not to cry.
Harry stayed strong for a minute longer before he lifted the sound
barrier and put down his coffee. He came around the table and
unstuck Teddy from his height chair. He slid down to the floor and
looked down at his feet.
"Sorry Mapoppy," Teddy mumbled.
Harry sighed, "Teddy, do you understand why I was angry with you?"
"Cause I didn' do what you say," he responded looking up at Harry.
Emerald eyes liquid with shame.
Harry shook his head, "No, my son, I was angry because you could
have hurt yourself. A hot stove or hot water can burn you. When I tell
you things it isn't because I want to control you, it is because I want
you to be safe and happy and good."
Was his language a little advanced for a boy not quite a year old
yet? Probably, but even if Teddy didn't understand him completely he
still understood the tone and the feeling behind Harry's words.
Besides, Harry was pretty sure that being a wolf pup part of the time
had advanced Teddy's perceptions of the world. Considering that
most children his age couldn't sprint around a room or climb a tree
that had branches a little too close to the ground. It wasn't an
unrealistic hypothesis.
"Tea don't hurt, Mapoppy," Teddy told him.
Harry pulled up the edge of his shirt revealing the mostly faded but
still visible burns from his escapade with the Horntail. "Burns hurt,
Teddy," Harry said sternly.
Teddy charged him, hugging him tight, "I'm sorry, Mapoppy. Sorry."
He was almost in tears again.
Harry's arms encircled the child, he rubbed one hand against his
son's small back. "It's okay, Teddy, but stay away from the stove."
The doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," Andromeda said, walking briskly through the house.
Harry could hear Fleurs cheery, "Bonjour!" and Bills warm, "Hello!"
Taking Teddy's hand, Harry led him into the living room. Fleur looked
tired but as beautiful as ever, a bundle held in her arms.
Harry felt warm excitement fill his chest. The moment greetings were
over, Harry had Fleur's baby girl in his arms. Verona Delacour
Weasley.
Teddy ran for Bill reaching his arms up to be picked up. Bill laughed
and scooped the boy up, Teddy started talking a mile a minute,
asking for stories of goblins and dragons while tugging on Bill's
earrings.
Bill told real stories about his curse breaking days and some of him
working with goblins at the Bank. Harry stuck to stories from books.
Teddy had no idea that his godfather was famous or a hero. Harry
was doing everything in his power to keep it that way.
Verona yawned and stared up at Harry with eyes a striking blue.
Harry didn't care that he was wearing a stupid expression of awe on
his face. Teddy had successfully stripped him of any pride he might
have retained in the face of a baby.
Andromeda watched Harry with Fleur's baby and felt her heart
squeeze. Cissa's words came back to her then, that as a witch, she
still had time, that her body was not beyond baring another child or
children into this world.
Andromeda wasn't quite sure she wanted another baby, much less
go through the trouble of being pregnant again. For Ted,
Nymphadora had been more than enough, but for Harry… To see
the guileless joy on his face, it was hard to dismiss the want to give
him that.
She mentally pinched herself, turning back to the conversation at
hand. Harry didn't get out much, but one day some sweet young lady
would lure him away. Andromeda tried desperately to squash -not
just the jealousy that rose at the idea, but the panic. Harry could
leave anytime he wanted, and when he did, he would take what was
left of her heart with him.
"Andromeda," Fleur said, "I've seen that your brand are back on the
market selling your potions."
Andromeda nodded, "That you have."
"They are selling quicker than they can be put on the shelves," Bill
remarked.
She shrugged, "I know the old potions, the potions that are
sometimes more home remedy than arcane magic. The Blacks, for
all their pure blood mania, knew how to keep a body alive."
"You are too modest," Fleur said, "I had Bill pick up one of your
potions for afterbirth maladies and I have never healed so fast. And
none of the other pain potions I took even touched the cramps."
Andromeda smirked, "That's because most potion recipes were
published by wizards."
Fleur laughed, " Vérité ."
Bill shifted uncomfortably. Harry was completely unphased; he had a
baby in his arms and Andromeda knew that he would be completely
entertained for as long as Fleur allowed him to keep her. Fleur
seemed to be rather enjoying her break.
They had dinner a little while later and Bill dominated the
conversation by telling mummy stories and enchanted wall paintings.
They left late enough that Teddy had fallen asleep on the couch
when it was time for farewells.
Andromeda stood in the porch with Fleur and Bill. Harry had gone
back inside to give Verona one last diaper change.
Fleur shook her head, "Sometimes I think he's too good to be true."
"Hey," Bill said jokingly, "What does that make me?"
"A typical man," Andromeda said evenly.
Bill gave her an innocent, pouting face, which didn't work quite well
with the scars.
"Oh trust me," Fleur said taking her husbands arm, "my husband is
far from being un homme typique."
Andromeda couldn't help but smile.
"But honestly, Harry is quite remarkable."
"He does love babies," Andromeda agreed, "he likes taking care of
people in general."
Fleur looked distant for a moment, "He was always like that. Heart
too big for his own good."
"Our world would be without hope if he had been born with less of a
heart," Bill said sadly.
"Sometimes," Andromeda said honestly, "I don't think we did
anything to deserve him."
Fleur put a gentle hand on Andromeda's arm, "It isn't about
deserving."
Andromeda met the half Veela's gaze, "Then what is it about?"
"It's about acknowledging what we have is inestimable , is without a
price."
Andromeda frowned, "If memory serves, there was quite a large
price."
Fleur frowned, "I meant-"
Andromeda took a step back and held her hand up to halt Fleur's
words, "I know what you meant, I do speak French. I apologize for
my tone."
Harry emerged from the house cooing over Verona, he froze when
he felt the tension on the porch. He looked between everyone's
expressions. "Is everything alright?" he asked warily, giving
Andromeda a suspicious glance.
Fleur took Verona back from Harry's arms, " Il y a ma petite bébé.
Merci beaucoup, 'Arry."
He nodded a little stiffly, still not understanding the tension he felt.
Bill clapped Harry on the shoulder and pulled him into a hug, "Truly,
thank you, Harry, for everything, including saving our marriage."
Harry rolled his eyes, "Thank Kingsley, I was just the mouthpiece."
Fleur tisked at him and pulled him into a hug, Verona already asleep
in her mother's hold. "If you need any baby tips just contact me,
Teddy taught me loads," Harry said as he pulled back.
She kissed both his cheeks, "What would we all do without you,
'Arry?"
Harry grinned, "Weep tears of joy for the lack of drama in the world."
She punched him in the gut, even with a baby in her other arm, it
was a solid punch.
Harry laughed even as he tried to breathe with his windless lungs.
"If you ever left we'd never hear the end of you. The only thing left for
you to do is lead a boring life," Fleur declared.
Harry straightened and in revenge for the punch, he reached forward
and ruffled her hair into a tangle. It didn't make her one ounce less
alluring but her eyes flashed with rage. "I'll have to try my best then
to become boring dad number five."
Bill did his best to swallow a laugh and put a restraining arm around
his wife's shoulders, "Potter, the more boring you try to be the more
the more trouble you attract."
Harry threw his hands up, "Then what do you I suggest I do?"
Bill shrugged, "Do what you think is best, it seems to be working so
far."
With a smile, Harry said, "Alright, alright, get yourselves home,
Weasleys, your little one needs a warm bed."
When their guests had disapparated away Harry turned to
Andromeda, "What did you do before I got back out here?"
"Nothing," she said shortly.
"Androm-"
"Don't," she snapped at him and went back into the house shutting
the door behind her.
Harry was left on the doorstep at a complete loss at what he had
done wrong. He sighed and looked up into the stars. He wondered if
the shades from the past watched over them and if they did, what
they thought about the world they had left behind