Teddy was yet again placed under the twins capable care. George
had already invited Teddy to be the ring barrier in his wedding.
Harry was pretty sure it wasn't a great idea, but as he was one of the
groom's men, he would be close enough to ensure Teddy didn't get
into too much trouble.
Harry and Andromeda entered the ministry shoulder to shoulder. She
paused when she got to his fountain.
"You made this?" she asked.
He nodded.
"It's beautiful."
He smiled, "Thank you."
Someone snapped their picture then.
"Oi! It's Harry Potter!" someone yelled.
Harry and Andromeda made themselves scarce.
They were nearly through the Ministry's check point when the wave
of reporters who had materialized began shouting.
One question became very persistent. "Mr. Potter, you've been living
with Ms. Black for over a year now. Are you together?"
The question was repeated in other polite ways and other not so
polite ways.
"Give me my wand back," Harry growled at the wand weigher.
"Are you two dating?" the nosy wizard asked sternly, though his
hand was shaking violently.
Harry gave Andromeda a look and she bared her teeth. It wasn't
directed so much at him as it was expressing how she felt about
everyone around them. He also knew that she was saying she was
sick of this game. They both knew they would hound on the issue
until they either received an answer or made one up.
Twisting his wrist and his Holly wand flying back to him in an instant
he turned to the mob of reporters.
He opened his mouth and was quite sure what to say. Andromeda
was a hell of a lot more than his girlfriend and lover seemed to lack a
certain sense of permanency.
Andromeda had no such difficulties. She put a hand on the back of
his neck and pulled him into a kiss.
Camera flashes went off, but at that moment he didn't care because
like always Harry was lost in her kiss.
The next thing he knew she was dragging him through the
checkpoint and they were off to the elevators to report there
animagus status, as well as Teddy's. They had both agreed that it
would be better for the paperwork to be formalized before the
rumours cycling through Hogsmeade turned into a problem.
The next morning the paper headlines were blowing up. Every
wizarding family was treated to a picture of Harry and Andromeda
kissing, and a smaller picture of them smiling at each other in front of
the fountain. The resulting articles ranged from anything to the Boy
Who Lived being ensnared by a Black's beauty and power, to
Andromeda enslaving him.
"Well, that's a little extreme," Harry said, pausing to read the paper
as he stirred waffle mix.
"Keep cooking, slave," Andromeda ordered.
Harry threw flour at her, which backfired as it got Teddy in on the fun,
which quickly resulted in the kitchen, Harry, Andromeda, and Teddy
being powdered white and covered with broken eggs.
Another Month Passes.
" Ma'am, your daughter and son-in-law, Nymphadora Lupin didn't
sur-"
Andromeda slammed the door shut in the Auror's face. The world
was falling in around her.
She couldn't breathe.
There was no air.
She didn't feel herself collapse against the wall, and when she
realized she had, she didn't care.
" My baby," she moaned. "Ted, our baby girl!" she cried out.
No one answered her.
Ted was dead too.
It wasn't sorrow that ate at Andromeda, it was nothing, a big black,
incomprehensible nothingness that engulfed her.
She didn't feel because there was nothing left of her to feel.
All was lost.
Andromeda wondered if she should kill herself, or if she was already
dead.
There was nothing left, nothing left to fight for.
And she hadn't fought, had she? Had she raised her wand against
her sisters might she prevented all this? Maybe instead of leaving
home she should have killed them all, ended the Black line before it
could plague the world more than it already had.
Crying; sharp and broken called out to her.
She blinked. The house was dark. She couldn't quite tell or
remember if the lights had been turned off or whether the world had
been cast into darkness.
The crying continued.
Who was crying?
Teddy, her grandson. He was here. He was still here.
If she left he would have no one.
Pulling herself to her feet, using the wall for support she went to him.
He was so small, so small.
He stopped crying the moment she picked him up.
Precious baby.
She would keep him safe. He would live. Her future was nothing, her
happiness dead and gone, but she would remain. This was Teddy's
home.
Andromeda wondered if there was enough left in her to raise him.
She had no answer to that. She had no answers at.
All she knew was that she would keep him alive.
It was her responsibility now.
Perhaps Nymphadora, one day soon, would return home to them.
Andromeda started awake, her heart felt so heavy she feared it
might stop beating.
She tried to even out her breathing and reached out for Harry finding
him sweating and caught in his own nightmare.
She shook his shoulder gently. He bolted upright, shouting, " Sirius! "
"Harry," Andromeda coaxed, as he looked around the room wildly.
His gaze focused on her, and even though she knew his eyesight
was a bit too poor to see her in clarity, he did see her. He recognized
who she was and that he had been dreaming.
He relaxed, his shoulders slumping. She cupped his face in her
hands, "It's alright, I'm here."
He bent forward to kiss her gently before folding forward, laying his
head on the blankets pooled on her lap. Andromeda leaned back
against the headrest, the night air cool on her bare breasts.
She began to run her fingers through his hair, rubbed a hand across
his back like he had done so many, many times for her.
Harry didn't cry but neither did he fall back asleep. No more words
passed between them, the silence of the night felt filling rather than
oppressive.
A part of her wanted to tell him about the nightmare, she had done
so many times before and she would not need to explain it to him
again. All she had to say was 'I had that dream again,' but she was
enjoying this moment. This moment of quiet for all that they had lost.
She was drawing more strength from being the one to give comfort
than be comforted.
Andromeda and Narcissa were walking around Hogwarts' lake after
one of Andromeda's classes.
"So business is going well," Narcissa noted.
Andromeda nodded, "Turns out I have the market for dance studio
classes. Everyone else just had private tutors, hard to learn to dance
with a crowd if you only have two people. I might expand once the
new baby no longer needs to be breastfed."
"Are you going to stop the lessons?"
"For two months, I think, as long as I heal well. My work only
requires me to be away for a few hours. Harry can handle that."
"You are confident he will be able to handle a newborn and Teddy."
"Yes, he's babysat Verona for Fleur and Bill enough times while
watching Teddy."
"Do you think Teddy will want a little sibling?"
Andromeda ran a hand over her stomach, she had gained weight at
this point but as that weight had gone to all her curves she wasn't
quite showing just yet. "That I am not entirely sure on, but Harry is a
very doting person, I don't think he will forget about Teddy in any
way. I don't think Teddy has ever doubted how much his godfather
loves him, if anything I think Teddy might enjoy not being the
youngest anymore."
"He is quite advanced for his age," Narcissa looking over the lake,
"Draco didn't start talking like that until he was two and a half years
old."
"He is advanced, in speech, in movement, but sometimes he
overreacts to things or acts out. Not in malice but because he can't
always think through everything. It's as if his skills are advancing but
mentally, identity-wise he is still a baby."
"Won't that be a problem with another baby."
Andromeda looked at the sunlight reflecting off the water, "He is my
daughter's son, he feels very deeply, but it is all love within him. He
will have to adjust to the changes this new child will bring but it shall
not be a bad change, simply different. He won't be as alone."
"Aside from Verona why don't you bring Teddy to spend time with
other children? Harry Potter's son would be welcome anywhere."
"He still shifts unexpectedly and not always on the day of the full
moon, and his wolf form acts like a puppy. He isn't so much
dangerous as he is overly energetic and that can be scary for other
children, or more dangerously, it could scare their parents."
Narcissa grabbed her hand.
"I never realized why our prejudices were so objectionable until I
began to live on the receiving end of them."
Andromeda squeezed Cissa's hand back, "What's wrong Cissa? You
have been tense all evening."
"Draco came out to his father last night."
"Came out?" Andromeda asked.
"He's gay."
Andromeda raised a brow, "And how did our dear Luci take that?"
"He tried banishing Blaise Zabini, Draco's boyfriend, from the manor
and Draco, raised his wand against his father."
Andromeda's grip tightened on her sister's hand.
"It was a blowout fight. I am not sure Draco has ever raised his voice
against his father, not really, not like that."
"How did it end?" Andromeda asked.
"It boiled down to Lucius saying he wanted grandchildren." Narcissa
went quiet for a long moment, her blue eyes hardening like ice.
When next she spoke her voice was raw, "Draco said even if he
were straight he would never give us a grandchild. He would not risk
passing on his lycanthropy. He said that Teddy was lucky to also
have been born with the ability of a metamorphmagus, but any child
of his would simply be cursed."
Narcissa looked at Andromeda her eyes like blue flame. "It's Lucius's
fault, did you know that? Draco being turned was Lucius's
punishment for being stupid with the Dark Lord's possessions. He
made us watch as Greyback-" Her voice broke.
Narcissa yanked her hand free from Andromeda, "If I could go back,
I would have grabbed Lucius that night he came back with that
bloody Dark Mark and torn it off him. I should have done the same
with Bella."
Andromeda looked out on the lake, "Sometimes I wonder what
would have become of us if I had stayed. I could have murdered the
Lestrange boys easily enough and I could have kept Bella close to
me. She trusted me even if she didn't always agree with me."
"Every time I think she could have been redeemed," Narcissa said
slowly watching the waves lap at the shore, "I remember what she
did to the Longbottoms and the thought passes."
Andromeda's heart clenched, if I had remained my sister's caretaker,
how much suffering could have been avoided?
"So when are you going to tell Harry?" Narcissa asked, changing
topics abruptly.
"This weekend, I already have the Weasley twins on call for
babysitting."
"Where are you taking him?"
"I was hoping you might let us borrow your estate in France?"
Narcissa grinned, "You had only to ask."
"Thank you, Cissa."
"Have you come up with names yet?"
Andromeda grinned, "Of course. If it's a boy, Winslow Sirius Potter
and if it's a girl, Morwenna Lily Potter."
"Winslow, Morwenna," Narcissa said, tasting the names. "I approve,
but will Harry?"
"Yes."
Narcissa let out a small laugh, "How can you be so sure?"
"Sure about Harry?" Andromeda grinned, "Lately, I think he's the only
sure thing I've ever had in my life."
"Of course," Narcissa said sweetly, "Morwenna is a more
respectable name than Nymphadora."
Andromeda shoved her little sister into the lake and for her own
safety shifted into her falcon form, beginning to fly towards home.
Narcissa's snarl of rage could be heard from a mile up and even
then Andromeda had to fly in a zigzag to avoid the multi-colored
curses headed her way