Hello, Andromeda," Minerva said rather stiffly.
"McGonagall," Andromeda said coldly.
Filius Flitwick stepped out from behind the taller witch, "Hello, my
dear!"
More warmly Andromeda greeted, "Professor Flitwick."
"Filius, my dear, no surname among friends. You too Harry, you're
not in school anymore."
Harry gave the minute professor a half smile as he shifted from foot
to foot, trying to keep Teddy calm. He wasn't liking the newcomers'
voices.
"Is that little Teddy?" Minerva asked.
"Who else would it be?" Andromeda muttered under her breath.
Harry frowned at Mrs. Tonks. It was one of her better days and he
couldn't understand why she was being so hostile toward Professor
McGonagall, but then McGonagall wasn't being all that friendly to her
either.
Ignoring Andromeda, Minerva approached Harry, the closer she got
the more Teddy began to fuss. Noticing, she stopped and took a step
back. She gave him a wry smile, "Not a fan of strangers, then?"
Harry shrugged, relieved she wasn't taking it to heart, "I've taken him
out a couple of times and he is usually fine."
"Ah, but we are in his space," Filius said fondly.
"Why are you here?" Andromeda asked, cocking her hip slightly.
Harry shot her a glare, "I told you, they are here to ward the place
and fix the upstairs rooms."
Andromeda stared at him, her brown eyes darkening. She looked
suddenly lost, and Harry stepped forward to place Teddy in her arms.
Teddy was like an anchor for Andromeda. Holding the baby to her
shoulder she swiftly made her way to the nursery and slammed the
nursery door behind her.
His ears were on high alert for crying, but Teddy stayed quiet. Harry
sighed and almost didn't see the look Filius and Minerva exchanged.
"Harry," Filius started, "have you been getting enough sleep lately?"
Harry smiled despite the exhaustion hitting him, "I read that once
babies get a bit older they sleep for longer intervals."
"Come," Minerva instructed, "We can work on the upstairs while
Filius wards the place. It would take you some years to understand
what he's about to do. At least you might be able to glean something
from me."
Filius smiled at Harry, "She's not trying to be condescending but you
would need at least a foundation in Arithmancy to follow."
Harry wanted to say that Hermione had been able to teach him
about wards, but then the muggles hadn't had an issue getting
through Harry's wards. So with a sincere thank you, Harry led
Minerva to the second floor.
She whistled, "She stripped the wiring from the walls."
Harry nodded, "I've been a little worried that something might catch
fire."
"Alright, here are the spells to fix this."
Harry had been right, it did not take a mere hour to teach him the
necessary spells, it took four. The rooms were in order by the end of
that time. They were likely back to their original shape because
Harry had followed the placement of the supporting beams, except
for the closest of the spare bedroom, which was now just a larger
room. Minerva transfigured a piece of wood Harry had missed into a
beautifully carved armoire to make up for the lack of a closet.
Harry had 'painted' the walls a warm orange for the spare room, the
master bedroom a pale lavender with stained wood trim, and the
second bathroom in a pale blue. There was a small pile of empty
picture frames that Harry put in the back of Andromeda's closest.
From the clothes that had hung themselves back on their hangers,
Harry realized that the second bedroom had been Nymphadora's.
With everything back to sorts Harry thanked Minerva continuously as
the witch headed back downstairs to the fireplace. Filius had left
some time earlier. When all his guests were gone, Harry went to the
nursery. Teddy was asleep in Andromeda's arms.
"Mrs. Tonks?"
She said nothing, her eyes open but unfocused.
He spoke, not knowing if she would even hear him, "Mrs. Tonks, I am
going to take a nap before dinner, just wake me if you need
anything."
He left without waiting for a response, depressed that the woman
who had laughed that morning at Harry for juggling eggs for Teddy's
amusement was trapped back inside herself.
Harry slept through dinner. He woke to the sound of crashing and
Teddy crying. Harry flung himself off the couch to check on Teddy in
his crib. He was crying, in a need of both dinner and a diaper
change, but otherwise alright.
Leaving the baby safely where he was for a few minutes, Harry ran
upstairs. Andromeda was standing in the hall, the walls warping
around her, wood splintering and cycloning around her.
Harry yelled, " Mrs. Tonks! "
Ducking under and around the flying bits off the house, Harry
reached her, putting his hands on her arms to turn her to face him.
Her brown eyes were glowing like brown garnets lit from underneath.
She looked scared and Harry realized she wasn't doing this on
purpose. Accidental magic at forty years of age; the Blacks were a
crazy powerful lot.
Not knowing what else to do Harry hugged her. She was taller than
him by a couple of inches, but he could still reach his lips to her ear.
He whisper-yelled, "You're not alone, Andromeda, you have Teddy
and me!"
The power around them ebbed and like a puppet whose strings had
been cut, Andromeda slumped, her feet falling out from under her.
Harry caught her around the waist and lowered them both to the
floor. He held her to his chest and started stroking her soft hair and
her back.
Andromeda did not cry but she curled herself closer to Harry.
Teddy was still crying downstairs, but for a few more minutes, Harry
thought that he would be okay.
Two Weeks Later
Harry nearly jumped out of his skin when the landline rang.
Cautiously he answered the phone with a question, "Hello?"
"Harry!"
"Hermione?" Harry breathed, relaxing at the familiar tenor of her
voice, "How are you? Where are you? And how did you get this
number?"
"Phonebook, Ron said you have been staying with Mrs. Tonks. How
is she? Never mind, she must be doing horribly. I am back in the UK,
I've been staying at a little hotel outside of London for the last few
days."
"You haven't been staying with the Weasleys?"
There was an awkward pause, "I thought you would be staying with
them, in all honesty. Harry, can I pop over? I would really like to see
you in person."
"Of course," Harry said and gave her the address.
Looking around the living room and kitchen, he decided to lead
Hermione to the back porch. He gave her tight hug when she
apparated in the backyard before they sat on the bench swing.
Teddy's room was just behind them so Harry would hear him if he
woke up. Andromeda was laying down on the couch. A standard midafternoon at the Tonks house.
"How have you been?" Hermione asked.
"Not bad. Teddy keeps me busy."
"You're aren't returning to Hogwarts, I heard. She sounded a bit
disappointed but not surprised.
Harry returned with, "I was surprised to hear that you and Ron are ."
"A lot of our class is," she said, "Neville, the Patils… a lot of us."
The ones who had survived.
"I guess between our class and the year below us you might have
enough students for a full class then," Harry remarked placidly, which
was perhaps the nicest why he could note their loss.
Hermione flinched at the implications and he was immediately
regretted drawing attention to it.
"I guess that it explains why you decided not to go back," was all she
said in turn, "But Hogwarts is never going to be the same without
you."
"Hermione," Harry sighed, "Hogwarts is never going to be the same."
She looked away from him, "I need my NEWTs."
He rolled his eyes, because Hermione Granger could have any
bloody job she wanted in the Wizarding World. She didn't need to
pass any more tests than the trials of the war. However, he didn't
waste his breath trying to tell her that, "Minerva brought over my
books, I am going to study from here, practice what I can. It will
probably take me longer so I am going to take my NEWTs next year."
He didn't need the tests either, but he did need to learn the material,
studying for exams would be the motivation he needed for that.
She blinked at him, "I didn't know you could do that."
"Will you change your decision to return now that you do?"
She shook her head, "My parents-" her voice broke. "My parents
don't remember. I convinced, um, - persuaded them to take a blood
test and they… they thought I was an orphan trying to con them."
Harry pulled her into a hug.
She clung to him for a moment before pulling back, "I can't go back
home, Harry. I don't have a home any more, Hogwarts is all I have
left."
"You have Ron," Harry said softly.
Her lips tightened, "Yeah, I have Ron, but I am not ready to move in
with him. Well, I am not ready to move in with his mother. If it were
even possible she has become more protective of her 'children.' A
little foolish if you ask me, thinking of what we have all been
through."
Harry couldn't agree more, "She called me a child a breath before
saying I had won the war. I love her but sometimes I don't
understand what's going through her head."
Hermione huffed a laugh, "That makes two of us. Ron doesn't seem
to mind being under his mother's wing again."
"He's probably glad not having to cook over an open fire."
"He wasn't the best at it, that's for sure. But sometimes I miss it even
with that damned Horcrux around."
Harry couldn't say he agreed, he liked taking care of Teddy too much
to compare being a godfather to being 'Undesirable Number One.'
"So the engagement…" Harry probed, "Have you picked a date yet?"
She grinned at him, "The week after the NEWT results come in. Ron
doesn't want me distracted on our big day."
"The new Mrs. Weasley," Harry said lightly, even though his chest
felt heavy.
She laughed, "No, I am keeping my last name."
"What? No hyphens? Or are you just scared to compete with the
Weasley Matriarch."
She pushed his shoulder, "Oh shut it."
"Is Ron going to take your name? Ron Granger doesn't have a
terrible ring to it."
She rolled her eyes, "Speaking of the Weasleys, I heard you and
Ginny broke up?"
Harry looked out to the fields behind Andromeda's house. "Yep."
"You broke up with her," Hermione stated.
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Harry took in a deep breath, "Because I have other responsibilities."
"You mean Teddy Lupin? I'm sure Mrs. Tonks appreciates the help,
Harry, but you shouldn't throw away your life to take care of
someone else's kid."
"He isn't 'someone else's kid', he's my godson. Maybe this isn't the
life I had expected but it's the one I want. Hermione, I want to be
here. I want to see him grow up strong and loved. I need to be here."
Her lips thinned, "It's what you didn't get, living with the Dursleys,
isn't it."
"When Remus asked me to be Teddy's godfather in the middle of a
war I wasn't completely naive about what that title might entail,"
Harry said, "I wasn't just honoured, I was… I was hopeful that I
would be part of a real family."
"You know, Harry, sometimes you can be really quiet and other times
you can be really rash. You make it easy to forget you have a good
head on your shoulders. If this is where you want to be than I'll
support it, even if I don't completely agree with it."
Teddy made a warning noise, a noise that meant, 'come get me now
or I will start bawling.'
Harry grinned at Hermione, "Do you want to see the little bundle of
joy?"
She smiled at the obvious happiness she saw on her best friend's
face and said, "Of course."
Hermione might be marrying Ron, but nothing would ever come
between her and Harry, there was no one they trusted more than
each other.
"Stay here, he could use a little fresh air," he said, before going
inside. With Teddy against his chest, Teddy made little cooing noises
as Harry warmed up a prepared bottle.
With Teddy swaddled in his arms, he returned to Hermione on the
swing. He didn't immediately hand him over to Hermione as he had
learned that if anyone but he or Andromeda tried to hold the babe,
Teddy got upset.
Hermione didn't seem to mind Harry keeping ahold of the infant as
she cooed back at the babe.
Teddy wrinkled his nose at Hermione but ignored her when Harry
began to feed him a warm bottle.
"Harry," she said in a hushed voice, "his eyes, he has green eyes,
your eyes ."
He smiled, "Teddy takes after his mother."
Hermione shook her head and said softly, "He's so small. I can't
believe Tonks could leave him when he was so tiny."
"I don't understand that either, I mean it was great she fought in the
war but-" he trailed off, staring into Teddy's face as worked at the
baby bottle.
"But," she finished for him, "some things are more important. Though
who's to say who else might have died had Tonks not been there to
fight."
He sighed heavily, "Hermoine, the what-ifs can't matter. Because if
they do then it all falls apart and none of us will ever be able to move
forward."
Hermoine rested her head on his shoulder, "I think you're going to be
a great dad, Harry."
"I hope so," he said, settling into the comfort of his contented godson
and his best friend.
With all the world against him, this was his true family
Andromeda had woken when Teddy did. Standing with her back to
the wall near the back, she listened to the youngsters' conversation
and couldn't help but think, He already is.