One-shot: Andromeda & Teddy
Title: A Glimmer of Light
Author/Artist: mollywheezy
Characters: Andromeda Tonks, Teddy Lupin, background: Andromeda/Ted, Tonks/Remus, brief mentions of Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Molly Weasley, Lyall Lupin, and Harry Potter
Prompt number: 54 (from interhouse_fest 2017)
Word Count: ~ 1370
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: some language, you might need Kleenex?
Summary: Andromeda struggles to come to grips with her wartime losses and raise her grandson alone.
Disclaimer: JKR is Queen of the Universe. I am only playing in her sandbox. ;)
Author’s Notes: Thank you to my awesome beta for her excellent and speedy work and to our awesome mods for running this fest and for their patience with me.
Teddy screamed as Andromeda tried to put the bottle into his mouth. She wanted to scream, too, but she knew that would neither calm her grandson nor encourage him to eat. His little face was scrunched and red, and his hair was mousy brown. He looked exactly as his mother had as a baby when she was screaming. Ted had been a wonderful dad, and he could always make Nymphadora laugh. Andromeda never could. Nymphadora had been entirely Daddy’s Girl. And now Andromeda didn’t have Ted to make Teddy laugh. She stifled a sob as she squeezed a couple drops of formula into Teddy’s open mouth. It only seemed to make him scream louder.
“Come on, Teddy, love. You need to eat so you can grow big and strong like your dad and grandpa. I know it tastes different but it’s all we have now, so you will have to eat it.” Andromeda knew reasoning with a baby was not going to work. She apparently wasn’t any better at being a grandmother than she had been at being a mother. Tonks had used spells to extract and preserve her milk, so Teddy had both breast fed and used bottles since birth. She wanted to be able to leave him with Grandma every so often without worrying and had prepared for it. Andromeda had been impressed with how smart that was. She certainly never would have thought about it. However, her daughter’s damn Hufflepuff loyalty had gotten her killed, and she hadn’t planned for that.
After hearing about the deaths of her daughter and son-in-law, Andromeda had checked the milk supply and figured out how long it would last-only about a week. She purchased formula and began mixing it with breast milk in increasing doses, which had worked well until now. Now they were on their first bottle which was entirely formula. Andromeda sighed.
“Teddy. You need to eat. NOW, please.” As if a baby would follow commands! Andromeda just didn’t know what else to do. Andromeda hadn’t wanted to breast feed. She found the idea distasteful. Nobody in her family had been breast fed nor did they breast feed. House elves usually raised children. Maybe Andromeda would have been closer to Nymphadora if she had breast fed her, but dwelling on the past would not help the present situation. She dripped a little more formula into Teddy’s still screaming mouth.
She continued dripping a little formula at a time into Teddy’s mouth as he screamed. He did seem to be swallowing the formula. After his screaming and her dripping for an hour, he finally gave in and drank the rest of the bottle, falling into an exhausted sleep immediately.
Andromeda put Teddy into his cot, exhausted herself. She knew she should take a nap when Teddy did, but she was so tired as to be beyond sleep. Sleep only brought dreams of Ted, and she awoke feeling even more bereft than she had before. Ted’s presence had always made everything better. He was her light and her joy, and now all she saw was darkness. The tears Andromeda had been holding back finally came.
Not wanting to wake Teddy, Andromeda put a silencing charm around herself. She could still hear Teddy, but he could not hear her. Her tears quickly escalated into sobs. The love of her life had been murdered. How would she ever recover from that? She had turned her back on the only way of life she had ever known in order to marry Ted, and now she had lost her entire family and was left with nobody.
She knew she had been naïve, but she had always hoped her family would change their minds someday and accept Ted, especially when she had a child. Unfortunately, that had not happened. Nymphadora’s ability, in which Ted delighted, only made her family hate Andromeda more, that she had produced a freak. If Nymphadora had been a Slytherin, maybe some semblance of a relationship could have been salvaged, but her sorting into Hufflepuff doomed any chance of reconciliation. Then Andromeda’s father died, with her mother’s death following a few years after. Now her sister was dead, too.
Andromeda knew there was not a person on the planet with whom she could share mourning for Bella. Well, maybe Cissy, except they hadn’t spoken in almost three decades. Andromeda’s head knew mourning the sister who tried to murder her daughter didn’t make sense, but her heart remembered Bella as a child. They had been close and played together and giggled about boys in their early teens. She had imagined being Bella’s maid of honor and having Bella be her matron of honor and raising their Slytherin children together. In a pure blood family, the oldest daughter would be married first. Not what happened in reality since Andromeda ran away with Ted, but it had been what they dreamed about as children. Even though the Black family did not show affection very well, they did feel it. Andromeda missed and mourned for what could have been.
While Bella was only a year older than Andromeda, Cissy was three years younger, just fourteen when Andromeda eloped with Ted. Andromeda had hoped to become closer to her little sister when they were both older, but being disowned by her parents made that impossible. It made Andromeda angry! She could be cunning, ambitious, proud of her heritage and traditions and love a Muggleborn and build a beautiful life with him. What did blood matter?! In the midst of her tears, Andromeda screamed, “Bloody Hell!” She grabbed a cushion off of the sofa and threw it against the wall as hard as she could. It made a satisfying thump. She picked up another cushion and began beating the sofa with it, screaming at the top of her lungs, punctuating each syllable with a blow, “BLOOD-Y FUCK-ING HELL!!!” That cushion joined the first after another satisfying thump. Andromeda collapsed face down on the remainder of the cushions put her head in her arms and sobbed for all of her lost family and lost possibilities.
She must have cried herself to sleep because she woke up some time later, thankfully without any dreams. She sat up abruptly, disoriented and in a panic. Where was Teddy?! Andromeda hurried to his nursery as quickly and quietly as possible. Finding him still sound asleep, and with turquoise hair, she breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the sofa after collecting the thrown cushions. She sighed, but this time with weariness rather than relief. She needed help. She couldn’t have raised Nymphadora without Ted, and she couldn’t raise Teddy alone either.
Who could she ask? Molly Weasley had brought over a couple of meals, which were delicious, but Andromeda wasn’t quite ready to open up enough to ask for help with Teddy. Molly had killed her sister. Once again, Andromeda knew Molly had no choice and was protecting her own child, but her grief did not have to be logical.
Teddy did have a grandfather-Lyall Lupin. Nobody had told her this, but she thought Lyall’s relationship with Remus was even more difficult than hers with Tonks had been. Andromeda certainly didn’t judge Lyall for that. Andromeda and Ted got along splendidly. Nymphadora was just like her father, and yet they always clashed. She didn’t understand it, but it was what it was. She knew Lyall would be involved in Teddy’s life. They had arranged to have tea next week for Lyall to visit his grandson, but Andromeda thought he might panic if asked to take Teddy overnight.
There was one person who had both offered to help, and been designated for such a purpose by Remus and Nymphadora. He might fail at parenting as she had, but Andromeda was willing to let him try. Ted had certainly liked him. She went to the loo, washed her face, fixed her hair, and performed a glamour charm to hide her puffy eyes. She did still have some pride, after all. She threw Floo powder into the fireplace and only waited a moment before finding the person she sought.
“Harry? If you are still willing, I would love your help with Teddy.”
Author/Artist: mollywheezy
Characters: Andromeda Tonks, Teddy Lupin, background: Andromeda/Ted, Tonks/Remus, brief mentions of Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Molly Weasley, Lyall Lupin, and Harry Potter
Prompt number: 54 (from interhouse_fest 2017)
Word Count: ~ 1370
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: some language, you might need Kleenex?
Summary: Andromeda struggles to come to grips with her wartime losses and raise her grandson alone.
Disclaimer: JKR is Queen of the Universe. I am only playing in her sandbox. ;)
Author’s Notes: Thank you to my awesome beta for her excellent and speedy work and to our awesome mods for running this fest and for their patience with me.
Teddy screamed as Andromeda tried to put the bottle into his mouth. She wanted to scream, too, but she knew that would neither calm her grandson nor encourage him to eat. His little face was scrunched and red, and his hair was mousy brown. He looked exactly as his mother had as a baby when she was screaming. Ted had been a wonderful dad, and he could always make Nymphadora laugh. Andromeda never could. Nymphadora had been entirely Daddy’s Girl. And now Andromeda didn’t have Ted to make Teddy laugh. She stifled a sob as she squeezed a couple drops of formula into Teddy’s open mouth. It only seemed to make him scream louder.
“Come on, Teddy, love. You need to eat so you can grow big and strong like your dad and grandpa. I know it tastes different but it’s all we have now, so you will have to eat it.” Andromeda knew reasoning with a baby was not going to work. She apparently wasn’t any better at being a grandmother than she had been at being a mother. Tonks had used spells to extract and preserve her milk, so Teddy had both breast fed and used bottles since birth. She wanted to be able to leave him with Grandma every so often without worrying and had prepared for it. Andromeda had been impressed with how smart that was. She certainly never would have thought about it. However, her daughter’s damn Hufflepuff loyalty had gotten her killed, and she hadn’t planned for that.
After hearing about the deaths of her daughter and son-in-law, Andromeda had checked the milk supply and figured out how long it would last-only about a week. She purchased formula and began mixing it with breast milk in increasing doses, which had worked well until now. Now they were on their first bottle which was entirely formula. Andromeda sighed.
“Teddy. You need to eat. NOW, please.” As if a baby would follow commands! Andromeda just didn’t know what else to do. Andromeda hadn’t wanted to breast feed. She found the idea distasteful. Nobody in her family had been breast fed nor did they breast feed. House elves usually raised children. Maybe Andromeda would have been closer to Nymphadora if she had breast fed her, but dwelling on the past would not help the present situation. She dripped a little more formula into Teddy’s still screaming mouth.
She continued dripping a little formula at a time into Teddy’s mouth as he screamed. He did seem to be swallowing the formula. After his screaming and her dripping for an hour, he finally gave in and drank the rest of the bottle, falling into an exhausted sleep immediately.
Andromeda put Teddy into his cot, exhausted herself. She knew she should take a nap when Teddy did, but she was so tired as to be beyond sleep. Sleep only brought dreams of Ted, and she awoke feeling even more bereft than she had before. Ted’s presence had always made everything better. He was her light and her joy, and now all she saw was darkness. The tears Andromeda had been holding back finally came.
Not wanting to wake Teddy, Andromeda put a silencing charm around herself. She could still hear Teddy, but he could not hear her. Her tears quickly escalated into sobs. The love of her life had been murdered. How would she ever recover from that? She had turned her back on the only way of life she had ever known in order to marry Ted, and now she had lost her entire family and was left with nobody.
She knew she had been naïve, but she had always hoped her family would change their minds someday and accept Ted, especially when she had a child. Unfortunately, that had not happened. Nymphadora’s ability, in which Ted delighted, only made her family hate Andromeda more, that she had produced a freak. If Nymphadora had been a Slytherin, maybe some semblance of a relationship could have been salvaged, but her sorting into Hufflepuff doomed any chance of reconciliation. Then Andromeda’s father died, with her mother’s death following a few years after. Now her sister was dead, too.
Andromeda knew there was not a person on the planet with whom she could share mourning for Bella. Well, maybe Cissy, except they hadn’t spoken in almost three decades. Andromeda’s head knew mourning the sister who tried to murder her daughter didn’t make sense, but her heart remembered Bella as a child. They had been close and played together and giggled about boys in their early teens. She had imagined being Bella’s maid of honor and having Bella be her matron of honor and raising their Slytherin children together. In a pure blood family, the oldest daughter would be married first. Not what happened in reality since Andromeda ran away with Ted, but it had been what they dreamed about as children. Even though the Black family did not show affection very well, they did feel it. Andromeda missed and mourned for what could have been.
While Bella was only a year older than Andromeda, Cissy was three years younger, just fourteen when Andromeda eloped with Ted. Andromeda had hoped to become closer to her little sister when they were both older, but being disowned by her parents made that impossible. It made Andromeda angry! She could be cunning, ambitious, proud of her heritage and traditions and love a Muggleborn and build a beautiful life with him. What did blood matter?! In the midst of her tears, Andromeda screamed, “Bloody Hell!” She grabbed a cushion off of the sofa and threw it against the wall as hard as she could. It made a satisfying thump. She picked up another cushion and began beating the sofa with it, screaming at the top of her lungs, punctuating each syllable with a blow, “BLOOD-Y FUCK-ING HELL!!!” That cushion joined the first after another satisfying thump. Andromeda collapsed face down on the remainder of the cushions put her head in her arms and sobbed for all of her lost family and lost possibilities.
She must have cried herself to sleep because she woke up some time later, thankfully without any dreams. She sat up abruptly, disoriented and in a panic. Where was Teddy?! Andromeda hurried to his nursery as quickly and quietly as possible. Finding him still sound asleep, and with turquoise hair, she breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the sofa after collecting the thrown cushions. She sighed, but this time with weariness rather than relief. She needed help. She couldn’t have raised Nymphadora without Ted, and she couldn’t raise Teddy alone either.
Who could she ask? Molly Weasley had brought over a couple of meals, which were delicious, but Andromeda wasn’t quite ready to open up enough to ask for help with Teddy. Molly had killed her sister. Once again, Andromeda knew Molly had no choice and was protecting her own child, but her grief did not have to be logical.
Teddy did have a grandfather-Lyall Lupin. Nobody had told her this, but she thought Lyall’s relationship with Remus was even more difficult than hers with Tonks had been. Andromeda certainly didn’t judge Lyall for that. Andromeda and Ted got along splendidly. Nymphadora was just like her father, and yet they always clashed. She didn’t understand it, but it was what it was. She knew Lyall would be involved in Teddy’s life. They had arranged to have tea next week for Lyall to visit his grandson, but Andromeda thought he might panic if asked to take Teddy overnight.
There was one person who had both offered to help, and been designated for such a purpose by Remus and Nymphadora. He might fail at parenting as she had, but Andromeda was willing to let him try. Ted had certainly liked him. She went to the loo, washed her face, fixed her hair, and performed a glamour charm to hide her puffy eyes. She did still have some pride, after all. She threw Floo powder into the fireplace and only waited a moment before finding the person she sought.
“Harry? If you are still willing, I would love your help with Teddy.”