Challenge 56: Angst
Title:Shatter Me Again
Rating/Warnings:PG-13, none
Characters/Pairing:Andromeda Black Tonks
Summary:Andromeda begs Remus and Nymphadora not to go to the final battle knowing they won't listen. Then she can only wait for news, and then try to process it when she gets it.
Word Count:1134
Author's Notes:for hh_writersblockquill_it
Registered purchases?:both
Andromeda begs her not to go. She begs them both, begs and cries, and knows it falls on deaf ears because they are good people and there is no way they could sit back and do nothing as innocent school children are attacked. She knows this and begs anyway because Nymphadora, Teddy, and to an extent Remus are all she has left in this world and she is terrified to lose them. Words fall on deaf ears because Remus has Teddy pressed to his chest, kissing his cheeks softly, as Nymphadora holds Andromeda’s hands and promises it will be ok. Empty promises. The baby is passed to his mother and Remus guides Andromeda back to the sofa.
“We will be back, Andy. We will be. But look after Teddy. He will be safe with you,” he murmurs, before his wife places the baby in Andromeda’s arms and pulls her wand out.
“We need to go, Remus. They need us. Mum....I love you, take care of him,” Nymphadora pleads, nodding distractedly and watching the baby shift around in his blanket before Remus moves to her side, “We will be back.”
And then she is gone and Andromeda’s breathe catches in her throat. From that moment, something tells her that they won’t return and that the baby in her arms is all she has left and that she is all he will have. She doesn’t move from the sofa for hours, the baby sleeping in her embrace, until a bedraggled member of the Order appears on her doorstep and delivers the news she has been waiting on. Remus and Nymphadora are dead, the war is over, and they have won. Voldemort is dead.
It doesn’t feel like a victory. It doesn’t feel like anything she can bring herself to think of as positive as she takes the first of many condolences with a dignified nod. A daze settles over her when the house is empty and the wind howls outside as she slowly rises to her feet and takes Teddy upstairs to the nursery she has set up for him. It was meant to be for when he visited on weekends to give his parent’s a break or for when Nymphadora returned to work when this was all over. That won’t happen now. This will probably be Teddy’s room and this house his home.
Unless, of course, his godfather wishes to seek custody of him. The thought sends a chill through her bones as she settles the baby and wraps him in his blankets. Andromeda can’t bear the thought of losing him now. Not now. She will have to seek him out and ask, soon, because while it might lead to Teddy being taken away sooner she doesn’t think she can handle the uncertainty just looming over her. If Remus and Nymphadora wanted Harry Potter to have custody of Teddy as he had survived the conflict then, there was nothing Andromeda could really do about it. Though they had asked her to take care of him when they left. Maybe that meant something.
Or maybe it meant nothing at all. Her husband was dead. Her daughter was dead. She might be about to lose her grandson. Maybe nothing mattered anymore. Without thinking about what she is doing Andromeda moves to the kitchen and starts to make a cup of tea. It gives her hands something to do if nothing else. A million thoughts run through her head, some too fast to really focus on, and everything seems a little harder to do as the minutes pass. The milk feels a little heavier, the cups a little higher in the cupboard.
Wasn’t the end of a conflict supposed to bring joy? Wasn’t it supposed to be the moment where you could run down streets screaming about how it was over and rejoice? It didn’t feel like Andromeda had won. Even the end of the first war hadn’t sat well with her as something to celebrate. Her family didn’t change their minds about her marriage or about blood status in general just because Lord Voldemort had been defeated at the hands of an infant. She was still an outcast and her daughter was considered inferior simply because her father was not a pureblood wizard. The things Andromeda had given up because of her family’s belief and the way the war panned out could not be returned to her. She had been losing her family before the Dark Lord’s rise to power, she lost family during his rise to power, and his second defeat did not mean that she got to keep what was left of her tattered family by her side. The same thoughts turned over and over in her head. It wasn’t over. She was going to lose him. Just like she had lost everything else.
The boy who had lived to save them and lost his parents in the process. Harry Potter had been left alone and now he could take what she had left to leave her alone. It was strange how things worked at times. Sometimes it wasn’t worth trying to understand.
Andromeda takes her cup of tea into her living room and drinks it slowly. The tears prick the back of her eyes at first, and she tries to blink them back. Then her breath catches in her throat and a lump forms, stopping her breathing properly as her eyes sting again, and by the time she has placed her tea cup on the floor there are tears streaming down her face. Sobs wrack her chest and body to the point that it hurts and once she has started she just can’t stop. It feels like the world is collapsing around her and she can’t do anything to stop it. The war is over but the uncertain fear of the future remains as powerful as ever, all consuming. At times she thinks she is going to choke because she can’t breath for crying so hard and can feel her cheeks burning as she curls in on herself on the sofa Ted never liked and the one she forced him to buy.
The war is over. Supposedly, they are safe. Harry Potter has once again saved the world and defeated the Dark Lord, Voldemort. So why, to Andromeda Black Tonks, does it feel even more terrifying, painful and uncertain than the day before? Everything around her has shattered to pieces. Just like when she ran away from her family. Just like the first war and their struggles to raise a daughter in such dark times. Just like when Ted had to leave. Just like when she learned the love of her life was dead. Now all she can do is what she has always done, try to pick up the pieces and move on.
word points: 38
item points: 10
overall 48 points for Sam//Hufflepuff
Rating/Warnings:PG-13, none
Characters/Pairing:Andromeda Black Tonks
Summary:Andromeda begs Remus and Nymphadora not to go to the final battle knowing they won't listen. Then she can only wait for news, and then try to process it when she gets it.
Word Count:1134
Author's Notes:for hh_writersblockquill_it
Registered purchases?:both
Andromeda begs her not to go. She begs them both, begs and cries, and knows it falls on deaf ears because they are good people and there is no way they could sit back and do nothing as innocent school children are attacked. She knows this and begs anyway because Nymphadora, Teddy, and to an extent Remus are all she has left in this world and she is terrified to lose them. Words fall on deaf ears because Remus has Teddy pressed to his chest, kissing his cheeks softly, as Nymphadora holds Andromeda’s hands and promises it will be ok. Empty promises. The baby is passed to his mother and Remus guides Andromeda back to the sofa.
“We will be back, Andy. We will be. But look after Teddy. He will be safe with you,” he murmurs, before his wife places the baby in Andromeda’s arms and pulls her wand out.
“We need to go, Remus. They need us. Mum....I love you, take care of him,” Nymphadora pleads, nodding distractedly and watching the baby shift around in his blanket before Remus moves to her side, “We will be back.”
And then she is gone and Andromeda’s breathe catches in her throat. From that moment, something tells her that they won’t return and that the baby in her arms is all she has left and that she is all he will have. She doesn’t move from the sofa for hours, the baby sleeping in her embrace, until a bedraggled member of the Order appears on her doorstep and delivers the news she has been waiting on. Remus and Nymphadora are dead, the war is over, and they have won. Voldemort is dead.
It doesn’t feel like a victory. It doesn’t feel like anything she can bring herself to think of as positive as she takes the first of many condolences with a dignified nod. A daze settles over her when the house is empty and the wind howls outside as she slowly rises to her feet and takes Teddy upstairs to the nursery she has set up for him. It was meant to be for when he visited on weekends to give his parent’s a break or for when Nymphadora returned to work when this was all over. That won’t happen now. This will probably be Teddy’s room and this house his home.
Unless, of course, his godfather wishes to seek custody of him. The thought sends a chill through her bones as she settles the baby and wraps him in his blankets. Andromeda can’t bear the thought of losing him now. Not now. She will have to seek him out and ask, soon, because while it might lead to Teddy being taken away sooner she doesn’t think she can handle the uncertainty just looming over her. If Remus and Nymphadora wanted Harry Potter to have custody of Teddy as he had survived the conflict then, there was nothing Andromeda could really do about it. Though they had asked her to take care of him when they left. Maybe that meant something.
Or maybe it meant nothing at all. Her husband was dead. Her daughter was dead. She might be about to lose her grandson. Maybe nothing mattered anymore. Without thinking about what she is doing Andromeda moves to the kitchen and starts to make a cup of tea. It gives her hands something to do if nothing else. A million thoughts run through her head, some too fast to really focus on, and everything seems a little harder to do as the minutes pass. The milk feels a little heavier, the cups a little higher in the cupboard.
Wasn’t the end of a conflict supposed to bring joy? Wasn’t it supposed to be the moment where you could run down streets screaming about how it was over and rejoice? It didn’t feel like Andromeda had won. Even the end of the first war hadn’t sat well with her as something to celebrate. Her family didn’t change their minds about her marriage or about blood status in general just because Lord Voldemort had been defeated at the hands of an infant. She was still an outcast and her daughter was considered inferior simply because her father was not a pureblood wizard. The things Andromeda had given up because of her family’s belief and the way the war panned out could not be returned to her. She had been losing her family before the Dark Lord’s rise to power, she lost family during his rise to power, and his second defeat did not mean that she got to keep what was left of her tattered family by her side. The same thoughts turned over and over in her head. It wasn’t over. She was going to lose him. Just like she had lost everything else.
The boy who had lived to save them and lost his parents in the process. Harry Potter had been left alone and now he could take what she had left to leave her alone. It was strange how things worked at times. Sometimes it wasn’t worth trying to understand.
Andromeda takes her cup of tea into her living room and drinks it slowly. The tears prick the back of her eyes at first, and she tries to blink them back. Then her breath catches in her throat and a lump forms, stopping her breathing properly as her eyes sting again, and by the time she has placed her tea cup on the floor there are tears streaming down her face. Sobs wrack her chest and body to the point that it hurts and once she has started she just can’t stop. It feels like the world is collapsing around her and she can’t do anything to stop it. The war is over but the uncertain fear of the future remains as powerful as ever, all consuming. At times she thinks she is going to choke because she can’t breath for crying so hard and can feel her cheeks burning as she curls in on herself on the sofa Ted never liked and the one she forced him to buy.
The war is over. Supposedly, they are safe. Harry Potter has once again saved the world and defeated the Dark Lord, Voldemort. So why, to Andromeda Black Tonks, does it feel even more terrifying, painful and uncertain than the day before? Everything around her has shattered to pieces. Just like when she ran away from her family. Just like the first war and their struggles to raise a daughter in such dark times. Just like when Ted had to leave. Just like when she learned the love of her life was dead. Now all she can do is what she has always done, try to pick up the pieces and move on.
word points: 38
item points: 10
overall 48 points for Sam//Hufflepuff