FIC: Life Ain’t Always What You Think It Ought to Be (Andromeda, Nymphadora, Remus, Teddy)
Title: Life Ain’t Always What You Think It Ought to Be
Author dexstarr
Characters: Andromeda, Nymphadora, Remus, Teddy
Prompt number: #58
Word Count: ~1,200
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Angst
Summary: Missing scenes from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Disclaimer: HP and all assorted belong to JKR and are not mine.
Author’s Notes: Thank you a ton to the mods for being so patient with me! This was a hard prompt to do justice to, but I hope you enjoy it, fiery_flamingo. The title is from If I Die Young, by The Band Perry. Also, thank you to L.
Life Ain't Always What You Think It Ought to Be
A loud crack sounded, followed by a voice. “It’s Bill Weasley. Remus, I helped you search for Mad-Eye Moody’s body. I have news!”
Lupin jumped up and opened the door with one hand. His other was at his side, wand at the ready. Andromeda nodded in approval. He might not have been her first choice for a son-in-law, but she did like how seriously he took the protection of his family.
Bill stepped in, scarred face flushed. “Harry is at Hogwarts. The Order is going there now.”
“Harry? At Hogwarts? Is he daft?” Andromeda’s head swiveled in her daughter’s direction. Nymphadora looked ready to jump up as well, Teddy slack in her arms, and an immobilizing spell danced on the tip of Andromeda’s tongue.
“I don’t know the details. Fred sent me a message, and I thought you would want to know. But from the sound of it, tonight is the night. The end.” Bill’s voice cracked, and whether it was from excitement or fear, Andromeda couldn’t tell.
She felt a curious sense of relief, even though the outcome was unpredictable. Yes, the Dark Lord had the advantage, but Harry Potter had defeated him as a baby, so there was always a chance. The boy hadn’t seemed all that impressive when Ted had found him crashed in the pond in their backyard, but maybe that was part of his strategy.
“Remus, we have to go.” The pleading, eager tone in her daughter’s voice sent fear through Andromeda’s whole body, pinning her to her chair. Her wand hand alone was unaffected, fingers squeezing the engraved wood in preparation. She didn’t care if her daughter would hate her-she wasn’t going to lose her.
“No!” Teddy woke at his father’s angry shout. He started bawling, fat fists smacking his mother in the chest. Lupin strode over and knelt in front of Nymphadora’s chair, enfolding them both in a fierce hug. “Tonks, you have to stay with Teddy,” he said quietly but with the same force.
“Remus-”
“No.”
All of a sudden, Andromeda’s heart flooded with love for Remus Lupin, the werewolf she had never wanted her daughter to marry.
* * *
The house felt oddly empty after Bill and Lupin left. Andromeda turned on the telly in an attempt to fill the void. The news was on; she and Ted had watched it every night, as he liked to stay up to date on the Muggle world. It was a tradition she couldn’t shake.
She stared blankly at the screen, listening to Nymphadora trying to calm Teddy down. Eventually he fell back asleep, and then the only sound was the newscaster’s voice. The woman’s artificial voice and bubbly personality grated on her ears, and Andromeda irritably turned the device off. Nothing was the same anymore without Ted.
In the heavy silence, she could sense her daughter’s anger at being left behind. When she had gone through Auror training, Nymphadora had complained bitterly to everyone and anyone that would listen that she shouldn’t be restricted to desk duty just because she was a girl. Selfishly, Andromeda had preferred that, though she had pretended to be happy when Nymphadora got her way and was sent out on patrol with the boys.
She raised her head to look at her daughter, to say something, but Nymphadora was standing in front of her. Before she could say anything, Teddy was thrust into her arms, and she took the baby automatically.
“I have to go, Mum. I can’t stay here. I have to fight.” Nymphadora almost tripped over her words in desperation, and before Andromeda could protest, or even stand up, her daughter was gone.
* * *
A silver wisp floated before her face, dragging Andromeda out of her stupor. She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there in the dark, Teddy clutched to her heart.
The wisp coalesced into a cat, one with spectacle markings around its eyes.
“It is over. We have won, but at great cost.” The cat’s tail drooped and its head fell. “Come to the Great Hall, Andromeda.”
A strangled wail broke the silence, and it took Andromeda a moment to realize it had come from her. Startled by the sound, Teddy woke up again, tears already streaming down his chubby cheeks. She noticed that his little tuft of bright blue hair had turned black, as if he could sense the events that had just shaped the rest of their lives.
She debated if she should take him with her or not, but ultimately decided not to. She wanted his last memory of his mother to be of her alive, even if he was too young to remember.
Andromeda knew, with a mother’s certainty, that her daughter was dead.
* * *
Whoever had carried their bodies into the Great Hall had laid Nymphadora and Lupin next to each other, their hands touching. Tears burned in Andromeda’s eyes at the sight, and she choked them back. Not here. Not now.
Blacks don’t show emotion in public, Andromeda. It’s undignified. Her mother’s voice, blocked for years, raced through Andromeda’s mind, and she fell back into the lessons of her childhood. She always did during the most difficult times in her life. Ted had hated when she got that way, snobby and tight-lipped, hiding behind a veneer of pureblood composure.
If only Ted was here now. She could mourn if he was.
But he wasn’t, and neither was Nymphadora.
* * *
Andromeda felt as though a hundred years had passed by the time she returned home, although it had only been an hour at the most. Her body ached with unshed grief, and only in the privacy of her bedroom, with the door locked and a Silencing Charm up, did she allow herself to cry.
She had thought, when she had heard about Ted’s death on Potterwatch-Potterwatch, of all places-that she would never be able to cry again. Losing the love of her life, the man that had convinced her to leave everything she knew and understood to begin a new life with him, had broken her.
But Nymphadora’s death-
-the death of her daughter, her miracle baby, conceived after a duel with Bellatrix, who had tried to keep her from having any children at all with her “filthy, abomination of a wizard” husband, Ted who loved her, who had given her the nickname ’Dromeda, turning her celestial name from something that chained her to her family to something affectionate, Ted who had given her Nymphadora, her darling daughter, the little girl she would do anything protect, the adult woman who had given her life to protect her-
Nymphadora’s death was something else entirely.
Andromeda could have stayed there forever, willingly drowning in her tears and succumbing to her anguish. Her entire family was gone, ripped away by a war she hadn’t wanted to be involved in. She had hoped, when she had sacrificed her past to be happy, that it would be for all time.
The “good” side had won, but what good did that do her?
Teddy’s cries eventually cut through the noise of her sobs, and she realized she had been wrong. Morgana forbid-she had forgotten about her grandson. She hadn’t even thought about him, too overwhelmed by the pain of losing her daughter; his mother.
Walking on numb feet, she went to his room. Teddy’s hair was still black; normally it changed color by the minute. Another tear slid down her cheek, and she wiped it away with her shoulder as she picked him up. Cradling Teddy in her arms, she stared down at her grandson, noting just how many of his features resembled Nymphadora’s when she had been that age.
“Shush, my love. Let me tell you about your mother, who died a … a hero.”
Author dexstarr
Characters: Andromeda, Nymphadora, Remus, Teddy
Prompt number: #58
Word Count: ~1,200
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Angst
Summary: Missing scenes from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Disclaimer: HP and all assorted belong to JKR and are not mine.
Author’s Notes: Thank you a ton to the mods for being so patient with me! This was a hard prompt to do justice to, but I hope you enjoy it, fiery_flamingo. The title is from If I Die Young, by The Band Perry. Also, thank you to L.
Life Ain't Always What You Think It Ought to Be
A loud crack sounded, followed by a voice. “It’s Bill Weasley. Remus, I helped you search for Mad-Eye Moody’s body. I have news!”
Lupin jumped up and opened the door with one hand. His other was at his side, wand at the ready. Andromeda nodded in approval. He might not have been her first choice for a son-in-law, but she did like how seriously he took the protection of his family.
Bill stepped in, scarred face flushed. “Harry is at Hogwarts. The Order is going there now.”
“Harry? At Hogwarts? Is he daft?” Andromeda’s head swiveled in her daughter’s direction. Nymphadora looked ready to jump up as well, Teddy slack in her arms, and an immobilizing spell danced on the tip of Andromeda’s tongue.
“I don’t know the details. Fred sent me a message, and I thought you would want to know. But from the sound of it, tonight is the night. The end.” Bill’s voice cracked, and whether it was from excitement or fear, Andromeda couldn’t tell.
She felt a curious sense of relief, even though the outcome was unpredictable. Yes, the Dark Lord had the advantage, but Harry Potter had defeated him as a baby, so there was always a chance. The boy hadn’t seemed all that impressive when Ted had found him crashed in the pond in their backyard, but maybe that was part of his strategy.
“Remus, we have to go.” The pleading, eager tone in her daughter’s voice sent fear through Andromeda’s whole body, pinning her to her chair. Her wand hand alone was unaffected, fingers squeezing the engraved wood in preparation. She didn’t care if her daughter would hate her-she wasn’t going to lose her.
“No!” Teddy woke at his father’s angry shout. He started bawling, fat fists smacking his mother in the chest. Lupin strode over and knelt in front of Nymphadora’s chair, enfolding them both in a fierce hug. “Tonks, you have to stay with Teddy,” he said quietly but with the same force.
“Remus-”
“No.”
All of a sudden, Andromeda’s heart flooded with love for Remus Lupin, the werewolf she had never wanted her daughter to marry.
* * *
The house felt oddly empty after Bill and Lupin left. Andromeda turned on the telly in an attempt to fill the void. The news was on; she and Ted had watched it every night, as he liked to stay up to date on the Muggle world. It was a tradition she couldn’t shake.
She stared blankly at the screen, listening to Nymphadora trying to calm Teddy down. Eventually he fell back asleep, and then the only sound was the newscaster’s voice. The woman’s artificial voice and bubbly personality grated on her ears, and Andromeda irritably turned the device off. Nothing was the same anymore without Ted.
In the heavy silence, she could sense her daughter’s anger at being left behind. When she had gone through Auror training, Nymphadora had complained bitterly to everyone and anyone that would listen that she shouldn’t be restricted to desk duty just because she was a girl. Selfishly, Andromeda had preferred that, though she had pretended to be happy when Nymphadora got her way and was sent out on patrol with the boys.
She raised her head to look at her daughter, to say something, but Nymphadora was standing in front of her. Before she could say anything, Teddy was thrust into her arms, and she took the baby automatically.
“I have to go, Mum. I can’t stay here. I have to fight.” Nymphadora almost tripped over her words in desperation, and before Andromeda could protest, or even stand up, her daughter was gone.
* * *
A silver wisp floated before her face, dragging Andromeda out of her stupor. She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there in the dark, Teddy clutched to her heart.
The wisp coalesced into a cat, one with spectacle markings around its eyes.
“It is over. We have won, but at great cost.” The cat’s tail drooped and its head fell. “Come to the Great Hall, Andromeda.”
A strangled wail broke the silence, and it took Andromeda a moment to realize it had come from her. Startled by the sound, Teddy woke up again, tears already streaming down his chubby cheeks. She noticed that his little tuft of bright blue hair had turned black, as if he could sense the events that had just shaped the rest of their lives.
She debated if she should take him with her or not, but ultimately decided not to. She wanted his last memory of his mother to be of her alive, even if he was too young to remember.
Andromeda knew, with a mother’s certainty, that her daughter was dead.
* * *
Whoever had carried their bodies into the Great Hall had laid Nymphadora and Lupin next to each other, their hands touching. Tears burned in Andromeda’s eyes at the sight, and she choked them back. Not here. Not now.
Blacks don’t show emotion in public, Andromeda. It’s undignified. Her mother’s voice, blocked for years, raced through Andromeda’s mind, and she fell back into the lessons of her childhood. She always did during the most difficult times in her life. Ted had hated when she got that way, snobby and tight-lipped, hiding behind a veneer of pureblood composure.
If only Ted was here now. She could mourn if he was.
But he wasn’t, and neither was Nymphadora.
* * *
Andromeda felt as though a hundred years had passed by the time she returned home, although it had only been an hour at the most. Her body ached with unshed grief, and only in the privacy of her bedroom, with the door locked and a Silencing Charm up, did she allow herself to cry.
She had thought, when she had heard about Ted’s death on Potterwatch-Potterwatch, of all places-that she would never be able to cry again. Losing the love of her life, the man that had convinced her to leave everything she knew and understood to begin a new life with him, had broken her.
But Nymphadora’s death-
-the death of her daughter, her miracle baby, conceived after a duel with Bellatrix, who had tried to keep her from having any children at all with her “filthy, abomination of a wizard” husband, Ted who loved her, who had given her the nickname ’Dromeda, turning her celestial name from something that chained her to her family to something affectionate, Ted who had given her Nymphadora, her darling daughter, the little girl she would do anything protect, the adult woman who had given her life to protect her-
Nymphadora’s death was something else entirely.
Andromeda could have stayed there forever, willingly drowning in her tears and succumbing to her anguish. Her entire family was gone, ripped away by a war she hadn’t wanted to be involved in. She had hoped, when she had sacrificed her past to be happy, that it would be for all time.
The “good” side had won, but what good did that do her?
Teddy’s cries eventually cut through the noise of her sobs, and she realized she had been wrong. Morgana forbid-she had forgotten about her grandson. She hadn’t even thought about him, too overwhelmed by the pain of losing her daughter; his mother.
Walking on numb feet, she went to his room. Teddy’s hair was still black; normally it changed color by the minute. Another tear slid down her cheek, and she wiped it away with her shoulder as she picked him up. Cradling Teddy in her arms, she stared down at her grandson, noting just how many of his features resembled Nymphadora’s when she had been that age.
“Shush, my love. Let me tell you about your mother, who died a … a hero.”