Title: Orphaned
Author: JE /
immortaljePairing: none
Summary: Harry contemplates Teddy and their shared fate.
Rating: Gen / PG-13
Words: 562
Beta: %
Prompt: This was written for the prompt "Orphan" on
my card for round 3 @
love_bingo.
Other Locations: Will come with the Beta read version
Orphaned
Harry watched little Teddy toddle around the room, his stuffed wolf pulled behind him. He was a happy and inquisive child. Andromeda doted on him diligently and he made sure to visit as often as he could.
Teddy was in the same position as he had been years ago - orphaned long before he’d be able to remember his parents or their love for him. Orphaned by the war with Voldemort. By the very last battle. Although the scale had been a bit larger the last time and Voldemort was gone for good this time.
Harry knew that with time Teddy would have the same questions as he had, the same sense of loss that was more of an idea than the real people.
Harry knew he didn’t miss James and Lily Potter, the people that gave birth to him, but those they could and should have been had they been given the chance to raise him.
Still, Harry was determined that things would be different for Teddy. He wasn’t raised by those that despised him and he wouldn’t have an absent godfather. He’d grow up on stories of his parents and hopefully would feel far more connected to them than Harry ever had to his own. The idea of his parents would be far closer to the truth than Harry’s had been. Snape’s memory had shown that. Teddy wouldn’t have such a rude awakening one day.
Honesty was better than building a pedestal. That happened on it’s own as you dreamed about could have beens. He had been there and had imagined the most heroic parents possible, the perfect example of human beings and parents. Everyone had worked to help him with that. Everyone except Snape and hadn’t it been cruel to realise that even a part of what Snape had said had been the truth?
No, he would make sure that Teddy would never have to face the truth in such a way. They were orphans together and he’d make sure that Teddy would have a better time of it.
Andromeda sat down next to him and sighed. He knew what she felt. Teddy was obliviously happy, not yet understanding what he was missing out on while not even a year on they were both still mourning his parents. He didn’t understand yet that he was an orphan or what it actually meant to be an orphan.
Soon enough he would start realising that children didn’t usually grow up with their grandmother and godfather and then he would start wondering. He would start to ask why his parents weren’t there. Harry had no doubt that despite everything, Teddy would likely wonder if his parents didn’t love him enough to be there for him. Not until he was old enough to understand the war and what they fought for and even then he might still wonder why they had to fight instead of staying with him.
He knew how difficult it was to understand war and risking your lives and families. Only throughout the years as it became obvious just how bad things had been that he understood why they risked fighting against Voldemort even if it put not only their lives, but his in danger.
Nonetheless, Andromeda and he would make sure that Teddy knew all the love he need, all the love that Tonks and Remus would have given him.
The End