Under the Influence

[mocca_fix_gold]

Title: Under the Influence
Author: mocca_fix_gold
Rating: G
Prompts: Christmas wreath
"Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe,
Help to make the season bright,
Tiny tots with their eyes all a-glow,
Will find it hard to sleep tonight."

- The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
Word Count: 2,411
Summary: It doesn't feel like Christmas for Nymphadora Tonks.

Comments

[tierfal]

This was like a double story, which made it twice as awesome - it was a Ted-Andromeda story, and a Tonks-Lupin story, and both of them were superbly well-done. I agree with the folks who beat me to it - parents cum Christmas decorations was brilliant, and I really love the image of the fairies floating around over the table... lovely sort of wizarding Christmas centerpiece.

Poor, poor Tonks. And poor Remus, being a dork. XD

[mocca_fix_gold]

Thanks. :D Haha, the Christmas decorations idea was borne out of the realization that I had no idea how to use my prompts. I didn't really think this was like a double story until you mentioned it--I was just hoping that my love for Andromeda/Ted wouldn't overshadow R/T--but I'm glad that both pairings didn't seem like they were too much for one story. And yes, poor Tonks, angsting it out for the majority of the fic.

[lady_bracknell]

I really loved the touches of humour in this - I think a backdrop of lightness always makes anything angsty feel more real and poignant, and here you showed that perfectly, from the idea of Tonks passed out under the swing to Ted as a reindeer (which is a priceless image and I'm glad I saved one antler pic to use with this), telling Andromeda that they should just ask Tonks what's wrong. I loved the scene with them, Andromeda's certainty that it's definitely about a boy, and there was a lot of warmth in the way you wrote their relationship, which I really liked :D.

[mocca_fix_gold]

Thank you! :) At first I thought that the shift from happy to angsty would be too abrupt, so it's great that it seemed more like a background that anything too jarring. Reindeer!Ted was definitely fun to write, I'm glad you liked it.

(Your icon's too amusing, his face just has an "Oh, not again" expression that I imagine would be directed at Sirius.)

[gilpin25]

This is such a clever take on the lyrics; Andromeda and Ted disguised as Christmas ornaments out of concern for their daughter (even though Andromeda's almost got it sussed what's wrong to start with) is a great idea. They literally are tiny tots, indeed.

Like the little bits of humour amongst the sadness and the way you've depicted the relationships between them all; R/T, Andromeda and Ted and the Tonkses as a family. It's all very nicely and sharply observed, and I liked this a lot. Especially Ted falling over again (must run in the family;)) when he sees who the 'boy' is. :)

[mocca_fix_gold]

Wow, the "tiny tots" reference didn't actually occur to me until I read your comment, haha. If there was a tiny tot in the fic, I'd always had Tonks in mind. I just really wanted to use the Christmas wreath prompt, hence Ted's and Andromeda's disguises.

I wasn't sure if the light parts would work when put together with the angst at first, so I'm happy to see that nobody has complained about that bit yet. XD

Thanks for your review!