Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Written for Miss Danie, for the June Exchange (sorry it's so late) and also because I love her and she is an angel.
Reminders
It hurt to tell him goodbye, but Andromeda knew she had no other choice. He was to become a Death Eater, of that she was certain, and she would have no part of that life. Tears fell down her cheeks as she told him that they could no longer be together, as she tried to explain to him that thought she loved him, she would always love him, she couldn't deal with the death and destruction that he would be sure to bring home every night.
He told her he understood. She saw the hurt in his eyes before he blanked his face to her, the Lestrange Poker Face striking again. That he felt like he had to use it on her, that he couldn't show her his true feelings, was just another stab in her already fatally wounded heart.
The rest of the year was horrible. Seventh year at Hogwarts, the year that was supposed to be the best, had turned into an unmitigated disaster. She couldn't concentrate on her studies, she couldn't spend time in the common room, she couldn't even talk to her sisters. Everything and everywhere in the castle reminded her of him.
It was slowly killing her.
The night before graduation loomed, and rather than spending the evening at the Slytherin table, Andromeda climbed the many stairs of the Astronomy tower. It had been their place, the place they could have to themselves, the place they went on dates when they were confined to the castle.
She'd say a final, private, goodbye to him. She's remember their time together, and cry and wish things could be different, and then she would leave the memories of him here and move on with her life.
If only it was that easy.
The stars were her only company as she made herself comfortable, her back to the wall, a purple blanket covering her, her eyes on the night sky. She wondered if she'd ever feel the happiness she'd once felt in this very spot again. It seemed impossible. Who was she without him, after all?
Tears streamed unchecked down her face as she remembered their many nights together, the giggles and laughs of trying to get back to the dungeons without being caught, the loving kisses and caresses, the conversations that ranged from deep to stupid.
She didn't hear him approach until he was in front of her, his fingers gently wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"Don't cry, Andie," he whispered, his voice hoarse with his own emotions.
"You can't be here," she mumbled, even as she reached out to grip his robe to pull him closer. "I need to get over you. I need to move on."
She didn't know who she was trying to convince, but it wasn't working on either of them.
"Baby, don't make me leave," he murmured, his nose nudging against her face. He kissed her cheek softly, lifting her chin with one finger so he could kiss her lips. "I love you, Andie. I love you. I'm sorry."
She nodded, even as fresh tears fell. "You've... You've ruined me for anybody else," she admitted quietly. "I can only see you. I only want you. I don't know how to... but we can't... I can't..."
A single tear fell onto Rabastan's cheek.
"I look at you and I'm home. Please... I don't want that to go away."
"I'm sorry, Rabastan. I love you, but I won't... I can't like my life like that. I won't help you support him."
"One more night, Andie. Please... Just give me one more night."
She sniffed, settling herself against his chest. "One more night."
Andromeda rocked the baby in her arms, singing softly. The pregnancy had been hard, not least because her usually eloquent mind had been reduced to hormonal temper tantrums and emotional outbursts at less than a moments notice.
Ted had been an angel all the way through, though she suspected he knew more than he let on. Holding her newborn daughter in her arms, Andromeda could admit, if only in her own mind, that Dora looked a lot less like Ted and a lot more like Rabastan than was comfortable.
She loved her daughter immensely already, but it was a double edged sword, because Nymphadora Tonks was a constant reminder of her father, a constant reminder that her name should really be Nymphadora Lestrange.
The purple blanket she was swaddled in was enough to bring tears to Andromeda's eyes.
Everything was lost.
Her husband, a man who was a much better person than she could ever hope to be, a man that she'd grown to love so very much, was dead.
Her daughter, her only child, the person that taught Andromeda what love really was and what it should really mean, was dead, along with her own husband.
Andromeda's only solace was Teddy, her grandson. She sat on the porch while the little boy played in the garden, chasing brightly coloured butterflies he would never need to know that Andromeda had conjured for him. A fond smile played on her face as he jumped around trying to catch them, laughing and shouting when they remained just out of his reach.
She heard the crack of apparition, and her spine stiffened. Even after so many years apart, she would know him anywhere. He was older, certainly worn from the war's he'd fought in, and there was lines on his face that she didn't recognise, but she focused on his eyes. His eyes remained the same as they had all those lifetimes ago, when the two of them spent a final night together on the Astronomy Tower.
"Hello, Rabastan."
Teddy paused in his playing, drawing closer to his gran's side, wary of the stranger. She stroked the boys head gently, before gesturing to the butterflies still fluttering around.
"Go on and play, Ted. It's alright."
He smiled brightly and run off again, immediately resuming his game as though it hadn't been interrupted.
"Andie... you're still as beautiful as I remember."
He stepped closer to her, reaching out a hand to stroke her cheek. It was so reminiscent of their last night together that Andromeda had to close her eyes against the onslaught of memories.
That he was wearing a purple robe only made it more real. She thought perhaps he'd struggled with the memories as much as she had.
"I asked you, for one more night," he murmured, and he was so close now that she could feel his breath on her face. When she opened her eyes, they were immediately locked with his. "May I be so bold as to ask for longer than one more night, Andromeda?"
"Everything is different now," she replied, her voice little more that a whisper.
"I know. But this," he replied, lacing their fingers together, smiling when she gasped at the almost tangible connection humming between them. "This will never change."
She nodded, stepping back slightly. "Come. You missed out on your daughters life. You should meet your grandson."
He nodded, and she could see the pain in his eyes. She squeezed his fingers in hers. "I understand why you didn't come to meet her. But... Maybe you can make up for some of it with him."
With a soft smile, he leant forward to steal a kiss. "I have a lot to make up for. I'll spend every day of the rest of my life trying to do so if only you'll let me."
"I might hold you to that."
Also Written For;
200 Characters in 200 Days - Rabastan Lestrange
Investment Building Challenge - Andromeda Black
Pocket Morty's #29 Purple Shirt Morty
Cinema Competition - Finding Nemo - "I look at you and I'm home. Please... I don't want that to go away."