Two weeks after the Battle of Hogwarts was won, the survivors erected a plaque in the Great Hall. It was nothing fancy, merely a brief epitaph and a list of the names of those who died to bring down Lord Voldemort. For years afterwards, those who had lost loved ones in the battle would flock to Hogwarts, either individually or as part of a large group on the anniversary of the battle. Nearly all those who had known someone who died there found their way to the plaque eventually. So it was no surprise to Harry to find his godson sitting on the ground staring up at the list of names after he had disappeared from his graduation reception.

"Why?" Harry barely heard, and didn't think that Teddy had meant to ask him anything until the boy turned and looked at him with eyes bright with tears, repeating the question. "Why did they have to die?"

Harry paused for a moment. He'd known that this conversation would come some day, but it had never occurred to him how to handle it. He sat next to Teddy, composing his thoughts.

"I guess…I guess they thought that they had to. They never saw staying away as an option."

"But why not?" Teddy's tears had started to flow in earnest. He wiped them away impatiently. "Why did they have to fight? Why couldn't they stay with me? Why do I have a bunch of strangers at my graduation instead of my own parents?"

Harry was startled. "First of all, they aren't just strangers. They're the people that raised you: Molly and Arthur, Bill and Fleur, me and Ginny, your grandmother, and the rest of the Order. And they're here because they care about you."

"But they're not my family."

Harry sighed and put his arm around his godson. "Ted, listen. If there was anything your parents taught me, it was that your family doesn't just have to be the people you're related to. Neither of them really had much of a biological family, so they made their own. Friends can be your family too, you know. Everyone out there cared about them, and so they care about you too."

Teddy looked angry. "But they cared more about them, about that part of their family, them they did about me!"

"No, they didn't. I never told anyone this, not even Ginny, but when I went to face Voldemort in the forest, I had some help. Dumbledore left me the…well, he left me something that could let me talk to people who were dead. And one of those people was your father."

Teddy turned to face Harry, face lit up. "Can I talk to them, them?"

"No," Harry said, watching Teddy's face fall. "I lost the object pretty soon after that, and never found it again. But do you know what he told me?"

Still upset, Teddy shook his head. "He told me that he was sorry he had to die, but that he had to fight so that the world you lived in would be a better place than the one he did. And I know your mother would have felt the same way."

"But she shouldn't have been there at all," Teddy protested. "I heard Uncle Arthur say that she was supposed to stay with me at Grandma's. She could have been safe there. And he said that they were fighting anyway, so why did she go?"

Harry shook his head. "Ted, your parent's fights weren't the usual kind that couples have. Your dad…I don't think he ever felt that he was good enough for your mother, that he could only be a disappointment to her. He once told me that his greatest fear was that you would grow up to be ashamed of him. He never realized that your mother always saw past his flaws, and that you would too. She loved him, pure and simple, and she couldn't just stay back and not know if he was okay, or if he was…"

He trailed off, and Ted finished for him. "Or if he was dead."

"Right."

They sat in silence for a while, then Harry spoke up again. "Something your dad told me, well, I think you should hear it. He wanted you to be proud of him, and he hoped that someday you'd forgive him for dying. So, I don't know if you can really do that just yet, but think about it, all right?"

Teddy nodded. "All right."

Harry stood up. "Everyone's probably wondering where we are. You ready to leave?" Ted cast one final glance at the plaque and nodded. "Good. Come say hi to everyone, then we'll go back for the party at our house, okay?"

Teddy was sure later that he smiled and laughed and acted like everyone expected him to. He couldn't actually remember doing any of it, though, only going over and over what Harry had told him in his head. They really did love him…They just wanted to do what was best for him and everyone else…They would have stayed if they could…

Later that night, he snuck out of the party and onto the roof of Grimmauld Place. Feeling slightly foolish, he addressed the sky. "Mom, Dad? Can you hear me? I guess, I just want to say that I get it, and I know you had to do it, and I forgive you for leaving me, okay?" A warm breeze ruffled his hair, and he thought he felt the faintest of pressures on his shoulder. Feeling better than he had all day, he went and rejoined the party knowing that his parents were watching him, and that they were proud.

---------------------------

A/N: I couldn't believe when I finished DH that JKR would kill off both Lupin and Tonks without any explanation, and then never tell us what happened to Teddy! This was written on the spur of the moment at two in the morning so I'm not really sure how good it is, but I had to give Teddy closure somehow.