For Sam as part of the Ultimate Fic Exchange.
The letter arrives at breakfast. He doesn't recognize the elegant handwriting on the envelope. It's feminine, but definitely not from Ginny, and his grandmother is gone, so he knows it can't be from her.
Curious, Teddy opens it.
Teddy,
I'm not sure if you remember me. I'm your grandmother's sister. This has been weighing on my heart since Andromeda's passing, and I've decided it's time that I try to extend a place to you in my family. I understand if you don't want to meet me. I haven't seen you since you were three, after. Fourteen years of silence is hardly a good impression to make.
If you would like to try, please meet me at the Leaky Cauldron when you return to London for Christmas break. You're all that I have left of my sister, and I would like to see you again.
Yours,
Narcissa Malfoy
Teddy folds the letter and tucks it into his pocket. He vaguely remembers the woman. She had come around often when he was younger, but she had stopped without warning. His grandmother had explained that guilt can make people colder.
…
"I didn't think that you would come," the woman says.
She's just as he remembers her, pale eyes so proud and cold, long blonde hair with streaks of white draping her her slender frame.
"I didn't either," Teddy admits. "You were right. Fourteen years of silence isn't particularly appealing."
Narcissa smiles sadly, sipping her wine. "I wanted to make amends with Andi. After the war, she was the only sister I had left."
Teddy tenses. He remembers what his grandmother had told him. Narcissa had followed her other sister, Bellatrix. She hadn't become a Death Eater, and during the war she had proven to be a good person. But the sister she had followed is half the reason that Teddy is an orphan now.
"You didn't come to her funeral," he says.
"I was ashamed. It was hard to face her, knowing that I had betrayed her trust all those years ago. Andi told me she forgave me, but I don't deserve it. Sitting by and doing nothing is just as bad as harming someone."
"She did forgive you. After you stopped coming by, she told me stories because she didn't want me to forget you," Teddy tells her.
Narcissa laughs. "I sometimes wondered if she was really a Black. She was always so much kinder than any of us," she muses.
Teddy stares at the table silently. He wants to be angry at her. He loves Harry, and he accepts his place with the Potters, but he could have had another family, one that's made of the same blood. But he can see the sadness in her eyes. She regrets not knowing him as much as he does.
"Why now?" he asks, surprised by how gentle his voice sounds. "It's been two years."
"My husband told me it would be best to let it die. He said that there is no point clinging to ghosts. I believed him, but Lucius is… He's always been cruel in his own way. Maybe he still saw Andromeda as a traitor, and you as a stain."
Teddy winces as though the word has physically struck him. A stain.
"I should have reached out sooner, but I was afraid of rejection. My own son is grown and married now. I failed him as a mother. I couldn't stop him from becoming like his father. My grandson made me realize that second chances are possible. If I can find redemption through him, maybe I can find the same in you."
"You can't."
Narcissa hangs her head, taking a shaky breath. "I should have known you would be reluctant to accept me. I understand."
"No. You can't find redemption in me because there is nothing left to forgive. Your husband is right. There's no use clinging to ghosts. My grandmother forgave you, and that's enough for me," he says, reaching out and taking her hand. "You want to be my family? I'm okay with that. It won't be easy making up for lost time, but I'm willing to try."
Narcissa meets his eyes. She looks as though she's waiting for a catch or for him to laugh and say that he's only joking. He squeezes her hand gently, hoping that she understands.
"Fourteen years," he says. "That's a pretty big gap. There's so much to catch up on, and we should start now."
"I-"
"My name is Teddy Lupin. I'm a Hufflepuff, like my mother. I'm Head Boy. My grandmother told me that I have a pure heart like my grandfather and a lot of bravery like my father," he says, shaking her hand as though they're strangers meeting for the first time. "And it's very nice to meet you."