AN: The characters belong to J.K. Rowling
Andromeda sighed as she watched Nymphadora slip into a fitful slumber induced from her emotional exhaustion. Nymphadora had arrived hours ago at her door, hysterical about Remus abandoning her and their child. Andromeda knew Remus; she believed that he was a brave man. She assured Nymphadora that Remus must have just stepped out to deal with the news, maybe he was visiting Lily and James; maybe he wanted to share this news with them. Nymphadora was a mess; she kept weeping and saying that he had abandoned them. When she had informed him of her pregnancy, he looked at her as if she had betrayed him; he had said as much before leaving. She was convinced that he has left her, Andromeda knew better. She had seen how much Remus loved her precious child, he won't leave her. But her belief wavered as the night waned. It was almost dawn; there was no sign of Remus. Where was he? If he didn't return soon, his absence would crush Nymphadora.
Nymphadora was tough, Andromeda knew that much but then she remembered last year, how Nymphadora had lost her morphing abilities, it had malfunctioned all because Remus had spurned her love. If Remus abandons her now, what would it do to her and her child? And why would Remus abandon her? Nymphadora was pregnant with his child not with some other man's; not that Nymphadora would ever be unfaithful. She was too fair to be unfaithful, just like her father.
Andromeda sat in the kitchen sipping her tea. She missed Ted, she missed his carefree laugh and quick wit everyday; but she missed his strength and soothing words now. She was worried about him; she didn't even know where he was. Well no news was good news but she could do with a little message here and there. What would Ted do in such a situation, stay home to comfort his Dorie, his little warrior princess or go out looking for Remus and convince him to come back home?
If Remus doesn't return by this morning, she would go look for him on her own. She would convince, threaten, beg and hex him if need be into coming back to her daughter; for once she didn't care that she was denying him his choice or she would be forcing him to come back; for the first time in decades she would act like a Black should act and not take "no" for an answer. Andromeda sighed, before picking up her cup of tea and walking to the drawing room to sink in Ted's favourite armchair. The armchair made her feel safe, as if Ted was holding her and telling her that everything would be fine. She summoned a thick album from the shelf and started looking at the pictures. Ted and her wedding, Nymphadora's birth, their first Christmas together as a family, Nymphadora's childhood, 11 year old Nymphadora going to Hogwarts for the first time, Nymphadora's graduation from Hogwarts, her graduation from Auror academy and her wedding with Remus. That was the last time she had seen Ted and he had assured her that everything would be fine. Now, their daughter's life was falling apart and she didn't know what to do.
There was a loud Bang on the door, Andromeda jumped to her feet, her wand trained at the door, as Nymphadora ran down the stairs, her wand ready, eyes alert and one hand resting protectively around her stomach. "Who is there?" Andromeda called loudly. The door was magically sealed, and would only open if Andromeda, who had placed the charm, lifted it. "It is I Remus Lupin, Werewolf, and Husband of your daughter Nymphadora. You, the secret keeper of this establishment gave me the address and permission to come seek you in my hour of need." Andromeda waved her wand, the door opened to reveal a dishevelled Remus standing at the threshold and then lowered her wand in relief. But Nymphadora kept her wand trained on him; they stared at each other for a split second before Remus crossed the room in a trice, pulled Nymphadora in his arms and kissed her.
Nymphadora slapped him hard, as soon as she broke away from the kiss. For the first time Andromeda realized that Nymphadora did indeed have Black blood in her. Her eyes were cold and grey and they flashed with anger.
"How dare you, Remus Lupin." She growled "How dare you walk away from me like that? How dare you come back after being gone for 15 hours without any hint of your whereabouts and kiss me as if nothing happened? How dare you make me feel guilty for being pregnant when I was ecstatic last morning that I was carrying your child? How dare you even think of abandoning our child? And for WHAT?" Nymphadora shrieked.
"You think that if you leave this, if you leave us he would have a better future? If you are so convinced that you have passed on your werewolf gene to the baby, do you think the child would be better off without you? You know I fell in love with you, because you remained a good man despite losing everything you had, despite facing prejudice from the wizarding world. I fell in love with you because you were fair to everyone even when life had been unfair to you. I fell in love with your selflessness, your need to think of everyone's welfare before yours. When I found out that I am pregnant, I was sure you would make a great father, even if I were to be a lousy mother because you would always put the child's happiness before our happiness and you left. How could you be so selfish Remus? How could you reject a child for an affliction that wasn't even his fault? How can you treat your child the same way the world has treated you? How could you Remus, how could you?" Her voice cracked, Andromeda who had moved to the kitchen to give the couple some privacy wanted to run out and comfort her child but she knew that Remus and Nymphadora had to work this out together.
Remus murmured something as Dora sobbed harder. They kept talking for more than one hour; Andromeda busied herself with making breakfast. Remus and Nymphadora walked in, Remus looked ashamed but happy, Nymphadora had her walls up but there was unmistakable glimpse hope shimmering in her eyes. Andromeda asked the young couple to stay over for the course of Dora's pregnancy. As a healer at St. Mungo's Andromeda had enough experience with child birth and regular health checkups. Since Dora could not visit the hospital without jeopardizing her life, it would be better if she stayed with Andromeda, so that she is cared for. Remus agreed, with the war going on, all three of them were targets, he wanted to keep Dora's pregnancy a secret to keep the baby safe.
Remus and Dora took the guest room and Dora's room was converted into the nursery it originally was. In the following months, Remus kept going out to work for the Order and help run the radio station Potterwatch. Andromeda knew, that Remus still felt guilty about the way he parted ways with Harry. He had told them everything the day he had returned. Dora had been terribly quiet that day, it took time but Remus was able to gain her trust. She no longer looked at him as if he was about to run away, nor did she worry about his leaving home on Order business, fearing he would never return. Molly was a regular visitor; mostly she was the one fulfilling all of Nymphadora's pregnancy induced cravings. Months passed and Remus and Dora were the quintessential happy couple ready to welcome a well loved child to this world. It was on one of those days after New Year when Remus returned from Order's work and informed them that Ted was murdered by death eaters, they found his body along with the bodies of two Goblins.
Andromeda felt as if her heart had been carved out of her chest. She fell in Ted's armchair. Dora was crying bitterly in Remus' arms, one hand making soothing circles on her stomach to calm the excited baby that had felt his mother's distress. Andromeda wanted to weep with her daughter, go hunt down her own sister and punish her for allowing the death of Ted Tonks but she sat in Ted's armchair, her face a stoic mask, devoid of all emotions. Nymphadora's morphing skills were already creating some problems in her pregnancy, as her body would start shifting size when she lost control of her emotions and that was bad for the baby. She had to calm down her daughter before her grief killed the baby. Taking a deep breath Andromeda went to the kitchen to make some tea and then proceeded to calm her daughter down. After tucking Nymphadora in her bed, Andromeda walked back to her room, crawled down to Ted's side of the bed, wrapped in one of his robes and sobbed for her loss. She had lost her saviour today, he saved her from the pureblood mania of her family and taught her to love and hope and be kind and gave her Nymphadora. She promised Ted that she would keep their daughter safe and happy, like he always wanted her to be.
It was a week before Easter, when Bill Weasley flooed into her kitchen and informed them that Harry Potter had turned up at their doorstep and was currently residing with them. Remus almost leapt out of the chair to go meet Harry before sitting back down looking dejected. After Bill left Nymphadora encouraged him to go meet the Godfather of their child and ask him formally. Andromeda and Remus stared at her shocked.
"Don't be so shocked." She said rolling her eyes, "Harry fought for our child even before the child was born, if something happens to us, I know Harry would take good care of the baby."
Andromeda was a little skeptical, after all Harry was barely an adult himself and the most wanted man in wizarding world but she held her tongue. The decision to pick out Godparents rested with the parents of the child; she would trust Nymphadora's judgement. Remus said he needed time to muster up his courage to face Harry but his time was cut short when Teddy decided to meet the world.
On 15th April 1998 Dora gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby boy. Andromeda cried with joy when Teddy Remus Lupin came out of his mother's womb, protesting loudly about being out in this cold dry world. Andromeda cleaned him up before passing him to Remus and leaving the room to give the new parents some privacy. Offering his little finger to Teddy, Remus kissed his forehead before turning to his wife.
"I was an idiot!" He informed her still dazed, Dora gave him a tired grin, "No I am serious Dora." He said moving towards her bed and sitting down beside her, baby Teddy in his arms. "Look at him! He is beautiful, he is perfect. I love him. How could I be so stupid to want to leave him?" He kissed Teddy's forehead again, "Thank you Dora" He said kissing her forehead; she smiled at him, looking at Teddy wistfully. "Do you want to hold him?"
She shook her head, looking mortified. "What if I drop him? You know how clumsy I am."
He laughed and kissed her forehead, "I will catch him I promise. Now come on, fold your arms, to make space for the baby. Good. Here, watch his head; support his neck and that's it. See you are holding your baby."
Teddy opened his eyes to look at his mother "Hello, Teddy. I am your mum and that old man there is your dad." Dora smiled, "And Teddy, you are changing your eye colour and look your hair is getting lighter too. I just want you to know, no matter what shape you take, I will always love you, Teddy Bear." Dora whispered to Teddy before kissing his forehead and giving him back to Remus. Teddy went back to sleep in less than five minutes, putting Teddy in his cot, and kissing a sleeping Nymphadora on her head; Remus went to the kitchen to inform Andromeda that he would be stepping out for a bit to inform everyone else about Teddy's birth and that he would be back soon.
The graveyard at Godric's Hollow had never looked more welcoming. It was as if the wind itself was celebrating the birth of his son. He found the marble headstone he was looking for and sank down facing it. He could hear James' whoop of joy, Sirius cheer and Lily's shrieks.
Touching his forehead to the headstone he whispered, "Thank you, without you, I would not have known this joy. Lily I know you will watch him from wherever you are. Be his Godmother, Harry will be the Godfather, it has to be him. He defended Teddy, even before Teddy was born. He is a good man; he will take care of Teddy if by the end of this war I join you and become Teddy's invisible guardian. I know this visit is short, but I really must get going. I would love to stay and chat, but it's not safe to be out in the open for a long time. When all of this is over, I will bring Dora and Teddy to visit you. Goodbye."
Remus walked out of the kissing gate, trying to shake off the feeling that he was being watched. He turned left and right, checking again, the graveyard was empty at this time of the night. Shrugging he vanished into thin air. Severus Snape walked out of the shadows staring at the spot where Lupin stood a few minutes ago. He walked to the marble headstone and focused on Lily's name, like he did every year on his birthday. 18 years were a long time to live with someone's memory and Severus craved to join Lily wherever she was. He knew he won't be where she is even if he died now, his soul was tainted and torn, he would never be near something as pure as Lily's soul but he hoped that his penance in this life would be enough to help him see her one last time so that he could apologise for everything. Placing the Lily he had brought for her on her grave, he turned and walked out of the kissing gate, vanishing into thin air just like Lupin had done a few minutes ago.
AN: I am not really sure why I introduced Severus Snape but now that I have I will create a spin off on his life. Please do Read and Review. Happy reading!