Prompt: Remus & Hermione.
She looked down at Teddy in her lap. The four-year old boy was laughing as his hair bloomed bright blue and then sunset orange. This was all she had left of him. Taking a shuddering breath, she looked up at Andromeda, who already looked frail beyond her years as she wasted away in her bed. "I can't believe you talked me into this," Hermione whispered.
The woman smiled. Even though the expression was wan and her cheekbones stood out in stark contrast to her face, these days, she was undeniably beautiful. As Tonks had been, too.
She told herself that she'd never really had a shot with Remus, and not only because of the age difference. She couldn't really compare to Tonks, now, could she? She was just a plain little bookworm. And the unrequited feelings she'd had for the middle-aged werewolf was just a schoolgirl crush.
Or at least, that was what she told herself, when she didn't want to feel so pathetic.
"Promise me you'll love him as much as you loved his father, and I know he'll be in good hands," Andromeda whispered. She reached for Teddy with one shaking hand, smoothing her fingers through his violet curls.
"His father didn't choose me," Hermione breathed, feeling her nose sting with oncoming tears. She sniffled past it.
Andromeda chuckled weakly. "His father didn't even know," she murmured, shooting Hermione an amused look. Hermione startled guiltily, her eyes dropping back to Teddy. What would telling Remus have done? He was in love with Tonks. It wouldn't have done anything but made them awkward. It would have ruined everything. So she hadn't.
That was noble, right?
She jumped when she felt Andromeda's fingertips against her jaw, gently drawing her gaze up. "It's alright," the woman said, soothing. "Even Gryffindors are allowed a moment or two of cowardice in the name of love. Take care of him, Hermione."
Hermione inhaled sharply, raggedly, and blinked rapidly as tears threatened to spill. "I will," she promised, swallowing past the bruised feeling in her throat.
She'd love Teddy with everything she had.
After all, it was all she had left of him.
Quotes: "I can't believe you talked me into this."
