Author's Note: Enjoy!
On the willows, there
We hung up our lyres
For our captors there
Required
Of us songs
And our tormentors, mirth
(On the Willows- Godspell)
oOo
Andromeda was brought to a small house in southern England by Ted through means of side-along apparation. The house was two stories, but still appeared small as it was surrounded by a beautiful, massive garden. Andromeda continued to survey the home, which seemed that it was made between mixes of stone and wood. Finally, she took a better look at the garden, which was already overflowing with greenery. There was a wooden bench laid against the house, which looked to a small stone bird bath.
Andy looked over to Ted, who was still hold on to her hand tightly, "it's lovely."
He smiled at her before squeezing her hand even tighter, "let's look at the inside."
They walked closer to the door until Ted stopped and pulled Andy to a halt as well. Before she knew it, he picked her up bridal style and carried her through the threshold.
He looked down at her, still in his arms, "I felt like it was necessary."
She laughed as he put placed her feet back on the wooden floor. They began to look through the house together, the cozy living room, the quaint kitchen, and the nursery he had prepared. The last room they entered was a spare bedroom that they were going to use as a den.
When Andromeda opened the door, she noticed a picture of a large willow tree displayed on a tapestry on the wall. It resembled the the one back in the Black family homes, but brighter and warmer. Unlike the Black tree, the only people displayed on this were Sirius, Alphard, and herself, three or wools who had been burned from the original.
However, Ted's side displayed the countless family members he had. Family who had taken Andromeda in without a second thought and treated her as if she had been with them her entire life.
"When the baby arrives, they will appear on here too," said Ted from behind her. "It will be like the one you grew up with, except these people will love you no matter what happens."
Andromeda felt a smile creep onto her face. If she was not wanted on her disowned family's tree, she would just grow her own.
oOo
"That man right there, that is your great uncle Alphard," Andromeda heard Sirius say from down the hall. She made her way into the spare room to see Sirius with Nymphadora. Ever since he had graduated from Hogwarts, he had been coming over for dinner once or twice a week. Every so often, he would have some of his friends tag along.
"Why is mummy's side of the family tree so small when daddy's isn't," Nymphadora asked her older cousin.
"Well your mum's and my family aren't very nice people," Sirius told her.
"Is that why we never see them," she asked, tilting her head slightly to the side. Her bubblegum pink pigtails followed the motion.
"Of course," said Sirius, "you wouldn't want to be around mean people now, would you?"
"Guess not," said Nymphadora, looking down to the ground.
"Hey it's alright," said Sirius, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder which made her look back up at him. He pointed at the tree with his free hand, "look at all these people who are nice and love you. That's the point of this tree, it shows you how much you are loved."
oOo
Andromeda stormed into the den, slamming the door loudly behind her. She pointed her wand at Sirius's name, "incendio."
The name went up into flames before extinguishing itself as quickly as it had sparked. The fire left behind a circle of ash, one that she had seen in several places on the tree at home. It served as a cruel reminder of what her family thought of her, of Sirius. Sirius didn't matter anymore, they would surely be proud of him now.
She made the burn vanish, leaving empty space on the tapestry. She began to feel the hot tears fall down her face.
"Mum?"
Andromeda turned to see Nymphadora in the doorway, still in her pajamas as she had been put to bed hours ago. "Nymphadora, you should be in bed."
"I heard the door slam, and it woke me up," she admitted. "Are you alright?"
Andromeda wiped her eyes, "yes, I'm fine."
Dora looked at the tapestry, puzzled she asked, "what happened to Sirius's name?"
"Don't worry about it," Andromeda told her.
"But-"
"I'll tell you in the morning, Nymphadora. Now, go back to sleep," said Andromeda sternly.
Dora nodded before walking back to her bedroom, leaving Andromeda to continue her cries late into the night.
oOo
"Do you think they'll find it," asked Andromeda once she had calmed down enough from her crying, "his body, I mean."
"They'll do their best," said Remus. "Nothing can be promised at this point."
Andromeda huffed, "go look after your wife, why don't you. And please, do better at comforting her than your sorry attempt with me."
"That wasn't meant to be comforting, it was meant to be the truth," he told her before walking upstairs to Dora's childhood bedroom where they had been staying for the past few months.
After she was sure they were both in there together, Andromeda ascended the stairs into the den. She looked at the tapestry, the first thing catching her eyes was Remus's name. It had appeared under both Sirius's name, which had been replaced after his death, and her own. It was connected to Dora's, so Andromeda had fought the urge to burn it off on several occasions. Those urges had disappeared recently as their relationship started to get better.
Next she looked over to Ted's name and saw that it was surrounded in gold. She had noticed that Alphard's and Sirius's names were too but never understood why that was. Now she did, and it was much better than them growing darker like the ones the Blacks had.
oOo
Andromeda looked at the three of them. Remus sat with his one arm around Dora's shoulders, while his other hand was placed on top of hers. Both of their arms cupping around the small body of their son. He was sleeping soundly, his cheeks were redden and his eyelashes fluttered as he slept.
"His name's on the tree," said Andromeda, breaking the silence after several moments of it.
They both looked up at her, edging her to keep going, so she did, "it's glowing in white, not gold like the dead, but white. It's quite beautiful actually. I can't remember for the life of me if it did that when you were born or not, but I know that the one at my childhood home never shined like that."
"Maybe the happiness surrounding him," suggested Remus.
"Could be," said Andromeda. She let out a small laugh, "my parents weren't the type for happiness, especially when my father wanted a son but was given three daughters."
"Your father also wanted only pure bloods to receive an education at Hogwarts, so safe to say he didn't have the best priorities," said Dora, jokingly.
Andromeda laughed again, "guess not."
oOo
Andromeda looked up to the tapestry, all the names were now surrounded by gold. Well, all except two, herself and her grandson. She felt the tears that had welled up in her eyes begin to slide down her cheeks.
"Grandma?"
She turned to look at him, a small smile on her face remembering how his mother had done the same all those years ago.
"Are you alright," he asked her.
"I'll be okay, sweetheart," she responded, "it's just a tough day for everyone."
Teddy nodded and pulled her into a hug, "I know it's been a hard fifteen years for you. It had been for me too."
"I just miss them, Teddy," she cried.
"I do too," he told her, " and I barely knew them. But, it's like you told me, the point of the tree is to show how much you're loved. They'll always love even if they're not here."
Hope you enjoyed.