Andromeda sat at one end of the table, with Teddy and Harry sitting at her two sides. Ginny sat between Harry and Molly while Victoire sat between Teddy and Bill. All dishes tasted every bit as delicious as they were beautiful that even Molly, the best cook they had ever known, was extremely impressed by how good Vic's cooking was. While the girl had always been good, it was obvious that she had make some great progress over the last year, no doubt in preparation to become the best wife she could be. Everyone was having a good time eating while chatting with each other. Having a smaller group of people meant they could easily chat with anyone on the table pretty well but they did enjoy having some more private conversations with the ones sitting closer to themselves as well. At one point, Andromeda leaned a little towards Harry.
"By the way, Harry, I have meant to thank you since last week." She spoke with her most sincere smile that he almost felt bad about needing to ask the question.
"Hmm… that's nice of you, Andromeda, but I'm sorry I have absolutely no idea what you meant to thank me for." Harry tried to look as unembarrassed as he could.
His confused reaction did not deter her smile at all, instead, she even placed a hand on his and continued. "I want to thank you, Harry, for talking to my nephew. He has sent me a letter last week and being able to reconnect with one of my last living relatives is perhaps one of the best birthday presents I could possibly receive."
This was news to Harry even though he had indeed encouraged Draco to reach out to Andromeda during breakfast on Christmas morning. Given Malfoy's characters, he had imagined that it would take him a long time and more urging to actually give this a try that he was pleasantly surprised by how fast he had taken heed of his advice. From writing that long letter, making use of an opportunity to apologise to Ron, to trying to reconnect with Andromeda so soon, lately he had been constantly surprised by him in a good way. "You're welcome. I haven't done much except assuring him that you would not take his previous silence personally and would appreciate any late contact all the same."
Here, she gave him a sad smile before saying, "You know me well, Harry. I have had a good life so far… but I would be lying if I say being estranged from my own family had not brought me some sadness all these years. Back when he had written to me two years ago to invite me to Cissy's funeral, it had make me quite sad that I had never gotten a chance to see her again after my marriage but Draco's belief that she would want me to be there brought me some comfort. Bella had never liked me too much but Cissy and I… we had been quite close as children so it had been hard for me… As sad as the circumstances had been, I was very glad that he would invite me at all, that at least I had a chance to say goodbye formally."
She was now looking down and was absent-mindedly twisting her wedding ring, Teddy gave her a concerned look but he seemed to understand that the conversation was meant for Harry and perhaps Ginny to hear that he turned to chat "casually" with his fiancée.
"The funeral was close to what I would have imagined except for one notable difference: there were only ten people in attendance. I had known that the Malfoy's reputation among the purebloods might have changed after the War but Cissy had used to be so popular with so many friends that you would have thought there would be hundreds of people attending her funeral. And… even though I had never met him before then, I felt so bad for my nephew because he looked emotionally numbed even though he had greeted me very politely and seemed genuinely appreciative of my presence. It appeared to me then that he must had a fairly complicated relationship with Cissy. His wife greeted me with a warm smile even though she was all pale and quite fragile by then and was seated in a wheelchair while that sweet little boy looked so small holding his mother's hand the whole time." The picture of young Scorpius staying by Astoria's side, supporting her through her illness even during his grandmother's funeral was almost enough to break Harry's heart after learning so much about the family's relationship. He could tell from Andromeda's melancholic look and the way that Ginny had looked away blinking her eyes that they were feeling the same.
"I got a chance to talk with the two of them for a while and they obviously shared such a close bond and loved each other so much that it made me quite sad to learn later of her passing. After the ceremony, I stayed for a bit at the Manor where I helped to sort out some of Cissy's old stuff. Seeing all those old stuff again brought me so much nostalgia and sadness. It was such a strange day to see Cissy lying there looking so different from when I had last seen her and to remember all those memories from another life seeing my mother's jewelries, hair brush and so on... Despite all the strangeness and sadness, I had hoped that something good would come out of it at the time, that I would get to build a relationship with my sister's family so I had been quite disappointed to receive the reply to my thank you note to my nephew. I did not write much because he had appeared so reserved but I did try to convey to him how important it had been for me to get to see Cissy one last time. His reply was very formal and polite but it was basically just a 'you're welcome' with two lines in total. Knowing all those things that were going on in his life, Cissy's death, his wife's sickness and that ridiculous rumour about his gentle boy, I respected that his life likely had no space for some 'blood traitor' aunt he had learned to distance himself from his entire life so I stopped contacting him afterwards." It was quite curious how she seemed almost accepting about being known as a blood traitor in her own family that not only was there no bitterness in her voice, she also pronounced the words matter-of-factly.
"It had been more than two years that I have completely given up on reconnecting with him… so it was such a pleasant surprise to receive his letter out of the blue. And it wasn't just receiving the letter in itself… he had written so sincerely and honestly about how scared and reluctant his family had been in the later part of the war, how Cissy's later years had been, how she would have tried to reconnect with me if it had not been her unwillingness to displease Lucius that he felt sorry that she had not been brave enough to do so. He also expressed sympathy for the unfair contempt I had received from the Blacks and his family in the past and for the situation the war had left me in. He explained to me why he had not been in touch and expressed a wish to remain in contact which pleased me very much. Of course he did tell me a bit about the memorable Christmas he had and the part you had played in making the day special and encouraging him to write at the first place, so it was all thanks to you." Her happiness was subtle but seemed to glow from deep within, she looked Harry in the eye with such gratefulness as if he had done so much more than giving Malfoy a passing encouragement to contact her which prompted his face to feel slightly hot.
"Hmm… I didn't do much at all, Andromeda. But I can attest that he is a very different person from the typical pureblood elitist he used to be in Hogwarts. He's the one who has taken the first step to write, and he chose himself to write in this honest manner that I… can't take any credit at all." Pureblood elitist was definitely an understatement but she did not need to know that he had been a bully and a spoiled git in the past, he wanted her to like Draco and for the two families to establish a permanent relationship more than anyone else.
She nodded her head thoughtfully. "I must say, I didn't think ill of him previously even though I had heard that he had not been too nice in his youth but he seemed to have transformed into a completely different person based on the way he had written. I feel quite glad as it looks like he has grown out of Lucius' influence to become an amazing man and a loving father. He did not write too much about his boy but his love was so evident in the little bit there was." Harry was immediately reminded of the heartfelt tone Draco had used writing the long letter that he was willing to bet that he had written this letter in the same tone.
Here she looked jarringly mischievous for an almost seventy-year-old with a sparkle in her eyes, "You know, Harry, I was actually very tempted to invite him to tonight's dinner but of course I would not want to risk scaring him away. I did not want to pressure him into attending and force him into making awkward small talks with me too soon but I do want to know him and my grandnephew better, to meet them in person again later in addition to keeping in touch by letters." Knowing that Draco had agreed to attend a dinner with both Andromeda and Teddy, having read his letter to him and now having heard of the content of his letter to her, Harry actually felt very sure that Malfoy would want to leave a good impression that not only would he agree to attend the birthday dinner if he had been invited, he would also have dressed all properly and bring the most extravagant present. He would not have been able to stifle a giggle imagining Malfoy cramming in this small kitchen wearing his best dress suit if it had not been Ginny's warning look.
Andromeda seemed to look a little taken aback by his amused expression, he averted his eyes then gave a cough before turning back to her. "I am sorry, Andromeda, that's pretty rude of me. I was just reminded of something funny… sorry."
"That's alright, Harry. These things happen to the best of us." She gave him an understanding look. Harry looked at her intently, she appeared much more talkative and happier than she had ever been while talking about the Malfoys. He could tell that even if her values and beliefs had been at odds with her family's and they might not have been great people, she must have yearned for more familial contacts anyway that amazingly, this new chance to get to know the Malfoys seemed to have rejuvenated her. He thought, perhaps there had always been something there that was more than blood to connect the Malfoys with Andromeda and Teddy, even if they had been strangers. What did it mean to be family? Aunt Petunia had been connected to him no matter how much she had loathed him, as proved by her being the means of keeping his mother's protection alive, while the Weasleys had been more his family than the Dursleys had ever been even before he had officially become one of them. It had not mattered that Andromeda had been disowned, deep down she would always be a Black in some way. In any case, she might as well have already answered him that she would love to meet with the Malfoys in Easter, which made his job so much easier.
"Hmm… It's actually quite curious that you would bring up Draco, Andromeda, because I have been meaning to ask you tonight if you would like to meet with the Malfoys in the Easter break at my home. Scorpius has been a very lonely child that I thought it would be beneficial for both Teddy and him to get to know each other. Since I'm now friends with Draco and Albus is Scorpius' best friend, I think it would make them feel less awkward if we all have dinner together at my place."
"Aww… that's so considerate of you to have thought about that for the both of them, Harry dear. Of course I will join, I can't wait to meet with Draco and his sweet little boy again."
There was absolutely no question that she was indeed happy to hear about the dinner, but she seemed surprisingly calm about it that he could not help from feeling underwhelmed by her reaction. Apparently, his disappointment must have shown as she smiled and took his hand. "Don't get me wrong, Harry. This is an absolutely wonderful thing you are doing and I am beyond excited to hear your invitation but surely you could not expect Teddy to keep quiet about your plan, right?"
"Oh… right." Now he sort of felt like an idiot for not thinking about it beforehand, Teddy kept almost no secret from his grandmother and he had appeared so excited to get to meet Scorpius when he had asked him at the Christmas party that of course he would have told her. At the time, he might only have asked his godson about meeting the Malfoys without mentioning her, but Andromeda and Teddy had been family to him that of course they would instinctively know that he would do the proper thing to ask her as well.
"That's Harry for you, Andromeda. Of course he is always obsessed about doing the right and proper thing. He has become so invested in helping the Malfoys these days that even though I absolutely adore Scorpius and it's nice to have a husband who cares so much, it gets a bit irritating sometimes, but you know his heart is always in the right place." Ginny gave him a teasing look while laughing happily, she was obviously joking but he knew from the heat that his face had turned bright red.
To his horror, Andromeda laughed along at his expense. "You are quite right, dear, but I am certainly not complaining that Teddy got to have the perfect role model as his godfather. I am sorry, Harry, but to tell you the truth, I had been a little skeptical at first to hear that Remus and Dora had named a seventeen-year-old as Teddy's godfather even though I had heard that you had been working to bring down You-know-who at the time but you have proven me so wrong." He certainly could not fault her for that as he had hardly believed himself worthy and mature enough to be a godfather when he had first been told and at the beginning, he really had very little idea what he had been doing.
"I was just thinking about how coincidental it was that you would be thanking me about Draco and telling me how much you would want to know them better when I was meaning to invite you to meet them. I had wanted this to be a surprise for you." He tried to not sound as bummed as he felt.
"Oh Harry, your encouragement to Draco has meant so much to me that I had to make sure to thank you first before you mentioning them because I didn't want it to sound like a by-the-way. It might not be that surprising but the news, along with Draco's letter, is certainly the best present I have received in many years. Teddy and I have been extremely lucky to have you in our lives." They might have teased him but she looked so earnest that he could not stay annoyed at all. Not to mention, he could not help from feeling very proud for being responsible of making the usually serious-looking Andromeda so happy on her birthday that he automatically moved to give her a hug, which she returned with equal warmth.
A/N: Some of you may recall me taking an exam in July, I failed the exam and will retake it in December and there's another exam I should prepare for that I'm already feeling the pressure. I'm feeling overwhelmed and frustrated that I need to take a break to focus on my exams. I highly doubt I'd be able to completely stay away until the exams but it's safe to say that I won't be able to update as often in the next two months, any word of encouragement or any thought about the story would be deeply appreciated.
As always, thank you so much for all the support and especially to all the lovely repeated reviewers, I'd totally have given up by now without all of you.