A/N - Andromeda mourns after Ted's death. This one went a little differently than I expected when Remus decided to make an appearance, but I like how it turned out. :)

Also written for Jelly Bean Bingo at the Hogwarts Fair on HPFC - prompt - Grass

Characters: Andromeda Tonks and Remus Lupin

Rating: K+

Word Count: 1410

When you're dreaming with a broken heart
The giving up is the hardest part
She takes you in with her crying eyes
Then all at once you have to say goodbye
Wondering, "Could you stay my love?
Will you wake up by my side?"
No she can't, 'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone

Dreaming with a Broken Heart – John Mayer

Andromeda stepped into the back garden, the grass damp beneath her feet. The satin slippers she wore did nothing to protect her from the chill of the dewy ground. She gathered her dressing gown tighter around her and walked toward the old porch swing that Ted had built when Nymphadora was just a baby. Given they had no porch; he had hung it instead from a stout branch of the tallest tree, reinforced with magic of course. Ted would not allow any harm to ever come to his girls, especially not from something built by his own hand.

She sat down and slowly pushed herself back and forth with the toe of her foot. The grass here was nearly gone, trodden over too many times to allow it to grow properly. She had suggested enhancing it with magic, but Ted had shaken his head. He wanted their home to look as if it was lived in, not a perfect museum. It was such a foreign concept to her at the time; she had scoffed and nearly performed the charm anyway. She was glad now that she hadn't.

It was the dream that had woken her. She'd had the same one for three nights running now, ever since Arthur Weasley had delivered the news. The news she had stoically born without shedding a tear; her Pureblood upbringing never completely going away, regardless of who she had married and the life she, they, had lived.

"I'm so sorry Andromeda," Arthur had said. "If it means anything, he did not go down without a fight."

She had smiled a bit at that. Of course he would not have gone down without a fight. Andromeda always thought that everyone had it a bit wrong about Hufflepuff House. They might not have the impetuous bravery of Gryffindor, but when something they believed in or someone they loved was threatened, there was no hesitation. It was the reason Ted had left in the first place. He would not have put his girls in danger by harboring him.

She had pled with him to go abroad and wait out the end of the war, but he refused. He wanted to be there, he had said, when it came time to actually fight. He would not abandon her or their daughter or their future grandchild; their grandchild that he would now never know. The tears spilled from her eyes then and ran silently down her cheeks.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Remus wasn't sure how long his mother-in-law had been sitting there, but the tear tracks on her face and the soiled toe of her slipper made him think it had been quite some time. He took her cloak from the peg near the door after slipping into his own and then stepped from the house and walked towards her.

Andromeda didn't notice his approach until he was only a few feet away. She looked up in surprise for a moment as if she had forgotten that he was living there with her. It was still awkward between them at times, he was only seven years her junior, yet married to her only child. The fact that he was a werewolf and that he had left Dora after finding out she was pregnant didn't help.

"I thought you might be cold," Remus said when Andromeda had looked up at him. He handed her the cloak and she had given him a small smile before throwing it over her shoulders and gathering it around herself. Remus stood uncomfortably for a moment before deciding not to intrude on her privacy.

"I'll just leave you to your thoughts," he said and turned to go back into the house.

"No," she said. He stopped and looked at her, trying to hide the surprise on his face. "I do not mind if you stay." Taking that as an invitation, he sat down next to her on the swing.

"How is Nymphadora?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

"Holding up," Remus replied. "She has slept better tonight." Andromeda nodded, looking off into the distance.

"How are you doing?" he asked. She gave a little laugh at that and a small shrug of her shoulders. It was so uncharacteristic of the proper façade she presented most of the time that he nearly startled.

"I do not like to sleep. If I sleep I dream and if I dream," she trailed off shaking her head. He nodded in understanding. It had been the same for him after James and Lily were killed and again after Sirius. He couldn't imagine what it would be like if he lost Dora. He said nothing because there was really nothing to say. Apologies or empty platitudes would not change the situation and he didn't think that she would appreciate them at that moment. The swing moved slowly back and forth, Remus taking up the action with his foot in the scrubby grass as Andromeda tucked hers beneath her.

"It is always the same," Andromeda said quietly. Remus stayed silent, thinking that if he spoke, she might stop. "He comes to me and stands at the end of my bed and smiles at me. He looks so sad, that I want to comfort him. But every time I reach for him, he is gone." Remus nearly lost his breath at the emotion that was pouring off of her in waves. "He is gone."

The tears returned then and Remus was at a loss for what to do. His first instinct was to put his arms around her and let her cry into his shoulder, but he was unsure if Andromeda would welcome such an action. So instead, he moved a bit closer to her and took her hand that lay in her lap. He gave it a squeeze and she gave him a watery half-smile. She leaned into him, just slightly and they sat there in silence until her tears slowed. He conjured a handkerchief and handed it to her.

"Thank you," she said, patting his hand after she had let go of it. "I am sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for," Remus assured her. She shivered a little. "Perhaps we should go back inside."

"All right," she agreed. He stood from the swing and held out a hand to her to help her up. The sun was just peaking above the horizon and the grass was heavy with dew. Remus drew his wand and dried her slippers once they reached the back steps. She nodded in thanks.

"Remus," she said before he could climb the steps and open the back door. He turned back to her. "I know that I have not said it before, although I should have. You are a good man Remus and I am proud to call you my son-in-law." Remus stared at her for a moment, his jaw working to control the emotion swelling inside him. "As I have so recently found out, life can change in a moment and I would not want anything to happen without you knowing that." He cleared his throat.

"Thank you Andromeda," he replied unable to say anything else. She smiled at him as he opened the door for her and patted his cheek as she walked by. Remus watched her until she disappeared down the corridor towards her room and then headed for his own.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

When she reached her bedroom, she sat on the edge of her bed and picked up the framed wedding photograph that sat on her bedside table. They were both grinning widely and then Ted kissed her before she laughed and they waved at the camera. She ran a finger lovingly over her husband's cheek.

She lay back in bed, pulling the covers up over her and cradling the photo to her chest. She pulled his pillow towards her and held it to her nose. She was sure that his scent was long gone from it, but she smelt him all the same. If dreams were the only place she could see him now, so be it, she thought as her eyes drooped closed.