Things Were All Good (Yesterday)

by PenofaPhoenix

Through a series of letters to Remus, 16-year-old Teddy Lupin accounts Andromeda's slow deterioration into the clutches of Alzheimer's disease. / It's hard to watch someone you love slowly slip away, but when she's all you have left? It's unbearable. {My entry for the Harry Potter MHealth Fest on LiveJournal.}

12. XI March 10

XI. March 10

Dear Dad,

Happy Birthday! Professor McGonagall let me go home today after Uncle Harry talked to her. We still celebrate it, even if you're not here. I think it's because we don't want to mourn and make us even sadder. Anyway, I told Uncle Harry (and Aunt Ginny) about Gran's Alzheimer's. As expected, Aunt Ginny and Uncle Ron (after Aunt Hermione told him) were all very pitying, but Uncle Harry was understanding and told them to back off, basically. I don't know what I'd do without him. Then again, I don't know how I survived without you or Mum either, much less how I'll survive without Gran.

It seems she's getting "better" – her memory hasn't worsened and she's even been able to regain some of her lost memories! I'd like to say that she was given the active drug and her progression has been slowed, but it might just be the placebo effect… Who knows? Her mood, on the other hand, has started to nosedive. It's not that she's always in a bad mood, simply that she is moodier than before and swings from happy to sad in a matter of minutes. According to Uncle Harry, she's acting similar to what Aunt Ginny was like when she was pregnant with James – not something I cared to hear!

I'm off to eat your birthday cake now! It's vanilla cake with strawberries and chocolate and some other good stuff. I'll make sure to save a piece for you!

Love always, Teddy