Christmas brought a quiet morning to the Tonks residence. Andromeda attempted to put a smile on her face as she descended the stairs with her grandson in her arms, but her mind kept catching on the fact that her grandson should have his mother and father with him for his first Christmas. Andromeda knew that all of the "firsts" would be the hardest. She had spent the entire day in bed the day that Nymphadora's birthday had passed. She drank herself into a near coma on the night of her and Ted's anniversary. Halloween had been a somber event as it had been Nymphadora's favorite holiday, but she kept it together for Teddy. Now, it was Christmas, and all Andromeda wanted was her daughter. She missed her with every fiber of her being, but she knew that her wish would not come true.

From the landing at the base of the stairs, Andromeda could see the sparkling lights of the tree that she and Hermione had charmed. In the early morning light, the tree looked ethereal and breathtaking. Andromeda was thankful that Hermione convinced her to do that small amount of decorating for what used to be her favorite holiday.

As she thought of the younger witch, she wondered what her plans for the day were. They had spent Christmas Eve celebrating with the Weasleys, and she doubted that Hermione would choose to spend more time in Ronald's presence. They still were not getting on well.

Dragging her eyes away from the tree, she found Mila busy in the kitchen, preparing what looked to be a morning feast. Andromeda grinned sincerely when she admired the skill it took to control all of the flying dishes and decorations. "Happy Christmas, Mila."

Mila turned to look at her Mistress, smiling at the sight she found. "Good morning, Mistress, and happy Christmas. Breakfast is nearly ready. Is Mistress Hermione joining us?" Mila had begun to refer to Hermione in that manner the moment that they returned to the Tonks' residence with her belongings, and Hermione had given up fighting it.

Andromeda shrugged her shoulders as she placed Teddy in his high chair. "I am unsure. Would you like to go ask her for me?"

The response was immediate as Mila disappeared from the room.

The house elf had taken a liking to the young witch and always made sure she was eating well. There were many times that Andromeda noticed Mila cooking after Andromeda had eaten. The elf would then apparate into a different room of the house with a tray of food in her hands. This typically occurred on days where Hermione stayed holed up in the library all day long. It was now the most frequented room of the manor.

Hermione jolted slightly when she heard the distinctive crack that symbolized Mila's entrance. She rolled onto her side and fixed her gaze on the house elf.

"Mistress Hermione, Mila hoped that you might join Mistress for Christmas breakfast. Is that quite alright?"

Hermione attempted to stifle her groan. She wanted nothing more than to forget that it was Christmas, but how could she say no to Mila? She gingerly sat up. "Will it just be the four of us?"

The elf nodded vigorously. "Mila believes so, yes, Mistress Hermione."

"I suppose I am hungry and should get a bite to eat."

Mila's smile doubled in size as she responded. "There will be many bites for Mistress Hermione."

With that statement, Mila disappeared with another crack. Hermione sighed and flopped back on her bed, immediately regretting her decision to tell the elf yes. She glanced to her bedside table and shook her head. Her parents would not want her to sulk. They would tell her to get downstairs and enjoy herself. It was Christmas, after all. She was sure that they were somewhere in Australia enjoying themselves at that very moment.

She had not made as much headway as she would have liked when it came to her research on restoring memories. While the book from Barold was helpful, it primarily reaffirmed the knowledge that she had previously gained and filled a couple of gaps. It required severe torture to reverse the spell, and Hermione refused to hurt her parents. She had to find a different way.

She had a few theories that she needed to test, but she knew that there was little room for error when testing on live individuals. She needed to be sure that she was on the right track before she tested anything.

Christmas only reminded her of her current failure. She had hoped to spend Christmas with her parents, but that hope was now completely eradicated. Maybe she would have them back by the following Christmas.

As she prepared for the day, she tried to focus on the fact that she had the opportunity to spend Christmas with Teddy and Andromeda. They were quickly becoming family, but Hermione still felt separate at times. It was not that she doubted their love; she just knew that their family was missing pieces that she could never fill. Their family was as broken as hers.

When she deemed herself presentable, she descended into the kitchen. Andromeda was feeding Teddy, but he was wearing half as much as he was eating because he had reached the stage where he wanted to feed himself even though he did not have the fine motor skills to do it proficiently. She stood in the doorway for a moment, just taking it all in.

It was a few moments before Andromeda felt eyes on her. She looked up from her grandson and smiled, waving Hermione into the room. "Happy Christmas, Hermione. What are your plans for today?"

Hermione entered the room, sitting on Andromeda's opposite side "I don't have any plans today."

Andromeda watched Hermione make up a plate of food before stating nonchalantly, "Well, if you wanted to join us for Christmas, you are welcome to join us. I was just going to open presents with him after breakfast. Then, I was planning to read him some stories and go through the picture book from previous Christmases."

Hermione smiled, thinking about helping to make Teddy's first Christmas perfect. "I could conjure some snow, and we could build him a little snowman."

Andromeda's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "That sounds fantastic!"

They finished their meal in silence and then cleaned Teddy's face so that he could get ready to open presents.

The Christmas tree was inside of the den and had a vast number of presents under it. Andromeda sat on the floor with Teddy on her lap. "Do you mind handing the presents out?"

Hermione looked from the pile to Andromeda, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Sure." She grabbed a present that was wrapped in silver and green wrapping paper. The small tag was written in elegant script and read, 'Teddy.' She passed the present to Andromeda, who placed it in front of the small boy. He unwrapped the first gift with Andromeda's help. Inside were blocks that could not be knocked over until you said "Doom!" It was a custom set that Harry had charmed for Teddy.

The next box was smaller and wrapped in blue paper with snowmen. The tag said 'Andromeda.' Hermione handed the small box to Andromeda. Inside was a metal frame with a picture of Remus and Nymphadora, holding each other tightly as they kissed. The joy on their faces was evident. Andromeda held the picture in front of Teddy for him to see. He giggled and pointed at Nymphadora and then back at his grandmother. The older woman kissed his head and said, "That is your mother, my sweet Teddy. I miss her very much, but I want you to know that she loved you more than anything in the world. And this," She pointed to Remus." "Is your daddy. He was a very brave man. He loved your mommy and you more than he loved the air that he breathed. They were a beautiful couple. You were made from pure love." She kissed his head one more time before smiling up at Hermione. "Thank you for this." There had been no name on the wrapping paper, but she had no doubt that it was from the kind-hearted witch in front of her. "I saw this picture in your collection and loved it. Thank you for giving me a copy of it."

Hermione just smiled in return and grabbed the next present. It was a large box wrapped in red paper with a large gold bow. Hermione knelt on the ground in front of Teddy and helped him open it. Inside was a blue car, just big enough for Teddy to sit inside of it comfortably. It appeared to have the capability to hover along the ground and drive around. The tag was signed 'The Weasleys,' but Hermione suspected that the charm work had been done by the twins. She wondered if the charms could be adjusted as he aged to allow for him to continue using it as he got bigger. She would have to work with them to figure out if that was feasible.

The next present was in a bag rather than in a box. It was addressed to Hermione from the Weasleys. It contained a hand-knit sweater with an 'H' on the front. It threw Hermione off for a moment because it was adorned in Ravenclaw colors rather than Gryffindor. A note was attached that said,

If it were not for your heart of a lion and your brain as sharp as any, my boy would have surely died out there. I owe you my youngest boy's life. Know that you will always be family. I feel that Ravenclaw would have been your house if you had not been intended to save Harry and Ron from their own bull-headedness. Thank you for all you do. You have a home here if you ever want it.

-Molly

Hermione smiled as she lifted out a box of chocolates from the bag. "These will taste wonderful with that mead. These chocolates are my favorite."

She set the gifts to the side and grabbed another box. This one was addressed to Teddy. It had a small collection of books inside. Each book was an illustrated story. "Andy, each of the books will read to him. Each word will light up as it is read aloud. The stories are all true stories about people in his life."

Andromeda flipped through one of the books, grinning as she recognized the woman with spiky pink hair and the man with light brown hair with grey streaks. She watched them struggle at the beginning of the book. She watched as they became a couple. She watched as they embraced and married and then held a little bundle with aqua hair. It had become the hair color that he most frequently wore. Andromeda closed the book and held it against her chest. Although it was a gift to Teddy, she knew she would cherish it forever. "Thank you, Hermione."

"You know it isn't a problem, Andy. I am happy to make it for him." She watched as Andromeda put the books behind her back and then grabbed the next present. This one was a book on memory magic. It was a tome that Hermione had never seen before. It seemed to be less conventional methods of altering memories. Hermione looked to Andromeda's face, questioning her.

"I thought it might help. I can't guarantee that it will, but I hoped it might help you examine the methods of alteration a bit more." Andromeda smiled shyly, hoping she had not overstepped.

Hermione had to keep herself from opening the book. She wanted to dig in immediately, but she knew that they needed to finish opening their presents first. "Thank you. This means more than you will ever know."

Andromeda just nodded, "You're welcome, love."

Hermione laid the book down in her lap and reached for the last box under the tree. It was addressed to Teddy, so Hermione handed it off to the elder witch. Inside was a stuffed wolf from Ginny. As soon as Teddy saw the wolf, he hugged it closely to his chest.

"Do you like your little wolf from Ginny?"

The little boy cooed in response and held his new wolf up in front of his face.

Andromeda stood, not worrying about bringing Teddy with her. She was content to allow him to play on the ground with his new toys while she left the room for a moment.

Hermione watched the older witch leave the room before standing, as well. She took a moment to admire the tree and noticed something that was not there when she helped Andromeda decorate the tree.

A single black envelope sat between the branches of the tree. She picked up the envelope and flipped it so that she could see the side with writing. It read "Lili." Hermione felt her heart drop as she stared at the writing. It was printed in handwriting she did not recognize. She slowly opened the envelope, holding her breath as she waited to see the contents.

Inside of the envelope was a small plastic bag that was filled with a shimmery gold powder. The powder seemed familiar to Hermione, but she was unsure where she had seen it before. It did not look like any potion ingredient she had ever seen.

The only other thing in the envelope was a tiny piece of paper that read, "Only time can heal old wounds."