Andromeda Tonks (andromynous) wrote in valesco,
@ 2010-11-16 23:49:00

Entry tags:

September 1998 [OTA!]
Four months. That's how long it had been since the so-called 'final fall of the Dark Lord'. Perhaps she was cynical, but Andromeda didn't believe the world was going to magically become all right again. She knew this cynicism probably stemmed from the fact that her husband, daughter, and son-in-law had been killed in the war effort. She knew that she should try to be happy for Teddy's sake, so that she could be the grandmother he deserved. And she did try. She took care of him, but looking into his wide, childish eyes and seeing her daughter was still hard.

Harry and the other boys were so good about taking Teddy that it had become too easy to drop him off at one of their houses and have some time for herself. Tonight was one of those nights. She was sitting at a bar in Hogsmeade, alone, with a pint and a greasy burger. Her hair was not done (she had learned that the wilder she let it grow, the more she liked it), and her robes were only passably pressed. Definitely not typical for Andromeda, but becoming more common every day.

Ha. Ironic that she'd lose her clean streak after Ted was gone. It just wasn't as satisfying to clean up your own messes, it seemed.

She frowned, bumping elbows with the nearest person as she leaned forward to cup her forehead in her hand.

"Sorry," she muttered, not bothering to look them in the eye.

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misterprongs
2010-11-18 01:52 am UTC (link)

Harry Potter wasn't well-known for being very observant of other people's feelings and emotions, but he'd definitely noticed Andromeda's particularly sour mood tonight when she'd come by with Teddy. As much as Harry adored his godson (adored, he bought the little boy everything, it was beginning to become a spacing problem...), he'd asked Ron and Hermione to stay at his flat to watch the baby. It had been easy enough; Hermione made a quick comment about how it would be good practice, and Ron choked and nearly fainted in the living room.

He knew where Andromeda frequented, only because of the many, many owls he'd sent her during his first couple of nights watching Teddy. He'd never even held a baby before Teddy Lupin, so--he needed help. Harry pushed through the small crowd of the pub and made his way beside Andromeda, but waited until she acknowledged him before he said anything. If she really wanted to be alone, she'd tell him, right?

Harry had just ordered a glass of water when Andromeda knocked his elbow, and he spilled a bit on the counter. He wasn't much of a pub frequenter, but with his time with the Weasleys he knew he should clean up the mess before the bartender saw and scowled.

"It's all right," Harry muttered back, feeling a bit foolish as he pulled out his wand and cleared the water away.

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andromynous
2010-11-18 02:06 am UTC (link)

Of course she knew that voice. By now she was sure that the whole bloody wizarding world knew that voice, but ...

"You had sure as hell hope that Ronald does not drop my grandson on his head, Harry Potter." Why wouldn't Harry have followed her to the bar? It wasn't as if she wanted to get away from their bizarre little family unit for a moment so that she didn't have to pretend that things were getting better even though it felt like it was getting worse.

Things had been bad enough after everything with James and Sirius. At least she'd still had Ted. Now, with all of this ...

She sighed, turning to face Harry fully and frowning.

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misterprongs
2010-11-18 03:20 am UTC (link)

Harry blanched, but then relaxed, "Hermione's there," he answered, hoping that would be enough. The three of them had watched Teddy before, so--this should be okay, right?

He pulled himself up onto a stool and ordered another drink, and rubbed his face to try and wake up. Harry hadn't had many good nights of sleep since May, even if everyone had been telling him he looked better than ever. He wasn't sure how to take that; he thought he looked like shit, so what the heck did he look like before the war had ended?

But, he could see in Andromeda's eyes the same expression he saw every morning in the mirror of his bathroom. Tonight it had been particularly evident, and it was what had compelled him to come out and talk to her. Harry didn't know why he thought he could help, but...they were sort of family, now, with Teddy. And---she was Sirius' favorite cousin, so that definitely meant something, right?

"Do you...want to talk?" Harry had never been very good at dealing with girls and their emotions, but Andromeda wasn't a normal girl. Woman. Whatever.

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andromynous
2010-11-18 03:28 am UTC (link)

"Yes, Harry. I came to a bar alone because I wanted to talk to you. However did you come to this conclusion?" She knew that it wasn't fair to be snappy to Harry, somewhere far in the back of her mind. It was just ... she was sick of people asking if she wanted to talk. What was talking going to do, really?

They'd even asked her to see that twat Pamplemoss at work. He tried to tell her that he knew what she was going through because he'd had to go into hiding years ago. She had thrown her glass of water in his face and left his office.

And that was just their first session. The ones following that had just been ... difficult for the both of them. He still hadn't signed her 'fit for complete duty' slip, though. She had to at least grudgingly respect him for that.

She sighed, raking her hand through her hair. "Well if Hermione is there, then I had better not come back to a child toting signs about House Elf Rights. He's too young for activism." And joining any sort of cause would clearly just lead to an early childhood death for him.

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misterprongs
2010-11-18 05:51 pm UTC (link)

Ouch. This had been a really bad idea, hadn't it? Harry forced himself not to grimace, and he swiveled back toward the bar to let Andromeda have her peace. What else could he do? He wasn't one who could actually give advice on the matter; he was still reeling about deaths that had been his own fault that had happened nearly four years ago! He'd experienced loss, but to have the love of your life and your child taken from you within the span of a few months? It had been dumb to come out here, thinking he could actually help Andromeda.

He could try to tell her that being alone and drinking the night away was not the way to get better, but that would probably get him punched in the face. Harry let out a breath and stared at the mirror behind the bar. His hair had grown long and straggly, much to the dismay of Mrs. Weasley (but Ginny seemed to like it..), and Harry was greatful. His scar hadn't burnt in months and it was so faded that sometimes he couldn't see it himself when he quickly passed by a mirror. Maybe Andromeda's scars would fade away too; not to completely disappear, but just enough so that they wouldn't hurt her anymore.

Harry got struck with an idea as a woman with bright pink hair came around the counter and asked if he wanted some firewhiskey. Harry shook his head quickly and turned to Andromeda,

"You know--Tonks taught me the accio spell." He nodded slowly, wondering if this was a good idea at all. He smiled at his first meeting with Tonks, in his messy bedroom on Privet Drive, "That spell saved my life more than I can count."

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andromynous
2010-11-18 06:25 pm UTC (link)

Andromeda felt only slightly guilty as Harry turned away from her. It wasn't as if she'd asked him to come here and then turned him away so cruelly -- no, it was quite the opposite of that. He was the one who'd followed her without her permission, she had the right to be at least mildly annoyed!

And yes, that would definitely get him punched in the face. She was not-so-secretly hoping that Harry would simply disappear after his little effort at being 'helpful', but when he turned to face her again she couldn't help the slight smirk.

"Yes, well. As much as Nymphadora would never admit it, she was a terribly capable wizard. And smarter than she looked, too." Because really, the pink hair hadn't been appropriate for someone of her age. Coming from Andromeda, that had to mean something. "Smarter than some of her actions."

People might've thought that the Tonks' had problems with Remus Lupin because he was a werewolf, but that wasn't it. Not at all. Andromeda had half-grown up with those people, Remus and Sirius and the rest of the lot ... she knew how he was about things. Sure, Remus would do the right thing eventually, but working up the courage to do so was another thing entirely. That wasn't something she had wished her daughter to go through, Remus Lupin's crippling indecision.

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misterprongs
2010-11-24 11:58 pm UTC (link)

Harry shrugged noncommittally. Tonks had been a bit silly, but he'd always found she'd had a method behind her pink-haired madness. Harry sometimes wished he had been brave enough to not care what everyone around him thought, like she had, but there was no way he'd have been able to do anything to stand out in Hogwarts like dye his hair.

Well. Anything in his control, anyway. Not like he asked for something tremendous and usually terrible to happen to him for each year he attended Hogwarts.

He didn't know what else to say, now. He wanted to help Andromeda, but that could be part of the hero-complex Hermione was always going on about. Harry just---Remus had been family, that made Tonks family, Teddy was his godson, so---Andromeda was family. In some strange, make-shift way that Harry seemed to revel in. That meant that she needed to find some happiness in her life, again.

"I got tickets to the United match next weekend," Harry said, wondering how bad Ron would bludgeon him if he found out he'd offered the tickets to Andromeda before him, "Box seats. If you want to go---there's supposed to be some hall of fame thing going on, but I dunno any of the names..."

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andromynous
2010-11-25 01:18 am UTC (link)

She sucked in a slow, long breath. There were two things that Andromeda could do in this sort of situation. She could get angrier about this up to the point where things got silly, or she could just accept the offer and try to get past it as quickly as possible.

"If I tell you I'll go to the game with you, are you going to let me finish my few drinks alone?" She half-smiled, though -- okay, so he was at least trying -- but she still really did want to get in a few hours of 'Andromeda time' before she went back to her grandson. It'd make sure that everyone stayed in better sorts for longer. "I'm sure I went to school with some of them. It will be ... interesting, at least."

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