Moss-laden pillars stood as despairing guards on either side of the graveyard threshold. Behind the wrought-iron gates were rows upon rows of crumbling gravestones, most unmarked, the tombs bathed in light spilt from an ashen moon. Gnarled trees hunched over most of the expanse, plunging the rest into shadow. The place echoed with painful grief and the emptiness of heartfelt loss, including Teddy's and Harry's too.

As the bodies of the beloved return their matter to the earth, their souls, ageless since birth, returned to the Maker. Teddy let his feet tread lightly over the soils that supported new spring growth, white-bells and green wands of grass, until she was there, at their unmarked tombs, tears welling in his eyes, a fresh bouquet of lilies in his hands, and a copy of his mom's favorite book, Tristan and Iseult, to place at the grave.

Though the story was old, it was one of his mother's favorites.

His parents had left them for a new life, for whatever followed this existence. Teddy prayed they were at peace, now they were reunited. His eyes rested on their tombstones bearing their names, his heart hearing both of their voices as if his parents were standing right there with him. Perhaps it was the memories that were the real bridge, that sense of love a key to open doors into the worlds beyond this one, yet here Teddy Lupin stood in a graveyard, these moments of reflection their everlasting bond for eternity. Stifling a choked sob, Teddy gingerly placed the leather-bound copy of the book near his mother's tomb, and the lilies, letting the tips of his fingers wander over their gravestones. Slowly sprouting from Remus's grave was a green leafy briar, strong in branches and carried the scent of flowers. It climbed the chantry and fell to root again by Nymphadora's tomb. "Briar," Teddy whispered, fingering one of the snow-white petals in his hands, Harry silent beside him. "Just like the story, Harry!" he exclaimed, his eyes misting with tears as he looked up.

His godfather was looking solemn. "Your parents' death was not of your making. Your mother and father died so that they could help make a better world for you. They were strong in this life," said Harry calmly, though he too, was fighting back tears. Teddy glanced at Harry; his eyes filled with salty un-cried tears. "The world should not be this way."

It was more than crying for Teddy. It was the kind of desolate sobbing that came from a person drained of all hope. The young wizard sank to his knees at their graves, not caring for the damp mud that dirtied his jeans.

His tears mingled with the rain and his cries echoed around the gravestones. The pain the flowed from him was as palpable as the frigid fall wind and soon the only person at his side was Harry, struggling to keep his own tears silent, looking up to the watery skies and heaven beyond. They had to believe both were safe up there, comfortable, warm, with each other. To look down would be to imagine Mum and Dad in the ground, and that Teddy couldn't do. As they left the graveyard, Teddy risked one last glance behind him, and was startled to see the pure white flowers growing from his parents' tombstones. He was hit by the passage from the book that his mum, according to his grandmother, had loved and found himself remembering. He whispered it despite the pain he felt.

"When King Mark heard of the death of these two lovers, he crossed the sea and came into Brittany; and he had two coffins hewn, for Tristan and Iseult, one of chalcedony for Iseult, and one of beryl for Tristan. And he took their beloved bodies away with him upon his ship to Tintagel, and by a chantry to the left and right of the apse he had their tombs built round. But one night, there sprang from the tomb of Tristan a green leafy briar, strong in branches and in the scent of its flowers. It climbed the chantry and fell to root again by Iseult's tomb. Thrice did the peasants cut it down, but thrice it grew again as flowered and as strong. They told the marvel to King Mark, and he forbade them to cut the briar anymore."

Teddy Remus Lupin allowed himself to smile at seeing briar on his parents' tombs, just like the story. Teddy marveled at the simple beauty before him. Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin had seen all her husband's flaws, all of them, and nothing changed her love. His father, Remus Lupin, had found a person who made him laugh, made him question everything, and changed him for the better. Their love had transcended time, distance, and even their own mortality. Teddy could see it on their graves, at the briar and pristine white flowers that engulfed both of their tombs. The flowers that grew where their graves lay, these tenacious white blossoms of the earth, born to take whatever came their way and make beauty of it. Teddy knew the flowers bound the two lovers together, even in death, and was again reminded of the passage from the book his mother had loved.

He smiled to himself as he remembered it.

"For apart, the lovers could neither live nor die, for it was life and death together."-Tristan and Iseult.