Part 1: Teddy's Visitors
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter...sadly.
Summary: Andromeda whole-heartedly believes that Teddy receives visitors that she can't see. Part 1 of Teddy's Visitors a short series. Post-DH Pre-epilogue.
A/N: Just a quick thank you to my beta CarlieD who ensured that this story actually made sense.
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Andromeda watched Teddy from her position in front of the sink, slowly drying her dinner plate. He was giggling and waving his arms about, completely focused on the chair next to his high chair. His hair had changed to bright pink only moments before and it was soon after that moment that the giggling had started.
It was during a moment like this, a couple of days after the final battle, that Andromeda remembered something Ted had talked about years before. He mentioned that some Muggles believed that children were able to see ghosts until a certain age, and that it was only as they grew older that such a thing became unbelievable. Of course, Andromeda had found this ridiculous, because wizards and witches were able to see ghosts no matter their age - you just had to visit Hogwarts, for example, to see a ghost.
Since the death of her husband, daughter and son-in-law, she had begun to see merit in this belief. She wondered if these ghosts that children saw were in fact not the same as those at Hogwarts, but instead were those who had passed on. They were simply coming back to visit now and again to check up on friends and family.
She liked to think that at times like these - when her grandson's hair changed to bright pink or some other imaginative colour, and started giggling like mad, focusing on one area within the room - her daughter was there visiting her baby boy.
At first, such an idea had saddened Andromeda to the point where she would burst out crying every time Teddy's hair changed to pink. She just couldn't stand the thought that her daughter might be there and she couldn't see her.
She would never forget the night of the battle when she watched her girl disappear as she hugged Teddy to her chest, praying that it wasn't the last time either of them would see her. She didn't have any way of knowing what was happening in the battle, so she had sat holding Teddy close to her, having nothing to do but wait. She didn't move, not once until Kingsley knocked on her door and she knew even before he told her that she would never see her daughter again. That's why it had been so hard for her to think that her daughter could be in the same room as her, but she couldn't see her smile.
As time passed, however, she began to see it as a blessing for Teddy if not for her. She believed that Teddy was seeing his parents and even if he was destined to never remember such moments, she could relay her beliefs to him when he was older. Hopefully, Teddy would believe her and know that his Mum tried to be there for him.
Andromeda finished putting away the dishes and turned to the empty chair that her grandson appeared so fascinated with. "Don't get him too wound up, Dora, I'd like to get him to sleep sometime tonight." She picked Teddy up just as a smile split his face and his hair changed to a sandy colour. "And stop encouraging her, Remus Lupin!"