Family

He stared, simply stared, at the tiny sleeping bundle, a squashed red face and a tiny red hand poking out of the pink blanket. Tonks smiled up from the hospital bed, sweaty and tired.

"Do you like her?" she asked, her voice surprisingly bouncy and energetic.

"Do we like her?" Molly Weasley gasped. She swooped down on Tonks and hugged her tightly. "She is gorgeous, darling!" Tears sprang to Mrs. Weasley's eyes. "Oh, we're so proud of you."

Harry snuck a glance at Ron and Hermione, standing near him in the little room. Ron sized up the baby warily, as if it might leap from the blanket and attack him. Harry almost laughed at his prompt refusal when his mother offered to let him hold her.

Hermione accepted where Ron had declined. She took the baby gingerly and eased her into a comfortable position against her body. Hermione held her with an inborn ease, with the comfortable grace of women in general. Harry watched her eyes fill up with a strange, different sort of look. He almost couldn't put a name to it; wonder, he supposed, and happiness. And something else. Longing, perhaps? Something else...

He shook his head. Maybe it was just nothing, but he could swear that in that one look Hermione had reminded him strongly of Mrs. Weasley as she cared for her brood.

"Here, Harry," Hermione said, interrupting his thoughts and holding the baby out to him. "Do you want to hold her?"

"Oh! Er--" But Hermione had already pushed the baby into his arms. "Er..."

"Here, hold her--well, like this, see?" Hermione guided Harry's arm around the tiny bundle, so the crook of his elbow supported the little head.

"There!" said Hermione approvingly. Harry stood stiffly, unsure of what exactly to do now that he had the baby.

"Relax, Harry," Hermione laughed. "You won't drop her! Here, try this." Hermione slipped her little finger into the tiny red fist, and Harry watched as this new little person tried to grab the digit. Hermione smiled and withdrew her finger. "Now you try."

Harry tentatively reached out his other hand and nudged his little finger into the baby's grip. He felt a smile steal over his face as the tiny hand tugged ineffectually at his hand. Dark blue eyes suddenly opened in the little red face, and Harry was struck by their aura of wisdom.

"Oh, look, Tonks, she's got her eyes open!" Hermione exclaimed. Harry regretfully relinquished the baby back to Hermione, who passed it back to its mother.

Tonks smiled tiredly again and cuddled the baby on her shoulder as she lay back in the bed.

"Oh, dear, I hadn't even thought of that! You must be exhausted--come on, we'll leave her be now. She's had a rough day." Mrs. Weasley turned back to Tonks. "We'll send Remus back in if we see him."

Tonks nodded sleepily, her eyes drooping shut. The baby sighed, and a smile crept over Tonks' peaceful face.

As the four exited the room, Lupin came ambling back in, the day's Daily Prophet in hand.

"Hello, Molly, kids," he nodded at them.

"Hello, Remus!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley. "We were just looking for you. Nymphadora is sleeping now, and I told her we'd send you in."

"Why, thank you, Molly," Lupin said kindly. He nodded again at all of them. "See you soon." He continued into the little room and took a seat beside the bed.

Harry caught a glimpse of the little family before the door closed. Tonks opened her tired eyes as Lupin sat beside her, and her wan face literally glowed. Lupin smiled back at her tenderly, and then the door closed completely.

I wonder if that's how my Mum and Dad looked, when I was born, Harry wondered. He lost himself in imagining the events surrounding his birth, and followed Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Hermione absently out of the hospital. He thought about it all through dinner and kept himself awake for some time that night considering it.

***

Lupin surprised them the next morning with a visit during breakfast. Harry had just started his toast when the door of Grimmauld Place burst open and quick footsteps echoed through the entryway.

"Good morning, Remus!" Mrs. Weasley had said cheerfully as he entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, Molly!" Lupin looked excited, a very new emotion to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"I can't remember him ever looking that happy," whispered Hermione fervently.

"Maybe when he and Tonks got married..." whispered Ron back. Hermione giggled.

"Well, Remus! To what do we owe this unexpected visit?"

Lupin smiled broadly. "We named her this morning, Molly. We wanted you to know."

Mrs. Weasley stood up from the table so fast that Harry was afraid she might go through he ceiling. She bustled around the table to give Lupin a hug.

"How wonderful! Well, do go on! What is it?"

"Andromache Nymphadora Lupin," Lupin said, a look of incredible pride and joy on his face.

"Oh, Remus, that's wonderful!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley. "What a lovely name for such a lovely girl--"

"And, Molly," continued Lupin, more subdued. "We--we'd like you and Arthur to be godparents."

Mrs. Weasley's hand flew to her mouth. "Why, Remus!" she exclaimed, her eyes filling up with tears. "Of course, Remus," she said more quietly. "We would be honored."

Lupin nodded seriously, his happiness only a shadow on his now-grim features. "I'll be going back, they're coming home today."

"Good bye, Remus," Mrs. Weasley said softly, flashing him a tired smile. Lupin left as suddenly as he had come. As soon as he was out of the room, Mrs. Weasley sank into a chair and stared gloomily into thin air.

"What's wrong, Mum?" asked Ginny, coming down the stairs and taking in the strange scene.

"Nothing, dear." Mrs. Weasley waved off her daughter's inquiry. "I think I'll go upstairs for a bit." She stood and climbed the stairs heavily.

Ron's eyes followed his mother's retreat as Ginny sat down and helped herself to breakfast. "What was that all about?"

"Oh, Ron," said Hermione sadly. Ron and Harry turned to look at her. She looked as if she might cry, too.

"Well, what?" asked Ron defensively. "I mean, isn't it a great honor and all to be godparents?"

Hermione shook her head and smiled wryly. "Usually it is, Ron, but with all the unrest, and Voldemort coming back... Well. Usually godparents are more of a formality, you know, you hope you never will need them because you plan to stay alive... But now, with Voldemort on the loose, and with both Tonks and Lupin in the Order, your parents may actually have to take her in. Everything's more dangerous, and their time as a family might be limited. They don't like to think about what might happen. Do you? I mean, honestly. I don't want to think about it--" Hermione's voice broke, and she dashed away a tear that fell from her eye. "I hate him," she said viciously. "I hate Voldemort and his Death Eaters and... and... everything!" She stood up from the table and ran upstairs. Ron and Harry looked at each other, then stood up and followed Hermione.

She had run to the room she shared with Ginny and lay sobbing on her bed. Ron and Harry entered cautiously. Harry pulled up a chair next to the bed and Ron sat beside Hermione on the bed.

"I'm s-sorry," Hermione hiccupped, still crying. "I j-just c-can't stand it anymore." She gulped down more air. She looked pathetic, her eyes red and puffy and her cheeks wet with tears. "Every day, reading the paper to find out if anyone we know has d-died, and always worrying about Mum and Dad--I mean, I'm sure they'll be fine, but... but I can't help worrying. What if something does happen to them? I won't know. They could be dead right now, and I wouldn't know. They don't always report Muggle deaths in the Prophet." Hermione paused to try and compose herself. "And all this tension, the Order coming in and out at all hours of the day and night, the... prophecy." She glanced up at Harry. "I mean--it's kind of a lot. And I t-try, s-s-so hard, not to think about it, and all the time it's the one thing that everyone's thinking about and talking about--" She started crying again, and Ron put an arm around her. She buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed. Ron looked angry and sad and helpless all at the same time. He didn't say anything, but rested his head in Hermione's hair and let her cry. Harry felt a little awkward, and quietly got out of his chair and crept out of the room.

As he closed the door behind him, Ginny came up the stairs, intending to go to her room.

"Ah--I wouldn't go in there," warned Harry. "Er...Hermione's crying all over the place."

Ginny shook her head. "And I'm sure Ron is being all big and manly... no, I think I won't go in." She smiled at Harry. "I think I'll go help Mum work on cleaning out the basement." Ginny scampered back down the stairs. Harry could hear her light steps as she went down the hall to the basement stair in the kitchen.

***

Lunch and dinner were somber affairs. Mrs. Weasley hardly smiled the rest of the day, and Ginny mostly stayed down in the basement, helping her mother clean and keeping her company. Ron and Hermoine kept to themselves most of the afternoon, so Harry was free to do whatever he wanted. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he wanted to do.

For a while he tried cleaning his broomstick, but that soon got boring. He wrote letters to Neville and Luna to try and pass the time, but he couldn't think of much to write, and the letters turned out rather pathetic. He sent them anyway, to give Hedwig some exercise and in hopes of getting replies. That night it took him ages to fall asleep, and when he finally did he dreamed about Death Eaters cleaning basements with broomstick servicing kits. Harry was very relieved to wake up the next morning, in hopes of a better day.

***

Everyone did much the same as they had done the day before, and Harry was once again left to his own devices. He decided to clean out some boxes Sirius had left in unoccupied rooms to pass the time. It was tedious and dusty work, but somewhat rewarding. Harry found old notes to Sirius from his father, from Lupin, from Peter Pettigrew, and from several girls he didn't know, all of which had dotted the "i"'s on "Sirius" with little hearts. He even found a picture from his parents' wedding, which almost made him cry. Altogether, he was in a depressing mood when Mrs. Weasley called him down to dinner.

Tonks, Lupin, and baby Andromache had come to join them. Harry brightened a little at the sight of the three guests. Tonks still looked tired, Harry noted, but decidedly perkier than the last time he'd seen her. Lupin smiled at Harry, and Harry attempted a smile back as he slid into his seat beside Ron. He didn't pay much attention to the conversation or the food during dinner, and retreated to his and Ron's room as soon as he was finished, leaving everyone else sitting and talking happily down in the kitchen.

About an hour later, he heard a knock on his door. He opened it to find Tonks.

"Wotcher, Harry," she said cheerfully, coming in to sit on a chair in the corner.

"Hey, Tonks." Harry sat across from her, on his bed.

"Harry," said Tonks gently, looking at him seriously, "I--well, we actually, but I told Remus I'd tell you... Anyways, I have something to tell you." Harry watched her expectantly. "Harry... Well, Harry, we wanted you to know: we were going to make you Andromache's godfather."

Harry was surprised at this news, and his mouth fell open. "Me?! Why?"

Tonks smiled. "Well, Harry, obviously Remus would have liked to choose Sirius--" Tonks' smile was sad--"or James, but... well. We both think you're a wonderful person; you've done so much... I suppose I didn't need to tell you this, but I think you should know. If times weren't so hard... if things were different, Harry, Andromache's godfather would be... you."

For some reason, this made a weight lift from Harry, a weight he hadn't even known had been there in the first place. He felt... accepted.

"I know you're barely even a full-grown wizard," Tonks was saying, "But you show so much... love, I suppose. If anything happened to us, I'd like to think Andromache was with someone who would understand her... and us. Someone who could tell her about her parents, someone with strength, and courage, someone who could teach it to her." Tonks wiped a tear from her eye. "Arthur and Molly would do exactly that, I know, and so would so many others, but Harry--" she sniffed and smiled through the sudden tears in her eyes. "I wanted you to know you are... you're a part of our family, Harry. I wanted you to know that." She stood up and opened the door to leave.

"Oh, and Harry?" she said, looking back over her shoulder, her eyes red.

"Yeah?"

"I have something else for you." She turned back around and pulled something out of her robe's pocket, and held it out to Harry. It was a wizard photograph, with tiny moving people. Harry took it.

"Remus found it," Tonks said. "It's a picture from when you were born--you and James and Lily, all together." She closed the door softly behind her, shutting Harry back in his room.

Harry looked down at the little picture. There he was, a tiny, red baby, just like Andromache had been, only he was wrapped in a blue blanket. He was cradled in the arms of a tired but happy-looking woman with red hair and green eyes, a beatific smile on her face. She sat in a rocking chair in a living room. Outside, Harry could see from the window behind her, it was a breezy July day. A hydrangea bush peeked over the windowsill, but that didn't draw Harry's eye nearly as much as the tall, dark-haired man crouched beside his wife. The photograph James Potter had his finger in his tiny son's grasp, just like Andromache had held Harry's finger only a few days ago. The little family looked just like Harry's glimpse of Tonks' family in the tiny infirmary room. Harry felt tears come to his eyes, but these were happy tears. He hugged the picture tightly to his chest, then tucked it into his pocket. He jumped up off the bed and slammed open the door, running downstairs to talk to Lupin and Tonks, to say thank you, to play with the baby, to talk with Ron and Hermione, to sit by the fire with all the Weasleys. To be with his family.