Chapter Text
He left three sharp raps on the door. The knocks faded into silence, and he willed himself to try again. And again. It seemed like he always carried the weight of death when he knocked on this door.
The door opened. Robes hung loosely off of her; her eyes had sunken in. The sharp grey eyes were shining when she took in his presence. The resemblance to Sirius was pronounced in her haunted eyes.
She opened the door wider to let him in. He raised an eyebrow - it was unusual of Andromeda to let anyone in without the security question.
“I heard that we won,” she said in response. There was no inflection in her voice, because she knew, of course she did, why else would he be there at her doorstep? The last time he was here, he had come carrying the news of Ted’s death. He had collapsed at her doorstep, mumbling answers to her security question, the wounds of the Death Eater ambush overwhelming him.
He had woken up to the sound of her voice, humming. A soft lullaby wafting in the air around him, as Tonks waddled around Andromeda seated by his bedside. They learned the news of Ted’s death over a plate of Tonks' favourite biscuits and a pot of tea.
He sat at her dinner table, and Andromeda poured out a steaming cup of tea for him. “I had the kettle on,” she said. “Waiting takes a lot of energy.”
She sat down, her knuckles bone white around her cup of tea. “Where is Remus?” she asked.
“Also dead,” his voice cracked.
Surprise flitted across her face, and then shame. She looked down at her cup, her hair falling forward to hide her profile, “Who killed them?”
“Do you really want to know, Andromeda?”
She did not look up from her cup. He did not know what compelled him, perhaps he believed in offering the truth, or giving answers to questions that were sure to haunt her. Perhaps he was expulsing poison from the tentacles of the dying Black family wrapped around this house. So he said the damning words, “Bellatrix killed Tonks, Dolohov got Remus.”
She placed her tea on the table, and left him behind. She moved to her room. Placing her hand on the doorknob, she said quietly, “If Teddy wakes up while I’m…inside, would you please take care of him? He is a calm child, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“Of course,” he said. He moved towards her, but she closed the door on him. So he sat outside the door, head leaning against the wood as he heard Andromeda’s screams ricocheting off the walls. He only left the door when he heard Teddy Lupin’s cries rise amid her wails.