The Beholders, Part VII: Hestia

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Author/Artist: author_by_night

Title: The Beholders

Part VII: Hestia
Rating & Warnings:  PG-13

Word Count/Art Medium: 2,494

Prompt(s): 4. Style: Multple narrators, not to be Remus or Tonks.

Summary: For better or worse, Remus and Tonks didn't always know how to see themselves. At their worst, they were too similar for comfort, yet too
different to grasp. At their best, they were deeply in love, and that was all that mattered.

Who they were, then, was in the eye of their beholders.

Hestia
April 1998

It had been a long several months.

Hestia was growing tired of hiding; and while the Dursleys were more and more tolerable, particularly Dudley,  she hated having to tell Vernon she didn't know when they'd be able to go back. Nor could she stop the other inhabitants of Cyfrinach -a secret village few knew about, now the official Order Headquarters - from practicing magic.

There was some small comfort in being able to tell him to "go to hell" in Welsh, though.

"It means you're right," she'd lied to him with an innocent smile. Dudley gave her a sideways glance.

Then Hestia was joined by the ones she loved, and while she hated that it had to be that way, it was far less lonely.

First it was Remus, Tonks, Andromeda and Lyall, Remus's father. Hestia's own parents followed with Megan, who didn't want to go back to Hogwarts after being forced to watch the torture of a classmate.  They'd come just in time for Christmas Day night, staying with the Tonkses. Megan had been reunited with her close friend Susan. Then came the Weasleys. Not to mention Kingsley tended to drift in and out; he was wandering, though, the official leader of the resistance. And of course Portkeys were set up between the other havens, like Shell Cottage.

It wasn't normal. But until the war was over, they had to make the best of it. And in some strange way, they did.

Hestia knew Tonks's baby was due any day now, and was glad for her friend of many years. She knew Tonks still hurt for her father - Hestia still hurt; she'd known Ted Tonks since she was eleven. It was still hard not to refer to him as "Mr. Tonks." Hestia couldn't even imagine Tonks's pain. But she was holding herself up well, and not in the false way she had when Sirius died.

"I have to tell you something," Tonks said one day. They were taking one of their many walks down the dirt road, past an old farm where sheep still roamed. A thousand years and so many wars and tragedies later, things were still intact. If that didn't give Hestia hope, she didn't know what could.

"Yes?"

"We've decided to make Harry the godfather."

"Oh," Hestia said. She felt a wave of disappointment; she wouldn't have been surprised if they'd chosen Bill and Fleur over her, but Harry? "Isn't he a bit young? And, well, absent?"

"The war has to end eventually. No one has gone to hell and back for everyone like Harry has. So should anything happen to us..."

Hestia gave her friend a look. "Dora. Don't talk like that."

"It's possible. We're hiding, but we're still going to fight.  But I wanted you to know that had I not agreed that it should be Harry, I was going to ask you to be his godmother."

Hestia smiled. "I'm touched."

"You'll still be like an auntie to him."

"Of course. That child is going to be spoiled. I can't wait to be Aunt Hestia."

"You won't have to wait long," Tonks said.  "I'm having contractions."

"Wh-what? We have to get back there!" Hestia gasped.

Tonks laughed. "We are getting back."

"We should run!"

"What's the rush? They're several minutes apart still."

Hestia shook her head, smiling bemusedly. "Never change."

It would only occur to her later that Tonks just wanted something to be done calmly and without panic.

It was several hours before Tonks began to go into labor; Molly, Andromeda and Phyllis, Hestia's mother, took over. Everyone else waited outside.

"It's just so quaint," Petunia Dursley said. "Why not go to a hospital?"

"She's in hiding," Hestia reminded her.

"There is a Healer coming, though?" Lyall asked. "As much as I hate to say it, she does have a point... there's dangers..."

"Madame Pomfrey will come once the baby's born... she's the only Healer affiliated with the Order qualified to deliver babies, and unfortunately it is not easy for her to get away for as long as the labor could take."

Lyall nodded. "Good... Madame Pomfrey used to take care of Remus, when he was at Hogwarts, you know. She seems stern, but damned if that lady doesn't have a good heart."

The labor, which had started just before dinner, went until lunch the following day. They received the news by Remus bursting out of the room, hugging Lyall tightly. From the look on Lyall's face, it had been a long time since his son had given him a hug.

"It's a boy," Remus announced. Hestia had never heard so much happiness in his voice.

"-REMUS! LYALL! QUICKLY!"

Remus ran back in the room, Lyall following.  Hestia's heart sank with dread...

"Since when do babies have pink hair?" Hestia heard Lyall ask.

"He's morphing," Tonks replied. "He must have my powers... now it's green..."

Their voices grew quieter again.

"Well, that'll teach me to assume the worst," Hestia said.

A few minutes later, Andromeda came out. Her eyes were wet.

"It seems Teddy's inherited Dora's powers," Andromeda said.

"Teddy?"

"Yeah. We all decided to call him that ages ago, if he was a boy... after Ted, you know."

Hestia smiled. "I do." She gave Andromeda a hug. "I am so happy for you."


Hestia immediately saw a change in her friends.

Tonks seemed more purposeful, Remus more relaxed and seeming so much younger. They doted on their son constantly, even a little reluctant to let anyone hold him.

One day, two weeks later, Tonks and Remus decided to have a "friend-family picnic by that farm." The picnic included Hestia, Bill, Fleur, Charlie and Kingsley, who'd just recorded the latest episode of Potterwatch with Remus.

They sat on a hill across the farm, watching the sheep graze. Remus tenderly rocked Teddy's pram as Tonks sat beside him, her hair - blue today, like Teddy's - blowing in the wind.

"I think 'e 'as your nose," Fleur told Tonks. "But definitely Remus's eyes."

"Of course, it changes," Remus pointed out. "Though this does seem to be his natural face. His hair's dark though."

"I wish Dad had met him," Tonks said quietly. "And Sirius... although with Harry gone God only knows where, maybe it's for the..."

She frowned and began playing with the grass.

"It would be nicer if they were here with no war at all," Bill finished.

"I wish I could jus know when Teddy's going to be able to leave here," Tonks said, touching his cheek with her finger. "This place is all well and good, but what about Diagon Alley? Hogsmeade? Hogwarts? All the places we held dear?"

Remus put his arm around her. "The war can't last forever.  We're going to win. And now, we have more reason than ever."

Hestia swallowed as she looked at Teddy. He was so young, so innocent... it wasn't right. None of this was right. But Remus had a point - if nothing else, they had to keep fighting so he could live in a world outside their quiet haven. Because Cyfrinach, as beautiful and pastoral as it was, wasn't home. And Hestia couldn't help thinking sometimes that they'd almost surrendered their homes to the Death Eaters. It wasn't really like that, she knew it wasn't, but it still bothered her sometimes.

No, they had to win the war. Sooner rather than later.

For now, however...

"Chess," Bill announced, appearng to have read Hestia's mind as he pulled out the board. "Who's with me?"

"I'll have a go," Tonks offered, already sounding much more cheerful.

Charlie, Fleur, Remus began to talk about a book Charlie had loaned Fleur, The Dragon and the Vampire. Fleur had just loaned it to Remus.

"It's the dumbest thing I've ever read," Remus said, "but I daresay that's what makes it entertaining. Please tell me it was meant to be stupid?"

"Unfortunately," Fleur said with a snort, "I don't zink it... was."

"You bloody-!" Tonks exclaimed from the other side of the picnic blanket. Bill was, as usual, beating her miserably.

Hestia and Kingsley exchanged a look and laughed. Then, Hestia pulled out a goblet, and began to hold her wand to her head.

"What are you doing?" Kingsley asked, sounding a little alarmed.

"I want us to remember this," Hestia explained.

Especially Teddy.

Comments

[arctic-comet.livejournal.com]

I find the thought of the Dursleys being present at Teddy's birth really funny :D

Love the last part with the picnic. To this day I'm still not sure exactly how much time there was between Teddy's birth and the last battle, but I definitely hope they did something like this during that time.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I'm not sure either, honestly. I looked it up and it doesn't seen anyone is. I do like to think they had moments like these, though. :)

[starfishstar]

This is a really nice outside-POV on Remus and Tonks – and what a lovely warm-moment-despite-wartime there at the end! I also like how you've given Tonks a female friend her own age, makes me very glad for her.

[huldrejenta.livejournal.com]

I haven't read a lot of stories about Hestia in hiding with the Dursleys, and I do hope they were able to spend time with other Order members and friends like they did here. Lots of bittersweet moments, and the very last one is definitely one of them. Oh, Teddy...

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Yeah, poor guy. :( What's really sad is that he was even younger than Harry. Not that Harry really remembers either (except the things his parents wouldn't have wanted him to), but still.

Anyway, glad you liked it!

[mollywheezy.livejournal.com]

I love this! The parts that most touched me were Remus' hugging Lyall, and Hestia saving the memory for Teddy. Excellent story! :)