Ficlet: Among the Daffodils (Harry Potter - Remus/Tonks)
Title: Among the Daffodils
Fandom: Harry Potter
Prompts: R/T, Daffodil
Genre: AU, family fluff
Characters: Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Teddy Lupin
Pairing: Remus/Tonks
Rating: PG
Word Count: 869
Summary: Teddy’s second birthday brings a range of emotions but a simple family picnic helps to soothe the soul.
Author’s Note: An unashamedly AU piece of Lupin family fluff! Dedicated to tegdoh who gave me the prompt for her birthday drabble months ago! Sorry it’s taken so long! This fic was partially inspired by a gorgeous photo of my best friend’s little boy running through a field of Daffodils. Little M is my Teddy muse and a lot of how my Teddy acts and talks is based on him, hopefully this means he’s a true version of a two year old!
Among the Daffodils
A bright spring morning welcomed Teddy’s second birthday. It was warm for spring but there was still a chill in the air so Tonks wrapped Teddy up in as many layers as possible. He had a tendency to lose his clothes and thought it a great game; therefore piling more on him was the only way to ensure he’d keep warm. Remus walked into the room carrying a picnic basket with a blanket over his arm and laughed at the sight.
“Look at that pile of old clothes! Where’s Teddy? Not here?”
A small giggle indicated Teddy had heard his father and understood they were engaged in their favourite game of hide and seek.
“Oh well” said Remus as he put down the basket and blanket and lifted up Teddy, “I’ll just put this pile of clothes away.”
“Is me Teddy!” exclaimed the small boy with delight as he lifted up the hat to show his face.
“Oh there you are! I thought you were a pile of old clothes!” said Remus with wide eyes and a fake shocked expression on his face.
“No is me!” giggled Teddy.
Tonks smiled as she watched the interaction between father and son. No matter how many times she saw it, it always warmed her heart. Teddy’s birthday brought the looming second anniversary of the battle of Hogwarts into sight. Two years had not lessened the pain and Tonks’ heart still ached when she considered how close she came to leaving her son for good. She put the thoughts at the back of her mind and tried to concentrate on enjoying the moment.
“Come on then you two. This picnic won’t eat itself you know.”
She pulled on her cloak, picked up the basket and blanket and followed her boys out of the house.
They apparated to a field full of daffodils. Remus put Teddy down as Tonks spread the blanket on a patch of grass. Noticing Teddy’s look of delight at the flowers, Tonks ran into the Daffodils.
“Come on Teddy, chase Mummy!” she called back to him and turned to watch as the giggling toddler waddled into the flowers after her. She darted around and laughed along with Teddy as he attempted to catch her. Then she stopped and let him catch her, his little arms clinging to her leg.
“Oh you got me!”
She bent and swung him up into her arms. She spun him around as they both laughed and she could feel Remus’ eyes on them. She looked over at her husband and smiled as she met his eyes. She carried Teddy back over to Remus, placed Teddy down on the blanket, kissed Remus and settled down on the blanket next to him. They sat for a few minutes in silence as they ate their picnic, enjoyed the scenery and each other’s company.
She watched Teddy fidget, pull himself up and toddle off towards the flowers again. She smiled; life with a toddler was never peaceful for long.
“Where’re you going Teddy?”
He turned grinned mischievously at them and continued on his way.
“Teddy!” she called suddenly anxious that he was further away from either of them than he had been since the battle.
“It’s ok, I’ll go after him”, reassured Remus.
She felt the tension leave her body as she watched Remus jog after Teddy, who glanced over his shoulder, grinned at his father, giggled and carried on running. Remus stretched out his arms, caught Teddy and swung him in the air. As he placed Teddy back on the ground he crouched down and spoke to him which caused a puzzled look to cross the toddler’s face until Remus pointed at something. Teddy then toddled back over to Tonks with a determined look on his tiny face, when he got close she saw he was holding a daffodil in his small hand.
“For Mama!” he pronounced proudly.
“Oh Teddy!” Tonks felt tears gathering in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his head. “Thank you sweetheart, it’s beautiful!”
It was the first present Teddy had ever given her, discounting the ones purchased on his behalf by Remus and she felt overcome with emotion. The thought that she might not be here to experience these moments was never far away. She had thought that two years on her guilt at having left him might be starting to lessen but every new thing Teddy did, every new milestone he crossed, only served to remind her that she might not be there to see it.
Teddy, tired of her clinging to him, wriggled free and started to toddle away. Tonks’ smile was bittersweet at the thought that he was developing his own little personality and wasn’t her baby anymore. She watched as he turned and grinned at her.
“Mama up!”
She took his offered hand and pretended to let him pull her up and lead her over to where Remus was watching them.
“Mama, Dada chase!” he demanded as he toddled off giggling.
Perhaps it was all worth it, she thought as she watched with a smile, worth all the pain and heartache if it meant they had this chance to be a family and to be happy.
Fandom: Harry Potter
Prompts: R/T, Daffodil
Genre: AU, family fluff
Characters: Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Teddy Lupin
Pairing: Remus/Tonks
Rating: PG
Word Count: 869
Summary: Teddy’s second birthday brings a range of emotions but a simple family picnic helps to soothe the soul.
Author’s Note: An unashamedly AU piece of Lupin family fluff! Dedicated to tegdoh who gave me the prompt for her birthday drabble months ago! Sorry it’s taken so long! This fic was partially inspired by a gorgeous photo of my best friend’s little boy running through a field of Daffodils. Little M is my Teddy muse and a lot of how my Teddy acts and talks is based on him, hopefully this means he’s a true version of a two year old!
Among the Daffodils
A bright spring morning welcomed Teddy’s second birthday. It was warm for spring but there was still a chill in the air so Tonks wrapped Teddy up in as many layers as possible. He had a tendency to lose his clothes and thought it a great game; therefore piling more on him was the only way to ensure he’d keep warm. Remus walked into the room carrying a picnic basket with a blanket over his arm and laughed at the sight.
“Look at that pile of old clothes! Where’s Teddy? Not here?”
A small giggle indicated Teddy had heard his father and understood they were engaged in their favourite game of hide and seek.
“Oh well” said Remus as he put down the basket and blanket and lifted up Teddy, “I’ll just put this pile of clothes away.”
“Is me Teddy!” exclaimed the small boy with delight as he lifted up the hat to show his face.
“Oh there you are! I thought you were a pile of old clothes!” said Remus with wide eyes and a fake shocked expression on his face.
“No is me!” giggled Teddy.
Tonks smiled as she watched the interaction between father and son. No matter how many times she saw it, it always warmed her heart. Teddy’s birthday brought the looming second anniversary of the battle of Hogwarts into sight. Two years had not lessened the pain and Tonks’ heart still ached when she considered how close she came to leaving her son for good. She put the thoughts at the back of her mind and tried to concentrate on enjoying the moment.
“Come on then you two. This picnic won’t eat itself you know.”
She pulled on her cloak, picked up the basket and blanket and followed her boys out of the house.
They apparated to a field full of daffodils. Remus put Teddy down as Tonks spread the blanket on a patch of grass. Noticing Teddy’s look of delight at the flowers, Tonks ran into the Daffodils.
“Come on Teddy, chase Mummy!” she called back to him and turned to watch as the giggling toddler waddled into the flowers after her. She darted around and laughed along with Teddy as he attempted to catch her. Then she stopped and let him catch her, his little arms clinging to her leg.
“Oh you got me!”
She bent and swung him up into her arms. She spun him around as they both laughed and she could feel Remus’ eyes on them. She looked over at her husband and smiled as she met his eyes. She carried Teddy back over to Remus, placed Teddy down on the blanket, kissed Remus and settled down on the blanket next to him. They sat for a few minutes in silence as they ate their picnic, enjoyed the scenery and each other’s company.
She watched Teddy fidget, pull himself up and toddle off towards the flowers again. She smiled; life with a toddler was never peaceful for long.
“Where’re you going Teddy?”
He turned grinned mischievously at them and continued on his way.
“Teddy!” she called suddenly anxious that he was further away from either of them than he had been since the battle.
“It’s ok, I’ll go after him”, reassured Remus.
She felt the tension leave her body as she watched Remus jog after Teddy, who glanced over his shoulder, grinned at his father, giggled and carried on running. Remus stretched out his arms, caught Teddy and swung him in the air. As he placed Teddy back on the ground he crouched down and spoke to him which caused a puzzled look to cross the toddler’s face until Remus pointed at something. Teddy then toddled back over to Tonks with a determined look on his tiny face, when he got close she saw he was holding a daffodil in his small hand.
“For Mama!” he pronounced proudly.
“Oh Teddy!” Tonks felt tears gathering in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his head. “Thank you sweetheart, it’s beautiful!”
It was the first present Teddy had ever given her, discounting the ones purchased on his behalf by Remus and she felt overcome with emotion. The thought that she might not be here to experience these moments was never far away. She had thought that two years on her guilt at having left him might be starting to lessen but every new thing Teddy did, every new milestone he crossed, only served to remind her that she might not be there to see it.
Teddy, tired of her clinging to him, wriggled free and started to toddle away. Tonks’ smile was bittersweet at the thought that he was developing his own little personality and wasn’t her baby anymore. She watched as he turned and grinned at her.
“Mama up!”
She took his offered hand and pretended to let him pull her up and lead her over to where Remus was watching them.
“Mama, Dada chase!” he demanded as he toddled off giggling.
Perhaps it was all worth it, she thought as she watched with a smile, worth all the pain and heartache if it meant they had this chance to be a family and to be happy.