Tiny footsteps creaking on the stairs.  A unicorn plush under an arm.  A multi-colored blanket trailing on the floor as he makes his way quietly to the living room.  The fire cracks.  

“Nanny?”

Andromeda Tonks looks up from her knitting at the sound of the small voice.

“Teddy, what are you doing up?”

The fire bathes the living room in a soft light and throws long shadows onto the floor and walls.  Moonlight shines through the windows, and Teddy knows it is far past his bedtime.  His grandmother is wrapped in a robe near the fire, sitting in a rocking chair. She looks concerned, so he hops down the last few steps and shuffles over next to her.

“I can’t sleep.  What if a Dementor comes and gets me?  Harry isn’t here to protect me.”

Andromeda sighs, puts her knitting aside, and then scoops Teddy up to sit in her lap.  She picks up his blanket and wraps it around them both.

“You know, Harry isn’t the only person who can make a Patronus.  I wouldn’t let the Dementors get to you, my dear,” she says as she starts to rock back and forth.  He does not look satisfied with that answer, so she continues.  “Did Harry ever tell you who taught him to make a Patronus?”

Teddy shakes his head.

“Well, when Harry was thirteen, lots and lots of Dementors were placed at Hogwarts.  And Harry had a hard time dealing with them.  By then, Harry had been through a lot of terrible things, and that’s what Dementors do—they make you think about all the bad things that have happened.  So Harry went to the professor who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts, and asked him for help.  Even though Harry was young, the professor was so good at magic, and so patient and determined, he finally taught Harry how to make a Patronus.  That professor was Professor Remus John Lupin.”

Teddy sits up straighter and his eyes widen.  “My dad?”

“Yes, indeed,” Andromeda says, smiling.  “So you really don’t need to worry about Dementors—with Professor Lupin as your father, the Dementors are probably scared of you.”  With the last word, Andromeda tickles Teddy’s belly under the blanket and Teddy laughs and squirms.

After a few seconds, Teddy curls up and snuggles against Andromeda’s shoulder.  “Nanny, will you tell me a story?”

“What do you want to hear?”

“The one about Harry.”

Andromeda smiles softly—there are many stories Teddy has heard about his godfather, but she knows the one he means.

“Okay,” she begins, in a whisper.  Hopefully by the end of the story, Teddy will be asleep.  “About twenty years ago, a very dark, evil wizard was gaining a lot of power.  He had so much power, and he was so evil, people were too afraid to even say his name.”

“Lord Voldemort,” Teddy mutters sleepily.  Andromeda cranes her neck to see his face; his eyes are closed.

“That’s right,” she says as she settles back into the chair.  “Lord Voldemort hated all Muggles, and he wanted to live forever.  He would kill anyone and everyone who tried to stop him from getting what he wanted.  Voldemort really hated a group, one group that tried to defeat him, called the Order of the Phoenix.  So one night, he went after some of the group’s members, Lily and James Potter.  Now, Lily and James had a son who was just a baby, and they loved him very much.”

“Harry,” Teddy mutters.

“Right.  So when Voldemort got to their house, Lily and James fought and fought, because they wanted to protect little Harry.  Voldemort was able to beat them both, but when he stepped over to try to kill Harry, something amazing happened.”  Andromeda pauses here, waiting for Teddy’s next line.

It takes him a bit longer than usual because he is so sleepy, but eventually he says, “He couldn’t.”

“Right.  Because Lily and James loved Harry so much, Voldemort’s evil curse turned around and hit him instead of Harry.  Harry was the first person who had ever survived the evil curse, and that’s why he was called ‘the Boy Who Lived.’”

Andromeda’s story ends here, but she continues to rock Teddy back and forth, thinking that he has finally fallen asleep.  But after a few minutes, Teddy speaks again.

“Is that what happened to my mom and dad?” he asks.

Andromeda almost stops rocking in her shock.  “Not really,” she says, after a pause.  “You weren’t there when they died, you were with me.  They were fighting in the war.”

“Did Voldemort kill them?”

“No—the people who followed Voldemort did.”

“Did they love me like Lily and James loved Harry?”

“Oh, Teddy, they loved you with all their heart.  They were fighting in the war so that you could live in a better world.  They wanted you to be happy.  After you were born, everything they did was about you, they loved you so much.”

Andromeda pulls one of her hands out from under the blanket and wipes her eyes.  It had been a long time since she spoke about Remus and Nymphadora’s deaths.  Teddy looks up at her and notices her tears, but he does not say anything else.  He snuggles up once again, and finally falls asleep, to dream of his parents, his godfather, and the heroic Lily and James.