Thicker than Water (Marauders Era) PART II

Epilogue

Lavinia Selwyn passed away in her sleep on a cold winter's night shortly after her seventieth birthday. She wasn't particularly old when it happened, especially not by wizarding standards, but illnesses rarely cared for the age of their victims and Teddy supposed that the years of exposure to illnesses and curses and all those other magical maladies must have taken their toll. And if that hadn't, then her younger years certainly had.

His mother had never hidden it from him, the darkness that had been so much a part of her life long before he'd been born. She had always answered his questions honestly, always told him the stories of his birth parents and the wars whenever he asked. Always told him about her scars when he pressed. Both the visible and invisible kind. And he had seen the way it drained her. The way she looked ancient in those moments when she'd whispered stories and truths without meeting his eyes, pausing at moments as though deciding how much to soften the truths she seemed to know he deserved. As he'd gotten older, he'd stopped asking so much. He knew the stories by then and however much he liked to hear someone else tell him about his parents, he could tell it hurt her to remember it all so vividly.

And yet, despite it, she never failed to remind him how much his parents loved him. How proud they would be of him. And how proud she was of him.

She had been, by every measure Teddy could think of, an exceptional mother. An exceptional woman. If perhaps not a very ordinary one, on any front.

Really, Teddy hadn't thought his family was much out of the ordinary at all until he'd gone to school and realized that most people simply had a mother and father and sometimes siblings and that was it. He, of course, had a mother. And an uncle. And four aunts. And a much older sister. And a brother his own age. And a godfather and cousins and not a single one of them was related to him by blood.

It had been a shock, really. And there had been a time, albeit a brief one, when he'd almost resented it. When he'd wished his childhood had been normal and he'd had a normal mother and a normal father and not... whatever it was that his family was. But then, of course, he'd made the rather fortunate mistake of bringing this up to his sister, who had looked at him like he might be mad.

"If one set of parents is good, then surely more is better?" she'd asked. "Merlin knows I had at least three mums and probably two dads." She'd frowned for a moment, as though thinking about it and Ethan had braced himself for some great, profound lesson of the sort Lavainia was prone to offering only for his anticipation to be met with: "Though I maintain Ethan is actually a mother, when it all comes down to it."

Teddy had just stared at her. For a variety of reasons.

"What?" she'd asked, like she couldn't possibly fathom what about her statement was remotely out of the ordinary. "Normal people only have two sources of advice. Two people to lean on and go to. You've got tons. And they all come from different walks of life and can give you different perspectives. It's a bit odd," she'd admitted, pulling a slight face. "And there are idiots who'll tease you for it, but..." She'd shrugged. "I don't see why you'd resent the world for sending so many people to love you."

And over time, Teddy had realized that she was right. He had many people who loved him. And each and every one of them had a different story to tell, a different slice of the world to show him, and a different piece of wisdom they could offer.

But even among all those people, Lavinia had always stood out. His Aunt Miriam was good for going out and having fun. His Aunt Kama was good for serious issues and tempering her wife's rampant optimism. His father, Ethan, was best for a shoulder to cry on. Jasmine was good when he needed someone to tell him things as they really were without any care for how blunt it might come out. And his brother Evan - Kama and Miriam's adoptive son - was annoying and sweet and unfairly good at school and a wonderful resource for academic help. His godfather, Harry, was good for stories, his Aunt Ginny was good for when he needed a level head, but Lavinia... Lavinia was always there for anything and everything.