The Trouble With Teddy
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.
A/N: This was my first completed Teddy Lupin fic (yay!) and so far one of my favorites. Something is definitely wrong with 11-year-old Teddy, and Harry is determined to find out what. Oneshot.
A quick note: I'm not going to be updating as much as I have been lately, what with semester starting up again and all. I'll try to upload new content once or twice a week, but for now I figured I'd give you guys one of my longer oneshots. Enjoy! :) (P.S. Happy belated New Years'!)
"Uncle Harry!" Eleven-year-old Teddy Lupin cried. He ran through the bustling crowds at Platform 9 ¾ and greeted his godfather with a quick hug.
"Hey, Ted," Harry said, ruffling Teddy's now turquoise hair. "I'm not late, am I? Crowds were monstrous today." He glanced at the large clock hanging by the barrier worriedly.
"Only by a few minutes." Teddy shrugged. Harry sighed and shook his head.
"Ugh, Ted, I'm so sorry," he said. "I should've come earlier…"
"It's okay." Teddy replied. Harry shook his head again and shouldered Teddy's duffel bag.
"Geez, mate, what do you keep in here? Bricks?" Teddy gave a small laugh as they passed through the barrier and headed towards the car. "Anyways," Harry continued, starting the ignition. "How's your first year going so far? Is anyone staying over Christmas break?"
But Teddy had suddenly fallen silent. "Oh. Uh, yeah. Couple kids in my year…and Professor Longbottom…."
"Neville? I thought he was coming to visit…maybe I'll owl him." Harry said. At this Teddy's face seemed to drain in color, along with his hair.
"N-no...maybe I'm mistaken…."
Harry glanced at Teddy suspiciously in the rearview mirror. Deciding now was not a good time to press the subject, he changed it to the latest Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw quidditch match, but still noticed how unnaturally solemn his godson was on the ride home.
"More potatoes, Ted?" Ginny asked at dinner that night. Teddy was pushing his chicken around with his fork, apparently lost in thought. He looked up, broken out of his reverie.
"Oh," he muttered, "No thanks." Ginny and Harry exchanged a glance. What was going on with Teddy? He was usually the one cracking jokes, making James and Albus laugh so hard milk came out of their noses, and he normally devoured his food like a hungry wolf.
Through the rest of dinner it was James who did all the talking. He chattered on about how excited he was to get his Hogwarts letter in a few years, so he could become a quidditch star.
"And then he catches the snitch! 50 million points to Gryffindor!" he shouted, waving his arms wildly and knocking over his glass of milk.
"Oops."
"It's all right, just be careful next time, okay?" Harry said as he wiped up the mess. "Teddy, could you pass me a napkin? Teddy?"
"What?" Teddy looked up in confusion. "Oh. Uh, right. Here…" he passed a stack of napkins over and stood up. "I'm gonna go to bed. Really tired." He added at Harry's concerned look. Before Harry could reply he trudged up the stairs to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
"This isn't like him." Ginny said, picking up a fussy Lily out of her highchair and bouncing her gently on her knee. Harry nodded.
"I'll go talk to him."
"Teddy?" Harry called, knocking on the door to his godson's bedroom. He and Ginny had given it to him for when he spent the night a couple times a week. Choked sobs were coming from inside. Harry knocked again.
"Teddy, I know you're in there."
"Leave me alone." Teddy's voice croaked.
"Come on, Ted, open up."
"I said leave me alone!"
Sighing, Harry opened the door and peered inside. Quidditch posters adorned the mustard yellow walls, and a window overlooked the snowy backyard. And on the bed lay Teddy, facedown, shaking with sobs into his pillow. Harry sat down on the bed and rubbed calm circles in his back. After a moment Teddy sat up and looked scornfully at his godfather with bloodshot eyes.
"Why don't you tell me what's up?" Harry asked quietly.
"Go away." Teddy grumbled as he turned his back on him.
"I just want to know what's wrong. Don't tell me there's nothing wrong," he added firmly as Teddy opened his mouth to retort. "You've been acting strange all day."
"Why should you care?" Teddy snapped, his back still turned. "You're not my dad!" His voice cracked painfully and understanding dawned over Harry.
"This is about Remus, isn't it?" Harry sighed. Even all these years later, guilt still nagged at him at any mention of Lupin or Tonks.
Teddy sniffled and nodded. There was a smothering silence for a moment as Harry struggled to find the right words. But before he could say anything, Teddy spoke, his voice shaking.
"They-they don't like me."
The words slapped Harry across the face. He had tried so hard, ever since Andromeda first brought baby Teddy over for a visit, to show him how much he was loved by his parents, even if they could never show him themselves. He had done his best to explain why they were gone, and he treated Teddy like family-heck, he was family. And yet here he was.
"Teddy," Harry said after a moment. "Your parents were fighting to-"
"Not them." Teddy interrupted. He turned around to face his godfather, though his eyes remained glued on the bedspread. Now Harry was more confused than ever.
"Do you mean your cousins? James adores you, and Ron's kids-" But Teddy shook his head.
"It-it's the kids at school." He said it so quietly Harry almost didn't hear him.
"At Hogwarts?" Harry asked in disbelief. He thought back to all the letters Teddy had sent over the past few months. They talked of how he'd made loads of friends right away, how much he enjoyed all his classes, how awesome quidditch was….and then Harry realized what he may have known all along: he had been so certain Teddy's time at Hogwarts would be as great as his had been, he had refused to find any evidence of the opposite.
"These kids," he said. "What are they doing?"
"They….they call me names. And they call my dad names, too."
A boiling fury filled Harry to the brim. "What names?"
Teddy bit his lip. "You told me not to ever say them."
"It's okay, just this once."
Teddy nodded and hesitated a moment, then dropped his voice to a mumble and said, "They call us freaks and monsters and-and they call me a mudblood, even though I'm not!" he cried. "And then they say it doesn't matter, 'cause dad should've been neutered before he could breed with anyone. But it's not true! We're normal, aren't we?" he ended, out of breath. He looked up at Harry with desperate eyes.
Harry furrowed his brow, then sighed and closed his eyes, thinking hard. After a moment he looked up and said, "You know, Ted, being normal isn't always that great."
Teddy looked at his godfather, confused. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"Well," Harry continued. "Look at me. I'm not normal! If Professor Neville and I were the same as everyone else, Voldemort might not have been stopped. And your mum was different. She could change how she looked!" he ruffled Teddy's hair, which turned bubblegum pink. "And Remus was different, too. But that didn't make him any lesser than anyone else. Your dad was one of the bravest men I knew, Ted, and that was because he wasn't like other people."
"But," Harry went on, much more sternly. "What those kids did was wrong. Next time I want you to tell them to stop, okay?" Teddy nodded again. "And if anything like this happens again, I want you to tell me or Ginny or Neville."
"Okay." Teddy replied.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Good." Harry pulled his godson into a hug. "Is this why you didn't want me to talk to Neville?" he asked.
"Yeah," Teddy said, his cheeks flushing. "He caught me in the halls the other day. I think he kind of knows what happened." Harry nodded and smiled, standing up.
"Just one more thing, Ted," he said. "Are you okay with me telling Ginny about this?" Teddy bit his lip.
"Well…okay, but just Ginny, okay? And…I guess Professor Longbottom, too." Harry smiled again.
"Will do. Now come on, let's head downstairs and challenge James and Albus to a snowball fight before it gets too dark." Teddy grinned.
"You're on."
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I love to hear your guys' feedback, so feel free to leave a review or story prompt you'd like to see in future fics! :)