Note: Contains huge spoilers so if you haven't finished the book, don't read! When I read about Tonks and Lupin, I swear I went through all of the stages of mourning. I bargained with Jo, I cried, I re-read the sentence just in case I read it wrong, and above all I got angry. I sent my sister an e-mail filled with expletives and mean mean things haha. While I'm dealing now, the anger is still there. And this popped into my head.
Teddy sat on his Hogwarts bunk bed, staring down at the photo album that his godfather had given him as a birthday present many years ago. The teenager let his fingers run along a picture of his mother and father on their wedding day, the only one that existed. Teddy's mother looked so happy, tears of joy were rolling down her cheeks, her hair was the most vibrant pink that Teddy had ever seen. She looked up at her new husband with such a look of adoration and then she winked at the camera. Teddy's father looked almost chipper compared to all of the other pictures he had of him. The bags under his eyes were erased and his eyes even seemed to sparkle as he watched her. Unlike Nymphadora, Remus Lupin never pulled his eyes from his new bride. He only watched her, a deep smile on his face. Yes, they loved each other.
With a snap, Teddy closed and locked the photo album. Sometimes the pictures were comfort, sometimes they were painful and today it seemed to be the latter. It was his seventeenth birthday today. Seventeen, the age Harry was when he lead good wizards and witches to victory. The age when Harry Potter got his parents killed. His hand tightened into a fist and he held back tears. What would life have been like if his parent were around? His mother would have played games with him, the two of them changing their facial features as they did. His father guiding his son during the full moon when the pain seemed to be impossible to live through. And this birthday…they would hold each other's hands proudly, tears in his mother's eyes.
But no, they weren't there. And Teddy was alone. Sure he had his grandmother. He did always have his Gran. But when it came to tales of the past Andromeda Tonks seemed to freeze. She would easily give him a story about his mother growing up or when she first became an Auror. Yet, the stories that he wanted to know badly, the stories of his parents romance and life together, she refused him. Her nose would always turn up at the mention of his father. And while he knew that she still loved him, he couldn't help but notice her fear and perhaps disgust with him every full moon. It was no hidden fact, Teddy knew all too well, his grandmother hated his father. Maybe she hadn't at the start, but the fact that Nymphadora went to Hogwarts to fight alongside her husband that was what ruined him. If only he had kept out of the war…
Teddy jumped at the sound of someone at the door. Someone knocking. "Teddy? Are you there?" A deep voice asked which Teddy recognized right off.
"I am, Harry. Come in," He said taking the photo album and placing it under his bed.
An adult Harry Potter walked through the door with a wide smile on his face. "Happy Birthday, Teddy," He said carrying a package in his arms. As he took a seat next to his godson, Harry took in his surroundings, the empty room that was most of his childhood. "I used to love it here. Does that bed still creak?" He asked pointing to the bed that used to belong to Seamus Finnigan.
Teddy glanced down at the present as if he was uninterested but took it from Harry's lap. "Yes. All night, Kristian Abbot sleeps there and he tosses and turns all night. Last year Iggy Towlish tied him to bed during exams so he couldn't wake us all."
Harry chuckled to himself and patted his godson's back. "Not much has changed then…cept you," He said with a proud glance. "Go ahead, open it."
"Um…okay," Teddy said with a sigh. With that sigh, Harry raised his brow and noticed the bags under Teddy's eyes. Unlike his father, Teddy only had bags under his eyes when he was upset or lacking sleep. The boy slowly ripped open the paper and a brand new broom slowly rose from the box. A Nimbus Infinity. Everyone on the Quidditch Team would be beyond jealous of their Keeper and his new broom. Teddy knew that, but right now he couldn't seem to care.
Harry leaned in as if he was looking for a hint of a smile somewhere, "So…what do you think?"
"Brilliant," Teddy said quietly without any emotion. "It's brilliant. Thank you." He pushed aside the broom and stared down at his hands.
Now, Harry knew that there was definitely something wrong. Was this the same boy who would not shut up about the Infinity for all of the summer that he spent with him and Ginny? Something had to be up. "Teddy…I know something is wrong. Would you like to share it with me…"
Teddy shook his head. "I'm fine. I really am. Just tired. Exams coming and all, I need to study."
"Ted, you have four months until exams. You've been talking to your Aunt Hermoine too much…" Harry decided although he didn't quite accept his godson's reasoning.
The boy shrugged. "I like to be prepared. You know…" He stood up and looked out the window of room. His eyes darted around the grounds wondering where it was that his parents had fallen. Was it right at the gate? Or did they even fall at the same time? Did his mother see his father get hit with the killing curse across the field? Or did his father fight and trip over the dead body of his wife only to be hit from behind?
"Teddy…" Harry said putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "What's really on your mind, son?"
"I'm not you're son," Teddy snapped looking back at his godfather. His vibrant turquoise hair turned to a jet black. "Stop pretending like you are."
Harry took his hand away as if he had been burned. "Teddy…I never pretended…I know that I'm not you're father. I'm your godfather…"
"Which I don't understand," Teddy said turning away from him to stare back out onto the grounds. "Where did they die? Will you tell me that? Or will you do like Gran does and start telling me about the happy times?" His voice daring him to not answer him.
"Teddy, you know that your Grandmother has a hard time talking about…about things of the past. But…I'm sorry. I can't answer your question because I'm not sure. I only saw…that they were gone after the battle," Harry said his heart tightening as he remembered the scene of Tonks and Lupin, their forms looked like they were sleeping.
Teddy nodded slowly as tears started to roll down his face. "Course. I forgot you were too busy saving the world to save them. How could I be so silly?" He raised his sleeve to wipe away his tears.
Harry closed his eyes. He had waited for this moment, knew that it would come. It happened to him as well, the anger that came naturally at the right age augmented by grief. By feeling alone. "If I could go back I would have tried to protect them. I would have, but they were both very accomplished with magic. I thought for sure that they would be fine…"
"Well you obviously weren't right," Teddy replied, coldness in his voice. He sat down on his bed again, all of the while not looking at his godfather.
"Teddy, I know how you feel," Harry said quietly, a fact that made Harry's affection for Teddy multiply ten fold if that had even been possible. Ever since Mrs. Tonks put that baby in his arms, he had fallen in love. But knowing that Teddy was going through the same emotions that Harry did, well it made his love even stronger. "My own parents…I know how the emptiness can hurt so badly. But they died for a good cause, Teddy. They died so you could go to Hogwarts. So you could be treated with respect despite your lycanthropy. Something that your father never knew. They died for you-"
"No they didn't!" Teddy yelled finally looking at his godfather in the eye. "They died for you! If they thought once about me they wouldn't have went to fight that day. My dad would have passed on the whole idea and my mom wouldn't have had to follow him here. They would be alive. But they wanted to help you! You, Harry, not me. They died because of you."
Harry was taken aback. Teddy always had a calm about him. He had never seen him raise his voice ever, not even as a child. But now here he was, his godson all of his anger and emotion directed towards him, Harry couldn't blame him. Not in the least. "I…I suppose that you're right. That they did pass on…" Harry paused trying to find the perfect words in order to save the relationship that he had with his godson. "But no matter who you get angry at, who you blame…Teddy it's not going to bring them back."
The tears were now free flowing down Teddy's face, his usually tanned skin turning deathly pale as it was naturally. "I know that. I'm not dense…I know that."
"Ted…" Harry reached out and took his hand. "I'm sorry that they're not here. You're right, our circumstances aren't exactly the same, but…believe me. If I had an opportunity to spare you from this pain I would. I would in flick of my wand. I would. And I know it would be a better present than a Nimbus Infinity any day. I know that."
With that Teddy looked up, "Yeah…not that…the broom's…not…satisfactory."
A large vocabulary. It was something that he magically picked up from his father. "Yes, well, if you like it then you're welcome to keep it…" Harry paused and then squeezed his godson's hand. "C'mon. I have something to show you. I just hope that it's not gone as of yet."
"What are you talking about?" Teddy asked as his godfather practically dragged him through the halls of Hogwarts. As they passed students, quite a few of them, looked at Harry with awe. Mummers followed them as they did so. Teddy was starting to get used to people asking him if he was Harry Potter's godson. And he would nod with a soft smile wondering why no one ever asked if he was Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks' son.
Harry brought Teddy into the Room of Requirement, a place that the student had become familiar with as it was a landmark of the castle being the place where Dumbledore's Army gathered. But the room was not how it usually was for Teddy. There was no poster of the Weird Sisters on the wall or collections of books. In fact, the whole room was empty save a large mirror.
"Is this…is this what I think it is?" Teddy asked reluctant to approach it if it was indeed what he expected it to be.
"There's only one way to find out isn't there?" Harry said pushing his godson gently towards the Mirror of Erised.
Teddy took a deep breath and took a few hesitant steps towards the mirror. His breath hitched as he saw them. The figures that lingered in his photos were now looking down at him. Teddy's mother was smiling from ear to ear, a smile that her son inherited. Her hair was a vibrant bright pink as bright as it was on her wedding day. Teddy's father had a look of contentment on his face, his arm tightening around his wife's shoulder. The tears had returned to the teen's face now, full force, his chest was heaving up and down. Now he could see it. See the resemblance to his mother that his gran swore on, and those features that she seemed to grace over that belonged to his father. If only… Teddy reached out and put his hand on the glass. Nymphadora and Remus interlaced their fingers and magically wrapped their arms around Teddy's image touching their hands to his. It looked like they were hugging their son. The son they never knew. A flutter of sadness wiped across his mother's face, her hair even fading for a moment, but Teddy noticed his father's hold on her was tighter now. She recovered and returned to her bright smile.
"I…I love you," Teddy told the reflection knowing that it was just a reflection, but needing to say it anyway.
They nodded and mouthed the words back to him.
"Teddy," Harry said putting his hand on Teddy's shoulder. "I think we should go."
The spell seemed to break and the figures of Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin disappeared. Teddy pressed his hand to the glass harder as if the pressure would bring them back.
"Teddy," His godfather's voice called him back to reality. "I'm sorry. I…I had hoped that seeing them would-" He didn't finish his sentence as Teddy threw himself at Harry and hugged him close, now openly sobbing. After a moment of shock, Harry relaxed and ran his hand through his godson's blonde hair with hints of premature grey. Tightening his arms around him, he just let the boy cry. "I'm sorry this isn't…not a very good birthday."
"No," Teddy sniffed. "No it was the best." He looked up at Harry. "The best." They hugged there for what seemed like days on end. Harry understanding the power of loss and the power of love that Teddy was just beginning to explore. One thing was for sure, despite the pain that his godson would go through, he would have a hand to guide him.