Title: Lupe

Summary: Concerning the invincibility of youth, fragility of life, and promise of new love, even if it may be hidden amongst the glass shattered on the floor. A collection of interconnected one-shots revolving around Teddy Lupin and the struggles of a half-werewolf orphan learning to live in an unfriendly world.

Rated: T, for tragedy, angst, mild violence, and character death

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

The Setting: The year is 2023, Ted is twenty-five. Harry and Ginny are meeting his sort-of-yes-sort-of-not girlfriend Zoe Rhinebeck for the first time. You'll learn more about her in future chapters.

Those of you who ship Teddy/Victoire will be sorely disappointed.


Chapter One – First Impressions:

Harry thought all Ted needed was an understanding, steady girlfriend to get him back on his feet…then she showed up instead.


"So, Ted's coming over to dinner tonight," began Ginny from across the table.

Harry hummed an affirmative and flipped a page of his Morning Prophet.

"It's been ages," Ginny added.

Harry ran his eyes down the headlines, looking for anything of interest.

"He's bringing a girl."

Harry briefly scanned a piece about werewolf legislature, realized Ginny was probably waiting for some kind of acknowledgement and murmured, "About time."

"Know anything about her?" said Ginny. Harry heard her put her cup of tea down on the saucer with a quiet clink of glass. "Harry? Are you even listening?"

"Uncle Vernon always said it was bloody inconvenient to be pestered while reading the paper," said Harry.

"For Merlin's sake, he'd your godson, Harry! Aren't you the least bit interested?"

Harry peered over the top of his paper. He caught Ginny's eye and immediately knew that had been a bad idea. She was wearing the same slightly puckered, irritated expression that had used to cross her face after a frustrating Quidditch practice. "Of course I'm interested, Gin."

"Do you know anything about her?"

"Probably not anything more than you," Harry answered. He carefully folded his paper and lay it on the table next to his plate of buttered toast.

"Then that's next to nothing," said Ginny.

"It would appear so," said Harry.

"Ted's never mentioned her to you?"

"Just in passing, once or twice."

"Well?"

Harry snapped back to attention. His eyes had roved back to the paper spread flat on the table. "Well what?"

"Don't you even know her name?"

Harry smothered a sigh. Ginny's eyes were slightly widened with expectation. He knew better than to ignore her when she got like this. "It's Zoe something or other – Rhinebeck, maybe?"

"Where did Ted meet her?"

"I don't know," and Harry hastily added, "I think they were in the same year of Hogwarts – don't know how they've kept in touch, though."

"Do you know if she has any diet restrictions? I'm planning mushroom soup, Teddy's favorite."

Harry laughed, "I've no idea, Gin."

"How long have they been going? He isn't serious about her, is he?"

"Not long, I think," Harry said slowly, "I don't know if he's serious about her or not…. I don't think so from the way he was talking."

"You think she's the type of girl who could get him back on his feet?"

"Hope so," said Harry. "Ted needs a girl like that, someone to take his mind off things, to make him smile again."

The testy, impatient look melted in Ginny's eyes and was replaced by a familiar, sad-sort-of smile playing on her lips. "Yeah," she said, "It's been five years since…you know. Ted seems to be getting better, though. Don't you think?"

Harry shrugged. Ted did seem to be getting better, but still…Harry didn't approve of how his godson spent his free time, how Ted had stopped coming over to supper, and his general lack of interest he seemed to have for life. It was…worrying. Harry hoped this Zoe Rhinebeck would be a good influence on him.

"Well, hopefully she's nice," said Ginny, standing and gathering her breakfast dishes. "Ted needs a nice girl, someone solid and dependable. He's a lot to handle, hopefully she's up to it."

"We'll find out tonight I suppose." Harry flipped open the Prophet again as Ginny disappeared into the kitchen.

"When do we expect them?" Ginny called from the kitchen.

"Said he's stop over around seven."

"James coming by? I know he'd like to see Ted again."

"Hm?" Harry looked over his paper in time to see Ginny throw him a roll of the eyes through the kitchen door.

"Is James coming too?"

"Erm – no. Ted requested a smaller crowd. I don't think he wants to scare her off."

"Nonsense," said Ginny, throwing back her head as if to flip her red-hair over her shoulder, only she had forgotten again that she'd cut it down to a bob soon after Lily's first-year. "What's to be scared of?"

Her cup of tea slipped out of her hand and shattered on the floor, muddy tea-leaves and shards of glass rocketing over the tile. She cursed loudly.

Harry hid a smile and as he ducked behind the pages of his paper again.


It was ten after seven, the mushroom soup was simmering on the stove, Ginny had just dashed upstairs to get dressed, and Harry was unsuccessfully trying to keep his mind on the Evening Prophet. Ted was late, which was a not an unusual occurrence, but Harry was finding it more irksome than normal.

It was stupid to be nervous. Harry chided himself. He had faced many things worse – Death Eaters, rouge vampires, a rampaging manticore once, and Voldemort himself – to be nervous about meeting his godson's new girlfriend was ridiculous. Nevertheless, Harry was nervous. It would be stupid to say was not.

He wondered what she would look like. He tried to erase the picture of a green-haired boy with a blond, tall, bright-eyed girl on his arm. It didn't make any sense, trying to help Ted get over Victoire when Harry, himself, hadn't gotten over her yet.

But, after all, she had been his niece.

And she had been young, so young and beautiful, with her life ahead of her.

But it had been a terrible, tragic, heart-rending accident.

Merlin, hadn't he seen enough young people die during the war? But it was so much more real, so much rawer – perhaps it was because he was older, perhaps it was because he had seen her grow up, seen her as a baby –

Harry shook his head. He had to keep an open mind. This girl Ted was bringing might be very unlike Victoire. It wouldn't do to hold that against her.

The doorbell rang. Ted had told Harry he'd be driving. Ted had been through seven attempts before he'd finally passed his test – those long seven years ago – which had been worse than Ron.

Harry measured his movements as he got up and laid his paper on the coffee table, resisting the urge to dart to the front door. "I've got it, Gin," he called up the stairs.

His fist closed around the doorknob, in his anxiousness he forgot to check through the front window, and yanked open the door.

The homemade wind chimes Lily had given him for Christmas when she was seven jingled in the light breeze, directly over the head of The Girl. Harry blinked.

At first Harry only had a muddled impression of black, white, winking diamonds, more black, heavy shadows under her eyes – Ted moved behind her, an unimportant blur of denim pants, a blue shirt with a snitch on the front, and spiked brown-hair.

"Hey, Harry," Ted raised a hand in greeting. Harry's eyes swept back to The Girl. Ted's other hand was gently caressing her shoulder, as if to usher her forward. "This is my friend, Zoe."

For a moment Harry forgot to breathe. He had always prided himself on his ability to think quickly, to react on reflex, to move with precision even in the face of the unexpected. But this…this Harry had not…he didn't know quite what he was supposed to do with this.

She was half-a-head shorter than Ted, thin – but 'thin' seemed not at all the right word – forget about strong and dependable, she looked as if she was about to blow away on the breath of wind, or evaporate into the coming dusk.

She was wearing black, all black, with gold and silver chains, spikes, and rings hanging off her shirt and pants – and face. Tiny, glistening studs winked back at Harry from her lip, side of her nose, above the right eyebrow, and all up and down both ears.

Her hair was black, short, and spiked like Ted's, except for the right side, where it had been shaved into a kind of checkerboard pattered. Her skin was pallid and papery looking, almost gray as if she made a habit of bathing in smoke. Her eyes were dark, bleary, and muddy looking puddles. They had dark shadows beneath them, as if she hadn't seen a night's sleep or a cup of coffee in days. Her lips were pale, they melted into the rest of her face, and were not smiling.

She reminded Harry of a vampire he had seen on a raid to Knockturn Alley.

"Er – hello…Zoe," said Harry's mouth, impulse taking over when his mind continued to thump in a vaguely insistent sort of manner that he was supposed to do something.

He hardly recognized he had stuck out his hand for her to shake until her fingers were in his. Her fingers were long and cold. Her grasp felt reluctant and delicate, like he might break it if he squeezed too hard. Harry could see her veins, knotted and blue across the back of her hand. She let go very quickly.

His eyes roved her face but she seemed unwilling to make eye contact.

"Zoe, this is Harry, my godfather," said Ted.

"Hello," said Zoe glumly. Her voice was deep and raspy, almost lost amongst the breeze, as though unaccustomed to use.

Ted peered over her shoulder and into the house, "Blimey, it smells good. That Ginny's mushroom soup?"

"Erm – yes," said Harry. He faltered backwards out of the way when he realized Ted and the girl were stepping inside. Ted helped her off with her tattered leather jacket. It revealed a short sleeve, black t-shirt and thin, spindly shoulders. It revealed a pattern of colorful tattoos over her pale skin.

"Ginny will be right down," Harry choked.

Ted hung the girl's jacket on the rack. The girl shuffled her feet and crossed her arms over her chest, as if she were cold. She frowned at the carpet.

"Er – you can come right this way," he steered Ted and the girl into the sitting room.

Ted loped casually to the couch and pulled the girl down with him. She was buried, awkwardly and out-of-place amongst Ginny's blue and white striped coverlet.

"So," said Ted, looking from the girl to Harry. He was clearly waiting for some kind of recognition, a nod of approval or – but Harry didn't know what to think, could hardly think at all. The girl was unsmilingly surveying the room around her, eyes darting to the ceiling, walls, and pictures on the bookshelves, anywhere but at Harry.

"How are all the Potters?" said Ted.

Harry cleared his throat, in an effort to make his voice come out, "Causing havoc as usual." He tore his gaze away from the girl, whom was examining Ginny's bowl of flowers on top of the coffee table.

"James and company?"

"The – er – landlord threatened to kick them out last weekend. Rumors to do with a mattress being thrown out the window…."

Ted laughed appreciatively, "Wish I could have bunked up with them. And Al and Lily being little angels at Hogwarts, as usual?"

Harry was almost distracted enough from the girl at hearing his children referred to as 'little angels' to laugh. Almost. "Got a letter from Sinatra about Lily – apparently she's…."

Harry trailed away as he heard Ginny's heels clicking in the hallway. He looked up, wildly thinking of same way to warn her, but it was too late. Ginny was standing in the doorway to the sitting room, frozen to the spot, and eyes popping at the girl sitting on her sofa.

Harry wondered if he had looked similarly surprised.

Ginny mouth opened, as if she was going to say something, or scream.

Ted slid off the couch and approached her with his casual, unassuming grace. He hugged her and smiled, "Hello, Ginny." he gestured to the girl on the couch, who was staring at Ginny and – if possible – looking slightly nervous. "This is Zoe Rhinebeck."

"Hello – Zoe," said Ginny, sounding as if the name tasted unfamiliar on her tongue. She looked like she had just been hit upside the head with a Bludger, exactly like after the Harpies game that she had sworn she was alright and then vomited during dinner.

"Hello," said the girl. She hopped up from her seat and met Ginny's outstretched hand with her own. She sat back down quickly.

Harry blinked and, alarmingly, Ginny's look of shock had been transformed into one of warm welcome. She had even managed a smile. "I'm very pleased to meet you."

The girl nodded. She swallowed. Ted took his place next to her on the couch. Ginny perched herself on the armrest of Harry's chair. Her hand touched his shoulder, a subtle reminder that she was just as taken aback as he, and perhaps needed something to hold onto.

"And how is everyone?" Ginny asked.

"Alright," said Ted. The girl didn't say anything. She was avoiding their gazes again, toying with a string off one of Ginny's throw pillows.

Harry cleared his throat, "we were just talking about Lily."

Ginny shook her head, "That girl. Don't know what we're going to do with her."

"What?" said Ted with a smile, "What has she done now?"

"Got a week's worth of detentions because she sneaked Amortentia into Professor Thompson's morning tea."

Ted snorted. "Who did he go after?"

"But that's the worst part, somehow she managed for him to go after Hooch – and of course it set off a whole range of things…."

"Sinatra wrote us to say Hooch almost bludgeoned Lily with a broomstick," said Harry, feeling a laugh catch in his throat as he imagined his youngest daughter being chased around the corridor by his old flying instructor. "She's lucky she wasn't kicked off the team."

"Becoming one of the best pranksters Hogwarts has seen," said Ted proudly. "At least right behind her brother."

Ginny turned to the girl and said in explanation, "We have three children, James has moved out, Al's in his last year at Hogwarts, and Lily's a fifth-year. Somehow Al's turned out to be the only somewhat decent of the bunch."

"Yes," said the girl stiffly, "Ted's told me."

"He hasn't been nearly so free with us," said Ginny warmly. "Please, tell us about yourself. We can't say how glad we are to finally meet you."

Ginny had a way, she had gotten it from her mother, of sugar-coating the truth – anything to be the proper hostess.

The girl squirmed slightly. The chains hooked to her belt loops clinked.

"What do you do?" Ginny prompted. "Are you at the Ministry?"

Harry wondered if Ginny was thinking the same thing as him, that the only department she could possibly work in was of Mysteries.

The girl exchanged a glance with Ted. She looked curiously uncomfortable.

"I don't do much," She hesitated. She gave Harry the impression she was hiding something. "I'm not at the Ministry."

Ted cut in, seamlessly, casually as everything he did was casual, but he gave Harry the impression he was also trying to cover something up. "Zoe worked with me at George's shop about four years ago. But now she's sort of looking for work, aren't you?"

The girl shrugged.

"Oh," said Ginny to Ted, "I remember now. George did mention something about a friend of yours working at the shop. But that was years ago, wasn't it? I didn't realize that was you, Zoe."

The girl swallowed again, clearly unsure of how she was supposed to respond. She half-nodded and mumbled, "I didn't last long."

Harry could understand it. For the life of him, he could not imagine this girl working at a joke shop.

"What kind of position are you looking for?" said Ginny.

"Anything, really," said the girl.

There was a half-beat of awkward, pressing silence and Ginny mercifully stepped in again, "And how did you and Ted meet?"

The girl and Ted exchanged looks again. Harry looked from one to the other. Something tingled on the back of his neck, something he recognized and used while being an Auror. Suspicious. Something wasn't quite right. They were hiding something, both of them.

"Erm," said Ted when the girl didn't answer, "We knew each other in Hogwarts. Not well, since we were in different Houses, but then we just sort of bumped into each other on the Diagon one day."

"Oh," said Ginny, nodding, "And what House were you in, Zoe?"

"Slytherin," she answered tersely.

Harry thought he saw Ginny's smile flicker slightly, but perhaps he had imagined it. After all, they weren't supposed to care about things like that.

"Very nice," said Ginny. "Where do you live? Ted, did you mention something about Beckenham?" Ted, of course, had never mentioned anything about anything.

"Erm, no," said the girl. "I live in London, a flat with my mother."

Again the half-beat of silence in which it took Ginny to think of another topic of conversation. Harry felt her fingers close around his shoulder slightly, a chiding to help her, for Merlin's sake!

"Do you follow Quidditch?"

"No."

"Ginny used to play for the Harpies," Ted put in.

The girl forced a half-smile on her pale, thin lips for the first time that evening and said – as if the words were incredibly unwieldy coming up her throat, "That's nice."

"I played for a year after I married Harry but stopped when I found out I was going to have James. It was about time to settle down to raise a family, anyway."

The girl nodded, smile gone almost as soon as it had come.

"Well," said Ginny with exaggerated enthusiasm. She slid off the armrest to her feet. "Dinner? That soup should be done by now."

Merlin, let it be done.

Harry admired Ginny's grace as she extended a hand and guided the girl into the dining room. Ted caught Harry's sleeve in his fingers. He hissed into his ear, "You keep gawking."

Well, anyone would – but he caught the words as they flew up his throat. "She's – erm – not what I expected."

"You'll like her better when you get to know her," Ted explained. "She's just nervous."

"How did you meet her again?" said Harry, hoping Ted would let something slip to unravel this mystery while out of the earshot of the girl.

"Just bumped into her in the Diagon, Harry, like I said," said Ted casually. But there was a subtle lilt in his voice, a slight press that warned Harry not to proceed.

Harry was used to this, used to this tension that hung around Ted's person and shut Harry out…. Ever since Victoire, he was used to it.

He didn't know how he was supposed to deconstruct it.

Dinner was an awkward affair. The girl sat beside Ted and quietly sipped her soup. Ginny and Ted carried the conversation. The girl spoke when she was spoken to. She left all her mushrooms sitting in the bottom of her bowl.

Afterward, they went back to the sitting room for tea and dessert. Ginny had made her mother's chocolate pound cake, which was ordinary a marvelous experience but this evening Harry found it rather hard to swallow.

"So," said Ginny, evidently at her wits end for conversation starters, "you said you were in Slytherin. Are you pureblood?"

Again the quiver of discomfort. Something breathed about the girl of secrets, of the unwillingness to share too much information. Harry could not imagine why. Blood status wasn't anything to be embarrassed about, not anymore.

As if to put her at her ease, Ginny continued, "I'm pureblood. Harry's half."

"My mum is half-blood, I think," said the girl.

"What about your dad?" Harry knew before Ginny said it that his wife should have kept her mouth shut. Sometimes she still said what she probably shouldn't. It was a trait that Ron also inherited – but to a more exquisite level. It was just who she was. She was Ginny. She was blunt.

"Don't know," said the girl tersely, perhaps with the slightest trace of warning, a slight flash of anger in her eye.

Ted hastily intervened, "Zoe's dad left when she was just a baby. She's never met him."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," said Ginny, cheeks coloring with the just the right touch of sympathy. "I didn't know."

The girl didn't answer. She tilted her head slightly in acknowledgement.

Minutes dragged by excruciatingly slowly. Finally Ted got up from the couch and pulled the girl with him.

"We should be getting on," he said. "I've got work early in the morning."

"It was lovely seeing you," said Ginny. "And meeting you, Zoe."

"Give my best to the brood," said Ted with a smile, pecking Ginny on the cheek as they moved to the door.

Harry clapped Ted on the shoulder, "Will do." He tried to catch Ted's eye, to hold his gaze and search him for anything – any answers. He tried to look for any hint of happiness, of the healing of the scars that had been left there five years ago.

Ted smiled at him and Harry let go of his shoulder.

"Thank you for dinner," said the girl, pulling on her jacket over her thin shoulders, covering up the web of tattoos. "It was very nice to meet you," again the forced half-smile. It was the longest string of words she had said all evening.

Ted waved farewell. Ginny called for them to come again soon. The door clicked shut. Harry turned to meet Ginny's eye for the first time that evening, finally alone and at liberty to – to what?

"So," said Ginny, breathing slowly. "That was – was…."

"Yeah," Harry agreed.

They moved back into the sitting room. Ginny began clearing up their dessert plates.

"What did you think of her?"

Harry tried to gather his scattered thoughts, discarding some of them. After all, he couldn't be rude. "She was – unexpected."

"That's what I thought," said Ginny.

"She – erm – was what she wearing the style now?"

"She looked like a half-starving vampire," said Ginny, and added almost angrily, "Teddy should have warned us." She went into the kitchen. Harry gathered the cups and followed her.

"It would have helped at least," said Harry. "But I don't think anything he could have said would have lessened that blow."

Ginny laughed suddenly. "She was a sight, wasn't she? Poor girl. I hope we didn't frighten her."

"Us frighten her?" said Harry.

"I hope she's, you know, alright," said Ginny. "She looked kind of sickly."

"Yeah, like she'd just crawled out from under a rock," said Harry.

Ginny laughed again. "As long as Teddy likes her. I suppose we'll just have to make the best of it." Then she sighed, "Still, not quite what I'd have liked – Not really the steady, dependable girlfriend we were hoping for, eh?"

Harry groaned and rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. "I hope they aren't serious."


"So?" asked Ted, watching the electric light bathed road ahead of him. Zoe was pressed into the passenger seat beside him, sort of folded in on herself and slumped, like she usually sat. Like she was trying to shrink away from the world, from the crescent moon that hung in the sky above them. "What did you think of them?"

He could hear her shrug from the clinking of the zippers on her leather jacket. "Alright, I guess" she said. "Sort of what I expected."

"I think they might have liked you," he said.

"Sure, Ted, yeah."

"Well, I like you, that's what really matters, right?"

"Sure, Ted. Yeah." He shot a look out of the corner of his eye in time to see her thin, beige-powder colored lips perhaps smile in the uneven light flickering through the window.


Author's Note: Yes, here we are another story. Really shouldn't be starting one but…whatever. Lots and lots of ideas where this is concerned but updates will probably be sporadic – like ridiculously so, just because I'm working on so much other stuff and this isn't at the top of my priorities.

Anyway, yes, everything will be explained in the future. Think of this as a puzzle, all the pieces will be found and put together as the story progresses. The chapters won't be set in chronological order, and some might be multi-parted, longer or shorter than others.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. I hope you enjoyed. I'd be oh-so-grateful for a review; they make the sun seem to shine just a little brighter.

Also concerning the title, Lupe is one of the Algea, a Greek spirit of pain, grief, and sadness. Not to tell you what the story is going to be like, or anything….