Disclaimer:
Nope, still not JKR. I don't own Harry Potter, or the lovely poem below this.
Once there were two women who barely knew each other,
One is your birth mum and the other is your mother.
Two different lives, shaped to make yours one,
One became your guiding star; the other became your sun.
The first gave you emotions; the second calmed your fears.
One saw your first smile; the other dried your tears.
And now you ask me through your tears,
The age-old question through the years;
Heredity or environment, which are you the product of?
Neither, my darling. Just two different kinds of love.
~Spring Break~
•10th March 2015•
The stars were especially bright tonight.
Teddy Lupin was lying outside the Potter Cottage in Godric's Hollow, his Godfather's home. The grass rose up tall around him, seemingly sheltering him from the harsh wind. But it didn't; Teddy was chilled to bone. He didn't notice.
He thought about a muggle myth he'd heard. One that said that good, virtuous people become constellations after death, that their souls live in the stars for their loved ones to look up at.
Teddy thought about his father, faced with so much hatred and prejudice all throughout his life, considering himself too damaged, too broken, to be worthy of love. He thought about his mother, who proved him wrong, rushing into battle for her husband, only to die beside him.
He wondered if they deserved a place in the sky. Teddy wondered why, why neither of them had thought about him.
He'd wager that his hair was bubblegum pink right now.
"Teddy! Mum's calling you inside."
He looked back to see a small figure running towards him. Lily, her red hair flying in the wind. She was wearing her Weasley jumper, ridiculously oversized, complete with a huge, capital L and two pink pygmy puffs on the front.
"Tell mu— I mean, tell aunt Ginny- that I'll be inside in a minute." He caught himself just in time. She's your mum, Lily, not mine.
She was shaking her head at him and grinning. "You'll take longer than a minute, Teddy, you always do." Lily promptly flopped down on the grass next to him.
It was a full moon night. Teddy looked at it with hatred, his father's worst fear, his greatest nightmare, his boggart. The full moon that promised pain and suffering and dark, desolate places, that reminded him of the monster he was.
He didn't usually feel this empty inside, but today was March 10th. Remus Lupin would turn 55 today, if he was alive. But he wasn't; his father was 38 years old, and he would forever be 38.
"Did you know that good people turn into stars when they die?" Lily whispered.
Teddy swallowed painfully. "No I didn't, Lily. Who told you that?"
"Dad told me." She said matter-of-factly. "He said that Grandpa and Grandma Potter are up there, watching us."
Of course Harry understood, he always did. He understood why Teddy needed to be alone on some particularly disastrous full moon nights; Why he cried when his patronus turned out to be a wolf; Why he sometimes stood in front of a mirror, clutching a worn-out photograph of his father, carefully turning his eyes hazel and hair sandy brown; Why he never really understood why they died, why they left him.
"Teddy?" Lily said, softly, tentatively. She was looking at him, eyes suspiciously bright.
"Yes?"
"I think your parents are there too, in the sky. Your other parents, of course, not Mum and Dad….."
"How'd you know I was thinking about them?"
"Your hair is pink, like Aunt Dora's." She said, pointing to his head.
"Ah….I knew it."
"You look like one of Rose's Barbie dolls." Lily was giggling now.
Teddy changed his hair to neon green, and his eyebrows to red and purple, which only made Lily laugh harder. He turned his hair into seven different colours all at once, sticking his tongue out at her. Her laughter rang out pure and true and honest. Lily was practically rolling on the ground now.
And just like that, Teddy grinned.
He smiled at Lily, this seven-year-old girl, who had no doubt whatsoever that her parents were his parents too, that he was part of her family. He smiled because she thought that his other parents were kind and loving and good; because even though they looked absolutely nothing alike, she was his sister.
Suddenly the air seemed warmer and the sky was brighter, and all was right in the world.
"Edward Remus Lupin!"
Teddy winced. Aunt Ginny was mad at him, really mad. He could tell by her use of his real name.
"What in the name of Merlin were you doing outside? In December! When it's positively freezing! Practically snowing! Wait until your father hears about this—"
Aunt Ginny sounded remarkably Molly-like in that moment, eyes blazing and voice high-pitched with worry. Her husband's lips twitched at the corners, no doubt remembering Ron and Fred and George receiving a similar talking-to from Mrs. Weasley.
"—going to catch your death of a cold. I'd be surprised if he doesn't go down with the flu—"
It seemed to go on forever. Once she was done with Teddy and Lily —Lily Luna Potter, you were supposed to go fetch your brother, not fall sick with him— Aunt Ginny sank down into a chair, head dropping into her hands. Harry appeared to be holding back laughter with extreme difficulty, and Teddy had never been happier.
The thought made him feel strangely elated, that he had a mother who cared, so much. Teddy Lupin was Ginevra Potter's first-born son, even if he wasn't her own.
Because blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb. Teddy Lupin had a family.
To be continued...
A/N: Finally finished the first chapter! It's astonishing how long it took me to write a 1000 words. The pains of a perfectionist are dreadful indeed :( I promise to update soon! Reviews are love (hint, hint)
X×LittleMissPerfect×X