Author's Note: First time ever writing something for Next Gen Harry Potter characters. Let's see how well this worked... I'll keep writing this regardless of whether or not it is popular. Why? Because I like the type of story it is. Finding out about sexuality, self discovery, etc, etc. So just give it a chance. That's all I ask. (The warning is for language and other stuff that could happen in later chapters).

Spent a while doing research to figure out what year and what house the characters would all be in. Since half of them only have estimates of when they were born...there will also be a crap load of original characters. So...

Disclaimer: All characters who were mentioned in the Harry Potter book belong to JK Rowling. However, if they are original characters they are mine.

Warning: If you do not like/support homosexual relationships between two guys, turn back now. If you find it sexy as hell and wish to continue reading please do so. Thank you and have a nice day.

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss

It was the first day of his brand new job as a professor at the school he had always wanted to teach at, the school that had been his home away from home while he was growing up with his grandmother. It was his first day of his brand new job and there was no way that he was staring at the same James Sirius Potter that he had grown up with. There was no way it was the same boy who had had the pudgy cheeks and hair as black as coal. There was no way he was actually feeling a blush rise to his cheeks while staring at James. There was no way he could be thinking of things like what he would look like without the uniform on. It was impossible because Teddy Remus Lupin was not gay, and he was with a girl. He was with her. Or well…he had been. The events of the previous month had completely soured him to that blonde haired girl… It had been three weeks since had last seen her, and he did not honestly care what her parents thought of him at that point.

But there he was, there was James. They had been close when James was younger; hell James had practically idolized him when they were kids. James and he always managed to get into all sorts of trouble, much to the dislike of James' father. Apparently the two of them took after their namesakes much too much for Harry's preference. It made Teddy chuckle after he and James had learned of the stories of the Marauders. What had Harry expected naming James after James 'Prongs' Potter and Sirius 'Padfoot' Black? A well behaved child? That certainly wasn't what he had gotten. He and James had seen to that.

His mind wandered back to their days at Hogwarts, the two of them had both been in Gryffindor, but by the time James had started Hogwarts, it was Teddy's fourth year there. Of course, he made sure to always make time for James in between seeing the girl. Bloody hell he couldn't even think her name without feeling sick to his stomach… And honestly he wished he had kept in touch with James after he had graduated from Hogwarts. James had only been a third year when he left the school, and, although he would see him at Kings Cross when he used to see her off to school, he never said a word to him.

Seeing him now, seeing how much he had changed, seeing what he had grown up to be, he wondered if James even still remembered him? Remembered their friendship. A part of him did not think he did. As he watched him in the Great Hall that first day of classes, he certainly looked the popular sort, people just flocking to him. Well…him and his younger brother Albus. It did not surprise him in the least that Albus was in Slytherin, and the kid seemed to be doing fine from what he was able to observe while he sat there at the staff table. The blonde haired boy he was with…he was fairly certain that that would be the Malfoy boy…Scorpius.

His eyes roamed all the students looking for the rest of the cousins that he knew, of course it was not difficult to find them all. Rosie was chatting with Scorpius and Albus. Well he had not expected that she would be friends with Scorpius, and he half wondered how her mother felt about that friendship. Probably the same way Harry did about Albus being best friends with Scorpius… He figured they were all in their fourth year. He spotted Molly with the trio, and just smiled. Molly was a sweet girl, always kind, and it made perfect sense to him that she would be friends with Rosie; the two were close when they were kids. Roxanne and Louis were both at the Ravenclaw table along with Lysander Scamander; she was sitting on it, while Louis was sitting on the long bench close to her with Lysander smack dab in the middle. In the back of his mind, he remembered that there were still three of the cousins to be sorted that year, Lily Potter, Hugo Weasley and Lucy Weasley. He would bet money that they would all be in Gryffindor. Dominque Weasley was with her friends at the Hufflepuff table, though he could have sworn she shot him a dirty look when she saw him.

His gaze fell again on James. He was at the Gryffindor table, Fred Weasley beside him, sitting on the bench. On the other side of James was Lorcan Scamander, someone who Teddy only knew because he had met him as a baby when he was little. That and he would occasionally play with the Scamander twins, and Fred Weasley. Teddy went stiff as he saw James catch his gaze, smile, and wink at him. So he did remember…

Before he could do any sort of response, the students all sat down in their seats as Professor McGonagall walked into the Great Hall and took her seat at the middle of the staff table. The Great Hall went quiet as Professor Longbottom led in the first years for the Sorting Ceremony. He could pick out the three students he was looking for; they all had red hair and it was not hard to find them as they stuck together in a little pack.

Teddy took the opportunity to close his eyes and just think. It was something he had not been able to do in a while, something he wished he would have been able to do since the incident that caused the destruction of his relationship with his now ex-girlfriend. He had wanted to marry her, had been convinced that he would, till he caught her in the biggest lie imaginable. He wanted to forgive her, he did, but something in the back of his mind told him that he could never just do that. It would be too hard for him to forgive and to forget.

He kept his eyes closed, clapping as he heard each name of a house get called out for the first years, not entirely interested in what was going on in the least. That was until the Weasley and Potter children were called up. Each one of them was in Gryffindor as he had expected, and he opened his eyes to see James picking up Lily and spinning her around. That made him smile. He was a good brother, hell he even saw Albus cheering for his little sister. The Potters were great people he truly believed that. There was just something that always made him smile, and it always had. How could he have not seen that?

The feast began after a short speech from the headmistress and Teddy ate his food quietly, while the rest of the faculty talked amongst themselves. He had so much weighing on him, not only his duties as a Professor of Transfiguration, but as the new head of the Gryffindor house. It was a ton of responsibility and Teddy could only hope that he would be able to do all that was expected of him in such a short amount of time. If there was one good thing…it was that he did not have to deal with a monthly day off (as much as he would have loved that). He had not inherited the majority of his father's furry little problem, just some odd behaviors like growling.

He wasn't all that hungry, in fact, he was more focused on glancing around at the students that he would soon be teaching. So many thoughts and worries rushed through his mind in a single instance, wondering what exactly he would be talking to them about on the first day of class. Perhaps about what exactly he was…oh and of course expectations for the class, and what they would be learning…McGonagall had been kind enough to pick the textbooks out for that year.

The feast dragged on and on, he was starting to grow incredibly bored and went back to watching a certain Potter boy with his friends. He looked much like his father, but with lighter, more reddish brown hair than Harry's black, and, unlike his father, he didn't need glasses, none of the Potter children did. He hadn't even realized he was staring till he felt the professor next to him…shoot who was it? He hadn't the foggiest idea about who it was, nudged him. The students were leaving. Time to go talk to the Gryffindors. Teddy stood up and left with the rest of the staff.

It was going to be a long year…

Unlike perhaps the rest of his family James was not surprised to see Teddy Lupin at the staff table, Teddy had always been good at teaching people what they had to know in school. Though he supposed he should refer to him as Ted, they weren't children anymore. That thought lasted all of three seconds before the thought was easily dismissed. That blue haired man would always be Teddy Lupin, and never Ted, to him. It had occurred to James, that it had been several years since he had last seen Teddy, and that thought mad his stomach churn. They had been good friends, thick as thieves, but once Teddy had left Hogwarts it was as if he dropped off the face of the earth. The only times he had seen him were brief sightings of him with Victoire at Kings Cross, never at family gatherings. James wondered why, and had asked his cousin, but she didn't answer. She hadn't given him the time of day since she had found out his deep dark secret.

To him, it had be no surprise what had happened between her and Teddy; personally he was not a fan of the blonde haired bitch, in his mind she stole Teddy from him, as childish as a thought as that ways. James knew what she was and had always thought she charmed him, Teddy never saw how she acted once he graduated. He had found out what had happened from Lorcan on the train; Lorcan had heard Louis and Roxanne talking with Lysander about it before Lorcan had gone to find James. And oh, the rage that had boiled up within him…it was lucky that Victoire was no longer on the train, James would have punched her, or hexed, but he wanted the satisfaction of a physical attack and feeling her face buckle as his fist struck it. At the same time, he would hold his tongue, she knew something about him, and he did not feel like his parents would appreciate learning the truth about him that way…

His antics, his sexuality, was always the talk of the whole school. The son of the famous Boy Who Lived would rather suck cock than well…do anything with a girl. He couldn't even bring himself to think about it. He was out, he was proud, and he did not give a damn about what the rest of the world thought. Or he pretended nothing affected him, but it did. It bothered him, but the jokes and comments had nearly stopped with Fred sent a student to the Hospital Wing with a pair of wings growing out of the student's back for calling James a 'fairy.' The people who mattered didn't' seem to care that he was gay, and if they did, they were too cowardly to say it to his face.

With his parents on the other hand, he played it off like they were all just rumors of what he got up to at school, that they should pay them no mind. They believed him, all of them did except for Al, Fred, and of course Victoire. The only reason she knew as because she caught him snogging Lorcan after a celebratory party for winning a Quidditch Match. She threatened to tell his parents, James said if she did he would rat her out to Teddy. It had been a real threat, and she kept her mouth shut.

He was not with Lorcan, they did not date, they had only kissed that one time because Lorcan had wanted to know what it was like to kiss a guy and they were both rather drunk at the time. Lorcan knew James was gay, asked, and James had obliged him. Nothing changed between them, if anything they were closer than ever. Not as close as he and Fred, but that was only because of their bond as family and as people who were not entirely straight. James was gay, and Fred was pansexual, something that he had explained to James several times, but only recently had James finally been able to grasp what he was saying.

But he had to draw his eyes away from Teddy, and turn to the feast before him. Lily was beside him, and James had not been as proud as he was since Al had been sorted into Slytherin. It was because of the fact that Al was in Slytherin, that James even bothered to talk to the other Slytherins in his year, had his little brother had not been, he wouldn't pay them a second glance. He ate with his friends, with the new Gryffindors, talking about their summers, laughing, and having a good time.

That was at least until it was time to head back to the Common Room, and James was not entirely looking forward to that. It would mean a lecture form the Head of House, and that would mean it was time for bed shortly after that. Sleep would lead to the next day, and the next day was the first day of classes. He loved Hogwarts, as everyone did, but that year he had to work his ass off if he wanted to pass his NEWTs and still remain captain of the Quidditch team. Which meant try-outs…he was completely screwed.

It was not long before he and the rest of the house were in the scarlet and gold Common Room of the Gryffindor Tower waiting for the Head of House. It was to be a new teacher as their old professor who was the Head of House retired the previous year. He was on the back on the couch with Fred sitting below him between his legs, Lorcan next to Fred. His jaw nearly hit the floor (or the top of Fred's head) when Teddy climbed through the portrait hole. How badly had he not been paying attention at the feast?

He stared as Teddy stood before them all, black robes hanging off of his shoulders, hands stuffed into his pockets as brown eyes scanned the room, strands of teal hair falling into his eyes. Seeing him up close, it gave James the opportunity to study him. Teddy, physically, looked older, and at the same time it was as if he had spent all that time throwing a quaffle around or hitting a bludger for hours on end. Beneath the black robes, James could only imagine a well built torso, all trace of baby fat that had made Teddy so adorable in school gone. The boyish face that his friend had once had, had been replaced by the handsome strong face of a man. Bloody hell, he could not pry his eyes away from him.

And then, Teddy was speaking, his voice the same comforting and kind one he remembered from their years at school. "My name is Professor Ted Lupin, I am your new head of house." No one spoke. "A bit about myself I guess, my parents were Remus John Lupin and Nymphadora 'Tonks' Lupin. My father was a professor here, may have taught some of your parents. My mother was an auror for the Ministry. Both fought here at the Battle of Hogwarts, and they were both killed." James could feel the eyes of the rest of the house dart to him, and he was sure some people looked towards Lily. "Now that I got that out of the way…as for my hair? Well, I inherited my mother's metamegamorph trait. Means I can change my appearance at will. If you have more questions about that, ask in class." As he spoke, his hair shifted from blue to purple, then back again, causing many whispers amongst them. "Basic house rules? You will receive house points for good behavior, and lose them for bad behavior. Tryouts for the Quidditch tem will be posted soon. The Forbidden Forest is forbidden to all students. No one will be allowed to enter the forest." Teddy nodded towards the staircase. "Girls are on the left, boys on the right. Should you need anything don't hesitate to ask. Good luck tomorrow, I'll see you in class. "

That was it, the Gryffindors began to mingle about, while James sprang to his feet nearly knocking Fred off the couch in the process. "Hey professor!" Merlin, that felt weird calling Teddy that, but it was no use, the man was gone. A sigh fell off of James's lips as he sunk back down on the couch. He had wanted to talk to him, had hoped he would be able to.

"Come off it James, you'll see him again." James ignored Fred's words, only to have the red head yank his tie towards him, forcing their faces close together. "Hm…should I be jealous Jamie? You getting all sad that you could not talk to pretty Professor Lupin?"

James could hear Lorcan snort behind them, could hear a bunch of girls gasping at the sight of the two boys so very close. It was the same old game they would play, flirting with each other day in and day out. Nothing serious, all in good fun though…James wasn't sure how the rest of their cousins felt about it, but he didn't particularly care. James let one of his hands rest on Fred's thigh, the other playing lightly with the flaming red hair, and leaned in so close that if he had wanted to, he could have kissed him. "Why Fred, you know you're always first in my-" A pillow promptly smack the top of James's head, interrupting him. "What the hell?" he growled slightly only to see Molly standing there, glaring. "Ah…Hey Molls."

Molly rolled her eyes. "If you must flirt with your cousin." Opps…guess she had not left the room yet. "At least get a room where they won't see." She sounded as annoyed as she looked.

"They?"

"Them." She pointed towards the group of first years where Hugo, Lucy, and Lily were standing, staring wide eyed at them. "Your little sister, and cousins."

Damn it…she'd seen him, oh he'd be in for it now with his parents. "Then goodnight Miss Molly," James said smoothly, standing up to head to the boy's dorm. As he started up the stairs, he waved to his little sister, before he vanished up the stairs with Fred and Lorcan. "Be getting a Howler for that one I bet…" he muttered as he pushed open the door to the 7th year boys dorms.

"Would serve ya right James," Lorcan said, the blonde going about getting his pajamas from his trunk. "You two did just nearly make out in front of half your family."

Fred rolled his eyes tossing a balled up sock at Lorcan's head. "Roxanne wouldn't care if I made out in front of her with a guy…Hell she'd probably like it."

"Even if it was James?"

"You really don't know…lots of girls find it hot when guys make out. Right James?"

James nodded, pulling on his nightshirt, then boxers. "Roxanne's cool. Louis might freak out, and don't know bout your twin there Lorcan." He glanced towards the other two beds. "Dylan and Mitch aren't up here yet…"

"Ah they will be soon," Fred replied already under his blankets. "Night guys."

"Night," Lorcan called from his bed, and the lights in the room went off.

James found himself alone with his thoughts again as he lay there, warm under the blankets of his four-poster bed. His eyes stared up at the ceiling, and he let out an annoyed sigh after for the third time he closed his eyes only to have Teddy's face appear. If this was his mind's way of telling him something, he was going to keep ignoring it till tomorrow. He just wanted to sleep. It took an hour before he was finally tired enough to close his eyes, and drift away into the land of dreams where he and Teddy were still as close as they once were. It was a time he missed, a time he wished he wouldn't have to leave, but in his subconscious he knew he would have to and be in the real world.

They weren't children anymore. Things had changed.

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