Mother's Son
Six year old Teddy Lupin stared at his reflection in the mirror, appraising the effect that his black hair had on his face.
"What do you think?" he asked out loud.
"I think I make you look a bit dour," replied his mirror.
"Dour?" asked Teddy.
"Stern," clarified the mirror.
"Oh. Year, you're right. Give me another color."
"Blue," said the mirror. Teddy screw up his face in concentration. A second later his hair was the color of the sky on a clear day. Teddy was a metamorphmagus, which meant that he was able to change his appearance at will. Of course, he wasn't quite able to say such a long word properly yet. Instead he called himself a metamophmamus. He'd inherited the ability from his late mother.
"That's not much better," said his mirror. "Try green instead." Teddy tried it.
"No," they both chorused together. With green hair, Teddy just looked like he was infected.
"Try red," suggested his mirror. A second later Teddy's hair was tomato red.
"Now I look like a Weasley," laughed Teddy. He liked the Weasley's. His godfather Harry had married a Weasley. Auntie Ginny was very nice and very pretty. And Granny Weasley was even better. Every time he went around her house she would always stuff him so full of food he felt as though he would burst. Granddaddy Weasley was nice too. And all of Auntie Ginny's siblings were great; especially Uncle George and Uncle Ron. They were both very funny. And they were starting to have kids now. There was Victoire, Louis, Fred, Molly, and James. Teddy was older then all of them but he still had fun playing with Victoire and Louis.
"Give me another color," said Teddy.
"Violet," responded his mirror. An instant later he'd changed his hair again.
"Oh no," said the mirror. "That makes you look peaky." Teddy agreed. A second later he'd changed his hair to sunshine yellow.
"That's better," said the mirror.
"Is it?" asked Teddy. "I don't know. I think I look a bit washed out."
"Well if you don't want my advice, don't ask for it," snapped his mirror. Teddy stuck out his tongue at it. He wished he could ask his mother. She'd probably have known what would look good on him. And then, an idea came to him. Reaching inside his pocket he pulled out a folded photography. Opening it up, he looked down at a picture of his mother and father on their wedding day. This was Teddy's favorite photo because it was the only one that had both his parents in it. He looked at it so often that his grandmother had had to protect it from damage using magic. There was his mother smiling happily and waving up at him, her hair changing constantly changing color in her excitement. And there was his father, beaming from ear to ear. He looked so radiant that it was almost impossible to see the scars across his prematurely aged face.
Teddy smiled sadly down at his parents. What he wouldn't give to have known them. But they had died before he was even a year old. His grandmother still didn't like to talk about. His mother had been her only daughter after all. Uncle Harry and the Weasleys did though. They would all tell stories about how his father, Remus, had been the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher he'd ever had and how his mother, Tonks - as everyone called her - had been funny and clumsy. From the stories that Teddy had been told, he knew that his parents had been brave, clever, and kind people. They had had died fighting so that he would have better future. And yet, he still wished that he could have known. But, then again, wasn't that how all orphans felt?
Looking down at his parents, he felt a pang of guilt mixed with his sadness. Having inherited his mother's ability to change his appearance it was easy for him to idolize her but his father was deserving of praise too. His Auntie Hermione had told him about how his father was a the first werewolf to ever receive an Order of Merlin and how is sacrifice has helped end the rampant persecution of his kind. Teddy wasn't sure what that all meant but from the way Auntie Hermione talked he knew that it was a good thing. He wasn't sure what was wrong with being a werewolf. In fact, he thought it would be interesting to be able to turn into a wolf. He had hoped that he had inherited the ability from his father but the only transformative powers he'd gotten were from his mother. Maybe if his father had been alive he could have taught him how to turn into a wolf?
Teddy shook his head, clearing his mind of all the what ifs. Whether or not his parents were alive, it didn't matter. He was happy and he was loved. His grandmother doted on him and his Uncle Harry was always around, bringing him presents and sweets. He looked back down at the photo of his parents.
"Can you give me a suggestion?" he asked the picture of his mother. The picture of his mother thought for a moment before changing her hair color to bubble gum pink. Intrigued, Teddy copied her look.
"Very daring," commented his mirror. "But suitable." Teddy thought so too. He liked the way the color highlighted his face.
"Teddy, dinner is ready."
"Coming!" yelled Teddy. He ran out of his room and down the stairs, excited to show his grandmother his new hair color.
"Granny Domeda, look at this," called out Teddy as he entered the kitchen. Andromeda Tonks, who had been filling a mug with water from the sink turned to face her grandson. The mug dropped from her hands and shattered on the floor.
"Granny!" called out Teddy as rushing towards his grandmother in concern, his hair changing from bubble gum pink to brown.
"Stop," called out Andromeda, "the shards." Teddy froze, his bare feet an inch away from a rather large and sharp looking piece of mug. Andromeda took out her wand with a trembling hand and gave it a quick upward flick. The shattered bits of ceramic rose into the air and reformed themselves into a mug. As the mug landed lightly on the kitchen counter, the cracks upon its surface faded away. Another quick wave of the wand and the puddle of water vanished.
"Granny, are you already?" asked Teddy concernedly, moving closer to his grandmother now that the area was clear of hazards.
"I'm fine," said Andromeda, "I was just startled is all." She reached out and touseld Teddy's hair. "You should change it back to pink. It suited you very well." Teddy smiled widely and changed his hair back to bubble gum pink.
"Very good dear," said Andromeda. "There's only one thing missing." Andromeda gave her wand a little wave. For a few seconds Teddy could feel something like a soft wind blowing his about.
"What did you do?" asked Teddy once his hair had stopped moving about.
"Why don't you go take a look," suggested Andromeda, pointing towards particularly well-polished pot. Teddy picked up the pot and looked at his reflection.
"I love it!" he exclaimed, his hand reaching up to prod the spikes of hair the Andromeda had created. Teddy turned back towards his grandmother.
"Where did you get the idea to do this?"
"It's how your mother used to wear her hair," said Andromeda. "I thought it would fit you well. And I was right."
"Cool," said Teddy, turning back to his reflection. In his youthful excitement, he failed to spot the shadow of pain and sorrow in Andromeda's eyes; which she could not adequately hide behind her wide smile. Teddy resembled his mother more now than ever before. With thoughts of her late daughter flooding through her mind, Andromeda crouched down next to her grandson and pulled him into a tight hug.
"I love you my little wolf," whispered Andromeda.
"I love you too granny," said Teddy, shifting around so that he could put his small arms around his grandmother. For a minute they held each other, savoring a moment of contentment. And then Teddy's stomach growled.
"Well, well, well," said Andromeda as she released Teddy from her clutches. "It sounds like I have a hungry wolf in my kitchen. Are you a hungry wolf?" Teddy held his hands up like paws, growled, and pretended to bite at his grandmother.
"Oh no," cried out Andromeda is mock distress, "a hungry little wolf has come into my kitchen and is trying to eat me. Whatever will I do?" Teddy growled again and started to paw gently at Andromeda's leg.
"Wait! Don't eat me little wolf. Why don't you go into the dining room instead? There is a lovely meal in there already. It's perfect for hungry little wolves." Teddy thought for a second, howled, and then happily trotted off out of the kitchen towards the dining room. Andromeda, smiling, followed after her grandson.