Hey there my friends!

This is my new story, focusing on Teddy Lupin!

I'm not sure why I'm writing this, but I really love Teddy and all he could ever be, and I feel that there should be more fics devoted to him and so I wrote one myself!

I got a lot of inspiration for what happens in these chapters from tumblr posts about Teddy that I found on pinterest, so if you read something and it sounds familiar, it's probably cause it IS familiar! All credit for the ideas go to their various owners, although some of the ideas are my own.

Also, I wrote this in present tense, a new way of writing I'm trying to practice. It's not my usual form of writing, so I'll really appreciate any help you guys can give me with spotting mistakes or giving advice and such. :D

Lastly, I would like to say that I included a lot of characters and that my imaginations of what they are like and who they become are really entirely my own, and not canon at all. I have probably gotten mixed up with ages and times of birth and Hogwarts going as well, so I hope you can forgive me... :)

And without further ado, enjoy!

...

Teddy Lupin, upon arriving at Platform 9 ¾ for the first time, promptly stares at the hoards of students awaiting him and slides just a little bit closer to Harry. Upon receiving several odd looks, his hair- a bright, neon orange in excitement but moments before- quickly shifts to untidy black even as his eyes take on a warm brown hue. Simple, ordinary colours. Colours that do not attract attention and look as if they belong to the amused man standing besides him.

A lot of people are looking at them. A lot. And he's not too sure he enjoys it, so he ignores them. And changes his hair color, rounds his face a little to match his guardian's. (He's pretty sure that one of his eyebrows is a shade of dark maroon instead of black, but that's okay. Nobody'll notice. Probably.) And he sticks close to Harry.

(It's long since become a habit for him, and it's the easiest form to keep, the one he feels most comfortable in. When he's just… being? Was that the word? It sounded like the right word... When he's just being he kind of just settles naturally into this look, at least so he's been told. It takes concentration to keep everything in, the colours that would surely flit to and through across his hair without a little restraint. He still tried to keep it tamed, though, when Harry and Ginny- and now little James, too- and him were out and about together as a family. It made blending in a whole lot easier and it was always nice when someone actually mistaked him for Harry's kid, even if he would never say it out loud.)

Teddy does not grab Harry's hand- at the fine age of eleven, he's too old for that- but he does stick close as they traverse through the chattering, bustling crowds that converge and diverge around them. Harry is pushing the heavily loaded trolley for him, which he is grateful for, because there was so much to look at- the train, the people, the owls, the cats, the trunks, Harry, the huge columns, the brass sign declaring the platform number- and he highly doubts he could have steered the thing and stared at basically everything else all at once.

Unnoticed, bright orange hue starts to slip into his hair once more.

And then his trunk is being loaded onto the train and Harry is giving him a few extra galleons for the trip- "Just don't tell your grandmother… or Ginny." - so that he can buy something from the trolley on his way there, and the nerves are back and his hair is not turning a dull mustard yellow- it most definitely is not, thank you very much- he's keeping it nice and plain and black, like Harry's….

The older man seems to notice his nerves- how is face is screwed up in concentration to keep everything under control- and is smiling, kneeling down to give him a hug, even if he's too old for them now in public, and Teddy is trying very hard to convince himself that he cares about it even as he returns the embrace.

(He doesn't.)

"You know…"

That was Harry, amusement and affection and something small and sad in his eyes.

"You know, your mother used to go around with the most ridiculous hair colours. Never hid her abilities; she used it to make people laugh, to start a conversation. It was very much a part of her…"

That was Harry's way, he knew, of saying that Teddy didn't have to colour his hair black. That he didn't have hide. That it was okay. Harry was like that, never super direct about his suggestions, but always offering his own opinion and accepting whatever Teddy did with it. It's one of the things that Teddy likes about him.

So he grins and promises the older man that he would write and gives him instructions to send his love to Nan and Ginny and Hermione and Ron and Victorie and tiny baby James and the rest of the family, even as he flashes a thumbs up at the older man, takes a deep breath and gets on the train.

He finds a compartment filled with other first years, all of them nervous, all of them frantically waving out of the window as the train pulls away. Teddy focuses on Harry the entire time, who's walking and then running by the train and waving and waving and waving, and his cheeks are starting to ache because he's smiling so hard- They're going to Hogwarts!- but his hair stays black.

He jokes with the other students and makes faces and laughs and feels and shares his nerves over what house he's going to be in- Is he going to be in Gryffindor, like his dad? Like Harry? Hufflepuff, like his mum? One of the other houses?- and what the teachers were going to be like and who he was going to dorm with.

And he keeps his hair an untidy mop of black, thinking, thinking about what Harry said.

And then they're at the school, smoothly gliding across a massive lake in old worn down boats, and the sight of the massive castle looming above them is one of the most incredible things Lupin's ever seen, and his hair sprouts and turns a light shade of violet in awe and anticipation, but no one notices because they're all just as entranced, and he quickly fixes it.

The Great Hall is huge. Massive. And there are tons and tons and tons of people in there. Teddy stares right back at all the faces staring at him even as he makes sure his hair his very much black and messy and his eyes very much warm and brown and his face basically replicating that of one Harry Potter, if not a little more youthful.

They stand in a congregated mass of first years in the center of the hall, shifting their feet anxiously and watching the very old, worn down leather hat that would decide their fates.

Professor Mcgonagall starts reading out names. One by one by one, and the entire time Teddy watches with intensity as each First Year wanders up to the stool and sits down. Watches their faces break into relieved smiles as they finally get sorted and how their houses cheer as they rush to join them. Glances up at the flags, coloured bright, vibrant blues and greens and reds and yellows in honour of the different houses. Thinks about what Harry said.

By the time his name is called, he knows what he's going to do.

"Lupin, Edward?"

He makes his way up, so focused on getting to the stool that he hardly how some of the teachers' eyes bulge in shock and the half strangled noise that escapes the absolutely huge man who sits at the edge of the table. Some students are whispering, too, but he ignores them.

He sits on the stool, hair still messy. Still black.

Mcgonagall is raising an eyebrow at him, assessing him, but he just stares back up at her innocently as he can. He's nervous- Try terrified...- but he's made up his mind. He was going to honor his mother's legacy. She was going to be here, with him, in this one small way.

(Deep in his robe pocket was a small old notebook filled with his dad's teaching notes. Uncle Bill had found it in his cabin years and years and years ago and had given it to him when he was seven. Teddy's pretty sure he's memorized every word, but it's still nice to have it with him. Nice to not be alone.)

The hat talks funny.

It's filled with riddles and games, rambling on and on about Teddy's different qualities, about how it had been so long since the hat had at last sorted a metamorphmagi. Teddy pays attention, because it is sort of interesting, but mostly he's just impatient to get his plan into action.

The impatience vanishes when the hat mentions him being a lot like his parents, and he smiles.

He couldn't wait to tell Harry.

The hat, upon 'hearing'- Could hats hear?- this, does an odd sort of laugh in his head, claiming he knew just where he'd put him.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

His table is cheering- loudly- and everyone else is politely clapping, and Teddy himself is beaming ear to ear because his mum had to be so proud of him but he's also focusing, focusing, because Mcgonagall is lifting up the hat and-

Just as the hat is lifted off his head, his hair bursts into a brilliant canary yellow, the same exact colour as the banners hanging from the ceiling above, and shoots outwards. Mcgonagall doesn't react, much, but her eyes are filled with fond exasperation and Teddy can already tell he's going to like her.

There are shocked faces and exclamations all around, and some people are laughing- the giant man from before is booming especially loud- but it's the good kind of laughter, and Teddy quickly joins in, happy to see all the happiness, and scurries to his table, where he's met with pats on the backs and smiles all around.

It's a nice feeling, and Teddy vows to try for it again, sometime.

He sends off a letter to Harry and Ginny and Nan almost as soon as he enters his dorm, despite the fact that it's getting late and he's feeling kind of sleepy and full, tells them what he did and what house he was in and signs it with love even though he's probably a bit old for that.

He gets his responses not two days later, all filled with love and happiness and pride, and he thinks that life's good.

He wonders what his parents are thinking, too, but he's pretty sure they're proud of him.

He keeps his hair brilliant yellow for a week- except when, of course, it gets away from him and turns all sorts of colors- orange in excitement or purple in anticipation or fuchsia in annoyance or pale pink in embarrassment or a sickly lime green in fear because Merlin he's half an hour late and Mcgonagall is going to literally kill him- but that's okay, too, because everyone thinks it's super cool and it makes a lot of them laugh and Teddy wonders why he ever tried to hide his hair in public in the first place cause this was fun!

And sometimes his eyebrows become bushier or mismatched in color or his face narrower or his nose a little bit more crooked or his fingers longer, and, of course, there's that one very memorable time in which his roommate asks him if he can grow facial hair and it turns out, yes, he can, except then he doesn't know how to stop it and ends up sporting a massive green and golden beard for two class periods before he can turn it back. He can't really control it, everything is always changing, but he thinks he's okay with it, now, and he makes the effort to keep it predominately his house color once bursts of emotions have passed.

But after the week he lets his hair fall back to its standard messy black and smiles brilliantly up at each and every teacher that comments on how much he looks like Harry.

He keeps it predominantly black and messy for the rest of the year.

His left eyebrow still rebelled, though, flicking through colours day and day out.

But that's okay, he'll get the hang of it.

Eventually.

...

Tadah! Done!

I really hope all of you guys enjoyed and that I have satisfied your Teddy Lupin needs. A huge thank you to all you guys who took the time to read this work!

You are all super awesome. Love you!

-Mashpotatoe Queen