The Amazing Adventures of Teddy Remus Lupin
The extraordinary adventures of Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin's son and godson of the famous Harry Potter during his seven year journey through the Howarts School of Magic. Adventure, Humor and Romance.
Disclaimer: All HP characters belong to JK Rowling.
Chapter One: The Little God Sun
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Harry had only seen a single photograph of his godson, yet it had given him a wealth of information. His godson, a tiny mite with a tuft of turquoise hair, lay smiling up at the camera, waving his little fists in the air. He was cute; had his father, Remus' eyes and nose and his mother, Nymphadora's heart-shaped face, and engaging smile.
The hair gave it away; he was a metamorphmagus, able to change his features and hair color at will. It was Mr. Weasley who had informed Harry that metamorphmagi often evidenced these changes in reaction to their feelings as well.
The first time Harry saw his godson in person was at the funeral of the child's parents a week following their valiant death's during the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry had attended fifteen funerals as a result of that battle before that day and in truth, his emotional state was rather fragile by the time he stepped onto the grassy knoll of the cemetery where Remus and Tonks (Nymphadora's nickname) were to be buried.
Harry had contemplated his role as godfather a few times prior to setting eyes on his godson; but not in any real depth. He'd been allotted the honor during the war and there had simply been too much going on around him to really consider it fully at that time. In the aftermath of vanquishing Voldemort, he'd spent most of his time consoling those with losses and facing his own, and he'd barely given the matter any thought at all.
The day prior to the funeral he had attended the funeral of Fred Weasley. That event had left him completely drained, his emotions heightened and oddly enough, full of rage. He'd spent the evening with Ron, Hermione and Ginny, uncharacteristically drinking fire whiskey to dull the pain and temper his anger. The next morning he awoke feeling tired, a little hung-over and most of his anger had been swallowed up by a sense of sadness and loss.
It was natural of course; he had attended the funeral for Colin Creevey the day before and numerous others prior to that. Each had wrenched emotions from his soul and left him feeling raw and somewhat broken, despite his grand battle successes.
When he arrived with the Weasley family at the funeral for Lupin and Tonks, he wasn't surprised to see that hundreds had gathered to show their respects. Hundreds of wizards had gathered at every funeral he'd attended, whether they knew the individual who'd died or not.
Still, he couldn't help but feel some happiness at the sight; Remus had always bemoaned the fact that wizards saw him as a monster due to his being a werewolf and treated him as an outcast during his lifetime. As a result, he felt his wife had become an outcast in the eyes of the wizard world as well. While Remus had finally come to terms with the issue on a personal level, Harry knew that the fear that his family would ever be shunned by society had lingered in the back of his mind. Thus, he would have likely been surprised at the number of people who had come to see him and his wife off into the wizard after-life.
Many present had a real respect for Remus and Tonks; members of the Order, those who had come into contact or fought along side the couple, students who had trained under Remus in defense of the dark arts classes at Hogwarts and others who simply did not believe in bearing prejudice. However, other wizards, who would have likely shunned the family if the parents had lived, were also present. The majority of wizard society was ready to set aside their prejudices when it came to paying respects to all of those who had stood with them against the dark lord.
Harry arrived with Ginny's hand firmly held in his own and moved to stand beside Andromeda Tonks, Nymphadora's mother, at the edge of the graves. That was the first time he glimpsed his godson. The sight sent the first wave of unmitigated cheer through his heart that he'd felt since the moment Voldemort had fallen. The little tike was shifting and grabbing at his grandmother's robes, a smile on his face and his eyes bright. His hair actually changed from blonde to a deep green while Harry was watching him and the sight resulted in the first unencumbered smile upon Harry's face since the end of the war. He reminded Harry of both Remus and Tonks and brought to mind the last time he'd seen Remus; called back from the afterworld to encourage him just before he faced Voldemort. Remus had looked younger, happier and healthier than he'd ever seen him in life and the thought that he and Tonks were united with Sirius and his parents in the afterworld - likely having a ball - cheered him and kept a glowing warm ball of joy in his heart.
The service was of medium length and Harry volunteered together with a few others to say a few words when the wizard conducting the service asked if anyone wished to speak. He spoke of his love for Remus and Tonks, told of their valor, counsel and friendship and ended proclaiming that they had left him the great gift and honor of being their son's godfather.
Harry spoke from the heart and had no idea that his words would forever change little Teddy Remus Lupin's future. Society would have very likely been prejudiced and shunned the child based on the fact that his father had been a werewolf, despite the fact that Teddy himself was free of lycanthropy and merely a metamorphmagus which was accepted and even looked upon with some awe by society. However, as the godson of the universally famous and highly revered Harry Potter, the child inherited their highest esteem.
After the service, Harry turned to Andromeda, 'may I hold him?' he asked her hesitantly.
Andromeda, distraught and teary eyed smiled, 'of course,' she said hoarsely.
Harry cradled the little one in his arms and Teddy at once began to make small mewing sounds; his hair moving from green to deep blue in the process. Harry chuckled down at the infant and in that moment, the little one wrung a deep attachment from the Gryffindor. He determined that he would be the godfather that Sirius Black had wanted to be for him, but never could fully be due to circumstance.
'You are in reality the only other family the little one has,' Andromeda said softly at his side.
Harry hugged the child a little closer to his chest, 'I will always be there for him,' Harry said determinedly. He understood that while little Teddy did actually have other relatives along the Black family line, none of them would actually acknowledge the child.
Andromeda smiled again, 'it will be nice for him to have a male presence in his life. You are likely to be a very busy young man from here on out, but I am certain that even a little time spent in your presence will mean a lot for him, Harry.'
Harry looked up quickly and met Andromeda's eyes, 'Remus and Tonks asked me to be his godfather and I have no intention of being so in name only. Teddy is going to be seeing more of me than he'll likely be able to stomach!' he said almost angrily, his eyes flashing.
Andromeda started a little at the heat in Harry's tone.
Harry calmed at once, 'that is…if you will allow it,' he added chastened. His mind had been full of his own parents; taken from him when he was but one years old and how Teddy had found himself in the same situation.
Andromeda's face changed to one of gratitude and tearful emotion, 'allow it? Of course Harry. You are his godfather, you must see him as often as you like. My home is your home.'
Harry smiled again and watched as Ginny, still at his side, reached in to tickle Teddy's stomach. Teddy's mouth opened with merriment and in that moment a picture was snapped by a Daily Prophet reporter. Harry immediately demanded a copy and it would be the first post battle photo to grace the shelf in his room at the Burrows where he was staying.
To Andromeda's surprise, Harry kept his word and was a frequent visitor to her home. He came with Ginny and sometimes with Ron and Hermione and would spend anywhere from an hour to several hours playing with Teddy and bringing him small gifts.
Some years later when Harry married Ginny, his five year old godson proudly marched up the isle holding the couple's wedding rings, his hair white-blond for the occasion. The moment Teddy reached the alter with the rings, Harry and Ginny had looked at the youngster with such fondness, Teddy's emotions caused his hair to transform to a bright orange. The crowd began laughing and the moment was one of the high points of the ceremony for the couple.
Harry and Ginny continued their regular visits after their marriage and began carrying the lad off to their new flat for days at a time. Harry told story after story to little Teddy about his father and mother, almost glorifying Remus Lupin's lycanthropy in the tales so that Teddy would be immune to holding any prejudice for werewolves and others who exhibited non-human wizard characteristics.
Harry's deepest desire was that Teddy be proud of his parents and of the sacrifice he had made for his son; he didn't want the child to feel the least bit of shame about his father being a werewolf. Although he would not know it for sometime, Harry's efforts were quite effective.
Harry and Ginny began having their own children, James, two years later and Albus, a year after that and from that point, Teddy had begun asking to stay with them more frequently. He loved playing with his new little god-siblings. He traveled to his godfather's home so often, he became like another member of the family and wizard society became quite used to seeing the Lupin child amongst Harry's family when they went out and about in the wizard world.
When Teddy turned eleven, he received his letter to Hogwarts School of Magic and Harry went with his family to Andromeda's home to celebrate. Ginny had just found out she was pregnant again, so they invited Ron and Hermione and their two children along for a massive celebration of all the good news.
Harry had taken Teddy aside at the party to talk about his upcoming sojourn at Hogwarts. Teddy seemed to be well on his way to fulfilling his father's dream of being a 'great wizard in the making'. The child had performed a tremendous amount of incidental magic as a youngster and Harry, quite against Ministry standards, had even taught teddy a few harmless spells during the last year.
Harry had been amazed at how quickly the lad had performed the basic spells, although upon reflection it made sense. His father had been quite talented and very quick with his wand and his mother had been an Auror which spoke greatly of her aptitude at magic.
Harry had also been unable to resist teaching Teddy all about flying, albeit on a toy broom. The broom didn't get much in the way of height, but they managed to play miniature Quidditch games nonetheless and Teddy had shown great aptitude for the sport.
Harry saw great things ahead for Teddy, but he was wise enough to realize that Teddy's aptitude for magic could land him in a heap of trouble at Hogwarts if the child didn't take care. While Teddy had a great heart and good values instilled in him by his grandmother and godfather, he had inherited his father and mother's mischievous nature.
Harry wanted the child to have a good time; but he warned him against being a bully or using his gifts in an ill advised way. He drilled those ideals into little Teddy's mind again during their chat at the celebration and continued to do so right through the day he took Teddy to purchase his first year supplies in Hogsmeade. Harry was quite certain that even after having doled out truck-loads of advice, he still had a budding Marauder on his hands.
On the day before Teddy was to leave for Hogwarts, Andromeda fire-called Harry and advised him she had hurt her leg and would be unable to accompany them the next day to Kings Cross to see Teddy off to Hogwarts. So Teddy spent that evening at his godfather's home and a quite pregnant Ginny, Harry, James and Albus set out with Teddy the next morning to platform 9 and three-quarters to see him off for the start of what would become the extraordinary adventures of one Teddy Remus Lupin at the Hogwarts School of Magic.
Harry was standing with his family pressing Teddy's thick, waving hair down about his head. The waves ended in curls that had a decided tendency to escape the perfections of grooming. Harry knew all about untidy locks and smiled as Teddy looked up at him wryly; Teddy knew Harry's attempts at controlling his hair were futile. His hair's natural color was ginger with natural light highlights, but that changed often enough with his emotions. His large light brown eyes and cute heart-shaped face gave promise of his being quite popular among the girls in the future.
Ginny suddenly nudged Harry and discretely pointed to where a group of four family members stood together. Harry's eyes widened in surprise when he saw that Lucius, Narcissa and Draco Malfoy stood apparently seeing off a handsome youngster with jet black hair. The child looked so different in coloring to the family, Harry wondered who he might be.
The entire family seemed to note his regard and turned to look at Harry. They all three nodded rather curtly before promptly ignoring him again, but the small child with them who had also looked over, continued looking and smiled.
Harry returned the child's smile and then turned with raised eyebrows to Ginny, 'wonder who the child is,' he mused.
'No idea,' responded Ginny, her brows creased.
However they didn't have time to speculate. Between keeping track of their youngsters James and Albus, four and three years old respectively, and speaking with Teddy, their attention was immediately distracted from contemplating the child with the Malfoys.
Too soon it was nearly eleven and Harry was assisting Teddy to load his trunk onto the Hogwarts Express. Many people were regarding the famous Harry Potter seeing his godson off that morning, but neither Harry nor Teddy paid it much mind; they were quite used to the avid attention that followed them wherever they went.
The family gathered at the window where Teddy appeared after having placed his trunk in one of the compartments and Harry and Ginny leaned up for a final kiss.
'Be good and have a lot of fun,' Harry said brightly, his eyes misting a little despite himself.
'We'll send you letters and lots of good treats from home,' Ginny promised, 'and we expect to hear from you very often, Teddy.'
Teddy smiled and promised to write, his eyes sparkling with excitement and to Harry's slight discomfort, a little mischief too.
'Maybe I will be a Gryffindor like everyone in my family,' Teddy said. In his mind, that included Harry, Ginny and all the Weasleys as well as his parents.
'Oh inevitably,' Ginny responded laughing.
'You never know,' Harry said, again noting that mischievous gleam in Teddy's eye.
Teddy furrowed his brow, 'well just so I am not a Hufflepuff,' he said sourly.
'Teddy!' Harry admonished. Teddy had laughed merrily at the name 'Hufflepuff' when Harry had explained the various houses to him. The eleven year old had declared that he would be embarrassed to be in a house with such a silly name.
Harry had at once reproached him and tried to instill a little respect for the house in his godson's mind, but it hadn't worked. He spoke of the bravery of its members, but in the end, he'd been less than convincing in his attempts.
The family stood waving as the train started to pull out of the station, Ginny leaning up to get in one last kiss and Harry noticed that Draco Malfoy stood next to her, reaching up to ruffle the hair of the dark-haired lad that had stood with the family earlier.
Many of the families stood until the train turned the curve and was out of sight before turning to leave the station. At that point Draco Malfoy's family was moving directly in front of the Potters and curiosity got the better of Harry.
Harry stepped quickly forward and tapped his old arch-enemy on the shoulder.
Draco turned around, startled at the touch and his grey eyes met Harry's emerald green orbs. He lifted his brows in question.
'Hello,' Harry said, at once feeling the strain that had always been a part of their relationship, once again rising between them.
'Hi,' Draco said coolly.
'Who was the small lad you were seeing off?' Harry asked.
Draco's expression was easily readable; none of your business you nosy git. But maturity seemed to prevent him from responding as he might have at a younger age. 'That is my younger brother,' Draco said smoothly.
'Your – your brother?' Harry said with some confusion in his tone.
'My mother was pregnant during the war; a surprise to us all,' Draco declared curtly.
'Oh – oh I see,' Harry sputtered, 'well – um – congratulations,' he finished awkwardly.
Draco's expression was wry and Harry realized that his congratulations were perhaps a little strange coming eleven years late and all.
Draco nodded and turned away to catch up with his parents who were already passing through the barrier and back into the train station.
Harry turned to Ginny as they too began moving toward the barrier, 'that dark haired boy we saw with them is the son of Lucius and Narcissa,' he said with a bit of amazement.
'I heard,' Ginny responded, her tone equally surprised, 'it is hard to imagine; they are all so pale and blond.'
Harry shrugged, 'must be the Black family background in Narcissa's bloodline coming through,' he commented.
Ginny nodded, 'let's just hope the lad is more like Sirius and less like Bellatrix.'
Harry nodded in agreement.
Harry and Ginny may have made that wish a little more fervently if they had known that Teddy and the dark haired lad who had been standing on the train next to one another at the windows had turned toward each other when they'd lost sight of their families.
The reason they had turned to one another was because a small explosion suddenly went off on the ground between them as their families faces had slid from view.
Both boys had jumped backwards at the sound and smoke began filling the air around them. They both grimaced at the awful smell that started arising from the mist.
'Gods,' the dark haired boy said, squeezing his nose and looking disgusted.
'What was that? asked Teddy scrunching up his own nose.
'That,' said an older boy that seemed to appear from no where, 'was how we welcome first year brats to Hogwarts!' he smirked at the lads.
Teddy scowled, but the dark haired boy narrowed his eyes in anger and immediately pulled out his wand. He uttered a spell and light zipped from his wand tip and struck the older student in the middle of his chest. The student went flying backward with great speed, his back hitting the wall of the passageway behind.
Teddy broke out in laughter at the sight and the dark haired boy turned his angry eyes on young Lupin. However, seconds later the anger lifted from his face and he too began laughing, watching as the older boy slowly arose from the ground where he'd slid after the curse, rubbing his head.
'You think that was funny,' the older boy said nastily, 'the two of you will regret ever stepping foot on this train,' he said, his hand reaching for his own wand.
'What's going on here?'
All three turned to see a tall lad coming rapidly toward them, his face set with determination.
The older boy who had set off the dungbomb looked from the newcomer to the two lads again with hatred in his eyes before storming angrily away, his expression bidding awful things in the future for the two young lads.
The newcomer smiled kindly at the two lads, 'everything all right?'
Teddy and the dark haired boy nodded.
'Good, best get to your compartments and settle in,' he said as he continued on his way down the passage.
Teddy looked at the dark haired boy and they grinned at one another.
'Teddy Remus Lupin,' Teddy said, holding out his hand.
The dark haired boy grasped his hand and shook it, 'Dorado Fornax Malfoy,' he replied.
'Dorado? I haven't heard that before, Teddy commented.
'My family always names their children after constellations,' Dorado said a bit arrogantly.
'Um,' Teddy mused, not at all put off by the arrogant tone, 'Dorado; my mum's name was Nymphadora and some people called her Dora for short. Kind of like your name in a way.'
'Well don't get any ideas about calling me Dora,' Dorado said smartly, 'and anyway I already knew that. Your mother was my mum's niece.'
Teddy regarded the other boy with shock sparking from his eyes, 'she was?'
Dorado nodded, 'my mum has a family tree and I saw your mother's name on it. It had your dad's name and yours on there as well; they automatically appear when family members marry and have kids. The names were scratched up a bit though; they all didn't get on so well.'
Teddy's eyes lit up suddenly, 'you are related to the Black family then?'
'My mum was a Black,' Dorado responded, with that same hint of arrogance he'd used before.
'My godfather told me about my mum's family, Teddy said, 'half of the family didn't get along so well with the other half; I guess that is why you and I never met.'
'Exactly,' Dorado said grinning, 'but I knew who you were anyway because everyone knows you are the famous Harry Potter's godson.' A little bit of spite had entered his tone.
Teddy nodded. Even though he knew his godfather was famous and the hero of a war that took place long ago, he never personally thought of Harry as a celebrated figure. For him, Harry was just his godfather who loved him as much as he loved him back. But he hadn't missed the slightly offensive tone of the other boy.
Harry had warned him that some of the kids might be a little jealous of the fact that his godfather was the war hero and exhibit it with rudeness. Teddy hadn't really understood why people might feel that way, but he was a bit daunted to hear the offensive tone coming from Dorado in relation to his godfather.
He'd immediately determined that Dorado would make a great friend when the lad had whipped out his wand in their defense. The act had seemed beyond cool to him and he was certain they could have a great time together at Hogwarts.
'Have you already got a compartment?' Teddy asked, not ready to give up hope on his prospective friend.
'Yup,' responded Dorado, signaling one close to where they were standing.
'Oh, I'm in the next one over,' Teddy said.
Dorado nodded and turned to move to his compartment, 'well, see ya,' he said over his shoulder.
'See ya,' Teddy responded feeling a little bit dismayed. He'd hoped that he and Dorado might have become friendly on the trip. He moved to his own compartment in which an older girl and boy sat talking to one another and sat across from them on the bench.
The two of them seemed to be quite good friends and they ignored Teddy completely. Teddy sighed and scooted toward the window to look out on the passing scenery, wondering what Hogwarts would be like.
When the door to their compartment opened again, Teddy swung around to see who might be coming in and a grin spread across his features.
'A bunch of loud-mouthed idiots in my compartment,' commented Dorado, 'figured I'd come here,' he said as he attempted to hoist the trunk he was dragging up onto the overhead rack.
Teddy stood up on the bench and helped Dorado push the trunk onto the rack, it was a bit high and somewhat of a struggle for most first years to reach. The lads were both tall for first years, about the same height, but it was still a little difficult for them.
'Well I'm glad you came,' Teddy said, shoving at the trunk, 'it is going to be a long trip and this compartment is all but empty.' Teddy shoved a thumb over his shoulder indicating the couple behind them who had commenced a light snogging session.
Dorado rolled his eyes, 'I see that.'
The two sat on the bench where they had been standing and Teddy's light brown eyes locked with Dorado's grey orbs. 'I can't wait to get to Hogwarts, I have a feeling this is going to be great fun.'
Dorado nodded, 'and if it isn't, I'm going to make it so.'
Teddy's grin reappeared, 'I'll help,' he promised.
The two settled back against the bench chuckling, marking the beginning of what would become one of the most notorious friendships in the history of Hogwarts.