Teddy landed his Apparition at the Hogwarts school gates and began the long walk to the castle. Having left Victoire on the train platform just minutes ago after a healthy snog, there was a spring in his step and a smile on his face. Being away from the girl he planned to marry the moment she graduated Hogwarts had been difficult, to say the least, but he was grateful for the opportunity his godfather had given him to embark on a Grand Tour. Now that his year-long adventure was complete, he was ready to make sure that everything was in place for when he asked Bill Weasley for his daughter's hand in marriage the following spring. Growing up around the Weasley family had taught Teddy many things, but one stuck out in particular—they were extremely protective of each other and didn't suffer fools. If he went to Victoire's father and asked to marry his daughter with nothing but a conditional acceptance to the Auror program and the legacy his parents had left behind, Teddy was sure the man would laugh in his face and show him the door.
While away on his Grand Tour, Teddy had received word that his application to the Auror training program had been accepted only on a conditional basis. His Potions NEWT was below the level required to be admitted into the program—a fact that Teddy had known when he'd submitted his application, but he'd submitted it anyway at the advice of his godfather. Lucky for him, the rest of his scores were Outstandings, and the application review panel had unanimously decided that if Teddy completed a term of remedial Potions and re-sat his NEWT, he'd be granted admission if he earned an Outstanding.
Trudging up the steps to the giant oak doors that lead to the Entry Hall, Teddy pushed aside the niggling thought that his conditional acceptance had been due not only to his marks in school and his impressive Outstandings—aside from Potions, of course—but also due to the legacy of his parents and his relationship with Harry Potter. Even if those things contributed, Teddy told himself it didn't matter. He had a career to pursue and a woman to marry—if there were other factors contributing to him reaching those goals, so be it.
Teddy gave the password to the ever-present gargoyle standing guard in front of the Headmistress' office and walked up the spiral staircase.
"Ah, Mr. Lupin," Professor McGonagall said after she'd answered his knock. "Ready to get down to business, are we?"
"Yes ma'am," he replied, not really blaming her for the hint of reproach in her voice.
"I have your timetable all ready, and since there is only one male seventh-year Hufflepuff, you'll have a relatively quiet term in the dormitory."
Teddy shrank back slightly in the seat he'd taken at the stern gaze the Headmistress was giving him.
"I'm sure you know this opportunity will not be extended to you twice." At Teddy's nod, McGonagall continued. "I may have a soft spot where you're concerned, but it only goes so far."
Having a hard time not smiling at the older woman's declaration, Teddy simply nodded again.
McGonagall's lips turned up slightly in a near-smile as her expression softened. "I expect you tire of hearing this—just as your godfather must have during his school days—but you do look so like your father."
Teddy smiled. "My grandmother says the same thing."
McGonagall's expression quickly turned back to her usual business-like demeanor. "There is another matter I'd like to discuss quickly before I let you go to get settled. Are you aware that the Potter and Weasley children aren't the only ones you know who'll be beginning Hogwarts this term?"
"Harry mentioned that Draco Malfoy's son would be a first-year this year."
"Scorpius," McGonagall said as she nodded crisply. "Would you forgive an old lady her interferences if I asked you to introduce yourself to young Mr. Malfoy?"
"Are you worried, ma'am?"
McGonagall sighed. "There are some in Slytherin House who still feel the need to tilt at windmills, I'm afraid. It's possible he may need a friend in the beginning."
Teddy wasn't naive enough to think that just because the War was long over, there weren't still hard feelings. And since the Malfoy family had all but dropped out of the wizarding world, it was possible that life in the Slytherin Common Room wouldn't be easy for a kid whose father and infamous grandfather were defected Death Eaters.
"Of course, ma'am."
"Very well," she said as she stood from her seat. "Do make sure you stop in to see Pomona before the feast this evening—she'll be wanting the details of your tour and to subject you to one of her hugs, I expect."
.
The Start-of-Term Feast was just as lively an affair as Teddy remembered it from his previous seven years at Hogwarts. He'd happily taken in the Sorting ceremony, eaten more than his fill of food, and visited with the Potter and Weasley children—surprisingly needing to make his way to the Slytherin table to visit with Albus.
"All right, Al?" he asked the younger Potter son as he sat next to him.
Albus turned to Teddy, his bright green eyes large as saucers. "D'you think Granny and Granddad Weasley are going to be angry with me?" he whispered.
"Absolutely not," Teddy said levelly. "Nobody gives a toss which House you're in." He ruffled the boy's untidy hair.
"Everybody I know is in Gryffindor," Albus complained.
Teddy shrugged, trying to sound casual so as to ease Albus' mind. "I've a cousin who's a first-year now, you know. Just Sorted into Slytherin. Let's introduce ourselves, shall we?"
"Scorpius Malfoy?"
"That's right," Teddy said looking down the table where a boy with undeniably pale blond Malfoy hair was sitting quietly on his own.
"We met on the train," Albus said. "He's really nice and shared his Pumpkin Pasties from the snack trolley, but…" He stopped and glanced down the table before continuing. "I was sort of...not happy when the Sorting Hat put me in Slytherin and told him I didn't want to talk about it." He stopped and jabbed his fork into the last bit of apple tart on his plate, stuffing it in his mouth before saying, "He probably thinks I hate Slytherins."
"Come on," Teddy said, pulling Albus up from his seat. "We'll fix this. Let's go show him that neither of us think anything but good things about Slytherin House."
Teddy left the Great Hall a while later, feeling good about his good deed for the day. He'd left Albus and Scorpius chatting happily after their reintroduction. He was glad he'd taken Professor McGonagall's advice and introduced himself; Scorpius had seemed thrilled that there was someone else at school that he now knew—even if Teddy would only be there for one term.
After pushing open the heavy doors to the library—the only place on the first night of term that he knew he'd get some peace and quiet to start revising his Auror training program texts—Teddy wended his way through the stacks to find his favorite study table. Andromeda had told Teddy prior to going off to Hogwarts for his first year that this was his dad's favorite spot to study when he'd needed to hide away from Sirius Black and James Potter to do some focused school work.
Cracking open the thick tome titled "Concealment and Disguise", Teddy thought that at least his first night of study would be an easy one—a Metamorphagus had no trouble with disguise.
.
Two weeks into term and Teddy had had about as much of Horace Slughorn's name-dropping and life back at Hogwarts as he could take. At least he had the benefit of seeing Victoire daily—one of the only things that was keeping him from going mad. He also had the twice-weekly flying lessons McGonagall and Madam Hooch had allowed him to take on with Albus and Scorpius. He certainly needed something to fill his time since he was only taking one class, and he, unfortunately, couldn't snog his lovely girlfriend at all waking moments. The beautiful fall evenings afforded him the perfect opportunities to wander out to the Quidditch Pitch and help the boys practice their take-offs and landings.
Victoire and broomsticks were great, but as Teddy plowed through his Auror texts during the off times from Potions lessons, he couldn't help but count down the days until he could take his NEWT's and move on to the actual training program.
Thankfully climbing the stairs away from the dungeon classrooms after a Friday Potions lesson, Teddy cancelled his Bubble-Head Charm and hurried to find an empty classroom to practice some of the new hexes and spells he'd read about the night before, thrilled that it was the end of the week and he didn't have to return to practice Potions until after the weekend.
The Bubble-Head Charm was something he'd begun implementing to make Potions more bearable. Even though he would never transform since he hadn't been infected with Lycanthropy, he'd inherited some of his father's werewolf traits—his overly-sensitive nose was the trait that tortured him in Potions. The pungent smell and sheer volume of ingredients in Slughorn's classroom made it nearly impossible for him to focus on the task at hand, which had contributed to his terrible Potions marks in the first place. Teddy was sure his Bubble-Head Charm would be the key to success this go round.
Hurrying his pace as he rounded the corner to ascend another set of steps, anxious to try out the Defensive Charms he'd read about the night before, Teddy stopped when he heard voices. Furrowing his brow at the unpleasant sniggering he heard, he slowly walked down the hall and turned a corner, finding three boys wearing Slytherin robes—two older and one obviously a first or second year. The taller of the older ones was using his wand to Levitate a broomstick over his head while the other held the arm of a younger student behind his back—the white-blond hair told him immediately that it was Scorpius, his eyes cast down at the floor.
Defensive Charms forgotten, Teddy strode toward the group and casually said, "Finding it hard to stay out of trouble, are we?"
The two older Slytherin students' heads swiveled to where Teddy was standing, scowls replacing the grins they'd been sporting and the broomstick clattering to the floor.
"Reckon you should return his broom and be on your way."
The dark-haired Slytherin, whose name he vaguely recalled being Ian, walked slowly to Teddy, stopping just inches from him. "You going to make me?"
Teddy looked down at Ian, who was at least four inches shorter than him and likely far less skilled with a wand, and huffed in amusement. "If I need to."
Before Ian could cast a spell, Teddy had drawn his and used a Revulsion Jinx on the boy holding Scorpius to send him to his backside, before casting a Tickling Charm on Ian, who fell to his knees wheezing with laughter. Teddy picked up the cast-aside broom and stepped around Ian, who was now in the midst of a violent laughing spell.
Scorpius silently took the broom from Teddy when he held it out to him, keeping his eyes on the floor.
"Come on," Teddy said, jerking his head toward the staircase he had been headed toward before.
With a roll of his eyes, Scorpius muttered, "Fine," before following Teddy grudgingly up the steps.
"Want to tell Slughorn?" Teddy asked as he lead them to an empty classroom, closing the door behind him.
"No," Scorpius said sullenly. "It's not like he'd do anything."
"Have they bothered you before?" Ted asked, earning him a shrug from Scorpius.
"Well," Teddy said as he began Levitating desks and chairs out of the center of the room, leaving a large free space. "If you're not going to say anything, then it's time you learned some spells to really defend yourself."
Scorpius looked up, finally bringing his eyes away from the floor. "Really?"
"It's only fair that you be able to fight back."
.
Over the next two months, Teddy alternated their time flying with time in an empty classroom teaching Albus and Scorpius easy Defensive Spells—since he was planning on only being at Hogwarts for one term, Teddy wanted to make sure the boys would be able to defend themselves against any other disgruntled Slytherins. It was also helpful in his Auror studies to teach the young wizards beginning defensive spells since the theory behind the more complicated spells was based upon the less difficult spells.
The first week of December, Teddy was packing up his books to leave the library when Professor McGonagall rounded the stacks to his favorite tucked-away study location.
"Mr. Lupin, I was hoping to find you here," McGonagall said crisply. "You've only a few weeks until term ends and I need to submit a date for you to sit your Potions NEWT."
Glad that the time for him to fully join the training program was drawing near, Teddy smiled and said, "May I sit for the exam before Christmas?"
McGonagall nodded. "Professor Slughorn seems to think you will be perfectly prepared by that time—clever use of the Bubble-Head Charm, I might add."
"Thanks, Professor," Teddy said as he slung his bag over his shoulder.
McGonagall eyed him for a long moment, her stern gaze making Teddy feel like he was a first-year late for a Transfiguration lesson.
"I was very glad to see you took my suggestion to befriend your young cousin during this term," she said finally.
"He's a good kid."
"Indeed." McGonagall nodded and turned to leave. "Oh, yes," she said, turning back to face Teddy. "A curious incident happened in the Dungeons in which a fifth-year Slytherin was found covered in boils that burst bright green liquid. It took Madame Pomfrey quite some time to set him to rights."
Teddy covered his laughter with a cough. By the look on McGonagall's face, his effort was unsuccessful. She raised her eyebrows and looked at him sternly over her glasses.
"The boy says the jinx was a result of an incident with Scorpius Malfoy. Now, tell me, where would a first-year student learn a jinx taught in our fifth-year curriculum?"
Fighting hard not to smile widely at Scorpius pulling off such a jinx, Teddy said, "The library is full of books where he can read up on jinxes."
Teddy swore he saw McGonagall's lips twitch in an effort to suppress a smile before they went back to the thin line of disapproval she normally wore.
"Indeed," she said again before shaking her head slightly. "You may be the spitting image of your father, but there are times when your inability to behave yourself reminds me of your mother."
"Thank you, ma'am," he replied cheekily.
McGonagall placed her hands on her hips and said, "I don't tolerate bullying in my school, Mr. Lupin. I would have liked to know about the situation."
"Scorpius seemed to think his Head of House wouldn't be much help."
"Professor Slughorn was an old man when he returned to Hogwarts the first time," McGonagall said with a sigh. "He is tired and we are searching for a replacement. But until we find a suitable professor, he is still Head of Slytherin house and I'll make him aware of what's transpired. Scorpius will only have to suffer the loss of House points for using magic in the corridors, and I will personally monitor the situation from here on out."
Teddy waited until McGonagall had left before smiling widely at Scorpius' antics. Hopefully, the fifth-year boys that had decided they didn't like the boy would finally leave him alone after one of them experienced boils covering his body. Picking up his wand and the thick Auror Code of Conduct manual that wouldn't fit into his over-packed bag, Teddy slowly walked through the stacks of the library, glad that the end of his term of remedial Potions was in sight.
.
Two weeks later he sat his exam. That evening he sat in the Great Hall and ate his final meal at Hogwarts, sitting with Albus and Scorpius and toasting the completion of his NEWT's with goblets of pumpkin juice. Fun as it had been to spend time with the two young wizards-they had certainly helped the time go quickly—it was time he left Hogwarts for good. After all, he had a girl to marry and a career to begin. Looking across the table to the boys, he hoped they didn't find themselves in any more trouble during their Hogwarts years.
A/N: This is round 12 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction competition.
Challenge: Pair Them Up
Chaser 3: You'll be writing about two characters in a school peers relationship
Additional prompts: 4. (Word) name, 9. (Object) windmill, 14. (Word) fix
Word count: 2774 per Google Docs