Teddy Lupin considered himself a mostly happy person.
He had a grandmother who loved him more than life itself, a fantastic collection of surrogate cousins, and a beautiful, sweet, amazing girlfriend named Victoire Weasley. For most people, it was all they would ask for. That was, until they heard the rest of the story.
Teddy's parents were dead.
Gone in a flash of green light before he could walk or talk, Teddy had no recollection of them. There were pictures in the house, of them smiling, absolutely in love, and one where they gazed down at Teddy, love in their eyes.
That would've made most people tear up at just the thought, but although he certainly wished his parents were alive and well, he could never cry at the idea. To Teddy, it was almost impossible to miss something that never flashed in his memory, to yearn for something that held no place in his mind.
He did, though, frequently feel lonely, especially at Hogwarts. Teddy knew very well that the ghosts of his parents lay in the huge halls and narrow staircases of Hogwarts. They would never take the form of any of the ghosts that wandered the halls of Hogwarts, but Teddy still could feel remnants of them lying in every nook and cranny of the school. Every piece of crumbling mortar, every used library book could've once been brushed by the very hands of his parents. The thought seemed almost unreal.
On nights like these, when Teddy started thinking too much, he wandered the castle. Sometimes when the thoughts of his parents hit him, he could let it sit in his mind, than fall back asleep after some coaxing to his whirling mind. Other times he had no troubles at all, and fell asleep easily under the ruby and gold coverings of his bed.
But then there were times like this one. Where the very thought of the past shook him so deeply that seemingly nothing could soothe him to sleep. It took him a little while to find the cure, but he realized that walking around the castle gave him air and time to think.
Pushing aside the curtains, his tread made no sound as he tiptoed across the floor. After many years of practice, sneaking seemed second nature. It felt as easy as talking; as breathing.
Silently he slipped out of the portrait hole, where a bemused Fat Lady called out sleepily after him. He had no Invisibility Cloak, like the one that his godfather Harry claimed was merely a legend spun by storytellers about his tales. (Teddy knew this was not true, he merely said it so James would stop rifling through his things to find the transparent cloak.) All he had to do was use his Metamorph powers, and suddenly every part of his body was the same color of the gray slate of the castle.
Teddy walked briskly along the corridors. The stride gave the halls a slight draft, one that chilled Teddy to a point where he no longer had to worry about his family, just the cold that was sinking into the hallways.
Teddy stopped up short. On his right side was a classroom that he was quite sure he had never seen before. It wasn't anything obvious to point it out, in fact many of the rooms blended into Teddy's vision, but this one seemed different. It sent shivers down his spine, but not because of the frigid air.
Slowly, he stepped into the classroom. The room was absolutely ordinary, save for a tall, ornate gold mirror. Teddy stood right in front of it, yet there was no reflection. Nothing, except for the words erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi in glowing blue letters.
Teddy stepped forward curiously, his fingers glazing the panes of the mirror, which were foggy and opaque. Suddenly, Teddy yelped and leaped back in surprise.
The mirror had suddenly become crystal clear, but that was not the odd part. The weird thing was that suddenly Teddy say himself in the mirror-along with his parents.
Even though Teddy had only seen a few scattered pictures of the two, who had been married for less than a year when they had died, he could immediately tell it was them. The woman had a wry, spritely face, full of youth and vigor, along with bubblegum pink hair. A man, gaunt-faced and tall, had his arms wrapped around her. The man had a tired, worn face, and messy brown hair, but when he looked at Teddy, and his wife next to him, he smiled, and he seemed years younger. Then between them, hair its natural shade of turquoise and eyes sparkling hazel…was Teddy. He pressed his hand against the glass, and the people in the mirror seemed to take it as waving, as they raised their hands, and gave him cheery smiles.
Teddy could barely breathe. Here they were, flesh and blood. Or…were they? Teddy reached around him for the people, but all he felt was air. Brow furrowed, he tried again. Again, blank air. Not even an Invisibility Cloak could make things have no matter, there would still be something even if it couldn't be seen.
Then, Teddy heard it. A sound, a voice, light and soft, gentle like a bird's call. Soon, it was joined by a deeper voice, not as airy, but still eerie. For a few seconds, the voices were unintelligible. Then the voices came:
Little teddy bear, don't you cry, Momma's got you safe, don't you sigh
Little teddy bear, don't you wail, Daddy's always here, don't you quail
Little teddy bear, we love you so, we can't wait to watch you grow.
As the words flooded into his mind, he could feel memories be unlocked. There, his mother had held him, rocked him to sleep in her arms, while she sang a lullaby. There was his father, joining in, and the love, all of it, was like a heady drink of Firewhiskey. It burned his insides, and he felt it well up inside of him, and he felt the hot tears streaming down his face.
And now he knew what if felt like to know. This was love, and he would never know one exactly like the one he had with his parents ever again, and he wept, because it had been his, and it had been ripped away by someone who had no feeling, no remorse, simply killed and never once thought that two lives reverberate to so many others.
Teddy was a calm boy of seventeen, but he felt anger now. No, it was more than that-hate. It bubbled up inside of him, and coursed through him like a raging river that did not stop until it had wiped out everything in its path. That was what Teddy would do, he would find the people who were responsible, and avenge his parents.
Teddy had just turned to do so when he heard a kind voice in his ear, "Teddy, listen to me. I understand…"
"No, you don't!" he yelled. He didn't know if the voice was in his head or not, but he would not listen. No one would understand-
"Trust me, Teddy, I do." Teddy spun around, and saw a person, this one in flesh unlike the others in the room, and came face to face with a man with messy black hair and green eyes. It was his godfather, Harry.
Most people don't yell at the person who had saved the entire wizarding world, but that was what Teddy did. "Go away!" he yelled, pushing the man away, not caring that he had woken probably the whole castle. "You have no idea!"
Harry gave Teddy an unreadable look. "Really, Teddy? Do you not remember?"
In the moment, Teddy had forgotten that his godfather, did, in fact, understand exactly what he was going through. "Sorry Harry…" he said, his voice now quieter. It still dripped with anger though. "It's just…I will never know love like that," he said helplessly, "They took it away from me, and I will make them suffer. All of them will pay." Teddy cracked his knuckles menacingly.
Harry gave Teddy a sympathetic look. Then, he sat down, patting the ground next to him to indicate Teddy to sit. "I know exactly how you feel. I sat before this mirror once, many years before, and I felt the exact same way. In fact, I felt so for years after. But then, I realized something."
"What?" Teddy growled, "What did you learn?"
Harry gave Teddy a deep look from behind his always slightly crooked glasses before he looked back at the mirror, a wistful expression on his face. "I realized that even though my parents were dead, gone before I could even remember their faces, their love was still with me. Something like that cannot be severed by death, by a little bit of green light. Love stays, it lingers, it protects. When your parents died, they did so to give you a chance at a better life, a better future where you could live without the fear that they suffered. Some days it may seem like an unfair sacrifice, one that they should not have had to make so that you could grow in peace, but always remember that they did so for you. It is a rare thing, that two people are willing to exchange their lives for someone else's, but it is beautiful too. And I know it is hard," Harry sighed as he stared at the mirror. "I still see them today. My mother and father, and now more people, everyone I loved or cared about that lost their lives. I see your parents," Harry said. He gave Teddy a level look. "And there are times when I feel a hatred in my bones, stronger than any anger I have ever felt. And I want to make whoever did this pay. But then I remember," Now he gave Teddy a gentle smile. "That more deaths, more hurt was what he would want. Voldemort never truly cared for anyone. If it was one of his people or ours, he would not care. All he ever wanted was death, and destruction. But if you love, if you honor their memories and remember their goodness, then you truly beat him. Because good always trumps evil. Love always beats hate. And that is when you truly win, when you truly honor their memories." Harry gave Teddy a smile, then got up.
"I'll leave you to think about this. I know it's a lot to handle, especially for a boy of your age. Take all the time you need. James informed me that you had seemed kind of blue lately…oh, bad pun." Harry gestured to Teddy's head of cerulean hair. "I came here as soon as I could. I had a feeling that I knew what you were upset about. Let's just say I created…ah, a little diversion using some of your Uncle George's joke shop products. An out-of-bed seventh-year Gryffindor will be the least of their worries. Hopefully Minerva won't kill me." Harry gave Teddy a small grin, then started to walk away.
"Wait…Harry?" Teddy called after the disappearing figure.
His godfather turned around. "Hmm?"
Teddy gave his godfather a small smile, then said, "You're a good godfather, harry."
The man gave Teddy a fond look. "I try Teddy. I try." Then he walked out of sight.
Teddy stayed there all night, until the sun started peeking through the old windows of the classroom. Teddy didn't move, didn't even breathe, it seemed. All he did was look at the glass. In his head, he thought of everything that ever had happened to him. He knew his parents couldn't hear what he was thinking, in fact, they weren't even really his parents, just a figment of the mirror, but he swore that when he thought about his Outstanding OWL in Transfiguration, and his steady relationship with Victoire, they gave him warm, proud smiles.
As dawn broke over the room, Teddy got up and left. He never went looking for the Mirror of Erised again.
And he also never went looking for his parent's love again. Because he knew right where it was. It was in his heart, the place they'd given it to long ago. The problem hadn't been that it had not existed-he had just not known where to look.
But now that he knew, he knew it was his to keep, forever. And that was an amazing thought.