Disclaimer: NOTHING I TELL YOU NOTHING!
Summary: James Potter was thinking, but they answer was just not coming to him! There must be a reason Teddy Lupin gets away with everything...
The Lupin Look
There was always a reason Teddy Lupin got away with everything….
Teddy was the oldest. He had been born during the war.
Teddy was the smallest. Even at age twelve he could have passed for ten.
Teddy was the smartest. Teddy knew the answers to almost every question.
Teddy was the funniest.
Teddy was the cutest.
Teddy was this…
Teddy is that…
'Teddy is annoying.' James Potter thought as he lay in the snow looking up at the clouds. James was only seven but he was beginning to notice something about his dad's godson. No matter what Teddy did he would always be perfect in the eyes of, well… EVERYONE
There was something about Teddy that everyone couldn't seem to get over.
James was not the jealous type. He was not jealous of Teddy, more… bothered.
How was it that Teddy NEVER got in trouble? Oh sure he had been scolded but people never really got mad at Teddy. When he broke something his mother might say "Oh Teddy…" but never "TEDDY LUPIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" as she did when James broke something.
James sighed and turned over, a stray snowflake drifted from the heavens and landed on his nose. Sneezing James rubbed his nose, the frozen water flew away and landed on the ground. Moments later the poor snowflake was stepped on by a large brown boot.
"James? What are you doing out here?"
Here was genius boy now… James blinked up at Teddy. Teddy was wearing a bright green hat that clashed horribly with the bright orange of his hair; Teddy's hair didn't like the cold.
"Teddy?" James asked allowing the twelve year old to help him to his feet, "Why are you so perfect?"
Teddy stopped and looked at James his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I mean why are you so perfect? How come everything you do is right?" James asked looking just as puzzled as the elder.
Teddy frowned sometimes he had no idea what his godfather's son was talking about. "I'm not perfect James, no one is perfect."
The small boy just looked more confused "But Teddy how is it then that you are never in trouble?"
"I get in trouble James." Teddy said frowning remembering all the times he had disappointed his grandmother or his godfather.
"But they never yell at you, they are never mad." James replied as the two walked back to the house. "They never get really mad like they do when I get in trouble."
Teddy felt like his mind was running as he ran through every time he had done something wrong or bad. As he ran through them he noticed something he never had before, James was right Teddy had never really gotten yelled at. He had been scolded and frowned upon, but never yelled at.
Teddy opened his mouth to respond to the boy but found he couldn't. Why he was never yelled at?
It wasn't that Teddy wanted to be yelled at, nor did he mind the fact that he had never really been yelled at, but like James he was bothered by this fact.
Finally Teddy found his words "I'm not sure James, ask your dad."
"Alright!" James said letting go of Teddy's hand and the young boy rushed into the house.
Teddy still confused followed him.
Harry Potter was sitting in the living room in the midst of a pile of papers. Al was sitting next to his father passed out; it seemed that throwing all his father's papers around had tried out the three year old.
Harry was making a vain attempt to pick up all the papers and put them back into their neat stacks. However when Harry heard the back door open he groaned and grabbed his wand making the papers vanish.
Just in time too for his other son James ran into the room bouncing all over the walls. Harry noticed that his back was covered in snow.
"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" James cried as he rushed to Harry. Avoiding Al by inches the seven year old jumped on his father.
"Uuf!" Harry groaned as seventy-five pounds of child fell on his stomach.
"What is it James?" Harry asked once James had gotten over his little fit of hyperness.
"Dad, why is Teddy perfect?" James asked looking his father full in the face his bright eyes narrowed and his face forming a frown.
Harry looked shock and raised his head to look at his godson, who had come inside.
"What do you mean James?" Harry finally managed looking from Teddy to his son.
"I mean why does Teddy never getting in trouble! Why does he get away with everything?"
"Teddy gets in trouble…" Harry started but James was shaking his head
"But you never yell at him! You yell at me when I am trouble! When I break something! Why do you never yell at Teddy when he breaks something?"
Harry looked as stunned as Teddy had a few minutes ago, and like Teddy he began running over every time Teddy had done something to warrant being yelled at. As scenes popped before him he realized that James was right Teddy was never really yelled at…
"I… uh…" Harry said after a moment, he was staring at his godson. Teddy was looking at him expecting an answer as well.
Harry was not sure if he could give one. How come no one ever yelled when Teddy broke something? In fact Harry could not remember having anyone ever yell at his godson.
This would not have been weird but Harry realized that his son James had been yelled at quite a few times. Victoria Wesley had even been yelled at, but Teddy?
Harry frowned, thinking back to moments when Teddy had gotten in trouble.
Teddy Lupin was eight years old when he had broken the large glass cup his Aunt Ginny kept flowers in. It was an old vase and had once belonged to her great grandmother.
Teddy had broken it because he had been fooling around, throwing balls in the kitchen when he knew that he was not supposed to.
When the glass shattered it would not have been a big deal, after all reparo was an easy spell. But it was the fact that Teddy had disobeyed him that made Harry mad.
Harry had turned to look at his godson who was standing in the doorway, Ginny on the other side of the table cried "Teddy!"
Teddy bowed him head looking at the floor. Ginny was furious she snapped "Theodore Lupin what-"
But she stopped the moment she looked at Teddy again. The small boy was looking at his 'Aunt' his eyes wide. When she saw this she looked at the boy and said, quite calmly "Teddy, what do you have to say for yourself…"
Harry frowned at this. When James had broken the same vase little over a week ago Ginny had yelled at the boy telling him to behave and think about what he had done.
Logically it made no sense, they had both committed the same offence but one child had been yelled at while the other had only been scolded.
Harry sat there for a moment just starting at his godson the frown on his face becoming more pronounced.
Teddy however felt himself becoming anxious, why was Harry staring at him like that? Did he do something wrong? Was being yelled at a good thing? Teddy didn't think so, but then again what did he know?
Harry stared at his godson taking in the way Teddy was looking at him anxiously, and then a grin spread over his face. Teddy looked like Remus, in fact Teddy was practically Remus (when he didn't try to change his looks). The answer was so simple it was funny.
"Would you really like to know why Teddy never gets yelled at James?" Harry said grinning.
James nodded wildly and in front of them Teddy raised his eyebrows waiting an answer.
"You both have heard of the marauders right?" Harry asked, thinking back to when his own godfather had told him this story.
Both boys nodded in confirmation.
"And you both know that they would always get in a lot of trouble. Playing pranks and whatnot?"
"Yes." Came the reply.
"Did you know how the four often got out of trouble?"
"No."
"The famous Lupin look."
"Excuses me?" Teddy exclaimed flabbergasted looking at Harry in wild shock.
Harry laughed and told the story….
"I told you."
"Oh lighten up Moony, it's not like we are going to get expelled… right?"
"We are going to get expelled?"
"No Wormtail we are not going to get expelled."
"We might."
"Padfoot, just shut up."
Remus groaned as he listened to his friends.
He had told them he wanted NO part in spreading jam across the grand staircase and watching poor little first years fall down.
He had told them NOT to do it and they were sure to get in trouble if they did. He told them there was NO way he was going to stand there and laugh at the falling students (though he would admit afterwards that it had been a bit amusing to see Bella scream the whole way down).
He had told them not too, but they had just ignored him. And somehow (still unbeknownst to poor Remus Lupin) he and the rest of his so called 'friends' and once again ended up in Professor McGonagall's office.
"I told you." Remus repeated as James and Sirius argued about whose idea it was to add the invisibility charm so no one would see the red jam.
Before the others could come up with another witty response to their friend's repeated comment Professor McGonagall entered the room, the frown on her face was enough to wither any flower.
"Oh Minnie you look stunning this fine afternoon!" Sirius Black said with his 'make girls fall over' look.
Now the look covering the professors face could have kill several small animals. In fact Peter Pettigrew seemed to wilt a little at the look.
"What am I going to do with the four of you? Last week setting off fireworks during dinner and blowing up peoples potatoes…"
"There is no proof that we set of those fireworks… its pure coincidence that they went off when our potatoes blew up." James Potter, though the tone in his voice clearly said that he had indeed set off the fireworks.
"…and this week." McGonagall continued ignoring James "books trying to eat people and invisible jam?" The woman shook her head looking older than her years.
"We must admit the jam is not one of our better pranks however you must give us credit for trying."
"Please Mr. Black please spare me your idiotism…"
"I told you…" Remus muttered to James who just grinned.
McGonagall looked at the four of them, Sirius who was smiling jovially, James looked smug, Peter sunk lower in his chair, and finally Remus who was sitting with a resigned look on his face ready to accept the punishment of the prank he had tried to stop.
McGonagall stopped; she looked at Remus her own face contorting into a frown. "Mr. Lupin did you have anything to do with this prank?" she asked.
Remus shrugged, "I told them it was a bad idea." He said as his friends grinned again.
"Well then if you had nothing to do with it I guess you are free to leave."
"What!" Sirius cried.
"Why can he go?" Peter whined.
"Well clearly he didn't have anything to do with it." She said curtly.
"How can you tell?" James demanded.
"Look at his face."
"…and apparently this always happened, Remus Lupin would always get out of trouble." Harry said still a wide grin on his face "I guess it happened so much that Sirius and James started calling it the 'Lupin look'. Soon however James a Sirius would use the 'Lupin look' to their own advantage. Whenever they got in trouble they would kick Remus to the front of the group and occasionally all four of them would avoid trouble."
There was silence in the living room. James was still sitting beside his father in shocked amazement, Teddy was looking stunned, and Harry was laughing silently at the two of them, Al was still fast asleep on his father's leg.
"No Fair!" James said finally frowning.
"Who said life was fair Jay?" Harry asked ruffling his son's hair.
Teddy looked at the pair a slight frown on his face "Wait a moment." He said "You mean that all these years I have never been yelled at because I inherited the 'Lupin look' from my father?"
"I guess so." Harry said laughing at his godson's expression.
"No, that's ridiculous!" Teddy said grinning thinking his godfather was kidding.
Suddenly they heard the front door open and slam. Aunt Ginny's voice came ringing in through the kitchen "I'm home!"
"Let's test it out." James said giving a little elf grin before pushing the decorative bowl in the middle of the coffee table off. The glass smashed at Teddy's feet scattering glass all over Aunt Ginny's fine woolen rug.
"James!" Harry hissed at his son whirling to face him, but Ginny had rushed into the room the moment the crash was heard.
The red headed female looked from the broken glass at Teddy's feet to Teddy.
"Teddy Lupin…" Ginny said in a very patient voice, "What did you do?"
"It wasn't me!" Teddy said his voice scandalized "It was James!"
Ginny looked him over for a second before whirling on her son, "James Potter what have I told you about knocking things over!"
"It wasn't me! It was Teddy!" James insisted.
"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Ginny's voice was enough to startle Al into waking. The small toddler began to cry as he was greeted with the screams of this mother. Harry picked up his small son hushing him.
"THIS ISNT FAIR!" James Potter cried as his mother went on about he was always breaking things "TEDDY GETS AWAY WITH EVERYTHING!"
As Teddy slipped upstairs away from the Potter chaos he shrugged. Ginny had no reason to believe it was James who broke the glass. Maybe there was something to his Lupin look after all…. He would have to test it out on grandma when he got home.
I got his idea when I thought about how one of my friends seems to get away with everything! So what do you think? Tell me and Review!
I would also like to send a special shout out to PaintMeIntrigued who helped me with this story when I got writers block! Thanks a lot Paint!