Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I'm not making money off this.
Teddy Lupin loved chocolate, an adoration which began at a very early age. He ate it quickly, and he ate it thoroughly. If he had a mountain of candy, he would eat chocolate until he passed out (as long as his grandmother wasn't around).
Andromeda Tonks, an expert at dealing with the quirks of children (she had, after all, raised a daughter capable of turning her nose into that of a pig's), figured out a solution to Teddy's obsession when her grandson was only two. Andromeda realized that the chocolate would entertain Teddy, up until the moment when it had entered his digestive system. So, she started buying her grandson Chocolate Frogs.
The activity of catching the frog replaced eating chocolate with the anticipation of eating chocolate, therefore occupying Teddy until the moment he caught the frog and munched on it. Andromeda would unwrap the candy in front of Teddy's excited, often brown (but sometimes purple) eyes. Freed from its enclosing, the frog would hop out, with neon-haired Teddy toddling after it. Andromeda would then be left to do the laundry, or make lunch, or, in the case of an exceptionally fast-moving frog, take a bath. Often there would be a few slicks of melted frog on the carpet, but the mess was nothing a quick cleaning charm couldn't handle.
Andromeda and Teddy kept their chocolate tradition. As Teddy grew older and faster, the two of them agreed on certain head starts for the frogs. Also, as Teddy grew older, he began to take an interest in the cards that came with his treats.
After he captured his candy, Teddy would look at the moving pictures. His grandmother gave him a shoebox in which he put his quickly growing collection. He had quite a few Merlins, some Agrippas, and more Uric the Oddballs than he knew what to do with. But it became strange when Teddy started getting cards with familiar faces on them. Faces he saw at Sunday lunch.
One afternoon when he was seven, Teddy's grandmother handed him the wrappings of the chocolate he had just eaten. Teddy looked down at the card, and then up at Andromeda with a confused expression on his face.
"Grandma, Harry's on my card!"
"They had to make one of him eventually."
Teddy looked at his card in wonder.
Not long after, he found the face of his Aunt Hermione staring back at him. And then he discovered a card featuring his godmother in her Holyhead Harpies Quidditch robes. His Ron Weasley card was given to him by none other than the real Ron Weasley, who had gotten sick of the fact that Teddy possessed four of his wife's cards, but none featuring himself.
"I swear, they only printed a few of me. I'm a rare collectible!" Ron exclaimed one night after Teddy announced that he had gotten his tenth Hermione card earlier that afternoon.
"I'm sure they thought too many pictures of you would be bad for business. If a kid gets a Chocolate Frog and sees your face staring back at him, he'll never want one again," Ginny said.
Ron gave Teddy one from his personal collection after dinner. Teddy declined his offer to sign it.
"I know you already. I don't need any writing to prove it," Teddy told him.
Teddy was thinking about what he had said when he struggled to fall asleep that night. There were two people he wished could sign their cards, as Teddy didn't know them. But, Teddy reminded himself, his parents didn't have cards, so he shouldn't be worried about getting their signatures onto the chocolate-scented cardboard. And he soon fell asleep.
But the thought didn't entirely evacuate his mind. He thought about it every time his grandmother gave him a frog. He began to grow glum when he was handed the treat that used to make him so happy.
Andromeda noticed this, and she waited to see if maybe the feelings were random, and that it was all the timing of when she gave the frog, not the frog itself. But she soon realized there was definitely something wrong when she found Teddy's shoebox of cards in his wastebasket a month before his eighth birthday.
"I thought you wanted to collect them all. And you only have five left to get!" Andromeda said.
"I dunno, I guess I don't really like the cards anymore," Teddy answered.
Andromeda took the shoebox and put it in the attic, knowing Teddy would want his collection back eventually.
A week later, Harry overheard something. In the living room, Teddy was playing with baby James. Teddy was talking, while James attempted to construct a pile of blocks.
"You're lucky. Both of your parents are on Wizard Cards." He paused. "My parents aren't."
Later that night, after Teddy had gone home to Andromeda and James had been tucked in, Harry sat down with a project.
"What're you up to?" Ginny asked, sitting down next to Harry at the kitchen table. She paused. "I love this picture," she said. In her hand was a photograph of a bright pink-haired witch. The witch was waving a diploma of some sort and smiling wildly.
"That's when she finished training and officially became an Auror," Harry said, glancing over. "Here, can you cut the picture into this shape? I need to write the biographies."
In the morning, Andromeda handed her grandson two small packages. "Harry sent these over. He thought you needed some cheering up."
Teddy was suspicious. Chocolate with breakfast? He decided to go along with it, and opened the first frog. He ate it right away, as his grandmother didn't seem to want to play the chase game this morning. He was about to put the packaging on the table, to be thrown out after breakfast, when he noticed the name on the card.
Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin
Auror known for her intense bravery.
Possessed amazing Metamorphmagus skills.
Never gave up in either battle or the pursuit of love.
And there was a picture of Teddy's mother, vibrant and happy. It was a picture Teddy had never seen before.
He looked up at his softly smiling grandmother. She nodded him on.
Ripping into the second package, Teddy bypassed the frog, which then proceeded to jump around the kitchen. But Teddy was too interested in the card to notice.
Remus John Lupin
A master of defending against the Dark Arts.
One of Hogwarts' greatest teachers ever.
Protected those he loved.
On the other side of the card was a picture of his father, quietly smiling up from the book in his hands.
Teddy looked again at his grandmother.
"Can I have my collection back? I think I have what it was missing."
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