Chapter1

All Is Not Lost

It was noon on the aftermath of the battle, when Andromeda Tonks received the news she had been dreading. Part of her refused to believe it, refused to ever accept the words that the messenger had brought. Another part of her had known it to be true, many hours before it had been confirmed. Andromeda felt a sense of despair wash over her, a sense of sorrow and a sense of helplessness. She had just lost her only child, her little girl. She was too young to die, far too young. Little Teddy began to stir in Andromeda's arms. It saddened her greatly to look upon the child; he looked so much like his mother. She held the child close to her chest as tears streamed down his plump face, the noise of his cries echoing through the now empty house. He would never know his mother, the woman who would have loved him more than life itself; he would never know his father, the man who would have cared for him with all his heart, and he would never know his grandfather, the man who would have brought joy into his life. But there was another thing he would never know; a world that lived in fear of wizard whose own evil brought him to his knees.

'I shall love you like they would have, Teddy Lupin,' she promised, as the baby cried. 'And I shall never do wrong by you or by the legacy your parents left.' She hugged the child tightly; he was the only person left in her life worth living for.

Teddy awoke on Christmas day, extremely disappointed; he had woken up in the same room he had fallen asleep in. He sighed; the same blue walls of his bedroom stood around him with the same Quidditch posters stuck on every inch of it. He was lying in the same white bed, covered in the red duvet and the same white, cracked ceiling loomed above him. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened to him whilst asleep, nothing magic. He had not transported to another room or had found himself on the roof of the house. No, Teddy was still the same non-magical boy in the same non-magical bedroom. He sat up straight and yawned. It wasn't fair; Victoire showed signs of magical powers, she could levitate things at will and revive dead plants, and she was only nine! Teddy had shown no signs of magical powers -with the exception of his Metamorphosing-and he was nearly eleven. Teddy stood up and tip-toed out of his room, careful not to wake his grandmother. It was still early morning and the sun had not fully risen. He walked down the hall, the floor- boards creaking under his feet, before almost sprinting down the stairs and into the lounge room. A Christmas tree stood in the middle of the room, its colourful lights twinkling in the dark. Underneath the large pine tree sat many different sized presents; most of the parcels looked like books; school books. A lager, round package sat in the back; a cauldron for potions class at Hogwarts. Teddy also spied a rectangular parcel raped in gold paper, propped up against the tree; a broom. Teddy felt a surge of guilt; all these things were for Hogwarts. He knew he wasn't going to Hogwarts because Squibs didn't go to Hogwarts. Slowly he walked to the fire place that was at the end of the room. He knelt down and sifted through the coal until he found a small package rapped in brown paper and tied up with string. Gran was going to love his gift.

'Oh, I love it.' Andromeda exclaimed to her grandson as she ruffled his bright turquoise hair. 'You really shouldn't have. How did you afford it?'

Teddy smiled. 'I got a loan from George Weasley.' Teddy said brightly, 'He said I can pay him back when I'm old enough to work at his shop.' Andromeda looked fondly at her grandson; the silver ink well he had bought her was one she had eyed the last time the two had been in Diagon Alley. Teddy jumped off the cream sofa and ran to the tree. He didn't want any of his presents; he wouldn't use any of them, but he pretended to be excited; Gran was convinced that one day he would be a great wizard, like his dad.

'What should I open first?' he asked, shifting through the presents.

'You can open one now, and the rest later. We have to be at The Burrow by ten and it's almost nine thirty!'

He sighed in fake disappointment. 'I'll open all them when I we get home.' Teddy muttered as he walked out of the living room and up to his room. When his grandma was completely out of sight his false frown turned into a wide smile; he had dogged the bullet! He ran happily down the hall, into his room and changed from his owl pyjamas into the itchy red sweater with a large gold 'T' in the middle that Mrs. Weasley had given him last Christmas. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. People always told him he look like his mother with his dark twinkling eyes, pale skin and brightly coloured hair. Teddy wished his mother was there with him. He would ask her if she was disappointed by a son who was most likely a Squib. He also wished his father was with him too, but he wouldn't ask his father if he was disappointed by him, he would be too afraid of the answer. Everyone told Teddy that his father was a great wizard; he was also told his father was a great man. Teddy sighed, he had been sighing a lot since his tenth birthday.

'Hurry up Teddy!' Andromeda yelled from the living room, 'We're going to be late, and I do not want to face Molly if we come late.'

'Coming Gran!' Teddy responded. He quickly grabbed a round package from on top of his dresser and placed it in his robe pocket before spiriting down the stairs to meet his grandmother.

'Teddy,' Andromeda sighed 'why must you run everywhere?'

'You told me to rush.' He pointed out as he came and stood next to Andromeda. 'We don't want to be late, do we?' Andromeda smiled.

'You have some cheek, mister.' She grabbed the flu powder from on top of the fire place. 'Take some and then-'

'I know, I know.' Teddy took a handful of the green powder and stepped into the green flames.

'The Burrow.' He said firmly before releasing the powder from his grip. He began to spin round and round until he found himself in the Weasley's found yard. Andromeda followed. It was warmer than usual for a December morning and there hadn't been any snow so far that winter.

'Shall we?' Teddy asked, gesturing to the door.