Teddy Lupin was standing in front of the mirror. He had been for about an hour. This wasn't out of vanity or perfectionism, but rather contemplation. It was a deep subject- maybe too deep for such a sparkly, snowy winter day, especially one right before Christmas- but he was trying to figure out who he was. More specifically, he was trying to figure out who his parents were.
It wasn't something he'd thought about much as a child. Parents were the people who raised you, weren't they? So that meant Harry and Ginny and Nanna 'Meda. But Teddy was older now- twenty years old. He knew more now, and frankly, he felt guilty. After all, hadn't his biological parents sacrificed their lives to make a better world for him to live in? That was maybe the greatest possible act of love, and Teddy felt like he was in some strange sort of emotional debt because of it. It seemed like, after something like that, he should definitely see them as his true parents. Oh, it was all very confusing.
Perhaps luckily, his daze was interrupted by Victoire, his girlfriend of four years, appearing in the doorway.
"You ready to go?" she asked sarcastically, one eyebrow raised in amusement. Teddy looked down at himself. 'Oh, right.' He was supposed to have gotten dressed.
"Give me ten minutes. I'm sorry; I was spaced out."
"That's alright," Victoire assured. "Just don't take too long. It gives me a chance to do a last check, anyway. I always forget something before gatherings- my phone, a sock…. Remember how mad Grandma Molly was last year when I forgot the pie I promised?" Teddy grinned at the memory as she left the room.
The Weasley holiday party was always a blast. It used to take place at the Burrow, but as more and more children were born, it was relocated to the Potter house, which was bigger, with a bigger yard and two free house elves- Thimble and Mitsy- in their employment, which meant Grandma Molly didn't spend the whole evening in the kitchen, baking and cleaning instead of participating. Teddy and Victoire arrived right on time ("Shit! I forgot a hair tie," Victoire exclaimed in frustration.) They mingled for a while with the adults. Teddy greeted Harry and Ginny while Victoire hugged her parents, and they said hello to all the other grown-ups. But despite their ages, the couple eventually drifted out onto the deck, where most of the other Weasley cousins were gathered.
"Teddy!" the youngest Potter shrieked when she saw him and flew into his arms.
"Hey, Silly Lily!" he laughed, lifting her up and spinning her around. "Gosh, you've grown since I last saw you."
"But you came by just two weeks ago," she argued. Teddy shrugged.
"You've grown anyway." Lily giggled. Teddy set her down and sat on a free seat himself.
"So, what's been going on, guys?" he asked. Those in attendance took turns talking about life at Hogwarts. Fred recounted James and Roxanne's most recent troublemaking escapades. Albus enthused about his best friend, Scorpius, taking Victoire's vacated spot as Slytherin seeker. Molly complained that her friends kept calling her motherly (There was much snickering here, because she was.) It went on until Uncle Ron poked his head out.
"Proper food won't be ready for another hour, but there's pizza to hold you lot over until then." Most everyone got to their feet and headed inside, but Teddy and Albus chimed, "Lactose intolerant!" in unison and stayed put, grinning at each other.
In the sudden silence, Teddy's mind wandered back to his inner debate from earlier.
"Hey, Al," he blurted, not sure why.
"Yeah?"
"What do you think 'family' means?" he asked, hoping the question wasn't too strange. The younger boy contemplated his answer for several seconds.
"Well… I'd have to say that family is the people who make you feel safe and loved. The ones who are willing to make big sacrifices for you, but for whom being with you is never a sacrifice." Teddy smiled. It was such a poetic answer, not one you'd expect from a second year. He recognized the slightly glazed look in his godbrother's eye, too, and knew he was seeing a specific face in his mind. For that matter, Teddy had a good idea who it might be, but he chose not to mention it. Instead, he said, "I like that. Thanks; that helps, actually." Albus looked vaguely confused, but that was fine. It did help. By those standards, Remus and Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin were his family, but so were all the Weasleys and his Nanna. And maybe that was the answer all along- he just had a shit ton of parents. Teddy chuckled at the thought.
The others started coming back out again.
"What were you up to?" Victoire asked, dropping into Teddy's lap.
"Just thinking," he answered, brushing a stray hair behind her ear. "About life."
"Ah, very deep," she said. He grinned.
"Oh, yes, very." The conversation went back to other things, and he didn't mind. He'd finally understood something, something he'd been trying to grasp for years. It really was a merry Christmas.