The future of the resurrection stone
It was a warm sticky evening in the ground of Hogwarts. The air was thick with sweat and engulfed all around the students, exposing them to a sense of feeling drained. Teddy Remus Lupin was among these students. It was nearing the end of fifth year, and he and his fellow class mates had just finished their OWLS. Expressing the joy of this, his friends decided to hit the lake with food and drinks, relaxing in the sun.
Teddy felt too aggravated to join in however. He tried his best but wasn't in the frame of mind to do so. In his exam, he was doing perfectly well for his ability, and then he reached the last question; on lycanthropy. All information he knew about his father had swam around in his head, and the reality that he was a werewolf was the most known. He knew he was a great man, with unbelievable kindness, but he didn't truly know him, like a son should. Then there was his mother. His metamorphmagus abilities is what made him recognise her, it was one of the few things he inherited from his late mother. Deep down he looked like a mixture of both, but he wanted more, he wanted to feel connected. Part of him even wished he has received his father's condition, lycanthropy, just so he had more of a bond, more of a connection. In the dark days, being a werewolf was more frowned upon than now, thanks to Harry. Harry knew the struggles, and since more werewolves were around these days, thanks to Fenrir, he didn't want them to go through the same treatment that Remus went through. Harry was a great godfather, he understood what it was like to live with no parents, and made sure Teddy was loved as much as he could be. Unfortunately this did still not fill the huge hole which was growing ever bigger in Teddy. He had never stopped mourning his parents and moved on like others had who lost loved ones in the war. In a way, Teddy's loss was worse than Harry's. Harry grew up in a world where everyone was mourning, everyone could connect with people because they understood what is was like to lose someone, but this rarely happened in the new world. Everyone was happy, and only knew what it was like to lose a loved one if they died from old age, which was usually acceptable. Having that exam question did not make him remember his parents, oh no, he thought about them all the time, but it made him sad to see something so meaningful to him just being thrown around like something ordinary. He would never confide in anyone about this, especially not his friends.
His friends were all running down the hill, their destination being a perfect patch of grass which was an equal distance between a large oak tree and the lake, but Teddy was lagging behind, but he didn't want this to be seen and tried his best to join in. The excitement of the end of Exams got the better of them and soon they were dancing, laughing, and even went for a swim in the shallow depths of the lake, which helped to cool their burning skins. After two hours of this playfulness they all felt too drowsy and decided to sit and watch the sky turn a burning orange as the sun set. This was more like it, thought Teddy. It gave him the chance to sneak off under the tree and read without having questions asked.
After a while he didn't see the point of acting like he was enjoying himself. The heat was sticky and escalated all around him, pulling his clothes tightly to his sweaty skin and making him feel very rough. The direction that he was facing at was the forbidden forest, and by the dark colours from the tree's standing guard against the sun it looked cool and breezy. Half of his friends had fallen asleep in a huge pile, and this gave his the perfect chance to escape. Standing up and leaving his book behind, he walked past the huddle of people. Ben, one of his closest friends, was lying down with his new girlfriend on his chest. Seeing Teddy walk by, he cautiously lifted his head and silently questioned this. "I'm just going to see Hagrid, I'll be back in a bit." Teddy whispered with a wave of his hand. This however was a lie.
He reached Hagrid's hut at a neutral walk, then quickly looked back, and seeing that the coast was clear, he speeded to a quick pace, brushing his hand through his bright turquoise hair. He subtly reached the edge of the forest, and knew no one would spot him, so he let out a deep sigh. He wasn't sure why he was being so secretive, but deep down he knew that his friends disliked Hagrid, and would not join him, leaving him alone for once. It was obvious he was one of the popular guys, and this brought him a group of followers, not friends, nobody he could confide in. He was so very seen, but so very alone.
Teddy let out a deep sigh, he could now relax. The chill had already wrapped its fingers around teddy. This sudden change in temperature made Teddy shiver like a new born pup. Feeling that just standing here would bring him back to boredom, he decided to journey into the forest and go on an expedition. He never thought of any dangers, but he always had his wand on him. The trees were getting thick and all light started to disappear close by, so he came to a stop. The first thing that popped into his mind that could occupy him was to throw stones and see how far he could get; this was a game that he would play when he was younger whenever the adults asked him to go outside so they could 'talk'. After a while throwing various stones, he came to a stop, noticing a vivid change in one of the stones he picked up.
This stone had a high finish, as if it was manmade. It had sharp edges, and apart from a few scratches, and a very obvious crack down the middle, it had a very smooth polish. A very distinctive design was drawn on it, one which Teddy could recognise but not enough to remember where from. To examine it even better he turned it around in the palm of his sweaty hand. "Hello Teddy darling." A soft voice said which held a hint of wit. Teddy was so startled that he jumped backwards, tripping over an overgrown tree root and falling to the ground with a hard thud.
A hoarse laugh escaladed someone near by's lips, adding to the laugh an equally hoarse voice "Just as clumsy as your mother I see." Teddy flicked his fringe away from his eyes, and froze. It felt as if someone had thrown their hand down his throat, and ripped out his heart. It was his mother and father.
Understanding this shock, his mother stepped slowly forward, and placed a hand on his father's shoulder. "It's ok sweetheart." She whispered in that loving voice only a mother could give. He couldn't contain his emotions any longer, that feeling of his throat being ripped out. His tears escaped him and he cried like he never cried before. His parents knew they could embrace him, make it better, but reality would hit, and he would feel their coldness, their transparency. Instead they just stood there, with sorrow on their faces, trying to be unnoticed. This continued for roughly five minutes, only coming to a freeze when an owl hooted far in the distance. Teddy looked up, his eyes red and his face as innocent as the child they left behind.
His breathing slowed down, and his vision came into focus. It was his parents, he has seen photos, only a few, but enough to know the truth. They were not alive, however much he wanted this to be false, but a simple memory. They were transparent, shining like a crystal; he could even see the coldness. He was not stupid. But he was thankful, it was better than nothing, he finally had a chance to talk to them, maybe not literally, but something to hold onto. "Why did you leave me? Why didn't you stay, instead of putting yourself in danger, with the odds against you coming out alive? With the odds being that I would be left alone?" He knew it was something he would regret saying later, but it was the question hacking into him like a saw for all these years, not letting him put his parents to rest.
His mother had sorrow on her face, something he never saw in any of the photos. "We had to sweetheart, there was no choice, more people would have died, we were part of the order of the phoenix, and we knew the dangers when we joined, we just never realised it would have such an impact on other people's lives, we thought we only had to think of each other."
"And then you came along, and we may have become parents, but that was all that changed. We wanted to build a future for you, we didn't want you to know what it was like before, we wanted you to grow up in a beautiful world, you may think the times now are bad, but misery and suffering are weak words to what it was like then. For all our lives we lived through the dark times, Voldermort was always known, and he may be known now, but people know what it feels like to not be scared, and if it means two extra people had to die for that to happen, then so be it." Teddy knew his father was good with words, but to hear them for himself made him truly feel it. His father let out a sigh, and Teddy saw the lines on his face, aging him before his time. "All our intentions were for you, we sacrificed ourselves for future generations, but mostly you. We took precautions. We made Harry your godfather for a reason – why had all faith in him that he would win, he would live, and he could help bring you up. He has been in your shoes, he knows what it is like to be parentless, but he wanted you to still feel loved in a way he didn't. And I can see he did well, you grew into a fine young man.
Teddy did not weep like before, but a single tear fell. "Thank you, I understand now, and you are the best parents a boy could hope for, I was just blinded by anger, but this opportunity has made me see clear." And with that, his father smiled, and his mother rapidly changed her maroon hair into bubblegum pink. Teddy was finally at peace, and let the stone go, just like he let his mother and father go.
AN: Depending on how much this is read/liked, I will add more chapters with different people's experiences of the resurrection stone in the future. I hope you did like it, and all reviews are appreciated, thank you.