The Life and Times of Teddy Lupin
AN: This was written for the last round of the Speed of Lightning Challenge, which I was fortunate enough to make it through to :) The rules were that we had to write at least 1000 words about Teddy Lupin, and this is approximately 1200ish. Oh, and I'd like to point out that the date at the end, the 2nd of May, is the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts.
i.
Teddy waves goodbye to his family through the window of the Hogwarts Express. As the train begins to move, he gets one last look at his family before they disappear out of view. Andromeda, his grandmother, was holding little Albus, and his uncle Harry was standing with James, and Lily in her pushchair. He smiled, taking in the sight. He wouldn't see them again until Christmas, and although he wasn't sad about it, he would miss them dearly whilst he was away.
Butterflies fluttered in his tummy, he was so excited to finally go to Hogwarts. The train picked up speed, as he wondered what Hogwarts would be like. He couldn't keep the grin off his face. It widened when two boys, Matthew and Adrian, entered the carriage and introduced themselves. They spent the whole ride laughing and joking together.
ii.
"Lupin, Teddy."
Teddy nervously stepped forward and walked to the stool, trying to not feel everyone's eyes upon him. He felt the hat being placed on his head, slipping over his eyes and blocking the hall from view.
"Hmm," the Hat says, and he felt its presence in his head, searching his personality and his past.
"Not a bad mind, but perhaps not studious enough for Ravenclaw. I see loyalty, and lots of it. Your family means a lot to you. You'd like to follow your uncle Harry's footsteps into Gryffindor, but I'm afraid that's not for you. I think…HUFFLEPUFF."
He jumps off the stool and joins the Hufflepuff table to watch his new friends, Matt and Adrian being sorted. He wasn't disappointed that he was put into Hufflepuff, his mother was one after all.
iii.
"Merry Christmas," Harry said before everyone else joined them, presenting him with a piece of parchment.
"What's this?" Teddy asked, finding there was nothing written on it.
"This," Harry explained, "Is a map. You need your wand."
Teddy pulled out his wand and followed Harry's instructions, gasping when ink spread out in spidery lines and created a detailed map of Hogwarts. However, his attention was focused on the writing in the middle.
"It was created by your father and mine, when they were at school," Harry said, seeing what Teddy was looking at. "As well as my godfather."
Teddy looked at the map in awe, running his fingers over it. His father had once held the same map. He tried to imagine his father working on it, charming it to work. Had it been difficult?
When Harry left, he held it to his chest. This map was the first thing he had of his fathers.
iv.
Adrian is in the hospital wing; Teddy hasn't left his side for days. They had stubbornly remained best friends for the past few years, along with Matt, despite all three of them being sorted into separate houses. Adrian, a Chaser for the Ravenclaw team, had been hit by a Bludger a few days previously during the first match of the season, and fell a considerable distance from his broom.
Teddy had leaped over the stands and onto the pitch as soon as Adrian's body had hit the floor.
Now, at his bedside, seeing his best friends' broken and bruised body, he knows what he wants to do after Hogwarts. From them on he studies hard, needing top grades in order to become a Healer.
V.
Teddy is sitting in the library, sharing a small study table with his friend, Victoire. He was helping her with a difficult potions assignment she was struggling with. Whilst she is writing away, he watches her, mesmerised. Too soon, it is completed and it's time to leave.
He walks her back to the Gryffindor common room. She turns to say goodbye, and without thinking, he does something he's wanted to do for a very long time. He closes the gap between them and presses his lips to hers. When she responds eagerly, his heart skips a beat.
All the way back to his common room, he can't stop smiling.
Vi.
Teddy sits on the sofa of his brand new flat, thinking it was far too empty. It was a long cry from Hogwarts, with all his fellow students, from his Uncle Harry's house with all of their kids, and the Weasley's full house he visited so often. He gets up and puts the radio on for company.
Despite the new feeling of loneliness, everything was going well. His fervent studying for his NEWTs paid off, and he graduated with top grades. He managed to land the perfect job working at St Mungo's, and whilst it was hard and he still had a lot to learn, he loved every minute of it.
But most of all, he couldn't wait for Victoire to graduate, so they could start their life together.
Vii.
Teddy wakes up on the morning of the first of August, fresh and ready to go. He had been tossing and turning the previous night, unable to sleep due to nerves, but he wouldn't let something as trivial as a bad nights' sleep get in the way of his big day.
He had been dating Victoire since their Hogwarts days, and somewhere between the Hogsmeade trips, studying together and sneaking out for midnight walks, he had fallen for her. When she graduated, she began working for the Ministry, and moved into his flat. They had been in a steady relationship for several years, as much in love as ever.
Today, they would become husband and wife.
viii.
"Teddy!" Victoire calls from the bathroom one morning. "Teddy."
He jumps out of bed and runs to the bathroom, concerned. When he sees his wife crouching by the side of the toilet in her nightdress, her back braced against the black and white tiles, he knows immediately. Running a diagnostic test to make sure, he is overjoyed when it comes up positive.
Months later, he's holding his newborn daughter in his arms. He swears he has never seen anything more beautiful, and he feels himself fall in love with her. Although the baby cannot understand him, he swears to her he'll be the best father he can, and he will make her life as happy as his own.
The three leave the hospital together, finally a family.
ix.
Many long years later, Teddy Remus Lupin passes away peacefully in his sleep. He had lived a long, eventful, and happy life, leaving behind him three children many more grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
He was sad to be leaving them, but he knew that it was time for him to move on.
He takes his final breath in the early hours of the morning on 2nd May, 2073. For the first time in his life he sets eyes on his parents, who welcome him with open arms.
