Chapter 1: Platform 9 ¾
A/N: Thanks for opening my fanfiction! A special thank you to anyone who follows the fic or puts me on their alert! I post my chapters as they become completed and do not hesitate to tell me if something is incorrect! Now, with that said… as a disclaimer note that I don't own the Harry Potter universe and if I did, I probably wouldn't be publishing on the interwebs, the only things I own are the plot line and my O.C.'s. If my story is similar to ones you've read, note that I typically don't read Teddy fanfiction, simply because I have a distinct idea of what his time at Hogwarts was like. And here is that idea, on technological paper, for you to enjoy! Thanks! –Wolfie
Teddy woke up with a start as the boy he considered a younger brother pounded on his bedroom door. That four year old gets up too early for his own good, thought Teddy as he looked at the clock, which read 7:30 AM. With a groan, he flipped over onto his belly and pulled his pillow over his head, wishing that he was still at his grandmother's house. James persisted in his pounding, yelling something that Teddy muffled out with his pillow. Trying to get back to sleep soon became impossible as James was joined by three-year-old Albus, and the two pounded on the door together.
Throwing his pillow at the door, like that would do any good, he heard their chants of "Teddy! Teddy, wake up!" through the door. It made him smile a little bit, but only a little. Succumbing to the little voices, Teddy got out of bed and opened the door, which Harry had set to lock from the outside after the second time James had gotten in to draw on his face with a permanent-ink quill. Upon opening the door, Teddy was rightly tackled by the two small boys and Ginny, who had been standing behind the boys the entire time, laughed.
As James and Albus settled to hanging onto Teddy's legs, Teddy managed to stand up and half-scowl at Ginny. While she was like a mother to him, he couldn't remember for the life of him why she was having him woken at such an hour. "Well, now that you're up you can come downstairs for some breakfast," Ginny smiled at him. "Today is going to be a big day, and there's no better way to start than breakfast!" Perking up at the mention of breakfast, the little boys who clung to Teddy's legs jumped off and ran downstairs with little shouts of "BREAKFAST!" and "I want PANCAKES!"
"Can breakfast not wait until later… when it's actually a decent time to wake up… like noon?" Teddy questioned, although he was fully awake. At this Ginny laughed and Teddy, who was just waking up realised why. "IT'S SEPTEMBER 1ST!" he shouted suddenly, making Ginny laugh again. Teddy rushed down the stairs behind his adoptive brothers and saw Harry sitting at the table with his biological children.
Looking up from trying to get Lily, who was all of one year old, to eat her cereal, his godfather beamed at him. "There's my boy! Going off to Hogwarts today!" Harry said, getting up from the table and wrapping Teddy in a hug. Teddy's face blushed red, his hair changing to a shade of red even deeper than his face. Stepping back, Harry mussed it up and grinned. Ginny stood in the doorway, watching the scene play out.
Sitting at his usual place at the table, Teddy piled his plate high with pancakes and sausages, both his favourites as Ginny very well knew. Chowing down on his breakfast, Teddy couldn't help but wish his grandmother were here. Gran Dromeda, as she liked to be called, had moved to France some five years earlier because she couldn't handle the house and country in which she had lost nearly her entire family any more. In leaving, Teddy was left in the custody of his loving godfather, Harry, and his wife, Ginny, and couldn't ask for a better family.
Lost in thought and food, Teddy hardly noticed when the owl post came, bringing Harry's copy of the Daily Prophet and any assorted mail that the family received. Harry handed a letter to Teddy while skimming the front page of the Prophet, and Teddy smiled to see that it was from Gran Dromeda. He knew she would remember that today he was heading to Hogwarts in all of his 11 year old glory. As the little boys talked about quidditch, by far a favourite topic of theirs though they barely knew anything about it, and Lily resorted to throwing her food across the table at various family members, Teddy opened the letter, eager to read what was inside.
Dearest Teddy,
Though I am in France on this ever-important day, know that my thoughts travel with you wherever you go. Know that it does not matter where you are sorted as long as you don't forget the boy the Potters and I have raised you to be. You are brave, intelligent, and loyal, and we will all be proud no matter where you are sorted.
I know how upset you must be that I haven't been present for the past years in your life, but know that you mean the world to me! Your parents would be so proud of who you have become.
With love,
Gran Dromeda
Teddy smiled to himself as he finished reading the short, albeit kind, letter from his grandmother. Harry smiled at his godson knowingly, having recognised the handwriting instantly. Forty-five minutes after his rude awakening, Teddy ran back upstairs to his room to finish last-minute packing. He knew that Harry, who had recently acquired a muggle driver's license, would want to drive all the way to King's Cross Station, so he hurriedly threw a few stray books and pyjamas into his trunk and slammed it shut. Rushing back down the stairs, he was surprised to see something waiting at his place at the kitchen table.
"That's odd," he thought. "I put away my dishes…" Walking closer, Teddy noticed that it was a journal. Harry, sitting fully clothed and ready to leave for the station, was sitting at the table, waiting for Teddy to come back down, but Teddy barely noticed him.
"Your father left it for you," Harry said. Teddy jumped at the sudden sound in the relatively quiet house. "Well, in his will it's to you, but in care of me. I think he and your mother must have filled it with notes, knowing that they might not make it through the war." Teddy noticed his godfather starting to get teary-eyed, like he always did when he talked about Teddy's parents.
Walking over to hug his godfather, Teddy smiled. "Thank you, Harry." At this, Harry smiled and accepted the 11-year-old's hug. Harry was the closest thing to a father that Teddy had ever known, and he couldn't imagine what could be hidden in the pages of the journal.
Pulling out of the hug, Harry addressed him again. "I thought you should have it before you leave for Hogwarts, since there is so much that you don't know about your parents."
Teddy interrupted his godfather, bothered by his statements. "But I know lots about mom and dad! Like, Dad was a Marauder or something and played pranks at Hogwarts and Mom had hair like mine and Dad's friends were all animagi!" Harry smiled at this.
"Yes, you do know much," he replied. "But many things Ginny, Andromeda, and I kept from you because you were too young. Now, you're going to Hogwarts and there are people there who may know more about your parents than you." Harry looked at Teddy seriously. "Your parents were heroes. Your father, one of the bravest men I've ever known. Let his words guide you."
Left speechless, Teddy nodded and hugged the journal to his chest. Then, he thought it best to put it into his trunk. Harry smiled, checked the time, and sighed. "Well squirt, looks like we'll have to apparate. This conversation has taken longer than I thought it would. Go say goodbye to Ginny and the kids!"
Running around the house, Teddy found the rest of his family in the game room playing a game of exploding snap, but the kid friendly version where the cards didn't explode. "I have to go now…" Teddy said, the finality of leaving settling on him. He stood in the doorway, realising that he wouldn't return to this house until Christmas break. The realisation nearly broke his excitement to leave, and he became very scared to leave when his siblings crushed him with hugs, even little Lily hobbled over to hug him goodbye.
"Do you has to go?" asked Albus, who always loved to get Teddy to change his hair colour. James nodded in agreement.
Sighing, Teddy changed his hair to bubble-gum pink before replying. "If I wasn't serious, would my hair be pink?" The little boys clapped their hands and Teddy was heartbroken for leaving them. Lily had hobbled back to where she was playing with blocks. "You kiddos be good, you hear me? Or else I'll send you a sock for your birthday!"
"Ew!" the boys cried, before they agreed and went back to their card game. Ginny walked over, smiling.
"Nervous?" she asked kindly. Teddy had always loved when Ginny calmed him down, he felt in-control when the woman he looked to as a mother talked to him.
"Super-duper nervous to be exact…" he replied honestly. Ginny nodded and wrapped him into a warm hug. The hug helped him regain his confidence, as his mother figure held him out at arm's length in front of her. She looked at him like he was growing up, and he figured that she would never read him "Babbitty-Rabbitty" when he couldn't fall asleep again, and he realised that he was almost okay with that.
"Stay out of trouble, write home lots, and remember that we will always love you, even if you end up in Slytherin." She smiled wryly before ruffling his hair. "Also, are you sure you want to show up at King's Cross with pink hair?" Teddy blushed before turning his hair to a more neutral shade of sandy-blonde. This made Ginny contemplative.
"You know, Teddy. When you turn your hair like that, you look just like your father," said Ginny, before pulling him in for another hug. "When you get to the platform, you can be bright blue for all I care. Just take care of yourself and do not forget to write! Now go, Harry's sure to be waiting for you." With those final words, Ginny straightened up, kissed the top of Teddy's head, and sent him back downstairs to go to the platform with Harry.
Harry was waiting patiently when Teddy returned downstairs and walked into the sitting room. When he got there, Teddy took one more, long, sweeping look at his home in Godric's Hollow. He saw the collection of muggle movies next to a muggle television that Harry and Ginny loved to spend time with the kids watching, the large fireplace that they used to go to Grandma Molly's house for dinner every Saturday and for lunch every Sunday with the whole Weasley clan, and the stack of magazines for which Ginny was editor.
After Teddy had taken in his home, he and Harry walked outside along the garden path. Extending his hand to Teddy for him to take, Harry reminded him, as always, to "hold on tight and not let go for anything."
Once the two got right outside the garden gate, Teddy tightened his grip and Harry turned on one heel, bringing them to King's Cross Station. Depositing the trunk onto a trolley, Harry led Teddy to the barrier to platform 9 ¾ and grinned.
Leaning over Teddy's shoulder, Harry whispered, "How do you think we get to the platform?" Teddy, turning to face his godfather shrugged. Grinning mischievously, Harry explained. "Run straight at the wall between platforms 9 and 10. When I say go, ok?"
Staring at his godfather as though the man had gone mad, Teddy was for the first time that day genuinely afraid. However, Harry grabbed his hand, signalling that they were to do the run together, and Teddy felt his confidence surge again. He was armed with his father's journal, a letter from his grandmother, and an owl named Tracy (after one of Ginny's favourite movie musicals). Teddy knew he was going to be just fine this year.
"One… Two… Three… go!" Harry counted down and the two took off running at the barrier between the platforms. When they passed through the wall, Teddy experience the view of platform 9 ¾ for the first time. He looked wide eyed at the scarlet train that was the Hogwarts Express and all the students running around to see their friends. He even saw a few students who had already changed into their school robes! Noticing the time, Teddy realised that he had only three more minutes with his godfather.
The two walked over to the train and Harry helped Teddy lift his trunk into the overhead of an empty compartment. Teddy was excited for the adventure, this was his first time doing something without Harry or Ginny or the other members of the Weasley family. The whistle that signalled one minute until departure rang out and Harry bent down to hug his godson.
"You look just like your father," Harry observed, and in that moment Teddy felt very proud of who he was. "Now, you be good and make us proud. I love you, squirt!" Teddy smiled as Harry affectionately ruffled his hair.
Laughing, Teddy responded, "I love you too, Harry! And I will make you proud!" With those words, his godfather smiled and exited the train just as it began to move. Teddy watched and waved as Harry walked all the way down the platform, waving goodbye to the first child he would have to watch whisked away to his adventures at Hogwarts.
Once the platform was out of sight, Teddy pulled his head back into the compartment, quite aware that he had turned his hair bright blue again. Not afraid of anything that anyone had to say, he pulled out his grandmother's letter and read it again. "You are brave, intelligent, and loyal, and we will all be proud no matter where you are sorted," his grandmother had said. And in that moment, Teddy felt like he was ready to let the full gravity of what was happening sink in.
"I will make my parents proud, both pairs of them," he thought, referring to Remus and Tonks as well as Harry and Ginny. And he felt ready to take on the world. "Look out, Hogwarts," he thought. "Here I come!"
A/N: PS review please! I tend to give up on stories if nobody tells me I'm doing well… *blush* until next time, my sweets!
