Author's Note: Bah, I am getting annoyed that now the first line of posts on is not centred because of the share options on the side. I think I might just skip a line for each post so things remain in their proper orientation. XD Before I continue, I just want to clear things up, Teddy Lupin is not a werewolf, this is addressed in the final Harry Potter book and by Rowling as well. Also I want to thank emodinosaurX3 for the characters she donated to me, particularly Miss Anya-Jeanne Crafting. Oh, and thanks to her once more for inspiring the little information paragraph below.
A Harry Potter Fanfiction
THE WOLF AND HIS MOON
Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting
01. The Case
The train carriage quivered as it bounded along its allocated lines, the screech of the wheels skidding along the metal bars echoing through the coach, the passengers it held unfazed by the racket. A pungent stench clung to the decaying train, wafting over those who entered at each calling point, electrifying their minds into vertigo before they slowly regained their composure, wrinkling their nose and beginning their futile search for a seat, squeezing themselves next to strangers just to take the weight off their feet.
A pair of eyes watched them, their irises forming a curious crystal blue colour, the inquisitive wizard unfamiliar with the popularised muggle mode of transport, apart from a single scarlet train that was reserved for the wizarding population.
"What are you looking at?" A rotund man snapped at him lividly, catching his interested gaze.
Ted Lupin quickly jolted from is thoughts, averting to stare to the wide, clouded over window that separated his single seat from the one opposite where his companion sat, legs folded over one another as his visage was hidden behind a gargantuan newspaper, its stirring photographs paralysed in the presence of the muggle passengers.
Ted, or his preferred alias Teddy, sighed to himself, propping his elbow up onto the window ledge before snuggling his slanted jaw onto his curled up fist. An untameable mop of ebony locks fell about his fair features, clinging to the nape of his neck, shadowing his narrowed eyes as they became pale ashen with boredom.
His whole purpose on the pitifully mind-numbing train was not quite so tedious, it was the first of his field training to become a member of an elite unity in the Ministry of Magic to identify and capture dark witches and wizards, to become an auror. At this thought, his mind slowly began to wonder to the previous night, his overactive imagination once again taking hold, something all of his comrades insisted he had inherited from his late mother.
The auror headquarters had been quiet that evening, the few members that were not in the field busying themselves about their open cubicles silently. Teddy walked through the office, his eyes scanning the many photographs of dark wizards, clippings of the Daily Prophet, and maps covered in scribbles that were sprawled across the walls of the hall. He was greeted with curt whispers, easily recognised him his frighteningly intense first year of training, many believing he would not return for his second, yet there he was. No one, not even Teddy, had expected the head of office to be such an extreme mentor when he was allocated to the aspiring auror, but Harry Potter was always one for surprises.
As Teddy tapped his fingers along the towering wooden door that led to his godfather's office, a booming voice welcomed him from within.
"Thank you for coming so quickly, Teddy," The familiar masculine voice stated. "Please come in."
He obliged, shuffling into the room and gently pressing the door shut behind his tall, athletic figure. The office was circular with dark crimson walls decorated in many bookcases stuffed with thick, leather-bound tomes, the uncovered walls holding Victorian windows encased in charcoal drapes. A gargantuan desk faced the door from the far wall, the head of the office perched upon the plush, ebony chair tucked behind the desk to address the dark armchairs that lay before the desk.
Harry's almond-shaped, startling emerald eyes darted up from his desktop to meet Teddy's confused features, his eyes not having lost a single shimmer of their brilliance even after many years that had dotted his face in a few slivers of wrinkles. His jet-black tangles were combed neatly to the side, fully exposing the famed scar that ran along his forehead, his eyes tucked behind his renowned round-rimmed glasses. He gestured towards one of the empty armchairs, inviting Teddy to take a seat.
After settling into the chair, feeling it mould to his slender figure, Teddy ran a hand through his dark tousled tangles before glancing up at Harry once again, awaiting his orders. His godfather simply curled the edges of his lips into a kind smile, which only worried Teddy further, knowing him well enough to know it meant a drastic change was about to head his way.
"I am sure you are wondering why I summoned you here this evening, I'm sorry if I interrupted your summer plans." Harry chimed, but Teddy simply waved off his words.
"You should know me better, I rarely have any plans." His smile grew as did the pit in Teddy's stomach, pinching his lips shut after his reply.
"That is perfect," He exclaimed, pressing his hand onto a fallow-coloured file upon his desk, pushing it towards Teddy. "Then you will have time to begin your second year of auror training, more specifically, your field training. We have been getting reports of a dangerous creature and dark magic from a small, rundown village in the south west of London. I would like you to assess the situation, then identify and remove the threat,"
"This will expose you to not only the gravity of the work carried out by aurors, but it will also present you to familiarise yourself with other departments in the ministry, such as the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." Teddy felt a smile form on his own lips, grateful the many opportunities that had come his way after his father had been deprived of any in his lifetime, rarely able to hold down a profession with his condition.
"Thank you, Mister Potter," He replied, using the head's formal alias in the official office setting. "I would be glad to take the case."
"Please, in my office you may call me Harry," Harry stated before arching his eyebrows at Teddy. "Are you sure you want the case? Even if it means cutting your summer holidays short?"
"Were you not the one who told me on my first day that aurors never get a holiday?" He joked with a grin, finally relaxing, expecting something far worse to be thrown over him by his mentor.
"You have got a point there," Harry stated with a chuckle under his breath before lacing his fingers together, placing his chin on the platform they formed. "In that file is all the information we have on the case, good luck and you can come to me if you have any questions."
Teddy climbed to his feet, snatching the file from the tabletop and tucking it under his arm before bidding Harry Potter fair well. As he reached the threshold, peeling the door open, his godfather's words halted him on the spot for a mere moment.
"And another thing, Teddy, the village is predominantly a muggle one, meaning you will have to travel there on a train, a muggle one at that."
Teddy still recalled the dread that filled his body at those words, before the feeling became overwhelmed with curiosity. He rarely found himself in such close quarters with muggles, especially on their transport. However, after boarding the train at the first calling point and snatching a pair of seats, Teddy soon felt boredom flood over him for the several hours long journey.
"You should really stay out of your mind, Teddy," The voice of his comrade broke his rerun of the night before. "Your hair is jumping all over the place, you're lucky the muggles are too busy trying to find a seat to notice your colouring."
Teddy blinked, returning to reality as his hair became charcoal once more, his eyes now matte black with irritation as his glared at his closest friend. Gunner Macmillan lowered his newspaper, folding it neatly before stuffing it into the pocket of his plain straight-leg jeans that were held to the hips of his athletic build with a single ebony leather belt, leaving his jeans sagging slightly about his rear. His well-built torso was compressed into a white shirt, surprisingly untarnished by the poorly kept carriage. His skin was darker than Teddy's, although still fair, only holding a slight tan that was rapidly fading. His shaggy dirty-blonde locks fell loosely about his neck, waving slightly with shorter bangs brushing across his forehead, framing his big, dark amber eyes that were full of life as they smiled at Teddy, despite the physical manifestation being absent from Gunner's plump lips.
"Gunn, are you just here to irritate me?" Teddy retorted with a roll of his darkened eyes.
"Not really, that just happens to be an added bonus," He teased, a crooked smile now forming across his lips, one that many girls dubbed cute, particularly during their years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "Mister Weasley said I could accompany you, you are not the only one aspiring to be an auror. Plus you get all the best opportunities, your mentor is the bloody head of office for god's sake."
"So you are going to mooch off of me, as per usual," He muttered with a playful groan. "It's like being back at school."
"Except I don't have to stand around and wait for you to stop snogging the face off of Victoire whenever we pass her by," Gunner replied with a smirk, folding his arms over his chest and arching his eyebrows at Teddy. "Maybe she is what you were thinking about, no wonder your emotions got so excited."
"If you're ever wondering why you don't have a girlfriend, I'm pretty sure I've figured out why." Teddy returned with a smirk of his own.
"Damn it, you are so lucky, Teddy," Gunner admitted, his charismatic grin not faltering. "You have a fucking gorgeous girlfriend, who you don't even have to be around all the bloody time because she's at school, you're going to make an auror in record time and you have the famed Harry Potter as a mentor and a godfather. This might just be the first time I have ever wanted to be you. Then again, it all comes at the price of having that face."
"This face is the one dating that girl you just called fucking gorgeous," He challenged. "Plus maybe if you applied yourself to your work a little bit more instead of being the life of any and every party, you might get more things done."
"I get enough things done; they are just girls you don't approve of." He joked smugly, although it was true to some degree, his outgoing nature did attract many girls to him, the good, the bad, and definitely the ugly.
"I'll make sure to advertise that skill of yours next time I speak to Harry, Gunn."
"Are you kidding? Advertise it to Victoire, I'd be more than happy to take some of her friends off of her hands."
Teddy shook his head at his friend as Gunner winked at him good-humouredly, laughing under his breath. Despite the disagreements the pair had, both easily recognised one another as their best friends along with the other duo that completed their quartet. It always amused Teddy that he had a quartet just as his late father did. Harry had given him a gargantuan photograph album when he was a child, filled with moving photographs of his parents and their companions, including his father's quartet of friends that involved Harry's own father who massed when he too was an infant.
It had always been a small comfort to Teddy that in a way he still had a connection to his parents and the deeds they did to support the downfall of the Dark Lord, but also he had someone who had experienced the same loss as he did and ensured he grew up in a loving environment. He owed his godfather so much, he worried he could never repay him.
After a few more exchanges of jokes and comments about the muggle surroundings that even Gunner himself was not too familiar with, despite his position as a half-blood, the duo arrived at their destination, climbing off of the coach with their messenger bags in tow. The station was nestled in the centre of the town, surrounded by a few local shops and pubs that Gunner was immediately enticed by.
"I think I might make a visit to that pub," Gunner beamed, rubbing his hands together mischievously before catching Teddy's irked glare. "What? I am trying to support the local economy."
"I thought you were here to train with me." Teddy muttered suspiciously.
"I'm here for moral support," He corrected in a matter-of-fact tone. "Plus all you are doing today is interviewing those in the reported area; all I'll do is slow you down."
"Fine," Teddy caved. "But I won't be able to do the work for you when you're a bloody auror. I'll come back and find you at the pub when I'm done."
"Oh, and don't take too long," Gunner added with an impish smirk as Teddy rolled his eyes once again. "I invited the other two down to hang out."
"Brilliant." He mumbled sarcastically before bidding Gunner fair well and continuing his journey on foot to where the reports of bizarre occurrences were coming.
Teddy stuffed his hands into the pockets of his ebony jeans as he walked, the wispy summer breeze dancing over his fair flesh gently, threading through his dark feathery locks. His torso was hugged by a dark button-down top, the sleeves rolled up to reveal his forearms, his wrists decorated by various bands and ties. A black belt as slipped through the hem of his jeans, the buckle decorated by the profile of a howling wolf whilst a pair of ebony and ivory pinstripe suspenders hung loosely from the hem, instead of in their appropriate position slipped around his shoulders. He kicked his dark shoes across the dirt road as cottages opened up before him, made of weathered bricks, with an air of decomposition about them.
He groaned mentally to himself, digging through his bag, retrieving his parchment and a sleek pen, preparing for a long day. A few additionally files sat in his bag regarding the only wizarding families present in the village as after he had collected reports from the muggles, he would have to turn his attention to them.
Finally, after collecting all of the notes of the sightings reported, Teddy made his way towards the final house, ascending the mound on which the cottage sat, standing out bizarrely against the others as it sat upon the edge of the town. An iron fence ran the perimeter of the house; trapping in the unkempt garden is if it were a prisoner, left to become an overgrown graveyard of trampled weeds. The cottage itself was rundown, its aging bricks littered in scrapes, falling mercy to decay. It was a single story, apart from a pair of windows settled into the low roof, creating an attic. Its windows covered by dingy drapes preventing anyone from staring inwards and a single door sat on the front of the house, its mahogany-coloured wood dulled in colour, worn-out over its many year of use.
As Teddy slipped through the iron gates, mustering up all his strength to tear them open, he brushed a now ivory tangle of hair out of his eyes as he was unable to shake off the eerie aura that exuded from the house, his innards shuddering in utter disgust. If he was not a brave man, he probably would have slinked away, excusing himself from the sinister household, but much like his mother, he was too brave.
He smoothed out the shirt about his torso before curling his hands into a fist and rapping his knuckles against the broad door, hearing his knock echo through the corridor concealed within. When no response came, he repeated his knock twice more before the sound of rustling brushed over him, washing away his suspicions that no one was living there–although he was not surprised, he certainly would not want to live in such a hellhole.
The door heaved open with a shriek of its hinges, a waft of steaming air suddenly rushing over Teddy, smothering his senses with the heated scent of a bubbling cauldron, the stench of familiar ingredients electrifying his nasal passages. Teddy suddenly felt his eyes widen in disbelief, his eyes tingeing deep lavender as his mop of hair became dark violet at the breath-taking figure that stood before him.
He towered over her figure, guessing she stood at the most 5'3", a pitiful comparison to his figure which stood over 6 feet. Her hips held a pair of jean shorts that framed her rear, the legs frayed without any hemming, exposing her long fair legs to him, her bare feet pressed against the ill-kept wooden floorboards of the hallway. Her curvaceous torso was compressed into a black tank top that clung to the curves of her flawless hourglass form, outlining her developed bust before dipping to expose her miniscule waist. Her hands were fumbling over the hem of her top, which had risen slightly above her midriff from her sudden movement of the door, exposing a diamond stud that was threaded through her navel along with a small scribble of ink along her right hip, creating a design of a jet black kitten sporting a violet witch's hat. Teddy felt the back of his throat grow dry; his eyes blinking rapidly as he quickly averted his gaze away from her ample cleavage.
The girl suddenly noticed Teddy's presence, tilting her head up to peer at him through a pair of wide, sky blue orbs that seemed to drown him in their inquisitive gaze. He could see a slight twinkle flicker through her captivating eyes, as if flirtatiously warning him of the secrets they concealed. Beneath her left eye sat a beauty mark, a gentle dark dot that hugged her cheekbone. Her thin eyebrows arched up at him from above her mesmerizing orbs, hidden by her dark side-swept bangs. The remainder of her long, glossy ebony tangles were messily pulled out of her features, not only revealing her ears to be aligned with numerous piercings, but fully exposing her beautiful fair face to him.
Her plump, bright crimson lips formed a straight line as she narrowed her eyes at him in aggravation, crossing her arms over her chest, inadvertently accentuating her cleavage even further. Her voice swept over him with a twinge of irritation yet still sounding like the sweet melody of a harmonious harp to his ears as she spoke.
"Now who may I ask are you?"