A/N: This is the year 2022 and the beginning of their stupid little adventure. I'll probably post every Friday unless I'm persuaded to continue the story sooner :)

Don't forget to review! I love me some reviews!

Chapter 2

"Your parents would be so proud of you."

Teddy Lupin had wanted to be an Auror for as long as he could remember. When he was little, he would often run around with a stick in place of the real wand he yet lacked at the time and pretend to hustle up all the Death Eaters (who were played by disgruntled gnomes and the family owl). His fascination with his godfather, Harry, had gotten him interested in dark wizard catchers, but when he found out that his mother had been one too, his heart was immediately set on the career.

His seventh year seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Balancing dueling club with his Head Boy duties and studying for his NEWTs proved a difficult task, but Teddy pulled it off with aplomb and emerged at the end of the year tired but satisfied that he had given it his best effort.

After the last day of term, Teddy played a waiting game broken only by the usual family excursions and a trip to the Weird Sisters' Reunion Concert (thanks to the Weasley's thoughtful graduation gift to him) with Victoire, who had picked out the generous present. The very next morning, Teddy woke to a massive headache and an owl pecking at his window. Teddy could see that the letter it carried bore the red wax seal of Hogwarts.

His NEWT scores were greeted by a churning in his stomach that almost sent him running for the loo, but as it turned out, he had nothing to fear and he was able to fill out his application for Auror training that night.

"Your parents would be so proud of you," Teddy heard again as his acceptance letter arrived and was opened with shaking hands, an echo of the sentiments he'd always wanted to hear in the first person.

"Your parents would be so proud of you," he heard again as he was finally presented with his badge in a fashion that was certainly less than illustrious. And with a pat on the back, he was sent into the field to sit in a rainy field, waiting for a dark wizard that never actually arrived.

The pride of his parents had always been something that drove Teddy to greatness. He wanted to be a good student to please his parents. He wanted to be a good brother and cousin and friend and mentor and everything else he was to please his parents. It was funny that such thoughts consumed him so entirely every time he was faced with a decision for he couldn't really know what would please them, could he?

His only response to the numerous exclamations of his parents' pride was a simple, "I hope so," because that was really all he could do.

His choice of work was one thing he thought his parents would approve of. But, despite catching many dark wizards throughout the past three years in which he was actually a fully-fledged Auror, Teddy felt as if there was something missing from his work that he had desperately been hoping to find.

Teddy looked at the photograph that was pinned to the filing cabinet next to his desk. His mother waved at him, her arm slung around Mad-Eye Moody, who didn't seem to be amused in the slightest, and held out her band new Auror badge for all to see. He smiled sadly at the image and turned back to the report in front of him. He only had to finish that last report before he could pack up for the day.

Teddy bit the inside of his cheek as he concentrated on enumerating everything that had happened during the capture of the suspect he had been trying to find for the past month. He finished it off with a brief listing of all the methods of interrogation he had used upon incarcerating the suspect. He sat back to admire his work with a smile. He then opened a drawer and pulled out a file folder marked "Fischer Murder/Cursed Artifact Trafficking".

Teddy stacked the papers he had just been filling out and tapped the bottom edge on his desk. He then placed them carefully in a manila envelope and closed the clasp. He leaned back in his rolling chair, arms tucked under his head akimbo, to allow himself a moment to bask in the wonder of getting all of his paperwork filled out.

There was a light knock on the side of his cubicle.

"Look who's taking a break on the job!" Caspar Pontius leaned against the wall of Teddy's cubicle, grinning madly. "Maybe I should tell the higher-ups I've seen you slacking." Teddy snorted.

"What, and draw more attention to the toxic wasteland you call a desk?" Caspar feigned offense at that. "Actually," Teddy said, "I'm just about to head off for the day. I finished all my reports and my leave forms are already in."

"Lucky," Caspar said. "What're you going to do with the time off?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

Caspar and Teddy hadn't been in the same year at school, but they had gone through training together and had grown to be good friends. A couple years older than Teddy, Caspar worked on his grandfather's Blast-Ended Skrewt farm for a few years before he managed to 'escape' and move to London to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a badass Auror. They occasionally worked together, but Teddy's last case had him partnered with Dany De Angelis, a girl who'd joined a couple years after him.

"Vic and I are looking for a house, actually," Teddy said. "We saw a place last weekend that we both love, but she wants to make sure it's right by looking around a bit more. I'm hoping she won't be too picky and we can put an offer down for the first one soon."

"Things are getting serious then," Caspar said. "Can I be best man? I throw a killer party!" Teddy chuckled, but told him that they were not getting married any time soon. "Might as well marry the house," Caspar joked. He clapped Teddy on the shoulder. "Well, good luck then, mate."

Teddy stood and grabbed the envelope of forms. "Yeah, thanks," he said. "I'll be back in next week and we can go over that case you're working on."

After dropping the envelope off at Auror Aloysius Castleberry's desk, Teddy was free. He picked up his dark grey Auror robes and his moleskin briefcase and headed out through the main entrance, intending to take a walk. It was a beautiful summer day and he felt like getting some fresh air.

The walk to number 12 Grimmauld Place was long, but Teddy was in good spirits knowing that he wouldn't be seeing his cubicle in the Auror Office for a whole week and thinking about the purchase he would soon be making. He was extremely excited to be moving away from the realm of small, one-bedroom flats in buildings filled with an equal selection of old, kooky ladies and Muggle students who partied late into the night, blasting their horrific dance music.

Buying a house together would be a huge step for him and his longtime girlfriend Victoire Weasley, but they were definitely ready for it. Everything was falling together.

Teddy Lupin was no stranger to number 12 Grimmauld Place. After Harry had proposed to Ginny in the autumn of 2000, the young Auror and savior of wizards all over decided that it was time the place saw a deep clean and a new coat of paint. With the help of the Weasley's, Grimmauld Place was turned upside down and its old Dark past was brightened and turned into a beautiful modern home just in time for the newly-married couple to settle down there.

After all their hard work, the former Order of the Phoenix headquarters was completely unrecognizable. Even the screaming portrait of Sirius Black's mother had been taken down. Harry had had to call in three Ministry specialists, but it had finally lost the battle. Mrs. Black now occupied the attic and was the source of many a threatened punishment for any wrongdoings in the Potter house. ("Watch out, young man, or you'll be spending a nice night with Mrs. Black!" James Potter had been told many a time.)

As an honorary Potter and Harry's 'eldest son', Teddy could often be found in the Potter house. He lived with his grandmother in the countryside, but he stayed over with Harry on the occasional weekend and for a week or so over summer holiday. After school, he turned up for dinner there about three times a week on average, both because he enjoyed the company of Harry, Ginny, and their children and also because he found, living on his own for the first time, that cooking for himself was a strenuous and somewhat dangerous task.

At the current date, Harry and Ginny were attending a conference in Washington D.C. about defensive education in schools or something. Neither of them had really wanted to go, but they were invited by some very prestigious people in the American Ministry and could not refuse. The house was, therefore, under the supervision of their eldest son, James Sirius Potter.

"I'd appreciate it if you would look in from time to time," Harry had said to Teddy before he left to catch his portkey. Teddy had agreed knowing Harry and Ginny were a bit hesitant to leave so much responsibility to James.

"Thanks Ted." Harry had clapped him on the shoulder.

Teddy was going to make good on his promise, too, because he was somewhat doubtful in James's ability to keep things together. He wondered how the eighteen-year-old would ever cope in a flat of his own. More important than the house, however, Teddy wanted to make sure Albus and Lily were alright. They weren't little anymore, but he was still protective of them, especially Lily.

"Teddy!" Lily exclaimed as he opened the door to the house and stepped inside. He was greeted with a flying tackle hug from the red-haired teen. "I'm so glad you're here," she said as she released him. "James and Al are driving me absolutely mad." Teddy laughed.

"I'd be surprised if they weren't," he said. "Where are they anyway?" Lily shrugged.

"Al was doing something in the library and James just got back from a team workout. His head is getting bigger each day, I think. And he says he might start this season." She rolled her eyes.

Gryffindor Quidditch star James Potter had made it big during his final year of school. Scouts had signed him to the Falmouth Falcons after the first game of that year (Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw, in which the latter lost gloriously), and he had been going to training sessions with both the starting team and reserves for the entirety of the summer so far. Teddy hadn't at all been surprised to hear James would be playing professionally. Quidditch was in his blood.

"Hey, Teddy," called the middle Potter. Albus emerged from the library with a book clasped in his hands. It looked like he had been doing his summer homework. "Are you staying long? Maybe we could go someplace for dinner and actually have something decent to eat."

"I though Ginny and Molly left a bunch of stuff in the refrigerator to heat up," Teddy said.

"Yeah," Lily said, "But there's a limit to the amount of casserole anyone can eat at a time." She smirked. "Plus I think Al just really wants to go out for dinner."

Teddy thought briefly. "I'm supposed to go house hunting with Victoire in a bit, but I'm sure we can do that," he said. "She's stopping by in a few minutes, too."

"Yes!" Albus said. "You're gold, Ted."

They sat down together in the living room to play a quick game of exploding snap as Teddy waited for Victoire to arrive. James soon joined them as well- hair wet from a shower- and began to recount all the great passes he had made during that day's scrimmage.

"And then Pole," James laughed, "reached out to catch the Quaffle and over-rotated and he nearly fell off his broom!" His face turned red as he laughed. Teddy met Lily's eyes and she made an annoyed face.

"He's been like this every single day," she muttered to him. Teddy gave her a sympathetic look and played another card.

"Oh," James said once his laughter subsided, "We all have to come up with something to do for Dad's birthday- a surprise of sorts. He is getting back on that oh-so-special day."

"Let's not involve gnomes like last time," Albus said immediately. "I think I still have the bite marks from that grand idea." James ignored him.

"It has to be really good," he said. "We have free range, after all. The possibilities are endless!" He threw himself on the couch and lay on his back to stare at the ceiling contemplatively.

There was a soft knock on the door. "That'd be Vic," Teddy said and he got up to answer it.

"Wotcher," he said as he opened the door. Victoire looked beautiful, her blonde hair done up in a messy bun with sunglasses perched on her head. Her eyes, which seemed to change color with the seasons, were grey-blue.

"Hey there," she answered. He stepped back to let her step inside and leaned down to kiss her hello.

"Teddy, stop snogging our cousin!" James called. Teddy rested his forehead against Victoire's and muttered a few choice words about his god brother while Victoire giggled. They walked back into the living room together.

"Yes, James, my favorite god brother, can I help you?" Teddy asked. James sat up.

"Yeah, actually," he said. "What do you think about rigging Dad's office to spew confetti and sing 'Happy Birthday' when he walks in? And I don't mean a mild confetti flurry. I mean a full-blown blizzard. He'll be finding confetti for weeks." James looked excited.

"I'm proud of you, James. That sounds rather tame," Teddy said.

"Yeah, I don't see anyone going to St. Mungo's this year," Albus said pointedly. That'd been him last year after a gnome bite got infected.

"What's going on?" Victoire asked.

"Annual birthday surprise from James to Harry," Teddy explained.

The annual birthday surprise was a tradition that stemmed from Harry's twenty-eighth birthday when James gave his father a box filled with decorative tissue paper and rocks. He had been four at the time and so the prank was rather lame, but they had gotten better over the years and, as soon as Teddy turned seventeen, James had enlisted his help in creating increasingly elaborate tricks. Last year, James and Albus created a gnome circus which sent Albus to St. Mungo's and caused one set of curtains to catch on fire.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be exercising my creative genius," James announced, jumping to his feet. "Coming?" he asked Albus and Lily. They shrugged at each other and followed their brother up the stairs to their dad's office.

Teddy sighed and sat himself on the couch. Victoire followed suit, curling up against his side.

"You want to stick around to make sure nothing goes wrong?" Teddy asked. Victoire nodded.

"We have time," she said. "And, anyway, I highly doubt James explained the extent of the surprise." They looked at each other and Teddy's eyes widened. He tried to think of all the possible things James could add to the confetti blizzard that would make it potentially deadly. A confetti rain dotted with gnomes, perhaps? He shuddered.

"Well, we might as well make use of the time waiting," Victoire said. A small smiled began to creep up Teddy's face. Oh, really, now, his eyes said to her. She hit him on the shoulder. "Not like that," she said. Teddy feigned a pout as Victoire pulled out a folded bit of paper from the pocket of her shorts.

"I was looking at a few different listings that were in our budget," she announced, holding out the paper to him. Teddy took it and looked them over. Her research was actually very thorough. There was one Teddy was starting to like that was near an entrance to the Ministry. He pointed it out to her.

"Good, I thought you'd like that one," she said. Teddy put a hand on Victoire's knee and caressed it with his thumb.

"You want to look at it first, then?" she asked. Her hand roved up his forearm. Teddy leaned closer to her instinctively. Victoire smiled at him and placed a quick peck on his lips.

"That's not nearly enough!" Teddy said. He grabbed Victoire, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into her lap. She put a hand over her mouth to stifle a squeal as he began to tickle her ruthlessly. Teddy's fingers drifted over her sides and she kicked out at the air. Her hands tried to grab his, but she was weak with laughter and he was much stronger.

"Stop, Teddy," she breathed. "I swear I'll hex you!"

There was a crash upstairs. Teddy's hands stilled as they looked at each other and laughed. Taking advantage of the pause in Teddy's vicious attack, Victoire jumped up.

"Why don't I go see what's going on up there?" she said. Teddy smirked at her.

"Alright," he said, "but I'll be waiting." Victoire stuck her tongue out at him and disappeared upstairs.

Albus was hunched under his father's desk, balancing a drawer in one hand, a flashlight in his mouth, and a packet of confetti in the other hand. Meanwhile, Lily was spinning in circles on the chair and James was muttering at a place above the door while balancing on a stack of books.

Albus mumbled something.

"Better speak up, Al; we don't speak Mermish." Albus spit out the flashlight.

"I said: where did you even get all this confetti?"

"Trade secrets, little bro," James grinned. "Man, I can't wait for next year when you'll actually be useful. This whole 'no underage magic' thing is making this go slower that I wanted it to." He muttered another incantation, finishing off the charm with a flourish of his wand. He spun around and the precariously stacked books tumbled out from under him. With a small yelp, James stumbled across the room and only just managed to avoid falling on the floor. Lily giggled.

"Shut up," James said. He walked over to Albus to see how he was doing. "Here, I got it," he said, pushing Al's hands away. James waved his wand and sealed the connection so that, upon opening the drawer, their father would get a face-full of confetti.

"How many more places are you going to do it?" Lily asked. James's face lit up in that way that made adults nervous and teachers veritably quake and wet their pants.

"Oh, everywhere," James said. "I wasn't exaggerating when I said it would be a blizzard. I'm talking about every drawer, every book, every pencil…Ooh, that's good! We'll get his quills to only write 'Happy Birthday' and stuff like that."

"Congratulations on Getting Older," Albus suggested. "You're basically ancient."

"Albus, don't be mean," Lily said. She spun the chair in the other direction.

James puttered around with the confetti charms on another drawer as Albus extricated himself from under the desk. He stood and stretched widely, cracking his back with a loud pop. There were footsteps in the hallway and the three Potters looked up to see their cousin, Victoire, walking towards them.

"We heard a crash," Victoire said. "How's the surprise going?"

"Fabulously, cos," James said. "You want to help? Another one doing the charms will make this go so much faster." Victoire looked hesitant. James held up his hands, begging her silently. He even gave a good attempt at puppy eyes. Victoire shook her head and stood off to the side.

"I'll just observe your ways," she said. "I've never been much of one for pranks." James sighed and mimed a broken heart before getting back to his charm work.

"So are you coming to the party?" Lily asked. Victoire nodded.

"Wouldn't miss it," she said. "I'm not sure what Ted's getting him yet, but I'm painting him something."

"Ooh," Lily's eyes brightened. "Could you do one for my next birthday- maybe of a hippogriff or a dragon flying over a nice landscape?"

"Sure thing," Victoire said. She looked over as James made a sound reminiscent of an excited twelve year old girl. "Everything alright?" she asked.

"Better than 'alright'," James replied. He pulled a box out of the drawer he had been searching though and placed it on the desk. They all crowded around as he opened it to reveal a beautiful golden necklace situated on a bed of deep purple velvet. An hourglass was set in the center. James reached in and held it out in front of him.

"A time turner," Albus breathed. His green eyes were wide behind his glasses. James's impish grin widened until it looked far too big for his face.

"Now this is cool," he said.

"Put that back, James," Victoire said. He ignored her and instead began to study the time turner. "James," Victoire repeated. She reached for him but he spun away from her. "James, you shouldn't mess with that."

Albus pushed closer to his brother to try to see it as well. James swatted him away, but Albus reached for the necklace. There was a brief scuffle between the brothers and then a sharp crack.

A/N: So that's all for today folks! Thanks for the read! Next time you'll get to see plenty more of grown-up Teddy and the Ministry.