Yay, an update. May not be all that awesome, but it's an update and I kinda like it. Thanks for the response on this.

4. Give 'Em Hell, Kid

"So your dad would have to go into the Shrieking Shack." Ron told him. Teddy was really, really tired, but he wanted to hear the story. "And that's where he'd transform."

"Into a werewolf?" Teddy asked, wide-eyed.

"Yep. And Harry's dad, and Sirius, and – and Wormtail, they would transform – remember how Harry told you they were all animagus? – and they'd go wondering all over the castle, and the grounds, and even Hogsmeade."

"And they never got caught?" Teddy asked incrediously. In a world where he couldn't even sneak a biscuit without someone catching him, this seemed amazing.

"Never. Anyways, all those years later, that's how me and Harry and Hermione found out about Wormtail, and everything. Because Sirius – in his dog form - attacked me, and dragged me down the passage, into the shack. I fought him, of course, but he was a big dog, and strong, too. Broke my leg, I did, trying to escape. But he dragged me down, and -"

Teddy curled up against his almost-Uncle, and listened to the story, smiling every once in a while when he knew Ron was exaggerating. No one told a story quite like Ron Weasley.

"Go on. Dare you." The boy said. "Right to the trunk."

The other boy – the one he'd spoken to – nodded. "All right then. But I want the whole five galleons right away. No making me wait around again."

"Look, it's all right here." The first boy replied, pulled five golden coins from his pocket. "But you have to actually touch it."

"Can do." The second boy moved forward slowly; the tree swayed, its branches creaking. He moved close, crouched, and darted.

He was only about a foot from the tree when a branch sweat down, caught him, and sent him flying seven or eight feet through the air, to land heavily on the ground.

"Damn." He said, dusting himself off. "So close."

The other boy dropped the money back into his pocket, shrugged. "Some other time, maybe. You hurt?"

"Nah."

And, casually, they both wondered away.

Teddy and his friend, Jake, both laughed. "Honestly, he could've got himself killed." Jake said finally.

"You know, someone once nearly lost an eye trying to get close to that thing?" Teddy replied, watching the impressive tree, which had stilled now, and simply stood there, looking perfectly innocent.

"Really?" Jake asked, without a trace of doubt in his voice. It seemed very plausible, after all. "How d'you know?"

Teddy paused, then shrugged. "Dunno. Someone must've told me. And, guess what? I know how to get past it. Right up to it, and into the passageway."

"What passageway?" Jake asked instantly.

Teddy smirked, and then briefly repeated the story he'd been told countless times.

"D'you think we could still get in?" Jake asked, unfazed by the werewolf story. Everyone knew of Teddy's parentage, after all. and Jake wasn't one of the few who was bothered by it. "Like, into the passage, into the shack?"

"Sure." Teddy said, and with the bravado many young boys – and girls – possess, added, "Can take you right now, if you want."

Jake hesitated, looked back towards the castle. "Not now. But how about tonight? We could sneak out, spend the night in the shack?"

"Sure." Teddy replied. "We could sneak out at...midnight? And sneak back in at dawn. No problem."

"Place is haunted, right?" Jake asked, though looking more excited than afraid.

"Nope. That was 'cause of my dad." Teddy grinned, and Jake rolled his eyes, muttered something about the world being full of lies, though he was smirking too.

A bell rang from the castle; break was over. With a sigh, both boys traipsed back inside.

--

The weak January sun had set; the castle had silenced, and Teddy Lupin was shaking his friend awake.

Jake stirred, mumbled something incoherent, causing Teddy to shake him harder. Leaning forward so as not to wake the other boys, Teddy angrily whispered that if Jake didn't get up now, he was going to stab his eyes out.

The threat may have been clearly false, and not have made much sense, but it was effective.

"What?" Jake mumbled, finally opening his eyes.

"The willow? The shack? All night? Remember?" He asked, annoyed. "You said you could stay awake till midnight."

"I can. I only fell asleep...uh, ten minutes ago."

"Jake, you've been snoring since ten. Just get up, get dressed. Come on."

The two of them slipped out of the tower, and down the lesser-used staircase. It was lesser-used due to its appearance – it looked rather like it would fall apart if a marble rolled across it – but it was also the quickest and easiest way outside. So the two of them hurried down, then through a little passage way someone had told Teddy about before he'd even arrived at Hogwarts – probably Harry, though he wasn't sure – and they were almost at the doors before Peeves appeared.

"Firsties? Out of bed?" The poltergeist smirked. "Well, we can't have that." Just as he drew in a breath – or appeared to, because surely he didn't actually breathe? – to shout, Teddy said the first thing he could think of.

"Don't, Peeves, we're only going to the memorial."

Peeves stopped, looked down at the two of them thoughtfully. Something that may have been sympathy crossed his face. "The Lupin boy." He said finally. "Parents are...on that thing, aren't they?"

Teddy nodded, hurriedly tried to look sad.

"Knew your father." Peeves told him. "And your mum. Liked her more." And with that, he drifted away.

The two of them continued, Teddy fighting the prickling of guilt at using his dead parents in that way. He shouldn't have, really, but it had been so automatic.

He didn't want to be one of those people who used being an orphan to get things. He wouldn't be one of those people. Nope, that was the first and last time he did something like that.

The doors were locked, but Teddy magically unlocked them. And then they were outside, the biting cold a shock, even after the relative draught of the castle.

"Come on, before we freeze." Jake muttered, before running towards the tree. Teddy followed quickly, thinking it would be just their luck for a teacher to look out of the window.

But no one called out to them, or sent jinxes out, or anything. The grounds remained in spooky silence, and the two boys approached the tree.

"Well? How do you get past it?" Jake demanded, his teeth chattering. Only now did Teddy realise his mate half-thought he was lying.

Charming.

Teddy looked around, finally found a long stick on the ground. He picked it up, ignored Jake's snort of disbelief.

And prodded the knot he'd seen.

The tree was still; but it hadn't moved before, and so Teddy wasn't sure he'd hit the right knot. Nevertheless, he sank to his hands and knees, and crawled forward. The tree didn't react.

He found the entrance to the passage way, coated in spider webs and dead leaves. With a vague sound of disgust, he hurriedly cleaned it away with his wand, and Jake's help. Then, after a look at Jake – who looked back with an expression clearly telling him he wasn't going first – he manovered into the opening.

"Follow me." He called back to Jake, a hint of warning in his voice to prevent his friend chickening out. Then he began to crawl. Jake followed; and after what seemed like hours – with Jake asking every once in a while if they were even close – they reached the other opening.

This, too, was coated in spider webs. The passage had frequently had them, which made Teddy wonder what state the shack was in.

He pushed away the thick webbing, crawled forward. And found the place a mess.

It wasn't just spider webs, dust, or the ominous scuttling noises. Furniture was broken, bits of fabric were strewn around, and something that looked suspiciously like an old blood-stain was visible beneath the dust on one patch of the ground.

The two of them hesitated, then began to explore, with childish excitement, despite the obvious lack of anything interesting.

Teddy was debating whether or not to move into the other rooms when Jake said his name. And, crossing the room, Teddy saw why.

One patch of the wall had words scratched into it, glinting silver by Jake's wand light.

The Marauders. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs.

The nicknames were scrawled a few more times, separate and together, as were the names James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, sometimes with surname, sometimes without.

And more – James loves Lily was scoured in a few times. Once, Lily loves James was carved, and Teddy found himself smiling, guessing that the writing was so messy due to James' excitment. Lily Evans had obviously returned his feelings. A few more messages; Sirius is God; Remus will rule the world; Marauders till death.

And, in what Teddy decided, after some debate, was Sirius' writing – well, it matched the Sirius is God and he assumed it was Padfoot himself who'd written that – was Give Em' Hell Kid.

He could practically see them. Not just meeting here once a month in their animal/werewolf forms. But sneaking out like he and Jake had, hiding here to miss lessons, carving letters into the wall, making jokes and planning their future.

"It was like their clubhouse." He murmured, smiling wryly. Jake looked at Teddy for a moment, then pulled a penknife from his pocket. Beside the messages for the Marauders, he carved his own name. Then he passed the knife to Teddy, moved aside.

And Teddy carefully carved his own name in, his writing uneven but deeply scoured.

"We're gonna need nicknames." Jake said, after a moments silence, tucking his knife back into his pocket. "If we're gonna hang out here, we'll need nicknames."

Teddy smiled, nodded, feeling a rush of affection. "Yep, for sure."

They made makeshift beds, and settled in to sleep, discussing their possible nicknames – and who else they could bring here – until Jake began to snore again. After a few restless minutes, Teddy got up, wondered back to the wall. He traced the messages a few times with his index finger, and then his own name.

Jake's penknife had been set on the floor to stop him lying on it in his sleep; picking it up, he added a heading above their names.

The Marauders: Generation II

And, he decided, he and Jake – and whoever else they let add their name to the wall – would add their own messages. And, hopefully, Generation II would fare better than the first had.

The words Give 'Em Hell, Kid were illuminated by his wand as he decided to try to sleep again. With a tired smile, he nodded.

"Will do, Padfoot."

Hogwarts, after all, needed a few marauders.