Just a quick A/N to make the following chapters read more smoothly, as many characters have similar names: from now on, any mentions of relatives or family members will be as they relate to Teddy. For example: 'his father' will refer to Remus, Remus's father will be 'Remus's father'. Ted Tonks will be 'Teddy's grandfather' or 'Dora's father', etc. to avoid confusion. This chapter's a little bit shorter than the others, but I think it makes up for it in intensity…Thanks!
Mei fa-chan: Thanks!!
Brinkley: Lol, rather more typos in this last chapter than I would have liked! But I think I got most of them fixed. Thank you so much for your review!
Jarlaxle Baenre: Wow, I'm so flattered! I actually borrowed the terrifying parents sentiment from Frank Herbert, author of Dune and its sequels – "There is probably no more terrible instant of enlightenment than the one in which you discover your father is a man – with human flesh." I thought it definitely applied to Harry, and soon it will to Teddy as well. Thank you so much, and I hope you keep enjoying the story!
aryell: Augh, I would die if I had no internet for ten days… poor you! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter when you get back. :)
RavenPaine: Haha, I think the updates will be coming a bit more slowly now…partly due to the fact that I have no idea where this story is going. Maybe this will help…thanks for your review!
eris: Thank you!!
Kates Master: Thanks for your review!
Alone All Along: I read the interview with JKR about all the post-Hogwarts stuff literally FIVE minutes after I'd posted the first chapter (with Hestia as Head Auror, Kingsley, etc) – I was a bit miffed, to be honest, but as far as the books are concerned, I think I can still be classified as canon in this story. Thanks! (on a totally random note, I was wondering…is your username from the Evanescence lyric?)
tonksrulez: Thanks! And Tonks rulez the world. :)
The Sushi Monster: Teddy/Victoire makes me squee so hard, I couldn't resist! Thanks for reading!
theLouvre: Oh darling, I just realized you're gone and now I feel awful… talk to me, yeah? Facebook, IM? I miss you!!! (gives heaploads of cookies for the pretty comments)
Ember Nickel: Thank you! I hope you read on… :)
Nightleo: Thanks for your review!! Here's more!
teddy fan: Yeah, I know Victoire isn't really French…but having parents as cool, popular, and attractive as Bill and Fleur, I reckoned she'd put one on in front of strangers for fun… Teddy knows her real voice, though. That's why I had the "I know you better" line from Teddy in the prologue. I'm glad you liked the story!
Jakia: Thank you so much! I hope you keep reading!
x.sammii.x: Thank you!!! I'm glad you like it. :)
SPOILERS FOR BOOK 7. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ DEATHLY HALLOWS.
Disclaimer: The HP universe and all its characters belong to JKRowling. I am merely squatting. OCs are mine, and will be obvious.
Dies Veritas
Chapter 3: Beginning
Five-year-old Remus Lupin's pale brow was contracted in tiny folds as he pored over the huge book perched on his lap, the cover so large it almost seemed larger than the little boy himself. He chewed his lip for a few moments, then laboriously turned a page with one skinny, long-fingered hand, his deep brown eyes squinting to take in the tiny words. "In six-teen twen-ty, the gob-lins once more rose in – " his frown deepened as he spelled the words out loud in a small, quiet voice " – re-volt. Revolt. A-gainst the – "
Teddy hung from the branch, speechless. It was only after several minutes and a painstaking recounting of all the goblin rebellions of the early seventeenth century that he realized his arms were shaking, his muscles giving way from the strain of dangling from the branch he was so desperately clutching. Panting slightly, he hauled himself painfully up so he was straddling the branch, shaking his hair out of his eyes.
This task done, he peered cautiously at his father, sticking his hands firmly into the pockets of his jeans to keep them from trembling. His head felt strange – as though it had been stuffed, crammed full of cotton wool and too much happiness, too much fear, too much of a sense that this was just weird. Happiness bobbed up, only to be replaced by a thick, heavy feeling creeping down into his throat. He would not cry, he would not cry…
Remus had paused an instant, his mouth slightly open, tracing a long word on the paper in front of him with a small, pale finger. "Ac – ack-cord – "
Teddy leaned forward, his face a mere few inches from his father's. He could see his deathly white face reflected in Remus's eyes – he wasn't sure if that was possible, this was a memory, after all, but he was not about to complain – and his mouth opened, and he spoke.
"According," he whispered softly.
"Ac-cor-ding…" his father said an instant later, his face lighting up with childish triumph at the feat of conquering the mighty three-syllable word.
A little gust of cool evening wind gusted through the branches of the tree, and Remus's light-brown bangs were lifted a little ways off his forehead. The forest was darkening swiftly now, and the last beams of light hit the pages of the huge book in a mottled pattern through the leaves. Swallowing hard, Teddy took his right hand out of his pocket and reached forward –
"Remus!" A voice suddenly drifted through the air, and Teddy nearly fell off the branch in shock as his father's head tilted upwards, listening intently.
"Remus!" the voice called again, a man's voice, hoarse and yet strong. "Come on, time for supper!"
Little Remus was suddenly a bustle of movement. The huge tome banged shut, dust drifting from its ancient pages – and then, to Teddy's utter astonishment, as it went against everything he knew about his father's love of learning, the little boy steadied himself against the tree branch and tossed the book down onto the dark forest floor below, where it landed on several tree roots with a crack. Remus followed a moment later with a tiny impish grin on his thin face, hurtling through the gathering dark down the tree trunk in a clambering slide.
It took the gaping Teddy until Remus had picked up the book and started to trot down a well-worn path before he himself scampered down from the tree and landed with a most undignified thump on his backside. Picking himself up hastily, he quickly caught up to Remus with his long stride. As he came alongside the boy, who was tottering slightly under the weight of his book, he heard him singing again, the strange song that sounded as though Teddy had heard it in a dream –
"Have her find me an acre of land – parsley-sage, rosemary and thyme…"
Teddy could not help a grin from breaking out on his face, stretching his mouth until it hurt. He could scarcely remember being so happy – with the little brown-eyed boy walking slowly next to him through the dusk, he could imagine it all, the boy growing and changing, becoming a man, holding Teddy's own little body in his arms. He could imagine it all.
"Between the sea and oe'r the sand – then she'll be a true love of mine."
And that's when Teddy felt the Darkness.
"Love imposes impossible tasks – parsley-sage, rosemary and thyme…"
All the light that was left in the forest vanished suddenly behind clouds. The sun had set. Teddy looked at the little boy next to him – Remus continued walking, unconcerned, his tiny face completely at peace, plodding steadily towards where the branches thinned, and Teddy fancied he could make out a tumbledown shape, a trail of chimney smoke, a white picket fence. His hands and feet suddenly felt cold.
"Although not more than any heart asks – and I must know she's a true love of mine."
A branch cracked from behind the walking pair. Teddy's head jerked around, but Remus didn't seem to have noticed anything. Fractured thoughts began to swirl in Teddy's head – he's the right age, it's almost night, important memories, it's almost night –
"Have you been to Scarborough Fair – "
A blurred shape appeared out of nowhere, and Teddy found himself smacked hard onto the dirt below him. A startled scream burst out from where Remus had been standing, and a thud echoed through the forest – the book falling to the ground, or at least that's what Teddy desperately hoped it was – he looked up.
At first, all he saw was a little pair of trainer-clad feet dangling some three feet off the ground. He heard a tiny choking sound, and as his eyes traveled further he made out a gargantuan pair of bare feet, bare calves vanishing into a gigantic leather coat which, for one absurd moment, made him think of Rubeus Hagrid. Even the silhouette reminded him of the half-giant gamekeeper – the wild tangles of bushy hair, the fierce face, the huge, ham-like hands which were holding his father by his fragile throat with such ease.
It was the eyes which let him know that Fenrir Greyback was not half-giant, nor was he kind or compassionate or any other adjective that could be applied to any human or beast. The were shining gold, a gold which neither gave warmth nor comforted, glowing dully as if tainted by pure evil – which, Teddy thought (he certainly was having a rather inappropriate number of irrelevant thoughts for the situation), they probably were.
Before Teddy could even contemplate lifting himself off the ground, the voice he and Remus had heard earlier burst through the trees once again. "Remus!" it called, now suddenly tinged with fear and panic. "Remus, where are you?"
Remus, his small fingers tugging ineffectively at the hands which were slowly turning his face a dark purple, managed to choke out a sound, his eyes wide and terrified. A woman's voice suddenly joined that of the man's, her tone too filled with terror – "Remus, darling? Can you hear us?"
Remus's horrified eyes flickered to meet those of his captor as Teddy hunched on the ground, unable to move. A deep, reverberating chuckle seemed to force its way up through Greyback's chest and out his mouth, echoing slightly around the dark trees. He suddenly clasped the little boy's body to his, lowering his lips until they growled in Remus's ear.
"Can you hear them, boy?" he hissed. Teddy lurched to his feet – rage was building up in his ears, making his blood pound – he could feel it in his hands, his face seemed to be swelling in anger – he wanted to kill Greyback, he wanted to tear at him, maul him –
"Can you hear your darling dad?" the voice continued mockingly. "Your dad did wrong by me, little boy. Did you know that?"
Remus, kept silent by Greyback's crushing grip, could barely shake his head. His entire body was shaking. The horrible laugh forced its way out Greyback's slash of a mouth once more.
"Well," he said softly, almost gently – "Now you do. And you will, for a very, very long time, little boy."
Teddy could see his father shivering. In the distance, he could still hear the panicked voice of the man and woman – his grandparents, he thought dimly – calling again and again, but somehow they weren't getting any closer.
A thud shuddered through the forest floor and little Remus shook on his hands and knees, drawing great gasping breaths of air as he gazed up at his attacker with a kind of horrified fascination. The sky was starting to brighten – but not with sunlight.
"Run, little boy," the werewolf growled. Teddy fancied he could already hear Greyback's voice becoming deeper, the series of terrible cracks as bones were broken and realigned – "I want to see you run for me."
A shriek of agony, mixed perversely with pleasure, rang out through the trees as the werewolf began to transform in earnest. Remus remained where he was on the forest floor for one terrifying moment, his eyes stretched so wide Teddy was sure they would pop straight out of their sockets.
He found himself yelling nonsense, trying to pick up his father and run, but his hands, though they grasped the material of Remus's shirt easily enough, could not make him move. "Come on, Dad!" he heard himself scream, forcing himself not to look behind him, where snarls and growls were beginning to emit from the leather-clad heap that was Greyback.
And suddenly the little body was moving, streaking through the trees, leaping and stumbling over roots and branches – Teddy ran with him, finding it hard for him to keep up with the terrified boy –
"Mum! Dad!" he heard Remus scream as they dashed pell-mell along the path. Teddy thought he could hear cries of relief not far off, and for a moment he allowed himself to hope, to dream, that it was just all a nightmare, that Remus would be saved and he and Teddy's grandparents would all stroll home to dinner…
And his thoughts were shattered into millions of irreparable, agonizing pieces as the werewolf sailed over Remus's head, landing lightly for a creature of its immense size and turning so quickly that the little boy could not stop in time, skidding forward through the piles of dry leaves, his face set in terror.
And Teddy closed his eyes.
He did not see the huge teeth sink ravenously into Remus's side, but he did hear the seemingly never-ending scream.
He did not see his father's body crumple to the ground as the werewolf stood over him, but he smelt the scent of blood.
He did not see the werewolf sink his teeth deeper into the flesh and start to drag the little body further into the woods, but he felt the wind as the wolf brushed past.
And all he could think was Teddy you coward coward coward coward –
"GET OFF MY SON, YOU FILTHY BASTARD!!!"
Teddy's eyes flew open almost against his will. A tall, lean shape was hurling itself through the trees, to where the wolf was dragging Remus along the ground, his eyes wide open and staring out of his white face. The man stretched out his hand as he hurtled along, and Teddy saw the outstretched wand. "Avada Kedavra!"
The jet of green light flew towards the werewolf, hit its thick hide – and bounced. Teddy remembered, in a flash of absurd clarity, the DADA class where they had discussed the werewolf's ability to deflect most curses.
But the man was not finished yet. "Wingardium Leviosa!" – a rock on the forest floor, which must have weighed at least 50 pounds, rose up – "Bombarda!"
The rock hit the werewolf's spine with the force of a sledgehammer, and Teddy thought he heard the crack of bone breaking. Instantly, the blood-drenched teeth where lifted from Remus's side, and the wolf let out a howl of agony – as the wounded beast leaped forward, the tall wizard was not able to retreat completely from the claws which raked across his chest, and he fell back with a cry of pain – but not before he had cast his next spell, and Teddy had to leap out of the way as a tree trunk nearby came crashing down – the werewolf was turning, it was bleeding, it was turning and running away –
But Teddy felt strangely shimmery. The memory seemed to be fading around the edges, the forest blurring as though something was wrong with his eyes. He looked down, and as the memory faded, he saw his father's eyes staring up at him, slowly glazing over as Teddy's grandfather crawled close to him, sobbing and pointing his wand at his son's tattered chest, muttering desperate spells.
And then the memory faded completely, and Teddy was surrounded by white mist.
"Please, sir, you must tell us if there is anything you can do for him – "
"Tested positive at Mungo's, did he?"
"Yes, sir, but he hasn't transformed yet and we hoped – "
"Look, Mr. – ah, Lupin – we at this Institute cannot concern ourselves with hopeless cases. Though I sympathize with you in spirit, your son has become a Dark Creature. All I can recommend is the services the Ministry has to offer for those who become dangerous at every full moon…"
"That's it?"
"Kate, please – "
"No, I won't be quiet, John! How dare you talk about our son that way, Mr. Hathers, he's no more a 'Dark Creature' than you or I – "
"You are a Muggle, I take it, Mrs. Lupin?"
"What has that got to do with my son?"
"Well, ah – it seems to me, that, not being of the Wizarding World, you can hardly understand the implications of such an undesirable condition – "
"Bastard!"
A little boy standing alone in a cellar, trembling – a tear sliding silently down his cheek, a sudden rigidness as a tiny beam of silver light thrust through cracks in a crumbling stone wall – screams and blood and incomprehension, trying to understand why –
Teddy was not fully aware of himself or what he was doing for a long time.
A/N: So yeah… that was harder to write than I thought it would be, and I hope people didn't find it too upsetting or violent, although it is a violent and upsetting topic. I never thought it was clear in the books whether one could touch and feel people or objects in a Pensieve, so I just decided they could – hence how Teddy could grab Remus, but he obviously couldn't change a memory, and so Remus didn't move.
Remember, R-E-V-I-E-W-S make Centimetre happy! Give them to her:D