"Oi. Clot pole. Get up."

The world slid slowly into sharp relief as Teddy blinked the sleep from his eyes. Harry stood over him, yawning and looking unimpressed. "You're late."

"What?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Breakfast's almost finished, and at this rate, you'll miss first period, too."

"Thanks." Harry gave a half-shrug and left the dormitory. Teddy rubbed his eyes. They felt red and weepy; probably a side-effect from the nightmare he'd been having.

The nightmare. Fear stole over him as he remembered last night's dream in fragments. There had been a moon, half-hidden behind clouds but clearly full; a howling werewolf in the distance. Remembering the sound, Teddy shivered, knowing that it had been his father in the dream, coming to devour his only son. He'd been so ashamed to be frightened of his own dad, for Merlin's sakes, that he'd begun to cry, and it was at the exact moment the werewolf appeared on the horizon, cloaked in savage hunger, that Teddy had woken. And not a moment too soon, it seemed.

Sniffling slightly, Teddy slid out of bed and chucked on his uniform without really registering anything. He trudged to the bathroom, splashing some water on his face, and gripped the edge of the sink. He stared into the mirror.

A haggard young man stared back, his hair dull and mouse-brown, his eyes empty and hollow as his heart. "It wasn't real," Teddy whispered, and the man in the mirror whispered the same. "It was just a dream. It was just a dream."

For a long moment, Teddy couldn't breathe, the fear clutched his heart so tight. But then it was gone as soon as it had come, and as Teddy took the stairs two at a time, the feeling of unease that had been with him all morning begun to evaporate. By the time he'd reached the Great Hall, it was gone completely. After all, Teddy thought to himself, sliding into a seat at the Gryffindor table, it was just a dream…wasn't it?

Ginny provided a welcome distraction as she walked past. "Hey," she smiled, hovering by his shoulder. "You look like hell."

"Thanks." Teddy shovelled a forkful of eggs into his mouth and swallowed. "Do you want to sit down?"

Her smile wavered. "Sorry, I can't. I'm just finishing up here, and I said I'd go meet Michael before class."

"Michael?"

"Corner." Ginny hesitated. "My boyfriend."

"Oh. Right." Disappointment flowered in his chest for a moment, before Teddy remembered himself and who exactly he was talking to. This is Ginny Potter, he berated himself sternly. Stop thinking about her like that. "See you, then."

"Bye." With a last little wave that made his heart skid, Ginny left and Teddy's bad mood returned. He didn't feel hungry at all. Pushing his plate away, he examined his timetable. Double Charms and double Transfiguration. Brilliant.

Swinging his bag over his shoulder, Teddy stood and left the Great Hall just as the bell signalled for the start of class. Battling his way through a tidal wave of students, by the time he arrived at Professor Flitwick's classroom, almost all the seats had been taken. Teddy held onto the brief hope that he might be able to snag a seat near Harry, Ron and Hermione to do some spying, but he was beaten to it. Fuming, adding this failure to the already long List of Horrible Things Happening in Teddy's Day Today, Teddy took a seat at the back of the room and slumped down into the chair, waiting for Flitwick to arrive.

The professor didn't take long. He shambled into the room in a few minutes, his diminutive size coupled with his age making the walk up to his desk excruciatingly long. Teddy averted his eyes, feigning interest in the scribbles on his desk: JP+LE encased in a heart, enemies of the heir beware engraved along the side. He traced the words wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure with his ring finger, then deemed it safe to look up.

Flitwick was just settling himself into his chair. He called the register and Teddy earned himself a few curious glances as he answered to his name. Once finished, Flitwick called for quiet.

"As I'm sure you're all aware," he squeaked. "In June of next year you will be partaking in you OWL examinations. You have been preparing for these ever since you stepped foot inside of Hogwarts." Here Flitwick paused, and stood up on his chair for extra attention. "What you must remember," he continued, "Is that these examinations may influence your futures for many years to come! If you have not already given serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do so. And in the meantime, I'm afraid, we shall be working harder than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice! Are there any questions?"

A girl with curly brown hair raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Brown?"

"I was just wondering, sir, when we get our exam timetables?"

"Not until April. Anyone else?" The class was silent. "Good. Now, today we will just be revising Summoning Charms, which," Flitwick raised his voice in response to the clamour of protests from the students, "Are bound to come up in your Charms OWL. If I remember correctly, only a handful of you were able to successfully complete the spell, last year, so please, do at least try. There are cushions for you to work with," Flitwick waved his wand and a pile of pillows appeared, "So off to work!"

Everyone scrambled for their cushions and wands, and soon the room was filled with the cries of Accio and Accio cushion. Teddy manoeuvred himself past a pair of whispering girls and sat down right next to Hermione, who was busy Summoning and Banishing her cushion with ease. Predictably, Ron was having difficulties and swearing his head off, but Harry, on his other side, was just as good if not better than Hermione. Teddy stored that surprising nugget of information away. It might be useful later. He perked up his ears.

"All I'm saying, Harry," Hermione murmured out the corner of her mouth, "Is that you don't want Umbridge on your bad side. You said she works for the Ministry? You know Fudge would love to get the dirt on you, and I don't think it's the best course of action to give him something to work with."

"I'm not doing it on purpose!" Harry sounded furious. "She gets under my skin-"

"I know, Harry, but you just need to calm down."

"No, I don't, she needs to get her priorities straight."

"I don't disagree with you, Harry-"

"Then why the interrogation?"

"-but will you please stop biting my head off? I'm only trying to help."

"Right. Sorry."

"Accio. That's quite all right." Hermione sounded downright cheerful. "I doubt the Order isn't aware of Umbridge, anyway, and they're bound to try to do something about it-"

The Order? Teddy frowned slightly. It sounded like some sort of secret organisation, but it was rather odd that he'd never heard of it. Shouldn't something that important be mentioned in his modern History of Magic books?

"-and I doubt they'll be any help whatsoever," Harry was saying. "No-one knows they exist, remember? Accio."

"Harry's got a point, Hermione," Ron cut in for the first time. "The Order's all well and good, but none of them really has any power except Dumbledore, and he's the one who agreed to Umbridge in the first place!"

There was a frosty silence. Then Hermione again: "I don't think it's safe talking about this anyway, Harry. Anyone could be listening." With that, Hermione swivelled and cast an annoyed look in Teddy's direction. He pretended to be focusing on the spell work.

"Accio," he muttered, and to his complete and utter surprise, the pillow flew straight towards him and landed on the desk. He grinned.

As the lesson wrapped up, Flitwick assigned them a ridiculously large workload which included a five-foot long essay on the origin of the Summoning Charm. Teddy took it without complaint, then followed his classmates to Transfiguration.

By the time lunch break rolled around, Teddy's head was beginning to throb. He had so much homework he didn't know where to begin: he'd half-finished his Potions essay on the uses of moonstone last night, but McGonagall had not been kind to her students, having assigned them spell practice. Teddy spent his free hour in the library, polishing off Snape's essay. He noticed Ron and Harry feverishly looking through some books, and smirked slightly. It seemed his teenage godfather wasn't quite the scholar everyone had cracked him up to be.

Care of Magical Creatures passed by, leaving Teddy teetering on the edge of tedious boredom. There was yet more homework, and on top of that, he was still puzzling over this curious Order Harry, Ron and Hermione had mentioned. He was so preoccupied with these thoughts that he walked straight into Ginny as she spilled out from the greenhouse, along with the other fourth years.

"Merlin, I'm sorry," Teddy stammered, regaining his balance and grimacing.

"Don't worry about it," Ginny smiled, causing butterflies to erupt in his stomach. "I'll see you round, okay?"

"Bye."

Teddy gazed longingly after her for a moment before reality and self control took hold. He continued into the greenhouse, squeezing into a spot between the girl who'd asked a question in Charms and a skinny boy with sandy hair. During Professor Sprout's opening OWL lecture, the girl turned and caught Teddy's eye.

"I'm Lavender Brown," she whispered excitedly, and Teddy's heart contracted. He'd read enough books about the war to know she was one of the casualties. Swallowing the bile that had risen to his throat, Teddy managed a wavering smile back. "Teddy Lewis."

"It's nice to meet you. This is Parvati," Lavender indicated a tall Indian girl on her other side.

"Hey," Teddy greeted her. Parvati nodded.

"So is it true you're a Metamorphmagus?" Lavender's eyes shone with hope.

"What? Oh- yeah, yeah, I am." Teddy didn't bother to ask how she knew; news travelled fast around Hogwarts.

"Can you show me?"

With the long-suffering practice of someone who has been asked that question hundreds of times, Teddy scrunched up his face in concentration and felt his hair change to a colour that matched Lavender's. She gasped in awe. "That's so amazing," she gushed.

Teddy shrugged off the compliment awkwardly. "It's nothing, really-"

"Brown, Lewis!" Professor Sprout barked from the front of the class, and Teddy fell silent. "Pay attention." When Sprout began talking again, Lavender glanced at Teddy and mouthed the word sorry. He grimaced his understanding, and they spent the rest of the class in silence.

Dinner couldn't come quickly enough. Teddy ate like a maniac, he was so hungry. He kept an eye out for Harry, but then he remembered the guy's detention with Umbridge. There would be no eavesdropping tonight, then.

Finishing up, Teddy began the walk back up to Gryffindor Tower before a thought struck him. The Order. There was bound to be stuff about them in at least one book. And where were all books kept? The library. Teddy changed his course and made his way past Madam Pince, settling down at an empty table in a corner. It was only when he was walking over to the shelves did he realise his mistake: sure, there might be books about the Order in the year 2013, but now, in 1995? No chance.

Almost swearing, Teddy traipsed back to his table, resolving to at least use his time here wisely and tackle a portion of his mountainous homework. He roughly drafted the skeleton of his Charms essay, then spent the next half hour quietly trying to Vanish his inkwell. On what seemed to be the one thousand and thirteenth try, he succeeded, and whooped in elation. Madam Pince shot him an angry look, and Teddy packed up quick smart before she could descend like a bird of prey upon his helpless carcass.

Making his way back to the common room, Teddy didn't realise his feet had taken him to Hufflepuff's basement instead of Gryffindor's tower until he was staring at the barrels that concealed the room's entryway. A feeling of homesickness welled up inside of him, so strong his knees trembled.

Sure, it'd only been two days since he'd arrived in the past, but the strangers that surrounded him, combined with the workload, the nightmare and the mysteries that seemed to be piling up - Umbridge, his father, the Order - was enough to remind him that this wasn't his home. He could never be safe and comfortable here, and would never be again until he was back in the future with his friends - Mitchell, Victoire - and even his enemies like Flint. Teddy sighed.

He debated sneaking into the Hufflepuff dorms. It would be easy, too easy… He knew the way in, knew it like the back of his hand. But no. He couldn't. He didn't belong there, not now, not while his red and gold tie strangled him and reminded him of everything he wasn't.

Biting his lip, Teddy turned on his heel and headed towards Gryffindor tower, making sure he was taking the right route. When he finally reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and mumbled the password, it was late and he was tired. Clambering into bed, Teddy shrugged off the worry of the day and closed his eyes. It took him a long time to fall asleep.

Darkness surrounded him. A full moon hung overhead, shrouded in cloud. He was back.

This time, along with the werewolf's howl, there was a scream. It was a long minute before Teddy realised that it was his own. The wolf - his father - appeared at the summit of the hill and bore down on him. Teddy was frozen with fear, but as the werewolf took a flying leap, teeth bared, a woman came out of nowhere and flung her arms out, shielding Teddy from harm. The wolf's maw closed around her throat and she fell, lifeless, as if in slow motion. Her glassy eyes stared up at Teddy as her bubblegum pink hair faded to a mousy brown, and then the world around him faded to white.


Author's Note: SORRYSORRYSORRYSORRY for the wait and the disappointing chapter. I really wanted to get something written before I head off on my holidays. So this is a heads-up: there may not be a chapter here for a while. Like, maybe a month. More. I don't know, so please, I hope you understand. Standard disclaimer applies, and I'd love it if you reviewed! Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all! xoxo

Also, if you understand the reference at the very beginning with 'clot pole', you are an AMAZING person!