A/N So I used a slight flashback to tell the story through eyes that aren't Teddy's, because I find that that's the easiest way to get the point across without a ton of dialogue because dialogue is a complete bitch to write sometimes. Also SORRY ABOUT THE LONG WAIT AHHHHHHHH! While I have this story planned out, I don't really have my life all that planned out, so when I moved halfway across the country I was pretty much too dead inside to write. DON'T HATE ME I'M SORRY! Anyways, read and review and enjoy!

Let me just disclaim this chapter as not being at all possible without the insanely amazing mind of J.K. Rowling! All of what I write wouldn't be possible without her amazing writing that started everything! I pretty much own nothing (except my brilliant OCs whom I love)…

Chapter 4

As days blurred into weeks, Teddy and his friends learned that they couldn't grow bored of Hogwarts. Every day, something new was thrown their way. As they stargazed one night during astronomy, Charlie told Martin and Teddy some news. "Guys, I think Avery might hate us now…" the timid boy said in a whisper.

Martin made a sound that sounded like psh, while Teddy just looked puzzled. "What makes you say that, Charlie?" he asked, equally quiet.

Charlie bit his lip. "Well, I heard her talking to some of the other Ravenclaw girls and they were saying weird stuff about us, and about you Teddy."

"You dunderhead, Charlie. Avery would never ignore us!" interjected Martin loudly, who was shushed by Professor Sinistra. "Sorry, Professor…" was mumbled by Charlie and Martin before he continued at a lower volume. "Avery is too nice to just ignore us and listen to some silly girls she just met."

"But Martin, I really think-"

"You're wrong, Charlie," interjected Martin again. "She's just been paired up with Ravenclaws more than us by professors and she has to sit at the Ravenclaw table for meals. Just because she doesn't talk to us and walks away when we try talking to her doesn't mean she's ignoring us!"

"That's where you're wrong, Martin," said Teddy calmly, and sort of dejectedly.

"I'm not wrong, Charlie is wrong!" Martin said, voice starting to rise again.

"Shut your trap, Martin! I know what I heard them say and I'm not wrong!" Charlie argued, at a volume that almost got the attention of their classmates. Teddy clamped a hand over the mouths of his two best friends.

"Both of you, pipe down or she'll give us detention!" Teddy hissed, then shuddered. "Or worse, homework." The boys with hands over their mouths nodded in agreement. Teddy removed his hands. "Alright, Charlie, what did you hear exactly?"

"Well, it was earlier today that it happened… I don't really know how to explain it…" said Charlie slowly.

"Just start from the beginning. What happened to make you so sure that she's avoiding us?"

"Well, Teddy, not us… she seems to be avoiding… you."

Earlier that day

Charlie climbed to the top of the big oak tree, just as Martin had dared him to, and sat on the sturdiest branch he could find. He was about to lean out of the tree and wave to the boys in the window of the castle when he stopped. Voices were heard from below the tree. Charlie recognized them as Avery and the other Ravenclaw girls, whose names he didn't bother to remember.

"You know, I read a book on werewolf heredity once and it said that nobody knows if lycanthropy is actually genetically passed down," one of the girls was saying. "That Lupin is probably some sort of flesh eating monster!"

"Guys, that can't be true!" Avery interjected. Charlie could tell that she didn't sound very certain. "Teddy is nice, and Martin and Charlie seem to like him! Charlie hardly talks to anyone, so if he talks to Teddy, then Teddy must be okay!"

A few giggles could be heard. "Avery, sweetie, you're obviously mistaken. I mean, Teddy's dad was a werewolf. He was probably bitten by his own dad when he was young, even if he didn't contract it when he was born," the same voice from earlier said. "Plus, your actions seem to say that you agree with us."

"And those boys are in Gryffindor," contributed another voice. "Everyone knows that Gryffindors aren't exactly bright." This comment brought about a round of giggles. Charlie would have left sooner, but at that point if he moved they would know that he had heard them.

"But they're my friends…" defended Avery, half-heartedly.

"No Avery," yet another girl spoke. "We're your friends. Your housemates! Roomies! All logic says that you should be hanging with us and not anywhere near those brash Gryffindor idiots. Haven't we proven enough that we are better friends?"

"Plus," added the first girl. "Who would want to be friends with a possible werewolf? Like, ew! Haven't we proven that it's perfectly possible that Teddy is dangerous?"

Charlie barely noticed that he was leaning out to hear them better, until he lost his balance. And as everyone is aware, when one loses their balance in a tree, they fall down the tree. Charlie landed right in front of the girls, who luckily didn't recognize him right away. He noticed a stabbing pain in his ankle and grimaced. The girls didn't take that well.

"Creep!" they yelled, and they ran back toward the castle. Charlie just sat there on the ground with his ankle throbbing, and a few minutes later was joined by Teddy and Martin. Martin was roaring with laughter and Teddy was looking concerned. Charlie just smiled half-heartedly, saying he was okay as his friends half-dragged, half-carried him to the hospital wing. When asked why he fell, at the time he just shrugged. But what he had heard bothered him.

Right away, after hearing Teddy's name on the train, he knew that the other boy's father was the famous werewolf hero Remus Lupin. Charlie couldn't care less who had raised Teddy or who (or rather what) his parents were, because Teddy was nice to him. The 11-year-old couldn't wrap his head around the girls' apparent logic. It didn't matter to him, though. Teddy was his friend, and that wouldn't change.

After Astronomy Class

"Charlie there is no possible way that Avery would believe that crap!" Martin yelled, as the three boys made their way back to the Gryffindor common room and their dormitory.

Charlie just shrugged, glad to have the story off his shoulders and shared with his friends. "I wouldn't believe it, but Avery is muggle-born so she might. I mean, they have some weird ideas about werewolves… a few of my cousins watched this movie called Wolfman with her friend and couldn't sleep for a week she said."

Teddy walked silently alongside his friends, only half listening. People thought he was… dangerous? He didn't think he was dangerous, and he'd never shown any werewolf-like tendencies. Given, he had a better sense of smell than most but that was purely coincidence and had nothing to do with his dad being a werewolf… right?

"Teddy, what do you think?" asked Charlie, seemingly out of the blue.

"Huh?" was Teddy's intelligent response. He hadn't realised that they had been talking to him, or that they had reached the fat lady's portrait already. He had been apparently out of sorts while walking there.

Martin rolled his eyes. "Do you think that's why Avery has been avoiding us?" he said in a no-duh manner, before turning to give the fat lady the password. Teddy shrugged, then sighed.

"Honestly? Probably… but who knows, they could be right… Maybe I really am some kind of werewolf waiting to happen or something?" Teddy's shoulders slumped, but he was promptly hit upside the head from behind. The boy stopped in surprise, his friends noticing and turning around.

"You're a moron if you believe you're actually a werewolf and didn't know it," came a voice behind him. Teddy turned his head to see blonde hair and brown eyes that looked at him as though he were an idiot. Claire scowled at him. "If you were a werewolf, you would know it. Plus, my aunt recently did a study that showed that werewolf genes are only hereditary if both parents of the child are werewolves. It hasn't been fully released to the public yet, otherwise your little friend Avery's friends would know that." She then mumbled, "Stuffy Ravenclaws…"

Martin stared her down, even though he was slightly shorter than she was. "We were kind of having a private conversation," he said with slight hostility. Charlie elbowed him, but Claire just snorted.

"Yes, so private that you were yelling about werewolf stereotypes being stupid loud enough to wake half the castle."

Proven wrong, Martin just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Charlie looked at Claire as though she had grown another head.

"How… how much did you hear?" Charlie asked timidly.

"Oh, enough," she replied cryptically.

Charlie groaned, while Teddy fixed her with a quizzical stare. "Why do you care?" Teddy asked with genuine curiosity.

Claire blushed bright red, a shade that Teddy though rivalled a signature Weasley blush. "I just overheard you guys during astronomy when Professor Sinistra shushed you and managed to scoot my way closer to hear what the big deal was… and I was curious…"

"But that doesn't say why you care," stated Martin, arms still crossed.

Blush fading, Claire replied, "Because I consider Teddy to be a friend, in a way, I suppose. And friends look out for friends. Now, we should really get back to the common room instead of just standing out here in the hallway, waiting to be caught by the old geezer."

With those words, the girl swept through the portrait hole, saying a quick goodnight to the fat lady as she did. The fat lady gave a satisfied "hmph," and started to go on about how nice it was to be appreciated. The boys ignored her and climbed in behind Claire, making the portrait give an indignant huff instead. Charlie grinned and looked at the other two boys.

"She called Filch an old geezer…" he managed to say before they all fell onto the common room floor in fits of laughter.

The following day

Sitting down for breakfast, the boys were mildly surprised when Claire sat down near them. "So," she stated, while piling her plate with blueberry pancakes. "What are you going to do about your little Ravenclaw nuisance?"

"Well, obvi'sly we get revenge for them shtealin' Av'ry frum ush!" said Martin with a mouthful of scrambled eggs. Claire grimaced at his lack of table manners.

"Ooh we could prank them!" suggested Charlie with a smile. Martin nodded vigorously at the suggestion, and Teddy couldn't help but crack a smile as well.

Claire pulled out a small muggle notepad and pen, which Martin saw and quizzically stared at. "Wuh is tha'?" he asked unintelligibly. Claire shook her head again in disgust.

"It's a pen and paper, smart one. Muggles use them and they are MUCH easier to write on than parchment and a quill," she quipped. "Now, what's the plan then? I have some order forms for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in my bag constantly, but it's hard to get an order in with Filch's hatred of the stuff."

Teddy grinned. "Actually, Uncle George gave me this prototype pumpkin juice additive. When you add it to pumpkin juice, it has no flavour. And when you drink it, it's supposed to change the colour of a person's skin for up to 12 hours! I have a ten person supply, since I had to slip it into my trunk without Harry noticing, but it should be enough."

Claire nodded, writing the details onto her notepad. Charlie and Martin looked at Teddy, mouths agape. "Y-you have prototype Weasley's Wizard Wheezes items!" Martin exclaimed in a loud whisper.

"Well, Uncle George wanted to test them on real, unsuspecting test subjects, but because he's a professional he really isn't allowed to by law… so he gave it to me to use as a prank. He's used it on volunteers to make sure there are no bad side-effects, but he wants to see its pranking abilities in action before he gives public release…" Teddy stated simply.

"That is way cool, Lupin," said a voice behind Teddy. He turned, startled, to see the Taylor brothers standing behind them. William and Anthony Taylor were said to be the worst pranksters the school had seen since the epic exit of the Weasley twins during the reign of Umbridge, or so Teddy was warned by the Gryffindor prefects. The one who spoke, the elder one William, was grinning. "Think you can hook us up, little boy?" he asked.

Martin snorted. "Like we'll give you our pranking supplies."

The brothers Taylor looked taken aback. The younger Taylor, Anthony, spoke this time. "Well alright, geez. Don't get your bloody knickers in a twist. We'll stick to our own ways, in that case."

"But be warned," added the elder. "If you find yourself in a prank war, don't come crying to us."

"Because we'll probably be the ones up against you," the two grinned, speaking in perfect unison. The first years gulped as the older boys, a sixth year and a fifth year, walked away laughing.

"Remind me not to get on their bad side…" said Charlie. Claire and Teddy nodded, while Martin just got pale.

"Alright, boys!" Claire said, chipper again. "So our targets are… crap, how many girls are we targeting?"

"Well, there are Leah and Alexis I know for sure…" Teddy stated, looking over. The others looked at him strangely. "The redhead and the brunette sitting by Avery," he clarified. They nodded. "We should hit Avery's drink too, so that people won't suspect that we did it because we want her back." Claire, Charlie, and Martin nodded again, Claire taking note on her notepad. "I think that's it."

"Wait, there was another girl talking with her yesterday!" Charlie said. "I think it's the other brunette sitting across from her… ugh her name was… was…" He hit his head with his palm, thinking hard.

"Oh! You mean Rose Lawrence!" Claire said, with a wicked grin. "Yeah, let's hit her too! She's my cousin, and she's such a purist I'm surprised she's even sitting by Avery."

Teddy cocked an eyebrow at that comment. "Purists exist outside of Slytherin?" he asked.

"Psh, of course they do. Every family has their collection of nutters," stated Martin, ever the superior at bloodlines and all things pureblood.

"Alright, then lets plan for doing this tomorrow before breakfast. After dinner, I'll put little pieces of paper under the goblets where they usually sit. You boys are in charge of putting the potion in their pumpkin juice. I recommend Charlie be the lookout," Claire rambled, tucking the notepad into her bag. "Now let's go before we're late to Defence."

Teddy beamed at the mention of his favourite class. He was out of his seat and pulling on his bag before you could say butterbeer. The other three joined him a few seconds later, laughing at his eagerness and the fact that his hair had turned baby blue from excitement.

"So Claire, why are you suddenly hanging out with us instead of your roommates?" Charlie asked, growing comfortable around the girl.

She shrugged. "You guys are much more entertaining than going over every single detail of the latest Witch Weekly. I still hang out with them and sit near them during classes, so it's not like I'm ditching them to hang out with you guys or anything." Claire spoke clearly, but Teddy knew that couldn't be the only reason the girl had suddenly taken a liking to them. Plus, she had been walking from Astronomy alone the night before, so something must have happened.

When the first years entered the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, they were surprised to say the least. Around the classroom, dozens of pillows were floating in thin air. Luckily, they were running relatively late and did not have to wait long for Professor Jones to start the class.

"Wands out, today we are learning to cast our first defensive spell," the Professor stated with slight gusto. "Repeat after me: Flippendo!"

The classroom was filled with a chorus of "flippendo" and Professor Jones smiled. "Good pronunciation. Now, without saying anything, follow my movements." She swished her wand upward, then flicked it forward. The first years imitated her, and she smiled as most of them were showing great aptitude.

"Very good, now watch." The Professor positioned herself in front of one of the pillows, took a deep breath and said "flippendo" while swishing her wand up and flicking it toward the pillow. The pillow took off flying, making a few students jump and others grin.

"Any questions?" Professor Jones said, scanning the room. "Well, if there are none then go ahead and give it a try. Everyone pick a pillow and get to work!"

And that was exactly what everyone did. Scattered flippendos were yelled around the room, but hardly any pillows went flying. They were facing in a large circle, everyone with their backs to each other to prevent anyone from being hurt.

Charlie was struggling at flicking his wand at the end, while Martin was aiming very poorly. Teddy noticed that Claire was, indeed, with her other friends during this class period. He shrugged it off, it was perfectly normal to have two different friend groups. So he faced his pillow, took a deep breath, and sent a perfect flippendo spell right at his pillow.

The pillow went flying and hit the wall with a slight "uf" sound, which did not go unnoticed by Professor Jones. The woman walked over to him, beaming, and said, "Five points to Gryffindor for a perfect flippendo on the first try!"

Teddy smiled, then noticed that the professor's attention wasn't the only one he had gained. Wilkes was turned, glaring at him from across the room. Teddy grinned at the Slytherin, then was suddenly sent back crashing to the wall. The boy slid down the wall, while Martin, Charlie and Claire ran over, yelling his name. Professor Jones rounded on Wilkes, whose wand was extended toward Teddy.

"10 points will be deducted from Slytherin for attacking a fellow student, and you will attend detention with me tonight at 5 o'clock," the imposing professor and deputy headmistress said. Wilkes didn't even have the gall to look ashamed. He just stared with a wicked glint in his eyes at Teddy.

Martin and Charlie helped Teddy onto his feet, supporting him under each armpit. Claire had re-joined her friends, after having checked that Teddy wasn't dead. Teddy himself felt as though his shoulders and back were on fire. His brain slowly picked up on the fact that Professor Jones was giving a detention, and that Wilkes was the one to attack him. Nott and Burke looked like they were trying to be tough, but were thoroughly cowed under the glare of the deputy headmistress.

When Professor Jones turned her attention to Teddy and his friends, Teddy worried that he might be in trouble. Therefore he was relieved when she said simply, "Mr Prewett, please take Mr Lupin to the hospital wing. I'll be sure to tell Professor Clearwater to expect you late for Transfiguration, Mr Lupin."

Charlie nodded, while taking almost all of Teddy's weight onto his shoulder. Despite what his personality led people to leave, the boy was decently strong. Teddy hobbled with Charlie to the hospital wing, which was thankfully not that far from where their classroom was.

When the boys walked in, they were immediately bombarded by the force that was Madame Pomfrey, as well as her assistant Miss Patil. "Now what happened, young men?" she asked sternly, taking Teddy's weight from Charlie and guiding him to a bed.

"He was hit by a flippendo spell into a wall, ma'am," Charlie explained. After hearing that, Madame Pomfrey shooed him out of the hospital wing, claiming that Teddy needed rest and that they needed to work in quiet. Teddy frowned as his friend was sent out, but there was nothing that could be done.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Teddy was properly fussed over until deemed well enough to go to class. The women of the hospital wing did an excellent job making sure that he was barely even sore, and Madame Patil even gave him a piece of chocolate. He got to miss the beginning of next class too, which was always a plus. The only downside was that he missed lunch.

This stinks, he thought as he made his way to Transfiguration. Of all the people, why did I have to be hit by his stray spell…? And then it hit him. Bloody hell, the bugger was aiming for me! He's gonna pay! Revenge was on Teddy's mind as he marched determinedly to his next class.

Upon entering the Transfiguration classroom, he was granted worried looks from his fellow Gryffindor first years, and confused looks from the Hufflepuffs they shared the class with. Professor Clearwater looked up from where she was helping a Hufflepuff with spellwork, fixing Teddy with a slightly harsh stare. "Mr Lupin," she said calmly. "Take a seat at the back. We are continuing work on turning the straw into a needle. Your partner will be Mr Stoll."

Teddy fought to stifle a groan as he heard who his partner for the day was. Everyone knew Connor Stoll cared more about blowing things up than doing things correctly. He caught a sympathetic look from Claire, and fought the urge to kick Martin when he saw the boy laughing at him. Why his friend group was full of polar opposites, he would never know.

Teddy sat down beside Connor, mumbling a hello and setting his bag beside him on the ground. Connor looked at him strangely. "What?" Teddy asked.

"Well… just wondering why your hair is bright red… that's all…" The troublesome boy said. Teddy's hair grew redder at the comment. He was used to it, but it was still annoying and somewhat embarrassing.

"Yeah, well, it happens. Being a metamorphmagus, my emotions sometimes control my hair colour…"

"Oh, that's cool," said Connor. "Now can you tell me what the incantation is? I forget…"

That was how most of the class went. Teddy answering meaningless questions for the other boy, having long since figured out the spell that the rest of the class was struggling with. He pretended not to have gotten it, for he didn't want to have to walk around helping everyone else. He just wanted to sit and think about the next class. Flying.

Probably his favourite class, right up tied for first place with Defence Against the Dark Arts. He knew how to fly already, so it wasn't like he was excited to learn. He just loved flying that much. He didn't even mind having to help the strugglers sometimes; with flying you either had it or you didn't. Teddy got so lost in thought that he didn't even realise class had ended until Charlie and Martin walked over to him.

"Ready to fly, mate?" asked Martin with a grin.

"Heck yeah!" Teddy exclaimed, jumping from his seat and running for the door.

"Oi!" yelled Charlie, holding up Teddy's bag. "Forget something, did you?" The two boys laughed as the third snatched his bag.

"Speak of this to no one," said Teddy, trying to conceal his embarrassment. "Let's fly, my friends."

The three friends ran to the pitch, dropping their bags on the ground when they got there and joining the class of Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and Slytherins beside two lines of brooms.

Teddy took a moment to glare at Wilkes and his cronies, but no more than a moment. Professor Wood took to the pitch on his racing broom and yelled from the skies, "Everyone on a broom, today is a free flying day because the weather is so beautiful!"

A cheer was had by everyone, as a free day in a class was almost unheard of. Especially considering that Professor Wood was extremely serious about flying. He had even played professional Keeper for Puddlemere United! The professor was caught grinning as Teddy zoomed into the sky, flying laps around the pitch and performing tricky loop-the-loops. But then again, Professor Oliver Wood would expect no less from the godson of Harry Potter.

About twenty minutes into the class, Claire zoomed up beside Teddy. "Hey big shot!" she yelled over the wind, a grin plastered on her face. "Wanna race? From one goalpost to the other?" Teddy grinned right back.

"You're on, Claire!" he yelled, flying up to the nearest goalpost and calling to Martin. "Dearborn! Give us a ready, set, go!" Martin gave a thumbs up, signalling that he had heard.

At the sound of a shouted go, the two first years took off with a speed that they thought was impressive but wasn't really; flying with gigantic smiles on their faces. Teddy gained so much momentum that he flew straight through the middle goalpost and turned sharply upward to keep from flying into the stands. Claire had gotten there practically the same time. It was so close in fact, that Professor Wood couldn't even tell who had won.

Once the two had slowed down and come back to the group, Professor Wood, with an impressed voice, stated, "Tie race, good job you two! That's the fastest flying I've seen in a long time!"

There were cheers from around them, and cheers from the ground. Still on the ground were four students who couldn't get their brooms to respond to saying "up." Teddy was moderately surprised to see Avery among the number. He flew down, meaning to help her.

"Avery, you need to picture the broom flying into your hand," he suggested, floating a few feet in front of her. "And speak with more command."

She looked up, as though to say thank you, but then clammed up when she noticed it was Teddy. "Um… thanks Teddy…" she said, more awkwardly than the situation merited. "But, I think I'm a lost cause…"

Teddy made a sound of disbelief. "There is no such thing as a lost cause." She averted her eyes as he lowered himself to the ground. "Want me to help you with hand positioning?"

"N-n-no, that's okay, I'm just going to sit out today," she said hurriedly as she rushed over to the stands before he could even step toward her.

"Okay…" Teddy said, as Charlie and Martin landed on either side of him.

"Looks like she really is avoiding you, mate," said Martin, staring after the girl in question. Charlie nodded in agreement.

"You'd think I was trying to bite her or something," Teddy said. "I was just trying to help…"

"Who knows? Girls are just weird," stated Charlie. Martin and Teddy nodded their agreement before taking flight once again. Once back in the sky, the group noticed that Professor Wood was passing out quaffles.

"It's always good to start learning early!" he said, and if he were on the ground he would probably have been skipping. He threw one to Teddy's group. "Just keep throwing them amongst yourselves."

Teddy found that he was very good at throwing and catching. He caught not only the ones that his friends threw, but also the ones that "accidently" came his way from a few Slytherin groups. Each time he caught one, he threw it back the way it had come without a word. He could tell that Wilkes and his cronies were trying to nail him, but he wouldn't give him the satisfaction. That was one thing Harry had drilled into him as a kid. Never give the bullies the satisfaction of seeing you ruffled.

The class was over far too soon in Teddy's opinion. The Gryffindors headed into the Great Hall in one big, talkative group for dinner. Once the three sat down, Claire joined them with her notepad and pen out. Martin looked at them again like they were foreign objects, but Teddy and Charlie weren't phased.

Leaning over the table, Teddy gestured for the others to do the same. He whispered, "Claire, add three more targets to our list."

She grinned at him, adding three names to the list and showing it to him. He grinned right back, reading the names and seeing that she had read his mind. "Excellent."

Tomorrow was going to be a very entertaining day for the four of them. But maybe not for their seven targets.

A/N I know I said sorry about the posting delay earlier but I'm so sorry! I hope the slightly longer chapter made up for it! I mean, the beginning was actually unplanned really, but I got the idea and went with it. As always, thank you to those who reviewed and please keep doing so. If you're new to the story, HI! Thank you for reading and see you next time! (well I won't see you, but you'll see my words and that's kind of the same thing, right? Lol)

EDIT: keep up with me and know why I suddenly stop posting! Ask me questions, read other stuff I write, become buddies with me to influence the story, FOLLOW ME ON TUMBLR! Yes, I just got this a few hours ago and forgot to link it. It's easy, wolfmoonwrites . tumblr . com so come and join me, everyone!