"Teddy, Teddy, please you gotta help me."

Teddy woke up the following weekend to a ball of red hair jumping on his bed. Had he been staying over at Harry's or the Burrow, he would have had immense trouble identifying which red head was kicking his stomach. But the only one at Hogwarts it could have been was James Potter.

"Whaddaya want?" Teddy groaned, turning to his side and checking his watch. 8AM. Far too early to be awake on a weekend.

"Quidditch tryouts are today," James moaned.

"Yeah, so? You've been looking forward to this day for years." Teddy quickly placed a silencing charm on his bed so as not to disturb his other roommates. He doubted that James wanted to get on Mike's bad side on the day of Quidditch tryouts.

"What if… I don't make it?" James looked up at Teddy from under his messy red hair and suddenly Teddy realized that he must have suffered from the same inferiority complex Teddy had always suffered from growing up knowing his parents and godfather were war heroes. Of course Teddy knew James received a lot of attention for being Harry Potter's son, but he always seemed to revel in it. But now was the first time he really felt he had to prove himself. His father had been the star Quidditch Captain, and his mother had even gone on to play professionally. And for the first time, Teddy saw that James Potter was scared.

"Listen, James, you'll do great. Beyond great. I've seen you fly- you're incredible," Teddy yawned out the compliments, hoping that was all James needed to go back to his own dormitory.

"Practice with me."

"What?"

"Tryouts are at 10, that gives me two hours to practice and get warmed up… please, Teddy."

"You know I'm no good at Quidditch." It was true. Apparently his clumsiness on ground translated over to in flight as well.

"Better than Victoire and Dominique…" James said darkly. "Please? I've never felt this nervous before…"

Teddy sighed. He was already awake enough that he couldn't fall back asleep if he tried. And he figured falling off a broom would be no new sensation for his body. And the desperation in James' voice…

"Alright, let's go."

-v-v-v-

"Not bad, Lupin," Victoire smiled dazzlingly as Teddy made his way through the stands. He had humored James for two hours of having a Quaffle pegged at him until he could not quite feel his arms anymore. Finally, when the clock struck 10, James had turned white and dismissed Teddy. Teddy hadn't fallen completely off the broom this time, and actually managed to block a few of James' poorer placed shots.

"Thanks," Teddy grumbled, tracing the very clear sarcasm in Victoire's voice. The cool metal seats felt very nice against his skin after that workout.

"Come to see the Quidditch tryouts?" Mike hopped down the stands until he reached Teddy, and ultimately, Victoire. He seemed to have wanted to make the grandest entrance he could, and Teddy had to admit that he did look like an admirable Quidditch Captain with his robes billowing in the wind. Teddy smiled to himself as he saw right through the wind charm Mike had put on his robes, for there definitely was not any wind going through Teddy, who was right next to him.

"Yes, my cousin would kill me if I didn't come see him play," Victoire said without much exaggeration. Even Dominique had forced herself up and was sitting with her Gryffindor friends of her own year.

"Well then," Mike flashed his perfect white teeth and bent over, placing an arm around Victoire. Teddy acknowledged that he was doing a pretty good job with the casual flirting. "Which one is your cousin?"

Teddy snorted but quickly looked away when Mike glared at him. The whole Wizarding World knew who Victoire's cousin was.

"That one. Over there. With the red hair," she smiled, tilting her head up and batting her eyelashes. Teddy looked away, his flirting tolerating capacity about to explode.

"Well let's see how he does then," Mike winked before hopping onto his broom and flying to the field. That was when Teddy knew that no matter how badly James played, he was on the team.

There weren't many other people out watching the tryouts except friends or relatives of the students trying out. Dominique's friends seemed to be bored with the idea of flying brooms, and had returned to the castle. She joined Teddy and her sister shortly, flipping her perfect hair, and sliding her arm through Victoire's. Before James' turn- he looked almost like he wanted to throw up- he glanced over at his three relatives. Teddy screwed his eyes and morphed his hair red and gold. James smiled weakly before taking off into the air. Once there, he seemed to have lost all nervousness and flew with perfect grace.

"See that boy over there?" Dominique said in almost a whisper. She clearly had some gossip she wanted to share with her sister, and Teddy was not so sure he wanted to listen.

"The one flying next to James?"

"No, the one with the hair."

"Oooh, yeah, what about him?"

"And you know that thing written behind the Fat Lady's portrait?"

"Of course, what about it?"

Dominique's eyes twinkled. "That's all about him."

They both broke into identical piercing giggles which made Teddy a bit uncomfortable considering he had no idea one could even look behind the Fat Lady's portrait without ending up in the Gryffindor Common Room. He saw Mike look over curiously at the sisters, distracting him from a perfect pass from James that he just barely caught.

"But- but," Victoire laughed, gasping for breath, "where did he get the cockroaches?"

Dominique didn't know, so they both just continued laughing in the way only girls could.

When Dominique finally ran out of gossip about the boys and girls trying out for the Quidditch team, the tryouts were just about over. Teddy could not find anything to fault in James' performance. Even James, who was usually very critical about his Quidditch performances, looked exceptionally pleased as he landed back on the ground and beamed at his three fans, two of which were lying down on the benches, exhausted from laughing the hours away.

-v-v-v-

"Dude, she rejected me," Mike mumbled for the fifth time during dinner on Wednesday. He stabbed the pieces of now unidentifiable food on his plate some more. Rejection was clearly something Quidditch Captain Mike Cordero was not used to.

"I guess it was too soon," Teddy replied again. Consoling Mike was difficult since he could never admit that maybe he was not the epitome of perfection. "She had a tough break up with Davis."

"I know but, I thought, since I was your friend…"

"Listen, I told you I didn't mind if you asked her out, but it's not like I gave her to you. She makes her own decisions, and I guess she made hers regarding you," Teddy said bluntly. He had a sudden urge to stab his own food. Mike's misery was infectious.

"She said normally she would have agreed, but at the moment she needed to… be with herself. What does that mean? Is she asexual?"

"No, Mike." Teddy thought about saying more and reprimanding Mike's conceitedness, but decided instead to grab his bag and walk out of the Great Hall.

"Where are you going?" Mike called out after him.

"Detention."

-v-v-v-

"Sit down, Mr. Lupin," Professor Nover said kindly. He waved his hand and the chair in front of his desk slid out for Teddy to take. Teddy sat down warily, carefully surveying his surroundings.

It was a very small office. He wondered if Nover had requested it that small, or if the Transfiguration office was always like this. He supposed because of its size it passed for cozy. Bookshelves lined every wall, including the wall that Teddy had walked in from. It had taken a while for him to return the books he had knocked over while entering the room to their rightful place. Besides the bookshelves, there was nothing more than a very old looking desk and a few chairs around the room. The desk was an absolute mess, with student essays strewn across it and books that had been neglected to be returned to the bookshelf. Teddy suddenly wondered where the teachers slept, since they did apparently have a life outside of class yet within Hogwarts. The desk almost looked like Nover's sleeping area. He tried to imagine McGonagall trying to sleep in this room. For some reason he had always imagined her as the claustrophobic type. Yes, Nover had definitely requested a smaller office.

"Can I interest you in some tea?" Nover asked politely. He looked at his desk in disdain, and with a quick flick had his papers file themselves away into his drawers. Rather impressive. Teddy made a mental note to learn that spell one day.

"No thanks, I just came from dinner."

"Well, if you're in a rush to start your detention…" Nover muttered, eyeing him carefully over the teapot he had summoned.

"Yeah, sure. Lines?" Teddy asked. He was used to detentions. Sure he had been made Head Boy, but not even Eric could have saved him after some of his more adventurous pranks.

"Actually, I just really want to know… what was your purpose behind becoming an Animagus?"

Teddy remained silent. He knew he could not have gotten off the hook with Nover finding his books that easily.

"C'mon, Teddy. I know I took over for Professor McGonagall, but I'm really not the bad guy. You just have to trust me. So." He poured a cup of tea for Teddy anyway. "Why did you want to be an Animagus?"

"I don't know, why did you?" Teddy retorted. He hadn't meant for it to come out so harshly, but it had been on his mind for a while.

Nover took his time in responding, carefully swallowing his tea.

"Are you accusing me of being an Animagus?" he asked smoothly, his eyes staring right into Teddy's.

Teddy could've backed down then but something, probably that Gryffindor bravado, made him continue. "An illegal one. I even looked through the Ministry's file for your name."

Nover did not respond, but he seemed to be taking much longer to drink his tea. "You know, Teddy, not all Transfiguration teachers are Animagi."

"Your scar." Nover raised an eyebrow. "You said it was from a werewolf."

"Yes, it was. And I promise you I was telling you and your class the truth that day."

"But you're not a werewolf."

Nover's eyes darkened. "No, I am not. I wasn't lying about that either."

"And you expected us to believe that a werewolf got that close to you without biting you? Of course if you were an Animagus, the bite wouldn't do anything while you were in animal form…"

The Professor remained silent, thoughtfully drinking his tea. The scar on his neck seemed clearer than ever to Teddy.

"It's an interesting hypothesis, Lupin," he said carefully. Then his gaze swung back to meet Teddy's with a kind of force that almost seemed physical. "But you don't really think that working at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures they don't teach you spells that will fend off a werewolf if one ever unfortunately ends up on top of you, trying to scratch your chest out?"

Teddy bit his lip. And that was the con of the Gryffindor bravado. It could make you do things that you really should have thought out first.

"Now I'm glad we got that hypothesis out of your head," Nover said sharply. Teddy could not blame him if he was offended, though if he was, all he did was pour himself more tea. "Back to the main point. Why did you want to be an Animagus?"

Teddy remained silent again. He had no desire to confess to a man who had outsmarted him, even though he did feel a little bad for wrongly accusing him. He crossed his legs and tried to stare back at Nover with the same force. He was convinced the Professor must have practiced, because Teddy was pretty sure he was losing in this staring contest.

"So stubborn," Nover yawned. He Banished the tea set into his cupboard. "Just like your mother."

Teddy froze. And the worst part was that from the way Nover glanced at him, that was the reaction he wanted. He was just testing him. He wanted him to talk. Don't fall for it, Teddy, don't fall for it…

"You knew my mother?" Teddy asked despite himself.

Nover smiled, but not gloatingly. "We were in the same year. Of course, she was in Hufflepuff and I was in Ravenclaw. But it was hard not to know your mother. She had a way of… running into people."

Teddy had heard enough stories to know that he meant literally. He felt a small part inside of him longing to ask the endless questions he had about his mother that his grandmother could never answer. Only someone who she went to school with could have known her the way Teddy wanted to know her. He wanted to know everything about both of his parents, and that small part of him was practically hurting him in order to escape and find out.

"What was she like?" Teddy asked softly. He felt like a first year again, at the mercy of some scary Professor. And he knew that was how Nover wanted him to feel.

"Oh, she was brilliant. But you must have known that- you need to have brilliant grades in practically every class in order to even be admitted to Auror training. But her personality really had a way of shining through that made her seem like you've known her forever, even if you just met her that day."

Teddy smiled slightly, but his insides were squirming. This was something every child should have known about his mother, yet it was something he was so terribly lacking…

"I doubt there was anyone at the school who disliked her. Except for those future Death Eaters she sent to Azkaban, of course. But most Slytherins liked her because she was just as ambitious as they were. Gryffindors admired her, er, brave choices in hair color, and Ravenclaws loved that she was intelligent yet never flaunted it in front of us."

Teddy kept his head down, his breathing becoming faster. He wanted to know more. As much as he could.

"What was her favorite class?" It was a weak question, but Teddy felt one that was important anyway.

"You'd think it was Transfiguration. And she was very good at it, but well, she always had this weird relationship with Professor Snape. He tried to dislike her the way he disliked all of his other students, but she was terribly good at Potions. Back then you needed to get an O on your OWL in order to get into NEWT level Potions, and consequently, into Auror training."

Teddy eyed the wood floor of the room carefully. He remembered his own E in Potions. So neither of his parents had shared his favorite subject. Harry had always told him that his father's favorite was Defense Against the Dark Arts, and now he found that his mother's had been Potions. And it would have been okay with him, if not for the fact that he somehow felt he had let them down by not pursuing either of their favorite interests. It was stupid, but something, most likely the way his grandmother had raised him, made him feel insignificant whenever he did not reflect his parents exactly.

"Are you alright?" Nover asked slowly, tilting his head to try to look at Teddy's face which was very stubbornly focused on the ground. Teddy forced himself to relax and noticed his morph was slipping as the tip of his hair was turning black. He quickly fixed it so that his hair became almost unnaturally brown. He decided he could not ask these questions anymore. It made him feel too much like the way he felt on full moon nights when he would somehow always think of all the miserable werewolves in the world forced to take on a form they had no control over.

"Why did you leave the Ministry?" Teddy asked, finally looking up. The Professor seemed a bit taken aback by the question but quickly regained composure.

"I didn't agree with the Department's philosophies anymore," he said simply.

"Like what?"

"There has always been this… anti-werewolf philosophy at the Ministry. It was easy to believe in during the war, but now it's just getting a bit out of hand. So I left, and Professor McGonagall kindly offered me a position here," Nover shrugged and leaned back into his chair with his hands behind his head.

Teddy frowned and reverted his gaze back to the floor. "That's why I wanted to become an Animagus."

"What?" Nover seemed to have forgotten the whole point of this detention.

Teddy took a breath. "There's so much werewolf prejudice in Wizarding society nowadays… My grandmother and godfather won't admit it, but I just know that my dad could not have been accepted into society like everyone else. And I… I guess I wanted to change that. And by being an Animagus, I'd be one step closer to being able to communicate with werewolves without them well, you know…" he trailed off looking at his Professor nervously.

Nover continued leaning back in his chair with a blank expression. So Teddy continued, "I don't know, maybe it's stupid. But I just thought that maybe if I did something great for the Wizarding World, I'd be worthy of being my parents' son."

There was a loud noise as the front two legs of Nover's chair regained contact with the floor. Placing his elbows on his desk so that his fingers touched thoughtfully, he said, "Meet me this time next week, same place."

"Another detention?" Teddy said angrily. He most certainly did not appreciate just having spilled his heart out just to receive more punishment.

"No, not a detention. A… lesson," he said enigmatically as Teddy drilled his eyes into him. "I figured even if I did confiscate your books, you're the type of kid who wouldn't stop that from reaching his goals. And becoming an Animagus is very dangerous especially without supervision. I can't stop you, so I might as well advise you."

Teddy sat with his mouth agape but sent his hand through his hair as he tried to make sense of Nover's words. "So you're saying that you'll… advise me on how to be an Animagus?"

"Oh please don't put it all in one sentence. You'll have me sacked. But yes," he said, eyes shining mischievously. Teddy could now safely conclude that this Professor may have replaced McGonagall, but he most definitely was nothing like her.

As Teddy turned around to leave the office, still slightly bewildered, he figured he'd risk one last attempt.

"So you're going to teach me how, yet you yourself are not one?"

Nover laughed genuinely. "No, I am not one, but I am your Transfiguration teacher."

And for the first time since his seventh year had started, Teddy was okay with that.

Fun Fact: I always try to have the next chapter partially or completely written before publishing a chapter. So basically the next chapter is already written. To get it? Read and Review! Thanks so much to everyone who has already!