A/N; Contains swearing, smoking and suggested violence. Also, the theme is homosexuality. If you don't like it, don't read it.

Teddy is not homosexual. He is, however, faced with it.

Regards

CW

"...and then Ron's just gives him this shit-eating grin and says 'Hermione, this is my colleague Duncraig. Duncraig, this is my girlfriend'! Godric, Gin, you should have seen this bloke's face! He was well and truly buggered!"

Ginny, standing at the kitchen sink, was laughing as Harry recounted the tale of today's mischief. He was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea waiting for his fiancé, talking to her animatedly over the island. Their front door swung open and slammed shut. Harry turned in his seat and Ginny looked up with a smile.

"Hi, Ted. How was your..."

The ten years and eleven months-old boy dumped his schoolbag on the floor at the foot of the stairs and thumped up without a word. Ginny and Harry exchanged a look.

"Would you mind?" she said, gesturing with soap-sudd covered hands. Harry was already on his feet, nodding as he followed his godson up the stairs. He turned at the landing and knocked gently on his bedroom door with the back of his knuckles.

"Teddy? Are you okay?"

There was a muffled sound that could have been an admission of entry or an order to leave him alone. Harry took the chance and swung the door open. On the unmade bed, a blue-haired boy sat with his knees drawn to his chest, his bottom lip trembling. He looked up hesitantly as Harry stepped into his room.

"What's wrong, Teddy?"

Again, there was a moment's hesitation and a tear escaped down the boy's cheek. Harry hurried to his side and sat down on the bed, reaching for him.

"Teddy, what's wrong?" he did his very best to keep the panic from his voice. Teddy chewed his bottom lip, burying his face in Harry's shirt. After a moment, he muttered something that his godfather couldn't hear.

"What was that?"

The tear-stained face lifted.

"Dad, what's a poofter?"

The air whooshed from Harry's lungs and he spent a good few minutes doing an impersonation of a beached fish.

"A-a-a what? Where did you-"

Harry's voice was cut off as significantly as though he had been muted.

"Oh, Ted! Who did this?"

Teddy had altered his appearance to its actual state, taking Harry's breath away with the cruel subtly of a bludger. There was a brilliant shiner darkening the left side of Teddy's face. His lip was split and there was a bloody graze on his cheek, as if someone had pushed him repeatedly to the ground. The collar of his school shirt was ripped and, now that Harry was paying attention, there was a bloodstain on his sleeve.

"Kids at school. They called me...that word...and other stuff too"

Harry's heart was clenched so painfully in his chest that it was affecting his ability to breathe. He felt a churn of harsh conflict boiling under his chest bone, at a level he hadn't felt since fifth year. Rage and shock and guilt and pure, undivided anger at the people who had done this to his godson.

"A poofter's...ah...it's a word, a horrible, terrible word, for blokes who like other blokes"

Teddy frowned, confused.

"What d'ya mean? Blokes who like other blokes?"

Harry cleared his throat, mind searching desperately for a way of explaining this. It almost made him wish that he'd had The Talk from someone other than the Weasley twins at the end of second year.

"Well, like...the way I like Ginny, and Uncle Ron likes 'Mione"

"Oh...like sleeping together and stuff?"

Harry nodded, uncertain as to how Teddy was going to take it. He looked thoughtful for a moment, then confused.

"Well, what's wrong with that?"

Harry almost chuckled at Teddy's innocent acceptance. He wished, and not for the first time, that the rest of the world could see things through a child's eyes. It would make human history a whole lot less bloody.

"There's nothing wrong with it. It's just some people are really prejudiced against it, that's all, and they come up with these horrible words to call other people"

"Why's it a horrible word?"

For a moment, Harry was quiet, rubbing soothing circle's on Teddy's back more for himself than for the small child. Then, inspiration struck him and he found himself absurdly grateful that Draco Malfoy was still such an unbelievable wanker.

"Do you remember that time that man called Auntie Hermione that word? And Uncle Ron got very angry?"

A slow blink of understanding.

"The 'M' word?"

"Yes. Well, it's kind of like that. It's just a really bad word for a person"

"So...the ferret-"

"Mr Malfoy, Ted" Harry corrected, trying to hide a smile and reminding himself to have a chat to his brother-in-law.

"-Mr Malfoy is pr-pre-ju-dice against Muggle-born people, like those boy's are pre-judice against poof...um...?"

"Homosexuals" supplied Harry. Teddy's brow knitted and he mouthed the unfamiliar word a few times before giving up.

"Yeah. That" he said instead. Harry nodded and for a moment, he and Teddy were quietly thoughtful. Then Harry broke the silence.

"So why do you think those boys called you that?"

Teddy was playing with the cut on his lip where the blood was congealing and sticking to his finger when he prodded it.

"Huh? Oh, I think it's coz I held my friend's hand today when he was crying"

"Ah...why were you holding his hand?" he tried to sound natural. Is my godson gay? Oh come off it, Harry, he's ten for Godric's sake!

"Coz he was crying and the teacher and Ryan were sitting on either side of him so I couldn't put my arm around him or something...does holding Toby's hand make me a...like blokes?"

Harry smiled.

"No. It makes you a good friend. And you shouldn't ever give up on your friends just because they're different or...difficult" he added as an afterthought, thinking of what Hermione and Ron had put up with from him over the years.

Teddy nodded in assent.

"Okay. Thanks dad"

Harry kissed his godson's hair affectionately. Then he pulled his wand from his back pocket.

"Here, sit up and I'll get ya cleaned up. Your mum's will have guts for garters if they see you like this"


Sixteen-year-old Teddy Lupin stood his ground with a playful smirk as the green-uniformed Slytherin spat in his general direction. He easily sidestepped it, and his grin only widened.

"Well, shit, Parkinson, no wonder you lot can't win a bloody game, aim like that" he taunted.

"Someone's gunna wipe that shit-eating grin of yours right off your faggot face one of these days, Lupin! You better watch yourself, ya fucking poof" the greasy-haired Snake snarled, being held back by two of his teammates. Throwing his head back, Teddy roared with laughter.

"Yeah, alright, Parkinson. Maybe. But it won't be you. Poof or not, I'm still a damn sight prettier than you darlin'"

Parkinson's jaw dropped and his eyes bulged. At his wordlessness, the Gryffindor's claimed victory by default and began to walk away, laughing. Then someone had shouted after them, apparently feeling braver now the Gryffindor's were walking away.

"Betcha he's fucking Thomas! Everyone knows he take it up the arse!"

Jake Thomas, Dean Thomas' eldest son, a year below Teddy, looked like a corner rabbit and shrunk back a little in the knot of Gryffindor's. Teddy whirled, his eyes went suddenly dangerous, the light of good humour extinguishing as suddenly as a candle in the wind. In the next heartbeat, his wand was pointed at the Slytherin's and Gryffindor's Beaters had leapt forward to stop him doing something that would lose the house some serious points.

Suitably restrained, Teddy snarled wordlessly and the other team began to back away like he was a rabid animal.

"Walk. The fuck. Away. All of ya" he ground out, a lethal gleam in his feral features. The Beaters, Lee Finnegan and Harris Bones, didn't let go of Teddy until the snakes were well out of sight. With a curt nod of thanks, Teddy strode off to the side of the stands, followed inconspicuously by Jake Thomas.

"Light this, will ya?" Teddy's voice was smooth and nonchalant as he raised an cigarette to his lips. He'd never told his father that he smoked; Harry would no doubt hand him over to Ginny and Hermione for a plethora of hexes and jinxes that would leave him temporarily unable to move, yet alone think about raising another cancer stick to his lips.

Jake lit his wand tip smoothly, lighting Teddy's and then lit one of his own. For a moment, the two boys stood in the cold shade of the stands and smoked. It was Jake who broke it;

"Ya not really a poof, are ya?"

Teddy shrugged, taking a casual draw of the cig.

"Nah, don't fink so...-" he grinned broadly- "Shut Parkinson right up though, dinnit?"

He snickered, but Jake didn't say anything. He scuffed a piece of dirt with his Quidditch boot and played with the lighter. After a moment he muttered something that Teddy didn't catch.

"What'd ya say, mate?"

"I said, I reckon I might be" he blurted nervously, almost too loud.

Teddy's eyebrows barely raised as he took another long drag and shrugged.

"Oh yeah" he said, for no other reason other than society's demand that he should say something out loud when your best mate comes out of the closet. His mind was actually on the amount of cleaning agent left in his broom-cleaning kit. Jake's eyes widened with his mouth.

"What, that's it? But...ya share a dorm with me!" he was disbelieving of Teddy's acceptance. The Metamorphmagus cocked an eyebrow.

"D'ya fancy me?"

Jake spluttered for a moment, half-smiling in pure incredulity.

"Wha..! Nah, mate. I mean, you're fit, but...you're like a brover, aye?"

Teddy grinned as he raised the cig, chuckling.

"Thanks. Do alright yourself-"he winked cheekily and Thomas blushed furiously- "Serious though, I don't mind. Ya still my mate"

Jake grinned in relief, his tense shoulders relaxing. Again, they sunk into a companionable silence, blowing lazy smoke rings into the air. Only when Teddy straightened and extinguished his butt did words break the silence once more.

"Ya...ya know...ah, ya never asked me if I do fancy someone" Jake said shakily, looking down at his feet. Teddy glanced at him and leaned one shoulder on the stand with his arms folded across his Keeper's chest, head to the side thoughtfully.

"Alright then, mate. Do you fancy someone?"

The blush was a raging wildfire across Jake's unblemished, sharp cheek bones and he looked up shyly. A grin broke across Teddy's face.

"Fred Weasley!" he exclaimed triumphantly, reading the other boy's expression with disturbing ease. Jake spluttered, but couldn't keep the coy grin off his face before becoming suddenly serious.

"Look, I know he's kinda your cousin an' all, but could you...not, mention it, to him?"

Teddy smiled, but his voice was serious.

"Why not? Might be able to set you up"

Jake searched his friend's face for a moment, hope blazing next to the nervousness.

"Wait...Fred's gay?"

Teddy winked and threw an arm around Jake's shoulders.

"Right raving poof mate. And he'll treat you right too; I'll make sure of that. Now c'mon. I gotta send an owl to my old man"

"Why?" Jake was obviously distracted by the idea that his stubborn crush on Fredrick Weasley Junior may not be unrequited that the word came out in two syllables, and out of instinct rather than any curiosity. Teddy smiled again, softly, thinking of an afternoon of blood and tears and his godfather's worried, understanding green eyes.

"He gave me some good advice when I was a kid"

"What about?"

Teddy snorted wryly.

"Life"