Hi Everyone! I've already added Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to my bookshelf and overall I enjoyed it. I'm going to be writing a review in the next week or so on it for my blog, so if you're interested in that I'll include a link in the next chapter hopefully! As for how it is going to impact Teddy's story, looks like we are in the clear for most everything. In later cases you'll see some elements that show up to help connect this to canon, but if you're worried about spoilers you should be alright to keep reading for at least a few more chapters. I'm interesting in doing something along the lines of my Moony's Tale story for some parts of the play, get a bit more in -depth, so if you have specific scenes you'd like to see or certain POV's let me know.

Hope you enjoy the next chapter, and thanks for all the reviews and R&R please!


Teddy had walked through the Muggle Liaison Office before, but he had never spent any significant amount of time there. It was one floor up, behind a set of glass doors that each bore an image of a witch and Muggle standing arm-in-arm. The witch's wand was hidden behind her back, to illustrate the importance of the International Statute of Secrecy. Teddy emerged from the lift and was immediately met by Kaylee, who was beaming.

"This is brilliant!" she hissed, grabbing his arm and dragging him through the doors into a large, cubicle-filled room that was not unlike the Auror Office. "I knew Harry wasn't going to give up. Now, a few people know what you're doing here, but Clemmy Gamp – that's our Head – thinks it's best if most of the office thinks you're here to help with the Bainbury Papers."

"The Bainbury Papers?"

"They don't actually exist – Clemmy made them up – but they're a convenient excuse if we ever need to do anything on the down-low. You can tell people whatever you want about them. The point is that they're supposed to be really complicated and will probably take years to sort out."

"Right," said Teddy as Kaylee led him over to her cubicle and sat him down on a hot pink rolling chair that she conjured for him. "So, er, do you want to check over my notes from yesterday?"

As he handed her a sheaf of parchment to review, he couldn't help looking around at the things she had stuck her cubicle. Among the calendars and thank-you notes from wizards who had needed help with liaisons, there was an enormous blue and cranberry flag draped across one wall with the crest of Ilvormory, accompanied by some cartoonish doodlings of pukwudgies that gamboled across the walls and several photographs of a lazy-eyed Crup wearing a yellow raincoat. Teddy could not for the life of him understand how Kaylee and Whistler had ever become friends.

"Whistler was my Potions partner third year," said Kaylee, as if she had read his mind. She put down the parchment with a gesture that told Teddy that she had found the contents rather boring. "We got along terribly until I, er, accidentally exploded our cauldron during an Ageing Potion lesson. We became middle-aged ladies after about five seconds. It took Healer Addison ages to sort us out – we hadn't made the potion quite right, you see. Bit hard to hate each other after that."

Teddy snorted. Whistler had never told him that particular story, for some reason. She was usually very smug about her potion-making ability, as she'd received a NEWT of the highest level.

"I didn't know she spent time in America." Teddy said, trying to remember the first time he had met the hot-headed Slytherin.

Kaylee nodded. "She spent her third year at Ilvormory, part of an exchange program while her dad toured the states. Taught all our fellow Pukwudgies in my year to duel. It was great."

"That's our Whistler," said Teddy. He pulled his parchment back over and took out a quill and ink. "So where d'you want to start? We'll have to talk to Ravi, of course, but there're also the Muggle neighbors, and figuring out what might have stabbed the victim, and maybe we should talk to some Curse Breakers, too."

"Yeah," said Kaylee thoughtfully. "It's going to be tricky, isn't it? No access to anything in the Auror department…"

Teddy frowned down at his parchment, and, for lack of anything better to do, he drew a tiny picture of a badger, and enchanted it to join Kaylee's doodles on the wall. They both watched as the two animals acquainted themselves to one another. A light chuckle from above his head made him stop and look up.

Arthur Weasley, bespectacled and almost completely bald, except for tufts of red hair poking out around the back of his head, was standing beside Kaylee's cubicle, grinning. For a second, Teddy wondered why his stomach squirmed slightly at the sight of him; then he remembered King's Cross and almost knocked over his inkwell. There was no question that Victoire's grandfather knew about their relationship by now.

"Teddy," said Arthur warmly, looking down at the parchment he was now hastily blotting. "Harry told me you'd be with us for the next few weeks – or however long it takes to solve a case, I suppose. How long does it take?"

"I'm not sure," said Teddy. "I've only done one so far."

"Well, I'm sure you're doing excellently. But I wouldn't expect anything less. Not from someone who, rumor has it, is soon to be a member of our family, eh?"

Teddy immediately reddened – and worse, he knew his hair was turning closer to silvery blond by the second. "I, er – we haven't got any plans to – not yet, at any rate –"

"Oh, I know." Arthur's eyes twinkled. "It was the same with me and Molly, you know. 'Not until after Hogwarts', we said – and even then, there were some who thought we were too young! Well. Vic was my first grandchild, of course, and so I'm morally bound to tell you that I'll have to curse you if you hurt her. But Molly and I couldn't be more pleased."

"That's – that's – thank you. I – that means a lot." Teddy wished Victoire was there with him, to take his hand and assure Arthur that on no account would Teddy ever hurt her. That's how they had planned to tell the Weasleys, but that was before James had gone spreading it all over London.

"Anyway, I'm not just here to say hi," said Arthur. He turned to Kaylee, making it clear that this part of the conversation was between the three of them. "Harry spoke to me about what you're doing; asked me to see if I could help out in any way. It was a bit of a slow morning, so I checked the Wizarding census records for Ravi's area. As it turns out, there's a Wizarding family just a few streets away – the Rabnotts, they're called. I'm not saying they're guilty – it seems highly unlikely that they are, as they were on our side during the war – but I definitely think you should talk to them. They probably know more than we do about Ravi, for example."

"Huh," said Teddy. "D'you think they heard anything?"

"Well, that's the question," said Arthur. "We only know for certain that the grandmother was home at the time, or at least, I assume she was. She just celebrated her one-hundred-and-twenty-seventh birthday."

"Ah," said Kaylee. "I suppose she could have stabbed him with her walking stick…"

Arthur smiled. "The parents were killed during the second war, but there are three children – well, four, but one's a Squib. They inherited the house with their grandmother, and live there together."

"Still," said Teddy, "it's something to go on, isn't it? Maybe they know Ravi, even if she hasn't lived in that house for years. What if we stopped by tonight? They'd all be back from work, and if they were on my parents' side of the war, I'm sure they'd be happy to speak to us."

"The only problem is," said Kaylee, "how do we act like this is a Muggle investigation if we're going to talk to wizards? The department doesn't like that sort of thing at all."

Arthur suddenly gave a rather mischievous smile. "I've already sorted it out for you. Told the powers that be that you've got a very important fellytone call to take with those Muggle Aurors. To, er – talk over that skirmish you had the other day."

"Policemen," said Kaylee, giggling. "They're called policemen. In the end, I just Confunded them all – but let's keep that between you and me, shall we?"

Teddy and Kaylee spent the rest of the day pacing around Piers' neighborhood, ringing doorbells and asking people what they knew about the crime that had taken place two nights previously. Everyone seemed eager to discuss the gory details of the murder, but nobody seemed to know very much. Teddy had more or less expected this. His Auror training, however, had taught him to leave no stone unturned, and coming away with the knowledge that none of the Muggles were hiding any crucial information was something, at least.

The thing that Teddy hadn't anticipated was the moon, which was one day away from being full. He always forgot – there was never a time when he hadn't forgotten. Growing up, his gran had always stressed just how lucky that made him.

"So sounds get a bit louder and smells get a bit smellier – your father would be thanking his lucky stars that's all you have to contend with. Do you know how happy he was after you were born, after he'd got back from that month's transformation and found that you were all right? I'd never seen a smile like that before, and I don't think I will again."

Teddy knew that she was right, but that didn't change the fact that the days around full moons were just uncomfortable, and that wasn't counting the psychological aspects of knowing what his father would be going through if he were still alive. Teddy's already heightened senses got much stronger than usual, to the point where certain foods made him gag and loud noises rang in his ears. Everything just seemed brighter and sharper and too much. Teddy was good at hiding it, but he couldn't pretend it wasn't incredibly annoying.

When night fell and the many horrible smells of end-of-the-day garbage bins reminded Teddy what day it was, he didn't say anything to Kaylee, but wondered whether Whistler had ever mentioned his parents to her. He hoped not. He didn't want it to influence anything that happened in their investigation tonight.

"Right," he muttered, his own voice sounding so loud that he might have put an accidental Sonorus charm on it. "It's that house over there, isn't it? The tan brick one at the end of the road?"

It was. Though it was mostly identical to the other posh, well-kept houses on the West London street, the people who lived there had made some subtle efforts to clue fellow wizards and witches in. All the flowers in the front garden were purple and green, the colors that marked magic in Muggle communities. There was a type of rare toadstool useful in potions growing out of a pot, and if you listened carefully to the wind chime above the door, you might become aware that it wasn't entirely dependent on waiting for a breeze.

Teddy shrugged at Kaylee, she shrugged back, and they both knocked.

A woman who looked to be in her mid-forties opened the door cautiously and looked them up and down, her eyes narrowed. She had dark curly hair that hung just below her shoulder blades and a nose that was rather beaky.

"Are you one of the Rabnotts?" said Teddy. "I'm Teddy Lupin, with the Aur – er, with the Muggle Liaison Office."

"And I'm Kaylee Stout," Kaylee chimed in, withdrawing her ID so the woman could see it. "You're not in trouble or anything, don't worry. We just want to see if you can help us with something."

But the woman's face had cleared from the instant Teddy told her his surname. "Of course! You're Tonks' son, aren't you? I remember her from Hogwarts – although I was Ravenclaw and she was Hufflepuff. You look just like her."

Teddy tried to smile. As a Metamorphmagus, he was never sure what that meant. By all accounts, his mother had changed her appearance just as often as he did.

"Anyway, yes – I'm Liana Rabnott. I don't know who you were hoping to speak to, but Pontus and Erebus are here, and Carmanor and his wife Olivia just got back. Do you want some tea, or…?"

"That would be lovely," said Kaylee immediately, and Liana led the way into the sitting room, which was just as posh as the rest of the house, with an enormous velvety carpet and antique family heirlooms locked away inside an ancient wooden cupboard. On the way, Teddy did his best to explain why they were there. Liana had heard about the murder and was immediately interested.

"I wasn't here that night – my boyfriend lives in Devon – but it's such a terrible thing, isn't it? I mean, our parents died trying to protect a Muggle-born family – they'd hidden them under protective charms, but You-Know-Who's people found out about it. I'd hoped that sort of thinking was gone by now. But I suppose you can't stamp out prejudice forever. It's just hard to believe that it happened here, of all places. And in Ravi's house!"

"So you know Ravi?" said Teddy, before he could help himself.

"Oh yes, I've known her all my life. She lived in that house while we were growing up – we had her round to dinner all the time. Or – well, you know what I mean; we had dinner. She was so lovely to us after Mum and Dad were killed. Offered to come and stay for a while. I don't know what we'd have done without her."

"What does she think about all this?" said Kaylee.

"I don't know," said Liana, looking troubled. "I wrote her yesterday, but I haven't heard anything back. I'd imagine it would hit her pretty hard." She frowned. "I'll get the tea, shall I, and my brothers?"

Teddy and Kaylee were silent for a moment from their places on the plush sofa Liana had directed them to. Teddy was thinking about what Liana had said when she'd found out who he was. He was used to meeting people who had known one or both of his parents, and he had never liked the feeling that they knew more about them than he did. And yet part of him wanted to stay here longer than was professional, linger after Kaylee left, and ask Liana to tell him everything she remembered.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden noise from the pocket of his cloak, hitting his sensitive ears so hard that he covered them instinctively.

Kaylee frowned over at him. "I think that's your mirror," she said. "You all right?"

Teddy nodded quickly and withdrew his pocket mirror. Peter Dorneget's face blinked back at him, pale from two days of overtime work.

"Harry's got me doing extra autopsy work on the down-low," he said quietly. "And I've found something out. Something important."

"Yeah?"

"The victim's neck. Merli, Teddy, this is just getting worse and worse. We found puncture marks. Undeniable puncture marks. Either it was a vampire who killed her – or someone was trying to make us think it was. I don't know how I'm going to tell Harry."
Teddy let this sink in. Harry knew Ravi well; he'd never for a moment suspect her of murdering an innocent Muggle for blood. But vampires could be unpredictable, he knew. Was there a chance that Ravi had just been playing everyone this whole time? Concealing her true nature for all these years? She'd seemed perfectly normal when he had met her, but then again, he hadn't gotten to know her well…

But then again, that was exactly what people thought about werewolves, wasn't it? And Teddy knew – Teddy's mere existence was proof – that those prejudices were unfounded. His father had been a great man. Everyone said so.

"What's going to happen with the investigation?" Teddy asked. "With this new evidence… Harry will have to publicly reopen the case for the Auror Department again."

"Yes," said Peter. "And I think that's going to be very unpleasant for everybody, because Harry will be expected to lock Ravi up. And I think you and I both know that he is not going to want to do that."

"Has anyone spoken to Ravi?" said Kaylee, leaning over Teddy's shoulder so that Peter could see her face in the mirror. "The people we're talking to right now are friends with her. They told us they hadn't heard from her in a few days."

"No one knows where she is," said Peter. "Wise, I think. A crime committed in a known vampire's home… she doesn't have much choice. But on the other hand, it does make her look guilty."

"Do you think it's possible that she is?" said Kaylee slowly. "Guilty, I mean?"

But before Peter could answer, Liana returned with three men who looked very much like her, all with the same beaky nose and mess of dark curls. A small woman with a blonde ponytail followed behind them. Teddy hastily shut his compact and stood up to shake their hands as Liana waved sloshing teacups over to the coffee table.

"Meet my brothers," said Liana. "This is Pontus, He's the oldest."

Pontus was stocky, with broad shoulders and bright blue eyes. When he spoke, his voice came out as a merry sort of growl. "Good to meet you, Teddy and Kaylee. I'm glad someone's investigating this. If I've owled them once, I've owled them a hundred times. For the past few days, it's seemed to me like the Ministry just wants to pretend this never happened."

"Well, we're not ignoring it," said Teddy, highly conscious of the fact that he was here as a representative of the Muggle Liaison Office and not the Auror Department. "Any information you could give us would be very helpful."

"I don't know much, but I'd be happy to share anything you might want to know," said a second man, this one shorter than the first, with hair that seemed more liable to stick up. "I'm Erebus. Squib," he added ruefully, when Teddy noticed the way he winced when he picked up his steaming teacup. "I may not be able to do magic, but I do notice when things aren't what they should be."

"And I'm Carmanor," said the third man, who was taller and thinner than any of the others. "And this is Olivia, my wife. We were both here on the night of the murder, and although we didn't hear anything, there might be some little detail we forgot. Feel free to ask us anything."

"I'd met Rose, a few times," Olivia added, nervously shaking out her blonde hair. "Just cordially, you know – we try to keep on good terms with the Muggle neighbors, so Carm and I accepted Piers' invitation to a dinner party. It was a bit awkward, but I came away feeling like I knew them pretty well. If that helps you in any way."

"Wow," said Teddy, looking around at them all. He could hardly believe how helpful they were all being. It was such a contrast from his last case that it hardly seemed real. "That's really great – thank you so much. We've actually prepared a list of questions for you, if you don't mind having a look at that –"

He stopped talking abruptly. A sharp knock had sounded at the door. The Rabnott siblings glanced around at each other, and when it came again, harder and more urgent this time, all four of them moved towards the door, Olivia watching them from her armchair.

"Are you expecting someone?" said Kaylee, walking behind them instead of waiting in the sitting room. Teddy quickly followed.

"No," said Liana, speed-walking towards the door and then flinging it open. "But –"

There was no need to say anything else. Teddy understood.

Ravi Trocar stood on the threshold, her long black hair hanging around her head in clumps, dark shadows showing beneath her eyes. She looked so different from the poised, elegant Curse Breaker that Teddy had met at Harry's that he couldn't stop himself from staring for a second. She looked distressed, desperate.

"I'm sorry," she said, looking from Carmanor to Liana. "I'm so sorry, I don't want to have to ask you to do this, I know it's an awful burden to put on you. But that Rita Skeeter woman found out I own the house, and the article comes out tomorrow, and then everyone's going to know, and I'm sure they'll send Aurors –"

"We understand," said Erebus, laying a hand on her shoulder, and he pulled her inside. "Don't worry. You're safe here."

Liana suddenly gave Teddy and Kaylee a sharp look. "You'll have to go," she said. "You can come back later. I'm sure Ravi would be happy to talk to you. But we need to take care of her now."

"Right," said Teddy quickly. "Of course. I understand."

"We can count on you to keep Ravi's whereabouts strictly confidential, right?" said Pontus, his rough burr no longer merry. "You won't tell anyone at the Ministry. Not even your boss."

Teddy and Kaylee looked at each other.

"Or we'll come after you," said Carmanor threateningly. "And that's a fact."

"Harry probably doesn't need to know right now," Teddy muttered to Kaylee. "Not with everything else on his plate."

"And Morris?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

They left the house, Teddy listening vaguely as Liana bolted the door behind them and began to cast protective spells. The nearly full moon winked up at him from above. He and Kaylee wandered back across London, both lost in their own thoughts.