Disclaimer: See Prologue

A/N: Thank you, everyone. I had such an amazing response to the last chapter and I will get round to you individually.

This happened once when I thought this was a great idea. My godfather (a genuinely brilliant man with more money than morals) and I decided to do "something nice" for my dad.

10: Pet

2006

"Nonna?"

Ted's paternal grandmother is his favourite. She's warm and far more easy-going than his mum's mother. Andromeda takes none of his nonsense; Emma revels in it. Her hugs are the best in the world and she tells jokes about nuns that Teddy doesn't really understand, but he knows they're funny because his mum shrieks with laughter. She looks after him and his sister when his parents' holidays conflict with his godfather's.

"Yes?"

"Who's that?" He nods toward a photograph framed on the kitchen wall.

Mrs. Lupin steps back from the cooker to peer at her collection of pictures. Some move, some don't, but she suspects Ted's not referring to one of her Muggle relations.

"That's your dad, silly."

"I know the kid is, but who's the dog?"

Emma laughs. "Oh, I see. The people who bred him called him Aeneas and John said it was bad luck to change his name. Your granddad bought him about six weeks before I had your father. I was absolutely furious. Your dad's only six there and he and that dog were inseparable. You know, I was looking up Aeneas when I found Remus. Romulus and Remus were, goodness, something like his grandchildren's grandchildren's grandchildren."

Teddy is uninterested in this, but he nods along for her sake. "So what breed was he?"

"A bloodhound. They usually only live a few years, but Aeneas hung on for fifteen. Your granddad was amazed. Of course, your father was very upset when he died. We'd had that dog longer than we'd had our son."

They've never had a pet and it's hard to imagine his dad with one.

"I wish I had a dog."

"I'm surprised you don't. Your father loved animals, and animals, by and large, loved your father. Some of them would drink his blood as soon as look at him, but the safer sort of things had free run of the house. Cats, in particular, were crazy about him, but he's always been a dog person really." She jumps and pulls blackened toast out of the grill. "Shit."

Teddy laughs incredulously. Nobody's ever sworn in front of him before. He thinks his father has come very close once or twice, but he's always managed to reign himself in. 'Shit' is, as far as Teddy knows, the worst word anyone can possibly say.

"Don't tell your dad and you can have two spoons of crumble after dinner."

Teddy grins. "Deal."

They're sitting on the sofa the following Saturday evening, the back door thrown open, the early March sun pouring in.

"Why don't we have a pet, Dad?"

Lupin has to think about this, so he steals a spoonful of his son's banana ice cream and makes a small appreciative noise in the back of his throat. "Have you got more of this?"

Teddy nods. "If I tell you where it is, can I have a dog?"

"It's ice cream, Ted. I know where it is." He grins and gestures for his son to follow him into the kitchen. "So what sort of dog are we talking about? It can't be a big one; your sister's only small."

Teddy's face lights up. "Really? We can get one?"

Lupin nods. "I don't see why not. We'll have to run it by your mother, of course."

Teddy nods. "I will. Can I do it, Dad? Please?"

"I don't know," says Lupin, standing back to appraise the mound of ice cream in the bowl. He adds a second serving and decides that's probably enough. "I think I'd better talk to her myself first, Ted."

"Mum, can I get a dog? Dad said I could."

Tonks, inserting an earring, is forced to make encouraging sounds for fear that this lead to an argument which might make her late.

"And when did he say this?"

"Two minutes ago." Teddy pushes his parents' bedroom door open and makes himself comfortable on their recently made bed. "I want us to get him one for his birthday."

"We'll talk about it tomorrow, O.K.?"

"O.K. then."

But he knows they won't.

James and Emma are only two months apart and so they are forced to play together. Occasionally, Emma's godmother brings her little girl, but she's a year younger and James and Emma are united in their distaste.

At large gatherings, Teddy and Victoire Weasley, both a little older than the other children, skulk off and sit in the garden. On this occasion, Ted's godparents and their children are visiting and Ted has an ulterior motive.

"What are you getting my dad for his birthday?"

Harry stammers, wondering if all children are as blunt as Ted Lupin, and if his children will grow up to behave like miniature adults too. "Er…well, I…er…I hadn't thought about it really, Ted."

"Good." Teddy grins. "You can get him one with me then."

"A joint present?"

"A joint present, yes."

"Why would you want to get your dad a joint present?"

"Because I can't get it on my own. And besides, I need someone else to be in trouble with me because I can't ask Mum for help."

Harry frowns. They're sitting outside in the shade of the Oak tree, on a rickety wooden bench which Harry suspects has been there longer than Lupin himself. Through the double doors, he can just make out Lupin opening a large book and putting something small in his mouth when he thinks no-one is watching. The man is a Marauder, after all, and Harry thinks he can take anything Teddy can throw at him.

"What is this present then?"

"A bloodhound puppy."

Harry's jaw drops.

"And Nonna says there's a man selling them in Salcombe which is about ten minutes away on the bus so it can't be far."

"When have you been on the bus?"

"Lots of times."

Harry knows better than to argue.

The earliest he can sneak off is five o'clock in the morning. It's his dad's birthday and he doesn't want to miss too much of it. Nor does he want to be so late getting home that his mother goes looking for him.

Harry is barely awake. Ted knows his father is at home for the Easter holidays and his mother isn't going into work either. He's not wanted to grasp the concept of his father's birthday not being a national holiday because it might make him feel guilty about getting his own way.

"And you're sure your mum's all right with this?"

"Yep."

"Did she say you could get one?"

Teddy mumbles a response.

Those who remain of the litter, sleep in a ramshackle pen. Ted immediately knows which one he wants. It's his father's birthday present, but it will be his dog. It's the smallest and he pities it, but it's also quiet and sleeps alone in the corner. He thinks this dog will be less likely to irritate his mother. Besides, it's the only one with the black and tan saddle pattern he recognises on the dog in the sepia photograph.

He's asked his Nonna for Muggle money, but his savings don't amount to much. Harry, obliging, pays the rest and, unsure whether it is safe to Apparate while clutching his godson and a puppy, follows Ted to the bus stop.

"Mum?" Teddy opens the door far enough to get his head through it. His father is a light sleeper and he's terrified of the creaking floorboards on the other side of the door. "Mum?" he whispers a second time, harsher now.

Tonks groans sleepily, rolling onto her back and opening only one eye to look at him. "What?"

"Shh." Teddy presses a finger to his lips and gestures for her to follow him.

He's turned away from the door before she can protest. Forced into her dressing gown and slippers at seven o'clock on her day off, Tonks is not in the best of moods. The situation is not improved by the sound of something moving around in the kitchen.

"What is that?"

Teddy only grins.

"Ted?"

"It's a bloodhound."

Tonks gawps at him. "How in God's name did you get a bloodhound?"

"The same usual, boring way most people get dogs. I went to a breeder and bought one."

Tonks raises her eyebrows. "If I were you, I wouldn't take that tone with me. Where did you get the money to pay for him?"

"He's Dad's birthday present."

"Doesn't answer my question, Ted."

"He's from me and Harry."

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you are both in?"

Teddy beams at her. He smiles like his father, his lips pressed firmly together to conceal the long canines that have been passed down from his grandmother. "Come and see him."

Tonks rolls her eyes. "What's his name?"

"He's Dad's present. I think maybe we should let him decide."

"Oh, that's it. I'm not calling him in then."

The puppy looks pleased to see Ted and bounds toward him as he opens the kitchen door.

"He's going to get a lot bigger. What's going to happen then?"

Teddy shrugs. "Dad kept one here before."

Tonks sighs, aware that she is far too lenient with both of her children. Her mother had been extremely strict; her father somewhat irresponsible, utterly reckless, and far more fun to be around. She doesn't want her children to resent her. She suspects her son already favours his father and she knows she'd be compensating for it if she were to agree.

"Can we keep him, Mum? Go on."

"Well, what else would you do with him? Take him back and exchange him for a gift voucher?"

Teddy grins, still kneeling on the floor, playing with the dog's ludicrously long ears. "You're the best!"

"Your father is either going to love it or he's going to wear your head as a hat across the Home Counties."

Teddy shrugs. "Both?"

"Probably. Just wait until I see Harry."

Teddy winces. "Yeah, look. I told him you said I could get it."

"Why would you do a thing like that?"

Teddy looks at her like she's a moron. "So he'd help me."

"Watch your lip."

Teddy sticks his bottom lip out, his eyes shooting downwards to try to catch a glimpse of it.

"O.K., smart-arse."

Teddy grins at her. "When can we show him off?"

Tonks rolls her eyes. "Give your dad an hour. He needs to get plenty of sleep after last week."

"Happy birthday."

Lupin groans, burying his face into his pillow. "I thought we agreed to stop celebrating them after forty."

Tonks wriggles under the duvet, positioning herself to kiss his cheek. "You agreed that on your own then, spoilsport." She gently knocks her nose against his cheek, eliciting another moan in protest. "Besides, after all the effort Teds went into to get your present, you might as well enjoy it."

Now he's awake. Ted Lupin is truly the son of a Marauder. James and Sirius would be extremely proud to be associated with him so, tentatively, Lupin inquires as to when Teddy managed to get him a present.

Tonks shrugs. "I can't say."

He sighs. "Yes, you can. I dread to think what he's-"

From the kitchen come the sounds of scratching against wood. The stairs creak as his son hurtles down them. He can hear shushing noises and the silence becomes deafening.

"Alright, now I'm terribly afraid." He listens for the sounds of his son on the stairs. "Ted?"

"Can I come in?"

"Of course you can."

He pushes the door open and runs to his father, arms outstretched and ready to fling around his shoulders. "Happy Birthday, Dad."

Lupin can still wrap his arms around the boy with ease, despite Ted seemingly growing every time he so much as casts a glance in his direction. As his son lands on the bed, Lupin, clutching him, falls back onto his pillows. Ted's hair, today the colour of peanut butter and smelling of his mother's apple shampoo, hangs in his father's eyes, but Lupin does not release him.

"What's the commotion downstairs?"

"It's not a commotion."

"Are you going to go and wake Emma up?"

"Yeah." Teddy loves doing this more than anything else of a Sunday morning. Usually, he's thought long and hard about it. Sometimes, he morphs into their maternal grandmother and peers at her until she wakes up screaming. Sometimes, he shakes her, covered in tomato sauce and pretending to be half-dead until she wakes up screaming. Sometimes, he strategically places tiny spiders on her cheeks until she wakes up screaming. He doesn't see this as unfair. He is her big brother and that is his job.

Today, there is no time. He is beside himself with excitement.

"Emmy, wake up. Em! Come on. Em, we've got a puppy."

Emma is out of bed and into her dressing gown and slippers in record time. She wasn't quite as quick, Teddy notices, the time she thought he was covered in blood.

"Really? A real puppy?"

Teddy nods frantically. "Go and say hello to Dad. We'll be up in two shakes of a lamb's tail."

When Ted opens the bedroom door, the three of them are sat in bed, Emma in the middle, looking like the kneazle who got the cream.

"Please don't be angry," says Ted, knowing this is not the best opening line.

Lupin's mouth forms a thin line. He nods once. There's a funny glint in his eyes and Ted sincerely hopes Emma hasn't opened her big mouth.

But the moment the dog traipses into the room, its drooping cheeks making it look rather forlorn, Ted knows nobody has spoiled the surprise. He's never seen his father genuinely taken aback before. He's never watched anybody's face fall before. There's a moment of agonising silence from his father; the only sound that of the dog's claws clacking against the wooden floor like tap-shoes.

"How on earth?"

He looks up and his father is beaming like a lunatic; he can exhale again. Ted grins back.

"He's from Harry too."

"The two of you are never leaving this house alone ever again."

Teddy chooses to ignore this because it conflicts with his godfather's Sunday morning Quidditch games. "But you like him?"

Lupin nods. "And I've wanted to get one for a long time. It's just that I imagined I would buy one for your birthday."

"Dad, by the time you'd made any sort of decision, I'd have moved out." Ted tucks the puppy under his arm and scrambles onto the bed to sit with everyone else. "What are you going to call him?"

"Well, I used to name my cats after composers. There was a theme."

Tonks grins. "Name him after a Weird Sister. He could be Wagtail, you know, after Myron."

Teddy shakes his head violently. "I am not shouting for him if you call him Myron Wagtail, Mum. People talk."

Lupin nods solemnly. "Quite. The only way this dog is being named after a Weird Sister is if he's named for Macbeth." His eyes light up in a manner which Teddy finds deeply unnerving.

"Oh, Dad, no. No. Please don't call my dog Macbeth."

Lupin grins. "Sorry, whose dog? Hello, Mac."