Here's Chapter 10!

CHAPTER 10: Confusion

Teddy read the names again and again; it was as if they had been branded into his eyes with a white-hot poker. Had the words not been so clearly written in stone, Teddy might have thought he was imagining things. However, there was no denying it; his parents' names were right there, in front of his eyes, on this monument. Victoire was staring dumbstruck at the two side-by-side stones as well, nearly as shocked as Teddy.

"What is this for?" Teddy asked in a whisper, as if the trees may be listening.

Victoire, eyes still fixed on the stones, replied softly. "I don't know, Teddy. I just don't know." She placed a hand gently on his shoulder as he knelt in the snow. "We had better get going."

Teddy tore his wide eyes away from the memorial at Victoire's touch, having completely forgotten that they had been on their way to class, and continued walking to Transfiguration. No words were exchanged between the pair as they silently acknowledged what had just transpired.

After Transfiguration, Teddy hurried to the Slytherin common room, still frazzled by the day's previous events, to find Channing sitting in one of the chairs doing homework.

"Dalton," Teddy began, tossing his books on the nearest sofa, "can I ask you something?"

Channing looked up from his Charms essay at Teddy's flushed face and gray-streaked hair with a concerned look on his face, "Sure."

"You know that monument in the courtyard, the marble one with all the rectangular stones around it?" Teddy asked, waving his arms in a little circle to indicate the surrounding stones. Channing nodded.

"I pass it every day on the way to Herbology, why?" he inquired.

"What's it for? My dad is quoted on it, and both my parents had their names engraved on one of the stones."

Channing relaxed in the chair, leaning back and putting his feet up on the table in front of him. "So that's how your parents died," Channing said, a look of relief flooding his face. Teddy furrowed his brow, still confused. Channing, sensing Teddy's confusion, suddenly became more serious. "You don't know, do you?"

Teddy shook his head, and Channing leaned forward in his chair. "That memorial was made so that we remember those who died in the Battle of Hogwarts eleven years ago. The stones have the names of all those who were killed in battle and how old they were at the time."

Teddy's eyes widened; he could not believe what he had just heard. Why hadn't he known? Why didn't Harry tell me? He thought. He shouldn't be finding out the truth years after the event had taken place, and certainly not from Channing. Anger beginning to boil within him, Teddy ran to the dormitory without another word.

A flood of emotions washed over Teddy as he lay face down on his bed. Anger at Harry for not having told him about his parents made him want to attack something. In addition, he was outraged that the teachers had never said anything about the battle; it should have been a necessary part of education, Teddy thought, even for first years. He was also angry at his parents, Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, for dying, leaving him with nothing but their names.

What side had his parents fought for? Surely they had been against Voldemort and his Death Eaters; they had to have been! But—if they had been such good people, why, why had Teddy been placed in Slytherin? And why would his own parents risk leaving their only son to fight in this battle; hadn't they loved him? More than anything, Teddy felt alone. Harry Potter, the Harry Potter, who had known Teddy's parents, had not even bothered to tell their only son what they had fought and died for. Ginny had not spoken a word either, and no one had even given Teddy any information; all he knew was that his father had been a werewolf, his mother a Metamorphmagus.

Overwhelmed by all that he had discovered in merely a few hours, Teddy Lupin cried. At first, he tried to blink back the tears; he had to be brave lest the other boys returned. However, the single tear that slid down Teddy's cheek turned into another, then another, until he could no longer hold back the waterfall of emotion.

He reached under his bed and pulled out the picture of his parents, hoping it would comfort him. Consequently, it did the opposite. He scowled as he watched his parents pretending to love him, pretending they cared about their little baby boy. They should have stayed rather than toss Teddy's childhood into the wind by leaving to fight.

Frustrated, he tore the photograph into three ragged pieces and threw back into his trunk before kicking it under his bed, never wanting to look at it again. As the rest of the Slytherin first years began entering the dormitory to get ready for bed, Teddy quickly faked slumber so as to hide his tears.

Teddy dreamt about his parents that night; he was living with them.

"Worthless! Waste of space, you are! Insolent brat!" Teddy's mother was shouting again as he shrunk against the back wall of the small, ramshackle shed he was forced to live in.

"Yes, mum," Teddy replied, knowing that no other answer would suffice. As he continued to sink down onto the floor, Teddy watched as Victoire exited his parents' large, beautiful house, laughing and joking as she walked across the beautifully manicured green lawn with a boy who carried himself with pride: Channing Dalton. Teddy, a burst of hope exploding within him at the sight of his friends, journeyed outside to join them.

He took two steps into the sunlight, his face falling as the two figures turned away from him with looks of distaste and began walking the other way. Out of nowhere, a huge animal leapt atop Teddy; his father had transformed into a werewolf and was attacking, blinded by the transformation. His friends continued walking away and his mother simply watched as her husband continued mauling her son.

Teddy jolted himself awake. Sweating and shaking, he sat bolt upright in his bed, heart beating erratically. Finally giving up on slumber after three hours of continuous tossing and turning as he tried to fall back asleep, Teddy headed to the common room.

He sat in one of the chairs, a History of Magic textbook in hand; he needed something to get his mind off his terrible nightmare. The joy he had felt earlier about going home from the holidays was gone, gone like a weak Patronus meeting a Dementor; even gazing at the marvelous Christmas tree in the common room couldn't lift his spirits.

As he opened the book and lazily flipped through the pages, he heard footsteps approaching from the common room. He turned in the direction of the sound, hand flying to his wand, which he had placed on one of the armrests, only to find Channing walking towards him.

"Hey, Lupin," he said sleepily, rubbing his eyes and yawning, "what are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same," Teddy answered. Channing shrugged, yawning again. Teddy frowned, knowing he wasn't getting an answer. "Bad dream," Teddy replied stonily.

"Oh," Channing said as he sat in the chair across from Teddy. "You've been acting strange since I told you about that monument; everything alright?" He seemed genuinely concerned about Teddy, and so Teddy revealed everything, anger present in his voice. He explained the loneliness, anger, frustration and betrayal he felt, even going so far as to say he felt as if his parents had not really cared about him. He did, however, leave out the part where he was crying, and said not a word about his dream.

"Don't worry about your parents, Lupin," Channing advised after Teddy had finished. "You've survived eleven years without them. If you want my opinion, you're better off alone. Imagine all you said is true and they were alive…where would you be?" Teddy suddenly had flashes of his dream; his feral werewolf father attacking ruthlessly as his mother watched without emotion.

"I don't know. Maybe they did care for me; there's no way to know for sure." Harry had given Teddy the photograph of his parents when he was no older than four, and Teddy always envisioned his parents as kind, loving people who would have given him everything that they possibly could. He had understandably fantasized of what his life would have been like if they were alive; he would be happy, protected, loved. Before tonight, he had always thought they would have been a happy family.

Despite Teddy's previous thoughts, a small possibility poked at the back of his mind. What if Teddy had been mistaken in thinking his parents did not love him? Still clinging to his fantasy of living a happy life with his parents, Teddy vowed to find out more about Remus and Nymphadora Lupin.

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