Chapter 11! I have to apologize in advance now…I won't be able to update for a while due to relatives visiting, so please don't think this story has been abandoned! If there isn't an update for a while, we haven't forgotten! We have great plans for this story, so don't lose hope!

CHAPTER 11: The Truth Comes Out

The next day dawned bright and clear, every student and staff member breathing in the sweet air of yuletide. It was the Christmas Holiday, and Teddy and Victoire were among the droves of other students crammed into the Entrance Hall with their things, ready for the trip to the Hogsmeade train station. Once aboard the train, the pair found an empty compartment and sat down across from one another.

Teddy looked around before getting up and sliding shut the glass door. "Teddy, what are you doing?" Victoire asked, tucking her strawberry blonde hair behind one ear.

"I have to tell you something." He sat back down, took a deep breath, and began to speak.

…..

"But I can't trust Harry anymore, Victoire!" Teddy had told Victoire about all the concerns he was having ever since he found his parents' names at the memorial. "He didn't tell me anything about my parents. Don't you think I have a right to know how they died, and more important, how they lived?"

"Well…yes, but Teddy, he must have had a reason for not telling you," Victoire said desperately. "Harry wouldn't keep something like that from you just because he could. Why don't you ask him about it when we get home? Tell him everything you saw at the memorial and ask him why he didn't tell you."

"Because, Victoire," Teddy began, exasperated, "if he hasn't told me yet, why should I believe that what he says is true now? For all I know, he could just be telling me lies! I have to know the truth."

Victoire sank back in her seat, failing to come up with another retort. Just then, Teddy's usual crowd of friends flooded the compartment, smiling and bright-eyed.

"The sweets are fantastic!" Marcus Cray said enthusiastically, chewing on some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, apparently oblivious to the risk he was taking in blindly choosing the next one. "I never knew that jelly beans could have so many different flavors!" Marcus, being Muggle-born, was clearly enjoying this new facet of the magical world. Suddenly, he made a rather grotesque looking face, having chosen a vomit-flavored or similarly unappetizing bean, which he spit out immediately as everyone else laughed at his misfortune.

"What are you going to do over the holiday, Teddy?" Travis asked, his pudgy face red from laughing at Marcus a tad longer than everyone else had.

"I dunno," Teddy said. "Probably just what everyone else does for Christmas. Open presents, sing songs, babysit the little kids, you know." The friends spent the remaining part of the train ride chatting and laughing about the coming days. Teddy even momentarily forgot his anger at Harry. The train pulled into King's Cross station approximately forty-five minutes later, squeaking to a halt as hundreds of eager parents and relatives milled around the platform, anxiously waiting for the students to disembark. As Teddy and Victoire exited the compartment, choruses of "Have fun!" and "See you back at school!" behind them, Victoire turned to Teddy.

"What are you planning to do?" Victoire asked quietly, a stern look upon her serenely beautiful face.

"I need to find out more about my parents. I need to know if they were good. If they loved me, if cared for me, I need to know." His voice was slightly pleading, asking her with his bright blue eyes not to tell of his mission.

"How do you plan on doing that if you're not going to ask Uncle Harry?"

Just then, an idea came to Teddy; he knew someone that certainly wouldn't lie to him. After all, this someone had lost a loved one in the battle as well, and would surely understand Teddy's desire for knowledge. "I'll find a way," Teddy replied, excited that he had found a path to the truth.

Teddy and Victoire stepped out onto Platform 9 ¾ and saw Victoire's Uncle Ron waving at them jovially, starting in their direction. "Teddy, Victoire!" he called. "Everyone else is putting up decorations," he said, pointing behind him with his thumb. "You're going to come to my house for a while until they're done," he explained when they had finally reached him. "It's good to see you little buggers," he said jokingly, pulling them both into a tight hug as they tried to wriggle away. The three of them headed back through the barrier, found a spot outside King's Cross where it was safe to Disapparate, and left London with a pop.

After the crushing darkness of Side-Along Apparition, Teddy observed that they had landed right in front of Ron and Hermione Weasley's home. It was tall, rather like the Burrow, and all the children were playing outside, bundled up against the cold as they playfully tossed snowballs to and fro. Obviously the adults had not wanted the children around while they were setting up for Christmas; it was most likely a good decision to have them out from underfoot.

As they walked inside, Teddy was determined to get time alone with Ron to ask about his parents. He was sure Ron could not possibly lie to him. How could he lie to Teddy if his own brother died in the same battle that killed Teddy's parents?

No sooner had Teddy begun developing a plan to speak to Ron in private did Victoire run outside to play in the snow with the other children, followed by her Aunt Hermione. Now it was just Teddy and Ron in the house as Teddy's heart started beating faster. This was his opportunity, and he was not going to miss it.

"Ron," he began hesitantly as Ron sat down in a nearby armchair, picking up the issue of the Daily Prophet that had been delivered that morning.

"Yes, Teddy?" he answered, not looking up from the Prophet's moving pictures and long articles.

"I wanted to ask you about the Battle. You know, the one that my parents died fighting in, eleven years ago?"

Ron set the Prophet down on a side table and looked up at Teddy, staring. "What do you want to know?" he asked, appearing scared to receive Teddy's answer.

"I want to know what part they played in it. Why were they fighting?"

Ron suddenly became very serious. "Teddy, that battle was fought against Voldemort, the most dangerous Dark Wizard of the time. Your parents were very active members of the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society that was dedicated to finding a way to defeat the Dark Lord, as he was so commonly called back then." Teddy's eyes grew wide; his parents had been good after all!

"How old was I when the battle took place?"

"You were only a few months old. Your mother was supposed to be staying with you at your grandmother's house, but, from what I've heard from Harry, she left you with your grandmother and went to Hogwarts to help your father in the battle, not wanting to miss it."

Teddy was now confused. "She left me?" he asked, his happiness squashed.

"Teddy, you have to understand that these were hard times, dark times. She was worried about your father."

"What about my father? What was he like?" Teddy asked, hoping for better, more impressive news.

"Your dad…" Ron began, obviously reliving some memory, "I remember when your dad came to Shell Cottage to tell us you were born. Everybody there was so happy, and he couldn't contain how joyful he was."

At least my dad was happy to have me, Teddy thought as Ron continued.

"We—your godfather, Hermione, and I—were so glad that he had gotten over the incident at Grimmauld Place."

Now Teddy was confused again. "What incident?"

Ron continued, not thinking about what he was revealing to this young, eleven-year-old boy. "Harry, Hermione, and I had gone off to try to find these…things to help us kill Voldemort. No one knew where we were going, but your dad found us. He said that he wanted to join us and help us out on our mission. We knew something must be going on, why else would he be so eager to accompany us? So we asked, and that's when he told us that your mother was going to have you. Even though he knew that he was going to have a kid, he said that he still wanted to come with us. He said you would be alright with your mother. Harry was…temperamental, let's say. He called him a coward for wanting to leave his wife and son, which resulted in your father getting angry and leaving."

By the end of Ron's story, Teddy was left heartbroken. Not one, but both of his parents had tried to leave him for a greater goal.

"I, uh…thanks." Ron nodded as Teddy left the room, anger bubbling within him.

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