Well, here it is. The inevitable time jump. D; *sobs* But oh well, I sort of had to do it at some point or else all the passing chapters in the period that would've been the time jump would just be incredibly boring fillers. xD So sorry, but here we go.
A Harry Potter Fanfiction
THE WOLF AND HIS MOON
Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting
12. The Discovery
The next few weeks passed by far quicker than Teddy could have ever anticipated, his days spent grinning and laughing passing by in practically the blink of an eye. After the Slug Club welcome back dinner, he sat in on all the seventh year Advanced Potions classes, tucked neatly next to Anya at her desk, watching as she busied herself about her work with light conversation fluttering between the two. He noticed a change in himself over the passing weeks as he spent his time amongst Anya, only seeing Victoire in the lessons he sat in on, he was overwhelmed with euphoria, even his contempt for Victoire evaporating away. But, he began to wonder if it was a case of absence makes the heart grow fonder or out of sight, out of mind.
He also wondered what was stopping him from breaking up with Victoire, he had considered doing it several times as time went on, but could never even bring himself to face her, let alone announce the end of their relationship. He soon realised why that was as he made his way through the winding corridors of Hogwarts, passing by the children of his godfather and Victoire's many cousins, grinning at them and greeting their excited expressions. He couldn't bring himself to break up with her because he wasn't just risking her despising him for doing such a thing, but he was risking those he considered his surrogate family sharing such contempt towards him for hurting their blood kin.
He would lose the comforting arms, the listening ears, the grinning lips, the welcoming meals that the Weasleys and the Potters greeted him with, little Lily Potter even going so far as to proclaim him her own family and express her desire that Victoire and him would marry, tying him to their families forever. Teddy had shared her desire at first, blinded by the beauty and charm of a Veela–and the love and comfort of the Weasleys and Potters–but he had been naive, naive to rush into a relationship with someone after a few passionate kisses and lingering touches, naive to almost tie their relationship to her whole family, risking their disdain if he were to end it.
He knew he had to though, it was wrong to keep such a thing going when he had already abandoned any romantic feelings for Victoire, it was not only unfair on him to keep himself locked in the relationship, but it was unfair on her too. He kept reminding himself that, but he couldn't help but feel a pit of guilt form in his stomach, twisting it furiously. It was because of Anya that he felt this way, it was his fault that this was happening, he was the one with feelings for another despite his proclaimed devotion to Victoire.
He suspected he would have to tell her the truth of why he was going to end their relationship, but feared her response, well-aware that even though she appeared outgoing and carefree, the wrath of a Veela was not one to be taken lightly. If Anya was not such a capable witch, he would've feared for her safety at Victoire's hands should she take the true form of an enraged veela. He had never seen the transformation before, only being told that the young beautiful features of a Veela would mould into a vicious creature akin to a Harpie, their faces becoming that of a cruel-beaked bird whilst scaled wings burst from their shoulders, spheres of flames erupting from their hands. They were a deadly creature, although he hoped that due to Victoire's mixed blood of both human and Veela, she could not take such a form, or at least hers would not be so lethal.
Teddy sighed to himself, pushing the thoughts into the back of his mind as he reached the door to his room, having retired after another visit to Hogwarts. He had intended to break the news to Victoire that evening, but as soon as he saw her bubbling over with laughter with her friends, he shrunk away out of sight, not wishing to disrupt her joy. He would wait until she was alone tomorrow, then he would do what he had to. He only hoped Anya would not hold his relationship with Victoire against him, hoping the girl he was coming to care for would not despise him for hurting both her and Victoire so unnecessarily by dragging out the relationship.
He slipped into his room, gently shutting the door behind him and flicking on the light before jumping back in fright, his heart thumping violently against his chest. His godfather stood before him, matching his height with his ebony locks combed neatly out of his face, exposing the now ordinary scar splattered down his forehead. His slender figure was dressed in an impeccable suit, however the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his tie hung loosely about his neck, the buttons of his collar undone to give him a more casual appearance. His startling emerald eyes sat behind his usual round-rimmed glasses, peering at Teddy curiously as he slowly recovered from his shock.
"What are you doing here, Harry?" Teddy asked, his eyes a questioning crystal blue.
"I've just come for a visit," He exclaimed with a grin, sitting himself down on Teddy's bed with a smile on his lips. "I wanted to see how my godson is doing."
"I've been doing alright, what about you? Is Lily enjoying having the house all to herself now that both her brothers are here?" He joked with a chuckle that Harry shared.
"Things have been a bit hectic at the office, but otherwise I'm great. And Lily is definitely loving having all the space to herself, her and Hugo spend almost every day together," Harry replied happily, folding his hands onto his laps before his tone became serious. "I am also here to see how your investigation in progressing, Teddy, I haven't received an owl from you since you first got here."
"The investigation has been going fine." He lied, his gaze averting from Harry's curious expression.
Truth be told, the investigation had completely slipped Teddy's mind over the last few weeks, pushed the corner of the his psyche to gather dust as he busied himself conversing away with Anya, fretting over breaking the news to Victoire. He had not looked any further into any of the reports nor Anya's frightened behaviour regarding her and her mother's safety, nor his previous suspicions that she may have known more than she was letting on. He was starting to realise why aurors never seemed to have many relationships, at least not successful ones, they were bloody complicated. He was only an auror in training and already girls were distracting him from his work.
"Actually," He piped with a sigh, bowing his head in shame as he knew it was futile to lie to his godfather any longer. "The investigation hasn't progressed much since my last owl."
"Really?" Harry arched his eyebrows, pursing his lips together into a straight line. "Well, that is disappointing. Perhaps I shouldn't have allowed you to come to Hogwarts, if it is distracting you from your work. Have you not progressed at all?"
Harry's lips pulled into a frown of dissatisfaction as Teddy reluctantly shook his head, unable to meet his godfather's disappointed gaze.
"What about the lead on the Crafting girl? Have you chased that up?" Harry stood, folding his hands behind his back and bringing his features to level with Teddy's. "Maybe you weren't ready for this. Maybe I should pull you from the investigation and maybe I will, unless you pull your head in and get back to work immediately."
"I will, just being back here, everything sort of got me off track," Teddy admitted, his shoulders slumping forward with a look embarrassment spreading across his fair features. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Teddy, all of us have given into distractions once in our careers, I guess it's best you did it in your training," Harry sympathised with a small smile, clapping a hand around one of Teddy's shoulders before his tone dropped to a serious one once again. "But please don't let it happen again. If you cannot complete this investigation or even progress further into it, I'll have to pull you from your training and perhaps give you another mentor who won't allow you to be distracted."
"But what if I don't know where to go from here in the investigation?"
"Well, why did you come here in the first place? To learn more about the wizarding family from where the reports originated through that girl," He explained. "Why don't you do just that then? Look into her family background, her relation to the village, and so on."
With a soft farewell, Harry swept out of the room, leaving Teddy to flop back onto his bed, burying his face in his hands with a sigh of distress. He had not meant to shirk his responsibilities and he had not even considered the repercussions a little distraction could have for both himself and his godfather. He groaned, rolling onto his side as he mulled over Harry's advice, maybe he should begin with investigating Anya. Now that they were on good terms, she might be more willing to speak to him about the events, or at least he hoped she would.
As his hands fell from his face, his eyes narrowed at an object dropped down the side of his bed curiously, inspecting it before smirking in triumph. He quickly snatched up his bag from the ground, recalling chucking it down there in a burst of frustration after the run-in between Victoire and Anya after their first Advanced Potions class of the year. He tore back the lid of his bag, tugging out the tome Slughorn had lent him before tossing the rucksack aside, sitting up in his bed to focus on the book. Slughorn had said it contained notes on all students at Hogwarts at any given time, this one in particular regarding those in the school when Anya's mother was in her seventh year, from this he could learn any extra information about both of her parents.
He skimmed his fingers over the cover before delicately peeling it open, moving each slab of parchment with caution as if it were to shatter under his touch. Once he reached the section allocated towards seventh years, he glanced over the information regarding the former Slytherin Jeanne Crafting before frowning in disappointment. Nothing there strayed from what Slughorn had told him, she was a notably brilliant and driven student, although relatively solitary, she excelled in her classes.
He reluctantly flicked towards the section marked Hufflepuff, the house Anya said her father Virgil Romulus had been sorted into. He hated the idea of digging up information on her late father, knowing the agony of losing a parent all too well himself, having lost both in the first year of his life. He sifted through the list of seventh year students in the house his own mother was once in before his frown lengthened. The name Virgil Romulus was absent from the list, not even mentioned once in any notes.
He assured himself it had to be a mistake, quickly flicking through every page of the tome, but no such name appeared in any year or any house, not even a single note regarding the man Anya claimed to be her father was present. But she had assured Teddy of her father's age matching her mother's, in fact, he was a few months younger, the pair having met in their seventh year at Hogwarts, falling in love instantly and then having her a few years later. As he pressed the book shut, his discovery dawned on him, Virgil Romulus wasn't real.
Only one question remained: Did Anya know that?
