The next morning and Teddy found himself bursting through his father's office not out of happiness but out of anger.
"Xavia's still here!" Teddy shouted, visibly enraged. Why hadn't they kicked her out yet? Performing an Unforgivable Curse on someone could put an average wizard in Azkaban! Yet when Teddy and his friends had entered the Great Hall for breakfast, there Xavia was, sitting with the rest of the Hogwarts teachers as if the events from yesterday had never happened.
"Yes Teddy. I am aware of this." His father said, not looking up from the marking he was doing at his desk.
"Why's she still here? She should be in Azkaban!" Teddy asked, angry at his father's lack of emotional involvement in all this.
"Teddy. Think about it logically. McGonagall claims that Xavia hit Roy with 4 Cruciatus Curses and yet, Roy is completely fine. There is no proof and Roy and Vic wouldn't want anyone else knowing of their abilities for that draws unneeded attention to them; something the two wish to avoid. I know it's hard to accept Teddy but there are some things you just have to live with."
Teddy looked his father in the eye before he sighed in defeat.
"I still don't like her." Teddy said, frowning and crossing his arms.
"No one said you had to like her," Lupin responded before checking the time.
"But I don't think Professor Snape will like you very much either if you're late for his class so you'd better go."
Teddy rolled his eyes, "Alright alright, I'm going. See ya in class dad." Teddy responded as he rushed out the door.
Potions class was interesting enough but Teddy was surprised to say the least when he was called to stay after class. Roy and Vic stayed with him "for moral support" Vic had claimed but he was still a bit nervous.
Finally, when the rest of the students had filled out Teddy was left having an awkward staring contest with Professor Snape.
"Give this to your father." Snape said, taking out a goblet of Wolfsbane and handing it to Teddy.
And then Teddy felt like the dumbest kid in the world. He'd totally forgotten that this was the week before January's full moon and he winced when he remembered last month's full moon.
"I have triple checked the amount of Wolfsbane." Snape said tersely at Teddy's hesitant expression and Teddy nodded. He'd have to trust Snape on this one.
"Thank you Professor." Teddy said with a little bow as he and his friends headed out the door.
Suffice to say, for the rest of the week Teddy was getting a bit paranoid. He'd taken to travelling with the Marauder's Map folded in his robe pocket for quick access. It wasn't only to avoid Xavia during the day but also to check to see if Xavia was ever in Snape's classroom when she wasn't supposed to.
Kimblee was never much of a problem anymore. Lots of people had taken to avoid Roy and Vic in the wake of what had happened on that fateful day, but it didn't really bother the boys. Actually, it worked to their advantage, the less teasing and brawls after Astronomy the better.
The week was largely uneventful. On the day before the full moon Teddy noticed Xavia in Snape's office but Snape himself was also there and so was Professor Bobo so Teddy assumed it to be a Slytherin teacher's meeting or something.
When the night of the full moon came, Teddy went with Snape to check on his father in his office. Snape being there to see if the Wolfsbane had worked like every full moon and Teddy because he had agreed to clean Snape's cauldrons in exchange for accompanying him.
Teddy watched Snape undo the many locks and spells on the door before he poked his head into the office, wand still drawn.
"Lupin." Snape said loudly and firmly and he was rewarded with the faintest of yips which made Teddy's heart leap.
Snape closed the door and reapplied all the safety wards before turning to Teddy with a sneer.
"He is fine. Now get back to your dorms."
Teddy nodded with a small smile before running off to the Gryffindor common room feeling 10 pounds lighter.
"How'd it go?" Vic asked from his position on the window sill.
"He's fine." Teddy said happily.
"Hmm..." Vic said as he continued to stare distractedly out the window with his omnioculars. Only he wasn't staring at the stars, instead he was staring at the ground.
"What's wrong?" Teddy asked.
"I dunno. I saw someone go into the Forest. I wanna see if I can catch who it is when he comes back. Probably just Hagrid though. I saw him leave from the forest last week." Vic said, looking over at Teddy.
Teddy raised an eyebrow.
"You saw Hagrid last week?" he asked.
"Yup. At least I'm pretty sure it was Hagrid. It was the middle of that blizzard so I didn't really get a good look."
Teddy made a "hmmm" noise before drawing out the Marauder's Map. He checked for Hagrid.
"Well. Hagrid's not on the map." He said, and was about to put it away when he noticed something.
"Hey, I don't think Xavia's on the map either." Teddy said in confusion, double checking the whole thing.
Vic got up off the ledge and looked at the map. Sure enough, Xavia's name was nowhere in sight.
"Think it's a fluke?" Vic asked but Teddy shook his head.
"The map never lies...unless she found a way to erase herself from it." Teddy said after a pause.
"You sure this thing covers all of Hogwarts?" Vic asked, taking the map and turning it in all different angles.
"Yeah. Except for the Room or Requirement or something." Teddy said, "Don't ask where that is. I have no clue." He added at Vic's confused expression.
"Think she's in there then?"
"No clue and even if she was we can't exactly go chasing after her."
Vic nodded before resuming his watch by the window and Teddy went back to pouring over the map, making sure to watch the dot that said "Remus Lupin" carefully. The full moon was high in the sky, illuminating much of the Hogwarts grounds but unfortunately for Vic and Teddy, by the time Hagrid's and Xavia's dots reappeared on the map, the boys were fast asleep.
Saturday morning and Teddy was up bright and early, cursing himself when he realized he'd fallen asleep before he had found out where Hagrid and Xavia had been. He sighed in defeat when he checked the map again only to find that Hagrid was now back in his hut and Xavia, in her room next to her office.
Vic was already gone but Teddy wasn't in the mood to freeze himself outside in a game of "catch the snitch" so he figured he might as well get a head start on those cauldrons he was supposed to clean.
Quickly getting dressed in his casual clothes and slipping on his dragon skin coat as an afterthought, Teddy threw a treat over at Fuzz in his cage and ran out the door.
An hour later and Teddy was just finishing up when Snape entered his classroom, pausing to take in the soot covered boy with his head in a cauldron.
"Morning Professor." Teddy said politely before he froze for coming up right behind Snape was none other than Professor Xavia.
Teddy tensed and chose the best form of coping with such a problem: Ignorance. Unfortunately, Xavia felt like such problems needed to be addressed.
"You here to steal something boy?" she demanded but Teddy didn't respond.
"And what in heaven's name is this atrocity?" Xavia went on, picking up Teddy's coat from where he had draped it over a chair to prevent it from getting dirty.
Teddy tried to ignore her as she rambled on about children of werewolves befriending children of Death Eaters and going on to say how fitting it was for such child to own something as ugly as that coat.
Teddy was in the middle of marvelling at Xavia's ability to spew out random, lengthy monologues when suddenly Xavia screamed out
"Incendio!"
Teddy spun around. He knew Xavia was stupid but she could at least tell a dragon skin coat from a regular coat couldn't she?!
Obviously not for the sight that he saw when he turned around was indeed one for the books. Oh how he wished he had a camera.
Dragon skin could block or deflect almost all spells and as a result when Xavia foolishly decided to catch it on fire it had been thrown right back at her and now Teddy was standing in front of one, slightly charred, Professor Xavia.
Teddy couldn't help but grin. Hell, it was hard enough not to burst out laughing and even Snape had a brief grin on his face before he collected himself. Xavia however was not laughing.
"You! What did you do?" Xavia shrieked, grabbing Teddy by the hair.
"It's a dragon skin coat! It repels spells!" Teddy said, no longer laughing. Instead he was trying to stop from screaming as Xavia pulled harder.
"And how did a child like you get one?! You've been stealing haven't you?!"
"My parents gave it to me for Christmas!" Teddy shouted in a mix of anger and pain.
"Put the boy down Xavia." Snape said, grabbing Xavia's arm. Xavia paused to stare at Snape.
"You don't honestly believe a werewolf is capable of buying a dragon skin coat!" Xavia exclaimed, not letting go of Teddy.
"I don't see why not. His father earns just as much as you do and his mother works directly under the head of the Auror division." Snape said tersely.
Xavia, knowing she had lost, wrenched her arm out of Snape's grasp and instead bent down to Teddy's ear.
"Mark my words boy. You think life's just fun and games but I wonder how brats like you taste. That werewolf of yours is going to get what's coming for him and so are you." She threatened before wrenching her hand out of Teddy's hair, taking a few strands with her.
Teddy bit his cheek to keep from crying out in anger or pain and Xavia turned on her heel and exited the dungeon.
Fuming, Teddy quickly got to his feet. He closed his eyes and heaved a deep breath, expelling all his frustrations. When he figured he was calm enough to not scream in front of Snape he opened his eyes.
"Thanks for the save Professor." Teddy said. Why was it that a teacher always had to save his ass when it came to Xavia?
Snape looked at Teddy for a moment but gave no sign that he had heard Teddy's thanks.
"Finish and go." Snape said before heading over to his office and shutting the door.
Teddy sighed before replacing his coat back onto the chair, rolling up his sleeves and getting back to work. He made a mental note to watch Xavia like a hawk from now on, not that he wasn't already trying. Still, knowing Xavia, her threats usually held some form of truth and Teddy's insides churned just thinking about it.
A few hours later and Teddy was busy telling Vic and Roy what had happened earlier that morning over a game of soccer in the snow.
"That's freaky." Vic said, "I'd start sleeping with my wand under my pillow if I were you."
Teddy laughed, "So should you."
"Yeah but I have a very good fight or flight reflex." Vic said mockingly. "I don't stare at the opponent for ages with my mouth open before I act!" he said, laughing as Teddy tackled Vic into the snow.
"I'll show you how I act in a fight!" Teddy growled as the two boys rolled around in the snow.
Roy, who was busy playing with his Rubik's Cube looked up and rolled his eyes at the two which only riled Vic more as he then in turn tackled his brother playfully as well.
By the time lunch rolled around the trio had managed to get fully soaked.
"I wish spring would hurry up and get here." Vic said, as the boys spilt up to go to their common rooms to dry off.
"Aww come on. Winter's got its perks." Teddy said as he quickly ran to the bathroom and got changed.
"If you say so..."
While Vic busied himself with Fuzz, Teddy took out the map again. Xavia was in her office and Roy was in the Slytherin common rooms. Scanning along he saw his dad was still in the defense office much to his relief. If his dad was dead his dot wouldn't appear on the map.
"Well. The hag's in her office so let's go eat." Teddy said.
"Finally!" Vic said, sticking Fuzz back into his cage and bolting out the room.
"Alright, you two stay here."
Slowly, Teddy crept through the door of his father's office, wincing as the door made a loud squeak as he entered. He found his father curled up on the sofa fast asleep and Teddy grinned. Carefully he placed a cup of coffee and a sandwich on his father's desk before silently leaving the room.
"Mission accomplished." Teddy whispered as he closed to door.
"Good cuz Xavia's coming!" Vic said, grabbing Teddy and running to hide behind a nearby pillar.
"Colloportus." Roy muttered and Teddy heard the distinct sound of the office door being locked from the inside before Roy ran off to join the pair behind the pillar.
Xavia walked right by the boys, oblivious although she did pause to glare sharply at the office door before making her way down the hall. She was wearing a travelling cloak and Teddy noticed Vic's eyebrows raise but they all kept still to avoid detection.
When Xavia was well out of sight the boys sighed in relief.
"What was with you back there?" Teddy asked Vic who was still staring after where Xavia had walked though.
"That's the cloak." Vic said, face set into a frown.
"Huh?" Teddy asked and Roy looked totally confused.
"That's the cloak I saw on the person who came out of the Forbidden Forest. I'm sure of it." Vic said, crossing his arms.
Teddy and Vic exchanged glances.
"You sure? What if Hagrid's got the same cloak?" Teddy asked but Vic shrugged.
"Maybe he does but I remembered something. If it was Hagrid then the time I saw her...him...whatever! The point is about a week ago I saw it entering the castle. If it was Hagrid then why would he go to the castle? He'd go to his hut. He rarely ever enters the castle." Vic said and Teddy too realized that Vic was right.
"Uhhh. Guys?" Roy asked and Teddy and Vic grinned. They'd never told Roy about this stuff.
"Come on. Let's go the library. I've got some homework to do. Walk and talk guys," Teddy said as the three boys headed off to the library while telling Roy everything they'd seen.
When they'd finished Roy seemed to understand.
"You realize you have very little proof right?" Roy asked sceptically and the two boys nodded.
"I dunno about you guys but I think something big's coming up." Teddy muttered as they entered the library.
"And we're gonna have to be the ones to stop it." He finished and his friends nodded. Now a days it didn't hurt to be a bit paranoid, especially when it concerned one Professor Xavia.
AN: If you haven't noticed I'm using the words soccer and football interchangeably since I'm Canadian. I've made sure that when Teddy and his friends actually say the word though it's football...