Note: Hi guys, remember me? Probably not, it's been quite a long while! I'm sorry I've not updated, I spend most of my life buried under mounds of homework these days. Anyway, here goes...

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J K Rowling does. I own nothing.

14: A First for Chester

Whilst Teddy Lupin lied frequently to his father, Chester Burton preferred to tell lies to his teachers instead. His owl had ruined his homework having mistaken it for the paper lining the bottom of it's cage, the dungbombs in his pockets had been planted there by a Slytherin to get him into trouble, he was not responsible for the foul smelling green sludge that had manifested the Charms corridor and Orion Lynch's cauldron exploding, coating half of the dungeon with swelling solution, had absolutely nothing to do with him. Yes, Chester Burton had lied and deceived his teachers on many occasions to hide his misbehavior, but never before had he willingly gone looking for a teacher to admit to his crimes.

However, he realized nervously as he stood outside of Professor Lupin's office, rocking back and forward on his heels in apprehension, that was all about to change.

"Come in," The professor's voice called, but Chester made no move to open the door. Perhaps he should just go back to Gryffindor Tower, he mused. Maybe he could talk some sense into Teddy, there was no need to go running to Remus just because Teddy was having a bad day, he couldn't have truly meant what he had said...

But Teddy had never said anything like that before. He had sounded like he'd actually meant it too...

Chester reached for the door handle and opened the door before he could persuade himself that it was a bad idea.

"Chester," The Defence teacher acknowledged as the boy shuffled into the office, letting the door swing shut behind him.

Chester forced himself to stop staring at the floor and looked up to find Remus sat behind his desk, quill in hand, a pile of marked essays sat neatly to one side.

"Professor...I have to talk to you." The boy blurted, for he was sure that if he were to waste time with proper greetings he would use those precious seconds to persuade himself to lie about why he was there. "It's Teddy...he's...being weird."

"Being weird?" Remus echoed, eyebrow raised as he set down his quill and gestured to the chair in front of him.

Chester took a seat, hands clasped together in his lap nervously.

"Yeah." He mumbled, his resolve beginning to falter slightly.

"In what way is he being...weird?" Remus asked, not sounding at all surprised by the claim, and when Chester looked up he found the werewolf leaning back almost lazily in his chair, smiling encouragingly. The boy felt a little better. He had always liked Teddy's father, he was easy to talk to. Chester rarely felt stupid when talking to Remus, his ability to slip from formality to a casualness that would befit a lazy summer afternoon back at the Lupins' family home was comforting.

"He...he said something strange just now when we were coming out of the Headmistress' office...gosh he's gonna kill me for coming here...but...well...I dunno that I know what to do..." Chester said quietly, stumbling over his words and pulling a face. At this pained expression Remus smiled a little more and got to his feet.

"Don't worry, Chester." He said calmly, pulling out his wand and setting the kettle in the corner to heat with a small flick. "I'm sure Teddy would understand you coming to see me if you were concerned about him. Now..." He pulled open a draw and pulled out a large silver tin, placing it on the desk in front of Chester. "Why don't we start from the beginning? What were the two of you doing in the Headmistress' office?"

Chester watched him pull the lid of the tin open to reveal an array of brightly colored sweets. Apparently the professor secretly frequented Honeydukes sweet shop at weekends. Remus scooped a small handful of Every Flavored Beans up into his palm and pushed the tin across the table towards the boy. Chester gave a small smile of thanks as he chose a liquorish wand and chewed on it nervously.

"Madam Pince made us go." He admitted, fidgeting. "She threw us out the library for...arguing with Orion Lynch."

"I see." Remus said, voice only marginally stern as he studied the beans in his hand suspiciously. "So...who cursed who?"

Chester grimaced at how easily Remus had seen the true meaning of his words.

"Teddy cursed Orion." He admitted, eyes on the floor. He dared a glance up to see if Remus appeared as deeply ashamed as the Headmistress had predicted and found Remus holding a bright red bean up for inspection, frowning deeply. The boy was not sure if the frown was one of concentration as the bean was scrutinized or one of disapproval to hear of his son's activities. When the professor said nothing Chester went on with his story, eyes back on the floor.

"So Madam Pince got really mad and sent Orion to the Hospital Wing to get the boils off his face..." He paused to glance up again to gage Remus' reaction to this detail and found him still studying beans, though Chester was sure his jaw had tightened somewhat. The young Gryffindor took a bite of liquorish wand and continued. "And she made us go to see Professor McGonagall. So we went up and she was mad with us and she told Teddy she was gonna write to his mum and speak to you about him this evening and that you would both be ashamed to hear about it, people would think Merlin knows what if they heard the son of the Head of Aurors was attacking other students...and...then Teddy said..." He trailed off into silence, swallowing hard. There was a long silence broken by the sound of Remus pouring the beans back into the tin. Chester looked up to see him leaning forward in his chair, hands together on the desk before him as if he were suddenly very much interested in what he was hearing.

"What did he say, Chester?" Remus asked, voice much more serious than before, causing a wave of nerves to wash over the child. Chester did not reply for over two minutes.

"He...he said...he said that...that you didn't give a damn about him, or his behavior and that she could tell you whatever she liked 'cause you wouldn't care...and...and then when we were outside the office he said...he said she shouldn't bother telling you about him cursing Orion 'cause...'cause it wouldn't happen again...he...he wouldn't stand up for you again...he said...he said you didn't deserve it."

There was silence once again and Chester slowly looked up at Remus. The werewolf's face was blank, expressionless, but his hands had come to grip the edges of the desk and his eyes were slightly widened as if shocked. Hurt, Chester supposed. Deeply hurt.

"I see." Remus said again, though his voice was much quieter this time.

"And that's weird, Teddy never said anything like that before, he always goes on about how great you are." Chester added, feeling almost guilty that he had shared Teddy's declaration with the boy's father. He felt compelled to soften the blow.

Remus said nothing. He looked as though he were lost in thought.

"Has Teddy said anything else to you recently? About me? Or his mother?" He asked at last, when his musings came to nothing.

Chester sucked on his liquorish wand thoughtfully. He came to the conclusion that today, for once, he would tell his teacher nothing but the truth. The whole truth.

"He said you and Mrs. Lupin were arguing. 'Cause he found some letters..." He trailed off again as Remus' eyes widened even more. The boy felt himself reddening in embarrassment as he admitted that he knew all about what was clearly a very close kept secret. But after a moment Remus' features relaxed again as if he had forced himself to accept this fact.

"Anything else?"

"Um...well...he told me about that on the train...and then...that night we came to find you...he was all hysterical and he told me you and his mum were still arguing, he heard you or something..." Chester took another bite of liquorish. "Then...umm...well we went to Hogsmeade..." He trailed off and sighed heavily. It began to dawn on him just how much he was going to admit.

"What happened in Hogsmeade?" Remus asked, voice more casual as if he were managing to handle his shock and discomfort the more that was revealed to him.

"Well...I dared Teddy to go in the Hogs Head...and he morphed...and he heard you talking to Arthur Weasley..." He halted abruptly, for Remus had gotten suddenly to his feet. Clearly his ability to cope with shock had suddenly dissolved. Chester watched him step swiftly out from behind the desk and stoop down next to the chest that Teddy had opened the day beforehand. Chester held his breath, gripping the arms of his chair in panic as Remus tested the lid, finding it unlocked.

"Oh Merlin..." The professor whispered, letting the lid fall shut again. He got quickly to his feet and turned to the fireplace, grabbing a handful of floo powder. "I need you to fetch Teddy for me, Chester." He said hurriedly, before throwing the floo powder into the fireplace.

"Yes sir." Chester mumbled, though as he left he was sure Remus did not hear him, for he was too busy crouching before the fire, head in the flames.

"Harry? Is Dora there?" Chester heard him ask urgently. "Can you ask her to come downstairs? In fact tell her to floo over here. Yes, it will be easier for her when she decides to hex me into the middle of next week. Is it that bad? You have no idea..."