Epilouge

Teddy Lupin had been granted special permission by Headmistress Sprout to stay at home the week after the Christmas holidays had ended to celebrate his birthday. It wasn't like he was going to drop NEWT grades because of it. People often said that Teddy had inherited his parent's brain and his father's ability to just know everything. There were also often comments about how he was definitely the child of a marauder and the biggest female menace Hogwarts had ever seen.

Today was his birthday. He was seventeen. His parents should be here, his mum crying, his dad proud. He loved his Gran, he really did, but it was on his birthday he missed them most.

Aunt Molly had found them, lying next to each other in the courtyard the night of the battle, their hands fixed together, eyes only on each other. A picture of a family of three, multi-coloured and laughing, had been discovered wedged underneath their hands. No-one knew what had happened, there were no witnesses beyond the death eater that killed them. Uncle Arthur had got revenge on the bastard, Antonio Dolohov.

He had missed them on his first day of school, when most other first years had their parents waving them off he had his Gran and Uncle Harry. Teddy knew he wasn't the only War Orphan, but it still stung.

And today, he missed them most.

His Gran found him in the treehouse, a little after sunrise, carrying a small box and two envelopes. She hadn't said anything, but had just left all three next to him and gone back inside. It had taken him a while to pluck up the courage to open the letters, he knew what they were. Gran had said that both his parents had written him a letter the night they left for battle. And today he was allowed to ready them. He gently smoothed his thumb over the long thin handwriting of his father and the messy scrawl of his mother before passing over to open the gift.

It was a watch, the traditional coming of age gift from parents to son. He felt a bubble of tears that he managed to swallow. It looked old, and was slightly dented on the back. He pulled out the note wedged beneath it and opened it slowly.

Dear Teddy, it read,

This watch belonged to your father, and on the day you were born, he took it off and put it in this box. He swore that it would be yours, it would always be yours on your seventeenth birthday. Even if we had to sell the clothes off our backs and pawn everything we owned to keep you healthy and happy, we would never have parted with that watch.

We want you to have it, with all our love, Mum and Dad xxxx

The watch fitted perfectly and, to Teddy's eye, it seemed there was an extra moon, moving outside the main ring as if timing something different. He would have to ask Gran about that.

He had decided many years ago that he would read his father's letter first because it had been written first. Hours earlier yes, but his father had still left first.

My dearest Son,

I never expected to meet, let alone fall in love with a woman quite like your mother. And I never expected that you would come along, nor how perfect you would be. I was so scared that I had ruined your life before you even had the chance to live it. I was terrified you would be like me, a social pariah, an outcast. Your mother gave me a reason to keep trying, to keep battling and I have only just realised this.

I am leaving for the War. I am fighting for you, so that there is a future for you, so you can shine just as brightly in this dull world as your mother did for me. I do not know if I will survive to see your first birthday, and if I don't, I will never see you off on the Hogwarts Express, Dora with tears in her eyes as she waves you off. I will never be able to help you with the History of Magic homework you'll hate (unless for some reason you are like me and actually enjoy HoM). I'll never get to watch your mother teaching you how to morph, or annoy your Gran, or duel. I'll never be able to meet your first girlfriend and send you letters in the mail. I'll never be able to give you girl advice (although I would advise Uncle Harry for that more than myself, I was in my forties before I married your mum). I will not be an active part of your life.

But I want you to know that I believe that there is a place where I will be able to watch over you. That I will be able to guide you when you need me most. You have never known me, but I want you to remember that I will always be in your heart whenever you need me (except for relationship advice, ask your mum instead, she isn't shy). One day, I hope your mum will tell you the story of her persistence which made me realise that a life spent alone is not really a life after all. You, and your mother, Teddy, are my life.

If I can only give you one piece of advice, now, on the brink of battle, I would tell you to make the most of life, make friends, love and be loved. Do not be cocky and arrogant, do not make your life full of cold and lonely books. Connect with people. But as you are half your mother, I doubt that anything you do will go off with less than a bang.

Live life. Take all opportunities. Stand up for what you believe is right. Know that I will always be watching, and I will always be proud of you. Look after your mother for me Teddy.

Goodbye my son, with all my heart,

Dad

Teddy bit down hard on his lip and closed his eyes. There had been so many times he had wished for his father, to talk to about things he didn't want to talk to Uncle Harry about. His dad was wise, everyone said, kind. And maybe his dad had guided him through some tough times. It was reassuring to think that his parents were watching him right now, opening his coming-of-age letters.

Once he had determined he really was not going to cry like a sissy, Teddy turned to his mothers letter. It too was hastily written, with My darling Teddy inscribed on the front.

My dearest, darling baby boy,

I have to go. I can't bear not knowing what is going on and being away from it all. And yet… as I feel you shift in my arms, your hair is the same colour as your dad's as I write this… I know that this is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. I have faced down my crazy aunt, I have battled death eater, chimeras, the most dangerous criminals on the earth. But leaving you here is by far the most difficult decision I have made my entire life. Leaving you and not knowing if I will see you again tomorrow… I can't explain it. Please forgive me for leaving.

If you are reading this, I have been gone seventeen years. I hope you have been good for your Gran and that you have caused just the right amount of chaos at Hogwarts. I hope you are passionate about what you believe in and that you have an idea of what you want to do when you've finished your NEWTS. I have no doubt that I would be so, so, proud of you. I have been since the first moment I held you in my arms. Actually, go back a few months to the day I first felt you move and realised, actually realised that I was going to have a baby.

You'll have just received Remus's watch and the note I wrote alongside it. Unless by some miracle Remus has survived and I have not and he is presenting you with the watch himself. The extra moon on the watch, the one that moves independently of the others is to mark the full moon. The 12 marks the completion of the cycle. It has been a way for your dad to surreptitiously monitor the lunar cycles without raising suspicion of his lycanthropy. It has been a cruel world for people who are different like your dad. This is why I am fighting in this battle Teddy, I am fighting for a fairer future free from prejudices. I am fighting for a future for you.

I have my own gift for you, one I did not tell your Gran about. In the attic, on top of the third beam from the door, I charmed a wooden box to appear today. It contains all of my happiest memories, my favourite photographs, and a small book where I wrote the story of your father and me. And also a few hints and tips for your last few months at Hogwarts but don't you dare let your Grandmother see that. She'd confiscate it faster than you can say Run. There are letters between us, but I think my true gift to you is my wedding ring. Give it to the girl that you know will make you want to fight and keep going.

You need to know that I love you, more than I thought my heart could hold. I stayed away from the battle this long because I needed to protect you in case crazy aunt Belle comes to pay a visit. But now I have no choice. And I don't know if I'll get to see you're first step, you're first birthday, you're first non-morphing magic (I hope it made one hell of a mess for your Gran). I won't be able to watch you open your Hogwarts letter and take you to buy your books and wave goodbye as you leave for Hogwarts embarrassed at how much I am crying. I wish I could gurantee that I will embarrass you in front of your friends at the station, be the one you come to when you're scared, or tired and just want a hug, to sing you to sleep and help you learn to read. I wish I could be the one you come to, bashful and ashamed to tell me that you think you might be in love. I wish I could laugh at you and tell you the story of your dad and me and how it can't be worse than that. I'd leave the potions and history to your dad though, he needs something right? I'd teach you Quidditch, I was a chaser in Hufflepuff and while your dad is a fair flyer, he prefers his feet firmly in the stadium despite James Potter having taught him to fly.

I'll never get to meet your girlfriends, your wife, your children. And for that I am so unbearably sorry. I shall be watching you, cherishing you and guiding you from afar though. I hope you talk to me, or if you didn't before, that you start now. When my dad died I found it helped to tell him of my troubles and made me feel like I hadn't quite lost him. Know that I have never been prouder of anything in my life than you. Believe me, you've made it two and a half months in my care and you are still alive. You're a fighter sweetie, I'll give you that! You completed my life when you came along and made it even more perfect. However stupid, and mushy, and cliché that sounds. It's the best way to describe it.

You're father and I were never perfect. Your dad was a bit more insecure about his flaws (especially the toothy, furry one) and it only took us so long to get together because he feared he would be ruining my life. He made my life better and didn't realise it for so long. What I'm trying to say Ted, is that people aren't perfect. And that trying to do the best for others sometimes just hurts all parties involved. People will try and tell you that you act like your dad, or you act like me. I don't want that for you, I want you to act like you. Pretending to be something or someone you're not is exhausting. You need to always be yourself and if people have a problem with that, well, they have lost the chance of knowing someone amazing.

But perhaps my most important piece of advice, given where I am about to go, is to stand up and fight for what you believe in. Don't back down to the bully, even if they are bigger than you and badder than you. Sometimes all it takes is the little guy with guts. Don't be mean though, that's bad, ok? No drugs or anything. That's superbad.

What I mean is, if I had back down before, I wouldn't have you now. If I had let your dad's constant rejections beat me, we wouldn't have each other and we wouldn't have you.

I have to go, please, please forgive me. And remember just how much I love you. If you ever need me, just look inside or try and talk to me. I'll do my best to answer. I'm sure God compromises over letters to the living. I love you, and even with the treat of death and destruction outside our door, these two and a half months have been the happiest of my life. I hope rather than believe that you will be a tad more well-behaved that I was for your Gran.

I love you Teddy and I will always be there for you if you need me,

Love, Mum xxxxxxxxx

…..

Teddy wiped a few tears from his cheeks, a sad smile on his face. Gran had often commented that he was just as much of a handful as his mother had been at his age. And many teachers at Hogwarts who had been there over twenty years had moaned that Teddy took after his rambunctious mother more than his studious father until McGonagall had reminded them that Lupin had been a Marauder. Some weren't old enough to remember dad's Hogwarts years.

He had never tried talking to his parents. It had always felt weird, like he was talking to himself and that was stupid. Aunt Hermione had suggested once that it might be a good idea, but hadn't pushed the idea. Maybe now was the right time to try. So Teddy settle back against the tree trunk, leaning the sheets of parchment against his knee and holding the watch, his dad's watch, in his hands.

"Hey mum," he said quietly, feeling a bit stupid, "Hey dad, I'm seventeen today. You've been gone a while…"

Over in the house, Andromeda, her thick black hair now short and grey, stood at the kitchen window with her arms crossed.

"You think he'll be ok?" She asked her companion, a middle aged, black haired bespectacled wearing man with a lightening scar.

They watched him together for a moment. They could see him start talking to the leaves on the trees, his shoulders relaxed, his hands holding onto the watch.

"He'll be fine," Harry said. "He's their son after all."

And so, they both turned to the living room where Teddy had a pile of presents waiting for him, neither wanting to pull him away from time with his parents.

A/N I never said it would be a happy epilogue. But this story is now complete. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me over the last two and a bit years. I am sorry it has taken quite so long.

Many thanks

PinkPunk010