Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy this final chapter. Extra thanks for sticking around till the end.

Soul Mates

Dimly aware of the arguing going on nearby, Teddy subconscious processed what was being said even as he paid it little mind. His brain currently felt fuzzy, like he'd gone days without decent sleep and food, so he didn't attempt to wake up or even try to stop the fighting going on between his lover and a voice he didn't recognize but who apparently wanted to take Regulus's pulse. Which was just stupid, Teddy thought to himself, because the Slytherin didn't have one. No heartbeat either, though the man definitely had a heart even if the stubborn ass wouldn't like to admit it even under penalty of death. He'd have to get him to own up to that though, since he loved the idiot and he wasn't going to settle for anything less than Regulus's heart in return. Figuring out how to pull that off was going to have to wait until his brain was working properly though, especially since he'd much rather drift back into the sleep he'd been in earlier before the arguing had pulled him further into awareness.

Just as he had decided to block their voices out and do precisely that, he heard Regulus threaten to use his wand to cause the man's head to be shoved up his own ass. Literally.

Teddy didn't know if that was possible, he really hoped it wasn't, but if anyone knew how to do that it would be Regulus. Or a Weasley, but he had no intention of putting that idea in their dangerous little heads by asking them later. And who the hell had been dumb enough to give his lover a wand anyway, Teddy wondered as he struggled to wake up, needing to tell the Slytherin that there would be no maiming.

Heavy lashes lifting just a little Teddy blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light before focusing in on the face so close to his, the Gryffindor's lips curving naturally into a small smile automatically. "Hey. No wand using, remember?"

"Not your wand." Regulus rasped out, his voice raw with supressed emotion as he reached out and stroked a hand through Teddy's hair before pulling back his hand, well aware of their audience and unsure just how the Gryffindor wanted their relationship presented. "About time you woke up."

Confused by the look in the man's eyes, as well as the voice of someone asking him how he was feeling, Teddy gave Regulus a questioning look.

"You were attacked by Carrick Dolohov. Do you remember?"

Scrunching up his face in concentration Teddy could remember being in a great deal of physical pain, lying on the ground and screaming when- "He used Avada Kedavra on you!"

"He did? And it had no effect? Most interesting!"

Teddy only vaguely listened to Regulus tell the man he now recognized as one of the top healers at St. Mungos that if he called him interesting, fascinating, or a medical marvel one more time he was going to put him in one of his own hospital beds. All he could think about was the fact that Regulus had been on the receiving end of the most unforgivable of curses and lived. Or at least was still with him and looking as solid and human as the man could.

"You look older." Teddy muttered, the observation not really that important but his brain was still a tad fuzzy.

"A little older than you, yes." He didn't say that he'd deliberately appeared older when he'd come back into being because he knew the Gryffindor found him sexier when he didn't look like a teenager. He'd expected to find them in their house, not in an alleyway with Teddy bleeding out on the ground. This was not the way he'd intended for their night to go.

"But he didn't hurt you?" Regulus looked fine from what he could see, but his Slytherin was the type who would view a massive injury as a flesh wound not worth mentioning. The Black Knight from that Monty Python movie his granddad had apparently liked so much had nothing on a member of the Black family.

Huh…Black and Black. The irony.

Further discussion of what had occurred earlier was cut off abruptly as Harry came running into the room, wild haired and obviously worried out of his mind though his expression became comically relieved when he saw that Teddy was conscious and appeared uninjured. He'd been contacted earlier as he was listed as Teddy's contact should he require medical assistance, and he'd never dealt well with injuries in relation to his children. Had Ginny not been away on a girls' weekend he'd have brought her with him to keep him calm. Ironically the two men had long ago decided that it was for the best if Harry were to be told first, so that Andromeda could be spared if at all possible, but Ginny was pretty much in charge of deciding whether Teddy's grandmother or the family needed to be called in.

Hurrying over to his godson's bedside Harry demanded to know what had happened, having only been told that his godson had been attacked and brought to St. Mungos.

Clearing his throat Teddy gave a summary of what had happened from the time he'd left the pub to waking up in his hospital bed, squeezing the hand Harry slid into his own when the healer explained the extent of his injuries and the fact that Regulus had already dealt with closing the wounds when they'd arrived at the hospital.

"We'll put out a bulletin for Dolohov-." Harry began.

"You'll find his body in that alley."

Both Aurors looked in Regulus's direction with looks on their faces that said that that was the last thing they wanted to hear from him. Not that that fazed Regulus in the slightest, not in this case. He had simply changed the trajectory of the man's curse, so technically he hadn't murdered the man so much as helped the man kill himself. One could even argue it had been an act of mercy on his part given what Andromeda would have done to the bastard once she got ahold of him. And she would have, he would have helped her if necessary.

As an afterthought the Slytherin somewhat reluctantly handed over Dolohov's wand to Harry.

Taking it wearily Harry wrapped it up in his handkerchief and then deposited it in his jacket pocket. "Okay then. I'll send people to retrieve the body and investigate the scene." He could only pray that it reflected Teddy and Regulus's versions of what had happened. He'd been prematurely aged enough in his lifetime. And for the moment he would concentrate on getting Teddy home and the proper people notified of what had happened, Harry told himself, turning his attention to the healer watching them all with interest. "Does my godson need to stay here? I assume he's been given a potion to replenish the blood he lost and Regulus closed the wounds."

"Provided he's supervised through the night, just in case, I would say he can go home with you." The old healer informed Harry before adding that he would very much like to examine Regulus before the men left so that he could determine exactly what was going on there. The skin thing in particular interested him.

Ignoring the death glare Regulus aimed in the man's direction Harry asked what the healer meant about the 'skin' thing.

"Well you see his body temperature seems to change depending on his mood and who's touching him. Quite fascinating, really. Especially given the fact that he shouldn't exist, much less have a form. He's refused any investigation of his person, even after Mr. Lupin was taken care of…which took some doing given how distraught you were when you brought him in, Young Man." The healer's words were directed at Regulus now. "Really, after you traumatized so many of my staff, letting me look you over seems the least you could do."

"I'm not a young man."

"I'm well aware of your age, Mr. Black. I remember you when you were six, and feeling quite inconsolable over the fact that your brother had suffered an extreme allergic reaction to a 'potion' he made from plants he'd found in your backyard. They could hear you from one end of the floor to the other."

Flinching, especially since he remembered his father's coldly furious reaction to his tears, Regulus informed Harry that if he didn't want another dead body to deal with they had better leave with Teddy now.

Throwing aside the light sheets that had been covering him Teddy sat up, feeling a little lightheaded but otherwise pretty decent all things considering. And as he'd hoped all attention immediately went to him, both Regulus and his godfather moving in to help him to his feet and to support him from either side. Thanking the much older than he'd realized healer for his help, Teddy apologized for any mental scarring Regulus had caused the man's staff earlier. Should they ever want Regulus's status evaluated they knew who to come to, but for now that wasn't open for discussion or examination.

"Not happening. Ever." Was the Slytherin's final word on the matter.

)

All three men were a little surprised to find that Alexei was still with Hugo when they arrived at Grimmauld Place, the two men looking a little mushed around the edges but dressed and aware enough to pick up on the fact that the men flanking Teddy weren't doing so because the man had had too much to drink. Both Harry and Teddy thought Regulus could have told Alexei that his relative was dead in a less blunt way, but the other Slytherin seemed more annoyed by the fact that he'd have to go to the funeral than his loss of a family member. Carrick was no loss to him or the world as far as Alexei was concerned.

Once the younger men had been updated Hugo volunteered to go and inform Andromeda of what had happened, none of them wanting to imagine how the woman would react, and punish them, if they chanced her finding out some other way. Alexei announced he would go with the man since everyone knew it wasn't safe for Hugo to dissipate and apparate without proper supervision, which worked for everyone.

After they left and Teddy was in his own bed, Harry got busy using his patronuses to send off messages to various people while ignoring the fact that Regulus was helping Teddy get into his pajamas while they talked in voices too low for him to hear. Once the first round of patronuses had been sent it was time to take Teddy's statement officially, with a spell around the two aurors to prevent a certain Slytherin from overhearing since Regulus was sitting nearby and had refused to let Teddy out of his sight.

Both Gryffindors doing their best to ignore the other man, which wasn't easy since they both knew what he was capable of when unsupervised, the two managed to go through all the steps as well as discuss whether or not Regulus could be held accountable for his actions should the Dolohov family push for that. Neither thought it was possible, even if the family were to argue that the Slytherin was 'alive' enough to be charged. The man had acted in defense of Teddy, who'd required immediate medical attention. Regulus had has no weapon of his own, so he'd used the other man's illegal curse against him in order to save Teddy's life.

That was their argument and they'd stick with it.

Neither man was surprised when Andromeda showed up to see for herself that Teddy was all right as they were wrapping things up, the older woman giving her very surprised younger cousin a big hug of thanks before striding across the room fuss over her only grandchild.

Leaving her to that Harry walked over to where Regulus had been sitting earlier, curious as to what the man had been writing down in between glances in Teddy's direction earlier. Names, he saw, many of which he recognized, and had either put in, seen, or wanted to put in Azkaban over the years.

"I'm not done yet." Regulus informed Harry as he moved to stand beside his brother's godson. "I'll write out all the names and you can mark down which are currently not in prison. We'll deal with their crimes and what I know first, then move on to lengthening the stay of those already incarcerated."

Harry tightened his grip on the sheet of paper, just in case Regulus tried to take it from him. "I thought you weren't a weasel?"

"I'm not. But if I had told you everything I knew about Carrick Dolohov…maybe you would have been able to arrest him sooner and he wouldn't have hurt Teddy. Those people on the list, they might be a threat to him too someday which means they need to be taken care of immediately. Therefore I am willing to assist you in seeing them imprisoned since there's no way I'm entrusting Teddy's safety to the likes of you and your ilk."

"REGULUS!"

Both men immediately looking in Teddy's direction, bodies braced to defend their loved one, no one in the room knew quite what to make of the fact that Teddy didn't and wasn't explaining why he'd yelled, jumped out of bed, and hurled himself across the room to throw his arms around the Slytherin in a crushing hug.

Regulus had closed his eyes automatically, not wanting Andromeda to see his true reaction to the contact in them, and so no one truly saw the Slytherin's reaction before he buried his face in Teddy's neck. Because as soon as their bare skin made contact Regulus felt like he'd been hit by an avalanche, only it was emotion that buried him instead of snow. And though he'd accepted that he loved Teddy with all his heart Regulus knew that it wasn't his love for the man he was experiencing, but Teddy's love for him. The warmth and beauty of it, the way it wrapped around him and filled his being with joy could only come from the love of his life. His soul's mate.

Experiencing the same thing, Teddy's whole face lit up as he tightened his hold, knowing that what he was feeling was Regulus's love for him. It was turbulent and had edges, it was, after all, a heart that had been hardened and shielded for decades before being cracked open to reveal the soft center the Slytherin had hidden away for so long. He felt honored to be trusted with it, and silently communicated to the man that he'd never take it for granted and treasure it always.

)

Watching the two with his usual curiosity Hugo walked over to throw an arm around his uncle's shoulder, sensing that the older man was beginning to get an inkling as to just what the nature of Teddy's relationship with Regulus was. Poor man. "Teddy just realized that the ring disappeared and Regulus is still here I think." Hugo kept his voice conversationally, not wanting to jolt the man's system more than absolutely necessary. "So it looks like Regulus is going to remain 'whole' from now on without being tied to the ring."

"How?"

"Love." Was Hugo's simple answer. "It's the most powerful magic, just like Professor Dumbledore always said. It's what Ceres Nottingham bespelled him to live off of, I think. She wanted him to be tied to love, to his soulmate, because she thought that they were meant for each other and that it would prevent him from ever being with someone else. He was so weak before because they weren't soul mates and there was nothing positive about their relationship. He didn't love her, and what she felt for him was, at best, a twisted and horrible kind of love. One that severed bonds instead of forging them the way love is supposed to. Regulus and Teddy love each other though, and I think that they were, are meant to be together."

"But…but they can't be…they're from two different time periods!"

Hugo just shrugged and pointed out that perhaps Teddy had been alive decades ago too, but had had his life cut short as well so that he could be born again to find Regulus this time around. Who was to say?

Since his nephew was completely unruffled by this latest turn of events, big surprise there, Harry headed towards Andromeda, knowing that she at least would be willing to understand why he felt like his brain had just been run over by the Hogwarts Express and dragged a few miles.

He looks like a child who's just been told there's no Father Christmas and seen his parents passionately making out all in the space of minutes, Andromeda thought to herself, even as she admitted that she was feeling something similar. She'd had a few nagging suspicions, but seeing was believing in this case.

"Andromeda?"

"I'm related to both of them." Which was one of the many, many reasons this whole thing had her in a mental tailspin, Andromeda thought as she reached out to stroke back Harry's unmanageable hair automatically, sympathizing with him completely. "And…at least he's not Adam."

"Small comfort."

"I heard that, Potter."

Taking advantage of the fact that Teddy had finally turned Regulus loose Hugo moved in to give the Slytherin a hug too, having been curious as to why the two had reacted so interestingly to their earlier hug. Ah, Hugo thought with a smile. He got it.

Having gone mushy inside over Teddy's feelings, and who could blame him, Regulus was just as taken aback by how much Hugo apparently cared for him. He was so stunned by it that he didn't think to protest when the curly haired menace gently propelled him over to be hugged by his cousin, who apparently still cared for him quite a bit too.

No one was surprised when he refused to hug Harry.