"Cronus Rising"

"Chapter Fourteen: Memories"

Harry took off two days from work after the Battle of Gringotts. He was, unfortunately, holed up in his office for large periods of time writing owls and writing his report.

Teddy and Ginny put together various rooms around the house. Ginny even let the small child help decorate and chose where to put things. More often than not, she turned on the radio and the two of them listened to music while they worked. It was a nice distraction and nice to have something to do besides being bored in their old flat.

It was after dinner on the night Harry was meant to go back to work. Teddy was curled up along Ginny's side. She was reading him a story when Harry walked in with two large boxes. He sat them down on the floor, sitting them side by side. Ginny had stopped reading which was probably good because Teddy had stopped listening.

"What are those?" Ginny asked.

"I found them at Andromeda's when I went to pack up some stuff," Harry replied. "One's a box of your mum's old stuff and one's a box of your dad's old stuff."

Teddy slid off the couch. Harry was sitting cross legged on the floor, opening one of the boxes to peer inside. The box read Remus Lupin as Teddy recognized his father's name. He sat down next to Harry who had taken out a photo album. Ginny had made her way over as well and sat on the other side of Teddy.

Opening the photo album, Teddy saw pictures that looked older with younger kids. They were in Hogwarts robes.

"That's your dad," Harry said as he pointed to a tall, lanky boy on the end. "That's Sirius Black, my godfather, and that's James Potter, my dad."

Sirius was standing next to Remus. He was shorter with jet black hair and warm gray eyes that held a light of laughter in them. Next to him, was a boy who was slightly taller than Sirius. He looked amazingly like his godfather. Messy, jet black hair with glasses perched on his nose.

"Who's that?" Teddy asked as he pointed to a short, plump boy.

"Peter Pettigrew," Harry responded in a funny tone. "He was their friend in school but… he didn't remain friends with them for long after school."

"Why? Did they have a falling out?"

"Something like that," Harry said mysteriously.

They flipped through the pages, gradually watching the four friends as they grew older at Hogwarts. Teddy noted that some of the pictures were missing and inquired to his godfather where all the pictures were. Harry said he had an album of his own that was given to him when he was at Hogwarts. He suspected that quite a few pictures had been collected from Remus at that time. Harry stopped on one photo. It was just Remus and a girl with long, flowing, red hair. She had a tight smile on her face and Remus looked uncomfortable next to her. They both had shiny badges pinned to their robes with a large P on them.

"That's my mum," Harry supplied. "They were Prefects together."

Harry's mum didn't appear in any more pictures until closer to the end of the album. Teddy could tell that they had reached seventh year when he saw James and Lily housing matching HB and HG badges on their robes. His dad, at this point, seemed much more comfortable with Lily in the following pictures. The five of them often looked like they were joking with one another, laughing, and carrying on.

Quickly, they got to post-Hogwarts and Teddy saw a baby Harry in some of the photos. There were a lot more pictures missing from this portion of the book than there had from the Hogwarts days.

Teddy peered inside the box. There were old textbooks of his father's that had written notes in the margins. There was an old watch with a worn leather band. The face showed the lunar cycle. He held out the watch to Harry and stick out his arm who carefully secured it around the boy's wrist. There was an old shoebox filled with letters. Drawings of various animals together – a wolf, a stag, a dog, and a rat. Old school notes. A collection of Chocolate Frog cards.

As he was shifting through the contents, Harry picked up the old shoebox and started going through some of the letters. Some he discarded back in the box quickly while others he took the time to read. Teddy saw a tiny box. He grabbed onto it and hauled it out. Inside there was a dog collar with a dog tag on it that read Moony. There was also a note with it which Teddy asked his godfather to read out loud.

"Dear Moony, Happy Birthday. I thought since you got me a dog collar for my birthday, it was only fitting that I got you a wolf collar for your birthday. Be sure to put it on before the full moon each month and I'll have Prongs put mine on after I transform every month. We could be twins. Ta, Padfoot."

"Transform?" Teddy questioned.

"When my dad and Sirius found out your dad was a werewolf, they became illegal Animagi. My dad was a stag called Prongs and Sirius was a dog called Padfoot. While animals, they could be with your dad in wolf form. A werewolf is only a danger to humans during the full moon."

"Are you an Animagus too?"

"No," Harry said with a laugh. "I don't think I'd have the use or the patience to become one either. I looked up the process to do it after I found out about my dad and Sirius… it did not seem like a pleasant process."

"I wanna become one," Teddy said thoughtfully. "Do you get to pick your animal? I'd want to be a wolf like my dad."

"I don't think it works that way, Teddy."

Teddy shrugged his shoulders. He got up and grabbed Moony from where he left him on the couch. He held out the plush and the collar for Ginny to take and asked her to help him put it on. Once on, the small boy smiled brightly.

Once done going through his dad's box, Teddy moved to get closer to his mum's box. Ginny moved with him as Harry was still busy going through the letters. Ginny looked through the photo album with him. His mother's spanned from the time she was a baby to Hogwarts and beyond. Teddy stopped at one picture, a familiar face staring up at him.

"Hey, Harry, look, it's Sirius in this picture."

Teddy held up the photo album for his godfather to see. His had been his grandparents standing side by side. A small Nymphadora probably around his age stood in front of them. A teenage Sirius Black stood next to his grandmother with his arm wrapped around her shoulder. It looked like it had been Christmas when the picture was taken.

"Sirius and your grandmother were cousins," Harry supplied. "He and your dad were a good twelve or thirteen years older than your mum."

"Is that how my parents met? Through Sirius?" Teddy asked as he sat down the photo album.

"Err… they met through the Order of the Phoenix, but I have no doubt that she was probably recruited half because she was a brilliant witch and Auror and half because she was related to Sirius. Sirius always said Andromeda was his favorite cousin… the only one he liked or trusted."

"Was grandmum in the Order?" Teddy asked trying to think about to the picture Bill had given him but he did not remember seeing her there.

"No, I don't think she was. She was friendly with the Order, certainly an ally, but I don't think she was actually ever a member."

He saw his mother's old textbooks, Auror books, Auror robes, Auror badge. Teddy took out the Auror badge to display in his room. He saw pieces of jewelry and a stack of letters – although not nearly as many as his father kept. He gripped the handle of a wand and pulled it out.

"Is this my mum's wand?" Teddy asked curiously.

"Hmm, looks like it," Ginny responded.

"My dad's wand wasn't in his box."

"I gave your grandmother your mum's wand. I kept your dad's. I thought I'd give it to you when you were older… after you already got your wand for school."

"Can't I use one of their wands?"

"The wand chooses the wizard, Teddy, not the other way around. You should have a wand pick you. You can keep your parents' wands as mementos."

"You know," Ginny said thoughtfully, "Neville used to have his dad's old wand in school. He was rubbish at spells, seemed hopeless at magic. Then, it snapped and he had to get a new wand. He was suddenly loads better."

After sorting through the rest of the box, Ginny had announced it was bedtime. She gave the boy a kiss on the cheek and bid him goodnight. Harry walked the boy upstairs; his hands clenched the Prefect and Auror badges in his fists. His godfather offered to carry Moony upstairs for him since his hands were full. Teddy placed the badges together against his lamp before climbing into bed. Moony was tucked in next to him as Harry pulled up the covered around him.

"Goodnight, Teddy," Harry spoke quietly as he reached out to brush a strand of sandy hair out of the boy's eyes.

"'Night, Harry. I love you."

Harry smiled as he turned off the lamp on the bedside table.

"I love you too. See you tomorrow."

With that, Harry was gone. Teddy rolled over on his side and tucked Moony neatly under his chin. He was asleep in seconds with the thoughts of his parents dancing in his head.

The next day, Ginny and Teddy stood outside after breakfast in the yard. She nursed a cup of tea in her hands, a big shawl draped over her shoulders. Teddy zippered up his jacket a little more as he looked up at Ginny for direction.

"Say up," she supplied.

Teddy looked down at the broom that was between him and Ginny. She had agreed to give him flying lessons since they now had a backyard with tree coverage. He had never ridden a real broom before. Harry had gotten him a toy one when he was a toddler. He used to zip around grandmum's garden with it, but he never a real broom.

Harry looked disappointed that morning when Ginny asked him if she could teach him to fly. He wanted to be there, wanted to help teach him. Except, he had work and Ginny was willing. "There's nothing for him to do," Ginny had reasoned with him. Almost begrudgingly, he said yes.

"Uh… up!"

The broom flopped a little bit on the ground but did not lift in the air. He was using Ginny's racing broom. He felt slightly nervous, yet excited that he was going to learn to fly on an official Harpies broom! It even had the team logo embossed on it with Ginny's name and number stamped next to it.

"More confidence, Teddy," Ginny commented as she took a big gulp of tea.

"UP!"

The broom flew up to Teddy's hand, nearly knocking him over. Ginny made a motion to steady the broom but didn't need to in the end. Teddy grinned proudly up at her.

"Okay, good. Mount it now."

Teddy pushed the broom slightly closer to the ground so that he could swing a leg over it. With both feet planted on the ground, he took a deep breath before he pushed off the ground. He started to rise in the air, his hands gripping the handle. Ginny reached out a free hand to ensure the broom didn't go too high.

"Stay close to the ground until you get comfortable," she told him. "I don't want to make an emergency trip to St. Mungo's."

Teddy zipped around the background, not flying higher than Ginny was tall. He flew all around Ginny, hearing her laughter ring throughout the backyard as he waved at her every time he passed her.

They had flown later in the day. So, when Teddy spotted Harry enter the backyard through the backdoor with his own broom in his hand, he was not surprised. Harry loosened the tie around his neck as he casually mounted his broom. He flew over towards Ginny, bid her a good afternoon and gave her a quick peck on the lips, before he flew over towards Teddy.

"Ginny won't let you go any higher, will she?"

"She said I could when I was comfortable," replied Teddy.

"Want to go higher with me?"

Teddy nodded his head. He turned towards Ginny, giving her a little wave. He watched as she pulled her wand from her pocket and watched the two cautiously.

"Stay close to him, Harry!" Ginny shouted.

Teddy spotted his godfather playfully roll his eyes with a small smirk spreading across his face. Godson and godfather rose higher into the air. Harry stayed close to him, one hand on his broom and the other ready to reach over to help Teddy if need be. Teddy, however, did not need any help at all. He was nearly as tall as the trees that hid their backyard from view.

That's when Teddy saw a shadow of a person walking in the tree line. He squinted, trying to make out who the figure was but he was too high up to get a glimpse of the face. He turned towards Harry who had pulled out a Golden Snitch from his pocket. He obviously had not seen the figure below.

An internal war raged within Teddy. He thought briefly of showing his godfather the figure lurking within the trees. Another part of him pushed that thought to the back of his mind. If he told Harry what he had saw, he would be forced inside and Harry would be out investigating. He didn't particularly want to go inside, especially since his godfather had brought out a snitch. The house was well warded and protected. Nobody could see them or get into the boundaries that had been set. Throwing caution to the wind, he smiled at his godfather as his hand let go of the snitch.

Teddy laid in bed that night, his cheek resting on Moony. A night light lit up the room nicely so he could see around his new room. He stared at the picture of his parents. His father whispered something into his mother's ear and she roared with laughter. It looked like she was going to drop baby Teddy, but his father had scooped a hand under the baby's bottom to steady the boy in her arms. His eyes wandered over to the Auror badge that was resting against his lamp. Next to that, he had laid his father's Prefect badge. He decided he wanted to be Prefect one day like his dad. He also decided he wanted to be an Auror like his mum and Harry.

His mind wandered to the figure he saw behind Potter House. His bottom lip was sucked into his mouth and rested between his teeth. He was regretting his decision not to show Harry the figure. He had not wanted to go inside from flying. He wanted to continue to have fun, to forget that he was locked up in yet another house.

There was a soft knock on the door. Teddy turned towards the door to see Harry standing in the frame with blanket draped over his arm. He had his plaid Gryffindor pajama bottoms on but no shirt. He walked slowly into the room, their eyes locking.

"Did I wake you?"

"No," replied Teddy.

"It's supposed to get colder tonight," Harry spoke softly. "Ginny wanted you to have another blanket."

Harry unfolded the blanket – a fluffy red one with the Gryffindor lion embossed in the middle. He swung it in the air and placed it on top of the bed. He straightened out the bottom, smoothing out the bent corner.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you still miss your parents?"

Harry stilled. He sat down on the edge of the bed. The nightlight illuminated his face for Teddy to see. It looked thoughtful for a few moments as he thought.

"When I was younger, before Hogwarts, I missed them every single day. I think I told you before my aunt and uncle weren't exactly the nicest of people. I craved for parents because I didn't know what it was to be loved or wanted before," Harry started and then cleared his throat. "I suppose, after I got to Hogwarts and got friends, I still missed them but it wasn't an everyday miss. Then, I met Remus and Sirius… I guess… I missed my parents even less. I now had two people who told me stories and gave me a connection to them. If I'm being completely, one hundred percent honest with you, which I've never admitted this to anyone before…"

Harry faltered and looked down at his hands. Teddy sat up in bed, pulling Moony onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around the stuffed animal, feeling the new collar cool on his arm.

"When Sirius died, I felt like I forgot about my parents for awhile. I missed Sirius more than I had ever missed my parents. I had this godfather who was real and who was looking out for me and loved me and would do anything for me and he was just… gone. It was a worse feeling of longing for him than I had for my parents. Even to this day, I think about my parents and wish I could have known them. But I miss Sirius and Remus even more because I knew them. Does that make sense?"

Teddy deposited Moony on his pillow. Crawling out from under his covers, he clamored over to where Harry was. His godfather scooped him up in his arms and held him in an embrace.

"It makes sense," Teddy spoke quietly. "I miss grandmum a lot. Like a lot a lot. I like living with you and Ginny but I miss living with grandmum too. I miss hanging out with her all week while you worked. I miss being excited when you'd pick me up every Friday for a weekend of fun. I miss her baking all the time. I miss that awful music she'd play. With my mum and dad… I guess I miss them but not in the same way. I want to know them and I want to talk to them and I want them here with me but I don't remember them at all and I wish I did."

"I wish they were here too," Harry murmured into his hair.

"Did Sirius die the same day my parents died? Did Sirius like me?"

Teddy felt Harry shift underneath him.

"Sirius died a good two years before your parents died. He never met you."

"Do you think he'd have liked me?"

Teddy pulled away slightly so he could look at his godfather's face. He looked sad.

"I think Sirius would have loved you," Harry paused with a forced smile gracing his features. "I think that if Sirius was here now, he'd be living with us as our pet dog."

"What if my parents and Sirius were both alive?"

"Well, then I think Sirius would have lived with you and your parents during the week and would be living with Ginny and me on the weekends."

"That would have been fun. I think, if my parents and Sirius were still alive, I'd come over with Sirius on the weekends."

"I have no doubt that Sirius would have gladly let you tag along with him," Harry said with a sad sigh. "I think it's time for bed. I got to get up early in the morning and finish a report at work."

Harry gave him a brisk kiss on his forehead before tapping his leg. Teddy crawled off his godfather's lap and made his way back under the covers. Harry stood up and adjusted the covers around his small frame.

"You work a lot," Teddy's voice was barely above a whisper.

"I know."

"When Cronus is gone… can we take a nice long holiday somewhere? Not just the weekend but like a whole week or two?"

"Where would you like to go?"

"Um…" Teddy thought. "I don't know. Somewhere."

"Sure," Harry replied as he stood up to his full height. "I promise, when this whole Cronus mess is over with, we'll take a vacation somewhere. Just the three of us."

Teddy fell asleep dreaming of a cloaked figure walking along between the trees.

I know this is a short chapter and I know it's a filler chapter. Trust me, you'll need this filler chapter with the roller coaster of a ride of the next three chapters. Next chapter, we'll be hitting the climax of the story. Chapters 15 and 16 are done. I'm currently still writing chapter 17 which is giving me some issues but they'll work themselves out. Just brace yourself. Don't forget to review!