That morning, Teddy made himself scarce. It had been a few days since he and Remus' first foray into werewolf territory, and they were waiting on their next lead. Remus, along with most members of the Order, had other things to do. Teddy had barely seen his father, in fact, with he hoped wouldn't be permanent—he really did like the guy. In the meantime, Teddy took to reading and sleeping as Sirius Black would drink during the day and yell at various things around the house that reminded him of his family. Mostly it was the various portraits of family members, but every now and then he would find a little something—a Slytherin robe clasp, a green piece of felt even, and go absolutely crazy.
Today was particularly bad: as Molly attempted to clean the house, Sirius would mess it all up again. He'd drink and lay out a bottle somewhere or eat and leave a dish out—he even had a habit of leaving dirty socks all over the place for Kreacher the house elf to pick up. Molly, in spite of this (and possible because of it) would run around the house doing the best she could to keep it tidy. The constant bickering between Sirius and Molly as a result of this cleaning was a bit too much for Teddy, and he spent the entire morning and afternoon in his bedroom. Eventually he heard the quarrels subside and he deemed it safe to venture downstairs and take his normal spot at the kitchen table.
Teddy trudged down the stairs and opened the door to the kitchen to find Sirius hunched over on the table, alone save what used to be a bottle full of Firewhiskey.
"Would you like some company?" Teddy prompted. Sirius snorted.
"Sure. Even though you can't talk much, you're still better company than an empty bottle," he said bitterly. Teddy took that as his cue to sit down, pulling the bottle away from Sirius as he did.
"So," Teddy began, looking around. "It's very clean—any special reason for that?" He asked. It wasn't that Molly didn't ever clean…but today the kitchen looked spotless. Teddy wasn't even sure it looked that good under Ginny and Harry's ownership of the place.
"Bill's coming," Sirius responded. "So, Molly decided to make the place fit for a king—some families like their first-born, apparently."
Teddy stiffened. Bill Weasley? The two weren't on particularly great terms. Something about knocking up his 19-year-old daughter without marrying her first hadn't exactly made Bill his best friend. He had agreed, begrudgingly, to give Teddy his blessing, but the young man knew it wasn't exactly out of love. Sirius could sense Teddy's feelings.
"You know him, then?" He questioned. Teddy shuffled his feet a bit. Sirius already knew his main secret…and the poor man was lonely. It couldn't hurt to tell him just one more thing, could it?
"You've got to keep a secret," Teddy said in a hushed tone. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"I kept Moony's furry little problem a secret through graduation—"
"—save a 'little incident' during sixth year," Teddy interjected. He saw the Animagus' eyes widen, and Teddy rolled his eyes. "I have his journal—you don't think he wouldn't write about that, do you?"
Sirius, clearly a bit ashamed, shook his head. "I…I hadn't thought about that. Alright," he sighed, "Other than that, I've been known to keep secrets—and I've kept yours, haven't I?"
Teddy nodded. He had to admit that for all his drinking, Sirius' innermost thoughts seemed to be locked in a vault. "Alright," he began, "But this stays between us: Bill and I aren't exactly on the best of terms in my time."
Sirius raised a brow. "Well, you've piqued my interest—do go on," he goaded. Teddy sighed.
"Well…I started dating his daughter. Things were fine, I suppose, but now we're expecting a baby—"
"A what?!" Sirius hissed. "Merlin, Teddy, you're what, twenty?"
The young Lupin narrowed his eyes. "Twenty-two, thank you very much. And how old were James and Lily, huh?"
That seemed to shut Sirius right up.
"Anyway, I love her dearly and we're going to get married…but she is only nineteen—"
"Teddy!" Sirius yelped. "You dog—well no wonder he doesn't like you…"
"Thanks," Teddy replied coolly. "All this time I had been wondering what it was about me that was so horrible," he said sarcastically. Sirius' eyes narrowed.
"Now, this isn't because of your little problem—"
"—No," Teddy insisted. "Nothing like that—he doesn't mind. I'm fairly certain it's just typical protective father nonsense. Anyway, you can understand why it might be a bit odd to see him, considering we're in a row…"
"Well you aren't in a row now, are you?" Sirius inquired. "I mean, he doesn't know you yet. It shouldn't be that bad…"
"I suppose not," Teddy conceded. "But it's still weird, don't you think?" Sirius shrugged.
"If you make it out to be, sure. But Bill's a nice kid. As long as you don't mention sleeping with his daughter—"
"—not on my to-do list—"
"Then you should be fine!" Sirius exclaimed. "I think you'll really get along—he and Tonks were best friends in school together."
Teddy didn't know that, and it showed. Sirius looked astonished. "You didn't know?" He asked. The young Lupin rolled his eyes.
"Somehow she forgot to tell me," he retorted. Sirius' face fell a bit, and Teddy gave him a soft smile. "That's a joke. Really, it's alright, I've gotten quite used to it by now," he explained. Sirius pursed his lips.
"And with Remus?" He asked. "How is that going?"
"It's—"
"BILL! Bill is here!"
Teddy was cut off by the sing-songy cheers of a Mrs. Molly Weasley. She popped her head into the kitchen, smiling at the two men.
"Well, come on now—Teddy, Sirius—come greet Bill! He's arriving with Tonks—oh, it will be so good to have three young people in the house, I can tell you've been hiding out, Teddy, perhaps you can all go for drinks!"
Sirius chortled and rose from his seat. "I think they would love to go have drinks," he smirked, winking at Teddy who gave him a murderous look as he got up from his chair.
"Yes," Teddy said through his teeth, "Drinks sound like a great idea."
Teddy drummed his fingers against the table at the bar the three 'young people' had gone out to. Somehow, he hadn't thought that going back in time would mean drinking with his mother and future father-in-law. Tonks and Bill were yapping away at the bar and ordering drinks for the group while Teddy held down the fort. Eventually the two returned with a round of some beer Teddy had never heard of in his life. Must've gone out of style, he thought to himself.
"Here you go, grumpy!" Bill grinned, setting down a large stein in front of the young man. Teddy forced out a smile as he and Tonks took their seats.
"What's the matter, Teddy?" Tonks asked, looking a bit concerned. "You're not still tired, are you? You're awfully quiet…"
"I'm fine," Teddy said briefly to his mother. "I suppose I just miss home a bit."
Bill had been, rather briefly, filled in on Teddy's situation—apparently the boy had used a time-turner for his academic schedule back at Hogwarts and was familiar with time travel enough to understand what Teddy could or couldn't say or do. It was refreshing, he thought, not having to explain too much of himself.
"Well," Bill began, "What do you miss? Friends, family," he smirked. "A girl?"
Teddy rolled his eyes, trying not to make eye contact with Bill. Tonks laughed.
"So you do have a girl! Molly and I were gossiping—decided you must, seeing as how you weren't trying to go out and use your anonymity to your advantage to pick up girls at a skeevy bar—unlike Bill here," she joked. Teddy couldn't help but chuckle. He had never met a single Bill Weasley, though he wasn't unsurprised that he had once been a bit of a womanizer.
"Well…yes," he admitted a bit sheepishly, taking a sip of beer before continuing. "Though I can't talk much about—"
"How is she then?" Bill winked, extending his hands in front of his chest. "Stop me when I've reached the size of her knockers—"
Teddy began to choke on his beer, and Tonks patted him on the back.
"Bill!" She yelped. "You shouldn't talk about women that way, it's not decent."
More like you shouldn't talk about your daughter that way, Teddy thought. After collecting himself and coughing a bit, Teddy smiled.
"She's beautiful—that's all I'll say on the matter—"
"Have you been dating long?" Tonks asked with a smirk. Teddy could not help but grin back—he had never been asked about a girl by his mum before.
"Fairly long—I've loved her since sixth year. It feels good to talk about her—it's been awhile," he admitted.
"Is she the one, you think?" Tonks asked, and Bill rolled his eyes.
"Merlin, Tonks, he said no more questions—"
"Yes," Teddy replied hastily. "Absolutely. There's no one else for me," he explained. Tonks looked perfectly giddy, while Bill seemed quite over the conversation.
"Well, if you aren't going to describe her to me, I've lost interest," he quipped. Teddy, of course, would do no such thing. Whether or not Bill was a father in this time, Teddy couldn't separate him from the man he knew very well. There was no way he would go over his sex life with Bill's little girl. "I think it's Tonks who has the interesting story—"
"—BILL—"
"How is it going with the old professor, huh?" He asked snarkily. Teddy felt like he was going to be sick for the fifth time that week if he had to listen to this conversation sober, so he worked thoroughly on his beer. Tonks groaned.
"Not well. I don't think he knows I exist—Teddy!" She yelped, suddenly remembering his presence. The young man peered out from under his drink. "Oh, Merlin, you can't tell him—he doesn't know—Bill," she hissed, clearly flustered. "Teddy works with him—you can't be…You…" She groaned and buried her face in her hands. Bill grinned and Teddy chuckled.
"It's okay, Tonks," Teddy said reassuringly, the name sounding odd on his lips. "I won't say anything. I can keep secrets, yeah?" He joked. "Anyway," he continued, all of this incredibly odd, "I wouldn't say he doesn't know you exist—he's just…well…" Teddy thought for a moment. How could be best urge his mother to keep things up with his father in a way that wouldn't make him hurl? "Well, you know how he is…doesn't think too highly…I just don't think he sees it as a possibility," Teddy explained.
Tonks groaned, pulling her head up and nearly spilling her beer, which Teddy moved out of the way just in time.
"Not a possibility?!" Tonks looked exasperated. "What's wrong with me? Is it my hair, my face? I can change those, you know," she said rather quietly. The three weren't trying to draw attention to themselves, and having Tonks work her magic would have drawn more than a few eyes to their table. "You think I'm pretty enough for him, don't you Teddy?"
Teddy, aghast, nearly spilt his own beer.
"Oh, c'mon Teddy," Bill teased, "Just because you have a girlfriend doesn't mean you can't look and objectively say—"
"Yes," Teddy muttered. "Tonks, you are very pretty," he said, raising his beer to his mouth. I was not made for this.
"Noble prat," Bill chided, rolling his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous Tonks, you're plenty good looking—I don't think that's the issue."
"Then what is it?" Tonks demanded. "He's not gay, is he?"
Teddy, having downed his beer rather quickly, had nothing left to distract him from the conversation, and had just enough confidence to speak his mind.
"Tonks, it's not you—it's him. He's ashamed of himself. It's the exact opposite, I reckon: he thinks you're too good for him."
The Metamophmagus turned towards Teddy, shocked. "Ashamed…ashamed of what? Of being who he is?" She questioned. "I don't care—no one in their right minds should care." Teddy simply shrugged.
"It's…difficult. Took some time for me to come to terms with it, and I don't have it half as bad as he does."
Bill looked at the two with utter confusion.
"What?"
Teddy looked at Tonks, winked, then glanced back at Bill with a rather wolfish grin.
"Do I have to spell it out for you?" He asked quietly. "H-A-L-F-W-E-R-E—"
Bill's eyes widened. Looks like he got it, Teddy thought to himself, chuckling a bit.
"But…" Bill began, clearly at a loss, "How?"
Teddy crossed his arms and laughed. "Wow, Bill. Would've thought your parents would've taught you a little bit about how—"
"OI! Not like that!" Bill exclaimed. "I just meant—"
"That it's wrong for a witch and a…you know…to get together?" Tonks questioned, shooting Bill a glare. The Weasley shut his mouth, defeated, and Teddy smirked.
"Look, Tonks," Teddy began calmly. "If it helps…He's asked me about my father. Too many times, to be quite honest. He's clearly curious…and if he's curious, he might be thinking about it."
Tonks' face lit up. Teddy realized he might have given her more hope than he intended. Truth was, he hadn't heard his father mention her once outside of anything work related.
"Oh, Teddy—that's fantastic!" She cheered. "Oh, your parents must be inspiring him—"
"I've got an idea," Bill said, taking a sip of beer and leaning in. "While Teddy here is out on his romps with Remus, he can pick up some intel: you know, things he says about our Lady Tonks here, that sort of thing. Then, Teddy, you can start to plant little Tonks seeds in his mind—"
"I can't do that," Teddy blurted. Bill recoiled.
"And why not?" He asked accusingly. "Do you have something against the two of them together?"
Teddy gulped. No, Bill, actually not at all. My entire future depends on them being together. He couldn't very well say that, though.
"It's just…we're traipsing through pack camps, doing fairly grim work…it's not really the time or the place, you know?" Teddy suggested, trying to come up with some sort of excuse. "We don't want him to associate Tonks with despair, after all."
"Then when you aren't working," Bill huffed. "You share a room, yeah? At least some of the time? Talk to him then," he insisted.
"Oh Teddy," Tonks said pleadingly. "Would you? It would mean so much for me," she cooed, beating her eyelashes (which Teddy could have sworn grew longer) and making it so that Teddy felt he had no choice but to give in.
"Alright, I'll do it," he said at last. "But you can't blame me if—"
"Oh, thank you, Teddy!" Tonks yelped. "Oh, you're a life-saver—anything you need, I'm your girl," she winked. Bill chuckled.
"Here that, Ted? A free favor from Tonks. You might want to thank me," he said jokingly.
"Thanks Bill," Teddy muttered under his breath.
And that's how Teddy became partially responsible for his parents getting together.
Last chapter was a bit sad, so I figured I'd lighten it up a bit. Let me know what you think! Reviews give me strength :)
