Needless to say, Teddy hadn't spent that night in his and Remus' bedroom. Even though the werewolf had assured the young man numerous times that nothing 'funny' had happened on his bed, Teddy couldn't stand to be in the room more than he had to. Given that, Remus had asked if he and Tonks could have the room, and Teddy felt like he was in some sort of warped nightmare of dorm living. He had gone to complain to Sirius of course, but the only words of wisdom the man had were:
"Well, your bassinet was probably in their room at your gran's—I have to imagine you've seen this all before."
That, of course, did not make Teddy feel any better and so he decided to go somewhere he was sure his parents hadn't been: the couch in the den of 12 Grimmauld Place. After a relatively good night of sleep, he woke around five in the morning to Sirius stomping downstairs for his morning drink.
"Morning, Teddy," he grunted, taking a seat at the kitchen table.
"Morning," Teddy grumbled, sitting upright and adjusting his appearance as he rubbed the gunk from his eyes. "Sleep well?"
"No," Sirius scoffed. "And yourself?"
"Passably," Teddy retorted, rising from the sofa to get a head start on tea. "Think he's still asleep up there?" The young man rolled his eyes over to the staircase as he made eye contact with Sirius. The Animagus barked.
"Likely—they didn't sleep much at night, I can assure you. Silencing charms my arse…I'm happy for them, but it's like living in a bloody—"
"—dorm," Teddy finished. "Yeah, I know the feeling. Not a lot of fun for me neither, though I suppose it's critically necessary."
"Worse for you, I suppose," Sirius sighed.
"Worse for me," Teddy repeated, a shiver running down his spine. "Do you want any team Sirius?" he asked. The man looked at him incredulously.
"Do I look like a werewolf to you? Pass, mate. Hard pass."
Teddy snorted, reaching into the cupboard to pull out the Firewhiskey instead. "Had to dig into it the other day," he admitted, "But there should be enough for breakfast."
Sirius shrugged. "I suppose I don't really need any, not at this time in the morning…"
Teddy paused, setting the tea pot down on the table. "No," he replied softly. "I don't suppose you do." A silence fell over the kitchen for a moment. "They will need someone keeping an eye on them, when I'm gone."
"Who?"
"Them," Teddy emphasized. "My…my parents. As disturbing as it is for me to say, they need to keep at…that. I need to put you in charge, and I reckon it's probably easier done with a bit of whiskey in your system but it's likely better done without. Remus, he spoke to you—well, me—and I can tell he's just so adamant about not burdening himself—"
"I know," Sirius spoke hoarsely. "Believe me, I know how he is about these sorts of things," he said a bit painfully. The Animagus looked up at the young man. "One week it will be this, the next he will pretend it never happened, claiming it's for her sake. They'll be together, he'll break it off, and this will repeat on and on again, with someone or something always pushing them back together. I can be that someone, but…"
Teddy nodded, and suddenly things came together a bit. Remus hadn't been worried that Tonks was Sirius' cousin: he had been worried because it was Sirius' cousin. "I'm sorry it didn't work out between you two—well, as sorry as I can be," Teddy admitted. "And I'm sorry I look like him, or act like him, like he did when you…"
"It's alright, Teddy," Sirius smiled. "I had my time. Won't go into the details for your sake, but it's alright—really. I spent twelve years thinking I wouldn't get any semblance of my life back. To get some of it back—the friendship—Is better than nothing at all. Besides," he grinned, "I quite like you. I think it makes it easier, really, knowing that at least there will be a you at the end of all of this nonsense." The man paused for a moment. "I thought you said you read your father's diary—"
"Thanks, Sirius," Teddy smiled, cutting him off. "And…I did, but I may have skipped over some of the more, er…"
"Gotcha," Sirius whispered. As the conversation drew to a natural close, the two men heard footsteps from upstairs. "Well," he grinned, "That must be the man of the hour. How's the tea looking?"
"Almost steeped."
After a rather quiet breakfast of tea and oatmeal (Remus seemed a bit dazed, as if chocolatines were not the first thing on his mind), the two Lupin men went to see Alice—Emmeline's friend. She was in charge of a pack of female werewolves, the only one of its kind, and as a result it was quite large. Teddy was rather looking forward to this, as gaining the trust of a pack of this size meant that he could finally return home. The two had apparated to southern England, near Brighton, to visit. It was a rather sunny day, not nearly as ominous as the clouds that had hung over them in Scotland. The crash of the waves upon the sand was peaceful, the sea air delightful, and with the gulls calling overhead, Teddy felt like he was in the middle of some sort of natural symphony. I have a good feeling about this.
Breaking the sounds of nature was Remus:
"I feel I must apologize," the werewolf admitted as he and Teddy walked along the beach towards the camp near on the shore. "I…I feel as though I've been rather selfish."
"Selfish?" Teddy repeated, furrowing his brows. "How do you mean?"
Remus gave him a sort of astonished look. "I didn't think I would have to spell it out—you spent all night on the couch while I…er…"
"What," Teddy scoffed, "Had your first bit of fun in Merlin knows how long?" Fun, he thought to himself, I can't believe I called my parents shagging 'fun'.
Remus grew a bit pink. "Well, frankly, yes. It isn't like me, you know, and I hadn't wanted to kick you out of the room—you were more than welcome to stay, that is, if you had wanted, I wouldn't have had her—Tonks—I mean, over…"
If it hadn't been Teddy's own mother Remus was talking about, the young man might have laughed. Remus' babbling on was truly comical. "It's not selfish," the young man insisted. "You're a grown man, she's a grown woman, and you two clearly—"
"She is grown, isn't she?" Remus asked. Teddy gave the man a look.
"Er…"
"I mean," the werewolf sighed. "She's grown enough to know what she's getting into? With me, and all of my problems?"
"Oh," Teddy began, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, if I may be so blunt…duh, Remus. I mean," he chuckled, "She knows what and who you are. I wouldn't say you've been hiding anything from her. If it's you she wants, which it is, I think Tonks knows what she's getting into." The two continued walking, spotting a bit of smoke from the distance. "I mean, I didn't really think twice about it all with my fiancée—"
"—and your parents?" Remus questioned, his eyes then widening. "Oh, Merlin, I'm sorry, I didn't really mean to bring them up, it's just—"
"It's alright," Teddy assured him. "I can't say I was around for their dating," he lied, wishing he really hadn't been around, "But from what I can tell…it didn't matter in the end. I mean, here I am, and there they were, and it all worked out."
Remus nodded. "Yes, I suppose…I just can't help but feel—"
"—if you say selfish," Teddy interjected, "I'll grab a piece of driftwood off this beach and whack you upside the head with it," he warned. "Now let's get going—camp's right up ahead, and I would rather not have their first impression of us be of me terrorizing you."
Remus acquiesced, and the two continued up the slope of the beach. It was rather beautiful, and not even hauntingly so. Just beautiful. Teddy and Remus trudged along through the sand until they saw a rather thin woman, no older than forty, with a mess of wavy dark hair standing before them. Behind her were a dozen or so tents—it certainly wasn't the large camp Teddy had been expecting, and his heart fell a bit.
"Friends of Emmeline?" The voice called out to the Lupins as the woman began to walk closer to them. Remus and Teddy both nodded. "State your names, then."
"I'm Teddy,"
"And I'm Remus—Remus Lupin. Pleased to meet you…"
"Call me Alice," the woman grinned. "Welcome to the outpost."
Alice explained to Teddy and Remus that their camp was all-women, and as such it was a safe place for the female werewolves who had been harassed in other camps. As such, even kindly male werewolves weren't allowed in, so the pack had set up a little outpost for new members and visitors. Teddy thought it was rather ingenious and noticed just how much more civil and organized things seemed—even at the outpost. As Alice led them deeper into the camp, Teddy saw women chatting, reading, cooking, playing games…all normal things one could see on any camping trip. Not a bad way to live, Teddy thought to himself. By the way Remus was looking around, Teddy guessed the same thoughts were running through his mind.
"A bit different from the others, are we?" Alice snorted. "I noticed you staring. Thank you—I worked very hard to get this place in tip-top shape. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here—you both look civilized enough, and a friend of Emmeline's is a friend of mine, but most packs aren't like this," she explained. "We isolate each moon and spend the following days caring for each other, not going out, not attacking anyone. By all means, we'd do horribly under You-Know-Who, and I have no hesitation giving you this information," Alice smiled, facing the two men and handing them a rather large envelope, which Remus took. "We are large, and so we've split into ten individual tribes, as we call them. Each tribe leader collected the names of the governing members in its own council, which were then sent to me. 101 names, including mine. I hope it's enough," she added.
Teddy's eyes widened. "That's…" He looked between Remus and Alice. "That's incredible. That's so many, it's…" He was so positively giddy that Teddy had a hard time controlling himself.
"Thank you," Remus smiled softly. "You'll have to excuse my associate here—after this, he's going home to his family."
"Family?" Alice asked incredulously. "You…you have a family?"
Teddy's face fell. "Er…"
"He does," Remus insisted. "Teddy's a half-werewolf—doesn't transform. He's—we're—hoping that after the war, there will be more like him: those with lycanthropic blood living as they would like. In packs, amongst wizards and witches, with their families…whatever they choose," he smiled.
Alice's eyes lit up. "And you…you think this could happen, Teddy?" She asked the young man. "I…I only ask because, well, I had a normal life, before all of this," she motioned around her. "It would be nice to know that, if not for me, then for others…there could be something to go back to, if we wanted. I wasn't bitten until I was ten. Emmeline and I were the best of friends, already planning our trip to Hogwarts, but my parents…they didn't want me anymore. Sent me to live with the one who had bitten me: Greyback," she shuddered. Remus stiffened.
"I was bitten by Greyback as well," he admitted. "My parents…well, let's just say I among of the lucky ones," he said softly. Alice gazed at him sadly.
"You are," she whispered. "And I'm glad you can see that. It was horrible—especially as a girl. I knew I had to do something for young girls like me out there, so I started my own pack. When Emmeline and Albus contacted me, like I said, there were no hesitations among anyone in the pack. It's part of our mission, you know. To show there can be something better for us."
"I know there can be," Teddy insisted. "There will be more like me—children of werewolves. We'll have friends, go to school, our parents will be respected and no one in their right mind will doubt that they had parents who loved them," he continued, voice cracking slightly. "Werewolves will be able to get jobs—real ones—enough to support them, get them money for things like healing potions or Wolfsbane." Teddy paused for a moment to see the look on Alice's face. Her eyes were filling with tears. "This is everything to me. I'm not going to stop fighting until I see it, and I know that being on this side is the only way to do it. That you're willing to support us, after all you've been through…it's incredible."
Teddy and Remus, envelope of names in hand, left the camp feeling much better than they had after their last excursion. Teddy had everything he needed now to go home and be with Victoire and his soon-to-be-born little son; Remus had everything he needed to continue on with the work for the Order—it was decided that all this going around and convincing werewolves not to join up with Death Eaters was a huge benefit, just as it had been in the first war.
The two Lupin men, back in London and on their way to Grimmauld Place, began talking about the next steps. Teddy would take a copy of the names back to the future with him in case of the worst, and Remus would collect any future names and add them to his copies. The idea was that at the very least, they would have the nearly two hundred names they had already collected plus more, as long as the elder Lupin could hide them somewhere safe.
"Grimmauld Place," Teddy suggested. "We'll find someplace good and hidden there, and after your work with the Order you'll stow everything there where I can find it."
"And you'll be sure you can get in?" Remus questioned. "I mean, I know you have a key, but—"
"I'm positive," the young man insisted. "I'm allowed there whenever I want, but I'm afraid I can't say any more."
The two walked along in silence before arriving at Grimmauld Place. Remus paused for a moment.
"Teddy?"
"Yes, Remus?"
"You meant it—you think all that stuff you were saying back there will happen someday?"
Teddy smiled at his father. "Every last word of it. I meant every last word."
Only two more chapters left I think: if there are any questions you have, let me know and I can clear things up in the last chapter (epilogue). It's been a blast writing this, and while I don't think I'll continue it with a sequel, I have had a ton of fun going into the world of werewolves a bit more. Hope you all have been enjoying, thank you for the reviews and favorites!
