After returning from their third and final outing rather quickly, Remus jogged up the stairs into the bedroom to wake Tonks and tell her that nothing bad had happened this time around. Teddy, on the other hand, plopped down at the kitchen table, stack of all the names he and Remus had collected in hand, and smiled. He had done it. The thing he had been so hoping for would happen: he knew that with all these names to follow up on and all his testimony of what had happened, legislation would be drafted and at least presented to the Wizengamot for review in the foreseeable future. With any luck, it would go through within the year. Regardless, it would get people talking about a need for reform, and with some phone calls to his influential family and friends and a bit of magic, Teddy was sure that one day his very hopes and dreams would become reality.

Teddy took some parchment and a quill from the table, whispering an enchantment under his breath to get copies made of all of the names. As the magic worked its magic, Teddy rose to make some celebratory tea for his last day at Grimmauld Place and in the past. He heard creaks from upstairs, thinking Remus had come down, but when he turned around to see who it was, Teddy was mildly surprised.

"Oh," he began. "Hello, Molly."

Molly Weasley had her hands on her hips. "Teddy," she said firmly, in a way the boy knew very well, "Were you truly about to leave today and not say goodbye? I ran into Remus on the stairs—"

"Of course I was going to say goodbye," the young man insisted. "I'm making tea after all, I need to stay at least for a bit—"

"—and I can't entice you to stay a bit longer?" Asked Molly. "The children will be here in a matter of weeks, and I'm sure they would love to meet the man who saved their favorite professor's life," she winked. Teddy smiled, chuckling a bit. He had no doubt that he and the 'children' would get along. Harry and Ginny were his godparents, Hermione his boss, Ron and his brothers less like uncles and more like friends. As much as Teddy would have liked to meet the infamous Fred Weasley…

"I'm afraid I can't," Teddy admitted. "I miss home very much, and while I'm sure—"

"They are lovely children, dear—they could be like family, you'll see!"

Teddy snorted. Like family indeed. She has no idea. "Molly," he began, "I know for a fact that you have a family to be proud of. I can't say much, but I can assure you I know who 'the children' are."

Molly Weasley's eyes widened. "Oh, my, well," she seemed unable to contain her joy. "Yes, yes I am very proud indeed. I don't suppose you…" she drifted off and shook her head. "No, I mustn't ask. You cannot tell me, I'm sure."

Teddy sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I cannot. Believe me, I would stay if I could." He really did mean that. To see everyone younger than he was…it would be comical, to say the least. Before he could get in another word, a new set of footsteps bounded down the stairs.

"You're leaving today?" Yelped Sirius Black. "But you only just got here!"

Teddy rolled his eyes. "I know," he explained. "That's sort of the point. Leave before I mess everything in the future up, right?"

"I suppose…but you've got to break the news to Tonks," Sirius added pointedly. "You've been such a good influence on Remus, she says, it'll be hard to see you go."

Teddy smiled and the Animagus winked.

"I'll miss you too, Sirius," Teddy drawled. "Think the two upstairs are decent?"

"Decent?" Molly repeated, her eyes growing wide. "Oh I knew it! I just knew something was going on there—Finally, someone talked some sense into that poor man—Teddy," she smiled, "Was it you?"

"Me?" Teddy feigned surprise. "Molly, I have no idea what you are talking about—ask Sirius."

"I will take all the credit," the Marauder grinned. "After all, what are old school mates for?"

Teddy chuckled and began to head up the stairs. The door to his bedroom was open wide, and Remus and Tonks were just sitting on the werewolf's bed. For courtesy's sake, Teddy knocked.

"Door's open, Teddy! Merlin, knocking, you do that too Remus, open door and all—"

"He's just being polite, Dora," Remus smiled, looking at Teddy expectantly. "Well, do come in!"

A grin spread across Teddy's face as he entered the room. "Never can be too careful," he warned. "Anyway, I just wanted to say goodbye—"

"You can't leave just yet!" Tonks exclaimed. "You just got here—and we were just starting to like you," she joked. Teddy smiled half-heartedly. All he had wanted as a child was more time with his parents. Now, he had finally gotten it, and he had to leave. It was bittersweet to say the least.

"Then it's best I go before it starts to go the other way again," he chortled. "Better to leave while you still do like me."

Tonks rolled her eyes. "Well, that couldn't be possible. It's been a real joy having you, Teddy. Maybe we'll meet again, yeah?"

Teddy stiffened and Remus gave him a soft smile. "It's alright if we don't. We know you can't tell us, but I believe that I speak for us both when I saw if we do cross paths again, there will always be a place for you with either of us."

The young man nodded, eyes growing heavy with tears that he tried to hold back as best he could. He would, of course, meet his parents again one day. There will always be a place for me. The words stung—of course, the time he had with his parents they had all lived under one roof. He did have a place with them, though while the place still stood, his parents were gone. He wasn't going to see them again, really. This would be the last time to ever wake up and know that the people who had loved him most in the entire world would be there.

"Oh, Remus," Tonks said softly, getting up from the bed. "You've made him cry! Look at that, he's sensitive," she cooed. She walked over to Teddy, wrapping her arms around him in a great big hug. "Teddy, thank you for everything," she whispered.

Teddy, struggling to fight back tears, bit the inside of his cheek. "Thank you," he whispered back, pulling away gradually from the hug to see Remus standing and coming out from behind Tonks, arm around her waist. Teddy smiled, wanting to capture the moment and preserve it as best he could: his parents standing before him, smiling. He wouldn't ever see it again.

"It's been great getting to know you. I know I've said it before," Remus began, "But your parents would be truly proud of you—and your son will have an excellent part-werewolf to call his father, if I do say so myself."

Teddy wrapped his arms around his father, sending the man backwards a bit. He didn't have words to express how he felt. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I think…I think it's just harder to leave than I thought," he admitted, pulling away to look at his father.

"It's alright, Teddy," he smiled. "You've gone through a great deal during your time here—I would be as emotional as you," he insisted. "Now, before you go, the list—"

"The list," Teddy repeated, nodding. "Right, it should be finished copying downstairs. I'll show you exactly where to put it in a minute…I just need to grab the time-turner first."

Teddy walked over to what had been his bed and opened the nightstand drawer to find the time turner just as pristine as it once was. He grabbed it and closed the drawer—he wouldn't need to open it again.


Teddy had taken Remus aside, given him his copy of the list, and instructed the werewolf exactly where to put it. As for himself, Teddy took his copy and folded it to place in his pocket. He set the time-turner to have him arrive as close to five minutes after he left in his time and draped it around his neck. Sirius, Molly, Remus and Tonks all watched him with sad eyes.

"Tell the Order I said thank you," Teddy asked. "And you all…I'll miss you greatly. More than you know," he added. Teddy breathed in and out, trying to remain as calm as possible. Bye, Mum. Bye, Dad.

With a quick switch of the dial, Teddy began to vanish before the group's very eyes. The next sight we would see was that of his boss, Hermione Granger. He arrived exactly when he hoped he would—five minutes after he had left. The first thing he did was change his hair and eyes, reach into his pocket, and grin, showing her his own little list. Hermione, after a moment of hugging the young man who had more or less grown up her nephew, handed him a peculiar bundle.

"It's from Harry," she said, a bit astonished. "Said it's from Grimmauld Place—somehow it was enchanted not to appear until today. It's from your father, Teddy. It's the full list, I think. I thought you should open it—arrived just a minute ago."

Teddy smiled, eagerly grabbing the envelope and opening it up. Sure enough, there were stacks of paper neatly folded and tied with a ribbon—names. There was also a smaller envelope, one marked Teddy.

"You should read that later," Hermione suggested. "It looks…private."

The young man nodded and stashed it in his pocket. The next thing Teddy did was ask Hermione if anyone had ever mentioned his being back in time. She smiled and shook her head—it had been only Kingsley who mentioned someone named Ted going off with Remus, but the details were foggy, said he wasn't sure if he made it up or not. Of course, Hermione pointed out that if anyone had remembered, they would have already told Teddy—he supposed she was right about that. The future as he knew it only existed because he went back in time: if Teddy had changed anything, he certainly wasn't aware of it. No one would be.

Before leaving, Teddy made a joke about Mad-Eye not caring for him too much, and Hermione froze.

"Granger, what's wrong?" Teddy asked. "I mean, Mad-Eye was certainly off—but I figured…"

"That wasn't Mad-Eye," she whispered, looking terrified. "That was Barty Crouch Jr."

Teddy learned all he didn't before about Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts and what he had encountered. Based on his conversation with Hermione, the witch determined that Teddy's being there at the Order and his planting the seeds of Mad-Eye's odd behavior may have actually saved the very Order itself. Hermione had no doubt that the reason Crouch had been so angry with Teddy was precisely because the young man had been distracting the Order from their other business—Teddy had foiled his plan to learn more about the Order's doings, and by the time he left, it was too late for Crouch to figure out much of anything. If Teddy hadn't been there, if he hadn't said anything to Sirius, who knows what would have happened to him.

Eventually, Teddy decided it was time for him to go home and see Victoire. He handed Hermione the time-turner and begged her to destroy it. Hermione refused, shaking her head as she told him:

"We don't know what has happened in our time that is all due to the fact that these things have continued to exist. If we destroy them now, we could very well be destroying our past, present, and future along with them."

So, Teddy finally understood why the ministry had kept time-turners after all: it was hard to know what you didn't know.

The young man walked out of Hermione's office and down the corridor to floo home when he remembered the letter in his pocket from Remus. Teddy stopped in his steps, ducked into a corner and ripped voraciously at the letter, staring down at the words his father had actually written to him: not some vague idea of what his son might become, but the actual Teddy that Remus had gotten to know. The first words the Metamorphmagus saw shocked him.

Dear Teddy,

As I write this letter, I am sitting at the kitchen table, watching your mother sing you some sort of lullaby. I doubt you—the you in my time—are getting much out of it, but I adore your mother's voice and haven't said a thing—not about her singing, and not about the fact that I have figured out who you really were.

I seem to have some sort of foggy memory of confronting you about something, and for the life of me I could not remember what it was until Dora and I sat down and tried to figure out what to name you. She suggested Edward, after her father. Said we could call you Edd, or Eddie. As soon as the name 'Teddy' slipped from my mouth, it felt like I had identified a missing puzzle piece in my mind. Obliviating is no easy task, Teddy. As your father, I must commend you on the skill with which you performed the charm as well as your strength and bravery: it could not have been easy on you. None of it could have been—I'm kicking myself now, how many times I brought up your parents. Maybe a part of me knew, or at least hoped to know that I could be your father.

I couldn't be prouder—and the way Dora went on about you for an entire week, at the time I was terrified I was losing her to you. Now I still think that—she's singing to her stomach, for Merlin's sake, she may very well be losing her mind. She's certainly never sung for me I can tell you that much. I suppose Sirius—that bastard—knew the entire time. It would explain how close you had gotten. What I can't seem to understand is how he figured it out before I did, though I suspect that revelation will come long after I've sent this letter.

Speaking of which, I hope the information finds you well. I did the best I could in a short amount of time, but I did manage to double the length of the list: not bad for an old man. I am hoping to leave for Grimmauld Place in a few moments to hide the letter exactly where you told me. A concern of mine is that I will run into Harry while I am there. I know it seems like a long-shot, but after Bill and Fleur's wedding (a disaster, let me tell you that much—I know your mother cares for Bill, but I personally find him a bit too womanizing. A good bit of karma for him would be to have a daughter, see how he likes watching someone abscond with her) I know that Harry, Ron, and Hermione left for somewhere. If I run into him, I know I cannot tell him the truth. I'll have to come up with something, though I'm not sure what. If you hear anything stupid like me leaving your mother, know it was a lie. Hopefully I'll come up with something better—even lying about something like that feels wrong to me.

I really do have to go now—I tend to ramble in my writing in a way I never do speaking—but know that I am so incredibly proud to have gotten to know you. I expect my time will draw to a close before this war is done and believe me when I say that I do not make this expectation joyfully. While I know you grow up just fine without me, and perhaps Dora—it's been so long and truly, I would not be surprised if she ran off with me on some suicide mission—I know you are the best thing I have ever done in my entire life. Knowing that you got to meet your mother and I arguably at our most handsome and joyful makes me happier than I suspect you'll ever know.

Keep on fighting the good fight, and do say hello to the grandson for us; I suspect the two of you are around the same age now (however this time thing works). If your wife sings, don't tell her to stop. I suppose whatever Dora is doing must have worked, for us to have a son like you.

All my love,

Dad

Teddy didn't bother to bite his lip, cheek, or anything else to keep from sobbing. He wouldn't have been able to stop the flood of tears even if he tried.


Last official chapter! Thank you all for reading; as a re-read my OWN work and go through any questions any of you have about what comes next, I'll get to work on some sort of epilogue.