"Hey kiddo!" Tonks enveloped her son in a tight embrace with impressive strength for her size. "I'm so happy you're back, I missed you loads!" she'd morphed her hair turquoise to match her son's, something she used to do when he was little. She was clearly recovered from their last somewhat dramatic encounter in his dad's office which Teddy was hugely grateful for.
Teddy grinned, "where are the others?"
"Your dad's had to stay at the school for a bit, Gran's at home looking after the other 3, you and I have a lot of catching up to do so I thought we could leave this trunk with Tom and go to Diagon Alley, get some ice cream, maybe do a bit of Christmas shopping while we're there?"
"Sounds good!"
Over a quadruple chocolate sundae for Teddy (being truly his father's son) and a cherry liqueur sundae for Tonks ("don't tell dad…"), Teddy told his mum all about his new friends, his lessons, the quidditch games and his favourite parts of the castle. Tonks was particularly warmed to hear about her son's friendship with Benji who was muggle-born and often needed someone to explain things about the magical world to him, it was just like her son to take people under his wing. Tonks also enjoyed hearing about her husband's lessons since she knew that teaching was the perfect job for him but also greatly enjoyed teasing him so was trying to glean some useful insight for this much-loved past time. Teddy couldn't help but feel a little unnerved when his mum got that all too familiar mischievous glint in her eye and told Teddy to let her look ahead in his DADA textbook so she could give Teddy some questions to ask Remus in lessons to catch him out. Teddy wasn't entirely sure he wanted to get caught up in the middle of a prank war between his parents, since their last prank war had only ended when his mother's prank backfired, and she got stuck singing Weird Sisters non-stop for the whole day until his father had come home and worked out how to reverse the charm.
The shops were nearly closed by the time they'd finished catching up, but they just had time to nip into Uncle George's shop where Teddy's mum emphatically encouraged him to buy a prank chess set for his Dad where the pieces flat out refused to move to where you told them to.
Diagon Alley had ten-foot Christmas trees covered in fake snow lining the main high street, levitating fairy lights hung between them, and as they made their way back to The Leaky Cauldron Teddy found that he couldn't wait to get home. He'd had a wonderful first term at school, but he loved their family Christmas's and was anxious for the preparations to begin. Mother and son were just betting on which of the younger children would be first to get a little overexcited and have a bout of accidental underage magic, and whether it would be Ron or George who would get most drunk and end up leading a karaoke session (Tonks whacked her son over the head when he suggested that maybe it would be her this year and not Ron or George) when Teddy suddenly felt his mother's whole energy change.
Suddenly tense and alert, her usual cheery demeanour was replaced with narrowed eyes, her mouth set in a straight line with pursed lips. Teddy looked around, confused, and saw her gaze fixed on a point a few metres away where two wizards were hunched over having a whispered conversation, intermittently looking over their shoulders suspiciously.
"Mum, what-"
"Ssh, Ted" her voice surprised him as much as her change in demeanour. Mum generally had two personas – cheery and upbeat or explosively furious. This was not like anything he had witnessed from his mother before. Serious, focussed, in control, but otherwise calm and collected. Without taking her eyes from the two men she spoke to her son again, "I need you to go to The Leaky Cauldron, Tom will let you use the floo. Go home and wait for me there, alright?"
"But what are you-"
"Teddy, I'm serious." The men she'd been watching were finished with their conversation and parting ways as one of them, who wore a long dark green leather coat and had a bauld head covered with tattoos, made his way back down to where Teddy and his mother had just come from. Teddy noticed that it was this man who his mother's eyes followed. "I don't have time to discuss this now Teddy, just go." She had a hand on his shoulder and gave him a firm push. When it still took him a second to move, she allowed her eyes to flicker briefly to meet his and he knew that there was no arguing with that look. He nodded and started slowly making his way down the path that led to The Leaky Cauldron, alone.
After a few steps he glanced back and saw his mother watching him. She gave him a curt nod and made sure he continued on his way before Teddy's peripherals were lit up by a blinding silvery glow coming from behind him. Turning around again, he just had time to catch his mother muttering to a huge silver wolf before sending it off with a precise flick of her wand. Teddy's eyes widened. He knew what form his parents' Patronus's took, since their friends all thought it hugely 'romantic' that they both took the same form. But Teddy had never actually seen anyone cast a patronus before. Suddenly he felt very young and silly, having been pridefully telling his mum how bright his lumos charm was only moments ago.
He'd known his mother must be a highly skilled witch to be in her profession and when he was younger, he'd been in awe of her job. But as he'd gotten older and gotten used to the idea of what she did, the fact he'd never seen any of it first-hand meant he mostly forgot about the impressive nature of her work. But now he watched as she effortlessly morphed her hair black and short and although Teddy was a little distance away, he could just about make out the change in her facial features, now chiselled and pointed.
Teddy's heart was beating fast, urging him to continue on back to The Leaky Cauldron as per his mother's request and yet his feet stayed firmly rooted to the spot. And then, before he'd even made the decision, instead of continuing down the main path, he ducked down a side street which he knew doubled back to lead further up the main high street from where they'd just come. Taking it at a fast walk, his heartbeat now in overdrive he followed the street around until it re-joined the main path, and it didn't take him long to locate the completely unrecognisable witch wearing his mother's clothes.
The younger metamorphmagus watched on fascinated as his mother drew her wand and swaggered up the street a little distance behind the tattooed man she'd been so absorbed in watching. Teddy followed, close enough to make out the look of concentration on his mother's face, but far enough away that were she to turn around he could take refuge behind one of the large Christmas trees. Soon Teddy gulped as he realised their destination, Knockturn Alley. Teddy had never been down Knockturn Alley, it was strictly forbidden, but he knew enough of its reputation that he paused to consider simply heading back to The Leaky Cauldron as his mother had instructed. But in his moment of indecision, he heard his mother call out, in a rough voice that he could hardly believe belonged to her, "Kaiser".
The man she'd been stalking, Kaiser apparently, turned and only now did Teddy get a clear enough view to take note of his face which also had tattoos all down one side.
"What are you doing here?" the tattooed man looked Tonks up and down.
"Christmas shopping" she replied offhandedly.
The man laughed. Then he sobered and fixed the witch with a steely look which made Teddy gulp, "did you get what you were looking for in Frankfurt?" Kaiser asked.
"False alarm, the kid was just born with green hair, it hasn't changed colour since" Tonks replied, her face still giving nothing away.
"Well, you know who that leaves then..." Kaiser's face contorted into something that vaguely resembled a smile, but it looked all wrong on his harsh features.
"You're not seriously considering trying to kidnap the Head of Auror's?" Tonks replied, her tone still so steady that it was a long moment before Teddy processed this comment and nearly stopped breathing at the realisation that she was the Head of Auror's.
"Not the Head of Auror's you imbecile" the man spat.
And then, to Teddy's surprise, so much so that he started to question whether this witch really was his mother, she tipped her head back and laughed, "the kid'll be just as difficult to get to" she commented, fixing her gaze back on this Kaiser man.
"Not necessarily, his mum will be working" Kaiser reasoned.
"And his father?" she raised her eyebrows, now Teddy couldn't doubt it was his mother he was watching, even on different facial features that expression was so typically her.
Kaiser sneered, "the werewolf? Just go and find a lunar chart, you can do it at the next full m-"
Teddy barely had time to process what the man was talking about when suddenly all at once the familiar 'pop' of apparition echoed off the cobbled streets and stone shop fronts and Teddy's mum had raised her wand and silently sent a powerful stunner to Kaiser who hadn't had time to react. However, before Teddy could fully register the appearance of the other 2 wizards in Auror robes, or be impressed by his mother's reaction time, a jet of red light was sent her way and she only just jumped out of its path as 3 wizards (definitely not Aurors) leapt out of nowhere and began firing curses at the 3 Aurors. His mind told him to turn and run and yet somehow he stayed glued to the spot, not wanting to watch his mother but unable to tear his gaze away from her as she danced around the jets of light that were headed towards her and sent her own right back to the newest arrivals as she did so.
The 3 wizards, who were presumably Kasier's back up, put up a good fight against the Aurors. One of them succeeded in knocking back the older looking Auror but Teddy's mum intervened in time for the older Auror to get back on his feet and after a time (Teddy couldn't say for life of him whether it was 5 minutes or 50) all 4 of the wizards who weren't in Auror robes were disarmed and chained and Teddy's mum was smirking as she morphed back to her usual appearance and approached the tattooed wizard whom she'd been conversing with before the duel broke out. His eyes were now bulging out of his skull at the revelation of her true identity.
"Frederick Kaiser you are under arrest by the Auror Department for the brewing of illegal dark potions and intent to kidnap and harm. You are now in Auror custody where you will remain until your trial in front of the Wizengamot…"
Heart hammering from the adrenaline of a duel he hadn't even been a part of, Teddy inched forward to get a clearer view of his mother making the arrest as the other Aurors gave similar speeches to the other wizards who had joined the fight. When Teddy's mum had finished with Kaiser, she turned around to speak to her colleagues but stopped short as she caught sight of her son. The expression on her face now was hard to discern. It was far more intense than the anger she displayed when he simply spoke back to his parents or forgot to tidy up, and yet it was not quite the fury that made her hair flame red that he had last experienced in his father's office when she'd all but exploded.
"McConaughey" she barked, and the older Auror turned to face his boss. "Take it from here please. I'll have my report in by the morning." She instructed before marching off in Teddy's direction.
Teddy gulped. He awaited her yells and rants as she approached him, but it never came. Instead, she simply grabbed his arm and started bounding off down the little side street where Teddy had been taking shelter. Then, without a word of warning, Teddy felt the lurch of apparition and was knocked almost completely off balance, nearly falling to the ground as they appeared in the field that backed on to the Lupins back garden. The only thing that stopped him falling was his mother's painfully tight grip on his arm and Teddy found himself musing that falling over would have been rather less painful. As his stomach churned, he could feel the ice cream from earlier threatening to come back up, but all he could do was wait and brace himself for his mother's shouts. Not for the first time that day however, his mother surprised him. When she did eventually speak it was more of a hiss, "what on earth were you thinking?"
"I'm sorry, I… I…"
"You?" His mother felt so much bigger than him as he cowered that he could almost have believed she had morphed herself taller.
"I don't know what came over me, I just…"
"You were being nosy and stupid that's what." She practically spat at him.
Silence.
"Do you know what could have happened to you?" her voice was getting louder now, more like what he would expect from her.
Once again the ice cream in his stomach threatened to escape and all he could do was nod solemnly.
"My work is dangerous Ted. You know that. Duelling seems cool when you're 11 I get it but it's not to be taken lightly. If I ever tell you to get out I mean it."
For a few painful moments she said nothing and just looked at her son fiercely as he stared at the grass.
"How much did you hear?" She asked him.
"I didn't…" he'd already defied her instructions in a major way, he shouldn't now lie on top of that, but he couldn't face this conversation, not after the shock of what had just happened. "I didn't hear anything" he lied through his teeth.
She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment and then sighed. "Well, Gran's inside so not a word of this to her or your siblings, got it? We can talk about this more when your dad gets home."
This was not the start to the holiday Teddy had been hoping for. As they made their way in through the back-door Teddy was immediately bombarded by his siblings and his Gran, all of whom were so excited to have him back and he felt he was being pulled in every which direction between the twins demands for him to play with them, his Gran's questions about his first term and Hope seeming to have taken to just following him around. His mum pasted on a grin but never caught his eye, she was a good actress Teddy had to hand it to her. Of course, she would have to be if she was used to going under cover like that. All Teddy wanted to do was go to his room so he could process what he'd just seen and, more importantly, what he'd heard. What's more, he hadn't realised it until now, but the prospect of having a whole room to himself and not just some curtains to draw around himself when he wanted privacy was becoming very appealing. By the time his father was home, Teddy found he was exhausted and not just from the incident in Diagon Alley. When he asked to be excused to go to bed, his mother gave him a steely look for a fleeting second before grinning and saying "We'll talk tomorrow?" phrased like a question even though he knew it wasn't. When his mother then looked over to his dad with a bleak expression on her face, Teddy felt sure his dad had picked up on it. What was it with adults and being able to talk using just their eyes?
A/N: Thank you so much for sticking with me on this story! As always, I'd love to know what you think x