Written for Hogwarts Challenges & Assignments - Term 14, Assignment 1: Curse Breaking, Task #5 - write a story from the POV of a Hogwarts portrait.
Before the Feast
The portraits in the entrance hall of the castle were chattering excitedly amongst themselves. Tonight was the Sorting Feast for a new crop of first years, which was always a big deal for all of the inhabitants at Hogwarts, but especially for the portraits. As they could only move between other paintings, it wasn't often that they saw new people. Several subjects from paintings in other parts of the castle had joined the fray, jostling their way into the gilded frames of the portraits commemorating those who died in the Battle of Hogwarts. A couple had tried to barge into Tonks' portrait, but she would only allow Remus to stand beside her. Her hand gripped his, and if she was capable of feeling anxious, she felt sure that she would feel completely, overwhelmingly so. It was their son's first year at Hogwarts, and they would soon lay eyes on him for the first time in a long while.
Tonks thought of Teddy, and of the cheerful, turquoise-haired baby that he had been. He had always been so happy, so content. Would he still have that sunny disposition? Or had losing both of his parents caused him to become cynical and withdrawn? Tonks suddenly realized there was a distinct possibility that she wouldn't even recognize her son. His Metamorphmagus abilities could alter his appearance so drastically that she might be looking at him and not even know it.
"Remus," she whispered. "Remus, what if we don't—what if we can't tell which one is him?"
"He's our son, Dora," her husband said, his voice as soothing and calm as it had been in life. "We'll recognize him."
Tonks sighed. "I hope you're right."
...
The new students filed into the entrance hall, hushed and pale-faced. Tonks recalled how nerve-wracking it was, waiting to be Sorted, but she wasn't dwelling on that just now. Instead, her gaze was locked onto a head of turquoise curls.
Teddy. It had to be. He had kept his trademark tresses, and Tonks felt a smile stretch across her face at the sight of them.
"It's him, Remus!"
"I know, Dora, I see him too—"
The large, wooden door to the Great Hall opened with a creak, and Remus and the other portraits fell silent.
"Good evening," Minerva Mcgonagall's sharp voice said. "In a few minutes, you will enter the Great Hall to be Sorted."
Tonks watched as Teddy visibly gulped. Poor thing, he was so nervous! She had been planning to call out to him, to give him a reassuring smile, but now she wondered if that would just make things worse. Perhaps it was best not to remind him of his orphan status at present, especially in front of his peers.
Remus was apparently thinking the same thing, for he muttered, "Let's just let him get on with his Sorting, shall we? We can speak to him another time."
Tonks hummed her assent, not taking her eyes off her son even as Mcgonagall continued to speak. Somehow, Teddy was simultaneously larger and smaller than she had anticipated. He was rather skinny, but he was also taller than most of the other first-years.
McGonagall finished her brief speech, then turned and began to lead the newest Hogwarts students into the Great Hall. Suddenly, Teddy looked up at the rows of portraits along the wall, scanning them until he found the one that Tonks and Remus occupied. A change came over him then—his face broke out into a wide grin, and he waved at the portrait of his parents. Tonks and Remus waved back, then looked at each other.
"I think he's going to be okay," Tonks breathed as Teddy's turquoise hair vanished into the Great Hall.
Remus put an arm around her shoulders and drew her close. "So do I, Dora. So do I."
WC: 636
