Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used, the world of Harry Potter and everything involved with it belongs to JK Rowling.
Prompts listed at the end!
Summary: Every time Teddy looks in the mirror, all he can see is the weight of his parents legacy upon his shoulders.
The Mirror Image
When Teddy Lupin looked in the mirror, all he could see in his reflection, was the weight of his parents upon his shoulders. The weight of their expectations, and the expectations of those around him to live up to them.
With his fathers amber eyes, and his mothers facial shape, all Teddy could see when he looked in the mirror was his parents. He had spent his whole life hearing about how proud they would be of him, how amazing and strong they were, and how they had given their lives in a war to make sure he could have a happier life himself.
He had seen the way his godfather had clung to his image, constantly being told that he looked like his father, but with his mothers eyes. He couldn't understand why Harry would want to be seen as their mirror image. Teddy struggled everyday to look in the mirror and see his parents staring back at him in his features, but not being there in person. He struggled to look and see himself in the mirror.
Teddy couldn't do it.
He couldn't live with the constant pressures of being his parents child, being the child of heroes.
He didn't want to constantly be known as Nymphadora and Remus' son. He loved his parents and the fact that they had made the biggest sacrifice in giving their lives for his future, but sometimes he just wanted to be Teddy.
He wanted people to look at him and see him as his own person, see him for his own accomplishments, and not compare him to everything his parents had achieved. He knew that they would be proud of him for anything he did in life, and that they would never want him to pretend to be something he wasn't.
He longed to just be Teddy.
Looking in the mirror, he watched as his hair morphed and turned teal. A colour that he associated with the vibrancy of his mother, regarded as a force of nature by so many that knew her. Blinking, his eyes flickered before transitioning into the vibrant shade of green shared by his godfather, someone that his father had respected and fought beside. It was almost a relief, he hadn't felt such freedom since he was a small child, to suddenly feel the weight of the Wizarding World lifting off his young shoulders. He finally felt that he could be the person he was meant to be, the person that he had always been scared to be, less he not make his parents proud.
And even as he masked his true form, and undertook the façade of someone else, he still couldn't forget his parents. Making sure that in some way, be it his hair colour or his eyes, he tried to make sure they were still with him. In doing so, he couldn't forget that he wasn't Nymphadora, and he wasn't Remus, but he was still their son. He was Teddy Lupin, and he was his own person, with his own thoughts and a future that only he could decide.
515 Words
Additional Prompts:
Insane House Challenge:
[527] Colour – Teal
366 Prompt Challenge:
[261] - Reflection
August Auction:
Day 10: Auction 3 – Next-Gen Era
August Writing Club:
Angel's Archive: Stardust Crusaders – Hanged Man: (Action/Plot Point) Looking in a mirror.
Scamander's Case: Thestral – (Emotion) Misunderstood
TV Spree – (Word) Expectations
The Forecast Says: 21st Sunny - Struggle
Seasonal Summer Prompts:
3rd July: Compliment Your Mirror Day – Write about someone trying to build their self-esteem.
Colours – Amber