It was a quiet rainy afternoon. The soft rain hit the roof of the Tonks household. Edward "Teddy" Remus Lupin sat at his neat desk writing a letter to his Godfather who was out of town with his God-family. A fake smile was plastered on his face. He hummed when he finished and put his quill down. "There we go," he said to himself. "Now, I can—" A small knock came on his bedroom door. Teddy's hair turned back from black to blue. "Come in," Teddy muttered, but he knew that his grandmother heard him anyway. She stood in the doorway. She had her hair down and she was holding a stuffed wolf in her right hand.
"Hey Ted, look what I found," Andromeda said, holding up the wolf. "It was your father's."
Teddy looked at it with a bored expression.
"Wow," he said mirthlessly. Andromeda sighed and walked in.
"What's wrong?" she asked, putting the wolf down on her grandson's bed. She then walked over to Teddy's desk. Teddy shook his head, but he didn't answer. "Are you just being a teenager?" she asked, pulling up the extra chair that sat by Teddy's desk. Teddy let out a breath and looked up from his letter.
"What makes you say that?" Teddy asked, trying to keep the sadness from his voice. Andromeda closed her eyes and shook her head.
"Edward," she said firmly. "Please, what's wrong?" Andromeda asked, running her hand over her face. Teddy looked up at her. Tears were shining in his eyes.
"Why—" Teddy cut off and wiped the tears that formed in his eyes. "Why does everyone leave?" Teddy muttered, but his grandmother heard him.
"They are just on vacation, Ted. You know that, and Vic will be home tomorrow," his grandmother told him. Teddy scowled.
"I know but..." Teddy trailed off and shook his head. Andromeda smiled.
"Everything will be alright, Ted. I'll be downstairs if you need me," she said, standing up. She then kissed Teddy on his forehead and walked out of the room.
Teddy looked at the brown, well-worn stuffed wolf. Teddy smiled sadly at it and sighed. He walked over to his bed and flopped down onto it. The stuffed wolf bounced as he landed. The sixteen-year-old idly picked up the wolf and looked around him as though expecting someone to appear and make fun of him before he hugged the animal. He let out a loud, forced laugh. Teddy pulled the wolf out of his arms and looked at its empty black eyes and smiled. "Hello Remy," Teddy said, looking around him again. "Everyone is gone. Everyone leaves me," Teddy told the plush animal. He smiled at the fake threaded smile on it and hugged it again, hoping it would help him feel better. However, just as he did, Teddy felt a pull in his belly and his vision went fuzzy. 'What the hell?' he thought as his vision went black.
Teddy woke to quiet muttering. He felt Remy in his arms. "Ow," Teddy muttered, rubbing his head and opening his eyes. Four boys around his age, one of whom looked an awful lot like he did, were looking down at him with concern.
"Are you alright?" The boy that looked like him asked. Teddy rubbed his head and gasped when he saw the boy with glasses.
'He looks like Harry and Albus. Wait, did I—' Teddy was disoriented as he got to his feet. It became obvious that he was at Hogwarts, but he realized that things were not the way he remembered them. "Yeah, but um, where am I?" Teddy asked, quickly holding the wolf behind him so that he didn't feel judged. Teddy looked at the four boys' faces. The first one caught his attention the most, for he looked…. he looked like his father, like a young Remus Lupin from his grandmother's pictures, but that couldn't be true. His father was dead. The next boy looked a lot like Harry but upon a closer look, something was off about his eyes. Teddy sighed and shook his head. 'This is a dream. I know it.' Teddy thought. He ran his hand over his face and looked at the third boy with disgust. Peter. He knew that traitor's face from pictures at school and in Hermione's new book.
"Hogwarts," said the fourth, sounding a little confused. If the others were who he suspected they were, then this was none other than Sirius Black. They didn't seem to think he was out of place, despite the fact that he wasn't wearing his school robes. Teddy understood why. He could feel his hair flashing different colors before settling back on blue again. They knew he was magical, but they hadn't figured out who he was.
"Hogwarts? But it's summer," Teddy muttered dazedly.
The boy that looked like his father—who was his father, only somehow his age—raised an eyebrow.
"The summer? It's not summer. It's near the end of the school year," Remus said, looking at Teddy up and down. He reached out a hand and helped Teddy to his feet. "Who are you? Are you sure you're fine? You hit your head hard."
Teddy took the warm hand and pulled himself up, trying to stop the tears from stinging his eyes.
"Who are you?" Teddy asked back. He didn't mean to sound rude, but he needed to know that he wasn't just hallucinating. The four boys looked around at one another before they smiled.
"I'm Remus Lupin, and those loveable idiots are James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew," Remus said, and Teddy felt a swoop in his stomach. He'd traveled in time, but how? His time turner, which was only used for short jaunts to attend classes, was in his school bag. Teddy grumbled under his breath as he tried to compose himself and took a deep breath before he said, "My name is Edward but call me Teddy. Everyone does." He willed himself to keep his hair blue because he had no idea what would happen if he interfered this far in the past.
"Hello, Teddy. Um, how did you get here?" Sirius asked, sitting down on one of the beds in their dorm room. Teddy looked around him. The room was gold and red. Trunks sat by each bed. Teddy saw books laid on one of the beds. He smiled when he realized that that must belong to his father.
"I don't know. One moment, I was in my room writing a letter to my Godfather when my gran walked in with—" Teddy cut off and closed his eyes, remembering back to what he'd done next. He then showed Remy to the boys. "I was feeling lonely and then I—" Teddy cut off.. "I—I gotta go. Sorry." He fled from the room, not caring about the looks of confusion on the boys' faces.
Remus was shocked and confused by the boy who had appeared in the middle of their dorm room out of nowhere. It also did not escape his notice that the boy, who appeared around his age, also looked oddly like himself. What was up with that stuffed wolf? It looked so much like his own, which by now he always left at home. Remus sighed as he sat in the library with a stack of books in front of him. He was glad it was the weekend, and he hadn't put off doing his homework like his friends. Remus smiled at the scent he caught when he opened a book. The dust got in his nose and he sneezed, but in a way, he liked it. Even with his enhanced werewolf senses. Remus then brought the book up to his face and started to read. However, after a few minutes of bliss and quiet, Remus heard someone let out a cry of frustration nearby. Remus stood and peeked around the corner to the next row of desks to see Teddy looking through a mountain of books. On the table next to him laid that wolf toy that he had with him when he landed in the dorm room. "That's not right!" he said in an annoyed voice, closing another book.
"Are you alright, mate?" Remus asked, walking over to Teddy, whose hair was now black. At this point, Remus knew that Teddy must be a Metamorphmagus, which perhaps explained how they looked so similar. Remus smiled and sat down.
"Yeah, I don't understand how I got here. To this time. Dumbledore was shocked when I talked to him and said I should help him out with the research. I saw how he looked at me, though. I doubt he'll find anything to help me." Teddy muttered the last part.
Remus looked at him in shock.
"Time travel? Is that possible?" Remus asked, intrigued.
He knew that Sirius and James had talked about it as a lark, but was it really real? Teddy laughed, but it seemed kind of forced, and Remus saw tears forming in his eyes. He opened another book and looked through it. Remus could have sworn to have seen a golden, wolf-like shine pass across his eyes for a moment.
"Do you need help?" Remus asked, picking up a book. Teddy looked up and smiled a little before he nodded. Soon, the two were reading in the quiet of the library.
Teddy sighed when they finished looking through the books. "It's no use. There is nothing here," he said in a broken voice. Remus shook his head, but he didn't say anything as he looked at the stuffed wolf.
"This is a weird question, but does your friend here have a name?" Remus asked, picking up the stuffed toy. Teddy half-smiled and nodded. However, he didn't say anything as he looked back down at the books.
"There must be something here but I'm not seeing it," Teddy said, picking up another book, ignoring the question.
"How long have you had this? It's old," Remus asked but Teddy ignored him. Remus looked over the animal and pulled out his wand. Remus opened his mouth to say a spell when he heard James and Sirius walk in, their voices echoing off the high ceilings. Remus rolled his eyes. "Loud as usual," Remus muttered, but he didn't stand up to greet his best friends. Instead, he continued to examine the toy.
"Moony!" Remus rolled his eyes when he heard Sirius call out, but in the back of his mind, he smiled. "There you are. What are you doing here? It's almost dinner!" Sirius walked over to the two and gave Teddy a strange look. Teddy opened another book and growled softly. This made the three friends look at Teddy. Teddy looked up at them and sighed before pointedly sticking his nose in the book despite knowing there wasn't anything in there. Remus raised an eyebrow and shared a look with James and Sirius.
"Um, Teddy, are you a werewolf?" Sirius asked, making James elbow him in the arm. Teddy looked up sharply and shook his head.
"No, my father was one, though," Teddy said before he went back to the book. James and Sirius pulled up chairs and sat down next to Remus.
"Aren't you hungry?" Sirius asked, ignoring the fact that Teddy had revealed that his father was a werewolf. Remus hit Sirius in the arm and watched as Teddy pulled the book that he was reading up to his face. The friends watched as Teddy's hair turned sandy brown; the same color as Remus's. Teddy shook his head and put down the book. Everyone gasped as they saw Teddy looking almost exactly like Remus.
"No, I'm not. I need to get home, and nothing here says anything about time traveling with a bloody stuffed wolf!" Teddy cried, putting his head down on the table. Sirius shared a look with Remus and then James.
"I might have an idea how, but why are you matching me with your appearance?" Remus asked slowly.
Teddy looked at Remus as tears filled his eyes.
"Because I'm…" Teddy looked down at the toy as it started to glow. "Wait, I know," Teddy said, taking the toy out of Remus's hand. "James," Teddy muttered. He looked at James' confused expression and laughed. "Not you, my Godbrother. He had a hold of this last week. I was telling him about my parents. He must—" The toy grew brighter. "He might have wanted me to meet you guys. He looks up to—" Teddy was gone as suddenly as he had appeared.
Teddy had tears in his eyes when he woke. However, he knew that that was not a dream. "I met my dad," Teddy muttered, as he heard his grandmother knock on his open door.
"Teddy are you alright?" Andromeda asked, looking at Teddy who smiled and stood up before running to hug her
"Yeah, hey um, do you know if we have any butterbeer? I'm parched!" Teddy asked, pulling out of the hug before he ran out of the room without her answering his question. Andromeda smiled and followed Teddy downstairs.
Summary: Time travel AU: Teddy feels alone and with a little help from Andromeda and James Sirius Teddy meets Remus
House: Hufflepuff
Class: Charms
Standard
Prompts: Theme: Travel (Object) Stuffed Toy (can be any kind)
Word count: 2192