The Houses Competition (or THC) Round 7

Story Type: Drabble (up to 1,000 words)

House: Hufflepuff

Class: Potions

Prompt: (Dialogue) "I didn't know you could do that! That's so cool!" (Alts: I: We/He/She/They/Name. Didn't: Doesn't. You: We/He/She/Name/I)

Word Count: 1000

Disclaimers/triggers: (add as needed)


Round 7 is upon us and I jumped into the Teddward Lupin train. As you know, I love to make my babies struggle since angst is the only thing sustaining my life force. Hope you enjoy!

Huge thanks to Story Please for the beta!


When the war ended, people celebrated with big memorials and generous feasts. Ministry-issued balls and fundraisers with Harry Potter at the forefront were all the rage while the wounds were still fresh. As their world started to heal though, people started to move on and the crowded events became family dinners, where everyone could mourn the fallen and celebrate life in private.

Teddy was tired of it all. Growing up a war orphan of two well-loved heroes, he'd been thrust into the bread and circuses ever since before he could remember. He'd had people gaze at him sympathetically and go on and on about how they knew his mum and dad and then he'd had his Nan stare at him sadly through every meal – and he'd had enough of it all.

So that year, he'd jumped at the chance to be on kid duty. Little Lily and baby Hugo had only just turned two and James, Albus and Rosie could not sit still through a whole meal with the grown-ups, so someone had to keep them contained and entertained. Which gave Teddy a perfect opportunity to escape the pitying looks and the talk of how proud his parents would have been of him for his academic achievements.

Because, truth was, they wouldn't have been proud. He was at best mediocre at his classes and not even a full-fledged Metamorphmagus, only being able to change the colour of his hair. He'd even failed at the one thing he was supposedly born for. His parents would be ashamed, and rightfully so.

But the children weren't old enough to understand and they hadn't felt the pain their parents had. Their innocence was refreshing. To them, the day of the Battle was just the day they got to see their fun cousin Teddy with the blue hair. No sorrow, no remorse.

Well, no sorrow might have been a stretch. Lily had accidentally thrown a plastic ball right at Hugo's forehead and now the little boy was wailing like he'd been fatally wounded. Of course, feeling guilty at seeing her best friend hurt, the little redhead had joined in too and now Teddy had two sobbing children while three more ran around the room, yelling at the top of their lungs.

"Shite," Teddy muttered, hoping the kids wouldn't hear him cuss and rat him out to their parents. His hair had turned a vibrant purple and stood on end, as frazzled as the rest of him. He tried in vain to distract the babies with a flying broom toy, but they were too busy bawling their eyes out to care.

Swiftly picking Lily up with one arm and Hugo with the other, he started pacing around the room, carefully observing the trio that had just gotten into a set of Gobstones. With them distracted, at least he could focus on the dumpster fire in his arms. Rocking the babies back and forth did nothing so Teddy quickly set them back down in their crib, trying to talk them down instead.

"Come on, Lils, don't cry. Shh, it's okay, Come on, wanna see my hair change?" He asked, making his locks go quickly through all the colours of the rainbow. By now, the babies had quieted down to just sniffling, though the young wizard knew they could go off again at any moment.

"How about we go through the animals again, okay?" He quickly pulled out the children's book and situated it between them, quickly pointing at the first page when they focused on him. "How does the dog speak? Woof woof! And how does the cat? Meow!"

Hugo suddenly remembered he wanted retribution for before and shoved Lily to the side with his little chubby fists. Teddy looked on helplessly as her eyes welled up again, turning the page in a rush to keep them contained.

"What does the pig sound like? Oink oink! Come on, kids, oink oink!" Hugo turned to look at him and giggled, babbling happily and clapping his hands, as Lily reached out to grab his face.

"I didn't know you could do that! That's so cool!"

At James' words, Teddy looked up sharply before Lily grabbed a lock of his hair and tugged him down again. "Do what?" the eldest boy asked, confused as he slowly pried the baby's fingers open.

"How's everyone doing?" Teddy heard Hermione's voice from the doorway and shot up straight, afraid they'd heard the crying through his silencing spell and had come looking. As he raised his eyes to look at his aunt, they fell on his grandma's mirror again and he gasped, hand reaching up to touch his nose. Only, it wasn't his nose; it was the round, pink one of a pig, curiously extending from the rest of his human face.

"That was your mum's favourite trick too," Hermione mused as she walked over to pick up her son. "Back during the Order days, she would pull out the pig nose whenever we got too overwhelmed. She had a way of lightening the atmosphere."

"I… I couldn't… How?" Teddy gasped, eyes glued on the reflective glass as his nose slowly transformed back. He was mesmerised as he transformed his nose back and forth, transfixed by the strange magic.

"You know, Tonks also had a hard time with her ability once," the curly haired witch supplied as she picked up her niece just as easily. "Back when she and Remus first got together. You can ask your nan about it but, point is, it's okay to need some time. Don't be too hard on yourself."

How did she know? Had she noticed somehow? Before he could ask more questions, the young mother ushered the kids out with a quick "Time to go, come say goodbye," leaving him all alone to process. Turning back towards the mirror, Teddy allowed himself a small smile as he transfigured his nose one last time. Maybe he wasn't such a failure after all.