Author's note: Wow, you guys really liked that last drabble… I'll see what I can do to keep going with that particular plot/trail of thought. For now; enjoy the following!

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

Hogwarts: Assignment #9, History of Magic Task #2 Write about someone believing an item brings good/bad luck, or brings protection.

Warnings: NA

Blanket Magic

Tonks woke up slowly, before she could really hear her name being called, and then once she realized that Teddy was crying for his mama and sobbing she threw back her sheets and bolted to his room.

She opened the door to the sound of sobbing.

"Sweetheart, what's happening?" she asked softly. To avoid blinding the two of them, she crept towards Teddy's bed and flicked on the lamp on his side table before sitting on his bed. Teddy crawled onto her lap instantly, tears streaming down his little face. It just about broke her heart.

"It happened again," Teddy cried.

"What happened?" she asked, scooping up Teddy in her arms. "Shh, baby, big deep breaths and then you can tell me…"

"I had another nightmare again," Tedy cried.

"Did you, baby boy?" Tonks asked, running her hand up and down his back. "I'm so sorry… was it scary?"

"Yeah," Teddy sobbed, burying his face in her chest. She kissed the top of his head.

"Well, I'm so happy it's over now," she said. "You were really brave, and now it's over. Deep breaths, baby, deep breaths… you're okay now, you're with me."

She rocked herself back and forth, though she wished she had the rocking chair she'd had when Teddy was a baby and needed nursing in the middle of the night. She'd passed it on to Fleur who had somehow decided to have three little buggers. Otherwise, Teddy's room hasn't changed much since it had been a nursery—the toys in the basket under the door had changed, the crib had been swapped out for a bed, the marks on the door were charting his growth, but the walls were the same robin's egg blue she and Remus had picked and his name was spelled out over his bed in the same yellow letters they had painted years ago.

Regardless, with or without the rocking chair, Teddy calmed down in her arms soon enough.

"That's it," she encouraged him as the hitching of his breathing. "That's it baby, good job… good job, you're okay now."

"Mmm hmm," Teddy moaned against her. His tiny hands were fisted into the t-shirt she'd fallen asleep in, clinging on for dear life.

She kissed the top of his head and ran her fingers through his light, fluffy hair. The texture wasn't far off from Remus' and she wondered if this was Teddy's natural shape, when he wasn't morphing himself. She wouldn't be able to ask him and know for sure until he was much older, of course, but she kind of liked the idea that Teddy had inherited this.

"Was it the same nightmare as the night before?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah," Teddy said. "And the night before that too. When I'm lost and I can't find you and then the monster comes and I have to run away and I try to run away really fast and I have to not get eaten."

"Wow," Tonks said. "Yeah, that's a really scary one, baby."

Teddy curled up against her some more.

"You know, Teddy…" she started. She chewed her lip, trying to find the right words. "I know I've been working late this week, and I only come home from work after Grandma or Harry or Sirius tucks you in… but I'm always going to come back to you, every single night, okay?"

Teddy didn't say anything, he just curled up against her more.

Tonks hated this; usually she put in a request for her work schedule in early September, when Remus headed back to Hogwarts, to be nice and light and child-friendly to make the transition easier for Teddy. But, of course, a scheduling request was only a request in the Auror Department, and apparently this one had fallen on deaf ears since Tonks had been working disgusting 10:00-10:00 shifts for the last week. On the bright side, it meant that she could wake up early to make Teddy pancakes and help him get dressed before school. When she walked him to the wizarding preschool he attended in downtown London, they could take the scenic route as he filled her in on what had happened the night before—hands clutched, occasionally stopping at a coffee shop for hot cocoa... as nice as that little morning tradition was, it certainly wasn't making up for all the nightmares her little guy was feeling.

"Hey," Tonks said, running a hand through Teddy's hair. "Do you know what Mama's job is?"

Teddy looked up and tilted his head to the side curiously.

"Well, Daddy's a teacher, right?" Tonks said. "A professor? And he teaches people how to take care of themselves and protect themselves against things that might hurt them?"

"Yeah," Teddy said.

"Well, Mama is an Auror," Tonks said. "That means that I make sure that everyone follows the rules, and help people stay safe against things that might hurt them in the real world. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," Teddy said.

"Okay," Tonks said. She kissed Teddy's head. "So that means I know a thing or two about protection, right? About protecting people..."

"Right," Teddy said.

"Okay," Tonks said, happy that this was getting traction with her son. She kissed the top of his head. "Wait here, baby boy, I'm going to go grab something that might help you quickly…"

"Are you going to be quick?" Teddy asked.

"So quick," Tonks promised. She offered up her pinky and made him a pinky promise to reinforce this before crossing the hall back to her bedroom. She made sure to turn on the main light and the hallway light too, so Teddy would have plenty of light around him.

She poked through their closet, which was distinctly emptier with Remus' clothes packed away and gone to Hogwarts. She looked over various cardboard boxes whose contents were vaguely outlined in Sharpie scrawl, and finally found the box of "DORA BABY STUFF." It was full of things from when she'd been a baby that Mum had passed on to her when she'd been pregnant, and that she'd then kept once Teddy had grown out of them. There were a few colourful picture books, a mobile that had hung over both of their cribs, a few particularly cute outfits that had been handmade by Tonks' paternal grandmother… and the little blanket—a baby blanket in navy blue, dotted with stars and moons and little lambs with closed eyes who seemed to be sleeping.

She brought the blanket to her nose, taking in its smell, before tucking the box back into the closet and heading back to her son's room, where Teddy was eagerly awaiting her return.

"This," she said, unfolding the blanket to show him, "is a safety blanket."

"It looks just like a normal blanket," Teddy said.

"It does," Tonks admitted. "But it's a little big magic."

"What kind of magic?" Teddy asked. "Does it change colour too?"

The poor little boy was slightly confused about what in the world could and could not change colours, since it seemed to come so easily to both him and his mother.

"No," Tonks said. "Even better. Because this blanket has slept for so many nights and because it's been loved so, so much, it chases away nightmares."

"How?" Teddy asked—ever the curious skeptic, much like his father.

"Magic," Tonks said simply. "You don't have nightmares when I'm the one who reads you bedtime stories and puts you to bed, right?"

"Right," Teddy said.

"That's because I love you so much that it's like magic," Tonks said. "And this blanket has some of that magic too. Usually it's my blanket, but I think that we can share."

"Are you going to have nightmares if you don't have it, mama?" Teddy asked.

"Nope," Tonks said. "Not even one, as long as I know that you're sleeping safe and sound."

Teddy examined the blanket. Tonks offered it again.

"Do you want to give it a try?" she asked.

Teddy nodded but then he bit his lip.

"Can you still tuck me back in and sing me a song?" he asked.

"Of course baby," Tonks said. "We can do both tonight. I'll just make sure to tuck in your blanket with you."

Word Count: 1376