Author's note: Just fluff, because you know what? Fluff. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the canon, world, and characters portrayed below and you can tell I'm not J.K. Rowling because #transrights
Warnings: NA
Indigo Most Welcome
"I DON'T WANT TO!" Teddy said in that adorable and gentle tone of his that Remus so loved.
Merlin help them both.
"Teddy, there's no need to be screaming in the flat," Remus said.
"I DON'T WANT TO AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"
"That's true," Remus had to concede to the screaming child that stood before him, fists balled and eyebrows crossed. "I can't. But we're not going anywhere until you do, and stop screaming."
"I WANT MAMA!"
"Mama will tell you the same thing as I am. This is a house rule."
"YOU'RE EVIL!"
"Edward Remus Lupin," Remus said, trying to muster as much authority and decisiveness in his tone as fatherhood and teaching had given him combined. It still wasn't much—not nearly enough to reckon with a child who had jumped from happy to go play to screaming at the top of their lungs. "We are not leaving this house until you go ten minutes without morphing and that's not negotiable, tantrum or no tantrum. Stop shouting or we're not going at all."
"We're going to be late," Teddy wined, his little face furrowing in anger and frustration.
"Yes, and so we'll apologize to your friends' parents when we get there," Remus said. "But you know the rules about morphing outside the house."
"The rules are stupid!" Teddy bit back with all the righteous rage that a seven-year-old could muster.
"You can talk to your mother about that later, but I really must say that I don't think you'll wiggle your way out of this one," Remus said. He crossed his arms. "We aren't leaving the house until you go ten minutes without morphing, and that's final."
Teddy wined but gave up on the shows of anger and childish righteousness when he didn't get a reaction from Remus. When Teddy had been younger, the two of them had cast their fair share of concealment charms on him so that the changing hues of his hair or his mid-sentence nose transformations didn't create any panic or concern amongst London's non-magical population. Dora was starting to tighten the leash now, saying that Teddy was old enough and skilled enough now to pick a form and stick to it. They were using summer holidays, when there weren't any school days, to get him used to making some kind of choice about his physical appearance. Meanwhile, Teddy disagreed with his mother's assessment entirely; this was not their first screaming match of the sort this week. These tantrums were nightmarish because of the shouting, yes, but because Teddy had been such a mellow and happy child until that point. He hadn't prepared either of his parents for this kind of reckoning.
"I hate the rules!" Teddy said, as if Remus needed to be reminded of where exactly his son stood.
"I know," Remus said calmly. "But you know that witches and wizards aren't allowed to use magic in front of Muggles, and your morphing abilities are a kind of magic. They're very good magic too. You know that we really, really need you to settle on a form before we leave the house so that you don't get antsy and shift in front of Muggles. That's to make sure that you don't get in trouble and we don't get in trouble. Yes?"
The explanation was one Teddy had heard before and he didn't seem particularly happy to be hearing it again. He crossed his little arms in a gesture that was far too grown-up and ergo kind of comical, but Remus managed to bite back his smile. It would only offend Teddy even further.
"Teddy?" Remus said.
"What?" Teddy asked bitterly.
"I love you," Remus reminded him.
Teddy furrowed his little face even more.
"I hate you."
"No you don't," Remus said. "If I were you, I would start to be proactive about this whole thing. You can't keep being late to things. Settle on your shape now so that we can start counting ten minutes. Do you want your hair to be green like this when we go to the park, or do you want to pick another colour?"
Teddy paused and contemplated his options. He wrinkled his nose and his hair lightened a few shades until it shone a bright indigo. The colour was calm and soothing, which gave Remus hope that maybe Teddy was going to start cooling down.
"That's a really nice one," Remus said encouragingly. "Alright, now do you want your eyes to be that far apart or do you want them closer together? I know you like looking like a fish right now, but are you going to want to see properly on the playground?"
Teddy considered this again and readjusted the set of his eyes. His usual splash of freckles appeared over his cheeks and nose.
"Thank you," Remus said. He gave Teddy a second. "Is this your shape for today?"
"Yes," Teddy said. In a quiet voice he added: "I won't change until after the park."
"Alright," Remus said. "How about you go read for ten minutes while we wait until it's time to go to the park."
Teddy sighed and nodded before trotting over to the living room to pick up one of his books and pull himself on an armchair. Once he was satisfied that Teddy's anger had passed, Remus went to join him in the living room with a book on his own—a new treaty on Dementors he'd pre ordered from Flourish and Blott's ages ago.
About a minute later, Teddy crawled off the armchair and came to sit on the sofa next to Remus, snuggling up.
WC: 935