Hey Readers!
Thank you so much for continuing to read my book, I can barely believe I'm writing the 79th chapter of the 'Tamed - A Lupin Tale' series.
Teddy has come so far and hope you are as excited to read the rest of his tale as I am!
- DawnTide
Chapter 25
- Little Sip of Luck -
Teddy, Ron and Hermione all sat around Harry in the Gryffindor common room. The sun was on the verge of disappearing behind the horizon, yet the sky was still oddly light. Harry held the small vial of Liquid Luck in front of him.
"Good luck." Teddy wished him, both humorously and genuinely. Harry gave a nervous nod and gulped down the vial's entire contents. Everyone leaned forward in their seats, which creaked loudly in the silence of the common room. They watched as the Liquid Luck began to take effect. Harry's eyes lit up from behind his glasses and a wide smile, which Teddy sorely wished he could borrow, crept to his lips.
"Well, how do you feel?" Hermione asked, still leaning forward in her armchair.
Harry let out a small exhilarated breath. "Excellent. Really excellent." He stood up suddenly and the others did the same. It was good to see Harry in high spirits, he hadn't quite been himself since Sirius died. Teddy and Harry had both shared a special connection with the man, but Teddy knew Sirius was like a father to Harry and just like his first one, he was gone. To Teddy, Sirius had been more a of friend, who he happily remembered duelling with in Grimmauld Place.
Hermione cleared her throat and Teddy blinked back to reality. "Remember, Harry, Slughorn usually leaves early, takes a walk, and then returns to his office."
Harry nodded quickly yet didn't appear to be taking in any information. "Right. I'm going down to Hagrid's." He walked past the group and Teddy spun around in confusion, following after him and grabbing Harry by the wrist.
"What? Harry, you've got to go to speak to Slughorn." He said.
Hermione stood beside him. "We have a plan, remember?" Harry let out a surprising whine, glancing once around the room.
"I know but I've got a... really good feeling about Hagrid's." He said, looking as if he was having a little trouble speaking his mind. "I feel it's-it's the place to be tonight. Do you know?"
The group stared at each before reply together. "No."
"Well, trust me. I know what I'm doing." His bright, childish smile returned. "Or Felix does." And with that he crawled out of the portrait hole. The common room became quiet again and Teddy slowly turned towards Hermione and Ron, sharing their worried expressions.
Suddenly, Teddy noticed the time. "Damn! I should've been in my common room ten minutes ago. I got to go before Filch rips my head off!"
"Alright bye."
"Bye, Teddy."
"Bye guys."
"Under pressure is the only way I work.
And by myself,
is the only way I'm hurt.
What am I?"
Teddy had to think about the knocker's riddle for a bit, leaning against the curved stone walls. He was desperate to get inside, to see if Anna had chosen the four competitors in that year's duelling competition. She was never late with anything so he knew the list would most defiantly be on the Ravenclaw noticeboard. Which meant he couldn't get this riddle wrong.
If he did he'd be locked out and everyone was already inside. He'd have to find a teacher and explain what he was doing past hours. "Come on, Teddy! Think!" He said to his brain, tapping his scalp hardly. Finally, a lightbulb went off inside his mind.
"A diamond?" His voice cracked with uncertainty.
The eagle let out it's usual proud squawk and the door swung open by itself. "Thank Merlin." He sighed, picking up his school bag and wandering into the beautiful Ravenclaw common room which was still filled with students, busy doing homework and studying for assessments. For a second he thought no one would even bother looking up as he entered, but shockingly all eyes rested on him as soon as the door shut behind him.
Each pair of eyes seemed to stare at him differently, if that was possible. Some with appreciation, others with hesitation, awe, awkwardness, confusion, aggression and some just stared blankly. But each set of eyes had a tinged of something familiar in them, fear. Were they all still afraid of him? He'd been in the Ravenclaw Tower, surely he was old news by now.
If it wasn't him they were afraid of, who were they?
Teddy tugged on the strap of his school bag and walked across the common room, weaving between the sofas, book piles and students. He passed by a familiar group of three, all consisting of duelling club members. "Benjamin, Angela, Stephen." He said with a nod. "How're you guys? Is the list up yet?"
"Yeah." Benjamin replied after glancing at the others. "We all got picked." Teddy had expected him to sound more excited, but then again they were three of the best duelers in Ravenclaw and were chosen for the team each year, including Marcus.
"Oh, congrats. I'm sure you're all excited." He said politely.
"We are." Angela nodded, stone-faced.
Teddy stood quietly, fiddling with his index finger and thumb. "So... did Marcus get the fourth spot?" He couldn't hide the disappointment in his voice. Maybe that was why they were all acting so weird? All three sets of eyes hit the ground. "Not this year. You got the spot." Stephen said.
Teddy felt butterflies in his chest, but before he could say anything or at least process how amazing that moment was Benjamin gave him anxious glare. "Dude, I suggest you go straight to your room."
"Huh?"
Angela shut the book that was resting at her side. "Marcus has been rampaging ever since you stole his spot. So, take our advice... disappear!" But before Teddy could do anything, loud footsteps came from the dormitory stairs. Marcus looked around the common room, his fiery gaze landing on the scrawny, wild eyed teenager standing beside the rest of the chosen duelers, who all scattered instantly.
Half of the students in the common room all decided at once that now was the time to go to bed or find something else to do. The other half just stared at the two. "You've really done it this time."
"Huh?" The word came out before Teddy could stop himself. For a split idiotic second he had been too focused on what everyone else was doing to remember why Marcus was breathing heavily with fury. "Oh! Sorry." Why was he apologizing? Merlin's beard! He shouldn't have to apologize to him.
"Sorry? Sorry ain't gonna cut it, Mutt!"
A cold shiver begun to run itself down Teddy's spine, but suddenly a new feeling pulsed through him. Confidence. He wasn't putting up with Marcus anymore. "The name's Teddy, actually. Shouldn't be that hard to remember."
Two curious Ravenclaw girls looked at each other, their mouths forming 'O's. Marcus however took a sudden, hard step forward, enough to shake the floorboards. "Oh," Marcus said mockingly. "Wow, suddenly feeling brave are you? How dare you talk to me like that. You filthy half-breed!"
"Hey!" A new voice came from the staircase. Teddy peered around Marcus to see all four of his friends walking towards him. Terry stood the closest to Marcus, almost towering over him. "You're one to go talking about bravery. As if you know what it is to be brave. Teddy is the bravest person I've ever met!"
"Shut up, Ter!" Marcus snapped.
"He's been through more than you ever have." Leonard stepped forward, pushing his reading glasses further up his nose. "He's grown up in an orphanage, survived full moons - on his own, found love, been tortured, witnessed murders, fought Death Eaters and conquered the everlasting chains of prejudice, fear and hate that you try to bound him in!" Terry saw Leonard take a small intake of air, having not breathed once during his whole speech.
"And as a matter of fact, Marcus, he's not a half-breed." Teddy wondered where Freddie was going with this. "He's a quarter-breed!" Freddie finished without losing a shred of self-confidence.
"A what?" Both Marcus and Teddy spoke at once.
"I'll explain it later!" Freddie said, crossly, his chubby cheeks burning red. Daniel nodded silently, a sharp, unforgiving nod. The four boys all made a long wall in front of Teddy, like a barrier, shielding him and Teddy couldn't help feeling warm inside. 'How did I find friends like them?' Teddy asked himself, relaxing his stance.
"You're all so sweet, it's sickening! So get out of my way! If Teddy thinks he can steal my spot on the team, then he's got another thing coming!" He stood forward, attempting to get through the blockade. Teddy jumped back half a step, but Marcus was unable to get to him. All four boys pushed him back. "You're all making a big mistake. Trusting him!" He spat the word 'him'.
Daniel's eyelids slitted. "Back. Off." Marcus flinched at the loathing in quiet Daniel's voice. The Head Boy's eyes danced around the common room, but all eyes were no longer on Teddy. Red flushed to his cheeks.
"I-I-I..." He stammered, taking a few steps back. Teddy walked forward, joining his friends. All traces of fear washed from his face.
"What's wrong, Marcus?" He grinned. "Werewolf got your tongue?"
He couldn't help himself and very much enjoyed Marcus' reaction. He recoiled, before retreating up the stairs and vanishing. Teddy glanced at the others who were all staring at him. Everything thing was quiet, then...
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha." Teddy's laughed started out small but grew bigger as the others joined in. Soon all of them were standing in the center of the common room, their arms linked around each others shoulders. None of them noticed at the few students who'd sat behind to watch ran up to their dorms.
Freddie chuckled beside Teddy so much that he tripped over and, like dominos, the others did as well, landing on the soft mat and staring up at the starry ceiling. It truly was the best common room of all, and he had the best friends to go with it. "That was great!" Terry laughed. "Always wanted to do that!"
"How about... how about." Freddie struggled to speak through his constant gasps for air. "How about what Teddy said. 'Werewolf got your tongue'. Ha ha! You gotta remember that one, Ted!"
"That felt good." Teddy admitted.
Leonard, spread his arms out above him. "That was long over due."
"Serves him right." Terry snorted. "He's been bully Ravenclaws since first year. I only wish we did that sooner!"
"I'm just thankful you guys were there. That meant a lot to me." All four heads turned to Teddy in the center. They smiled. Suddenly, Teddy remembered something. "Hey, Freddie?"
"Hm?"
"What did you call me back there? A... quarter-breed?"
Leonard and Terry made small noises, a mix between a groan and an elongated laugh. "It's just something I realized." Freddie began. "Werewolves are considered half-breed, but you're half Werewolf so..."
"Oh, I get it now."
"Sorry, if you don't like it-"
"Nah," Teddy shrugged, looking upwards against at the comet that raced by. "It's cool. A quarter-breed, huh? Kinda like the sound of that."
"Professor Slughorn's gonna flip when he hears you're a new species of a sort."
Leonard rolled his eyes. "I doubt that's actually true, Freddie."
"I said, 'of a sort', Leonard!"
"Yeah, but to actually make that call you'd have to..."
Their conversation blended into the background as Teddy was reminded of Harry's mission. Hopefully, he'd been able to obtain the Professor's memory and find the answers he and Dumbledore were looking for. Then his mind shifted to his father. Where was he?
Teddy had given up writing letters to him, he never responded. And after the attack at the Burrow, it'd become far to dangerous to contact each other. There was no way Teddy could be sure he was safe, but then again no one was. He'd promised to show up at the dueling tournament, but Teddy didn't bother getting his hopes up. He knew his father would be wishing him luck, even if he can't be there in person.
"Love you, Dad." He sent the silent message out into the quiet, peaceful night.