Disclaimer: I still own nothing.

Synopsis: 'Know Teddy, that whatever I did, I learned from the best - that's you, of course. We may or may not have locked the troll in a room after finding him. But you know our rotten luck, don't you? Love, Harry' Teddy blinked. "A troll! A goddamn troll, Teddy!" shouted James. "And dad was always complaining about me getting in trouble? This is an outrage! What the heck is going on at Hogwarts?"

Warning: un-betaed; loosely based on my memories of canons, it's gonna go AU; the Teddy/Victoire ship sunk like the titanic, Jeddy if you open your eyes (if you don't want too, keep them close for now); Teddy is a man and sometimes a woman 'cause he feels like it or he needs to do it, the man is an Auror.

Thanks to everyone who put this story in their follows/favs!

Lost in Time - Jeddy Style

Chapter Three - The Next Great Adventure

24th July 1991

"Teddy! James!" shouted loudly a ten-year-old boy.

Teddy who had been an Auror since he was out of Hogwart, rushed to the hall, wand in his hand, and… fell clumsily as he rushed through the stairs. The portrait of Walburga Black sneered and opened her mouth to criticize the man, but as always, she was voiceless and could only cross her arms and scowl.

"Are you okay Teddy?" asked Harry to his favorite big brother.

"Yeah, I'm a'right buddy."

Teddy stood up calmly and turned toward Harry, he didn't look like he was in any kind of danger- and then, Teddy's detective eyes caught something incredible.

"Oh My God! Oh My God! JAMES! JAAAAMES !"

A flushing sound was heard, and two minutes after, the messy-haired man joined the duo.

"Jeez, you're both really loud this morning." said James before letting out a big yawn.

Harry and Teddy exchanged a guilty look, both had forgotten that James had a late-shift yesterday and came back quite late.

"Wait. Did you clean your hands?" asked Teddy, as he scowled suspiciously at James's hands.

James flicked remaining waterdrops from his hands on poor Teddy.

"Course I did, I'm quite proper, thank you very much." said James in a poncy tone, making Harry laugh.

"So? Why are you both up? It's only half-past eight for Merlin's sake?"

"Look James!" happily said Harry as he showed his Hogwart letter.

James's mouth hung open and his eyes were wide, the man blinked a few times before stealing Harry's glasses to read the letter, of course after some protesting from Harry and a scolding from Teddy, James gave them back to Harry with a wink before he really read the letter.

"Sweet Sexy Mother of Merlin, you're telling me that Harry's going to Hogwart !" shouted James. "Wait, you're going to be eleven! Teddy! Harry's going to be eleven! We need to make a big party!"

James continued to cheer as he took Harry in his arms and swung the young boy.

"James, put Harry down! He's turning green." quickly said Teddy.

Harry was happy despite his spinning head and followed his two caretakers in the kitchen where James prepared a comestible breakfast.

"Shall we go to Diagon Alley today?" asked James as he served Harry.

"I guess we could." said Teddy before drinking his coffee.

Harry cheered happily, this day was going to be the best! He had never seen Diagon Alley, Teddy and James told him he was too famous in the Wizarding world and that he looked so much like his father that everyone will recognize him faster than a bludger to the face. Still, they took him to see many other mysterious and magical places, his favorite was still Australia when they had been chased by angered ostriches, that had been wicked!

Diagon Alley had its charm, thought Harry, as he tried and failed to understand the architecture of the whole place. Although it wasn't as colorful as the Magical Bazaar in Morocco, Diagon Alley was nice and magical enough to Harry's standard, though as he lived in Grimmauld Place, his standards were quite low - he still disliked that house.

"Reckon we should go to Gringotts first." said James as he ran a hand in his blond locks.

"Sure. Hadrian, don't let go of my hand." softly ordered Teddy who had changed his whole look and gender to be unrecognized.

As they walked toward Gringotts, Harry thought that they must look like a family. Teddy with his plump woman form, with long dark wavy hair, and James who had changed his hair to blond and his eyes for blue. Harry must have looked like their son, with his messy dark hair hidden behind a red cap, and blue-colored eyes.

"Are you sure people won't recognize me, Teddy?" softly asked Harry.

"Don't worry Hadrian, discrete disguises are the best, besides, no one knows that you're with us, except for you-know-who." assured Teddy with a mischievous smile, making Harry snort at the bad joke.

They entered the bank, and as it was Harry's first time coming here, he took his time to read the poem on the entrance and analyze everything he could, from the appearance of the goblins to the ground of the bank. They continued to walk toward the teller.

"Good morning, I booked an appointment with Gornuk, it's under the name Duncan." said James as he took out his wand.

"Wait here, I will call for him." said the teller with a nasty sneer, before descending from his desk and walking away.

"They are so nice here." muttered James, and Harry was surprised to see that he was truthful, before remembering that in the future James' family had a beef with the goblins and the relationship between them was lackluster at his best.

The goblin came back with another one who must be Gornuk; compared to the other one, he was bald but had a white beard. Harry wasn't sure, but there was something kinder about him than the teller.

"Hello Gornuk, how are you?" greeted James with a big grin.

" Fine. Now, I recognize that this is Teddy Duncan, but who is this boy?" quickly asked Gornuk as he assessed Harry, his eyes nearly freezing the soon-to-be-eleven-boy. "Well, we'll speak in my office. Follow me." finished the goblin without waiting for an answer, though he gave a nod to his… colleague before walking ahead.

Gornuk's office was quite interesting to see for Harry who had never seen a goblin's workplace. His green-eyes twinkled happily as they watched the epic combination of dark red and gold, so much gold. Harry was quite taken with golden colors, he even thought about buying a golden cauldron for his potion lessons, however, Teddy's boring lesson on why shouldn't amateurs use a Golden cauldron had erased his interest in the whole subject.

"Now, Mr. Duncan, why do you have Heir Potter with you? Weren't you supposed to not get close to anyone here?" snarled the goblin.

"Meh, I never accepted. Besides, I will use Art 762 paragraph 2. 4- All workers of the department of Mystery must abide, first and foremost, to their code of conduct, bypassing all other laws." answered James with a winning smile, making the goblin frown.

"One day Mr. Duncan, you won't be able to use that law, and then you'll have to answer many questions." finished the goblin, his eyes nearly glowing.

The meeting was quite longer than Harry had anticipated, James asked to meet the Potter's account manager, and they spoke quite a bit about his family's fortune and what became of it. James had been quite crossed when he learned that the Potter's invisibility cloak was missing and some debts had never been fulfilled. His light brown eyes had gleamed with a hidden fire as he hissed to the Potter's account manager to either move mountains or be crumbled by the Duncans' rage - that statement elicited a gulp from the account manager and a snarky evil grin from Gornak.

There were also some inquiries about Harry's keys, Teddy had calmly - but dangerously - asked 'since when the goblins had stopped respecting procedures'. Of course, questioning their management when you had the knowledge about Gringotts' law made everything easier. James and Teddy hadn't been pleased that the key had been with Dumbledore for safekeeping, though the Headmaster hadn't put his hands on Harry's coffer, the two young men had coldly stated that they would remember Gringotts lack of actions. Teddy's face had looked frightening when he learned that the Wizengamot had locked the Potter's will.

After a nice moment in Gringotts' cart, Harry finally entered his vault and the amount of gold nearly made Harry's jaw drop.

"Listen Harry." started Teddy after Harry had hungrily watched all the money inside his vault.

"I know I'll be careful." pouted the green-eyes boy.

"I know that buddy," said Teddy as she/he pinched his cheeks. "James and I are going to pay for you today, and every day." explained warmly the blue-haired metamorphmagus.

"Just take some money for snacks on the Express, betting pools, and oh, for Hogsmeade." added James with a grin as he ruffled Harry's hair.

"James! Harry isn't thirteen yet, he can't go to Hogsmeade." scolded Teddy.

"Did you hear Har'? Teddy-bear didn't say anything about betting." mock-whispered James to Harry with a mischievous wink.

Harry let out a small laugh as Teddy's face twisted in the special face he made when he was exasperated by James and prayed for salvation.

"James! You know that it could be dangerous for Harry to go to Hogsmeade! You don't know who's there." angrily explained Teddy, however, they were suddenly interrupted by the Potter account manager.

"If you want to speak, do it somewhere, I don't have all my day." snarked the goblin.

James gave him a cold glare, he hadn't forgiven the goblin for his uselessness.

"Harry, take fifty galleons, hundred sickles, and thirty knuts, from my experience it will last you till the end of the year. Of course, if you need more money, we can either give it to you, or we'll come during Christmas." mused James before ruffling Harry's hair.

They finally escaped from the bank, but Teddy only had time to do some minor shopping for books and potion ingredients, then they all went to a nice family-restaurant called Père Dodu to eat lunch before he had to flee for his shift.

"I'm sorry Harry-bear." softly murmured the wavy-haired woman as she hugged Harry.

"It's okay, Teddy. I understand." answered Harry as he hugged back his caretaker, he would have loved for Teddy to come, but he understood that his superiors were quite strict, besides thanks to the metamorphmagus job people were safe.

"Don't worry Ted', I'll take care of him." said James as he took Harry's hand in his palm.

Harry's eyes glistened with emotions, he tightened his grip on James' hands, it was strange but he really felt like this was how a family was supposed to be. It's been five years since he moved with Teddy and James, despite their overprotectiveness they treated him like their child or their younger brother, depending on the situation. Teddy always explained everything to him, he taught him how to train, how to move, even if Harry was forbidden to use magic. They bought him clothes, food, but also books, games, and even a broom.

Harry could feel their love, from how Teddy tucked him in bed, or when James tried a new recipe only for Harry, or when they all went to the park just to 'chill' or play games. He had never felt so happy in his life, James and Teddy weren't his parents, heck, they weren't as old as him, but they treated him better than the Dursley, and he felt like they were family. A small weird family with a scrawny scar-headed boy, an insane researcher, and a badass Auror who was a metamorphmagus! Maybe he was a little biased, but Harry tended to worship Teddy, the man had a cool power, the best job ever, he was kind and joked around, but he loved to teach.

"Oh no, not that face!" interrupted James.

Harry blinked and looked up at the messy-haired man who still had blond hair but not his blue eyes.

"Your eyes aren't glamoured James." scolded Harry as he tried to imitate James, he wasn't sure if he succeeded or failed for James' face did a funny grimace before snorting.

"Yes, father." joked James with eyes full of mirth before he discreetly swished his wand and made them blue again. "So where to go, Harry? Should we try Madam Malkin's first, then go for your wand?"

Harry nodded eagerly, and they went to get clothes. Thankfully, there was no one except an old woman with a vulture hat in the shop, she had quickly taken the required robes for her child, and it had been Harry's turn. James easily charmed his way into Madam Malkin's heart, the woman had giggled, a lot. It was quite annoying, however, James managed to get a discount, so it had been useful.

"Say James, why don't you and Teddy use the money in my vault?" asked Harry. "I mean, you could live with it, I know that you and Teddy sacrifice a lot for me…"

James lightly tapped Harry on his cap. "Phew buddy, thank god you didn't say that in front of Teddy, he'd forbid you from treacle tart." James crouched in front of Harry, "Listen Harry, money's not an issue, I swear. Of course, it was hard in the early days, what with us being stranded here, but Teddy has a job now. I swear he's earning enough, maybe he'd earn a lot more if he was doing something else, but you know our Ted, he's not doing that only for the money."

Harry's eyes sparkled at the thought of his blue-haired hero.

"And, my job pays really well, worrywart. And Harry, the lack of money will never mean that we'll throw you out or something, we'll manage well enough, we're wizards, buddy." They finally entered the ancient shop full of boxes and some spiderwebs, "Hello?" shouted James, and an old man hanging on a moving staircase approached them.

James's POV

"Mr. Potter and?" trailed the old man who must be Ollivander, the original wandmaker that made all the old-gen's wands, except maybe for Aunt Fleur and Uncle Charlie.

"Duncan, sir, nice to meet you." easily greeted James as he gently pushed Harry in front of him. "We're here for Harry's wand."

Ollivander's silvery eyes were carefully analyzing James, and it was then that the messy-haired man remembered that his dad and he were under their glamours, so how the heck did the old man know it was Harry? That was scary, really scary - James managed to keep his easy grin on his face, and the old man finally focused on Harry.

"Well, let's get to work Mr. Potter," said the old wizard.

Suddenly many instruments flew toward Harry and started to measure him; the young boy looked quite overwhelmed, and James would lie if he said he knew what would have happened. Ollivander was one of a kind, his successor was good but even he couldn't activate every instrument at the same time; the old man's silver eyes hid so much potential - too bad he died before James met him.

The old wizard continued to speak as the instruments moved, explaining to Harry that his parents went to him for their wands, and he managed to give details from their wands. Honestly, if the man had been alive, James may have taken to wandcraft instead of his work as an unspeakable; no, that was a lie, he loved what he did.

"Say sir, how does one become a wandcrafter?" curiously asked James.

"Mostly by lineage, Mr. Duncan. My father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather were all interested in wandcraft." said Ollivander as Harry destroyed one of the lamps, the man wasn't even fazed as he happily gave the next one to Harry.

"So, no internship? No muggle-born?" continued James as he took out his wand to repair the broken lamp.

"Some do, however, a wizard doesn't choose wandcraft; wandcraft choose them." wisely said Ollivander.

"What?" asked James, however he was interrupted by a wave of pure magic coming from Harry. "Is that it?" excitedly asked the messy-haired blond.

"Holly, eleven inches, and a phoenix feather." mused Ollivander, his silvery eyes quite focused. "Curious…"

"Er, sorry, but what's curious?" asked Harry.

Sadly for James and Harry, the old man's news wasn't positive, James hadn't known his father had the brother wand to Lord Vader- oops, Lord Voldemort - but he was learning that there were many things he didn't know about his own dad. Thank god his mother wasn't going to be troublesome, (well, he hoped he would see her) she must be such a goodie-two-shoes.

His musings were interrupted when he saw his younger dad look frightened by his own wand; he looked so much like Albus that the nostalgia hit James like a bludger to the stomach. "Hey, it's alright buddy, you know, I've got a phoenix feather in my wand too!"

"But it's not the brother to Voldemort's…"

James ignored Ollivander's shivering and continued arrogantly, "so what? I'm so not inviting him to the Phoenix Feather's Club - it's only for the cool guys anyway."

Harry rolled his eyes, the snarky git, "it's not even a real club James-"

Cue massive gasp from the wandmaker, the two Potters looked at the old wizard who was looking frightfully at James, "Alright there? You're looking pale." Said James with fake-confusion, the man had seen under their glamours!

"Nothing Mr. Duncan, nothing."

"Riiight. It was quite a pleasure sir, take some rest, will you? Not good for bones, those stairs. How much for the wand?" asked James.

"Seven galleons." answered the man, the price was quite low for a man of his expertise, or maybe it was just the economical situation, what did he know? James put the money on the counter when Ollivander asked him one last question. "Ah, Mr. Duncan, your wand looked well-made, is it from Gregorovitch? I don't recognize the wood."

"Gregory-who? Er, no, bought it in America." said James with a grin. "It's yew, but I coated it in red 'cause it's my favorite color, too bad it isn't as red as I'd like but, hey, at least it's working."

Poor Ollivander looked shocked that James coated his wand, but it was a thing during his Hogwarts years, some carved words, or added a ribbon or a coat of color; it looked less boring.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, sir." kindly said James before leaving with Harry who also waved a farewell. As they walked out, James turned toward Harry, "Nice man that wandmaker, a little weird but nice. So, where to, Harry?"

"The Magical Menagerie!" happily shouted the soon-to-be-eleven-boy.

Teddy's POV

When he was a child and thought about his future, Teddy had imagined himself as an Auror married to Victoire Weasley, with one or two sprogs of their own. As he had dreamed as a child, he did become an Auror - and perhaps knowing that Harry Potter was his godfather eased the paper process for the administration, however, everything Teddy got had been done through his hard work. He did all his three years at the Auror Academy, he even did the worst jobs during some of his internships, and finally, his work had paid off when he became an Auror at twenty.

Teddy's life in his early twenties had been brilliant, he even wed the most amazing woman he ever met in his life, Victoire Weasley - she was one of a kind, the beauty of a princess and the courage of a warrior in one energic woman. They were one of the most praised couples, everyone knew they'd be happy together, everyone they met thought them cute, happy, perfect.

Only the two of them felt that something was not quite as right with their relationship as everyone seemed to believe. Something was missing, and the hints accumulated quickly; Teddy focused more on his job, searching for criminals and arresting them thrilled him. Victoire loved traveling across the worlds, searching for smugglers, and saving every magical creature she could, that woman was one of a kind, she never did nothing, she was such a busy-bee that she started her own clothing line in her free time.

Hindsight is twenty-twenty, they should have understood that something was strange when their free time was full of something else, someone else, rather than each other. Teddy snorted, remembering one of his colleagues saying he was jealous of his relationship, though the sheer openness and trust had been pretty amazing.

Victoire also hinted that something was missing, but Teddy and she were comfortable with their life, going on trips when they wanted either with their friends or each other, eating pizza in front of Netflix, having a burping competition; Victoire, despite her appearance, was cool. They managed fine, until that night, that party, which changed everything - it had shaken Teddy to his core, and he really should have realized something, and why sometimes Ginny looked at him with pity when he talked to her about his life.

Flashback

The party was going in full swing, Teddy would have preferred fewer people, but when one had a large family and many friends, that will never be possible. Victoire had invited some of their Hogwarts friends, some colleagues who were closer to them, and finally, her cousins who were older than fifteen - to say the number of guests at their home was large, would be an understatement.

"HEEEEY, PEOPLE, JUST GOT AN IDEA!" loudly shouted Greg Cattermole. The Dj, one of their friends, lowered the volume of the music. "Let's play Truth or Dare." Teddy and many people groaned and protested loudly, that was a game for children, and it would quickly become boring. "Let's twist it with firewhiskey and bets!" added Greg, suddenly more people were interested.

"Could be interesting, rules?" asked Dominique.

"Er, truth or dare between two people, the others wage wagger one if the dare will be done or not, and, er, let's put some veritas serum in the drinks and chug alcohols before answering." One second of silence fell on the room before everyone shouted a loud yes, Teddy and his colleagues shouldn't encourage that behavior, but they were young, they had a right to make mistakes - Teddy wasn't an old man, he was twenty-two, let him live in p-e-a-c-e and f-u-n.

The party escalated quickly, though Victoire decided not to drink as much as the others she would side-apparate drunken guests to their home. The rest of the screw sat down around the large table; Rose, who was nearly fifteen, had easily joined the circle, her arms around Jamie, Freddie and Louis sat next to them, they would spend the night at the Lupins they knew their parents wouldn't find out about Teddy' lapse of judgment.

The game started quickly, drinks chugged left and right, before a few bold Gryffindor asked for a dare, and then the waggers stacked up. Finally, it was James Sirius' turn, his face had a shit-eating grin; Rose giggled loudly, her face a deep red. Teddy knew that many of his friends didn't take Vicky's cousins sirus- er, seriously, however, they didn't know how much the Weasley and Potter gene was mischievous.

"Dare." boldly said James.

"French kiss Teddy." gleefully shouted Rose, making Freddie groan.

"That's such a weak dare, and, ew, aren't they like brothers?"

"Godbrothers, not like they're blood-related." replied Rose, her chin up in the air.

Dominique rolled her eyes, "Teddy is a married man."

"So what?" quickly shot Louis, ignoring the wide-eyes sent by people not used to the weirdness that was the Weasley-Potter clan. "If he didn't want to, he shouldn't have joined the game."

"Too right you are, cousin." declared James with a laugh. The messy-haired boy got up swiftly from the ground and swaggered toward the shocked Teddy.

"Wait! You're not going t-" his words were stolen by moist lips, the fragrance of firewhiskey spicing up Teddy's mouth. James wasn't shy like Victoire, his kiss was like him, bold and direct, full of passion and teasing, he pushed his tongue and shyly teased the elder man, and his hand caressed Teddy's head and his other hand trailed on Teddy's neck - it made him hiss in pleasure.

The sixteen-year-old boy's legs gave out and fell on the older one, pushing Teddy on the ground, their teeth met harshly, but James continued to move his lips, sucking Teddy's lips, his tongue traveling inside his mouth, caressing one final time Teddy's red swollen lips. Their lips-locking finally ended and James was on him, his warm eyes twinkling happily, his hair - more of a mess - looked auburn with the light upside him, a mischievous grin drawn on his lips. Teddy was gasping for air, his mouth wide open, and his eyes trying to understand what the heck happened to him. He felt his limbs tremble, and he couldn't help himself but say-

"Could do with a diet mate, you're not quite as light as you appear."

James rolled his eyes and got up, before trusting his hand in front of Teddy, "those are muscles, mate, 'sides I'm a growing boy."

The metamorphmagus got up and let out a laugh, James never changed. "Sure did, horizontally."

"Hey! Ladies aren't complaining." answered back James with a wink, before adding, "Right, Rosie-Posie?"

"Meh, I've had better." commented Rose as she pulled out her tongue.

The others laughed out at James's vexed expression, Louis adding "Yeah mate, there's a reason your ex left you for me."

"Whatever, it's your turn Freddie, truth or dare?"

The game continued, nobody commented on the fact that Teddy was an older guy, an Auror, and the teen's godbrother, nobody commented on the fact that James seemed to have kissed too many people and the way some people blushed showed that they too had experienced the James Phenomena. Teddy enjoyed his night and went to sleep, it had been quite a fun game despite its childishness.

Sadly for him, one person hadn't forgotten the kiss and Teddy's reaction. "Was it your first kiss with a boy?" whispered Victoire in their bed.

"Nah, those kinds of dare were common in Hogwarts, reckon Tonio was my first kiss." answered Teddy as he played with Victoire's hair.

"And you liked it? You'd have told me, right?" rapidly asked Victoire, making Teddy nervous.

"I guess it was okay, but yours are more amazing." said Teddy as he gave a small peck on her cheek.

"More amazing than James' kiss?" Teddy's breath got caught up a few seconds, he hadn't seen that one coming.

"Yep." lied Teddy.

She seemed to relax "Good night Teddy… I love you." And he answered back, putting as much warmness as he could in his voice "Night Vicky, love you too."

Deep down, both knew that James' kiss was the catalyst for something new.

End Flashback

Never would he have imagined himself stranded in the past with James by his side. The blue-haired man sighed as he thought about the younger bloke, the boy had been barely twenty-three when they were launched in Harry's garden. Teddy was at least happy to have been able to help his godfather's younger self, the man had done so much for Teddy. And at least taking care of a young Harry was easy, thank god they hadn't landed on his father's garden - he'd have ended them if he had seen James' face. Teddy had always thought James and Albus looked like their father, but the resemblance between James and his grandfather was scary. The only difference was the lighter shade of brown eyes with the perfect vision that Jamies had inherited from Ginny.

It was one of the reasons why they rarely went to Diagon Alley, too many people looked at James as if he was a ghost. At least, Teddy had the power to protect his family thanks to old man Archie who made the young metamorphmagus his heir. Their story had so many holes still, thank god they had the backing of Arcturus Black. He had written to Gringotts and adopted Teddy in his direct line, which meant that Teddy was one quarter more black. Weirdly enough, his metamorph power had gotten easier to control, Arcturus had helped him training his skills ; the man's great-aunt and his cousin had been metamorphmagus which surprised Teddy, even his grandmother hadn't told him that. Teddy learned that it was a Black gene which appeared more in female than male-Black, the first-one in years had been Arcturus's great-aunt Elladora.

Elladora had been named 'Dora' because she inherited the Black's 'Gift', however, the woman had also inherited the Flint's short temper, her control on her power had been weak, she changed her hair color whenever she felt something. Grand-father Arcturus confessed that she never married either because of her temper or because people were attracted to her gift, which she felt had been a curse. And Teddy thought back on his own father who had been afraid of passing down the were-wolf genes, he remembered how hard it had been for Harry and for his Grandma Andy to take Harry out in the muggle-world. Only the sheer experience of the last Tonks had enabled them to avoid major catastrophes.

"How is Hadrian?" asked old man Archie.

Teddy sighed, "His name is Harry, grandfather. Please call him by his name, it's the name chosen by his parents." Arcturus only blinked. "He's fine, he's excited to start Hogwart."

"Time passes quickly." commented Arcturus. "He's the last Black heir." mused the old man.

"There's still Sirius." added Teddy.

Arcturus scoffed "He left the Family of his own will, Magic punished him by putting him in Azkaban."

"He's innocent." repeated Teddy for who knows how many times, he felt like a broken record.

Arcturus didn't say anything else, he never did. The man was always lost in memories, it was a sad thing to see, the only times when Teddy felt like the man was alive, was when he was speaking about his childhood, his family and his lovely Hufflepuff wife - Melania Black - to Harry. Arcturus had been a proud pureblood who had seen too many wars, who had lived a long life, and he had lost so much, it felt like he was dead inside and was waiting for death to come. It was one of the reasons why Teddy allowed Harry to spend lots of time with the old man, sometimes when Teddy and James had long shifts at the same time, the old man kept an eye on Harry.

"I brought this gift for Hadrian, give it to him from me, would you? I'd come but Dr. Macmillan forbade me from moving, what a cream-face loon." said Arcturus as he coughed harshly in his arm, before waving his hand toward a closet. A long and large package arrived on Teddy's lap, the metamorphmagus groaned.

"You're seriously giving him a broom?"

The Black smirked devilishly, "Flying is in his blood, and I know the boy wanted one."

At least, thought Teddy, this time Harry had an actual childhood.

1st September, 1991

"Did you take your hat?"

"Yes." said Harry as he rolled his eyes, this was the third time James was mothering him.

"Jamie, let the kid breathe would you?" repeated Teddy as he finished his coffee, and got up to put his cloak.

"I've never done that before! I never you thought it'd be so nerve-racking and- wait, Harry did you take socks?!"

Harry sighed heavily before nodding, "I packed everything with Teddy, he's very thorough…"

Teddy ruffled Harry's hair with care, "Besides, if Harry needs something he can owl us, we're wizards, aren't we?"

James mumbled something that the other two ignored. As he looked at James's pouting face, Harry couldn't help but feel relaxed; strangely enough, seeing James stressed made Harry feel calm. Perhaps, it had to do with the fact that Teddy and James would take Harry to the platform 9 ¾ - the young boy couldn't imagine how he would have gone to Hogwarts if he still lived with the Dursley - he won't be alone, he hadn't been alone in five years now, he felt comfort from his two caretakers - they were the best!

"Alright, let's floo. I'll go first, Harry you follow me, James you'll end the march." murmured Teddy as he took Harry's shrunken trunks and Hedwig's cage, the beautiful owl was already in the sky toward Hogwarts and Harry missed her companionship. He would have preferred having her with him, though he understood that she'd prefer to fly instead of taking the train; Harry would have done the same if he wasn't obliged to take the train.

The Duncans and Harry managed to arrive on the platform without any of their limbs missing, which was quite the task if one took into account their bad luck and clumsiness. Harry's stomach churned as Teddy put his trunks on the train, they had half an hour before the train would leave. It will be weird, tomorrow he won't be at Grimmauld, he will be in a dormitory of his own and with many other kids his age.

"Am I obliged to go?" whispered Harry to Teddy, as he felt a queasiness in his stomach. The sandy-haired man crouched in front of Harry, his amber eyes looking warmly at the younger boy.

"If you didn't, wouldn't you regret it?" whispered back the young Auror who always knew what Harry wanted and needed to hear. Harry thought back on the funny adventures James and Teddy shared with him, the friendships they made, the mysterious plots, quidditch, and pranks.

Harry Potter would like to believe that he had the guts to go on adventures, he did want to become an Auror after all, and Teddy was one of the bravest men he knew. Studying with Teddy and James would be nice, but he knew deep down that he will be happier if he went to Hogwarts, make his own friends, live his own life - and one day he will share everything with them, his family.

"Yeah, you're right." said Harry before smiling brightly.

James hugged him one last time, which was quite a surprise, the messy-haired man was kind and but he never gave physical affection that easily, except when he was being mischievous and ruffled Harry's hair or tickled him. Hugs from James were rare. Of course, Teddy was the opposite he always hugged Harry and James, and it was exactly what he did, the metamorphmagus hugged them both tightly.

"Urgh! Can't breathe guys!" shouted Harry through his muffled voice.

"Urgh! Teddy, what you've been eating man?!" shouted James.

"Shush! We're having a moment." scolded Teddy without letting them go, thankfully James intervened. "It's gonna be Harry's last moment if you continue your squishing." Teddy finally let them go, and James got up letting Harry finally breathe.

"Please Harry, don't get sorted into Hufflepuff," begged James, he ignored Teddy's protests and continued, "this hug-addiction is something he caught with them, I could bet on it."

Harry let out a small laugh before they were interrupted by a sound. The Hogwarts Express was going to leave.

"Have a nice year, if you need anything write to us." quickly said Teddy.

"Send us letters, two per month minimum, and letters for every milestone!" added James.

"Your Head of House will be there if you have some troubles, the prefect can help you with homework, and the Head boy and Head girl also her if you want a quick answer and you can't reach us."

"Worst case scenario, ask your House's head to floo home or come back with a school broom or a thest-." proposed James before he got a swat on the head by Teddy.

"We love you, Harry. Take care of you, and contact us whenever you want to." murmured one last time Teddy as he kissed Harry's forehead, James ruffled fondly Harry's messy lock and reminded him to eat his lunch before eating sweets and to not gorge himself on them because the Hogwarts feast will be pretty amazing, and he'll need the space.

Those words of love were the last ones he heard from his family before jumping in the Express, he entered his chosen compartment where Teddy had put a small satchel with two books, card games, his money, and his lunch. The train moved slowly, as his heartbeat increased its path; a few minutes later, Teddy with his sandy hair and uniform, and James with his messy hair and black jacket disappeared from his sight. The change of view was amazing, and Harry tried to resist this homesickness deep inside him, instead, he thought of positive thoughts; he's finally on his next great adventure.

James let out a loud yawn before he trailed downstairs scratching his torso. His tired eyes opened widely at the sight of a familiar snowy owl, and the first thing he did was-

"TEDDY!"

- shouting for Teddy, the metamorphmagus tripped down the stairs, his wand in his hand, and at the sight of Hedwig, he hexed James' hair a citric green color.

The messy-haired man rolled his eyes and took the letter from the owl.

'Heya,

I've reached Hogwarts with all my limbs. Got sorted in Gryffindor, the hat hesitated with Slytherin though.

My roommates are nice, there's Dean - he's a muggle-born fan of soccer - Seamus - he's Irish - Neville - he's quite shy but seems kind, and finally Ron.

I met Ron on the train, we're friends now, I think? He's got red hair and he's tall, reckons he'll be as tall as Teddy, even taller.

I'll write to you later, this was to satisfy both of your curiosity :P

Love,

Harry the new Gryffindor.'

"He's friends with uncle Ron." happily exclaimed James.

"Hmm, hmm."

James snorted, "you failed to corrupt him to your Hufflepuff's ways."

Teddy only rolled his eyes as he tossed an apple at James. As long as Harry was happy, all will be well, besides Hogwarts was the safest place for their charge... now they only had to avoid Dumbledore.

- To be continued

AN: About James' wand, it really was a coincidence, I wanted him to have something from Harry and choose phoenix feather, I checked out lots of woods and read their meaning but in the end, I choose Yew, because Ginny's got a Yew wand?! (O_O) - I was shocked, never knew that. Poor Ollivander, he must be imagining so many things...