Hi everyone. Over the last few weeks I have been re-reading the Harry Potter series and after finishing Deathly Hallows, I wondered how Teddy Lupin would've grown up without his parents. I ended up having a tonne of ideas and just decided to write this fic about him.

Teddy is obviously a minor character in the book, but his birth is kind of the first happy moment since Bill/Fleur's wedding and things begin to look more positive...then the Battle of Hogwarts happens. My heart always bleeds for Teddy, but the one positive is that unlike Harry, he would've grown up loved.

Each chapter will represent a different person who has a close relationship to Teddy, and will feature moments throughout his life. Chapter 1 will begin with Molly Weasley.

This is my first Harry Potter fic, so it won't be perfect, but I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They all belong to J.K. Rowling.

It was nearly six o'clock in the evening, and Molly had just finished preparing dinner when her front door burst open without warning. Fearing the worst, Molly and Arthur grabbed their wands, prepared to fight off the intruders, but they relaxed their wands when they saw the intruder was only Remus Lupin. A very frantic-looking Remus Lupin, who was babbling incoherently about something. He was pacing up and down their front room, muttering something under his breath, and was yet to greet them, despite barging into their home.

"Remus," Arthur said, approaching the younger man, whose head shot around to the pair of them, as if he was only just aware that he had barged into their home. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, well...I think so," he stammered, making Molly worry. She too approached him, trying to coax him into the armchair he stood next to.

"Here, dear, why don't you sit down?"

"No, no, I can't sit down. I need to get back to Dora."

"Is Tonks alright?" Molly asked, fearing something was wrong with the young witch.

"Yes, she's fine. Well, I think the baby is coming." At this, Molly let out a little squeal of delight and clapped her hands together, startling both Remus and Arthur.

"Oh, that is such wonderful news."

"But, it's too early," Remus said, quitely, and now Molly realised why he was so stressed. "He's not due for another two weeks."

"Oh, babies come when they like, not when they're supposed to. And if he's as impatient as his mother, I'm not surprised he wants to be born a few weeks early."

"Will you come-" but before Remus had managed to ask for Molly's help, she had already grabbed her coat and hat, before grabbing Remus and heading out of the door, telling Arthur she would be back soon.

They arrived at Andromeda Tonks' house where the couple had been staying, and Molly headed straight through the door, without waiting for Remus.

"Remus?" she heard Tonks' shout from upstairs, and Molly headed straight to the bedroom.

"It's only me, dear. Remus came to get me." Remus appeared a moment later, heading straight to his wife's side and Molly noticed someone was missing. "Where's your mother?"

"She's in Derby visiting dad's family. It's my Aunt Jennifer's twenty-fifth anniversary."

"You left her in labour alone to come to fetch me?" Molly said, glaring at Remus, who shrunk back slightly.

"Well, I don't really know what to do, and Dora told me not to bother Andromeda, which I think we should, but she insisted so I asked if I bring you to help."

"Honestly, he's just fussing. I'm completely fine. There's no need to bother mum just yet. She's not seen dad's family since we got the news and I'm not giving birth right now, so she doesn't need to be here. Right now I feel good enough to fight-"

But she was cut off with a hiss of pain and Molly smirked knowingly. She sat on the bed by Tonks and rubbed her back soothingly as the contraction passed.

"Well, I don't think you'll be fighting off any Death Eaters tonight. And in an hour, I will send a patronus to your mother."

An hour later, she sent the patronus, and within minutes, Andromeda arrived at her home. She had changed a lot since the last time Molly had seen her, after all, it was several years ago. Molly had been a few years ahead of Andromeda at Hogwarts, but it was clear that the years had been kinder to the middle of the Black sisters than the elder.

Andromeda stormed through the door, and was about to lecture her son-in-law about not calling her immediately, but anything she had to say died on her tongue when she saw that Molly had been able to coax her daughter into a light sleep.

"The contractions are still far apart, so I thought it would be good for her to get some much needed rest," Molly explained, and the two women spent some time talking about whatever came to mind as they passed the time.

Sixteen long hours later, and Molly was coaxing Tonks through the final stages of her labour. With a final push, Molly delivered the baby and was the first person to hold him as he protested his birth rather loudly. She wiped down him and gave him a quick check, though he clearly had a healthy set of lungs on him, and wrapped him in a blanket before handing him to his mother, who had tears of joy and exhaustion running down her face. She smiled at the scene before her, Remus and Tonks, who had endured so much pain over the last couple of years, now happier than she had ever seen them, all because of the little bundle in their arms.

She left the room, along with Andromeda for an hour or so, to give the new parents time to themselves, and the two older women spoke of their own experiences of childbirth. Soon after, she returned to the bedroom to excuse herself and return to the Burrow.

"Don't you want to properly meet him first?" Tonks asked, a smile on her face, and Molly could hardly reject the offer.

She took the baby in her arms and her face split into a large grin. For the first time she properly studied Teddy Lupin, and he was lovely. He was mostly his father's double, but he had the signature Black eyes that she had seen in Nymphadora, Andromeda and Sirius. It seemed he had exhausted all of his tears earlier, because now his eyes were open and he was studying her face, as well as a newborn baby could study, and the wisp of hair on his head turned Weasley red.

She nearly dropped him in shock.

"Oh, he first did that half an hour ago, shocked the two of us as well.. Remus spent so long worrying he'd inherit his condition but none of us even considered he'd inherit my abilities," Tonks said, a smile upon her face.

Eventually, she did leave, giving each of them a large hug and congratulating them, even Andromeda, whom she congratulated as it is not everyday one becomes a grandmother for the first time. And she gave baby Teddy a big kiss on his tiny forehead.

When she arrived home, Arthur had prepared a small dinner for her.

"So, how is the baby?" he asked, as she began to eat.

"Oh, Arthur, he is just lovely."

It was five days later when she next saw Teddy. She knew the full moon soon after his birth, and she didn't want to encroach, so she did not bother them, as she knew Remus in particular was anxious about the upcoming moon. She would admit she breathed a huge sigh of relief when a wolf patronus landed before her and Arthur two mornings ago, and the joyous voice of Remus Lupin assured them that little Teddy was not a werewolf.

She was so happy to see them when they arrived at the Burrow, and she immediately took Teddy from his mother's arms and began to fuss over him. Arthur came to stand beside her, admiring the baby too as his tiny hand wrapped around Arthur's index finger. He was truly a beautiful baby, and when his eyes opened, his now turquoise hair turned once again to a Weasley red.

"It seems to change randomly throughout the day," Remus began to explain, "but it does make parenting slightly easier. We know what he wants when he cries. Angry red hair, and he needs changing. And he does seem to copy the hair colour of whoever is holding him."

"Ooh, is that little Teddy," Fred said as he came into the living room, soon followed by George. The twins resorted to pulling funny faces at him, forgetting that he was too young to laugh, or indeed to see the faces they were pulling, but it was lovely to see her boys interacting with the baby. And then Teddy was subjected to even more fussing when Bill and Fleur arrived, Fleur excitedly clapping her hands together, waiting for her chance to hold him.

Eventually, after Tonks had taken him into one of the bedrooms to feed him, Molly managed to steal him again, holding him tightly against her. It had been so long since she had held a baby in her arms, and there was nothing she loved more. His presence helped take her mind off her absent children. She knew Charlie was safe in Romania, but she would constantly worry about Percy, Ron and Ginny, but holding Teddy momentarily took her mind from them.

He began to whimper slightly in her arms but she shushed him, and bounced him gently, and he quickly quieted, content in her arms. She held him as she spoke with Remus and Tonks who were now sat on the sofa in her front room, and content in Molly's warm arms, he soon drifted off to sleep.

The three stayed for dinner, before leaving with the promise of returning again soon. Teddy's birth had lifted everyone's spirits during such a dark time. The last moment of true happiness any of them had felt during the last few months had been Bill and Fleur's wedding. And now Teddy had entered their lives, they felt joy once again during the darkness.

As it turned out, Remus and Tonks never did visit the Burrow again, taken from their son, as Molly's own son was taken from her. Andromeda and Teddy, however, became frequent visitors to the Burrow. After all, if there was another woman who understood Molly's pain at losing a child, it was poor Andromeda, who had lost both her daughter and husband, but had gained a grandson, and the two bonded over their shared grief, and their love for a certain blue-haired baby.

Molly thought that Andromeda cheered as she was in the presence of the Weasley family, and Teddy's presence certainly helped Molly as she began healing. In fact, there were times when it seemed Teddy's visits to the Burrow were the only thing that made Molly smile.

"I think being around an innocent baby makes her feel better," Arthur explained to Andromeda, as the two of them watched Molly fuss over Teddy, clutching him tightly to her. He whispered, but Molly could still overhear their conversation. "Focusing on Teddy means she can take her mind off Fred, and he is truly a lovely child."

"I understand. He's done the same for me. He's not a distraction, of course not. He's solely reliant on me, and taking care of him means I don't think on what I've lost, but instead what I've gained. It's painful sometimes. His hair will turn pink and I'm taken back in time twenty-five years to when she was a baby. I don't know if he remembers...But he's all I've got to keep me going. He's such a good child, so it's easy to take my mind off the painful things when I'm with him. I assume Molly feels the same."

"I believe she does. She adores him."

A few hours later and Teddy had started to grow cranky, so Andromeda had taken him home. But not before lots of kisses from Grandma Molly. After the two had left, Molly approached Arthur.

"I heard what you said to Andromeda. You're right. He's so easy to love that being around him, it's so simple to act as I did before."

The pattern continued for several months. Andromeda would bring Teddy round for dinner, and after they left, the topic of discussion for several hours was centered around little Teddy. "Ooh, Arthur did you see, he smiled today. I think it's only a matter of time before he starts laughing," or "It was so adorable, he's nearly mastered crawling." Molly took great delight in receiving the two visitors, also often accompanied by Harry. It took a few months, but Molly returned to her old self. It still hurt to think of Fred, it always would, and whenever she saw her darling George look upset, there was always that pang, but she was improving, and this small, delightful boy had played a large role in that.

Teddy enjoyed his visits to the Burrow as he grew. For all intents and purposes, he was Molly and Arthur's first grandchild, they certainly viewed him as such. As an honorary member of the Weasley family, Teddy received his own Weasley jumper, knitted with care by the Weasley matriarch. For the boy's first Christmas, for which Andromeda and Teddy were once again guests at the Burrow, Molly handed Teddy two presents. Both were jumpers, but with two different letters, the letter E and the letter T.

"One for Edward, and one for Teddy, until he's old enough to tell me which he prefers." The colour was a Hufflepuff yellow. It was far too early to guess what house he would be in, but she thought the yellow of his mother's house was fitting. In welcoming the baby to the family, Molly also welcomed his Grandmother, who was surprised when Molly handed her a jumper with the letter 'A' on it for herself.

Teddy enjoyed his first Christmas at the Burrow, wide-eyed and curious about all the lights. All of the Weasley children doted on him, and he enjoyed spending time in each of their arms. But of all the Weasleys, he seemed to be most content in Molly's arms, the warmest of them all, and after the excitement of Christmas Day, he fell asleep curled into the crook of her arm.

As he grew, Teddy spent every Wednesday night at his godfather's house, but for the evening meal, Harry and Ginny would bring him to the Burrow for dinner, and Molly would take great pride in procuring a most wonderous meal for him. Molly saw to it herself that Teddy had all the food he wanted, and more, though not too much, for she did not wish to risk the famous Black wrath that Andromeda had by giving the boy more sweets than necessary. But from time to time, Molly gained a rather mischievous side and slipped the boy extra treats for his supper. Every time Teddy came round for dinner, Molly heard a voice in the back of her head: 'And as for who's going to look after Ron and Ginny if you and Arthur died, what do you think we'd do, let them starve?'. At the time, Remus' words were in jest, but she took them to heart, and ensured that his son would never go hungry whilst he was in her care. Not that he ever went without what he needed under Andromeda's care, but after Remus' words to her, she vowed she would make sure Teddy was fine.

Such was his close involvement with the Weasleys, that from the moment he could talk, Teddy had taken to calling Molly and Arthur, 'Grandma Molly', and 'Grandpa Arthur'. It wasn't until he was five that he realised she wasn't his real Grandma, and she remembered the conversation quite well.

Teddy had been at the Burrow for the afternoon while Andromeda was working, and he had spent his time playing with his Weasley and Potter 'cousins'. After lunch, however, Teddy was quiet, a lot quieter than usual, and he didn't leave the table to continue playing, despite the effort of the toddlers Fred and Roxanne, trying to get him to play with them.

"You're not my real Grandma, are you? Not like Gran," he asked suddenly, startling her. He looked so small in the chair he was sat in, and his hair had turned to his father's light brown hair, his own natural colour. This often happened when Teddy was unsure, or upset, and lost control over his morphing.

She sat in the armchair, and beckoned him over, and he crawled into her lap.

"No, sweetie, I'm not," she said to him. "Your Gran is your mummy's mummy, and Grandpa Lyall is your daddy's daddy, but Grandpa and Arthur and I are a different sort of grandparents."

"You and Grandpa Arthur are Uncle Bill's mummy and daddy, so you are Vicki and Dom's real Grandma."

"Yes, I am. But Grandpa Arthur and I love you just as much as we love them. Do you like calling me Grandma?" Teddy considered this for a moment, before nodding his head with vigour. "Then you can call me Grandma."

"I love you, Grandma Molly."

"I love you too, sweetie."

He smiled, and gave her a big hug, turning his hair Weasley red as he often did when he visited, before running off to play with the rest of the children.

Molly was part of the large group that assembled at Platform 9 ¾ on 1st September 2009 to see Teddy off to his first year at Hogwarts (much to his embarrassment, it must be said, for no other student had such a large assortment of red-heads, and of course, the famous Harry Potter there to greet him.)

She gave him one of her large hugs before he boarded the train, making him promise her to send loads of letters. She comforted Andromeda, who was sniffling with emotion beside her, for she was not looking forward to spending time on her own for the first time since the war had ended. They were all going to miss him terribly, but he was so excited and they were looking forward to hearing all the stories he would tell them of his time at Hogwarts.

As promised, she and Arthur received plenty of letters from Teddy, telling them how he was enjoying his first year. Of course, when the first letter came telling them he had been sorted into Hufflepuff, neither of them were surprised. Teddy had links to three of the four houses through his parents and grandparents, but any bets on what house he would be sorted into were placed on the house of his mother. He wrote of how amazing the Hufflepuff basement was and how a sixth year Ravenclaw student had tried to sneak in to see his friends, but promptly had vinegar dumped on his head. He wrote about all the teachers, how they were kind but strict and even Professor Longbottom showed him no favours despite knowing him. He also wrote of how surprised he was that he got to speak to the portrait of Albus Dumbledore when he was in Headmistress McGonagall's office, though what he had done to already require a visit to the Headmistress remained a mystery. Molly suspected it may have been that one time he had morphed his face to match Professor Slughorn's before the aforementioned Professor had caught him, though he wrote that Slughorn had found it rather amusing. He wrote of how much he enjoyed watching the Quidditch matches, and how Hagrid always helped him when he was restless during the full moon. Thankfully, he had not inherited his father's condition, but he still suffered from certain side effects of the moon, and as a child he was often helped by Bill, so it eased her mind to know that Hagrid was helping him when Bill couldn't. And then, of course, he wrote about his several pranks throughout the school, pranks that his mischievous mother and Marauder father would've been proud of.

From the letters she received, it was clear that Teddy was loving his time at Hogwarts. She had been worried, when Andromeda had told her that despite his excitement, Teddy was apprehensive about living at the place where his parents had been killed, but he seemed to take to the school as well as they had all hoped.

After his first year, when he returned and visited them at the Burrow, he was full of more stories that he had omitted from his letters. Even George was impressed by some of his pranks, though Ginny was adamant that he should not teach any of them to James, who was already living up to his namesakes' reputation for mischief. He was glowing, but when he approached Molly, he was surprisingly quiet. The pattern continued for a few days and Molly began to panic, worrying she had done something wrong, but eventually he approached her.

"Grandma?" he asked.

"Yes, dear?"

"Erm," he began, shuffling nervously as he looked to his feet to avoid eye contact, a trait that Molly noted Remus had passed to his son. "Well, Uncle Harry said that you haven't seen the memorial at Hogwarts," he finished quickly, the words tumbling out of his mouth. Ice filled Molly's heart at his words, and she was taken back to over a decade ago, her beloved boy's body on the floor in front of her. She had not wanted to see the memorial, despite Arthur's pleading. She never wanted to return to Hogwarts again. Teddy continued to speak and she forced herself to listen, holding back the tears that threatened to spill.

"No, I haven't. I haven't been to Hogwarts since…"

"Well, I was just wondering if you'd like to come with me?" he asked, hopefully. "I didn't want to see it at first either, but then Neville, I mean Professor Longbottom, started telling me about his parents and what happened to them, and he persuaded me to come with him to see the memorial. It's a really nice memorial. And Uncle Fred's name is right next to mum and dad's."

His voice was so hopeful, Molly felt that she couldn't refuse him. She felt as if she could not bear facing returning to the place where her boy had been killed, but then she looked at the young boy in front of her, who had spent an entire year in the castle where his parents had been killed, and he gave her courage.

So, the following day, Headmistress McGonagall allowed them to floo into her office, and they approached the memorial which was situated on the castle grounds. Neither said anything, but Molly felt Teddy hold her hand as they stood before it. He was right, it was lovely, beautiful even. And the names 'Fred Weasley', 'Remus Lupin' and 'Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin' were next to each other. Teddy's hair was his normal shade, a sign that he was feeling gloomy, so Molly used her wand to conjure three bouquets of flowers by the memorial, and cheerfully suggested a trip to Hogsmeade.

Teddy continued to write to them as he progressed through the years at Hogwarts, and each Christmas and summer, he was welcomed home by all. Ironically, through his third year, Teddy became rather the opposite of his mother, and insisted that people called him by his real name, for he felt that Teddy was too childish. So in public, Molly obeyed his wishes and referred to him as Edward, but to her, he would always be Teddy. It was not long before he changed his mind once again, however, and the name Edward was only used by Andromeda if he were in trouble, which happened quite often throughout his teenage years as he picked up many unhealthy habits from George.

He had been one of the smallest in his year. He always remained at his natural height, never altering it unless it was for pranking someone by altering his entire appearance. However, when he reached fifteen he had a huge growth spurt, and within the space of a year, Teddy had grown to nearly the size of George. He now towered over Molly, and she would laugh as she had to stand on her toes in order to hug him. She had stopped giving him a kiss on the cheek as she greeted him, because he had reached the teenage boy stage where it embarrassed him, especially in front of Victoire, who Molly had noticed he blushed whenever she looked his way. Molly's own boys had gone through that same stage, and by the time they reached twenty, they allowed her to kiss their cheeks in greeting again, so Molly humoured him for now. She would jokingly admonish him for growing each time she saw him, forbidding him to grow any taller, and his reply would always be laughter, using his ability to make himself grow another foot taller, a joke George was always proud to see him do.

Molly attended Teddy's Hogwarts graduation when it came around. She was not remotely ashamed to say that she cried as he gave his speech as Head Boy, something James was not happy as apparently his grandmother's tears embarrassed him. Despite Teddy's knack for mischief, he was an exceptionally gifted student, and received all the NEWT grades he needed to train as an Auror, inspired by his mother. He had initially struggled in deciding a future career for himself. Although Remus was a brilliant teacher, Teddy had inherited his mother's patience, or lack of, and therefore was not suited for the role of Professor. He had considered becoming a healer, or a potioneer, especially since so much of his free time of late had been dedicated to finding a potion that would cure lycanthropy, and he had received a few offers from various departments of the Ministry of Magic. But in the end, he had decided that the career of Auror was what suited him best, and Molly thoroughly agreed, though she knew deep down that whatever career he had chosen for himself, he would've succeeded.

In the twenty-four years she had known Teddy, she had never seen him this nervous. He had been pacing for the last fifteen minutes, his face ashen white, and he had seemingly forgotten she was even in the room with him. He looked uncannily like his father who had once barged through the front door of the Burrow and taken to the very same pattern of pacing and mumbling nervously the night he had told them Tonks was in labour.

"Teddy," she called, but he didn't answer, too stressed to hear her. It was clear that more drastic measures were needed for her to grab his attention.

"Edward Remus Lupin!" she called, louder, and that did the trick. He froze, a shocked look on his face. Very rarely was he ever addressed by his first name. In fact, other than the brief period in which he preferred to be called Edward, Molly was unsure she had ever referred to him as anything other than Teddy. "Will you calm down and stop pacing, young man, you will wear my carpet down."

"Sorry, Grandma."

"And stop worrying. She will obviously say yes."

"But what if she doesn't and I embarrass myself and then she doesn't want to be with me because she thinks we're moving too quickly so I ruin it."

He was speaking so quickly that she could hardly understand a word that came out his mouth, but she took pity on him. Each of her boys had been stressed when they came to her with their plans to propose to their now-wives, and Arthur also revealed to her that the most nerve wracking moment of his life was thinking how and when to do it. She understood Teddy's fears, but she also knew her granddaughter, and she knew Victoire was smitten with the young turquoise-haired man currently fretting over her answer.

"Teddy, just breathe and relax…Where has my confident young man gone?" she asked, for Teddy had a natural confident air about him, he was very rarely a nervous wreck. "She will say yes, I know she will. And deep down you do too. Now, once you've calmed down, go and pick her up, ignore the glare my son will no doubt give you, Bill loves you really, he will just try and attempt to be intimidating. Go and enjoy your meal, and then afterwards return here immediately so I can congratulate you both and give you a thousand cuddles."

"Once again, your wise words of advice set me straight," he said, a bright smile on his face. He came over to her, and embraced her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "See you soon, Grandma. Love you."

She watched him leave the Burrow with pride. From the moment this boy had been born, she had loved him as if he were truly her own grandson, and watching him grow had been nothing short of delightful. Despite the hardship of growing up an orphan, he had turned into a remarkable young man who she loved fiercely. She had tried to hide it whilst he was speaking with her, but she could not contain her excitement. She knew Victoire would say yes when Teddy proposed and then this young man who was considered an honorary Weasley by all from the moment he was born would officially be a part of the family.

So, there was chapter 1. I hope you liked it and I hope the writing was in character. Not all chapters will be this long, some will be shorter, but it depends on the character I am writing about. For example, the chapters containing Andromeda/Harry etc. in the near future will be bigger, because they are closer to Teddy and I have more to write about.

I feel like Molly would've absolutely adored Teddy, and the very first idea that came into my head for this story was the quote from OotP where Remus says if Molly and Arthur died, they wouldn't let her children starve, and I just thought Molly would remember that quote after Remus/Tonks died, leaving Teddy behind, and the fic grew from there, so Molly seemed the natural place to start.

I have quite a large selection of characters that I am basing a chapter on, and I have several ideas for each of them, but if anyone has any suggestions of characters they would like a chapter for, or if they have an idea/headcanon they would like me to write about Teddy's relationship with a particular character, please feel free to make suggestions, and I will obviously give you credit for your suggestions in the notes.

I will be splitting my time between writing this fic, and my ongoing LotR one, so I won't promise specific dates for updates, but I do have a lot of notes written for the next 3 characters/chapters, so it shouldn't be too long. The next chapter will focus on Teddy and Minerva McGonagall.

Thank you so much for reading once again, I would love to hear any kind of feedback from you all.