June, 2013

Teddy Lupin was a stubborn boy. When he was five, his grandmother had asked him to brush his teeth and rather than obey, he instead squeezed the toothpaste all over his light brown hair. When he was ten, rather than watch his little 'cousin' James while Harry ran to the store, he purposefully closed his eyes the entire time his godfather was gone—though, he never let go of little James' hand. When he was fifteen, Teddy Lupin was invited to spend the summer in Bretagne with his grandfather, Lyall Lupin. This, of course, prompted an argument in the Potters' kitchen.

"I don't want to go," Teddy said flatly, his amber eyes glaring at his godfather. Harry glared right back at the boy.

"I don't really care if you don't want to go," Harry responded curtly. "Your grandfather is an incredibly nice man who just wants to get to know his grandson."

"But it's not fair!" Teddy complained. "I live with old people all the time," he said, referencing his childhood with his grandmother Andromeda. "Summers are supposed to be for staying with you and my cousins. I don't want to hang out with some 80-year old man in the middle of nowhere in France," He groaned.

"Your grandfather loves you, Teddy, and he hasn't seen you in ten years. This is your chance to ask him anything you want about your father—you'll learn more than I even knew. Do you know how lucky you are?" Harry asked, seething a bit. Teddy rolled his eyes.

"What, to have two dead parents? Yeah, real—"

"You listen to me," Harry said, sticking his finger into Teddy's chest. "Your parents are dead—you can't play that card with me. But you have two grandparents who love you—do you think I had that? My only living family detested me, and here you are with family members begging to see you and you what, turn up your nose at the opportunity?" Harry sighed. He hated that Teddy would never know his parents, and he hated using the fact that he had gone through the same thing against the boy. But fifteen-year-old Harry would have lept at the opportunity to meet his father's father and ask him all sorts of questions about young James. "Look, Teddy—"

"I'll go," the boy muttered. "Alright? I'll go. But I don't know what you're expecting to come from this," He added bitterly. "I'm not going to have some epiphany."

"I don't expect you to," Harry said quietly, sitting down on one of the kitchen chairs. "I just think you should get to know the family you do have, since there's nothing any of us can do to know the people who have left us."

Teddy absolutely hated when his godfather did this—make him feel guilty for what he had said prior. "I'll make an effort, alright? I'm sure my grandfather has had a hard life; I don't need to make it worse." Teddy shuffled his feet, looking at the ground. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Teddy," Harry insisted. "Really. I can understand this is hard—Lyall isn't your father. I just don't want you to miss this opportunity before it's gone. People don't live forever." Teddy snorted darkly.

"Or much at all, for us at least."

With that, Teddy jogged up the stairs and to the room he stayed in with James in the summer.

"Stupid France," Teddy muttered under his breath. "Don't even know French."

"Are you leaving, Teddy?" Asked James, peering around the corner. "I heard you and dad yelling."

"We weren't yelling," Teddy said calmly, rolling his eyes. "We were just having a discussion is all. A discussion in which I behaved like a right prat and your father tried to set me straight." James chuckled, and Teddy knew the nine-year-old (or was he ten? Teddy couldn't remember) would likely be having many similar discussions with Harry.

"So what's happening?" James chirped. "Are you leaving me here with…" His nose scrunched up. "Albus?" Teddy pursed his lips and sighed, patting the messy, dark brown hair of the young boy.

"Unfortunately, yes. But cheer up: you get to stay here. I have to hang out with my grandfather, who's over eighty. Talk about old farts, huh?" Teddy grinned. "You'll have a much better time here with Albus. You're lucky to have a brother," He added, nearly cursing himself for sounding exactly like Harry had downstairs. "Anyway, I need to pack. Want to help?"

James shook his head. "Nah, sounds boring. I think I'll pester Da downstairs." And with that, James had vacated the room, leaving Teddy to pack all by himself. He walked in, an sat on his bed with a sigh. Truthfully, he didn't mind hanging out with older folks: they knew how to make a good pot of tea and were quiet enough for Teddy to actually get some of his homework done—a quality the Potter household did not have. No, what he had been truly worried about was actually meeting his grandfather again. Sure, he had visited once when he was five, but Teddy could hardly remember the man, except for the faint smell of lavender from the garden at his new house in France, where he had moved after the war. But since that time, Teddy had tried to imagine Lyall Lupin to be as similar to his own father, Remus, as possible. He had memorized what his parents had looked like and liked to create personalities for them based off what others had said. He knew his mother was free-spirited, clumsy, a metamorphogus, and a Hufflepuff—like him. His father had been an old soul, bookish, but clever prankster—and a werewolf to top it all off. Teddy always wished he could embody more of his father's qualities, but other than a penchant for Defense Against the Dark Arts and some mild irritability around the full moon, nothing that he knew of. His worries were entirely centered around the fact that his grandfather might not be enough like his father and that he would be disappointed, but also that he himself wouldn't be enough like Remus to make Lyall happy. And with this came guilt—the guilt that perhaps his grandfather had done exactly what Teddy himself did and created a whole persona for his grandson that may or may not have been true. And that by visiting, Teddy was forever shattering that image.

Still, Teddy thought, it would be nice to learn more about Dad. Harry was the resident expert on all things Remus Lupin, but even he didn't know much. Conversely, Teddy knew just about everything there was to know about his mother, whose friends and family were still very much alive. Talking to Lyall Lupin, the man who raised his father, would be like finding the Holy Grail of Remus Lupin Knowledge. Maybe in discovering more about his father, Teddy would realize they had more similarities than he thought. And that would mean everything to the boy. He wanted so much to be like his parents—not because he missed them, because you can't miss what you've never known. It was for the people who did miss them. Teddy couldn't be sure if he was clumsy like his mother from birth, or if because every time he tripped Andromeda smiled. He knew for a fact that the only reason he was good at Defense was due to his hours of practice. Once, Teddy helped his Herbology Professor, Neville Longbottom, with a Boggart that had made itself home in Neville's office. Teddy would never forget the look on his professor's face when he shouted 'Ridikulus!' and Teddy's worst fear—a crystal ball, from his accidental encounter with a terrible vision during a work trip with Harry—turned into a balloon that whizzed away and vanished.

Teddy knew he made people happy when he reminded them of Remus and Tonks. And to not be able to do that for his own grandfather…well, it would be more than Teddy could take. But first, he needed to get off his bed and start packing. He needed all of his school things, that was for sure—he had no idea if he would be coming back to the Potters' before heading back to Hogwarts in the fall. He packed back up most of his clothes, wishing he could use magic to do so, and thought about things he would need to keep himself occupied. Books, his muggle Gameboy, a couple of little prank items (just in case, and to also keep them away from James), and his prized possession: his journal, which had originally been his father's (though nothing was written in it). Teddy found the empty thing in his grandmother's house and had taken it as his own, writing his thoughts.

The next few minutes Teddy spent were running around the house, asking various members if they had seen objects of his.

"Albus, did I give you my potions textbook?" Teddy called out.

"Uh…"

"Right, you're six," Teddy grumbled. "Ginny?"

"No, and quiet! You'll wake up Lily."

Once the potions book was found—it had been used as a coaster for the past week—Teddy needed to find his toothbrush. And his hairbrush. And his knapsack. Merlin, he thought to himself, I need to do a better job of keeping my things close by.

"Teddy, do you need this?" James asked, finding Teddy downstairs running about. The dark-haired boy was waving something about in his hands. "It's a magazine, but it's got girls on it—"

"Gimme!" Teddy yelped, reaching for the magazine. James grinned, and pulled it away.

"Daaaad," James sung out. "Teddy's got a dirty magazine," He said, snickering.

"James, shut it," Teddy said, his ears turning a bright red with his hair following suit. "I'm not kidding, give it back. How do you even know what that is? You're nine!"

"I'm ten!" James insisted. "And I'm not daft. I know what this is."

After a promise to teach James how to use the Exploding Whizsnaps and a small amount of begging, Teddy retrieved his light reading and finished packing up his belongings. He lugged his trunk down the Potters' stairs and into the kitchen, where he promptly sat, looking around. He'd miss the place over the summer. The field out back was fantastic for playing with the boys, and the large Oak was Teddy's favorite reading hideaway. The kitchen always smelled warm and inviting, and held many memories of joyful meals with the Potter family. But now I'm visiting the second-last of the Lupins, Teddy mused. He had assumed he had no cousins, no aunts or uncles on that side. Rather darkly, he had always assumed his father had been some sort of an outcast on that side. Teddy would never truly understand what his father went through—though he hated being teased for his more 'wolfish' tendencies. Once, a day or two before the full moon, Teddy had unceremoniously chomped down on a rather rare piece of meat. His friends had sniggered, and Teddy, already in a foul mood, erupted in anger. That had shut his friends up, but it didn't help his reputation as the 'son of a werewolf.' He was convinced that some students even though he was a werewolf, even though that was ridiculous.

"Are you ready?" Harry called out, walking down the stairs. He had broken Teddy from his reverie.

"As ready as I'll be," Teddy shot back, a little more harshly than he intended. "Sorry," He muttered. "I'm just nervous. I mean…" The boy sighed, hair falling slightly and turning blue. "What if he doesn't like me?"

"Doesn't like you?" Harry asked incredulously. "How could he not? Not a day goes by where that man isn't thinking of you, Teddy. He loves you, and he's made that quite clear. Besides, do you know anyone who doesn't like you?"

Teddy thought for a moment. It was true that he had many friends—as a loyal Hufflepuff, there weren't many students who didn't like him. Besides, having the Chosen One as your godfather never hurt.

"Slytherins," He said with a wolfish grin. "But they don't count." Harry rolled his eyes but didn't correct the boy.

"Then there you have it. You're going to be just fine. And besides," Harry said with a smile, ruffling Teddy's hair until it turned its normal shade of light brown. "You look more and more like your father every day. Healthier, sure, and much happier, but you'll be a pleasant sight in the Lupin household—I can tell you that much."

Teddy beamed. "You…You really think?" He asked. Harry nodded.

"Now, go say your goodbyes to Ginny, Lily and the boys. I'll be waiting down here, and we'll apparate momentarily."

Teddy ran off to give his cousins (including baby Lily) and Ginny their goodbye hugs. He told James to be good to Albus, told Albus where to hide from James, and told Ginny and Lily to hold down the fort for him while he was gone. After one final look in his room, Teddy raced downstairs. "I'm ready, Harry."

His godfather nodded with a smile. "Excellent. Now, grab my hand," Harry ordered, reaching out his palm. "We're heading to 44 Rue d'Arbre, Rennes, Bretagne." Teddy rolled his trunk over and grabbed his godfather's hand, and within a moment, the two were gone.