Chapter 10

What an evening Remus was having. Firstly, he woke up in the Slytherin common room of all places, face to face with a boy who looked like a younger, less traumatised version of Harry. Remus thought nothing of it at first until the kid mentioned that Remus had been dead for some amount of time. Then, the boy that he had known as a baby and a teen stepped through the common room door, as a man in his thirties and at with least one child. Remus had not processed any of this. Walking up to the headmistress' office felt incredibly disorienting after just coming out of a battle in those very halls and his head hurt from trying to make sense of his surroundings. Nobody spoke until the foursome closed the office door.

'Remus,' Harry said softly, 'I think we should catch you up a little.'

The former professor nodded. 'How long has it been?'

'Twenty years. It's May 2018.'

'What happened after I… you know.'

Remus' heart felt like it was imploding as Harry told him his wife's fate. He didn't think the numbness could get worse. But this was unbearable. Ears ringing, he heard himself muttering Dora's name over again as he keeled over. He wanted to scream so loud that all the castle would wake. She was too young. Twenty-six and a new mother. He wanted to send her straight back home when he glimpsed Dora duelling her aunt while Remus was dodging killing curses from Antonin Dolohov. Teddy needed her. Andromeda needed her. He needed her. It didn't make sense. Remus was the one who was meant to die that day, fighting for the life they'd dreamed about a thousand times together.

He felt a hand on his back. Looking up through thoroughly misted eyes, he made out the blurry outline of Harry – no, Albus Potter. The green eyes he had once thought unique to Lily. Remus sniffed as the boy handed him a tissue. He hadn't even realised his face was dripping with tears and snot. He felt nothing but heartache.

'You know,' Albus said softly, 'Teddy's going to be mighty pleased to see you.'

Teddy. His son, whose entire life he'd missed. Remus stood up from the place he had settled on McGonagall's carpet and hugged Albus tightly. The ache and darkness he felt for Dora did not wane, but a little turquoise light had made its way in. The boy knew exactly what to say. Remus turned to Harry.

'Where is he? You'd better have taken good care of your godson, Harry.'

The overwhelming sadness that had taken over the room broke, and everyone chuckled. McGonagall put her hand on her chest.

'I can say with absolutely certainty that young Mr Lupin has become a fine wizard. Harry and Andromeda have done a wonderful job with him.'

Albus piped up, 'Yeah! Teddy's the best big brother anyone could ask for. He's bailed us out of more sticky situations than I can count-' He stopped talking abruptly under the glares of the headmistress, undoubtedly remembering some particular incident involving the Potter boy.

'I think it's a good idea to get a good night's sleep. It's almost midnight, and I'm sure tomorrow's going to be quite a day as well. We'll get you settled back into life and take it easy in the morning and then we'll have Teddy over after he finishes work. We've got a lot to catchup on.' Harry clapped Remus on the back.

Harry turned to his son. 'Al, you're going to tell absolutely nobody about this, kay? If I hear anything from a single one of you before Teddy knows, you're going to be locked up inside all summer. Capische?'

A blanched Albus muttered Capische, and then grinned. 'Dad hasn't even told you the best part of what happened since you've been gone.'

Albus paused for dramatic effect and Remus couldn't help but see his old friend James in front of him. This boy was a Potter to the core. 'You're not the only one who's-'

'Al, shut it! It's too much for today.'

Five minutes later, Remus was stumbling out of the Potters' fireplace to find a short red-headed woman in a pink dressing gown screaming at Harry.

'-couldn't send a fucking patronus? I've been sitting here for an hour wondering where the hell you've been and you -DON't YOU GRIN AT ME POTTER!'

'I'm sorry honey, I got distracted!' Harry's eyes darted behind his wife's and she whirled around to face Remus. Her hands clapped onto her mouth and Remus finally recognised her.

'Professor!'

'Ginny?' Remus was gobsmacked. Ginny was sixteen the last time he'd seen her, after Harry had very unceremoniously broken her heart. As Ginny went in for a hug, Remus let out a bellowing laugh.

'What is it with Potters and gingers?'

The werewolf got a well-deserved smack from both husband and wife. There was a moment of silence before Ginny burst into tears. 'Oh, Teddy's going to be so happy! This is wonderful, I can't believe you're back, too!'

As much as Remus would like to think about finally meeting his son again, he didn't miss the last part of Ginny's comment.

'Too?'

'Oh, crap,' said Harry, 'We were going to let you in on it tomorrow but-'

A mid-yawn voice interrupted Harry's sentence. Someone was coming down the stairs by the living room door. 'Why the bloody hell was I woken up by a screaming banshee. I need my beauty sleep, you know.'

Remus knew that voice. Knew the long dark curls that appeared in the doorway before the person did. The same person who, for Remus's entire adolescence, mentioned beauty sleep at least once a day.

Before Sirius had even opened his eyes properly, he was tackled by his best friend.

'What the-? Harry! A little help!'

Remus had thought quite a lot of the things he regretted never saying to Sirius before his untimely death. Many long, poignant, and meaningful remarks about friendship, patience, loyalty and brotherhood, but none of those occurred to him in that moment. No, because the only thing that was going through his mind was how utterly selfish Sirius had been to go after Bellatrix that night.

'You bastard Sirius Black!' Remus spat between shoves. 'You left Harry all alone to duel that cow?'

'What? But she-I- MOONY, STOP!'

Remus finally slowed down. He helped Sirius up and embraced him. The two men stood hugging for a few seconds before coming apart. Sirius's grey eyes met Remus's amber ones. 'You were dead too! They told me and- aw Moony you had a kid without me there; I can't believe it. He's like you, only taller and funnier and better look-OW!'

Remus smirked. He knew Sirius was mentioning Teddy just to distract from the Bellatrix conversation but he couldn't help himself. 'I've heard he's the best from just about everyone I've seen so far. The wizarding world doesn't need this old wolf anymore.'

'Damn right, especially if he carries on beating his best mate for fun.'

As Harry and Ginny went to sleep after what could only be described as an eventful day, Remus and Sirius were instructed to wake up bright and early the following morning so Harry could take Remus into work and get him classified as alive. The two marauders remained up for another hour or so, laughing and crying together. Although Sirius didn't have a son who didn't know him, or a dead wife, at least Remus had someone who could understand the absolute absurdity that was being the same age as James's son.

The following morning, it took a moment for Remus to process where he was – not in his bed that he shared with his wonderful wife, but in the cottage that Harry Potter and his family occupied in Godric's Hollow. He was going to see his son today. His baby boy with multi-coloured hair that laughed for the first time just yesterday. He was now twenty years old, and, if Albus and Harry and McGonagall and Sirius were to be trusted (which of course, they were), Teddy had become a wonderful person without Remus in his life.

Would he want his dad back? Where would Remus even fit in? Remus told himself off for overthinking all of this. Whatever happens with Teddy will happen. And whatever decision Teddy makes about Remus's role in his life, Remus will accept it. His son was an adult. He really wished Dora would have come back with him to get to know their son together. Ho could not believe that he would be able to speak with his grown-up boy, only a day after seeing him as a baby and without his wife next to him. How things could change in a day, Remus mused. That Halloween night in 1981 had to have been the most bizarre and upsetting 24 hours of his life, but that was before he travelled 20 years into the future.

The morning passed uneventfully, and Harry and Remus decided that it would be best to keep Remus away from the ministry at least until his son found out about him. If he had taken Remus to work with him, the whole wizarding world would know about his return faster than you could say quidditch. Harry himself still went off to work to avoid unwanted questions from his juniors and actually get some work done. Remus spent the morning with Sirius and Ginny, fretting. The seconds felt like hours, and when half past five hit, Harry sent word via his patronus that he'd be home at six with Teddy in tow. As much as Remus's heart swelled seeing the stag patronus that he had taught the kid, it also sank knowing that it was only a matter of minutes before Teddy would bounce through the fireplace.

'Moony, if you fix your hair again, you're going to give me a headache.'

Sirius had a point – Remus had changed his hair parting, added unreasonable amounts of gel and attempted combing his sandy, slightly too-long locks a million times. And it was giving him flashbacks to watching Sirius do the same thing (with arguably better results) all those years ago when they shared a dormitory.

'Evanesco,' he muttered pointing his wand at his head and ridding it of the gel that was hardening his hair into a much more slicked back look than Remus was going for. He looked at himself one more time in the full-length mirror and at his deep brown robes and waistcoat that he'd borrowed from Harry, and vowed to stop worrying about his first impression.

Having kept the first-floor room's door ajar, Remus heard Harry's distinct voice followed by a whoosh of the fireplace. 'We're hooooome!'

Sirius clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder. 'Come on mate, let's get this party started.'

Despite not having eaten much all day due to nausea and anxiety, Remus wanted to throw up. He paused for breath before descending the stairs, where he'd be waiting for his cue. The plan was for Harry to take Teddy aside and let him know gently. Neither Lupin needed to feel watched by the other two, he had said, and Remus heartily agreed. As much as he loved Sirius and Ginny, this was between father and son.

From his discreet position on the staircase, Remus's good hearing let him in on every word. So far, it was still small-talk in the kitchen but simply hearing his son's voice was magical.

'You should have seen the muggles! It was great – the kid was happily singing away and the parents were just stood there in shock at their cats doing the tango. Best case of muggleborn magic I've seen yet! Almost as good as Jamie's sausage dog incident.'

Remus was so fixated with the image of his little boy that he'd forgotten that Teddy was a post-pubescent man. His voice was immediately comforting, with a slight rasp just like Remus, and Dora's ability to ramble endlessly. It was mesmerising. He couldn't wait to hear Teddy tell him everything.

'That wasn't funny,' groaned Ginny, 'that was mortifying! I had to come up with a muggle explanation for why their Dachshund had grill marks!'

'Well as a ten-year-old, it was the funniest thing I'd ever seen.'

Remus could not hear anything, but he could feel Ginny's glower through the walls.

'So, uh,' said Teddy, changing the subject to avoid being burned alive by Ginny's look, 'What's for dinner?'

'Steak pie and mash,' Remus heard Sirius interject happily. 'I'm buzzing to tuck in.'

Remus had to try his best to quell his stomach rumbles after hearing the words steak pie. He was on an empty stomach after all.

'Um, Teddy?' asked Harry, 'Could I speak with you alone for a minute before dinner?' Remus didn't hear Teddy's response but could tell that two sets of footsteps were approaching the living room door, only a few feet below where he was hidden. As Harry kept the door to the living room wide open, Remus had to crouch to avoid a premature reveal. With the sofas in sight, Remus watched as a tall, lanky, blue-haired wizard dressed in a set of Ministry of Magic red-and-blue robes settled on one of them. There was nothing awkward about the way he sat across from Harry. It was easy to tell that the two of them were extremely comfortable around one another and that they really were family. A pang of jealousy hit the werewolf suddenly. He knew, of course, that he'd designated Harry as his godfather, but it hadn't occurred to him that Harry would have been a true surrogate dad to Teddy his whole life. His father-in-law, Ted, had died shortly before Teddy's birth so blanched at the realisation that Harry would have been the one to take Teddy through all the milestones that were supposed to be Remus's. Teaching Teddy how to ride a bike, tie his shoelaces, reading, sending him off at Hogwarts each year and talking about girls and shaving and all the things that come with being a teenager. The nausea returned.

'What's up, Harry?'

'Okay, so I know you didn't have much time with it, but do you remember the photo I gave you last week?'

'I do…'

'Well, the working theory is that Sirius was brought back through the magic that was kept in the photograph. And a few days ago, Fred Weasley returned from the dead, too.'

'I know, Harry. Everyone knows, Vic can't really keep a secret from anyone, let alone me.' Teddy reached towards the back of his neck, getting more comfortable on the sofa.

'Yes, I know news spreads like wildfire in this family.' Harry caught Remus's eye very briefly and inched closer to Teddy, leaning forward. 'Someone else has come back.'

Teddy's hair immediately flashed from bright blue to stark white. It was barely a whisper, but Remus's acute hearing helped him make out a soft 'Who?' from Teddy.

'Your father.'

There was complete silence for a moment. Teddy's grip on the back of his neck tightened. 'Are you sure?'

'Al found him last night. He's been questioned and he checks out. It's him, Ted.'

'He's- Is he okay? Wasn't he right in the middle of the battle?'

Remus's heart soared. Teddy was genuinely concerned about his wellbeing. The tightness in his chest was begging for a sob but Remus knew his position would be compromised.

'He's absolutely fine. It wasn't easy hearing about your mum, but at least physically everything's okay. Are you alright? You don't have to do anything this evening but he'll be there whenever you want him to be-'

'Are you joking, Harry? Of course I want to see him. I'm not exactly going to be eating steak and mash like everything's normal.'

Whispering something that Remus couldn't quite catch, Teddy stood up and hugged his godfather. Remus couldn't help but be proud of Harry, the angry teenager that he'd left a baby to. Mid-hug, Harry looked directly at Remus, grinned and winked. Oh crap, that was the cue.

Remus made it to the bottom of the staircase in half a second, stopping at the last creaky old stair. This caught Teddy's attention. He whipped round at the sound, and Remus caught sight of his boy for the first time, face and all. He looked like a deer in headlights, overcome with emotion and hair rippling through colours like a pinwheel. He was perfect.

'Teddy.'

'Dad.'