Disclaimer: Harry Potter, the subsequent characters, and universe belong to J. K. Rowling.
Summary: Ron suspects that Rose might be dating Scorpius Malfoy. He enlists the help of Teddy to figure out if he's right, but Teddy becomes quickly entangled in the situation. Rose/Scorpius Rose/Teddy.
Author's Note: I'm amazed that I finally updated. I know I'm a terrible person.
Part 8: The Morning After
Teddy never felt so relieved to be wearing a stranger's skin again. Dannyboy's height and girth were oddly familiar and comforting after his brief stint as a girl. He had morphed back the second he was out of the Ravenclaw dormitory and properly hidden. The golden hair retreating back into his skull growing thicker as it changed color. Midtransformation he remembered to transfigure his robes as they began pulling against his expanding chest and stomach. He let out a sigh of relief as everything grew back into place while other things retreated. Never again, he swore to himself, though he knew it was a promise he was likely to break.
He disillusioned himself once again and headed back to the Slytherin dorms. No one saw him, though he did see a couple of other students out of bed. Had it ever occurred to the professors to spell the dorms closed after curfew? You would think they almost encouraged this kind of behavior.
Fortunately, the Slytherin common room was empty. He disillusioned himself and went to his dormitory to catch a bit of sleep before morning. He still had maybe two or three hours before everyone started waking up. He paused before getting into bed. All of the curtains were closed and he couldn't help but staring at where Malfoy lay. He had the overwhelming urge to fling open the curtain and beat the crap out of the slimy snake. What was the bastard doing to Rosie, or what did he plan to do to her. Did he even like her at all, or was he just playing games. He seemed like a decent enough guy most of the time, but then again everyone thought Tom Riddle was an okay bloke.
Before he decided to do something stupid like tear the head off of a seventeen year old boy while he slept, Teddy climbed into bed fully clothed and pulled his curtains shut forcefully. He'd kill Malfoy later he decided; after he had some solid evidence or could at least arrange a scenario where he could plead self-defense.
Teddy tried to sleep, but he realized rather quickly that he wouldn't be any time soon. Instead he decided to work out some of his frustration on the case. He pulled the pendant out of his pocket along with the curl of red hair. He stroked it once absentmindedly before laying it next to the pendant on the bed.
Why would Malfoy give her such a thing? It would be obvious to anyone who saw it that it had a striking similarity to the murder weapon. Then again, who was likely to see the charm and the murder weapon? Well, Harry for one. Why hadn't Harry noticed it? Then again Teddy hadn't noticed it until she pushed the bracelet under his nose. Could Scorpius be trying to frame Posey for the murder? There was a long standing hatred between the Malfoys and the Weasleys. If Harry noticed the charm he would be obligated to question her on it, but then the charm would point back to Scorpius. Rose's word would be taken over Scorpius's in a second, so that didn't exactly make sense either.
Rose has had the charm bracelet for a few years, so maybe he gave her the charm awhile ago and wasn't thinking when he created the weapon. He suddenly doubted that Scorpius was capable of the level of magic needed to make the thing that killed Wicks. Though he probably had more access to dark magic than your average student, but he didn't have any motive. Maybe someone was trying to frame Scorpius Malfoy. Teddy growled in frustration.
Clearly thinking or trying to figure out anything at this point in the investigation was a waste of time. Why had even thought he could become an auror. He was going to blow his first big case.
"Stop acting like a whiny child," he hissed to himself. "You can do this." What he needed was more clues. He decided to start with the charm. He cast a quick silencio on his bed before attempting a few revealing spells on the charm.
Half an hour later the charm stared back at him with its silver eyes. This was absolutely ridiculous. Not a single curse. Absolutely nothing. Apparently neither thinking or spell casting were his strong points as an auror.
"Okay," He tried to calm his frustration. "Doesn't have to be a curse does it." He started going through a list of spells to reveal benign enchantments. Immediately he detected a durability spell, but that was standard on most wizarding jewelry. The bracelet shouldn't break unless magically broken.
Teddy felt his heart rate increase. That could pose a bit of a problem. Rose might be a bit more suspicious to have a charm go missing with a durability spell on her bracelet. "Spell could have worn thin," he tried to calm himself. She couldn't know for certain.
There was something niggling at the back of his mind. There had to be something else her. He kept thinking about one of Harry's stories, but he wasn't sure why it would be important.
Portkeys! "Portus Aperio". At first Teddy thought that it didn't work, just like all of the other spells he had used tonight. However, after a few seconds he noticed a faint pulsing motion coming from the charm. There was no color, but the air around it seemed to distort slightly. Definitely a portkey.
"Bloody Hell," Teddy whispered. He picked up the little charm and spun it in between his thumb and forefinger. "Fuck!" he shouted and through it down on the bed. Fuck, Rosie was in danger.
Teddy buried his hands in his black hair. He had to do something. Someone was after Posey, someone that had already killed. Teddy shoved back his curtain and stormed over to Malfoy's bed. He pulled back the curtain of the other boy's bed angrily.
It was still dark out, so it didn't take long for the blonde boy to recognize the stocky figure standing above him. "Danny, what the hell?" Malfoy said in a voice husky with sleep.
Teddy clenched and unclenched his fists. He just stood there silently looking at the blonde. "Miller, you're starting to creep me out." Malfoy kept his eyes on Teddy while one of his hands reached toward his night table and his wand.
Teddy blinked. He needed to get a hold of himself. "Scorpius?"
Scorpius let out a shaky breath and fell against his pillow. "You scared the pants off me. What is wrong with you?"
Teddy shook his head. He needed to leave before he did something he would regret. "I guess, I was sleep walking," he said gruffly.
"Right, well go do that somewhere else." Scorpius muttered as he turned away from Teddy, pulling the curtains closed as he did so.
Teddy scooped up the charm and bit of hair from the bed and left the dormitory. He needed to clear his head and think about this for awhile. It was early, but curfew had been lifted for those few students that liked to study before the sun began to rise. First thing Teddy had to do was get to the owlery, and mail off the portkey, so they could trace the destination.
Of course Rose would have to go in for questioning, and her boyfriend would become the main suspect in a murder investigation. Teddy didn't really have a problem with that, but Rose wasn't likely to forgive him. Then again. A brief scenario flashed before his mind where Rose wrapped her arms around her savior, Teddy Lupin.
"Unlikely," he snorted to himself. But this was his job, and she really shouldn't have gotten involved with Malfoy in the first place. Honestly she should have known better.
He placed a freezing charm on the portkey, in case it was set to activate within the next couple of days. Hopefully the owl would deliver it before the charm wore off. He wrote a quick note to Harry.
Director,
Found on student 27F1. T.C. B05 detected. Trace. Important.
All notes to the ministry had to be slightly coded in case intercepted; the largest threat being the daily profit having no scruples about printing classified information even if it hindered an investigation. Rose's code translated to Ravenclaw, 7th year, female, Oldest. Harry would know immediately who the charmed belonged to and she would be safe in his protection while Teddy continued to figure things out at the school.
He was walking back down from the owelry when he heard soft muttering and caught a glimpse of red hair. Posey? He hesitated before turning and following after the figure.
He had lost sight of her, but noticed that one of the classroom doors was open. Charms? He quietly entered the classroom, but didn't spot Rose anywhere. Then he heard grumbling coming from lower than he expected. Rose Weasley was on her hands and knees scavenging under the desks. She still had her pajamas on. He hadn't noticed how adorably atrocious they were when he was in her room earlier. They were faded pink dotted with penguins and polar bears.
"Rose?" Teddy asked chuckling slightly. Rose shot up when she heard her name, cracking her head loudly on the desk above her. "Ow. Merlin's balls." She whimpered as she climbed out from under the desk.
Teddy almost choked with laughter. He still couldn't get used to hearing her swear.
"Danny?" Rose looked up from the floor. She clutched the back of her head with her hand. "Are you laughing at me?" she asked.
"No." Teddy still said trying to hold back a laugh. He coughed to clear his throat. "No," he repeated more sternly. Be a gentlemen he heard his Grandma's voice whisper harshly in his ear. "Are you alright?" He kneeled down next to her closer than was strictly necessary.
"I suppose I will be," Rose grumbled. "It just smarts a bit."
"Let me see." He maneuvered behind her slightly placing one hand on her shoulder. He felt her stiffen slightly under his touch, but she didn't pull away. With his other hand he scooped up a mass of her soft curls and pushed them to the side to reveal where she bumped her head. She winced a little as he did this. Teddy couldn't help but remember the last time he touched her hair and felt a shiver run up his spine. He snorted to himself. Honestly, just because he looked like a seventeen year old boy didn't mean he inherited the raging hormones. He was being ridiculous.
There was no blood, but it did look like a bump may be forming on the top of her head. "It's not cut, but maybe you should see the nurse anyways." He let her hair drop and rested his free hand on her other shoulder.
This turned out to be too much for Rose, because she suddenly pulled out of his grasp and turned to face him. "Um, thanks." Was she blushing? "You know you're not like the other Slytherin boys."
"Oh," Teddy replied in a non-committal manner.
Rose's blush deepened, but she continued on. "I mean not that Slytherin's are bad, you're just different than them. You're more gentle and quiet. Not like a conniving quiet. More like a Hufflepuff."
"Oh," Teddy repeated less than impressed. Hey no guy liked to be called a hufflepuff even if they were sorted into the house.
"I meant it as a compliment, you idiot." Rose definitely had inherited the Weasley blush. It went from her ears, across her face, down her neck, and onto her… "What are you doing up anyways?" Rose interrupted Teddy's thoughts which had been about to take a very inappropriate turn.
"Oh…mailing a letter to my Dad," Teddy picked the first plausible lie that popped into his mind. Not even much of a lie, since Harry was pretty much his Dad.
"It must be hard on him, having you so far away," she said quietly. They were still sitting very close to each other. She placed her hand on top of his. Teddy felt his heart rate increase. This is bloody ridiculous. Maybe there were actual physiological side effects to staying in this shape for so long.
"Yeah," Teddy replied trying to keep Dannyboy's voice sounding normal.
"Do you miss him?"
"I suppose," Teddy replied. It was kind of hard to miss someone you never met. Oh wait, no it wasn't. "Actually, I miss him a lot. Mum too."
"I'm sorry Danny." She squeezed his hand slightly.
"It's not so bad. You get used to it after awhile." Teddy was starting to feel extremely uncomfortable with the conversation. It was getting very personal. He hadn't shared his feelings this much since James was born and Harry and Ginny tried to explain to him that james wasn't exactly his little brother though just as good as brothers. Teddy never thought "just as good as" was good enough.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No." Teddy said abruptly and moved his hand away from hers. "What are you doing up and crawling under desks?" Teddy changed the conversation abruptly.
"Oh, silly thing really." She looked up at him suddenly through narrowed eyes. "If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell Al or Scorpius." She forgot to say Malfoy, Teddy noted.
"Promise."
"I lost Albus's charm for my bracelet. He's going to kill me, because it's the second time in the last couple of months." Teddy's mind stuttered to a stop.
AN: Normally I don't make promises on updates (I can never seem to update on time), but because this is a lame cliff hanger I will post the next chapter within two weeks. I anticipate there to be anger, but I swear it's not what it seems.