Hi everyone!!! I'm so glad people are enjoying this story – I've been having a great time writing it!
Just something I'd like to clear up, as people have commented on it – this is in no way my first fanfic. It is, however, only the second I have posted on one of the few I have posted anywhere, and the first HP fanfic I have ever written. Just to make that clear!
Jarlaxle Baenre: Thank you! Yeah, it would be troublesome to write a whole story just in dialogue, but I hope this format is enjoyable as well. Oh man yes – I start crying every time I think of Remus and Tonks…which might be problematic while I'm writing this story…
Lady Something: You'll find out in this chapter if Teddy knows or not…thanks for your review!!!
The Sushi Monster: Thanks!!
RavenPaine: Yes, Teddy needs several hugs – I was rereading the first two sections and realized that in only 5,000 words, I had had Teddy orphaned, being yelled at, slamming into a tree, having a nervous breakdown, being attacked by an enraged alarm clock, and being thrown around a pub by an insane werewolf. Sets a worrying precedent…hmm. Thanks for reviewing!
Mei fa-chan: Thank you!
emzy lupin: OH NOES!!! PLEASE DON'T HAVE A HEART ATTACK:D Thank you for your review – I'm glad you liked it so much! Here's more!
Brinkley: Well, it's not actually my first piece of fanfic (points up) but thank you! I hope keep enjoying the story!
theLouvre: Hi darling…thank you!!! I'll talk to you soon, and I miss you already!!!!! Hope you like this chapter too…
aryell: Thanks a lot!!
charismatic: Thanks for your review – I'm glad you liked it! Not actually my first fanfic, though (points up)…hmm, I must have phrased it wrong in the prologue…
End Transmission: Thank you!! Yep, here's the keeping it up. :)
tonksrulez: Thank you!!!
Benjamin Linus: Thanks a lot!! I hope you keep reading!
SPOILERS FOR BOOK 7. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ DEATHLY HALLOWS.
Disclaimer: All HP characters and universal things belong to JKRowling. Original characters (which will be obvious) are mine.
Dies Veritas
Chapter 2: Conversation
"Teddy? Teddy, where are you? Eet is Victoire – look, I shall have to leave for work soon, so unless you come over right away I won't see you thees morning. Get over here, you silly Eenglish person – I want to give you your birth-daey present. Yes, that has a double meaning. Prat. Love you…Ciao!"
Beep.
"Hey! It's Tom – hey, guys, c'mon, let's give him a round – HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR CUUU-UUB…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOOOOU! …right, so that was from me, Lacey, Hannah, Martin, Catherine, Roger, and…oh, whoever else is here, I've lost count of how many people are living in this dump. Anyway, come over tonight if you can, we'll have the beer and crisps on standby! Unless you'll be with your family or those weird Wiccan friends of yours or whatever they are – if you want some normalcy, just buzz over! We're all wondering what hair color you're on to now…Ta!"
Beep.
"Is this thing working? Blimey, I'll never get the hang of these Muggle contraptions – er, Teddy, if you can hear this, it's Adam Reading – Peter's here too. Just wanted to check you were all right after today; we heard about how Jones has put you on probation. Load of dragon-dung if you ask us – honestly, not trying to be insulting, but I doubt you and Baxter would have been able to handle 26 at all. He breezed right past us and everyone on the perimeter – not sure why Jones is being so uppity, she got quite the shiner as well. So, uh – yeah, don't beat yourself up too much over it, okay mate? See you back at work. Oh, and happy birthday."
Beep.
"Teddy, it's Harry. Victoire just phoned, said she was worried that she couldn't get hold of you, so I figured you probably got called to work for something. We'd love to have you over at Godric's Hollow for dinner – just a quiet celebration, or at least as quiet as you can get with the kids around. Hope you can make it – er, and I imagine you'll want to ask me some things as well. See you later."
"There are no more messages. Main menu – "
Teddy banged the 'off' switch for the Muggle answering machine far harder than was necessary, taking off his cloak with a sigh as he shuffled further into his dimly-lit flat. Evening was creeping in through the windows, creating shadows around the furniture. The cloak fell onto the floor to join the piles of books and t-shirts, making a muffled clang as it hit the ground. It dimly registered in Teddy's mind that the gift Kingsley had slipped into his pocket lay still unopened, but he was too tired to care. He flopped down on the artfully tatty sofa with a sigh, the mysterious brown package tucked securely under his arm.
For a few moments, all he could do was lie there, mulling over the events of the day, events which threatened to overwhelm him – the pub, Greyback, the pain still shooting through his head, the disappointment on Hestia Jones' face, that bloody alarm clock. His hair lengthened and darkened until his entire face was covered with thick black bangs, hardly leaving him any air to breathe. The package slipped down the sofa a few inches.
After a minute or so, Teddy sat up wearily, his hair shrinking back until his eyes were clear and uncovered. He pulled the package onto his lap, playing idly with the cut edges of the string still wrapped around it. The letters lay on top, two opened, the old one – looking more and more like it would fall apart at the slightest touch – unopened. Struggling against the impulse to just let his head fall back on the sofa and fall asleep, Teddy reached out with one hand and opened the letter, his barely-open eyes tiredly scanning the first few words.
Dear Teddy –
If there had been people living in the empty apartment downstairs, they would have been rather put out at the abnormal number of thumps that came shuddering through the floor that day. Teddy's backside was aching and his elbows protested sharply as he hauled himself up off the floor, scrambling for his wand. Finally finding it, he gasped, "Lumos!" and held the flickering wandlight close to the paper, his wide eyes devouring the words hungrily.
Dear Teddy – the loopy, neat handwriting began –
It's your father here – your mother's looking over my shoulder as I write, though, so I suppose it's from both of us. Yes, it most definitely is – her rather incredible skills in the area of sharp elbowing just reminded me of the fact. So, hello.
It feels rather strange to be writing to you when you're currently lying asleep on my back – your mother decided there was no time early enough for a little boy to learn how to have a piggyback, and so I am currently trapped on the floor with you on top of me – a rather uncomfortable position to write in, but I wouldn't wake you for the world. I can feel you breathing – now a cough, now a little giggle. I wonder if you are dreaming? Yes, you must be – your hair just turned light blue, and it always does that when you're having a good dream.
Teddy – if you're reading this, then it means we're dead. If you're reading this, your mother and I will never see you again – we've been killed in battle, we've been murdered, we've been hunted down by Ministry bigots – these are dark times, my dear little darling boy, and there are any number of ways by which we could die. So tonight, your beautiful mother and I are going to make sure you get this package – not now, not for a long time, but you will get it, that I promise you. No matter what happens, Teddy, you will be safe, you will live, and you will not be alone. The two of us spent a long time coming up with which ones to give you – I didn't want to upset you or make you afraid, but Dora insisted that we give ourselves to you completely and utterly, and not leave you to rely on gossip or happenstance any longer.
If we die, son, it will most likely happen soon. The Dark Lord's power is reaching its height and whatever happens, there shall be many casualties – at this point, all most of us are wondering is whether we will die quickly and painlessly or slowly, in agony. Just know this – everything we did, everything we have done and everything we will do, is to keep you safe. Your mother loves you, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are the one I have loved more than anyone else in my difficult life. Remember that, and what we give you on this, your twenty-first – Merlin, how wonderful that sounds – will hopefully make you understand it.
With all our love,
Mum and Dad
The whole world seemed to have gone silent. Or was it just the fact that he had stopped breathing?
The package lay on the floor beside him, tipped onto its side. Teddy barely registered the fact that the letter had fallen from his numb fingers. The box was rough cardboard, and he was forced to pause for several minutes to let his hands stop shaking before he was able to rip open one side and – ever so painfully slowly – take off the lid – and in the dark room, he was nearly blinded by light.
The Pensieve was squat and almost ugly, its lackluster metal sides carved in a mimicry of leaf designs, slightly bulging on one side. Its swirling contents seemed to pulse slowly with light, turning faster as if in anticipation as Teddy's head leaned closer to it and he gazed into its depths with wide eyes.
Now all of it was easy to understand – which memories to choose, Harry having added 'some of mine' – not all of them being pleasant –
And then, inexplicably and almost against his will, a thrill of terrifying fear ran through Teddy's skull, up and down his spine. Very slowly, he edged the Pensieve, still in its box, off his lap and onto the floor beside him, swallowing as he reached out his still-lit wand – and jabbed it into the middle of the glowing memories, drawing out the wand so quickly one would think he had been burned.
For a moment, it seemed that nothing had happened at all. Teddy blinked. And then, a tiny revolving figure rose out of the mist.
It was looking like into a mirror. Remus J. Lupin couldn't have been more than sixteen years old, his face pale, his golden-brown hair thick and dark, yet already turning gray at its roots. He was standing very still, and seemed to be staring out into nothing, eyes fixed and unseeing. The figure revolved, its back was turned, and now it continued and Teddy could see his father's eyes, a brown so deep you could –
Teddy almost jumped straight out of his skin when the figure spoke.
"Why, Sirius?"
The younger Lupin almost missed the next thing Remus spoke, so preoccupied was he with the fact that he had just heard his father's voice for the first time in his life – or at least the life he could remember –
"Why?" Remus was very still, his lips barely moving, his voice barely above a whisper. "Why did you do it, Sirius? That's all I want to know."
For what felt like the hundredth time that day, Teddy couldn't breathe.
"Sirius – "
Teddy's wand seemed to lash out of its own volition, and without warning or preamble, Remus Lupin melted and sank back into formless clouds of silver.
Much later, as he looked back from a safe distance, Teddy would remember that (as he numbly got to his feet and unfeelingly threw a handful of Floo powder into his fireplace) all he could think of was that he never knew his father had called his mother Dora.
"15 Godric's Hollow!"
"Hack – christ – bloody fire – aaahuck!"
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
Teddy looked up from the pile of soot his face had landed in – and his jaw promptly dropped. Grinning maniacally back at him were Harry, Ginny, James, Albus, Lily, Ron, Hermione, Rose, Hugo, Hagrid, Neville Longbottom, Minerva McGonagall, Bill and Fleur, Victoire, George Weasley, and Arthur and Molly Weasley.
Teddy gaped. After several moments, he managed to croak out: "Quiet celebration?"
Harry Potter shrugged, his smile stretching even wider. "Sorry. Little white lie. Right," Teddy's godfather continued, turning to the five young adults standing next to him, all of whom were suddenly wearing very evil-looking grins. "Get him!"
Teddy was sure in the next few minutes that he had died several times over as every inch of his body was tickled, pummeled, rubbed clean of soot, and finally dragged and deposited by force in front of the largest birthday cake he had ever seen – and having been plonked in front of Molly Weasley's cooking for several of his previous birthdays, that was saying something. Dinner was a whirlwind of deafening laughter from Hagrid and the adults, pleas from the children for various morphs, and Hermione lecturing the soon-to-be-OWL-student James on the importance of his schooling. But at the end of the table, Teddy kept seeing Harry glancing at him, his gaze almost as piercing as that of Aberforth Dumbledore at full intensity.
Teddy had almost been hoping to slip away unnoticed after the plates were cleared, the crowd had moved to the sitting room, and the dishes were quietly washing themselves in the sink – but Harry was too quick for him. Teddy had barely deposited his empty glass in the pile of dirty dishes when he turned around and found his godfather's face inches from his, examining him as though he expected his godson to explode at any moment.
"Did you get it all right?" he asked, holding out a half-full glass of firewhiskey.
Teddy nodded, taking the glass somewhat reluctantly and swirling its contents – just like the memories in the Pensieve, he remembered. "Yeah. And – I read the letters, I opened it. Yeah."
Harry cocked his head slightly to one side. "Do you want to ask me anything?" he said bluntly. Evidently he had decided that beating around the bush when it came to dead parents was not the best strategy.
Teddy shrugged, not quite sure what his godfather expected him to say. "I dunno – not really. I – I just, you know – "
"Of course."
They stood in silence
"How was it last night? The full moon, I mean?" Harry said quietly, taking a sip out of his own glass of firewhiskey and eyeing Teddy with concern.
"It was bad."
A frown descended like lightning onto Harry's scarred forehead. "You didn't – "
"No, no transformation, nothing like that," Teddy said wearily. "I was restless – couldn't sleep. Spent most of the night prowling up and down Charing Cross road, and I only felt able to go home and rest around four – oh, and my eyes got stuck on gold again, I couldn't morph them into anything else." Teddy took a large swallow from his glass, feeling the liquor burning his esophagus as it went down. "Didn't help that I wasn't able to sleep for too long – that bloody alarm clock Hermione gave me woke me up – " he could have sworn he heard Harry chuckle " – and then turns out Hestia needed me to come in, so…"
"On your day off?" Harry asked incredulously, gazing across the room to where George seemed to be slipping a grinning James a brightly-colored box. "What was so important?"
"F.A. twenty-six."
Harry's shocked gaze snapped to meet Teddy's. "You're joking."
"I wish I was," Teddy mumbled, feeling a blush of shame rushing into his cheeks. "And I let him escape, of all things."
"Oh, Teddy, don't be ridiculous – I know Greyback, he would be a nightmare to catch in the most favorable circumstances – "
"I went to the scene morphed as my dad."
Somewhere in the house, one of the younger children was shrieking in delight. The fire popped and crackled, and Teddy could see Ron laughing at something Hermione had whispered in his ear.
"Right," Harry said finally. He frowned quickly. "Wait – how did you know – "
"Kingsley told me Greyback bit him years ago. Well – I mean, I was fifteen, and Mr. Shacklebolt was humoring me, and I asked too many questions…"
There was another short silence.
"I – uh…what did Hestia say to that?"
Teddy wished he could disappear into the floor. "I'm on probation – paperwork for three weeks. She – she said – " He swallowed, and took a deep breath. "She said that not only was it demeaning to my dad's memory, but that if I had really been like my father I would have put revenge aside and done my job."
Harry's eyes flashed. "Well, that seems to me to be a bit harsh."
"She was right," Teddy said miserably. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the tips of his hair turning black. "I was reckless, personalized the mission, nearly got my partner and tens of Muggles killed, cost the Ministry a fortune in overtime for the Obliviators – I was surprised not to be sacked outright, actually…"
"What happened to Greyback?"
Teddy took another swallow of firewhiskey. "He managed to get to the Muggle subway. There was no way we could follow him down there, too many people about, and if anyone saw anything it would have been even more of a disaster than it already was."
"Ted," Harry said firmly, setting his glass down with a sharp rap on the kitchen table and turning to Teddy, folding his arms across his chest, "You have nothing to be ashamed of."
Teddy scoffed bitterly. "Yeah, try telling that to Hestia – "
"I mean it," Harry continued, still in that harsh tone of voice. "If I were Hestia, I would have realized how much this would have thrown you, and I would have sent someone else. And if I were you – " here he paused, and the ghost of a smile broke out onto his face " – I would have done exactly the same thing."
The two men stood in silence for a few minutes, watching the scenes of cheerful domesticity unfolding in the sitting room. Rose and Albus were sitting together at one of the house's open bay windows, pointing their wands at fireflies in the summer night, making them zoom into their hands, where they would laugh over them for a few moments, then release them again. Molly and Arthur Weasley were sitting quietly in a corner, as if content in their old age to watch and observe the happiness of their respective relatives.
"I'm scared of that Pensieve, Harry," Teddy muttered.
"So would anyone be," Harry replied almost instantly. "There are terrible things in there, Teddy – I never looked in it, but I know from what your father and Sirius themselves told me. Besides, I learned a long time ago that there's hardly anything more terrifying than discovering that your parents are flesh and blood like anyone else."
He looked Teddy in the eye, and suddenly smiled a wide, proud smile, slightly triumphant. "But I know you will look, Teddy. You want them too much not to."
And with that and a pat on Teddy's shoulder, Harry left the kitchen to rejoin the others.
Teddy sighed and was about to drink the rest of his firewhiskey when he felt another hand on his shoulder, a hand much smaller and softer than Harry's. "Hello, you dreadfully late boy," a soft voice murmured in his ear.
He could practically hear Victoire's smile, and without meaning to he was grinning foolishly as she tugged him along a hallway and into Harry and Ginny's pantry, illuminating one of the old-fashioned lanterns in the tiny room with a flick of her wand. Kissing Victoire, he had discovered a long time ago, was certainly the best way to spend ones birthday – and yet as her arms slid around his neck in the dark, all he could think of was how his little body had rested on his father's back, his mother elbowing his father in the side, the Pensieve sitting on the floor of his flat swirling and pulsing like something alive –
Teddy felt Victoire sigh against him, and then her lips left his as she stared impassively up at him in the darkened room. Moonlight was spilling in through the window, illuminating her shining blond hair. "What," she said quietly, "did I say something?"
Teddy's mouth fell open. "No – no!" he said quickly, taking a step forward as he was suddenly overcome with guilt. She had been snogging him, for god's sake – "I'm sorry, I really am, it's nothing – I just – "
A giggle floated through the room, and her face broke into a grin. "Bloody hell, it is so easy to wind you up," she said cheerfully, winding her arms around his waist and placing her chin on his chest, her eyes twinkling mischievously. "It's all right. I'm not exactly myself today either – I had a horrible time during my rounds at Mungo's today, some crazy old bloke in Spell Damage was waving his wand around and hit me with an Engorgement Charm by mistake…"
Relieved, Teddy wrapped his arms around Victoire with a chuckle and rested his cheek on top of her hair. "Wish I could have seen that."
"No you don't."
"You're right, I don't. I really am sorry – "
"Honestly, forget about it. I understand." She lifted her head and gave him one last, lingering kiss, then stepped back with a smile. "I think I'd better be off before the children corner me with Puking Pastilles again." She turned to the door, looking back over her shoulder. "I'll see you, yeah?"
"Yeah," Teddy smiled back. He managed to keep upright until she left, then sagged against the wall of the pantry as the door swung closed behind her, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.
The Pensieve was still pulsing gently when he closed the door to his pitch-black flat behind him sometime after midnight, creating eerie, flickering shadows on the walls. Teddy let his cloak fall over the back of his sofa and drew his wand very slowly, sitting cross-legged in front of the silver light. The memories swirled faster, as though sensing he was near. Teddy looked up for a moment and caught a flash of his reflection in the mirror on the wall – his hair was brown, its gray roots almost the same color as the Pensieve's contents. He wasn't sure, but he thought his eyes had looked a deep blue.
It took several deep breaths before he stopped trembling. On the last one, he closed his eyes and jerked forward, and his face felt as though it had suddenly been immersed in icy water – the room lurched, he was falling, wind tearing at his hair and clothes – he was falling, falling –
– and he landed in a pile on the floor of a forest, spitting out leaves and dirt.
Teddy slowly pulled himself to his feet, his tired muscles screaming in protest and exhaustion. His eyes darted around him – trees enclosed him, full and heavy with rich, green summer leaves. It was warm, and a soft wind was blowing, pushing his hair off his forehead. A break in the trees, Teddy thought he could see a small thread of smoke reaching into the sky some ways off, as though from a chimney. It was nearly nightfall.
"Are you going to Scarborough Fair – "
The small, lilting voice seemed to drift down from the swiftly darkening sky. Teddy craned his head backwards, peering into the leafy branches spread out in sharp relief across the sunset.
" – parsley-sage, rosemary, and thyme…"
Teddy almost ran to the base of the old oak tree, hauling himself, panting, through the layers of leaves, cursing impatiently as his feet scrabbled to find niches in the thick bark.
"…remember me to one who lives there – "
The voice was louder and closer now – Teddy made one last huge effort, straining upwards to shove his head through a thick level of foliage –
"…she was once a true love of mine."
And Teddy Lupin found himself suddenly dangling in front of the thin face of his five year old father, glowing in the dying light.
Hope you guys enjoyed it! Remember, reviews are like chocolate...and they make me write much faster!!! (hint hint...:D)