Chapter Ten
A/N: I own nothing!
Teddy stared at Mr. Schue for five seconds. Five long unbreakable seconds. It was in those seconds in which he had to decide what to say and quickly.
"They're out of town," he choked out. "They'll be back next week."
Mr. Schue looked at Ms. Pillsberry with a raised eyebrow. It was almost as if he didn't believe him.
"Okay John," Ms. Pillsberry said. "But we'll need a conference with them next week. Really you should be staying with someone."
"Yes ma'am," Teddy nodded and scurried out of there. Ducking into the only bathroom that no one used, he knelt on the ground as he burst into tears. How he wished that his parents were only out of town, that they hadn't died a hero's death. He wished he could remember something about his parents.
"Get up Ted," he muttered, brushing the tears out of his eyes. "Get in touch with the real world. Crying won't bring back the dead."
Getting up, he brushed off his hands and apperated away back to his home. Once again, he crashed on his couch.
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Santana woke him up twenty minutes before they were due to arrive at McKinley.
"Puck's picking us up," she said. "Get dressed."
Teddy nodded and felt dread at the idea of Puckerman driving him to school. Luckily, he was more subdued than the last time he'd taken them somewhere.
"Okay, what's up?" Teddy asked when Puck stopped. "Why the slow driving?"
"What was up with your hair at the party?" Santana asked. Teddy rolled his eyes at her.
"I told you!" he defended himself. "It's just something that happens to all British males."
"Yeah right," Santana scoffed. "I'm the queen of bull shit. I know when I'm being lied to."
"Then why don't you figure it out?" Teddy glared and stormed out of the car. He was reverting to his grouchy mood as Harry liked to call it, and some of the more sensitive glee clubers almost dove to the side to avoid him.
"John!" Finn called after him but Teddy ignored him. He knew what the QB wanted. It's what they all wanted. Either to talk about why his hair acted up or to talk about Regionals.
"Hey John," Blaine walked up to him. "You seem rather—"
"Pissed?" Teddy supplied.
"Yeah," Blaine nodded. "Didn't get a good grade on the Government exam Finn was complaining about?"
Teddy chuckled. "No, I aced that thing. That's irony for you. A foreigner can ace an US Government exam while a native can't."
Blaine chuckled and Teddy felt a little more at ease. Blaine wasn't interested in why his hair acted up at the party and so Teddy was less interested in maintaining his pissed off persona.
"You ready for Regionals?" Kurt slid up to them to ask and Teddy wanted to slam his head against the locker. Was that all these kids thought about? It was five bloody months away!
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The rest of the week was just as hellish, except with the bonus of Fleur leaving halfway though the week.
"Bill needs me," she told Teddy the day before she left. " 'e can not manage Dominique by 'imself."
"Bye Fleur," Teddy grinned. "See you soon."
Fleur smiled at him and walked out. Now, Teddy could use her absence to his full potential. Walking up to Mr. Schue's office, he knocked on the door.
"Come in John," the teacher said. Teddy stuck his head in.
"Mr. Schue, just letting you know that my parents will be back on Monday. Will Tuesday work for your conference?"
The curly haired man nodded and Teddy left the room. He had exactly seven days to reacquaint himself with the image of his father and to think of a reasonable excuse for his soon to be repeated absence.
"Honestly, I thought muggles had it easy," he muttered as he walked to class. "Someone should write a book about how false that is."
The week couldn't end soon enough. Glee club was all about Regionals and the importance of beating the Warblers.
"What did you say Mr. Schue?" Teddy asked as he was once again called out for watching the clock.
"He said," Rachel rolled her eyes in annoyance, "if you've got any great ideas for songs or solos. According to Mr. Schue, you came up with the set list last time."
"Oh," Teddy chuckled. "No, not so far. I'll come up with it over the weekend."
Mr. Schue nodded and Teddy went back to watching the clock. Five, four, three, two, one…
"Go and have a good weekend," Mr. Schue said and Teddy ran out of there. Literally. He might have actually knocked Rory over in his quest to get out of that building.
"Slow down," Santana called after him. "Forget we're riding with Puck again seeing as your familia is always gone?"
Teddy chuckled and hopped in Puck's car. This time, Teddy was itching for the boy to go faster than normal.
"Casa de Thomas," Puck shouted as Santana and Teddy hopped out. "See you two on Monday."
Teddy nodded as he ran into the house. Hidden on his bookshelf was a photo of him with his parents that Harry had given him when he had turned eleven.
"Remus Lupin's coming back to life," he muttered to himself. Now, just how could he pull this off?
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The weekend found Teddy sneaking around more than usual. He fixed a couple of his clothes to resemble suits and his socks resembled ties.
"Dryden would have a stroke if she could see the shoddy work," he muttered Sunday night, referring to the advanced Transfiguration professor. "It'll have to do though. No use in trying to impress someone who's not here."
Monday was a blur as he waited for Tuesday. That was when the magic would happen. Tuesday morning, he told Santana that he would be staying after school for something.
"Cool," the girl said as she walked off with Brittney. Teddy grinned; this would be easier than he thought. The rest of the day went by so slowly Teddy almost thought that magic was at work. When the final bell rung, Teddy ran behind the bleachers.
"I hope this works," he muttered to himself and made sure no one was watching. He increased his height by several inches, put some scars on his face and made his hair brown with streaks of grey. He'd already changed into the suite and tie.
"Whoa," he muttered, seeing the change in the trophy case on his way to Schue's office. The man's office was small but decent.
"Mr. Thomas I presume?" Schue said without a smile. Teddy nodded.
"Call me Remus," he said. "Now, what's this about? I just got back and would like to spend time with my son."
Privately Teddy wondered just how dumb these Americans were. Obviously he wouldn't have the same parents here if he was studying abroad now would he? Of course, this was the man who forgot at times that he was a Spanish teacher.
"You seem to leave him alone a lot," Schue said.
"Business is booming," Teddy said shrugging. "My wife and I have a small business that is doing well despite the economic downturn. We need to constantly travel otherwise we might lose customers."
Schue sighed and Teddy inwardly grinned. He knew at some point the lie would be found out but right now he was in the clear.
"Alright," Schue said. "I apologize. It's just we want to make sure that our students are in homes with people who care for them."
"I understand completely," Teddy nodded, touched that his Glee instructor cared for a boy he hardly knew.
"Would you mind if John stayed with the Hummel-Hudsons while you're out of town?" Schue provided and Teddy's inward smile slid off as quickly as it was put on.
"I wouldn't want to inconvenience the family," he invented fast. "Besides John wrote to me about that Santana girl living with—"
"Wait, Santana and John are living together? When you're not there to supervise?" Schue raised an eyebrow.
"They're both adults, besides John would never cheat on his girlfriend," Teddy said quickly. Schue nodded but Teddy didn't like the look on his face. The meeting ended and Teddy rushed out of there. In the bathroom, he stripped out of the suit and tie so he could change back.
"Perfect," he gasped as he slid his jersey back on. "Now, go home before Schue can catch you."
Grabbing his backpack, Teddy apperated back home—making sure he was in a dark alley first. Then he walked in.
"Yo!"
"What up?" Santana called from the bathroom.
"Nothing much," Teddy sat down at the computer. If Schue was going to interrogate him, Teddy'd better have a list of songs for Regionals to fall back on.
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Wednesday's Glee practice was awkward, or at least in Teddy's mind it was. Somehow, the entire group found out that his 'father' had visited the school.
"Dude, does that mean he'll be coming to Regionals?" Finn asked.
"Does that mean he's real?" Brittney gasped. Teddy facepalmed and got up.
"Before this conversation steers itself into the idiotic," he said to Mr. Schue, "your set list."
Schue took the envelope the list was in and quieted the rest of the club down.
"Okay, lets see the song choices this time," the curly haired man said. " Hmmm…We Got the Beat, Keep Holding On and Take Me or Leave Me?"
"Best I could do at last minute," Teddy shrugged. "I brought a hat."
"Ah for solos!" Schue grinned and even Rachel had to admit that it was fair. Everyone wrote down their name and Finn once again pulled the names from the hat.
"Alright," Finn said after Blaine gave him a drum roll. "The soloists for Keep Holding On are…Sam and Mercedes!"
Everyone clapped but none louder than the former Trouble Tones. They were glad that one of their members would get to shine at Regionals.
"The soloists for We Got the Beat are…Puck, Rory and," Finn said as he pulled out the last name, "Finn!"
Santana looked pissed about that but as all the paper was folded in half, there was nothing she could accuse Finn of.
"Last but certainly not least," Finn said, "the soloists for Take Me or Leave Me are…Santana and Brittney!"
"Oh, very funny," Santana scoffed.
"Santana, he's being serious," Teddy said. "It's not a joke."
Santana got up and snatched the paper from Finn's hands. Her eyes widened when she saw it was the truth.
"Okay, am I the only one who thinks we'll lose with this set list?" Quinn asked.
"Yes," Puck nodded. "You got a solo last time Quinn."
"I'm not talking about that!" Quinn snapped. "I'm talking about the songs!"
"What's wrong with them?" Teddy asked, an eyebrow raised. He wasn't offended; he wasn't from the states. There could have been better songs he could have chosen.
"Nothing," Quinn said after a glare from Rachel of all people shot her down. "They're fine."
"I agree," Rachel nodded and Teddy felt that there was no way they could lose. Not when they had the Diva of Glee's approval.
The group filed out the door, leaving only Teddy and Mr. Schue in the choir room.
"John," Schue said. "I met with your father yesterday."
"Oh?" Teddy asked. "Umm…how'd it go?"
Schue chuckled. "Well, he exists. I'll give you that much."
Teddy nervously chuckled, glad to see that his acting hadn't gone south during the twenty minutes yesterday.
"I do think you and Santana should have someone looking after you while he and your mother are gone though," Schue said. "Preferably in a house with adults present."
Teddy flushed at the implication. "Oi, you don't have to worry Mr. Schue. Vic would kill me if I cheated, and then bring me back to life just so her mum could have the honor of murdering me."
"Well…if you're sure," Schue said. "Remember, Mr. Hummel's house is always open if you sudden need an adult for something."
"Like what?" Teddy asked. Mr. Schue smiled mysteriously and left. "Mr. Schue? Why would I need an adult?" Teddy called after him. Shrugging, Teddy walked out to the parking lot.
"Drop John off at the CVS Puck," Santana said. "It's that time of month."
Teddy froze. Oh Merlin No!
"Please tell me that means something different here than it does in Britain," Teddy begged Puck.
"No such luck man," Puck chuckled. "She takes tampons. The pink kind."
Puck drove away, claiming to find a place to park. Teddy didn't believe him for a minute. Hell, he'd run away if he could.
"Okay, you faced Slytherins!" he muttered as he stood outside the store. "Bullies of all houses! You can handle some feminine products."
I hope, he gulped and was never more thankful for the potion that was developed that limited the period to a day.
Hey, that's an ide—wait, adverse affects on Muggles. Hermione had to get permission to have her mum test in the study. Not to mention the other Muggles who ended up ruining their livers!
Well, there went his last line of escape. Taking a breath, he knew that the last step he took would mean his last chance to run.
"Be the Gryffindor your parents would have wanted," he whispered and walked in to the store.