Chapter Eighteen
A/N: I OWN NOTHING!
About five minutes went past before Harry poked his head into the music room.
"Umm…we need you," he said pointing to Teddy. Teddy smirked and got up
to follow his godfather out of the room.
"Forget you actually need me there to defend me?" Teddy asked.
"No," Harry shook his head, "but I was seventeen once and it drove me mad when others knew things I didn't."
"Well you got me out of a Rachel and Kurt NYADA fest so I thank you," Teddy chuckled but turned sober upon entering the office. Oh Merlin was this going to be long?
000
Teddy stared at the cheer coach tear into the ringleader of the giant slushie with a smirk on his face. Harry looked amazed that a teacher could say things like that in front of the principal and not get reprimanded!
"No more slushies?" Teddy tuned back in to hear that. Even Mr. Schue looked frightened…then again, Sylvester did make odd threats.
"Correct," the principal nodded and Teddy grinned. At least that made life easier for the Gleeks. Harry walked Teddy to his car, seeing as the last bell had gone off and Santana had gotten a ride from Puck and left him there.
"You want to see Al and Lily?" Harry asked. "Ginny is staying with them at the hotel room while I dealt with this and well…."
"No James?"
"Still at Hogwarts," Harry said. " I couldn't just pull him out of school. He's only a first year after all, and they're preparing for finals."
Teddy sighed and looked out the window of Harry's car. It was a Honda CRV that looked like it was ancient. With Harry's money, he could afford any kind of car he wanted.
"Turn left," he told Harry. They were stopping by his place to let Santana know that Teddy hadn't been abducted or something.
"So this is where you've been hiding the whole time?" Harry asked. The apartment was decent, not to mention protection from the weather. It was a place where Santana and he did their plotting and their scheming but more importantly it was home.
"Not hiding," Teddy shook his head as he got out. "Living."
"Teddy…"
"I'll be back in a minute," Teddy said and shut the door to his home, leaving Harry outside. He didn't know did he? How hard Hogwarts was due to the bullies? How much he had wanted to leave this world? The only reason he stopped having those feelings was due to Victorie. Teddy shook his head, not wanting those memories to pop up again.
"So what was with that meeting in Figgin's office?" Santana asked, lounging on the sofa.
"No more slushie attacks," Teddy told her. "McKinley Gleeks are safe for another year."
"So where are you and your godfather off to?" she asked with a smirk. Teddy rolled his eyes at her.
"Going to see my god-siblings," Teddy told her. "Want to come?"
As if by magic, for a lack of a better term, the entire Glee kids appeared in his home. Teddy groaned.
"Why are you all here? Again?"
"Well, we were bored," Finn shrugged. "Mr. Schue canceled Glee practice to spend time with Miss. Pillsberry and so…"
"You thought to come here?" Teddy asked, slightly put off, but then he sighed. "Alright, you all can meet my god siblings. Let me just ask Harry."
"He already said yes," Santana smirked. "You don't want to know."
Teddy groaned. Santana would be the death of him.
000
"TEDDY!" a small red-haired girl ran to Teddy and grinned. Teddy grinned back and lifted her up, not noticing Harry's small look of panic.
"Hey Lily-Flower," Teddy chuckled and grinned at the seven year old. "How are you?"
"I'm good," Lily told him. "Al won't play with me though. He says I'm boring."
Teddy faked a pout. "Well, that won't do."
"No pranking your god brother," Ginny said instantly. "I know that look Ted Remus Lupin…and a group of strangers."
"Hey Ginny," Teddy smiled at her. "Meet the McKinley High Glee club. Santana Lopez, Quinn Fabray, Rachel Berry though soon to be Hudson, Finn Hudson, Sam Evans, Mercedes Jones, Brittney Pierce, Noah 'Puck' Puckerman, Tina Cohan-Chang, Artie Abrams and Mike Chang Jr."
"It's nice to meet you all," Ginny said with a nod when Teddy said each name. Lily had gotten down from Teddy's arms and was examining Artie's wheelchair. "I'm Ginny Potter."
"What's this?" Lily asked, in that innocent way young kids did—or seven-year-old witches.
"It's a wheelchair," Artie said with a smile. Lily had the type of smile where it was impossible not to smile back. Lily looked to Teddy for further explanation but he gave her their look that said he'd tell her later.
"Teddy, why are you all wet?" Ginny asked, noticing her husband's godson's state for the first time. "Lily, go change in the bathroom. You're probably all wet too."
"Aw Mum!"
"Now missy."
Lily grumbled but grabbed a change of clothes and shut the door to the bathroom.
"That's what she said," Puck smirked once the door shut. Teddy snickered; seemed the other boy had waited till young ears were out of the room before letting that one out.
"Can we talk?" Harry motioned to Teddy. Teddy nodded and followed his godfather outside the room.
"Why didn't anyone react upon hearing your real name?" Harry asked. "I was freaking out when Lily said it."
"That's because they already know it," Teddy said nervously. "They may have figured out that I was a wizard?"
Harry sighed and looked sternly at his godson. "Theodore Lupin, did you break the Statue of Secrecy?"
"Not really," Teddy gave a bad poker face. "They figured it out first. You know how hard it is to keep up an act for a year? I slipped up a few times, gave them an opening."
"Who knows?" Harry asked. Teddy thought his godfather was being particularly cool about the whole thing.
"Everyone in that room," Teddy told the older man. "Them and their parents, who know that they can't repeat anything I told them."
Harry sighed but smiled at his godson. "It's good to see you Ted. Haven't seen you since Christmas."
"Well it's thanks to Glee club you did," Teddy smiled back at his godfather. "They bought the ticket and everything. Must have cost them a pretty Knut too."
Harry didn't say anything as they went back into the room. Ginny was glaring at Teddy for some reason.
"You never answered my question Ted!"
Oh.
000
Ginny was worse than Harry in terms of bullying and since Harry had informed her about the Glee club's knowledge of magic, she held nothing back.
"God, look at her go!" Finn whistled. "Remind me to never piss off a red-head."
"Never piss off a red-head," Rory told him. Then he winced upon hearing some of the curses Ginny was listing off. Teddy and Harry were trying to cool her off while Puck and Mike had tried to soundproof the door to the bathroom where Lily was still occupied.
"GINNY!" Teddy shouted to drown out the threats of castration from his godfather's wife. "Harry already took care of everything. No more bullies at McKinley. Now please stop shouting? Sam looks ready to piss himself."
"Hey!"
"You know it's true dude," Teddy chuckled as he laid down on a bed—which shouted as he did so. "Muggle beds can talk?"
"Al," Ginny said. "He likes to read under there."
"Ah," Teddy said. "Odd but okay."
"What are your plans for after school?" Harry asked the Glee club. Teddy shook his head. Harry was just getting used to the idea of getting to know his friends.
"Well Kurt and I are trying out for NYADA," Rachel said, "where Finn and I will be getting married in the spring."
"I'm going to Yale," Quinn said with a smile.
"I'm just trying to graduate High School," Puck said with a shrug.
"Dance for me," Mike nodded.
"Oxford," Finn said with a grin. "Full ride. No idea how though."
"LA," Mercedes grinned.
"Same," Sam nodded.
"University of Louisville," Santana said with a grin, as if proud of her work. Harry nodded as each person said what he or she were going to do.
"Mr. Potter," Brittney said and Teddy jumped, having forgotten she was there. "Prom is coming up and we need chaperones."
"Prom?"
"Muggle Yule Ball," Teddy whispered back to Ginny.
"Ah," she whispered back. Then in a louder voice she said, "we'd be happy to do it Brittney. What's the date?"
000
The next few weeks were full of Rachel and Kurt worrying about their auditions. Teddy actually considered putting them under the Imperious just to get them to shut their pie holes for a few seconds.
"SHUT UP!" he finally cracked at Glee club one day while preparing for Nationals. "You're both fantastic singers, shoe ins. You're only annoying the hell out of all of us with your fretting."
"Well there's no need to be rude," Rachel sniffed and Teddy rolled his eyes. Really Rachel?
For that, I hope you choke, Teddy thought but then took it back instantly. It wasn't right to think like that. Besides, Rachel would only annoy him more if she did.
0000
A few days later, Teddy heard crying coming from the choir room.
"Yo?" he called out and was shocked to find Rachel in there. Slushies were banned; she was in a (semi) stable relationship. What was up?
"Teddy?"
"What happened Rachel?" Teddy asked. All the glee girls were almost like sisters to him and that meant that anyone who hurt them messed with him.
"I choked!" she burst out and began crying into his shoulder. Finn was walking in just as she did so.
Heh, discomfort for Finn? I can live with this.
"Rachel, is it okay if—"
"Finn, stop talking," Teddy told the larger boy. "Rachel, I've spent most of my life trying to understand girls. As a species they cannot be understood at all but some girls can. Like you."
"How? Cause I'm a failure who's never going to be a star and will never end up on Broadway or get a Tony or—"
"Merlin you're perfect for Finn. Neither one of you knows when to shut up," Teddy shook his head. "Rachel, you're easy to understand because you're not a failure. People mess up. That's why we were made people and not robots; make one robot comment Finn and I'm kicking your ass."
"You know that's my fiancé you're talking to like that?"
"Huh? So this should be you?" Teddy asked the taller boy. Smirking, Teddy moved out of the way of the door and turned into Finn. "There, no problem."
"This is too weird," Rachel muttered under her breath. Teddy heard though and then turned back.
"Look, you remind me of Lily," he told her. "Lily dreams of being a professional Quidditch player and she's pretty good too. Takes after her dad in that regard. You think she's going to let one rejection get her down?"
"She's seven," Rachel shook her head. "It's easy to have unrealistic dreams when you're seven."
"Rachel Berry, I bet you ten bucks that by the time we perform at Nationals you will have a second shot at your dream," Teddy promised. "That's a deal right there."
"My dream's really worth ten bucks?"
"Twenty," Finn added on to the pool. "I believe in you Rachel, so do the others."
"There's the caring boyfriend we all knew you could be Finn," Teddy got up. "I leave Rachel in your capable hands. I need to get an outfit for Prom."
"I thought you were watching Lily and Al?" Rachel asked, wiping her tears.
"Yeah but Ginny said there'd be a surprise waiting for me at Prom so now I have to go. Hmm…can I go as Schue?"
The three of them burst out laughing right then and there. Teddy sighed in enjoyment. No matter how much Finn annoyed him or Rachel drove him crazy, they were good friends to have.