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Disclaimer: This world and these characters belong to J.K. Rowling. The only thing I own is the plot.
Teddy Lupin, sorting
"Teddy Lupin!" called Professor Longbottom.
Immediately, whispers broke out from the other students. "Is that –"
"Yeah, Remus Lupin's kid –"
Teddy felt his currently bright red hair turn back into its natural brown as he tried to take the attention off of him. Of course, this only fuelled the whispers as he shuffled up to the stool.
Hmm. . . mused the hat thoughtfully. I remember your parents well.
Teddy felt a flash of irritation. They should have just called him 'Remus Tonks' and have been done with it.
Interesting, murmured the hat. Plenty of ambition. Teddy felt a flash of fear at the thought of being in Slytherin, of all houses, but then he straightened up. Whatever he got, he'd face it head on. It'll be the best house at Hogwarts once it's got me in it, he thought cockily.
Pride, courage. . . the first one could go either way, and the second one is definitely a Gryffindor trait. But we're the noble, self-sacrificing sort, aren't we? The hat sounded almost amused.
Teddy wished the hat would get on with it. Being a hatstall would only increase the attention directed at him – although, at least it would be for something he did, not his parents.
"GRYFFINDOR!" bellowed the hat, startling him out of his thoughts, and Teddy slid off the stool with a sigh of relief. He passed by the Slytherin table, and he heard a nasty voice hiss, "Werewolf and a metamorphmagus – of course you're Gryffindor scum." Teddy turned his hair into a brilliant, unmistakable turquoise and marched determinedly ahead. As he took a seat at the Gryffindor table, a seventh year greeted him.
"Well done," he congratulated. "Gryffindor – following in your father's footsteps, eh? I imagine you'll be a prankster, too."
It was at that moment that Teddy resolved not to be anything of the sort.
Teddy Lupin, second week of first year
"Aw, is the filthy little werewolf child lost?" sneered the seventh year, looking down his nose at the first year. "You shouldn't be here, vermin. Why don't you run off and join your parents, where you belong."
Teddy Lupin stared defiantly back at the Slytherin, who was more than twice his size. "My father was Remus Lupin, a werewolf," he growled, loud enough for their audience to hear. "And my mother was a metamorphmagus. But they were both heroes – they died in the war, and my godfather, Harry Potter, told me that they were some of the bravest people he knew. What did your father do, Nott? He was a Death Eater – and look where he is now: in Azkaban."
There was silence for a few moments, and then the Gryffindors who had been passing by began to cheer. Slowly, the other houses joined in.
Nott's lip curled, but he backed away.
None of the students ever said a word against werewolves again.
They were pulled out of the memory roughly, and Al, Rose, Scorpius, and Alice stared at each other, speechless. "That's good for now," Teddy told them. "You'll see more later. For now, you can start practicing magic with our wands."
By the end of the night, they were considerably closer and were experts at the Wingardium Leviosa.
Two years later, the year before Rose, Al, Scorpius, and Alice were to go to Hogwarts, they were assembled again. They were incredibly skilled at magic, especially for children who hadn't even gotten their Hogwarts letters yet. They had also learned nearly all of the potions they'd be required to know for first year, could transfigure a match into a pin, could recite all the uses of the mandrake, or mandragora, from their parents' memories of second year, knew how to do summoning and shield charms, and had even brewed a Polyjuice Potion once.
Normally, none of this would be possible. For the devious offspring of war heroes such as their parents, however, it was achievable – although it had taken nights upon nights of relentless hard work.
They had just mastered shrinking charms, so they had shrunk the pensieve and transported it the Shrieking Shack (which was very difficult to accomplish, but they did have broomsticks and memories of the way to Hogwarts from Harry and Ron's car ride their in second year) and were now secretly meeting their cousins for another bout of memories.
"Shall we?" Teddy asked, and the four nodded eagerly.
Vic grinned. "Allons-y."
Teddy Lupin, sixth year
Teddy strode down the corridors, heading towards the Great Hall for breakfast. His stomach was churning uncomfortably, and the thought of eating made him nauseous, but he turned on the charm and straightened his shoulders, entering the Hall confidently. As he passed the Ravenclaw table, a girl shouted at him, "Good luck at the game today, Teddy!"
He flashed her the charming grin he was known for and the girl collapsed into her friends as they giggled. Inwardly, Teddy was groaning at the mention of the game. That day was the final Slytherin-Gryffindor game that would win Gryffindor (or, Merlin forbid, Slytherin) the Quidditch Cup.
This in itself was not what made Teddy nervous. He was well accustomed to winning the Quidditch Cup – after all, he had won it every year since he'd joined the renowned Gryffindor Quidditch team as a Keeper in his second year. This was, however, his first year as Captain of said renowned team, and the thought of losing them the Cup for the first time in years (and to the Slytherins, no less) made him want to fling himself off the Astronomy Tower.
In fact, he'd rather go to Hogsmeade with sixth year Amelia Danforth, a girl who had been proclaiming her undying love for him since their third year. The girl fluttered her eyelashes at him and smiled sickeningly as he passed, which didn't help Teddy's nausea.
Teddy dropped himself into a seat in between Chasers Mason Daring (fitting for a Gryffindor – Teddy would have wondered if the Sorting Hat sorted him into their house solely for his last name if it weren't for the fact that his teammate was certifiably Gryffindor crazy) and Lydia Finnegan.
Immediately, the surrounding Gryffindors began loading food onto his plate. Teddy was the most popular boy in his year, and possibly in all of Hogwarts, so he was used to attention, but this was different. On this day, the entire team was treated like royalty.
"Teddy," a girl's voice said, and Teddy immediately relaxed.
"Hey, Vic," he breathed in a relieved voice, turning to find his pretty fourth year cousin grinning at him.
"Eat something, Teddy," she coaxed. "And listen to me. Do you see that idiot there?" She pointed to Slytherin Captain and rival Keeper, Tobias Flint. "He's nowhere near as good as you. The only reason Slytherin lost to Ravenclaw is because, I'll admit it, that Chaser Lizzie Montague has enough skill to make up for Flint's poor Keeping. And as for beating the Puffs, well – who can't? Let's face it; Hufflepuff never had a chance at the Cup."
Teddy groaned and buried his head in her shoulder, ignoring all pretense of confidence. The Ravenclaw patted his head kindly, ignoring the envious looks from the surrounding boys in her year (and girls in Teddy's). "You have been training every single day for hours, not to mention the fact that every one of you has natural talent. And you're a brilliant Keeper – Oliver Wood said so, and he plays professionally! And let's not forget that you're better than Uncle Ron, who had the song 'Weasley is Our King' written for him. And do you remember what a certain Victor bloody Krum told you about your flying? Besides, the moment you get to the pitch, you know your nerves are going to disappear, so eat something, walk out there, and afterwards we can have a brilliant Gryffindor party in the common room and get drunk as –"
"Vic!" Teddy warned sternly, shaking his head at her. He grinned. "Prefect, remember? I have to pretend you forced the firewhiskey down my throat. I had no knowledge of the party, never mind the fact that we do it every year."
Vic nodded approvingly, tossing her long, shimmering blond hair over her shoulder. Ten pairs of male eyes followed the movement in awe, and a Gryffindor Beater, Dennis Jordan, muttered, "Bloody Veelas."
Teddy slapped him over the head. "Mate! That's my cousin!"
Dennis grinned unapologetically. "Sorry, Lupin."
Teddy laughed, feeling a lot calmer, and when breakfast was over, the Gryffindor Quidditch team all got up together and walked coolly out of the Hall, not deigning to look at the lowly Slytherins.
Teddy saw a flash of blue, and his other Ravenclaw cousin, Molly Weasley, ran up to him. "Good luck!" she said breathlessly, and Teddy grinned at the third year.
Just before they left, Teddy saw his other two cousins, Dom and Lucy Weasley, arguing. As they neared, he heard:
"Ten galleons Slytherin wins." Clad in silver and green, Lucy smirked at Dom.
"Ten galleons on Gryffindor, then," Dom agreed confidently, patting her scarlet and gold striped tie. Teddy glared at his Slytherin cousin.
"Whatever happened to familial loyalty, Luce?" he demanded.
Lucy shrugged. "Dom can go through with that. I want to win the Cup this year, remember. You Gryffindors have had it far too long."
Dom scowled at her before the team could protest. "You're just jealous that you're a silver-tongued snake and your fellow snakes haven't got any talent."
Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, well, king of the jungle my arse! Let's see if you lions are so cocky when Slytherin whips you on the pitch today!"
Teddy shook his head at his second year cousins and led the team out. As they settled down, he took a deep breath for his pep talk. "Listen. Our Seeker, the lovely Miss Katherine James, has only lost us two games before – one of which she played blind in one eye after being hexed just before the game by a Slytherin, and the other of which she played with a broken arm and a raging fever. You're brilliant, Kat."
Kat blushed; Teddy rarely handed out praise like that. "And our Chasers," Teddy continued, "Mason Daring, Lydia Finnegan, and Christian Creevey have such an incredible chemistry that we demolished Ravenclaw 290-40 and crushed Hufflepuff 190-0."
"That may have just been your brilliant Keeping, Teddy!" Lydia smiled at him.
"Yeah!" Christian agreed enthusiastically. "You're not too shabby yourself, mate. Only Slytherin managed to get 110 points, and that's mainly because of that mad Lizzie Montague."
Teddy frowned at that thought, but turned to his Beaters next. "Dennis Jordan and Tess Coffey – the best, most dangerous Beaters at Hogwarts!"
"Apart from Slytherin's monsters," Tess pointed out glumly.
"Nah," Teddy denied, waving a hand at her. "They can't aim for their lives, and you two are good flyers. Especially with your input, Tess; thank Merlin you're Muggleborn or we never would have been able to develop those hardball drills."
"Softball," she corrected.
Teddy was mystified. "Why would anyone want to hit you with a soft ball? That wouldn't ever draw blood!"
Kat chose not to answer, so Teddy continued, "Anyway, you two are a mix of violent, talented, and slightly psychopathic. Beat your hearts out! Three rules, team: try to permanently maim – oh hey Professor, I was just telling them to play fair and not harm the Slytherin players; yes, I know we only have a few minutes left, thank you, Professor, goodbye – Lizzie Montague, and I'm talking to you; Jordan, Tess. Also, don't bother waiting for a good lead, Kat, catch the snitch as soon as you can. If you beat my godfather Harry's record, I'll get you that autograph you've been wanting. And lastly – Chasers, Tobias Flint is only Keeper because he's so wide, he can cover an entire hoop. He is a very slow flyer who favors his right. So throw fast and aim left. Got it?"
"Got it," they chorused.
Teddy nodded firmly. "Good. I just want you to know that in the event of our loss, I'll murder you all brutally. Now, I don't want to go to Azkaban, but I know we won't lose, so I feel no qualms about promising that. Just wanted to put that out there. Let's go."
"And now we have the Gryffindors, everyone!" commentated Sean Thomas, a fellow Gryffindor, as they walked out onto the pitch. "Captain Lupin, Jordan, Coffey, James, Finnegan, Creevey, and Daring!"
There was a loud cheer from the Gryffindors, and Teddy leaned over to shake hands with Flint. He heard a loud crack from Flint's fingers, and when Teddy withdrew his hand and visibly wiped it on his robes in disgust, he saw dark bruises forming on his fingers.
"I want a nice, clean game!" Madam Hooch told them sternly.
Neither of the Captains made any promises. With a sharp blow of the whistle, the teams rose into the air, and the next fifteen minutes were a blur.
"This game is brutal, don't you hate those lying, cheating, pathetic Slytherin –"
"DO YOU NEED A DICTIONARY, THOMAS? I ASKED FOR IMPARTIALITY!"
"Fine, Professor. The Slytherins have already broken Creevey's arm, Finegan's nose, Jordan's left eye has swollen up, and the Gryffindor Seeker is being targeted by both bludgers, thanks to the Slytherin Beaters. Fancy flying there, a brilliant feint from James as she causes the Slytherin Beaters to crash into each other. OUCH! And Slytherin's Carney hits the ground after that nasty crash.
"Meanwhile, Montague is keeping Lupin busy, a spectacular save from Lupin, and Montague executes a neat spin to catch herself after that great throw – great, but not good enough, it seems.
"Gryffindor in possession of the quaffle; Daring passes to Finnegan, who passes to Daring, back to Finnegan, back to Daring – and he scores! 60-20 Gryffindor!"
Teddy sighed in relief, then shot to the left as Montague hurled the quaffle at the hoop again. Her fellow chasers were really slacking.
"Coffey catches Keeper Flint in the face with a bludger – oh, that had to hurt. Right hoop's left open, and Creevey scores! 70-20 Gryffindor. And look at that , ladies and gentlemen – the Gryffindor Seeker executes a spectacular Wronski feint, and the talentless Slytherin Seeker –"
"IMPARTIALITY, THOMAS!"
"Stating facts, Professor, stating facts – ah! Ouch! Professor, my hair! Sorry about that; Professor's a little uptight today. Must be –"
"THOMAS!"
"Anyway, Slytherin Seeker's lying on the ground, hope he's dead – kidding, Professor! Can't you take a joke? Oh, he moved; he's getting back on his broom. . . pity, that. And James catches the snitch! 210-20 Gryffindor. GRYFFINDOR WINS THE QUIDDITCH CUP!"
An hour later, as Teddy raised the House Cup above his head to loud cheers and raised a butterbeer in toast in the Gryffindor common room, he couldn't help but feel that it was one of the best moments of his life.
The bludger had permanently disfigured Flint's nose.
Al, Rose, Alice, and Scorpius were jerked out of the memory, and they collapsed on the floor in laughter, back in Potter Manor.
"That – was – hilarious," gasped Scorpius, clutching his stomach.
Rose howled again, rolling from side to side in agony. "I love Quidditch!" Rose got out, tears streaming down her face.
"His face!" Albus cackled, clutching the hem of Scorpius's robes. "Did you see his face?"
"Unfortunately," Alice said wryly, and they burst into laughter again.
When they were finished, they stood up gingerly, the occasional giggle escaping their lips as they clutched one another for support. Finally, Vic nudged them forward, and they fell into the pensieve again.
Victoire Weasley, fifth year
"He just wants to go out with me because I've got Veela blood!" Vic ranted, pacing the room angrily. She and Teddy met in the Room of Requirement once during the week and once every weekend after hours, to learn more from the pensieve, finish off homework, and enjoy each other's company like they used to, before they were sorted into different houses.
"I guess, though, that's why everyone wants to go out with me." She thought of the boys she'd dated – Davies, Jones, Finch-Fletchley, Carrick – they were all the same. "I'll never know, will I? Every date I go on, I'll have to wonder if they really care about me at all or if they just like me for my looks – or for who my family is: Fleur Delacour, formerly in the Triwizard Tournament with Harry Potter, who happens to be my uncle. Or Bill Weasley, famous Cursebreaker and brother of Ron Weasley, Harry Potter's best friend and war hero."
Teddy caught her hand as she passed by and yanked her down to sit beside him. "Listen," he told her. "There is so much more to like about you than just your looks or our family. You're clever, funny, brave, talented, caring, and you once slapped McCormac. Who could ask for more? Someday, a guy will see all of that, and then there's no chance he won't adore you."
Vic stared at him, her breath catching. "But there already is," she said softly.
Instead of giving her his classic smile, Teddy turned bright red. "Er," he muttered intelligently, and Vic leaned forward and kissed him.
"HOLD ON!" Rose shouted indignantly. "Why did we need to see that? It was so cheesy! What did you do, rehearse it?"
Teddy only grinned, while Vic narrowed her eyes at her cousin. "It was a defining moment for me," she snapped defensively. "Besides, it tells you a lot about my character."
"Yeah," Alice muttered. "Really brings out your sappiness. And here I thought you were all right!"
Scorpius looked slightly sick. "Al, mate, if I ever begin to even look like I'm thinking a sappy thought like that, I want you to beat me senseless until my sanity returns, understood?"
"I swear," Al affirmed, nodding solemnly. "You'll do the same for me?"
"Of course," Scorpius intoned, equally as solemn.
Sighing disgustedly, Vic grabbed them by the backs of their robes and shoved them back into the pensieve.
Victoire Weasley, fifth year.
"Do you know what you want to be, Vic?" Toby Morris asked her as they waited for Headmistress McGonagall to call them in to discuss their future with her. "Probably a Ministry job, am I right? I'd guess Auror, like Teddy was, but you're the first Weasley ever to be in Ravenclaw. You weren't brave enough to make Gryffindor, were you?"
Vic straightened in her seat. She had plenty of bravery! And she was hoping to become a Cursebreaker at Gringotts, like her father. She'd always liked Ancient Runes. So what if she wasn't a Gryffindor? She'd show them!
Vic walked in, refusing to look back at Toby Morris. When she walked back out ten minutes later, she sported a stack of Cursebreaker pamphlets in her hand and a satisfied smile on her face.
They were yanked out again. "That's enough for today," Teddy decided, shrinking the pensieve again. "You'll have to go soon if you want to get back in time."
"Excited for Hogwarts next year?" James asked them, grinning.
There were firm affirmations from all four. "It's great," Louis told them excitedly. "I've loved first year so far."
"And the professors all call us the Marauders' reincarnates," Fred added proudly.
"You'd better be in Slytherin," Lucy warned, only half-joking. She jabbed a finger at them. "At least one of you."
Scorpius exchanged a skeptical glance with Al. "I hope not," he murmured under his breath.
"I heard that," Lucy snapped as Dom snickered. "Next time, you'll watch my memories. Let's see what you think of my house then."
The quartet exchanged glances before looking away, all thinking the same thing. No matter what house they were in, they were going to take Hogwarts by storm.