New chapter!
Teddy walked to the Hufflepuff common room, still dazed. He had split away from James after leaving the headmaster's office, deciding to meet in the room of requirement the next day. Teddy was worried about James, first and foremost because he was not known for thinking before talking, or being very good at lying. Everyone back home knew when James was trying to keep a secret, so who knows how he is going to manage this, the biggest secret of his life.. That wasn't the only reason for Teddy to be concerned however. He knew his brother had never encountered a problem that couldn't be fixed before, and he wondered how James would react in the long term to their current predicament. Even though Teddy was only three years older than James, Teddy's childhood had been much more uncertain due to his parent's deaths when he was young, leaving him a little more unfazed at events like this than James. Harry had officially adopted Teddy when he was seven, but before that he was never sure where he belonged and was shuffled between family and friends houses. Everyone cared for him and loved him, but it wasn't the same as having his birth parents or a steady home. But he was okay now, or at least he was before he got magically thrown away from everyone he knew and loved, and now was older than his adopted parents.
And even bigger than that, his birth parents were alive right now, doing who knows what. He didn't know if they had even met at this time, or what they were doing since the second war hadn't started. Harry told him as much as he could, but there were a lot of holes in the story, and he was in the middle of one of them. If he even got the chance to meet them, Teddy wasn't sure if he would. He'd lived his whole life without them, and didn't need to know what he missed now, especially because hopefully he would be heading home at the end of this year.
Entering the door to the common room Teddy tried his best to be inconspicuous. All he needed was to be the point of interest of everyone in Hufflepuff because they didn't recognize him. He edged his way to the door leading to the boy's dormitories, and slipped inside. Walking down the hallway, he read the labels on the doors and entered the one that said seventh year.
Glancing around the empty room, Teddy saw a barren bed in the back of the room, and assumed it was his. He sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed. Even though he had only woken up a few hours ago Teddy felt exhausted. Laying down, he quickly dozed off into a restless sleep.
Harry sat with his friends in the Gryffindor common room, chatting about the upcoming Triwizard tournament. The other schools were set to arrive in only a few weeks, and many wondered who would enter. Slightly bored with the conversation, Harry let his mind drift and glanced at the portrait hole just in time to see someone new enter the room. It was a boy, maybe around Harry's age, with dark red hair and a slim build. It was rare to see students that Harry didn't recognize, especially ones around his age. He interrupted Hermione and Ron, pointing the stranger out to them.
"Do you recognize him?" Harry asked.
Hermione stared at the new boy quizzically. "No, I have no idea who he is. He must be new, but I can't say I've ever seen a new student around here before either."
"Could he be someone from one of the other schools arriving early?" Ron commented.
"I doubt that," retorted Hermione. "It's much too early. I've heard that all the schools make sure to do an impressive entry. Besides, he's much too young to compete, and neither Durmstrang or Beauxbatons are bringing the entire student population."
The three of them watched as the boy looked around the common room before he noticed Harry's eyes on him. His face turned red and he looked away before taking a few steps into the room, still near the wall.
"He looks somewhat familiar. Should we invite him over to talk to him?" This was a rare request from Harry as they harly ever opened up their circle, but something about this guy struck Harry. Hermione and Ron looked at each other and shrugged. That was enough of an invitation. He looked back at the newcomer and once eye contact was maintained, gestured for him to come over. The stranger looked scared, but made his way to them slowly. Why was the new bloke scared to join them, Harry wondered. Was he just shy?
Once he came near, Hermione spoke up. "Hello, we happened to looking over and realized that none of us recognized you. I'm Hermione Granger, and those two are Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Are you new here?"
If possible, the guy looked even more worried. Harry was confused at the look on his face; it seemed like he was fascinated with them one second, but couldn't look at them the next.
"Er, yes I am new. My name is James Black." James tugged at his collar. "I just arrived, and will be here at Hogwarts at least for this year."
"Black, like Sirius…" Ron started.
"Same family, but I'm in a different branch, pretty far removed.' James was quick to clarify, and seemed to want to change the topic.
"Is there a reason you came here in the middle of the year?" asked Hermione.
"My uncle who was homeschooling me and my brother died, so we came here. Nothing too alarming, just old age."
Harry noticed that James didn't seem too upset about the death, just slightly uncomfortable. "Were you close to your uncle at all?"
"Yes, actually. My parents died because of Volde…" James coughed. "I, mean because of You-Know-Who, a long time ago, so me and my brother lived with him. But we were kind of expecting his death for a while, so I'm okay."
That comment got the wheels turning in Harry's head. Taking a closer look, Harry gasped. "Wait, you were the one that appeared in our Defense class! And the other must have been your brother. "
"Oh, the long distance portkey malfunctioned, and we ended up there instead of the headmaster's office. The trip got was so dizzy I guess I fainted. Luckily Teddy was there to help me."
"Blimey," spoke Ron. "And you thought the portkey to the world cup was bad, Harry." Harry chuckled, and so did James. That small comment seemed to relax James and conversation flowed much more naturally afterwards.
Teddy's eyes snapped open at the sound of a door opening. A young man walked into the room distracted, but when glancing at Teddy from the corner of his eye, paused. Teddy sat up and waved weakly.
"Hey, I'm Teddy Black. I don't know if you were told yet, but I'm a new transfer student to Hogwarts."
The sandy haired student relaxed and came over. "My name's Cedric Diggory. Sorry to look so concerned, I didn't realize there was a new student. I hope however, I can help you get adjusted to Hogwarts."
Teddy smiled. "That would be nice. I kind of moved here unexpectedly, and was homeschooled before, so any help would be great!" He really hoped that this would assuage any awkward moments that might happen with him being from the future and all.
"And this is not even any ordinary year to join up at," said Cedric. "With the triwizard tournament, everything is a commotion, and there will be more students than ever here. Hogwarts was hard enough to get used to in a normal year, when I was the same age as all the other new people.
Teddy chuckled. "Yes, I certainly will have a short adjustment period. I really don't know much about the tournament.. I've heard there are three events and the schools that will be coming, but not much else. I don't plan on entering, of course. Just starting here during my last year and taking my NEWTS will be enough stress."
"I think I actually might enter," confessed Cedric. "I doubt I will get chosen, but if I do, it would be great for future opportunities and I do like the sound of a thousand gallons." Teddy started to agree before an awful thought rushed to his head. He knew that name sounded familiar.
"You said your name was Cedric, right?, asked Teddy, praying that he was wrong.
"That's correct," he responded. Teddy sat still, staring at Cedric, head whirling. He knew what was going to happen to this young man he was talking to. In less than a year Cedric would be dead. And if he did anything to prevent his death, he would never be able to return to his previous life.