As the full moon approached, anxiety seemed to grip Teddy yet again. Although the previous full moon hadn't gone too bad, he still wasn't used to the experience away from home. He woke on the morning of the full moon with a feeling of nausea and dread in his stomach. Luckily, that morning provided some welcome distractions.
There was commotion in the Great Hall when Teddy entered with Fionn. All around students were talking animatedly, some looking scared, some simply appearing to be excited.
"What's the story?" asked Fionn as they joined Gryffindor table.
"There's Aurors stationed all around Hogwarts," Amina said excitedly. "Nobody knows why they're there."
"Apparently Harry Potter himself is here too," said a second year nearby. This piqued Teddy's interest.
"Harry's here?"
"Yeah, Lupin, he's your godfather, right?" the boy said. "Any idea why he's here?" Even a few of the older students had turned to see what he had to say. Teddy shrugged.
"No clue. Have you actually seen him?" The boy shook his head.
Teddy couldn't help but feel disappointed. He had thought for a brief moment that he would see Harry that day. Despite the front he put up, Teddy did miss his family and seeing Harry – on the day of the full-moon, no less – would have cheered him up immensely.
Teddy joined in with the other first years in guessing why Aurors might be around Hogwarts on their way to the first lesson of the day.
"It's the Giant Squid, I'm sure of it," Chloe said adamantly.
"I don't think the Squid would need a team of Aurors to keep it in the lake," laughed Teddy. "It's been there for years."
"Have you seen that thing? It's huge." Chloe said, eyes wide.
"Have you seen it, Chlo?" Amina asked struggling to keep a straight face.
"No, but it's not called the Giant Squid for no reason."
"I heard from one of the second years that there's a giant snake that can kill you with its eyes living under the castle," Fionn said. "I bet that's it." Chloe looked positively petrified at the thought of a giant snake.
"That's just a rumour," huffed Amina. Teddy wasn't so sure – hadn't Harry mentioned something about killing a basilisk in his second year?
Some of the other suggestions included an escaped dragon, a goblin rebellion, or a herd of Hagrid's Blast Ended Skrewts escaping and capturing students.
"Isn't it obvious," Christopher said irritably as Fionn animatedly described, with actions, how he would just jump on a dragon's back if it attacked.
"What's obvious? My dragon fighting skills?" Fionn said while Teddy, Chloe and Amina laughed.
"Fenrir Greyback, that werewolf who escaped Azkaban is probably near here. It's the full-moon tonight." Christopher said the last part staring directly at Teddy, who could feel the blood rushing to his face. He concentrated on keeping his hair in check.
"Well, at least there's Aurors around then," Amina said, linking arms with Chloe who had turned several shades whiter and was now wearing a look of fear. "They're here to protect us if he does come near the school – but honestly, why would he?" Amina shot Christopher a dirty look and sauntered with Chloe into the classroom.
They had Defence Against the Dark Arts first thing that morning. Teddy was coming to resent the class, something that pained him greatly. He knew that it was the subject that his father had taught and had been Harry's best subject. He wanted to like it, but Professor Farrow made it difficult.
Farrow had taken a disliking to Teddy for no apparent reason. It had become an almost daily occurrence that Teddy would lose points for things that other students wouldn't even be reprimanded for. Teddy was consistently the target for difficult questions that were beyond the level of a first year. He had been trying his hardest to study for Defence Against the Dark Arts, but his efforts had yet to be realised.
"Today we will be discussing a different topic." The class sat up intently. Farrow seemed unusually excited and his excitement was causing feelings of heightened anticipation amongst the students.
"As many of you may have heard, there are a number of Aurors stationed around Hogwarts and the surrounding area today." Interest across the classroom had peaked.
"The reason behind this is, of course, the notorious werewolf, Fenrir Greyback. Tonight, is the full moon, Greyback will be more dangerous than ever before and it is known that he has a liking for younger, fresher meat." Farrow had a mischievous glint in his eyes giving him an almost manic appearance.
Teddy noticed Chloe next to him shrink down in her seat in fear. Teddy looked towards her and gave her a reassuring smile.
"While you are young, and do not have the skills required to fight a werewolf if attacked, I feel it only necessary to teach you about the beasts."
Teddy felt a jolt of anger. Did his Professor really just call werewolves beasts? He looked around the class – none of the other students seemed to have noticed his comments. Perhaps he had misheard.
"While some people will have you believe that werewolves are normal people who can live ordinary lives, this is not the case. Lycanthropy is not a problem once a month. These beasts will always be animals, unable to control their urges, whether they are in human form or not. They should be locked away in Azkaban to rot –"
"You're wrong."
The entire class turned to look at Teddy. He was so angry he could see red. He was also aware in the back of his mind that his hair had probably also turned red with anger. How could Farrow say those things, he had no idea what he was talking about.
"Excuse me, Mr Lupin?" Farrow had glint in his eye and a small smirk on his face.
"I said you're wrong. Werewolves are ordinary people with families and friends and lives." He was almost shouting now. He could feel his blood boiling.
"You disagree with me, Mr Lupin," Farrow drawled slowly. "I can't say I'm surprised. Of course, you would defend those creatures."
Teddy had never been so angry in his life. He stood up abruptly, knocking his chair back, ready to shout at Farrow when there was a knock at the door.
The whole class turned to look. Professor looked almost disappointed that he had been interrupted.
"Excuse me, Professor Farrow," a third year Gryffindor girl interrupted. "Professor Longbottom asked me to come get Teddy Lupin. It's urgent."
Farrow looked annoyed. "Yes, of course. Lupin get out of here before you do anything you will regret. It's the full-moon. You better be careful of those monsters you love so much."
Teddy opened his mouth to argue but Amina nudged him towards the door. "Go," she whispered seriously. Teddy picked up his bag. He caught Fionn's eye walking out. He looked shocked. Great, he thought, now my friends think I'm crazy.
He ran his hand through his hair, urging it to change back to a normal colour. The third year girl with him gave him a funny look when he did it but he didn't bother explaining. He was still bubbling with anger but curiosity over the urgent matter that Professor Longbottom wanted him for got the better of him.
"Teddy," Longbottom said seriously when he entered his office. "Harry has been hurt – nothing life threatening. Merlin knows he's been in worse situations," he said quickly noticing Teddy's reaction. "He's asked for you to return home until Sunday evening. I've arranged a Floo from my office."
"But why does he want me there?" Teddy asked. Worry had taken over anger. Harry got injured all the time but he never made a fuss about it. There was something else happening.
"Harry will explain to you," Longbottom said, not meeting his eye. "Come on. Your case will be waiting for you when you arrive."
Teddy stepped into the fireplace in Longbottom's office, took a pinch of Floo powder and through it into the green flames.
The familiar sensation of travelling by Floo took over Teddy's thoughts as he whizzed by other fireplaces. Eventually he slowed down and fell out of the fireplace rather ungracefully.
"TEDDY!" excited voices squealed as Teddy found himself being tackled by two young boys. He allowed the two boys to climb on him and talk rapidly at him, leaving no opportunity to answer their questions.
"Alright boys, get off him. Let him stand up." Ginny has just entered the room holding baby Lily in her arms. James and Albus listened to their mother and left Teddy alone for long enough to let him stand up.
"Hi Teddy," Ginny said wrapping one arm around him while still holding Lily in the other. "We've missed you so much around here."
"I've missed you too, Ginny," Teddy grinned. "And you too Lily," he said tickling the baby in Ginny's arms causing her to squirm and giggle.
"Teddy, we have to tell you something important," James said seriously. "We were in the garden and we found and gnome and now he's our pet!" Teddy feigned a look of shock and awe for James and Al's benefit.
"James, I already said you couldn't keep him in that box. It's inhumane," Harry said wearily, entering the room, limping.
"But Dad, Freddie has a pet gnome," James whined.
"I can guarantee you that he doesn't, James," Ginny sighed.
Teddy took a good look at Harry as the battle over the gnome raged between Ginny and James. He looked bad. The side of his face was red and shiny looking, as if the skin was exposed. Although he was wearing a t-shirt, Teddy could see that his arm was covered in thick bandages leaving only his finger uncovered to allow him to hold a wand. The fingers that were on display were black and charred looking.
"Hey, Ted," Harry said hugging him with his unbandaged arm.
"What happened?" Teddy asked.
Harry smiled. "Bit of an accident at work. Nothing major." Teddy caught sight of Ginny giving Harry a fierce look, hinting that it was something major.
"We'll talk later," he said quietly. Teddy nodded.
"It's the full-moon, Teddy, how are you feeling?" Ginny asked kindly. Teddy shrugged. "Tired, I guess. It's still early". Ginny nodded knowingly. It was nice to be back around people who knew what he was going through.
"Sit down, make yourself comfortable. I'll make some tea." She put Lily down on the couch next to Harry and Teddy flopped down on his other side.
Teddy allowed himself to momentarily enjoy the peace of being back in his second home, surrounded by the people he loved.
The morning passed quite enjoyably without incident. Teddy chatted about his friends and classes at Hogwarts, with Ginny and Harry retelling some of their happy memories from the castle. He played with James and Al and entertained Lily by morphing his face. It was an ordinary, relaxing morning at the Potter's, like a morning he had had hundreds of times before. However, there was a lot that wasn't being said. Anytime Teddy mentioned Harry's injury he would firmly tell him they would talk about it later. Teddy also avoided talking about his encounter with Farrow that morning. He didn't want Harry to get mad at him for disrespecting a teacher. That too became a topic they would talk about later.
Teddy had spent much of the afternoon sleeping before the moon rose. It was a relief not to have to attempt to stay awake for classes or to keep up appearances of normalcy for his classmates.
Harry and Teddy were not alone until that evening. Ginny had left to put the kids to bed leaving Harry and Teddy to talk.
"So, what happened?" Teddy asked as soon as Ginny left with Lily.
"Quick into it, eh Ted?" Harry grinned. Teddy didn't smile.
Harry let out a breath. "Fiendfyre, do you know what that is?" Teddy shook his head.
"It's fire that can't be put out. Very dark magic. I blasted through a door that had been cursed with it and got burned." Harry was very blunt in the manner in which he explained his injury. Teddy knew Harry well enough to know that he spoke like that when he was attempting to hide the extent of the issue.
"Will you be able to heal if it's dark magic?" Teddy asked thinking of Harry's infamous lightning bolt scar. A curse scar caused by dark magic that will never disappear.
"Thankfully my face and legs will heal with no scarring within a week with a certain potion," he gestured towards the raw looking skin stretching from his temples to his chin. "My arm, however…" He trailed off and seemed to be considering something.
"You know I like to be as honest as possible with you." Teddy nodded, wondering where this was going. He hesitated. "I haven't shown James and Al this, I think it would scare them, but you're older. And brave," he grinned. Harry started peeling back his bandages. As they unravelled, it struck Teddy how many layers were covering his injury. He was jolted from his thoughts as Harry took off the last layer releasing a burst of flames. Teddy jumped back.
"Fiendfyre is very difficult to put out," he explained. "Until the Healers find a way to put it out, I'm numbed from my shoulder down and wrapped in fireproof dressings." He began rewrapping his arm, the flames hidden beneath the dressings.
"Blimey, Harry," Teddy gasped. "I was not expecting that."
"Until they can put it out, I'm off duty," he said grimly. "Well, I'm out of the field."
"There's Aurors stationed at Hogwarts," Teddy said suddenly remembering.
Harry nodded. "I ordered them to be there. Do you know why?" Harry was looking at Teddy intently, as if hoping he would know why.
"It's the full-moon," Teddy said quietly. "Greyback…" He trailed off and Harry nodded sombrely.
"Greyback is dangerous. He prides himself on the number of people he has bitten. During the war, he even began attacking people when it wasn't the full moon. Bill was one of them." Teddy thought of Bill's scarred face. He had known he had been attacked by a werewolf and wasn't surprised to learn that it had been Greyback.
"He bit my dad."
Harry was silent, carefully surveying Teddy who was refusing to make eye contact.
"Yes, he did. But the Auror department is going to catch him before he attacks. We have leads." He was grateful that Harry hadn't asked him how he knew that fact.
Teddy nodded slowly. "I hate Greyback. He's the one who gives a bad name to werewolves and…" He trailed off.
"What is it, Teddy?" Harry asked. Concern was dripping from his voice. Teddy hesitated. He hadn't wanted to speak to Harry about Farrow but the incident that day had hit a nerve.
Teddy told Harry the whole story of Professor Farrow. From the snide comments about his parentage to his outright prejudice and discrimination towards werewolves. He reached the part of the story about his outburst. Expecting Harry to be angry at him, he was surprised at his reaction.
"I'm proud of you, Teddy." He was taken aback.
"But I argued with a Professor."
"You were standing up for your beliefs. You were defending your father, yourself and the entire werewolf community in front of your entire class. That is admirable. I don't think I would have had the courage or the empathy to do that at your age."
Teddy managed a smile. "Fionn and Chloe and both muggle-born. Merlin, half my year is muggle-born. Everything they know about the wizarding world they're learning through what our teachers are saying. I don't think it's right for a Professor to be teaching them lies."
"I agree, Teddy. It's not right, but standing up for werewolves like you did will be remembered. Even if you convince your friends that werewolves aren't monsters, that is two more people who won't continue with hatred."
"What about Farrow?"
"I'm going to talk to the school board. Farrow was hired after the war based on connections. Clearly his personal beliefs are getting in the way of his teaching. Neville always said he was a prat anyway. Sometimes being the Boy-Who-Lived has advantages." Harry said bitterly.
The moon had risen, Teddy could feel every bone and muscle in his body aching. He groaned and lay back on the couch.
Harry relaxed back onto the couch next to him. "What do you want to do tonight, Ted? Exploding Snap? Wizard's Chess? We've got a long night ahead of us."
Teddy smiled. "Are you sure you want to stay up with me? I mean, you're injured. You probably need rest."
"It's difficult to sleep when your arm is on fire," Harry laughed. "We haven't spent the full-moon together in months. I miss the time together."
Teddy grinned widely. The full-moon was always much more tolerable when he had Harry to distract him.
The sun had risen, fighting away the last rays of the moon. Harry watched as Teddy's body finally relaxed and he fell asleep, Wizard's Chess game abandoned on the coffee table between them. He put a blanket around his godson and watched him sleep for a minute, his hair shifting colours in his sleep.
Harry walked into his bedroom rubbing his eyes. He would hopefully get a few hours sleep before any of the kids came in.
"How's Teddy?" Ginny asked as Harry climbed into bed next to her.
"The moon's gone down, he's sleeping."
"Any word about Greyback?"
"It doesn't look like he attacked anyone. There's been no reports or sightings." He paused. "I didn't tell Teddy everything. I couldn't bring myself to tell him he was the target."
Ginny turned over and looked at Harry.
"You did the right thing. It doesn't help him to know that Greyback is after him." Harry nodded but couldn't help the feelings of guilt. Hadn't he always wished that somebody would be truthful with him?
He had naively thought that Teddy's time at Hogwarts would be problem free. He had hoped that his biggest worries would be studying for exams or writing essays for class. He wanted him to have a normal Hogwarts experience. Despite his hopes, evil remained in the world and it permeated the walls of Hogwarts.
Harry looked back on his own years in Hogwarts with rose-tinted glasses. Admittedly, he hadn't had a normal experience, Voldemort had made sure of that. Perhaps because his school life had been so tainted by Voldemort's ascent to power that he had ignored the fact that hardship existed in smaller forms.
Teddy was dealing with prejudice, the likes of which he had been shielded from for his entire young life. Harry had always made sure that Teddy knew what an amazing man Remus had been. The fact that he was a werewolf was inconsequential. He had come to realise that this had swayed Teddy's perception of how the rest of the world viewed werewolves. He had failed to prepare him for prejudice and discrimination based on what his father was.
Remus has known this would happen but Harry had been stupidly optimistic with the world. He could never comprehend how someone could judge Teddy for something like that. Teddy, the funny, intelligent, caring, thoughtful boy that Harry had helped to raise didn't deserve to be treated like that.
He would ensure that Farrow never taught at Hogwarts again. As much as he didn't like to use his fame, Harry could have him fired in the wave of a wand. He would do it for Teddy.
The weekend passed in a blur and Teddy had enjoyed it so much that he was disappointed when Sunday evening came and he had to Floo back to Hogwarts. His Gran had come over the day after the full-moon and Teddy had spent the rest of the weekend surrounded by his favourite people.
Teddy had been enjoying himself so thoroughly that he had almost forgotten about the incident in Farrow's class the morning he left. "Don't worry about Friday," Harry said obviously noticing Teddy's worry. "You might get a few looks but the people who matter won't treat you differently. It will blow over."
"What about Farrow?" Teddy asked quietly. Harry put his hands on both of Teddy's shoulders and looked him directly in the eyes.
"You don't have to worry about Farrow," Harry said seriously. Teddy nodded, his worries dissipating. Harry had the ability to make him feel safe when the rest of the world was falling apart. He hugged him tightly before getting into the Floo and returning to Hogwarts.
He was reminded about the incident in full force on Sunday evening when he walked into the Gryffindor common room. All eyes swivelled towards him as he climbed through the portrait hole. Teddy walked quickly across the common room, planning on heading straight for the dormitory but was stopped by Fionn.
"Oi, Teddy! Over here, mate."
With all eyes on him it would have been awkward to keep walking towards the dormitory. Teddy hesitated before joining Fionn, Chloe and Amina.
"Where've you been, Teddy? There were rumours going around that you'd been expelled for hexing Professor Farrow," Chloe said rapidly.
"Expelled? Harry was in an accident at work, I went to see him," Teddy said with shock. "You were there. I didn't hex him, I just…"
"He was well out of order," Fionn said. "Bloody psycho talking about werewolves like that." He fell silent for a moment. "Look, Teddy, we had no idea your dad was a… y'know, werewolf. I didn't get what the big deal was but Amina explained some. I don't care, I think it's cool!"
Teddy smiled. He was relieved. He had known that Fionn wouldn't actually care but it was something that still kept him worrying.
"Yeah, Teddy, I didn't know either," Chloe said quietly, blue eyes looking at him intently. "I'm sorry I said horrible things about werewolves and how I was scared of them. I didn't understand what they were truly like. The only werewolf I'd heard of was Greyback and he's an escaped criminal." She looked at him anxiously as if he was about to snap at her.
"Thank you," Teddy said honestly. "I didn't deliberately keep it a secret. People know who my parents are in our world so I've never had to tell anyone before. I'm just happy that you don't believe the lies Farrow was spitting."
"He said more after you left," Amina said slowly. "He made out that you were taken out of class so you could get ready to transform."
"He said that?" Teddy was shocked. "The whole school thinks that I hexed Farrow then ran off for the full-moon. Oh, and that I got expelled." He slumped in the armchair. No wonder people were giving him strange looks – the rumours being spread about him were getting more and more out of hand.
"Pretty much, yeah. Loopy Lupin, they're calling you. Beware." Fionn said.
Teddy surprised himself and started laughing. Fionn, Chloe and Amina exchanged worried glances at Teddy's outbreak. His friends gradually joined in until they were all in hysterics.
"Enough about that, Teddy," Chloe said wiping tears from her eyes as they all calmed down from laughing. "When are we going to talk about the fact that you can change your hair colour?"
"Oh that," Teddy laughed, changing his hair turquoise to the amazement of his friends. "I guess all my secrets are out in the open now. There's my mystique gone."
"What mystique?" Fionn scoffed. "Let's be fair, Teddy, you were never very good at hiding the meta-whotsit thing. You come down for breakfast most mornings with blue streaks in your hair."
"And your eyes literally change colour as you're talking," added Amina.
"It's very distracting actually," Chloe admitted.
Teddy couldn't help but smile as his friends joked about his powers. No more secrets. He was going to stop hiding who he was and start sticking up for others like him. He would be proud of himself and make his parents proud.