A/N: Where the last chapter was a bit too long, this chapter is a bit too short. I'm well through the next one, though, so hopefully another update will be prevolent. Character development all over the place in chapter four! Hopefully these annoying Author's Notes will go away soon. :)

I'm absolutely blown away by the response this story is getting. A million thanks to everyone!

Teddy, face to face with who must have been the infamous Filch, decided to play it dumb. "Sir?"

"You can't 'sir' your way out of this one, boy. For one, you were eavesdropping on the teachers' table, and for two, you were doing it with an item on the list of banned objects." Filch sniffed the air and showed his awful, rotting teeth in what must have been a grin as he scratched his cat's neck. "I think I might even smell a double-detention."

"I... don't know what you're talking about, sir." Teddy was thinking fast. He could only pretend that he had no idea what was going on for so long; Filch did, after all, have the Extendable Ear in his hand. He could claim that he was a first year and that he hadn't even received said list yet, which was true, but it couldn't be denied that he was listening in on the teacher's table.

"No?" Filch said, sneering wider and brandishing the hand with the Extendable Ear wrapped around it. "Well, we'll just see what the Headmistress has to say... about..." The sneer faded from Filch's face as he regarded the hand holding the Extendable Ear curiously. He spread his fingers and felt around his palm; apparently he found something he didn't like, because his expression became angry and disappointed very suddenly. "What did you do, boy?" he asked loudly, grabbing Teddy by the front of his robes and pulling him nearly off the ground. "What did you do!"

The entire hall quieted at the sound of Filch's shouting. Teddy, eyes wide with fear, was wondering fleetingly what he had done as he struggled against the grip of his attacker.

"Mr. Filch!" Professor McGonagall was walking very quickly towards them, her expression pure venom. "Put that student down immediately!"

Filch did as he was told, though Teddy was pushed backwards and had to be caught by Oliver and Winnie to avoid colliding with the table. "He... he did something, Headmistress, I had him cornered, I caught him listening--"

"You do not ever lay your hands on a student, Mr. Filch," she said in a low, nearly trembling voice. Teddy and McGonagall saw each other often; Harry's house was the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, which was still in full swing despite the defeat of Voldemort. Never, through any of the countless emotional meetings, had Teddy ever seen her as angry as she was now. Although she was speaking very quietly, there was no doubt that the entire hall was listening. "You will go to your office and await my arrival. Do I make myself perfectly clear, Argus?"

Filch, too, was wearing a bitter expression; his voice was filled with incredible contempt as he said, "Yes, Headmistress." Shooting one last dirty look at Teddy, Filch left the room, Mrs. Norris sitting all the while on his shoulder.

Professor McGonagall took a deep breath as she stared after Filch, and finally turned to Teddy. Her expression was kind, although there remained an angry tick in her jaw. "Are you all right, Lupin?"

"Yes, Professor," he muttered. McGonagall nodded.

"I'll need you to come with me, please." She seemed to suddenly become aware of the silence through the hall; she turned to the other students. "You may resume your meal," she said with eyebrows raised, as though she thought they had been waiting for her permission. Noisily, the entire hall simultaneously turned back to their meal. It seemed that no one felt particularly inclined to tempt the Headmistress' temper at the moment.

Teddy got up from his place at the bench and followed McGonagall out of the hall. He tried to ignore the fleeting glances he earned as he passed. The pair walked through the Entrance Hall into the room that Teddy, along with all the other first years, had first been taken into. McGonagall shut the door, pointed her wand at the knob, and then addressed the room. "Nick?"

A ghost Teddy had seen fleetingly at the Gryffindor table floated through the wall. "Yes, Headmistress?"

"I have put a charm on the door, but I would be much obliged if you would stay lookout to ensure no one interrupts our... meeting," she said delicately. Nick removed his plume hat and bowed, floating back through the wall and disappearing from view.

McGonagall sat down and indicated that Teddy do the same. She regarded Teddy with raised eyebrows over her glasses. "The truth, Mr. Lupin."

"He caught me listening in on the conversation at the head table," he said quietly without hesitation. The two of them were on good enough terms to know that she would probably understand his actions; he was, after all, half raised by Harry Potter.

Her mouth moved silently for a moment before forming the word, "How?" Her tone was unexpectedly harsh; she had clearly not been expecting this answer.

"Extendable Ear," he muttered. He decided to leave out the part about Winnie being the source.

"Invisible, I assume."

"Yes, Professor."

McGonagall's expression was such that Teddy wouldn't have been surprised if sparks had begun to fly from her eyes. "And what, exactly, gave you the inspiration to do this?"

"I wanted to know what happened to Julia."

McGonagall blinked, but her expression didn't soften. "Do you know her?" she asked harshly.

"We met on the train. We were friends," he said simply. He watched McGonagall carefully, as though making sure she knew he was serious about finding out what happened to Julia. McGonagall seemed to be similarly evaluating Teddy.

"This kind of behaviour is absolutely unacceptable," she said quietly. "I expected better from you."

"I'm sorry, Professor." He thought fleetingly about adding that he'd have done the same given the situation again, but decided he was in enough trouble as it was for his first hour at Hogwarts and kept his mouth shut.

McGonagall stared. Finally she leaned back in her seat and spoke slowly and evenly. "I have Julia with Professor Flitwick in my office. If the Sorting Hat starts to respond, she will be Sorted. If not, however, I believe we'll place her in Hufflepuff until we can find an alternative. She is fine," McGonagall added loudly, seeing that Teddy had opened his mouth. Teddy shut it again, understanding that she didn't want to be interrupted. "Shaken, but fine. She is well enough to be in classes tomorrow, in any case." There was a pause. McGonagall sighed and softened her expression ever so softly. Teddy could see by the even, cold tone of voice, however, that she was not yet passed being angry with him. "I see that you have inherited your godfather's determination and loyalty to his friends, but am pleased to see that you have not done the same with his temper. You need to be very careful all the same, Lupin. You have been here an hour, and you are already skating on thin ice." Teddy nodded ashamedly, staring at his shoes. Finally, McGonagall seemed to relax almost completely at this show of remorse; her tone changed from the forced calm of anger to its normal, straightforward volume. "I have no choice but to give you detention, Lupin. If I ever catch you eavesdropping on private conversations again, I will be forced to contact your grandmother and we will take action from there. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Good. You may join the feast..." McGonagall must have caught the expression on Teddy's face, because she added, "or you may eat here, if you wish."

"Yes, please," he breathed, hair turning red again at the prospect of going out amidst the stares. McGonagall waved her wand, and a plate appeared in front of Teddy covered in chicken and mashed potatoes. He immediately began forking potatoes into his mouth, not having realized how hungry he was out of worry for Julia.

"It would not be wise to get on the wrong side of Mr. Filch," McGonagall said quietly, looking at him candidly. Teddy understood that this was the first time she was treating him differently than she would other students; this was a warning for him alone. He stopped eating to listen. "He is a permanent fixture at Hogwarts. You need to watch your step very carefully where Filch is involved." Teddy stared and contemplated questions to ask, but decided against it based on her expression. He nodded; she gave him a curt nod of acknowledgement and stood abruptly. "I must return to the feast. When you have eaten your fill, you will return to the Great Hall in order to have a Prefect show you to your dormitory. I will contact you regarding your detention before the end of the week."

"Yes, Professor."

"And Lupin--" McGonagall said, her back toward him. "For future reference, Extendable Ears are on the banned items list. Perhaps you'd like to pass this information along to Miss Wood."

Teddy was stunned. He stared after McGonagall as she left the room and shut the door behind her. She had kept her back to him the whole time she made her exit, but Teddy could have sworn, as she turned her head ever so slightly, that he'd seen a smile on her face.