A/N: Not much action, just character stuff. Golly, the updates just keep coming, don't they:)

Teddy had joined the rest of the first years in the trek up to Gryffindor tower amidst stares and whispers, though he had refused to say a word to an unbearably inquisitive Winnie until they got into the common room. The prefects, however, had rushed Teddy, Oliver and Riley, the other male first-year Gryffindor, up one staircase and Winnie and Karen up another to show them their dorms as soon as they got there; Oliver and Teddy had gotten away as quickly as they could and sat in cushy chairs near the fire. Winnie reappeared moments later and hopped into the nearest chair. "So!" she said, staring expectantly at Teddy, grinning from ear to ear.

"So?" he asked nonchalantly, acting confused just to see how crazy she'd get.

"So?! Are you expelled?"

Teddy raised his eyebrows and turned to Oliver. "Funny how the prospect makes her so happy." Oliver grinned as Winnie punched Teddy playfully on the shoulder with surprising strength; he fell back against the chair and smiled slowly. "No. I have detention."

"Ha. With Filch?"

Teddy shook his head and smiled grimly. "I don't think McGonagall would do that to me. Why are you so happy about my misfortune, anyway?"

Winnie grinned and shrugged. Oliver rubbed his eyes tiredly before asking, "Find out what happened to Julia?"

Teddy nodded, his amused expression retreating into one of thought and concern. "The Hat just doesn't recognize her. I heard one of the teachers say so before Filch got the Ear. McGonagall said later that she'll be put in Hufflepuff until a replacement can Sort her."

"Why do you know all the teachers?" Winnie asked abruptly. "You knew the really tall guy back at the dock, and the Headmistress knew who you were right away. I can't even remember her name... except that it sounds like someone who drank pumpkin juice a bit too fast... but you're spouting it out like you two are bosom pals."

Teddy shrugged. "She's at my godfather's house a lot," he muttered, looking at his shoes. "And he and Hagrid are friends from way back, I see a lot of him too."

"Oh," Winnie said. "What, is your godfather like a teacher here?"

Teddy hesitated. Harry did tend to make periodic visits to lecture to Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, but he certainly wasn't employed here. "No, he's just... really involved in the wizarding world." Teddy didn't really feel the need to tell Winnie right then that his godfather was Harry Potter; he guessed she'd have a lot of questions that he felt too tired to deal with at the time. Besides, he didn't need any more attention than he already had gotten. He changed the subject. "Speaking of teachers, McGonagall knew it was your Ear."

Winnie's jaw fell. "She can't have! I even looked over at the teacher's table before I handed it to you, no one was looking!"

"Maybe a student told?" Oliver suggested.

"How would they be able to? She went straight from the head table to Teddy and then out of the room. No one had a chance to tell her anything!" Winnie deflated and looked forlornly at Teddy. "Am I in trouble?"

"No," he said, amused that she was no longer so eager about trouble. "I think she was smiling when she said it. She just asked me to let you know that Extendable Ears are banned items. Only she wasn't quite that direct about it," he added, frowning in thought. How could she have known it was Winnie's Ear?

"Eh," she said, grinning again now that she knew she wasn't in trouble. "They're the newest kind anyway, they dissolve when any wizard of age gets hold of them. That's why Filch went so mental, by the way, it was gone after he held it for a while. Sorry about that, I wouldn't have given it to you if I'd known a psychopath would catch hold of it."

Teddy smiled in amusement. "A fan of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, are you?"

"The biggest," she grinned. "Shame Fred died though." She didn't notice Teddy's smile fade. "The things haven't been the same since. They're still genius, but they're not... you know... ingenious." She shrugged. "There were a few times that I went by Fred instead of Winnie just so I could pretend that I knew George Weasley. I could hang out with his family, and meet his sister, and then maybe I could actually meet Harry Potter." Teddy shifted uncomfortably. This also escaped Winnie, who was busy giggling at her own memory. "I used to have pretend weddings with George Weasley and Harry Potter all the time growing up. I couldn't decide if I wanted to be married to the world's most brilliant prankster or the world's most brilliant Auror more."

Teddy didn't respond. Oliver saved him the trouble. "What's an Auror?"

"Oh, you poor Muggle-born dear," Winnie said, turning toward him with extreme sympathy in her tone. "An Auror is a person who fights dark wizards. Even before Harry Potter was trained, he was widely considered to be the greatest fighter of evil alive. Well, you'll know... You-Know-Who?"

"I do?" Oliver asked confusedly.

"Do you?"

"Do I?"

"Do you what?"

"Know who."

"Who who?"

Oliver frowned at Winnie. "You said I know who."

"No, I said You-Know-Who."

"Right. Who do I know?"

"It's not... like that. It's just You-Know-Who."

"Who?!"

"Voldemort," Teddy said, both amused and annoyed. Immediately, the entirety of the half-full common room suspended their conversation to turn and stare at Teddy. Some looked around, terrified. "Not here," he clarified to the room quietly, blushing again. "They're... they're talking... I was just... nevermind." He shrank in his chair and looked distressedly at Winnie, who ogled at him.

"You keep surprising me," she said slowly. "Why do you say his name?"

"I just grew up with someone who does," he muttered, shrugging and still struggling to force his hair to a dark colour.

"You know the name was cursed when he was around, right?" she asked, still speaking slowly.

"Yeah." He mentally urged Oliver to ask what all the hubbub was about, and sure enough--

"So who's... You-Know-Who, then?"

Winnie didn't remove her gaze from Teddy, who was still shrinking in his seat despite that most people had resumed their conversations and had stopped eyeballing him. "Do you want to tell him, or should I?" she asked in the same slow, calculating tone.

"You go ahead," he said, focusing on the ceiling. Eventually, she turned away from him and faced Oliver.

"There are Dark wizards, and then there's You-Know-Who. He tops them all. He's dreadful; he killed... a lot of people." Winnie paused and swallowed. Teddy noticed that she seemed terrified just to be talking about him. "One day, twenty-eight years ago, You-Know-Who walked into Harry Potter's house, blew his parents away like he blows everyone away, and tried to do the same to Harry. He is the only person to ever have survived a killing curse. You-Know-Who was almost dead (but not quite) because the spell ricocheted off Harry and hit him instead. Both of them disappeared completely from the wizarding world, except for mentions on the street of course, until a decade later, when Harry Potter came to Hogwarts. He then went on to meet You-Know-Who in different forms five times, starting in his first year. In what should have been his seventh year, he killed You-Know-Who right in this very castle." Winnie shook her head hard enough to make her pigtails slap her temples, but was smiling once she stopped. "Then Harry went on to train for Auror, even though he never actually finished school. He's lovely," she added with a silly grin on her face.

Teddy resisted the temptation to fill them in on the full details. Putting it like that, he felt, sort of butchered Harry's character. He knew a lot of the wizarding world saw him as the man who defeated Voldemort and little else; Teddy, however, knew that Harry was, above all, concerned more for the people he was close to than he was for fighting evil. As far as Harry was concerned, Ginny and the kids, a group that included Teddy, came first. A smile played at Teddy's lips as Winnie continued after a moment with, "I think he should have pursued playing Seeker for England, though, he could have been brilliant."

"Fond of Quidditch?" Teddy asked, happy for the opportunity to change the subject.

"Oh, yes," she gushed. "That's why I took so long upstairs, I was putting up my posters. Karen must think I'm a total nut," she grinned, jerking her head backward in indication of the nervous-looking redhead engaged in awkward conversation with Riley. Both of them kept glancing at the trio near the fire; they obviously felt weird being alone in their rooms.

"What do you play?" Teddy asked. He hastened a glance at Oliver and noticed the familiar look of frustrated confusion settle upon his features.

"Bit of everything, really. I like being in the game the most, Chaser or Keeper, but I do like hitting incoming bludgers with clubs, and being Seeker tends to require flying the fastest."

Teddy returned her grin; he was starting to understand that Winnie was very impulsive. "Trying out?" he asked after a moment.

"Definitely," she said, nodding. "You?"

"'Course," he offered, smiling wryly.

"Wonderful," she said, bouncing up and down in her chair. "Oh, wouldn't it be fantastic if we both got on the team? I mean, it's not likely, there's only ever been one first-year on the team and that was--"

"Harry," Teddy finished for her in a low voice.

"Potter," she said, imitating his tone. She evidently didn't feel comfortable referring to him by his first name alone; she fortunately didn't catch on that Teddy felt differently. "But it's possible, right?"

"I suppose," he agreed, grinning lopsidedly. It was a very nice prospect.

"What do you play?" she asked with sudden eagerness.

"Only Seeker," he said. "I'm told I'm nicely built for the position," he added delicately. Winnie nodded.

"I'll only try out for the other positions, then," she said, smiling kindly. Teddy was taken aback at this somewhat uncharacteristic selfless statement and grinned in reply.

The trio sat in silence a moment before Oliver jerked up rather suddenly. Teddy realized the poor bloke was falling asleep and suggested they all go to bed; the common room was nearly empty as it was, and the fire was starting to fade. Winnie agreed and bade goodnight to the boys; she and Karen hurried up one staircase while Teddy, Oliver and Riley trouped up the other. They changed and crawled into their four-posters without so much as another word; Teddy could shortly hear Oliver snoring slightly. As Teddy, too, drifted into a slumber, he realized he felt very different now than he had this morning; he was older than the little boy who hadn't wanted to get onto the platform.

Tomorrow he'd have to write a letter to Harry. He wouldn't believe Teddy had already gotten himself into trouble.