Disclaimer: I neither own the intellectual property of the Harry Potter universe, nor do profit from this work produced here. I would also like to formally thank Ms. Rowling for allowing respectable fan writers, such as myself, to post derivative works such as this, and invite her to have tea at my place anytime she likes.

Warnings: none.

Whatever Dora may have said, the morning of the 6th of June, 1998, brought far too much anxiety into Remus's mind. When the charmed bell on his bedside table began to ring, signifying the beginning of a new day, he silenced it and lay in bed for long after Dora had already gotten up, paralyzed and sick to his stomach with nervousness.

"Remus. Remus, love, you've got to get up."

He opened his eyes again and glanced up at Dora, swallowing. "Would it help if I said I'm sick?" he mumbled.

"No, it wouldn't." She sat down on the bed beside him, lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Love, you know this has to happen before the next full moon; we won't have another chance… in fact, we've put it off too long as it is…"

He sighed and pushed himself up tiredly to sit beside her. The full moon was four days away, and his joints were just beginning to stiffen. "I know," he sighed. "I know, Dora. But I…" He closed his eyes. "The last time I was there, I swore I would never have to go back. I swore it would never be me…"

"Hey," she said softly, touching his cheek. He opened his eyes. "It's going to be alright," she told him seriously. "We'll just pop in, get it over with, and then go do your school shopping." She grinned and poked him in the stomach. "Professor."

He let out a chuckle against his will. "You make it sound like I'm a first-year."

"Aww, ickle Lupy-kins."

"You sound like George."

"We should stop there after we move in this August; I heard Ronald's working the counter until school starts up."

He smiled at that… and then his smile faded. Dora understood and took his hand into hers, squeezing it sympathetically. "Come on," she said, standing, "you get dressed, and I'll make breakfast, hm?"

He agreed to that, and she left him alone to get dressed. When he walked into the kitchen a quarter-hour later, dressed in his nicest slacks and newest cardigan, Dora had already set the handmade biscuits and jam- his favorite breakfast- out on the table, and was trying to spoon-feed Teddy his potion. "I know, I know it tastes like a hippogriff's rear end," she cooed, "but it'll make you so much happier in a few days…"

Remus felt a barb of pain hit his guilty conscience; the Wolfsbane did help with the suffering of the transformations, it was true, but even it could only do so much- its main purpose was to ensure rationality, not mitigate pain. He sat down beside them and murmured, "Allow me."

Dora handed him the spoon; he scooped up a small amount of the sludge-like concoction. "Alright, Teddy, here comes the dragon!" he exclaimed in a voice far too bright for his actual mood. "Roooooar! Rooooar!"

Teddy stared blankly at him.

"I think that only works for older babies," Dora commented. "Could we try mixing it with baby formula?"

"I wouldn't risk it… here, let me work on it. You go get ready; I won't start breakfast without you."

"Mm. Promise?"

"Promise."

She gave him a quick peck on the lips and then disappeared back into their bedroom. Remus took his wand to the mug of disgusting potion and diluted it, safely, with hot water via an aguamenti; as an adult he knew it was better to get it over with quickly, but unfortunately, Teddy seemed obstinately resistant to drinking the potion strong. He poured the now much more fluid potion into one of Teddy's bottles and began to feed the infant lycanthrope that miracle potion for which he would never be able to thank a certain Mr. Damocles enough. "That's it," he murmured, as Teddy sucked at the bottle. "I know it's bitter, but you'll thank me for this one day…"

Quite unbeknownst to him, Dora had finished dressing and was now watching him from the open door of the bedroom, leaned against the doorpost with her arms crossed in front of her and a content expression on her features. It pained her that Remus was so agonized over the day's duty; no one, she was convinced, could possibly love their son better than the honest, goodhearted man before her.

Remus sighed as Teddy finally turned his face away from the bottle and began to fuss. As Dora walked over, he said tiredly, "Well, he only drank half of it- we'll just have to give him the rest throughout the day."

"That's alright. Have a biscuit?"

He smiled and balanced Teddy in his left arm as he took one of the jam-slathered biscuits. "Gladly."

They ate breakfast quickly, and Dora nursed Teddy as Remus collected their belongings for the trip. His hands had already begun to shake, and he cursed his ever-present cowardice. Some Gryffindor you are. If James and Sirius could see you now…

When at last they were ready, Dora bundled Teddy up in his blankets, and they linked hands. "On three," she said firmly. "One- Two-"

At three, both closed their eyes. For a moment, the world was a whirl of non-color and wind, a thousand sensations and sounds passing all around them, and then-

Remus felt his feet hit hard pavement; he stumbled backwards, startled as ever, as Dora turned lightly, holding a perfectly calm Teddy in her arms with the rest of the London alleyway framed behind her. She chuckled. "Still not used to it? After all this time?"

"I grew up like a muggle; I'll never be used to jumping through wormholes," he muttered, blinking hard.

"Through what?"

"It's- never mind. How's Teddy?"

Dora glanced over, clearly not perturbed. "Well, he's still got both his eyebrows and doesn't seem to be in pain, so I'd say he's fine," she commented with a giggle. Teddy blinked up at her with- currently purple- eyes; there was never any real fear that their son would somehow splinch, since Dora was so used to doing side-along apparition for her work, but Remus couldn't help but worry.

They stepped out of the alley and joined the busy throngs of people in the street. The pavement was wet- it had apparently just rained- and several folks were holding folded umbrellas. Dora took the lead, naturally more familiar with the way, and in a few minutes the werewolf found himself standing before a public bathroom.

They slipped inside and got in line behind several other wizards and witches, most in ministry uniform, like his wife. Dora had insisted on wearing her work clothes, hoping that whichever stuffy ministry employees were working the desks that day would give him less trouble if he were accompanied by one of their own.

Soon they were next in line; Dora winked at him and said, "See you in a minute!" before stepping inside the stall. He heard a flush, and then the door opened automatically.

By the time he arrived in the ministry floo-fireplace, Dora was waiting for him over by the fountain. "Come on!" she called, waving her hand impatiently. Remus hurried after her, taking a glance at the fountain as he passed; it had been rebuilt, naturally, since Riddle's fall, and now featured a simple golden obelisk, on which were engraved all the victims of the First and Second War. He tried to search for names of anyone he knew in a short glance; the only one his eyes caught was that of: Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, 1997.

The general administration desks were not too far behind; Dora stopped at the first and said cheerfully, "Wotcher, Jill!"

The witch glanced up, startled. "Tonks!" she said, happily surprised. "I thought you were still just working part-time; did Kingsley call you in?" Clearly it was common knowledge throughout the Ministry that spitfire Dora had not been able to stay in her maternal sickbed for long, although Remus had insisted Shacklebolt put her on part-time work unless there was an emergency. Dora had agreed, happy to spend as much time as possible with the newborn- and incredibly adorable- baby Teddy as possible.

"No, we're here on personal business today; we've got an appointment with the Department of Magical Creatures?"

Jill blinked; then her eyes swiveled to Remus. He forced himself to hold her gaze. "…I see," she said, suddenly a little awkward. "Let me see…" she turned to a blank sheet of parchment before her, tapped it twice with her wand, and murmured the name "Lupin" under her breath. After a moment, a schedule appeared in black ink. She scanned it, and Remus saw her eyes widen. "With, er, with the werewolf registry office?" she said hesitantly, glancing up. Her eyes landed on their son, and Remus realized- much to his personal embarrassment- that Teddy's eyes had returned to their natural light amber- a color they had consistently assumed ever since his first full moon a month previous.

"That's the one," Dora replied calmly. "Can you call a lift?"

"Er- certainly- just a mo'-" She tapped a little bell on her desk, flustered, not looking Lupin in the eyes. He took a steadying breath, and then realized that several of the ministry workers nearby had turned to stare.

The lift arrived a few seconds later; Jill saw them off, still looking uncomfortable. The Lupins stepped into the elevator and shut the gate; as it sped off to the left, Dora said kindly, "She's really quite sweet, you know- just not comfortable with the whole werewolf thing yet. But she's never given me a snarky look, so I think she'll come 'round pretty soon."

Remus nodded, swallowed. The incident, humiliating as it had been, had already been driven from his mind by other worries. The lift dropped down several floors at record speed, and then the gate opened with an all too cheery ding!

They stepped off, and Dora set off briskly down the hall. Remus followed, with every step feeling the dread in his stomach grow heavier and darker. These walls were too familiar. This floor was too familiar. At last, they stopped in front of a large wooden door at the end of the hall. Dora, still holding Teddy, motioned him forward. "Go ahead," she said gently. "It's okay, Remus."

He took a deep breath and tried to believe her, pulling the door open by the knob.

The moment he stepped inside, recognition hit him like as lap in the face.

The room was narrow and quite small, but had a tall, arched ceiling; most of the room was filled with rows upon rows of books. Remus glanced to the nearest title; Registry of Lycanthropy and its Carriers Thereof, Volume VI: 1200-1300.

At the far end of the room was a small raised dais, supporting a slant-topped desk. Behind the desk sat a sharp-faced witch, and atop it rested a large, official-looking volume. At the sight of that great tome, the memories flooded back against his will…

"You do understand what this means, Mr. Lupin?"

A seventeen-year-old Remus nodded, mouth tight, skin pale. As if he hadn't responded, the wizard continued, "You are now a legal adult under all wizarding codes and statutes- including the Lycanthropy Prevention and Eradication Act of 1922."

Eradication. He swallowed harsh at that word. He knew the term was being applied in regards to the disease- but still, the way the ministry man glared him down, he felt as if the other wizard would have preferred it to be an eradication of Remus himself.

"Although the Act is complex, the most important part for you to bear in mind is what is termed the 'Second Offense Principle.' The Ministry is not unsympathetic to your… condition; however, we must always bear in mind the rights of innocent bystanders…"

Remus understood. He understood this perfectly. He himself had once been an 'innocent bystander.'

"…As such, the law currently states that any adult lycanthrope will be held responsible for all subsequent infections, unintentional or otherwise. An intentional infection incurs automatic lifelong incarceration. Two or more unintentional infections carry a minimum five-year sentence in Azkaban, more if the victim requests. Does this all make sense to you? Good. Now sign here…"

Dora's hand reaching for his broke through his thoughts; he let her slender fingers sweep up his like an interlocking weave of thread, and followed her almost numbly down the length of the room and up the steps to the desk.

The sharp-faced ministry witch glanced up at him as he approached. "Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, I would presume," she said coolly. "You made an appointment with the office?"

"Yes…" Dora looked to him, and Remus realized that he would have to be the one to do the talking.

"Yes, we did," he repeated, as calmly as he could manage. "We're here to report an…" Just say it. Spit it out, you coward. "…An unintentional infection."

The witch raised an eyebrow. "I see. And which one of you was the victim?"

"Not victim. Carrier." Remus clenched his hands tightly. "I- that is, my son-"

"Your son?"

"Yes. Teddy. I mean, Edward." Why was he so tongue-tied? He was a professor now, for Merlin's sake. "He was- he was born with the condition. Passed on from myself."

"I see. And you're quite certain that he is, in fact, your son?"

He felt Dora stiffen beside him; anger swelled up. "Yes, he is my son!" he said sharply.

The other eyebrow rose. "Forgive me, Mr. Lupin," the witch said coolly, "only it has always been believed that werewolves are sterile by nature."

"Yes, well, that's the Ministry's problem, not mine," he retorted dismissively. "In any case, we're here to register him, and record his infection under my name."

"I see. You are aware, of course, of the Second Offense Principle?"

"I am."

"Very well." She flipped through the pages of the book and picked up her quill. "Let me see, Lupin… Lupin… here we are, Lupin, Remus J. Infected by Justin MacIntyre, alias Fenrir Greyback?"

"That's it."

"I see. And the name of your son?"

"Edward Remus Lupin."

"Date of birth?"

"April 24th, 1998."

He watched her hand cross the page in slanted, blue-ink cursive in the right-hand column:

Name: Lupin, Edward R.; Relationship: son; Date: 24/4/1998; Method:

At method, she paused, before writing down the last words:

Unintentional (genetic)

Remus ground his teeth; he knew exactly what the witch was thinking, and it sickened him. That Dora would ever betray him for another man was beyond insulting. That he might ever turn their child out of revenge… unthinkable.

The witch tapped the page with her wand; another line appeared just above his, and she copied down the same information, entering Teddy as an official carrier. "Mr. Lupin, I am obliged to remind you that, under the Second Offense Principle, another infection of this sort will result in a minimum five-year sentence; any intentional infections incur a lifetime penalty. Your... son, must also present himself on his seventeenth birthday to be informed of his rights and responsibilities as a carrier of lycanthropy. You may go."

And without so much as a word, they left.

"See now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Dora said, likely more calmly than she really felt, as they walked down the hall to the lift.

"She implied that my son is the bastard product of your betrayal and that I turned him in revenge," Lupin muttered. "I don't see how that could've gone any worse."

Dora patted his arm. "Let's not worry about her; we've got more important things to do. Diagon Alley, remember?"

He brightened considerably at that; even the trip back through the ministry upper levels and out into the London sunlight couldn't dampen his mood, now that the most unpleasant part of the day was over. He and Dora returned to the alley, apparated, and found themselves standing at the corner of Diagon and Knockturn.

There was no need to visit Gringots; McGonagall had provided him with enchanted slips of payment bearing her signature, which would, with one tap of his wand, transfer the inscribed payment for any school supplies necessary from the school account into that of the vendor. Remus, privately, was grateful; he hated visiting Gringots and had ever since he was a child. Nothing but bad news had ever come from such journeys, and his old prejudice against the bank still stood, despite the fact that his vault was now not so desperately near to empty as it had been in the past, thanks to Dora's paycheck. And soon, mine, he thought, with no mild satisfaction.

Diagon Alley was cheerfully busy, sparkling in the morning sunlight from the now-passed rain-shower. They stopped first at Flourish and Blott's, putting in an order for a set of Advanced Defense textbooks and picking up a set of quills and ink on the side, and then Dora dragged him into Madame Malkin's for a set of robes ("Dora, I have dress robes!" "McGonagall said new, Remus; and for Merlin's sake, stop fidgeting!"), before they both agreed to a cup of coffee at the small cafe at the end of the street. Dora took to trying to feed Teddy the rest of his Wolfsbane as Remus flipped through his teacher's copy of the textbook; it seemed to be fairly advanced, but he had no doubt that his students- many of whom had fought in the battle a few months previous- would be able to handle it.

"Professor! Professor Lupin!"

He looked up, startled, to see two wizards and a witch approaching quickly from the other end of the street. His face broke into a grin as he caught a flash of sunlight reflect off the glasses, as well a one figure sporting a distinctively red and another a distinctively bushy-brown head of hair. "Harry! Hermione, Ron!"

He stood as the three rushed up to him, breathless and carrying several shopping bags apiece. "Merlin, it's good to see you all!" he laughed, giving them each a hug.

"You too, Professor. Oh, hello, Tonks!" Harry said happily, looking to the auror.

Dora grinned and winked. "Wotcher."

"Ohhh!" Hermione had, apparently, noticed the infant in the auror's arms, and quickly began to fawn over Teddy, cooing and poking at his tiny fingers. Lupin chuckled as Harry and Ron looked on with interest. "Oh, Professor, he's beautiful!"

"He's showing off," Lupin replied, as the baby's hair turned bright orange. "I suppose that means he likes you."

"He'd better; it'd be a shame for him to hate his own godfather," Harry said with a grin, tickling the baby's belly. "He looks like you, Professor- or at least, he does today."

Everyone laughed at that, and then Lupin added, "But aren't you all a little early to be buying school supplies?"

"We wanted to beat the rush," Harry explained.

"He's being modest," Ron corrected. "He means that we wanted to escape the reporters."

"Unwanted press?"

"They're effing piranhas," the redhead grumbled. "If you think they went nuts over the Boy Who Lived, they've gone positively bonkers over the Boy Who Lived, Died, and Came Back To Finish The Job."

Harry was now blushing profusely and giving his friend a rather evil look.

"I can imagine, yes," Lupin agreed. "Not to mention the Best Mate and the Girl Genius."

Ron and Hermione scoffed and rolled their eyes in unison. Lupin hid a grin (it was as if they couldn't help being adorable) and said, "Well sit down and have a cup of coffee; we've hardly seen anyone since…" He trailed off, but everyone understood.

"Luna's doing well; so's Neville- they're going together now, did you hear?- but he's had to fend off the press, too," Ron commented, sitting down. "His grandmother's nearly been floating with pride. Every time any of us makes a visit, she goes over the whole story- about him killing Nagini, you know- as if we weren't right there when it happened."

"Still, it's good for him," Hermione added. "He was a real hero, running the DA with the Carrows breathing down his neck- But Tonks, what is that you're feeding Teddy?" She eyed the pale, pea-soup green concoction with mild interest. "Some sort of development potion?"

The two Lupins glanced at each other; Remus cleared his throat. "No, it's- it's Wolfsbane, actually."

He waited, for approximately half a second, before all of their eyes went wide, and he knew that the knut had dropped.

"Oh. Oh, Professor- I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" Hermione flushed red guiltily.

"No, it's fine," Remus said dismissively. "It's just… something we'll have to get used to, that's all."

Everyone paused their conversation and looked over as a waitress approached. "Good afternoon, folks; I'm Marlene and I'll be your-" She stopped suddenly, dropped her pen. All three teenagers' faces changed instantly, adopting a look of barely repressed apprehension. "Merlin's Beard. It's Harry Potter!"

"Yes, could I, er, have a-"

"Oh, but my daughter's a huge fan! Any chance I could have your autograph?"

"Er- sure- I s'pose-"

She hastily fumbled for her notebook and another pen and shoved them at him, with a quick, "Her name's Esmerelda." Harry quickly wrote a short message and signed his name. The waitress accepted it back with a gushing, "Oh, thank you, Mr. Potter, she'll be so pleased! Now- oh! What can I get you all to drink today?"

After writing down their orders on a separate sheet, the waitress disappeared back over to the counter; the small group could see her gossiping excitedly with her coworkers, who were all peering over curiously. Harry groaned, flushing bright red, and tried to shrink lower in his chair. Ron was smirking. "What'd you write?" he questioned, nearly chortling.

"I dunno- 'best wishes,' or something," Harry muttered.

"I think you should start signing 'em, 'Be brave. Be bold. Be true. Yours, Harry James Potter.'"

"Oh, shove off," the bespectacled wizard mumbled, as Hermione chastised the snickering Ron with a hissed, "Stop it, you're embarrassing him."

"That's kind of the point, isn't it? Besides, it's not like you and I don't get the same thing; may as well have some fun with it."

"Tell me you haven't signed anything like that-"

"Here you folks are!" The waitress- Marlene- had returned, breathless with three cappuccinos in hand, and a muffin for Ron. "Well, I-I think that's everything- thank you again, Mr. Potter- have a nice day!" She did some sort of odd little curtsy and hurried away, smiling like mad.

"Don't worry," Hermione sighed, "soon we'll be back in school and then it'll be back to normal…"

They drank their coffee in relative peace thereafter; Lupin discovered that they were all signed up to take his class come fall term. "Well I'm honored, really- although I must admit, I'm surprised to know the three wizards who almost single-handedly brought down the most fearsome wizard in Great Britain are going back to school," Remus said curiously.

"First off, it was hardly single-handed. Second, Hermione here put us up to it," Ron replied. "Said we needed to complete our education properly, 'specially with Harry and I applying for auror training in the spring- just like you, Tonks."

"Are you really? That's wonderful!" Dora exclaimed. "You're both bound to be brilliant."

"But can't you all test out of the class?" Lupin inquired.

"Actually, sir, we can't," Hermione said, a little embarrassed. "McGonagall's made it a requirement for all seventh-years, you see, and really, I think do she's right about that. Harry- well, he's a good teacher, and he brought a lot of the DA up to snuff in our fifth year, but…"

"But our Defense education has been pretty lacking," Harry finished honestly. "We're good at what we know- producing a patronus, stunning, disarming, blocking- but those'll only go so far in auror work, and it definitely won't let Ron and I pass the entrance exams. So…" He shrugged. "We decided another year in school wouldn't be the worst fate. I'm actually looking forward to it; with Tom gone, we can really focus on our studies, like normal students."

"Well, 'mione always did a lot of focusing," Ron said, jerking his elbow at the witch (who smiled proudly) and then taking a bite of his muffin. "But looks like we'll have to buckle down this year, eh, mate?"

"Exactly."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Dora commented, "you're all good students- oh, Remus, he's finished." She took the now-empty bottle away from Teddy, who looked as pleased as a two-month-old infant can to be free of a rather unpleasant taste, and tucked it into her bag. Teddy crossed his eyes, which turned from gold to green to blue and back again in the space of a few seconds, causing the teenagers to ooh and aw in delight.

All too soon, the three students had to be on their way; after a quick goodbye to the professor and auror, with promises to see each other again once school started, the three best friends hurried off down the street. Remus watched them go, smiling. "They've really grown up, haven't they?"

"They have," Dora agreed. "Teddy's going to have a lot of good influences around him." They both looked down to the infant in her arms, who was cooing happily and reaching for his mum's bubblegum-pink hair. Remus smiled, and, taking one last glance to the back of the retreating dark-haired wizard, accompanied by his two best friends, he decided that he couldn't possibly have made a better choice in the godfather of his son.

A/N: Aaand y'all thought this fic was gonna be strictly Remadora, din'cha! Haha sorry folks, but trust me, I think you'll like where this all goes. For the record, here are the following pairings that will be featured in this story: Remus/Dora, Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, slight Luna/Neville and one mystery couple who will be revealed soon enough. :) Also, to anyone wondering about why the date appears backwards in the registry, that's the British way of writing dates. Hope you all enjoyed it! Pax et bonum!