Author's Note: I would like to apologize for the delay in the posting of this chapter. All I can say is, I have a life, two other stories I am writing as well, and a legitimate medical condition that makes typing painful. Beyond that, I will not make any excuses.

I also noticed that not everyone read the mini chapters. I do not blame you. Their awfulness makes me want to puke. However, I did not think I could skip from chapter three to this chapter. So, in case you missed it, the point of those mini chapters was to make it clear that: O'Malley is a player, Leo can remember anything, Lyra loves to prank Avery and is completely and utterly ridiculous, Teddy is sweet on Vic and Leo knows it, Teddy loves the kitchens especially when Kreacher pops in to visit, and they are working on learning the castle inside out and backwards.

Chapter 9 – Leo

Leo's Christmas Holidays

Leo looked around excitedly as he clambered off the train, dragging his trunk behind him and holding his empty owl cage in front, as he had sent his owl, Dumbledore, home ahead of him. He kept looking for his mother as Lyra climbed off the train behind him.

"Have you found her yet?" she asked.

"No. Wait. She's over there," he said, pointing to the far side of the platform.

Hestia hadn't noticed them yet amongst the hoards of students scrambling to meet up with family members and get home for the holidays.

As they got closer, Lyra began to call out, "Mum! Mum! Over here!"

Hestia turned at the sound of Lyra's voice and a huge smile spread across her face. By the time the twins had reached their mother, Leo could see that she was bursting with the excitement of seeing them again. The way she nearly tackled the both of them for hugs reminded him of Lyra at her most excited. He felt a twinge of guilt as he remembered that he hadn't written her as often as he could have. Soon though, he was swept away in the excitement of the hug fest that he had been caught up in.

"Oh! It's so good to see you two again! How was Hogwarts? Not too much trouble from Peeves I hope? Finished all your homework on time? No dangerous pranks?"

Lyra of course, was able to keep up with the fast-paced stream of questions. "Brilliant! Nope. Mostly. Nope."

Leo felt the need to interject, "You only did your homework because I made you. Otherwise you would have never touched it."

She quickly retorted, "It's not like I need to do the work to learn the spells. The exams were so easy."

Rather than listen to them bicker, Hestia interjected, "Well, at least you did it. Now, let's get your stuff together and head home."

Lyra was quick to switch gears. "Woohoo! Home time!"

Leo merely shook his head at her antics and followed their mother off the platform.

XXX

During the car ride home, Leo tuned out as Lyra chattered on about school to their mother. His first thoughts were actually to wonder at the fact he was in a car. Having been mostly separate from the magical world growing up, he had never questioned their ownership of a car. Now however, he was wondering why his mother even knew how to drive. He would have to ask her one day. Though there was never a guarantee that she would answer when the question referenced the past.

He went on to think of holiday plans. Teddy had told them that he would spend the holidays bouncing between his grandmother's house, his godfather's house, and his adopted grandmother's house. Leo thought that it sounded as exhausting as school and was glad that his holidays would be more relaxed than that.

O'Malley on the other hand had said he probably would not be allowed out of his mother's sight. Unlike the rest of them, his parents had not been prepared for sending him off to boarding school and apparently his mother had not liked the idea of him being gone for so much of the year.

Leo was pulled out of his thoughts at his mother's question in response to something Lyra had said. "A Metamorphmagus?"

"Yeah! It's that brilliant? He inherited it from his mother," Lyra explained.

"What did you say this boy's name was?" Leo noticed that their mother looked a bit suspicious.

"Teddy. Teddy Lupin. Why?" Apparently Lyra had picked up on her tone as well.

"Oh, nothing. It's just quite rare. I was curious."

This time Leo spoke up. "Mum. It's not nothing. We can tell. What's bugging you?"

She sighed before responding, "I knew his parents. A long time ago."

This information surprised Leo. Their mother never talked about the past. Never. Whenever they asked, she would always say that the past is past and need not be brought up again. Even Lyra had recognized the significance of what had been revealed and was quiet, mulling it over.

The rest of the car ride was passed in silence. Each member of their small family lost in their own thoughts. At last they reached their destination. They lived in a small house in Horsham with a nicely manicured front lawn and a small front garden. It was not much, but it was home.

XXX

After settling in, which for Leo meant opening his window for when Dumbledore wanted back in and putting his trunk in its spot at the end of his bed, Leo sat down to think. He wanted to talk to Lyra but knew that it would be a while before she was settled in enough to pay attention to what he had to say.

He thought back to what his mother had said. She had known Teddy's parents. This was the first information she had ever shared about her past beyond that she went to Hogwarts and was in Gryffindor. Thinking this, he remembered what the sorting hat had told him back in September.

Very different from the rest of his family but he made a fine Gryffindor. Much more reckless than you but you have the same bravery and loyalty.

This was the first he had heard of his father. Had Teddy's parents known his father? Did his parents meet at school or afterwards? He really needed to talk to Lyra. She was always a good sound board for ideas when he needed to think things through.

Thinking this, he decided that she had had enough time to settle in and went across the hall to her room. He was in luck and found her aimlessly tossing a Quaffle up in the air as she lay on her bed.

"All settled in, Lyra?"

"Yes, yes. I hurried just for you. I knew you would be wanting to talk about what Mum said."

Leo wasn't surprised that she had known what he was about. The way they knew each other was near akin to Legilimency. "Yes. I was quite surprised that she willing shared something about the past."

Lyra scoffed at him. "And you were so caught up in your shock that you forgot the truly important question to ask in regards to what she said." Upon seeing Leo's raised eyebrow, she continued. "How did she know Teddy's parents?"

Leo sat down on the end of Lyra's bed with a look of deep concentration upon his face. Lyra sat quietly as he began his musings. She knew better than to interrupt his train of thought. "Well, Teddy told us his dad was Gryffindor so maybe that's how Mum knew him. And she met his mum by association? But we don't even know if they were at Hogwarts at the same time… Maybe they didn't meet at Hogwarts at all. Teddy's parents died in the Battle of Hogwarts, maybe they fought in the war together? Had they been members of the Order of the Phoenix?"

Lyra looked up when she heard him say her name.

"Did the Sorting Hat say anything to you when you were being Sorted?"

Lyra looked confused by the abrupt change of subject but answered anyway. "Not much. Just that I had the bravery and recklessness to be a good Gryffindor. It mentioned I was much more reckless than you. Nothing I didn't already know. Why?"

Leo paused for a moment before answering. "It mentioned our father to me. It said that there was much different between us but similarities as well. It said, he was 'very different from the rest of his family but he made a fine Gryffindor'. In the excitement of the start of school, I had forgotten to mention it to you. But then, I was thinking maybe she met our dad at school, since they were both Gryffindors."

"Maybe. They could have met in the Order too. There's no way of knowing. Especially since Mum never confirmed that she was in the Order."

"Let's write a letter to Teddy. He can ask his family about it. Both if Mum was in the Order and if that's how she met his parents."

Lyra quickly agreed and they set about writing their letter to Teddy. As Dumbledore had yet to come back to the house, they used Lyra's owl, Fawkes, to send the letter to Teddy. The name had come about from her coloring. A magnificent Red Owl, native to Madagascar and quite rare, Fawkes was a brilliant orange color with black spots. She stood out but Lyra wouldn't have it any other way. Said Fawkes reminded her of herself.

After doing so, they set their thoughts of their parents' past to the back of their minds. Neither of them had been able to remember exactly where Teddy was at this moment of the holidays and so Fawkes would have to stop at his grandmother's, the Potter Mansion, as well as the Burrow if she could not find him.

XXX

The day after Christmas, Leo and Lyra finally got the response they had been waiting for from Teddy.

Dear Leo and Lyra,

I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon but upon reading your letter, I quickly understood the urgency. Unfortunately, I was unable to have the conversation that was needed to answer your questions until this morning. As everyone spends Christmas night at the Burrow, I was able to talk with Granddad Weasley and Uncle Harry this morning. They already knew a load about you two from my letters home, but I had never mentioned your family situation. I did not feel it appropriate. However, since you wanted answers from them, I felt the need to inform them. They do not have as many answers as you may have wanted but it is still more than you know right now.

First off, yes, your mother was in the Order. According to Granddad Weasley, she joined the Order shortly after graduating Hogwarts during the First Wizarding War. She survived and returned during the Second War as well. Neither Granddad nor Harry spent much time with her but, from what they knew, she met my parents through the Order. They were also very surprised to hear she had children the same age as me. Apparently none of them had known she was pregnant during the war. They were also unable to shed any light on the mystery of your father. As far as they knew, she had no relationships, but they were both quick to admit that they were not close to her and it was not something she would have wanted broadcasted during the war when any association with Dumbledore or the Order could lead to your death.

That's all I was able to find out. I hope it helps you in your search. On a happier note, I hope you had a good Christmas with your mum. Mine was chaos as always with so many people under one roof. No honorary family members this year though. That dropped the number of people down to twenty seven. Smallest it's been in years. Write back soon.

Love,

Teddy

P.S. If there's anything else you'd like me to ask, just let me know.

After reading Teddy's letter, Leo and Lyra just looked at each other. It was so much more than they had hoped for and yet still so little. It revealed much about their mother's past but nothing about their father. Following some discussion, the twins came to the conclusion that their mother had obviously separated herself from the Order enough that further questions of Teddy's family would be useless. They decided that they would have to ask her themselves.

XXX

The opportunity to confront their mother did not present itself for several days. Due to Lyra's impatience, they decided create an opportunity.

They waited until she had readied herself for bed and was settled in with a book as she was apt to do when not too tired. They then went into her room and crawled into bed on either side of her. She welcomed them gladly, thinking they missed the days when they were of an age where such behavior was still considered acceptable.

Leo was in charge of asking the questions as they had decided to ease into the big questions and Lyra did not have the patience to do such a thing. "Mum?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"We were wondering. Well, after you said you knew Teddy's parents; we wrote him. And he said you were in the Order of the Phoenix together during the war."

"Yes. I was."

"Why did you never tell us that yourself?"

She sighed heavily before continuing. "The war was not a happy time for me. It wasn't for anyone really; but it was very hard for me. Everyone I loved, everyone I cared about, with the exception of my cousin, Gwenog, was lost to me. Some to death. Some to insanity. Some during the First War and some during the Second. I loved all of them dearly. But I had to move on. I had you two to take care of and I couldn't afford to dwell in the past. So I try not to think of it much. I have many good memories of the people I loved, but it is so easy to get caught up in how their happiness was destroyed.

"That kind of loss, that kind of pain, neither of you have ever known. And I would like to keep it that way. You will learn about the Wars in school, but it will be from a more detached point of view than I could ever describe it as. You understand that you cannot judge people based on blood or anything else, and that is enough for me. But I do not think you need to know the pain so many people went through to gain that equality. I just want to protect you."

Leo and Lyra clung to their mother, hugging her, trying to give her some comfort. "We understand Mum. But we want to know. Who in the Order were you close to? Who did you lose?"

She hesitated before answering. "I lost Teddy's parents. And Professor Longbottom? I was friends with his parents. They were tortured into insanity during the First War."

Leo decided now was as good a time as any to bring up their father. "What about our father? Was he in the Order? Did he die in the War? Is that why you do not like to talk about him?"

At the mention of their father, their mother appeared to shut down. She closed up and did not say anything for the longest time. "I think it's past your bedtime. And past mine. I have to get to work in the morning. Go back to your own beds."

Leo recognized that they weren't going to get anything more out of her and headed for the door. Lyra though, was more tenacious.

"But Mum! We want to know! We deserve to know!"

"Go to bed Lyra." Her voice was as cold and hard as steel.

Leo came back to Lyra and grabbed her arm, pulling her gently off the bed, as he muttered in her ear, "Don't push it. She told us enough for now."

Lyra hesitated again before following Leo out the door and into his room. She slumped down on the end of his bed as she said, "Well, that was a waste of time."

"Not necessarily. We know more than we did before. And not just about Mum."

"Really, Leo? What do we know?"

"We know our dad was a Gryffindor. We can assume he is one of the people Mum was talking about that died in the war. He may have even been a member of the Order."

"All right. So we know more than before. But we can't assume that he was in the Order. I mean, she did clam up after you asked if he was, but that wasn't the only question you asked about him. And she always clams up whenever we ask about Dad."

Leo couldn't deny her logic, but he had to remain hopeful. "We still know something about him though. That's more than we knew four months ago. And there's still chance for us to learn more. We just have to be patient."

"You know I'm not good at being patient."

"Well, you'll have to try."

XXX

Despite Lyra's impatience, they decided it was better to let the matter of their father rest for now.

And so the rest of the holidays passed peacefully. They enjoyed the home cooked meals. They enjoyed the privacy of having their own rooms. They enjoyed the peace and quiet of have three people living in a house, rather than a couple hundred in a tower. They enjoyed the warmth of their house, rather than a drafty old castle. And they enjoyed spending time with their mother.

Neither of them had realized quite how much they missed their mother until they had her around again and remembered all the things they did together.

In the chaos of school, they had forgotten about the lullaby she would sing to them every night. They had forgotten about how much fun they had together when she asked for their opinion on stories she was writing for The Daily Prophet.

In short, once they had let go of questioning the past, the twins enjoyed a calm, peaceful, and loving holiday at home with their mother, until they had to go back to school.

Author's Note: There you have it. I hoped you enjoyed it and it was worth the wait. PLEASE REVIEW, it is much appreciated. Also, as you can tell, more has been revealed about their father. Feel free to guess in a review or pm. I haven't decided yet if I'll tell you if you get it right, but I want to make sure I'm not making it too obvious too soon.

VERY IMPORTANT PLEASE READ THIS:
I have decided to change the name of this story as its cliché-ness is killing me every time I think of it. So, after posting the next chapter, I will be changing the title from "Who's Your Daddy?" to "The Lives and Lies of Leo and Lyra". And yes, it is based off "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore", but I felt it very apropos. However, I did not come up with the idea myself, so all my thanks to the lovely purebloodelf who came up with the idea!

And remember, guesses of their father's identity are more than welcome!