Note: Some illustrations of the previous chapters can be found on Deviant Art, in GEL543's (Gelly Bean's) gallery! So go forth and see their awesomeness! I'm sure Gelly would love to hear from you just as much as I do! =)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing.

4: What Dads are Meant to Say

There was no doubt about it, Teddy Lupin realized as he watched the pyjama-clad Gryffindor students file through the double doors in front of him. He was doomed.

A number of the seventh years looked as though they had just tumbled out of the floo network; their clothes were ruffled and their faces were dusted with ash. Some students were chattering to one another excitedly as if the whole disaster had simply been a big adventure, whilst a number of the first years appeared to be in tears. Behind them all, ushering along a few stragglers, came the teachers, Professor McGonnogal bringing up the rear. Teddy eyed the Headmistress worriedly. Like the seventh years and the other teachers, she looked somewhat disheveled, her grey hair ruffled as if she had just walked across a mountain pass in the middle of a gale. Her lips were pressed together into a very thin line and a deep frown creased her brow.

Teddy sat upon the edge of the Hufflepuff table, gently rocking himself back and forth.

She's going to kill me, he thought, heart hammering in his chest.

At least the whole ordeal was almost over and done with, he mused as beside him Chester sucked in a deep, nervous breath. The two boys had been sat in the Great Hall for such a long time that Teddy had begun to think that the apprehension was going to drive him insane. And there had been silence. Complete and utter silence. When Chester had joined Teddy in the room, red and breathless having just run through the school, shouting as loudly as he could to raise the alarm, the two boys had not said a word to one another. They had simply sat in agonizing silence, leaving one another to their own panic and despair.

Teddy wanted to ask Chester if, once McGonnogal had killed him, his friend would like to have his Firebolt broomstick, because Chester's own broom was a little on the slow side. But Chester appeared to be too busy observing a couple of sobbing first years with a deeply guilty expression upon his face.

I'll leave my books to Victoire, Teddy mused as he watched the Headmistress making her way slowly towards them. She'll probably read them more than Chester would.

I wonder if Dad will keep the Marauders' Map, or give it to Harry so that James can have it when he starts school...

After this evening, Teddy supposed that Remus would keep anything Marauder-related somewhere very well hidden where nobody would ever find it. Their family vault underneath Gringotts, perhaps...or buried in a very deep hole at the bottom of the garden...

Thinking of Remus, Teddy glanced around the hall in search of him, only to find that the werewolf was nowhere to be seen. At last the boy leaned towards his friend and whispered:

"Where's Moony?"

Chester paused in his intent examination of his shoes and looked searchingly around the room.

"I dunno, Ted." he concluded when he did not spot Remus in amongst the crowd.

"Oh Merlin...d'you...d'you think he's okay? What if...if he's hurt...or...or anybody got hurt..."

Chester opened his mouth to mumble a reply, only to promptly close it again as Professor McGonnogal came to a halt in front of them.

His impending doom momentarily forgotten, Teddy looked up at the Headmistress with wide, panicked eyes.

"Where's my dad?"

"Professor Lupin is in the Hospital Wing," McGonnogal informed him, expression stoic, "along with Miss Wood and Mr. Cantrell."

Teddy was about to ask if they were all okay, only for the professor to reach into the pocket of her tartan dressing gown and draw out a familiar looking little book.

"Your father has informed me that this book has something to do with the incident in Gryffindor Tower this evening. Would either you or Mr. Burton care to enlighten me as to what exactly happened?"

As Chester looked down at his shoes yet again, hands shifting nervously in his lap, Teddy stared at the Marauders' Handbook, dread rendering him silent.

Why did Dad show her? Why did he have to say anything...

What else did he tell her? What am I supposed to say...

"I wonder, Mr. Lupin," Professor McGonnogal said, tapping the spine of the book against her palm impatiently, eyes piercing, "Just how would you feel if I were to inform you that your father may well face suspension from work, because of your little stunt this evening?"

As Chester's gaze snapped up to stare at her in alarm, Teddy sat bolt upright upon the table, shaking his head.

"You can't suspend him, Professor! It wasn't his fault, he had nothing to do with it..."

"This is his book, isn't it, Mr. Lupin?"

"Well yes...but he didn't give it to me, I stole it..."

"From his office?"

"Yes...he had no idea I'd..."

"Which begs the question, Mr. Lupin, why on earth was such a dangerous object left lying around in your father's office in the first place? It was highly irresponsible..."

"Who cares?" Teddy slid from his perch, planting his feet firmly on the ground as his hands balled into furious fists. "Who cares what it was doing there! There are loads of dangerous things in this castle! We leave random potions lying about in the dungeon classrooms! There are loads of dangerous plants in the greenhouses! Teachers borrow books from the restricted section of the library and leave them on their desks all the time! And who cares? If some of us are stupid enough not to be careful with all of them...well...well then we deserve everything we get!"

Silence had fallen over the crowd of Gryffindors as they all turned to stare at Teddy and the Headmistress, even the sobbing first years had suddenly halted in their crying.

"May I remind you that there are two students and a teacher spending the night in the Hospital Wing because of your behavior, Mr. Lupin." McGonnogal said, and Teddy felt his anger diminish upon the spot, replaced with a deep sense of shame.

"It wasn't Teddy's idea." Chester said at last, and Teddy wondered why it had taken so long for him to say something. "He just wanted to look at the book...I...I sort of persuaded him to try the spells in it...and...and well I told him to do the last one, even though we didn't know what it would do...it was stupid...we're really sorry..."

"We didn't think it was going to be dangerous." Teddy explained quietly, cheeks flushed with shame and embarrassment as he felt the rest of his House staring at him. "We...we thought...well it's just a book of schoolboys' tricks...I'll never do anything of the sort ever again, not as long as I live! Please...please don't expel me or...or anything...I...I love being at Hogwarts."

To his complete surprise, not to mention confusion, Professor McGonnogal looked amused.

"That's what he said." she recalled, looking down at the book thoughtfully. "Please Professor Dumbledore, please don't expel me. I love being at Hogwarts...hmph! Sobbing little wreck he was, completely beyond consolation..." She opened the book and stared down at the title page, the Marauders' names elaborately displayed before her. "They teased him something dreadful afterward...but he learned his lesson and kept his word..." The book closed with a snap, making both Teddy and Chester jump. The Headmistress regarded them thoughtfully for a long moment before telling them: "You will report to my office for detention, after dinner every evening for the next week. Is that clear?"

"So...you aren't going to expel us...?" Teddy asked slowly, holding his breath in anticipation.

Professor McGonnogal stared down at him, lips pressed into a thin line.

"We shall see, Mr. Lupin." she said, slipping the book back into her pocket. "The real question is: Are you truly your father's son, or not?" And with that she turned on her heel and swept off towards the double doors.

With his single word all they dropped to the floor, like a crowd of dominoes, their cheeks pressed to the cool stone floor in a desperate attempt to breath fresh air and escape the smoke. The urge to join them, to attempt to soothe the burning in his lungs as he stood, staring at the blazing doorway with sheer desperation coursing through him like hot blood, was verging on over-powering. But instead he glanced sideways at the nearest of the cowering figures and, identifying a couple of seventh years, pointed at them.

"You two! Stand up!" he called to them, resisting the urge to splutter his demand, and the two of them stared at him with wide, frightened eyes.

"Me?" the boy, who as he looked up became identifiable as being Matthew Reed, called back disbelievingly. Beside him, Cassandra Wood looked equally as startled.

"Yes, Matthew, you. Get up, both of you and help me!"

Matthew instantly scrambled to his feet, and Cassandra seemed about to follow his lead, only to pause and let out a alarmed gasp as the first year boy beside her suddenly went limp, his head hitting the floor with a bump as he passed out. She looked up questioningly, only to be told:

"Leave him! Get up!"

The three of them stood abreast before the roaring fire and, after hurried instruction, they all raised their wands...

There came a sudden crash as a shelf fell from the wall, landing amidst the flames and within a blink of an eye a burst of flame shot forwards towards them.

Remus grabbed both students by the arm and pulled them towards the ground as Cassandra let out a shriek of alarm, before quickly pushing himself up into a crouch, wand raised.

"Now!" he shouted, and Cassandra reached with a shaking hand to point her wand at the fire, Matthew following suit. The three of them bellowed the spell as one, and the inferno shrunk into nothing with a menacing hiss and burst of smoke.

As Matthew dropped back towards the floor, coughing and spluttering loudly, Cassandra's wand cluttered to the floor and the girl reached to clutch at her arm, a hysterical sob escaping her lips.

Remus turned towards her, biting back a curse at the sight of burnt, blistering skin running the length of her arm. The Quidditch captain crumpled onto the floor, curling up into a ball and hugging her arm to her chest.

"Keep calm, Cassandra," the teacher instructed, voice strained as he attempted to suppress a cough. "You're going to be okay..."

Water, he thought hurriedly, reaching to prize her arm free so that he could get to it, cold water...

Sweet Merlin, his chest felt tight...

"Let me see it," he wheezed, pulling gently at her arm, but the pain appeared to have rendered her completely hysterical as she attempted to pull away, eyes screwed shut as she cried and spluttered. "Cassandra, you must let me see..."

Lungs burning, fog descending into his vision, air...for the love of Merlin, he needed air...

"...Cass...let me see...let me help..."

"It's burning! It's burning!"

"I know...let me...let me..."

"...burning...burning...help..." Sound was fading, becoming distant, blackness was creeping across his eyes...

"...help me...professor..."

Remus' eyes snapped open and he gasped for breath, lungs burning in protest as clean air caught in his throat, leaving him to cough violently. Slumping back against his pillows, the werewolf let out a small sigh.

Merlin, what a night...

Groggily, he pulled at the blankets that had been tucked tightly around him until they were sufficiently loose, before sitting up in bed. He blearily looked around the darkened Hospital Wing, eyes coming to rest upon the glass of water set upon his bedside table. He was just taking a sip, glad of the soothing sensation of cool water upon his raw, sore throat, when a light caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He turned towards the source of the soft glow, eyes coming to rest upon the doorway of the ward.

There stood Teddy, lit wand clutched in one hand, the scrappy parchment that was the Marauders' Map in the other, his crimson dressing gown tied tightly about him as he squinted through the darkness, shoulders hunched. Seeing his father's eyes upon him, the mousy brown haired boy hurried across the room, bare feet slapping against the cold stone floor. Dropping the Map down upon the foot of the bed, he flung his arms around Remus' neck, burying his face in his shoulder.

"T...tell me y...you're okay," the child begged, shuddering as the floodgates opened and tears began to stream from his eyes. "Tell me you're all okay!"

As he slowly put his arms around his son, Remus glanced sideways towards the bed in which Cassandra Wood lay sleeping, one arm swathed in bandages. Across the room, the first year who had passed out was snoring softly.

"We're all okay." he decided, but this did not seem to console Teddy in the slightest.

"I...I didn't mean for...for anyone to get hurt...and...and Professor...M...McGonnogal says she's g...going to suspend you!"

Remus recalled the somewhat hurried conversation that he had back in Gryffindor Tower when he had first regained consciousness and found Minerva and Tobias staring down at him. He'd handed over the Marauders' Handbook and admitted Teddy and Chester's guilt.

"Are you going to suspend me?" he'd asked as Tobias had hauled him up onto his feet, and Minerva had frowned deeply.

"Merlin, no!" she'd cried, grasping hold of his arm to steady him. "How were you to know that Teddy would steal the book? Besides, we can't do without you!" she'd lowered her voice so that just he and Tobias could hear her. "I'm not having a repeat of last time, Remus, worst cover lessons I've ever heard of in all my years!"

Tobias had laughed far too loudly, the noise had made Remus' head spin.

"Well you best tell Teddy otherwise," he'd told the Headmistress gravely. "Threaten to have me suspended without pay for a week or two..."

"That's a bit bloody harsh!" Tobias had protested, reaching to dust soot from his robes. "I mean...he's burnt half of Gryffindor Tower to buggery and two students are in the Hospital Wing...not to mention his own father...the guilt of such things...!"

"Exactly!" Remus had interrupted, paused to cough into the sleeve of his robes. "As much as I can't stand the thought of it, Teddy and Chester have been reckless enough to warrant expulsion!"

"You said yourself though, it was a mistake..."

"Yes, and it's important that we make sure that they never do something so foolish ever again. Go down there, Minerva, and traumatize the pair of them if you have to. You might not expel them, but for Teddy sacking me would be the next worst thing. Do you realize just how many years I was unemployed before coming back here? Nobody else will employ me, Minerva, and Teddy knows it. You tell him I might be sacked and believe me, he will be more than sorry."

After some five minutes of continuous sobbing, Remus could only conclude that yes, Teddy truly was more than sorry.

"What's done is done, Teddy. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. Shh now, otherwise Madam Pomfrey will hear us. She's already threatened to keep me here all day tomorrow, if she finds out I've been awake half the night it'll be hopeless arguing with her in the morning."

Teddy turned to look over at Cassandra's sleeping form tucked up tightly in bed.

"What about Cass?" he whispered, reaching to dab at his eyes with a sleeve. "How long does she have to stay?"

"A couple of days or so. She won't be playing Quidditch for a while, that's for sure."

Teddy averted his gaze, guilt pummeling him in the chest as he fixed his father with a forlorn look. He wished Remus would say something comforting, something that would make him feel better, but instead the werewolf slumped back against his pillows and sighed heavily.

"I think you should go back to bed." he told his son heavily, reaching to smother a cough with his hand.
Teddy reached to straighten the blankets around his father, tears still seeping from his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Dad." he whispered, desperate to hear something at least vaguely positive. "I'm really sorry..."

Remus' eyes drifted closed and he shook his head.

"Go back to bed, Teddy."

"I...I didn't know what I was doing..."

Remus slowly opened his eyes and fixed his son with a somewhat blank expression.

"What do you want me to say?"

At such a blunt question, Teddy simply stared at his father, mouth hanging open as he attempted to think of something to say.

"I don't know..." he mumbled, feeling his cheeks flushed. "Just...just Dad stuff. Stuff dads are...are meant to say..."

"Such as don't worry son, it was just a little accident? Or it's okay son, I won't be angry with you as long as you are sorry..."

As Remus trialed off, coughing violently, Teddy pressed his lips firmly together against a sob.

"Maybe..." he mumbled, instantly feeling crushed when Remus said:

"Well I can't do that, Teddy. I've warned you about attempting magic that you do not understand, you know how dangerous it can be, you're a clever boy...I think..."

Teddy's gaze dropped to his shoes.

"...you know that I've warned you with good reason, and yet you still decided to ignore me. You thought you knew better..."

"No, Dad..."

"...and because of you people were put in danger. They could have died."

Teddy opened his mouth to whimper yet another apology, only for Remus to close his eyes again with a sigh.

"I have absolutely nothing to say to you." the professor whispered, shifting beneath the sheets to get himself comfortable. "Now go to bed."