Note: I invite any readers of What is Best For You to write a second chapter/a happily ever after for it, because I have decided not to do so myself. If anybody does decide to play in my morbid sandbox and brighten it up a little, do let me know, I would love to read!
Anyway, back to the story at hand...
If anybody knows their Greek Mythology they might see this one coming...(or read the story description, that's probably a bigger hint...) Metaphorical Brownie Points for those who can spot the connection to Ancient Greece! =)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing.
5: The Girl who Knew Things
Saturday morning found Teddy sat at a lone table in the corner of the library, a mound of books at his side as he scanned through the contents pages of each one, a small frown of concentration upon his face. So absorbed by his task, the child failed to hear the approaching footsteps, and it was not until a shadow fell across the table that he finally looked up.
"Shouldn't you be at Dueling Club?" he asked quietly, nervous at the sight of his father stood gazing down at him. Their conversation in the Hospital Wing still very much fresh in Teddy's mind, he was sure that he could not stand to hear anything that Remus might have to say to him. It had been terrible enough when his father had been rendered speechless.
"Shouldn't you?" was the equally as quiet response, and though half a night's sleep had taken the cold edge from Remus' voice, Teddy dropped his gaze to the book before him and shrugged his shoulders. When he didn't respond, Remus asked:
"Can I sit?"
Though Teddy gave a small nod, he was not entirely sure if it had truly been a question, for Remus had already reached to draw back the empty chair beside him. The werewolf eased himself down onto the chair, and the two of them sat in motionless silence for a long moment. When they both failed to say anything, Remus reached to pick up one of the books that Teddy had selected from the library shelves and examined the title.
"No ancient curses or hexes today, then." he observed, putting the volume down and reaching to look at another.
"No," Teddy mumbled, "not today."
Remus traced the lettering on The Art of the Conjurer by Ludo Bevilwick with a finger, lips pursed together thoughtfully.
"Are you looking for something in particular?" he asked eventually, eyes flickering briefly to Teddy's downcast eyes before returning to the golden lettering. "You've got half the library stacked up on this desk."
Teddy shifted in his chair, cheeks reddening.
"I wanted to...to conjure some flowers." he mumbled, reaching to turn a page of his current book. "Some nice flowers, for Cassie. To say sorry."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Remus told him, and Teddy glanced sideways to find that his father had finally managed to turn to gaze at him steadily. "Do you need some help?"
Teddy shook his head firmly, glad to see Remus' lips twitch towards a smile when he insisted:
"No, I have to do it myself. There's no point, otherwise." The boy went back to his searching, abandoning one book in favour of another, and it was not until after several minutes of silence that he glanced sideways to see that Remus had been staring at him. Teddy closed the book with a snap, folded his hands together on top of it and stared straight back.
"You know, Teddy," Remus said after a moment, leaning back in his chair, "it's shocking what thirteen years of peace can do to a person."
Teddy supposed this was the time when he would usually make some sort of joke about his father's approach towards old age, but the very thought of cracking jokes seemed beyond him. So he simply continued to stare in silence.
Remus sighed heavily, reaching to sweep the hair from his eyes.
"You get accustomed to normality, how calm it is...and then one day, bam! Something terrible happens and you lose it, you panic. And then you look back later and wonder what came over you...surely you were never so...so paranoid or fearful."
Teddy wasn't entirely sure what Remus was getting at. After all, from the whispers that he had overheard whilst huddled in his sleeping bag with the rest of the Gryffindors in the Great Hall, the actions of Remus and the other teachers had been swift and, to quote Rory Dipper, bloody heroic. There had been absolutely no mention of any apparent fear whatsoever...
"I worry about you, you know." Remus admitted, hands twisting in his lap. "More than you realize. Sometimes more than I should."
Teddy found himself with an odd urge to smile. At his father's pause to cough into the sleeve of his robes, he mumbled:
"I worry about you too."
Remus glanced around them and, finding the corner of the library deserted, reached to put a arm around Teddy's shoulders. There was a sizable pause before he admitted:
"I set fire to a desk in the middle of a Charms lesson in my fifth year. Four students got sent to the Hospital Wing with burns. I nearly got expelled."
"McGonnogal said you cried."
"Like a baby. A room full of them."
"Like a room full of babies?"
"Absolutely."
"In your fifth year...? So you were..."
"Fifteen."
"And you cried like a baby?"
"For hours."
"Merlin, Dad...!"
"I know. The point I'm trying to make, Teddy, is that I know how you feel. Walking in and finding the common room on fire...well...it was rather like some sort of horrible re-enactment. I despaired...to think you...you of all people had managed to make the same terrible mistake that I had...I just thought...never again..."
Teddy swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat.
"What I'm saying," Remus continued, hold upon the boy tightening a little, "is that yes, I am disappointed in you, what you did was very foolish. And I'm glad you've been punished and I'm glad you are upset. I was worried you'd get off lightly, it would do you no favours, believe me. But people forgave me my mistake, and I will forgive you yours too. I'm sure I may be many things, Teddy, but I'm not a complete hypocrite..."
He trailed off as Teddy reached to throw his arms around him, hugging him fiercely.
"I'm sorry, Dad."
"I know. So does your mother..."
"Oh no..."
"She was all for sending a howler, but I said I'd already subjected you to one personally."
"She's really mad with me?"
"To put it mildly, yes."
"Oh dear..."
"Don't worry," Remus withdrew his arm and got heavily to his feet. "She's leaving for Cornwall tomorrow morning, won't be home for several days. She won't have time to write until she comes back, that should give her ample time to calm down." He strode over to a nearby bookcase and, after a brief search, selected a hefty looking volume bound in lurid reddish leather, bringing it back to the desk. "You want this one." he said, pressing it into Teddy's hands. "Any type of flower you can think of, there's a list several pages long."
Teddy looked down at the violently flowery cover of The Conjuring of Romance by Minne Lovett and pursed his lips against a snigger.
"Have you read this book, Dad?" he asked incredulously, turning to his father with a smirk.
Remus set about stacking up the other books, seemingly unabashed.
"Figuring out how to go about wooing Lily Evans was a four man job." he recalled, smiling faintly. "James' interest was practical. For the rest of us it was an entirely academic exercise..."
"So...you never...you know..."
"Your mother isn't the type for flowers."
"Yeah...but...what about before Mum? Like...did you give girls flowers? Or...chocolates, or...you know...that sort of thing...?"
Remus sent the books flying back towards their respective shelves with a wide sweep of his wand, seemingly concentrating very hard. Teddy turned in his chair to fix him with a painfully inquisitive look.
"Dad?" he began, eyes alight with curiosity. "How many girlfriends did..."
"Do try not to turn the library into a florist, Teddy." Remus interrupted briskly as he pocketed his wand and reached to ruffle the child's hair. Before Teddy could mumble much more than sure, Dad, the werewolf had disappeared back into the labyrinth of bookcases.
It was not until just after lunch that Teddy finally managed to conjure a bunch of flowers he deemed good enough to be a suitable apology to the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, To begin with he had attempted a bunch of roses, and after half an hour of practice he had managed a couple of feeble, droopy flowers that looked pitiful to say the least. When Chester had arrived and discovered his efforts, he had sniggered a great deal until Teddy had threatened to throw The Conjuring of Romance at him.
"This is ridiculous!" Teddy had complained, sinking down into his chair as Chester had come to examine the book. "It's much too difficult."
"Maybe you should try a different type of flower," Chester suggested, running a finger down the list searchingly. "Like...like some pansies or some daisies...it says roses are hard to master. Why'd you pick roses anyway? You don't fancy her, do you?"
"Shut up Ches! Of course I don't fancy her...I just figured girls like roses, that's all..."
"Yeah, on Valentines' Day, or from boyfriends, you idiot! Are you sure you don't fancy her? Because that would be gross..."
"I'm very sure! Very, very sure!"
"Ted and Cassie sitting in a tree..."
"Shut up."
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
"Shut up, Chester!"
"First comes love, then comes marriage..."
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH BEFORE I HEX YOU RIGHT IN THE FACE!"
A mere two minutes later the two boys had found themselves being marched out of the library, an irate Madam Pince screeching at them as they went.
And so it was that Teddy settled upon the idea of conjuring a big bunch of bright red tulips, and though the final result was not exactly a grand gesture as far as size was concerned, he had managed a suitably vivid colour. Feeling rather pleased with himself, the young Gryffindor had marched off to the Hospital Wing that afternoon, ready to present Cassandra with the gift and babble a profoundly sincere apology.
He had hoped to find the Hospital Wing relatively empty so that he could speak to Cassandra on his own. But as he stepped over the threshold he found himself confronted with a cluster of people around her bedside, and at the sound of his footsteps they halted in their murmured conversation and turned to stare at him.
Teddy felt his face flush at their probing stares and he wondered why he felt a sudden urge to hide the bunch of flowers behind his back. Fixing his eyes upon Cassandra who was sitting up in bed in the middle of the group, he shuffled forwards until he reached the end of the bed.
"Hey Ted!" Cassandra greeted cheerily, and at her tone her other visitors immediately seemed to brighten and mumble greetings of their own.
"Hi," Teddy greeted quietly, resisting the urge to rock back of his heels nervously. He glanced around at the other students and identified a few from the Gryffindor Quidditch team, a Hufflepuff girl who he had seen Cassandra speaking to once or twice, and a couple other girls he did not recognize at all.
"Well budge up, Lance!" Cassandra demanded as Teddy clutched hold of the flowers and wondered exactly what he was going to say to her. "Let Ted bunch up like the rest of you, Madam Pomfrey's going to go spare if she noticed how many of you are in here..."
Fifth year Gryffindor Chaser Lance Norrington was just about to oblige when a furious voice from the other end of the room made him pause.
"I said two visitors at a time!" Madam Promfrey cried as she marched down the aisle towards them, stomping her feet as she went. "Two! Not..." she paused to do a quick head count, her eyes widening furiously as she concluded: "SEVEN! This is a place of healing, not a common room! Now go on, out! All of you!"
Teddy stared blankly as the rest of Cassandra's visitors filed out of the door, grumbling to one another with hushed voices.
"And you, Mr. Lupin!" Madam Pomfrey said, reaching to give him a sharp tap upon the shoulder, jerking him away from his thoughts. "Miss Wood has had quite enough chit chat for one day..."
"He only just got here." Cassandra protested, glancing over to where first year Gryffindor Morgan Cantrall was being visited by a Ravenclaw girl who was perched upon the foot of his bed. "And Morgan's sister has been here for hours!"
Madam Pomfrey eyed the flowers that Teddy was clutching in both hands with a resigned sigh.
"Ten minutes!" she snapped, and with that she wandered off towards her office. "And that goes for you, too!" she called over to the two siblings. The boy gave a small nod, but his sister did not appear to hear, she simply continued to stare at nothing in particular, as if she were in a trace.
"She's been like that for ages," Cassandra informed Teddy in an undertone, as Teddy glanced over at the girl. "It's sort of creepy."
"I didn't know Morgan had a sister." Teddy said, offering Morgan a little wave when the boy noticed his staring.
"Hardly anyone does." Cassandra told him as the metamorphmagus hurriedly turned his attention back to her and took a seat beside her bed. "They're like chalk and cheese. The fact that they're in different Houses is only the tip of the iceberg, which is kind of strange. They're twins, you see. Kind of expect them to be similar."
"I guess." Teddy mumbled uncertainly. The only twin that he had ever met was George Weasley, but with his brother Fred dead before Teddy's first birthday it was not much of an example for Teddy to go on.
"Her name's Moirai. She's the talk of the Ravenclaw common room, my friend Louise says, 'cos she's a total oddball. Never says a word to anybody, just sits there, staring into space. Like she is right now." Cassandra leaned forward, eyes widening as she whispered: "She's staring right at you, Ted, right at the back of your head...ha ha!"
"Shut up, Cass." Teddy mumbled, resisting the urge to turn around to look for himself. "So she's a bit quiet, so what?"
"We're not talking a bit quiet, Ted, we're talking silent! As in never utters a word! She hasn't even spoken to Morgan since she came in here. That's weird, isn't it?"
"Maybe..."
"And she's Morgan's twin sister! I mean come on, Teddy, this is Morgan-Can't-Shut-My-Mouth Cantrall! Shove food in the little bugger's mouth and he still keeps on talking..."
"Seems pretty quiet just now, doesn't he?"
"...and then he's got a twin sister who just never talks at all!"
"Maybe he never gave her the chance..."
"It's weird! She's still staring at you, by the way..."
Again, Teddy forced himself not to turn around to look. Despite giving a shrug, he could almost feel Moirai's eyes upon him and he was sure that Cassandra was telling the truth. For some reason it made Teddy want to shiver and he felt compelled to change the subject.
He held out the bunch of flowers for Cassandra to take.
"I um...these are for you." he mumbled, eyes upon the floor. "I...conjured them myself."
"Aw, that's cute, Ted!" Cassandra beamed, reaching with her good arm to take the gift from him. Teddy felt his cheeks warming.
Cute?
Was that a good thing?
Who cares, just apologize and get out of here, he thought to himself, still acutely aware of Moirai's staring that was becoming increasingly unnerving by the minute.
"Well...I just wanted you to know how sorry I am." he told Cassandra, remembering to look up at her and speak clearly. He wasn't sure it was making much difference, she was much too busy examining the flowers.
At least she likes them...
"I really didn't mean for anybody to get hurt," he went on regardless. "It was an accident...a really stupid mistake...and I'm so sorry you got hurt, Cass. I'm really, really sorry."
"It's okay, Ted. I know it was an accident."
"You do?"
"Well yeah, of course! I mean c'mon, Teddy, I've lain here and watched Professor Lupin toss and turn in that bed over there, snapping and rowing with Madam Pomfrey every time she came within earshot! He was seriously pissed off! So of course it was a bloody accident! As if you'd be stupid enough to do something like that on purpose! I swear he would have bloody torn you limb from limb...!" Cassandra trailed off into silence, face reddening as she reached to put a hand to her mouth. "Crap," she muttered, staring worriedly at Teddy's face. "I didn't mean...you know...anything like that...what I meant was...you know..."
"I know." Teddy agreed hurriedly, feeling equally as awkward. "He was pissed off."
"I dunno why Madam Pomfrey was so annoyed when she came in and discovered he'd done a runner this morning. Probably saved her a load of ear ache!"
Teddy wasn't sure whether he found this funny or not.
"He's not angry anymore." he said, feeling compelled to lessen his father's apparent spectacle. "We talked. He was just worried about me and stuff."
Cassandra shrugged.
"Hey, keep me up into the early hours, throw me into a bloody big fire and then cart me off to hospital without listening to what I have to say about it, I'll be pissed off for more than an evening!"
At last, Teddy smiled.
"I should probably go," he murmured, getting to his feet, "before I get kicked out. You should get some sleep or something. I hope you feel better soon."
"Thanks, Ted. The flowers are awesome, by the way." Cassandra said, stifling a yawn. "Yeah, I think sleep sounds good to me."
Teddy was just wandering back towards the door when he paused and turned to look over at the Cantrall twins.
Morgan was busy examining a book that he had balanced upon his lap. At the foot of the bed, Moirai was still staring.
Teddy drew in a deep breath and strode down the aisle towards them. Hearing Teddy's approaching footsteps, Morgan looked up from his book and smiled.
"Hi Teddy." the younger boy wheezed, reaching to sweep a mop of frizzy black hair from his eyes. "How are...you?"
Teddy bit his lip to hear the child pausing for breath after only a couple of words, just as Remus had done some weeks previously whilst lying deathly ill in a bed at St. Mungo's. The memory made Teddy's stomach clench.
"I'm okay, thanks Morgan. How're you feeling?"
"Not too bad. Madam Pomfrey says...I'll be out of...here in a few...days, doesn't she, Moirai?"
Morgan's sister turned to regard both Teddy and her brother with blank, far away eyes. Teddy stared back at her and, feeling unnerved again, attempted to copy the mildly polite expression that his father appeared to had mastered at birth.
Moirai Cantrall was a small, pale girl whom Teddy thought closely resembled a stick insect. Her chalky skin was made to seem ever more pale by a shock of thick, frizzy black hair that reached her shoulder blades, and her wide eyes were cool and silvery.
"Hi," Teddy greeted a little uncertainly, determined to be nice to the girl who everybody else seemed so keen to avoid. "You must be Morgan's sister. I'm Teddy, I know Morgan from Dueling Club. I...um...I've never seen you there. Do you go too?"
"She doesn't." Morgan told him, folding his arms across his chest and fixing his sister with a somewhat disapproving look. "She should, though. Mum says she...should mix with people. Make some friends...but she won't. Nobody's going to...want to be friends...with her anyway."
At such a comment from Moirai's own twin brother, Teddy felt stung on her behalf, but the young Ravenclaw made no reaction. Teddy wanted to say: I'd be friends with her, just to be nice, but he wasn't sure she was even listening, so instead he turned back to Morgan.
"Listen, Morgan," he began, attempting to ignore the distinct feeling that Moirai was staring into the side of his head. "About last night...I'm really, really sorry..."
"Flames..."
At the sound of a quiet, whispering voice Teddy spun back round to stare at Moirai, who had at last uttered a word. As Morgan sat bold upright in his bed and leaned forwards, eyes widening to match his sister's, Teddy asked:
"Pardon?"
"It will start with flames..." Moirai whispered, still in a trance, and Teddy realized that she had begun to rock gently back and forth as she sat upon the edge of Morgan's bed.
"What do you mean?" Teddy asked, deeply confused. "What will start with..."
"Quiet!" Morgan snapped, pulling back his covers and scrambling closer. "Just listen to her! She knows things!"
Teddy wanted to ask what things? But before he could say anything Moirai drew in an audible breath and Teddy found himself holding his own.
"It will start with flames," Moirai said, still rocking back and forth. "And the dark creature's child shall arise from the ashes, and bring terrible retribution down upon those who accepted his father not. And it shall end as it began, in the flames of the child's wrath."