Note: The entire plot of this story has finally been figured out! So with any luck I might even be able to write a half decent story! I have a feeling it might be a long one...

A hint about Carrow-Smyth...his time at Hogwarts was a little like somebody else's we know...! Guess the character and get a metaphorical cookie!

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

13: Here We Go Again

"Well..." Teddy mused, quill hovering over a scrap of parchment as he looked down at the little newspaper article, "it doesn't say all that much, does it?"

"It's a start." Victoire reasoned, plucking the quill from his hand and pulling the scrap of parchment towards her. "Read it out again, Ted, and I'll make some notes."

"Guests at a wedding in Kent have today praised the Ministry's response to a fire that broke out in a field where the ceremony's reception was being held. The bright green flames were spotted by a large group of muggle ramblers, and best man...why didn't I notice that the first time?"

Victoire paused in her scribbling of "gree flames" to look up at Teddy questioningly. Before Chester could ask any questions from his spot lounging in the chair opposite them, Teddy continued:

"Best man Mortimer Smyth has said that it was a relief that the incident was dealt with as swiftly as possible!"

"Mortimer Smyth?" Chester straightened in his chair and lent across the table to squint at the paper. "Who's Mortimer Smyth, then? Is he related to Egg-Eye?"

"Maybe..." Teddy murmured as Victoire set about scribbling down the name for further reference. "But it's just Smyth, not Carrow-Smyth."

"Either way," Victoire said as she finished writing and set about putting her notes away in her bag, "we should still try and look at the Werewolf Register...we could look for werewolves living in Kent, where the wedding was. If it was a relations' wedding they might live nearby."

Talk of Mortimer Smyth was very brief indeed, for the trio soon set about discussing their plans for after dinner that evening. Victoire had concluded that, if they were going to use the floo in the Defense office to reach the Ministry, they really ought work out exactly how long the trip was going to take them. That way, she had explained whilst marching out of the library towards the Great Hall for dinner, they could plan suitable distractions to make sure that they did not get caught.

"I suppose it all depends on whether or not we can floo straight to the Ministry, or if we have to go to Ted's house first." Chester had mused some minutes later as they sat down at the Gryffindor table and Teddy made a dive for the mashed potato. "Is the fireplace in your dad's office connected to the whole floo network, Ted? Or does it only go to your house?"

Teddy frowned deeply, whether at the question or at the stubborn resistance of the mashed potato to detach itself from its spoon his friends were unsure. He had only used the fireplace in his father's office to travel on handful of occasions and his destination had always been his own house, and when his mother flooed into the office "from work" he was not entirely sure how literal she was being about her travels. In truth he had never given the fireplace all that much thought...he had never supposed he would ever really need it...

"Your dad used the floo that time to tell your mum about the pensieve." Chester recalled with a frown. "Except he spoke to Harry, so he might not have been flooing your house...unless Harry was at your house...I'm not sure..."

"I'm not sure either." Teddy admitted, giving the spoon a firm shake, narrowly avoiding catapulting potato across the table. "We'll have to check. We can do it tonight once my dad's not around, try and floo somewhere other than my house."

And so it was that after dinner they trooped over to the Defense office and, once assured by the Marauder's Map that the coast was clear, unlocked the door with a simple Alohamora.

"I thought he put proper wards up once he'd gone home each night." Chester said as he followed Teddy and Victoire inside, all three tiptoeing despite themselves.

Teddy didn't bother to reply, he simply hurried over to the fireplace and reached for the floo powder.

"Okay," he whispered as Chester pushed the door shut behind them. "Let's do this quickly in case somebody comes! Vic, you keep an eye on the Map, I'll test the fireplace. Where should I try? We don't want somewhere busy, in case people get suspicious..."

At that precise moment, there came a sudden roaring noise that made all three children jump, and a burst of emerald flame erupted in the fireplace, a figure materialising within the midst...

"Crap!" Chester shrieked as Teddy leapt backwards, colliding painfully with the office desk, knocking a potful of quill pens flying across the room. To Teddy's relief, as whoever it was made to step out of the fireplace, Victoire at least seemed to have recovered from her shock enough to dash forwards and throw her arms around the visitor, crying:

"Auntie Dora! Hi!"

Teddy's eyes focused upon his mother just in time to watch her stumble backwards in surprise, narrowly avoiding cracking the back of her head on the mantle piece.
"Sweet Merlin...!" The Head of Aurors cursed under her breath as the silvery haired girl's arms enclosed around her, narrowly avoiding knocking the wooden box that she was clutching in both hands. "What on earth are you doing here, Victoire?"

"We're waiting for Uncle Remus!" Victoire explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, and Teddy hurriedly hid the pot of floo powder he was holding behind his back.

"You scared the life out of me." Tonks grumbled, though as she reached to dust a spec of soot from her cheek Teddy could see that she looked amused.

"I think you scared the life out of Chester." Victoire announced cheerily, at last releasing the Auror and backing off a few steps. "He screamed like a girl!"

Chester's face contorted in complete revulsion of this simile, but managed to refrain from commenting.

"You'll be lucky to catch your uncle," Tonks said, stepping past Victoire and smiling somewhat vaguely at her son as she set the box she was carrying down upon Remus' desk, "He's got a meeting with the Headmistress this evening, might not be back before lights out."

"Oh..." Victoire gave an innocent shrug. "Well...I guess we'll just come back in the morning, then. We only wanted to...ask him a question, that's all."

"What sort of question?" Tonks asked conversationally as she reached into her pocket and drew out a small envelope, setting it down atop the box. "Anything I can help with?"

Victoire ummmed a little uncertainly before Chester attempted to step in and help.

"Probably not, Mrs. Lupin. I wanted help with my Defense homework."

When Tonks turned to stare at him somewhat disbelievingly, he tried to offer her an innocent smile.

"Right..." Tonks frowned, causing the boy to squirm. "Well...I guess you ought come back in the morning then."

"Okay then!" Victoire agreed cheerfully, making a beeline for the door. "Bye then, Auntie Dora!"

"Bye Mrs. Lupin," Chester mumbled, his face growing increasingly pink at her scrutiny as Victoire grabbed him by the arm and reached to pull the door open. Teddy made to dash after them, only to feel his mother's hand upon his arm.

"Wait a second, love." she said, and so he was forced to watch his friends escape out of the door without him, whispering a little too loudly to one another as they went.

"I can't believe you said that!"

"What? What did I do wrong?"

"No thank you, HEAD OF AURORS, I don't think you're the right person to help me with my DEFENSE homework...idiot, because she won't be suspicious now, will she?"

"So..." Tonks' voice made Teddy start a bit as the door swung shut behind his friends and he turned to face her. "Did you...did you read the paper today?"

"Yeah..." Teddy mumbled, immediately more desperate than ever to escape with his friends. He forced himself to look up at his mother properly, so as not to upset her, not to worry her that he was somehow ashamed or disappointed in her...whether he was or not he was not entirely sure. Ever since discovering the photograph in the library earlier that day he had been struggling to be sure of his feelings and was beginning to conclude that with only half a picture he was never going to be sure at all.

"Right..." Tonks' brow creased rather worriedly as the tried to decide what to say next. She looked tired, Teddy thought, there were hints dark rings under her eyes and she looked a little pale, as if she had morphed away more tell tale signs that were just beginning to seep through the mask.

"I don't want you to...to worry about what the Prophet says about it, Teddy." Tonks said slowly, as if she were being uncharacteristically cautious. "They make it sound bad...not that it wasn't bad, it was, it was terrible and I never should have done it..." Though she had started off focused, by the end of her sentence she was mumbling rather uncertainly. "What I'm trying to say, love, is that I've done a very foolish thing, and chances are things are going to be a bit ugly for the next few weeks or so...but I don't want you to get upset about it, okay? It's...it's only right that I get punished, and it is understandable that people are angry."

"I know, Mum." Teddy mumbled, gaze dropping to the pot of floo powder that he was still holding in one hand.

"Anyway, you better get back to your common room, hadn't you? It'll be getting late soon...I'll take that, shall I?"

Teddy found the pot plucked from his grasp and she pressed a brief kiss to his head. He was sure that she was keen to leave.

"Be good, won't you Teddy?" she said as she hurried over to the floo. "Better than me, at least."

Teddy looked up just in time to watch her scoop up a handful of floo powder and set the pot back down upon the fireplace.

"Mum?"

His question halted her, hand raised ready to throw the powder into the grate.

"Yes, love?"

"Did he deserve it? Carrow-Smyth, I mean?"

Tonks' face fell dismally and she pursed her lips together for a long moment before admitting:
"I thought so...but no. No, Teddy, he didn't deserve it. Not one bit."

And with that, the Head of Aurors disappeared in a burst of emerald flame.

Teddy had stood in his father's office for a long while, staring at the spot where his mother had just stood.

He had expected her to say yes, Carrow-Smyth had deserved it, or just something rather vague and motherly about hexing never being the answer. He hadn't expected her to sound so regretful, not after the way she had complained about Carrow-Smyth to Remus the day beforehand. A voice in the back of his mind reminded him that he ought leave before Remus happened across him, but he had no desire to go back to Gryffindor Tower after his mother's strange response and so he simply stared aimlessly around the office.

His eyes came to rest upon the box and envelope that Tonks had left upon Remus' desk. He shuffled over to look down at the envelope, and found it addressed to the Headmistress. It had not been sealed properly, the back flap of paper merely tucked into the rest of the envelope and, before he could tell himself not to be nosy, Teddy had reached and pulled it open. He wanted a distraction, he knew he could not quite help himself.

Minerva,

Thank you for agreeing to lend this to me, I think Remus is right, I slept far better once I had things out of my mind. I'm sorry about the drama recently, the fire, the prophecy and Artemis sticking his nose in. Who would have thought he and I would end up like this? Attempting to get loved ones arrested and hexing one another on sight! We thought we'd broken the stereotypes and yet here we are now. We could not have been more wrong, could we? You've been very kind and understanding, thank you so very much.

Tonks

Teddy carefully replaced the letter, heart beginning to thump in anticipation of what he was about to discover as he put the envelope down upon the desk and reached to slide back the little lock upon the wooden box. As he carefully eased the lid open, the hinges gave a soft squeak of protest...

And so it was that once again, Teddy Lupin found himself staring down into the silvery depths of a pensieve.

Note: Oh look! A note at the bottom of a chapter, how unusual and exciting! I just wanted to say this: No, this will not be a repeat of the plot of Lies and Letters! We shall not spend chapter after chapter after chapter reliving memories! It shall be far more brief! I'm sorry if this isn't very original...but how else is Teddy going to find out? Ask Tonks? Ask Carrow-Smyth? I doubt it! So don't go running for the hills in horror just yet! Stick around for the ride...you might just enjoy it! =)