Note: Another update! SHOCKING! There's some fluff in here, so enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

18: Confessions

"So," Victoire concluded, holding up the piece of parchment and clearing her throat in a business-like manner. "Carrow-Smyth has a nephew named Elijah..."

"Another fruitcake." Chester added, and as the girl shot him a unimpressed look, Teddy reached to hug his legs to his chest.

"He's a bit strange, he reckons the whole world...besides Auntie Dora...has it in for...somebody..."

"A group of people, actually. He said them, not him or her." Chester pointed out, looked pleased with his correction.

"Right. Anything else, Ted?"

At Victoire's questioning look, Teddy hurriedly shook his head. Of course there had been something else, but he didn't care to imagine just what his friends would think if he told them that he had caught his mother kissing Carrow-Smyth. In fact he wasn't entirely sure what he thought of it himself. He'd been feeling suitably distracted by this worrying development all day, only half listening to the healer's demonstration at the hospital and mind wandering when he had followed his parents out of the hospital some hour later. Once home he'd watched his mother kiss his father goodbye, hugging him tightly with a bright see you later, and then the boy had stumbled after his father into the floo.

Come late evening Teddy was still attempting to make sense of what he had seen, and it was keeping him wide awake, despite his desire to get plenty of sleep ready for Quidditch practice in the morning.

It was half past eleven when he climbed out of bed and went to his trunk in search of the Marauders' Map. A few whispered words later and Teddy returned to bed, staring searchingly down at the map until he spotted what he was looking for. As he stared down at the small, immobile dot that was labeled Remus Lupin, Teddy wondered just what his father would have to say when Teddy told him what he had seen.

Should he even tell him in the first place?

He was pretty certain that a bombshell such as this had never befallen his parents' marriage. He had no idea what would happen if it did.

But what was he going to do if he didn't tell anybody? He couldn't concentrate, couldn't sleep...

And so Teddy climbed out of bed and went to pull on his dressing gown.

He found Remus stooped low over his desk, furiously scribbling notes upon the bottom of an essay, so focused on his task that the door creaking open did not draw his attention until he had finished his sentence. Teddy watched as the werewolf's expression went from disaproving, to secretly amused before resting on concerned. It was only then that Teddy realized just how downcast his own expression must have looked.

"Hot chocolate?" the professor asked at last, putting down his quill and rising to his feet, and at the boy's small nod he smiled and said: "Sit down then."

Teddy shuffled over to drop down into a chair beside the fire, curling up on the leather seat and watching in silence as his father summoned the necessities for hot chocolate. The coco powder was measured out onto a spoon with careful precision and as it was dissolved in the milk by the spoon stirring of its own accord, Teddy again wondered if what he was about to do was entirely wise. But then he found himself offered a mug and as he wrapped his hands around the warm china surface, watching Remus take a seat opposite him, he knew that he would tell his father everything. That was what fathers were for, after all.

"Tell me everything, then." Remus instructed, eyebrow raised with a smile. "Let me guess, it's Chester...no, no it's Victoire..." When Teddy failed to smile, he finally decided: "It's me."

Teddy wanted to mumble it's Mum snogging Carrow-Smyth, but he was pretty sure that the situation required a little more tact, so he stayed silent. He watched Remus lean back in his chair with a small sigh, before taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"Listen, Teddy," the werewolf said after a moment, resting his mug upon his knee. "There really is no need to worry, I'm not terribly ill, I just won't be running any marathons any time soon."

Peering over the rim of his mug at his father, scrutinizing his pale, tired face, Teddy told him:

"Mum seems to think you're pretty sick. She told Carrow-Smyth you were." When Remus merely took another sip of his hot chocolate, Teddy added: "He was at the hospital today, with his nephew."

"I didn't know he had a nephew." Remus commented, sounding entirely uninterested, but Teddy persisted.

"His name's Elijah. Mum knows him, he called her Auntie Dora and gave her a hug."

Again, Remus simply sipped his hot chocolate, only looking up when Teddy admitted:

"Carrow-Smyth and Mum...they...they had a row."

"They did?"

"Yeah..." Teddy mumbled, shifting in his chair under the werewolf's curious gaze. "They were arguing about you."

There was a short pause as Remus frowned deeply, only fix a suitably unconcerned expression onto his face as he commented:

"Yes well, they do seem to be rather good at that, don't they? Don't worry about them, Ted. They may well act as though they mean to murder one another, but they've caused problems enough without taking it any further. They know that. It'll all blow over soon enough." He rose from his chair, mug in one hand as he wandered over to the desk, reaching for a large tin that had been set down beside the collection of ink bottles. Teddy watched him pull the lid off and turn to offer the open container to the boy. "Cookie? Go on, they're your Grandmother's finest."

Teddy stuck his hand into the tin and selected a cookie, resting it upon the arm of his chair, finding that he had no real desire to eat it. He watched Remus take one for himself before replacing the tin's lid and returning to his chair. The werewolf took a small bite of biscuit, gaze upon the fire as he chewed slowly. For a moment there was silence, broken only the the crackle of the fire in the grate, and Teddy felt somewhat unnerved by the tranquility when so much seemed to be going horribly, horribly wrong.

"Dad..." the boy murmured, once again shifting uncomfortably in his chair, narrowly avoiding knocking the cookie off and onto the floor. "Something...something happened...at the hospital." He was grateful that Remus' only response was to take another bite of cookie, the steady, muffled sound of chewing seemed strangely reassuring. "Mum and Carrow-Smyth...they...they were..." Teddy trailed off into silence, fixing his gaze upon his feet, taking a deep breath before admitting: "They were kissing."

The muffled noise stopped.

Teddy sucked in a sharp breath and glanced up to find his father still staring into the fire, jaw visibly clenched. There was a sizable pause before Remus got to his feet again, abandoning his mug and half a cookie upon the desk, turning his back on his son as he headed to a chest of drawers beside the grindylow tank.

"I seriously doubt it, Theodore." the werewolf told the boy as he drew the wand from the pocket of his robes and began to mumble a series of incantations that caused a series of locks upon the drawers to click undone.

"But I saw them." Teddy pointed out, frowning as Remus set about rummaging through the top drawer. "He had his arms around her and..."

"I don't dispute that, Ted, but...but adult relationships are...complicated."

"That doesn't make any sense, Dad." Teddy pointed out as a glass was extracted from the drawer. "Either you believe me or you don't."

Remus paused in his searching to lean against the chest of drawers, head bowed in thought for a moment before he heaved a heavy sigh and turned back to look at his son. Teddy eyed him worriedly. It was not like his father to sound so...muddled...

"What I mean to say, Teddy, is that I believe you if you say you saw them kissing. But...but there is a difference between them kissing and...and..." he trailed off into silence again, reaching to scratch the back of his neck awkwardly before explaining: "Kissing might involve two people, Ted, but you can kiss somebody without them kissing you back."

"Why would Carrow-Smyth do that?" Teddy asked with a frown. "I mean...Mum's married to you." He rather regretted speaking, then, for Remus promptly turned back to the drawer to resume his search, mumbling something unintelligible under his breath. There was a long silence as Remus pushed one draw shut in favour of the one below it, before he finally told his son:

"There's nothing to worry about, Teddy. It's just a silly misunderstanding, that's all. Go back to bed."

"I don't really understand what there is to misunderstand, Dad." Teddy admitted cautiously, and Remus glanced back at him with a strained smile and said:

"Neither do I, Ted. It's a good question. If I happen across Mr. Carrow-Smyth any time soon I'll be sure to ask him for you."

Teddy stared blankly at his father. He could not quite decide whether or not Remus was joking.

"Honestly," Remus assured him, folding his arms resolutely across his chest. "There isn't anything to worry about. What did you expect? I'm not filing for divorce, Ted, there's too much paperwork involved."

At last, Teddy felt relief wash over him, and he allowed himself to snigger.

"It's not your mother's fault, I'm sure." Remus told him, turning back to the drawer. "We ought just be glad she didn't hex him again."

"Doesn't it bother you that they used to...to date and stuff?" Teddy asked, feeling almost ashamed to ask such a question, and the werewolf shrugged, at last extracting a small glass bottle of amber coloured liquid from the drawer. As he turned to set both it and the glass down upon the desk, Teddy identified the bottle as Ogden's Finest Fire Whiskey.

"She left him, then she married me. What is there to worry about, Ted? Remus asked, offering the boy a raised eyebrow. "Don't go being paranoid, you're much too young and you'll upset your mother. Now go on, get to bed, it's getting very late and I've got to finish this marking, I'm very behind."

Feeling rather foolish, Teddy drained the last of his hot chocolate and, shoving the cookie unceremoniously into his mouth, made for the door. The door was just swinging shut behind him, when Teddy heard the unmistakable sound of the floo roaring into life. He instantly turned back to the door, stooping to peer through the keyhole.

"Don't you reckon," his mother's voice announce as she stepped out into the office, reaching to dust soot from the front of her robes, "since you've just been discharged from hospital you might like to come home at a reasonable hour and get a decent night's sleep?" Teddy watched her saunter across the room as Remus froze, staring determinedly at the wall in front of him. As she came to a halt just behind him, reaching to wrap her arms tightly around his middle, the werewolf visibly tensed.

"Something wrong, love?" she asked, frowning into the back of his jumper, and through the keyhole, Teddy held his breath apprehensively.

"No, I'm absolutely fine." Remus assured her quietly, reaching to untangle her arms from around him so he could turn to regard her searchingly. "What about you?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back against the desk. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I am," she told him brightly, reaching to rest her hands upon his arms. "Why wouldn't I be? You're the one who's been stuck in hospital all day long."

"Hmm...that's true." he agreed, one eyebrow raised as he straightened up and turned his attention back to the fire whiskey. "But then again, you're the one who's been stuck between Carrow-Smyth's lips and a hard brick wall. I think you win, when it comes to traumatic experiences today."

There was a long and painful silence. Teddy watched his mother take a small step backwards, hands wringing together awkwardly as Remus poured himself a generous glassful of whiskey.

"How..." she began, only to trail off, muttering: "Ted told you."

"Mm." Remus agreed as he raised the glass to his lips, taking a generous gulp before setting it back down upon the desk. "Not the sort of nightmare I was expecting to hear about, to be honest."

Tonks watched in silence as he turned back to regard her with a distinctly unamused stare.

"I can explain..." she began hurriedly, fiddling with the sleeve of her robes nervously. "It's...it's not what it looks like, honestly..."

"I think it's exactly what it looks like." Remus interupted, and for a brief moment both Tonks and Teddy looked mortified, only for the werewolf to tell his wife: "I think it looks like Carrow-Smythis even more of a bastard than I first thought he was."

Teddy jumped a little at the sound of Tonks' small squeak of relief, and the witch lunged forward to throw her arms around the professor with a muffled sob.

"Don't bloody scare me like that!" she complained, and Remus let out a humourless chuckle. "I'm so glad you're not mad!" she exclaimed, hugging him fiercely, "You have no idea...!"

"You're right Dora, I don't. I really don't."

Again, there was a pause, before her arms fell limp at her sides and she peered up at him, lips pursed together worriedly.

"Oh Merlin..." Teddy heard her breath. "You are mad, aren't you? You're...you're really mad..."

"I'm not happy, no." the werewolf agreed, once again reaching for his glass, and Teddy watched him drain the glass in a couple of large gulps before putting it down again with possibly more force than was entirely necessary. When he crossed his arms again, Teddy bit his lip in worry.

"Why didn't you tell me? I mean...we were in that room for at least an hour, Dora, you could have sent Ted for coffee, we could have talked about it..."

"I didn't want to worry you." Tonks insisted, staring up at him imploringly. "You're ill, I thought...I thought I'd wait..."

"Wait for what? Wait for Teddy to tell me? For Merlin's sake, Dora, in what strange reality are you living in that you think it better for me to hear news like this from my SON instead of you?"

"I thought he'd keep his mouth shut..."

"Why on earth would he do that? Would you keep your mouth shut if you were him? Just think what must be going through his head!"

"I'm sorry...I'm really, really sorry..."

"Is there anything else you might care to tell me? Or is my health just that bit too fragile?"

Teddy watched the two adults stare at one another for a long moment, until she seemingly couldn't meet his gaze any longer and turned to pace towards the fireplace.

"Artemis...he...he was joking about the broom cupboard again..." she explained, halting when she reached the fireplace and turning to pace back across the room towards her husband. Her pace faltered somewhat when Remus asked:

"The broom cupboard...?"

"Yeah the broom...oh shit. Shit...I...I never told you about...about the broom cupboard..."

If the situation had not been so horribly serious, Teddy might have laughed at the wide eyed expression that materialised upon Remus' face.

"Well," the werewolf said, reaching to grip the desk behind him as if bracing himself for impact. "There's no time like the present, is there?"

Tonks resumed her pacing, noticably doubling her speed as she clutched her hands together behind her back.

"Just before I left the Ministry...just before Umbridge found out about us, I mean...well...well Artemis found out we were married and I...I had to shut him up so I...I dragged him into a broom cupboard..." She trailed off into reluctant silence, only for Remus to prompt:

"And?"

"And...well...it's a rather long story..."

"We've all night."

"...I modified his memory...but...but somebody walked in on us so I...I sort of..."

"You sort of?"

"I sort of...kissed him. As a cover up, you know? Like...like I thought it might put Umbridge off a bit! Obviously it didn't do much good...but...but well I thought you'd understand because...because the Order needed me there as long as possible..." she trailed off, pausing to look over at him hopefully.

Teddy attempted to read his father's expression upon hearing this revelation. It was, he supposed...stoic.

"It was...it was quite funny...sort of...Kingsley laughed, anyway..." Tonks babbled rather nervously, only for Remus' eyes to drift shut with a sigh.

"It's a very humurous mental image." the werewolf agreed, face contorting a little in what Teddy supposed was some form of revulsion, then he opened his eyes again and his expression returned to one of mild, light hearted interest. "So, Artemis was talking about...that."

"Yeah..." Tonks muttered, reaching to swipe at her eyes with a sleeve. "I told him I wouldn't let him have you sent to Azkaban, I asked him to try and be a decent person..." At Remus' snort of disbelief she looked vaguely embarrassed. "I know, I know, I told him you were sick, that I wouldn't let him carry on like this because...because I don't want you getting any worse."

Reaching to bury his face in his hands, Remus complained:

"I'm not THAT ill, for Merlin's sake!"

"Shut up!" his wife snapped, life finally beginning to creep back into her voice. "You heard the healers, you're not going to get any better! It's bad enough the stress of the full moon nearly killing you every month without your lungs giving out at other times too! Lycanthropy and permanent lung damage don't bloody mix, Remus! So excuse me for being just a little concerned!" Little outburst over, leaving Remus to stare somewhat guiltily at his shoes, she continued. "The bastard basically wished you dead...and then had the nerve to say he hoped for my sake! I told him I'd do anything I could to stop him...he said...he said he'd see how far I'd go. So I tried to reason with him, I told him I knew he could be a good person. He can be, Remus. He's got a nephew he looks after, Elijah. The kid's parents died and it's driven him crazy...it was terrible, it was in the news and everything. But Artemis is good to him, he looks after him. And he was good when I...when I was with him...sometimes. I...I told him all that, said I wanted to know where the old Artemis had gone. Then he...he went a bit...a bit weird..."

"What do you mean, a bit weird?" Remus asked, though Teddy couldn't help but think he sounded as though he didn't really wish to know.

"Well..." Tonks mumbled, shoulders hunched a little as she paused in her pacing once again. "He...he sort of said he hadn't changed at all. Not...not really. He said I'm still the same person you...you..."

"Loved." Remus supplied for her, and her hair darkened to an embarrassed shade of red.

"Yeah...that. And I said I hoped so because that person was...was kind and decent, and he'd do the right thing. He said he knew what the right thing was, so I said...I said..."

"You said?"

She drew in a deep breath and said:

"Prove it. I said prove it, Artemis. And...and I think...I think he misunderstood me. A lot."

Remus reached to run a weary hand through his hair, frowning deeply as she explained:

"That's when Teddy came out into the corridor and found us...up against the wall..."

"I can imagine." the werewolf mumbled hurriedly, apparently not interested in a more detailed description. He sighed heavily, shaking his head. "Sweet Merlin..." Teddy heard him mutter to himself.

Tonks came to a halt before him, holding her arms out to him, one eyebrow raised.

"And there you have it." she announced, seemingly glad to have the story over and done with. "Do we get to kiss and make up now?"

"You tell me." her husband said, peering down at her with a frown, and she frowned straight back at him.

"What else do you need to know?" she asked, bordering on irritated, and he told her:

"Well if I knew that I wouldn't need you to tell me, would I?"

Tonks pursed her lips together in consideration before telling him:

"Well he's never kissed me like that before, if that's what you're wondering." she sighed, puffing her cheeks reluctantly when he failed to stop staring at her expectantly. "What exactly ARE you wondering, Remus?"

"Several things..." he decided after a moment, fingers tapping thoughtfully upon the desktop behind him.

"Such as?"

"Such as...is this...is this the only time...?"

"I said it was."

"Well yes, but..." He trailed off into silence, pursing his lips together as he regarded her searchingly.

"Well...I suppose work is...awkward with him around." Tonks mused, still holding her arms out hopefully. "But I think he's obnoxious and inappropriate to ninety-nine percent of the female population of Wizarding Britain, given half the chance. I'm only a tiny bit special." When this was seemingly too vague a response she admitted: "Once I tripped over in his office and he told Jordan Grainsford that he'd seen my lacy red knickers...he called it out in the middle of the Atrium...but he might have been lying...I'd have called them more pink than red..."

"They're red."

"You think so?"

"They're definitely red."

"Oh..."

"Dora?"

"Hm?"

"This is getting out of hand."

Teddy squinted to see Tonks bite her lip somewhat guiltily, only to let out a small sigh of relief when Remus finally consented to putting his arms around her.

"What are we going to do?" she asked after a moment, her voice muffled by the werewolf's jumper, and Remus paused to press a kiss atop her head before deciding:
"Well...either you go and file a formal complaint to the Wizengamot and get him suspended for inappropriate behavior..."

"I can't do that. If he gets sacked...he's got Elijah to look after."

"Or I get myself arrested for cold blooded murder..."

"Again...I don't think that's a good idea. I think the whole point of all this is that we keep you out of prison."
To Teddy's relief, both parents sniggered.

"Do you really want to kill him?" Tonks asked after a moment, reaching to wrap her arms tightly around her husband's neck, and the wizard gave a shrug.

"Not really, no." he murmured, hands coming to rest upon her hips. "He's not worth that much effort, truth be told. I mean...a kiss up against a wall..." a gentle nudge set the pair shuffling back towards the wall beside the fireplace. "It's not really that impressive, is it?" he finished as her back met the cool stone surface. The pink haired witch sniggered as she found herself grasped by the wrists, arms pinned above her head. Teddy instantly shut his eyes.

"Much. Too. Easy..." he heard Remus conclude, and a long moment later he added: "And so what if he's seen your knickers...the number of times you fall over, who HASN'T seen them?"

"Git."

"It's true. I think Alastor saw them, that time you tripped on the stairs..."

"Carry on with this conversation and you won't see them for at least a month."

"I bet I will. You can't go that long without tripping."

"Is that a euphemism?"

"Quite possibly. But then again, possibly not. You and Artemis up against a wall is one thing, but you and Alastor on the stairs..."

"I'm warning you, Remus. Two months!"

"I'm sorry."

"I bet."

As he heard his mother sniggering, Teddy wondered whether or not he wanted to look euphemism up in the dictionary. He strongly suspected not. He dared a peek through the keyhole after a few minutes and tried not to think too much about just how his parents had ended up sprawled upon the rug before the fire, her head resting upon his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." he heard his mother whisper, shifting so that she could toy with the hem of the werewolf's jumper absentmindedly, and after a moment Remus observed:

"You still feel for him."

"What? That's...that's just...I don't. Not one bit!"

As she squirmed in an attempt to turn and look at him, he merely tightened his grip upon her until she stopped trying to move.

"Yes you do." he insisted softly, and Teddy felt his heart give a small jolt.

"You're wrong." she protested, grasping a fistful of jumper resolutely, but he took no notice of her.

"You don't truly hate him. You won't hate him, you still feel for him. You just don't love him." The werewolf smiled vaguely up at the ceiling. "And I love you for it."