Note: There are spoilers for Without a Trace in this chapter. Consider yourselves warned!

Sorry for the slow updates of my stories recently, I am very busy with University work and also decided to start a new fic, which will eventually be posted as the 4th "Meet the..." story. I felt like writing romance between two characters who I won't mention but who you can probably guess (if you've been reading the other stories, that is!) I COULD post it now, but I suppose that would rather ruin Meet the Marauders...

Anyway, back to the fics that people are actually waiting for!

Oh, and thank you for so many reviews! No, I will not apologize for the cliffhanger...I never do, why break the habit of a lifetime? =)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I'm not making any profit from this, either.

24: Debt

When he tumbled head first out of the window and down onto the glass littered lawn after his parents, Teddy Lupin had felt immense relief that he hadn't managed to break his neck, nor knock himself unconscious.

But under a minute later, the young Gryffindor found himself wishing that he had done precisely that. Because what he witnessed next made his insides twist into knots and his heart hammer in his chest, and he wanted nothing more than to clamp his hands over his ears, screw his eyes shut and wish for the nightmare to end.

Yet again his parents scrambled back to their feet, Tonks pausing to reach and help the boy up onto his feet, and when she turned her attention back to the window the Auror found her husband stood staring through the shattered window, stock still and shoulders hunched.

"Oh...oh Merlin..." Teddy heard Remus stammer, one hand reaching to cover his mouth in horror.

"ARTEMIS!" Tonks shouted, making another run for the window. "Remus, DO SOMETHING!"

But Remus only turned to throw his arms around his wife as she skidded to a halt beside him, forcibly reaching to push her face into his shoulder, grip iron-like as Teddy heard him murmur:

"Don't look, Dora. For the love of Merlin, don't look..."

"W...what...what's...?"

"He's...he's...just don't look."

Teddy numbly watched his mother's feeble attempts to get free of his father's grasp as realization began to sink in, and Teddy couldn't help himself, he started to sob.

"No, no, no..." he heard Tonks complain, hands beating feebly against the werewolf's chest. "I...I don't...I don't believe you...let...let me...let me see!"

"Darling he's...he's..."

"N...no he isn't! He...he isn't, I don't believe you..."

"Come on let's...let's come away..."
"No..."

"Come on, this way..."

"I don't believe you..."

"Listen to me, Dora, I...I need you to...to give me my wand back so I can...so I can send for help...okay? Where is it?"

"You're wrong, you are, I know it..."

"Dora, where is it? Where's my wand?"

"J...just...just let go, I...I need to...to see..."

"Our house is going to burn to the ground, Dora. For the love of Merlin, give me back my wand..."

"I...I don't care...I don't care if it burns..."

"Well I do. Please give me back my wand."

The feeble struggling stopped, and Teddy watched Remus' grip slacked a little uncertainly as Tonks froze, staring up at him with wide, watery eyes.

"What is WRONG with you?" the mousy haired witch abruptly shrieked, causing Teddy to jump. "You...you tell me...you tell me Artemis is...is DEAD! You...you reckon he's been crushed! And...and all you're worried about is...is the bloody HOUSE!"

And with that, to both Remus and Teddy's horror, she wrenched herself free of the werewolf's grasp, snatched his wand out from her pocket, holding it aloft as she declared:

"SOD THE BLOODY HOUSE!"

And with that, she turned and threw the wand at the fire, before collapsing to her knees, sobbing hysterically.

Remus stood, staring with dazed, mortified eyes, and Teddy shuddered to think what he had glimpsed through the smoke that was billowing out of the window. Teddy shuffled over to his father's side, eying his mother despairingly before reaching into his pocket and drawing out his own wand. He offered it to Remus in silence.

It was a long moment before Remus noticed the offering, and once he had reached to take hold of the wand, gripping it resolutely, he merely stood stock still for another moment, as if he had been stunned. Teddy watched solemnly as the werewolf gave the wand a vague wave, screwing his eyes shut and taking a deep breath when nothing seemed to happen. The sight made Teddy's chest clench, as if a great weight had been dropped upon it. He could not recall ever seeing his father struggle with magic in such a way before, except for the horrible incident in the Defense classroom when somebody had slipped poison into his coffee, and Teddy glanced over at the window, dread seizing him again at the thought of what Remus had seen.

"Expecto...ex...expecto..."

"Come on, Dad!" Teddy pleaded, rounding on his father again to see him pause to take another deep breath.

"Expecto Patronum!" Remus finally declared, giving the wand a definite flick, and an enormous silver figure erupted from the wand tip, streaking off up the street and into the distance. The silver light was dazzling, and Teddy screwed his eyes shut against the sudden brightness, only to jump a little to feel a hand under his chin, reaching to tilt his head back. He opened his eyes to find Remus staring down at him with scrutinizing eyes, a deep frown creasing his ashen brow.

"I'm alright, Dad." Teddy mumbled as his father took a step backwards to run a critical eye over the rest of him. "Just a few cuts and bruises."

"Hands, Ted." the werewolf instructed grimly, and the boy obediently presented his scratched and bloody palms.

Remus pursed his lips together in consideration, pausing to cough into his sleeve before deciding:

"You'll live. Go and stand back with Elijah, it's not safe here."

And so it was that Teddy Lupin retreated to the pavement, and watched his home burn.

He was joined a few minutes later by his parents, Remus having managed to persuade Tonks back onto her feet just long enough for them to stumble off of the front lawn, and there the two adults sunk to the ground in an odd tangle of limbs to join the observation.

There was silence for many long minutes, broken only by the menacing crackling of flames, disturbed occasionally by an alarming crash or two, before they were relieved to hear the sound of pounding footsteps from up the road, and the three Lupins turned to see a cluster of people dressed in striking blue robes sprinting up the road towards them.

At the sight of them, Tonks suddenly sobered.

"Remus," Teddy heard her murmur as the werewolf disentangled his arms from around her and slowly heaved himself onto his feet, stifling another splutter into his sleeve. "We need to hide Elijah."

"What...?" Remus said, stumbling a little when she reached to grasp hold of his arm in order to pull herself upwards, watery gaze upon him surprisingly stern.

"Elijah!" she hissed hurriedly, pausing to glance up the road at the approaching people before turning back to her husband with an almost accusing look. "Hide him!"

Remus' expression was distinctly bewildered.

"But...Dora..."

"For the love of Merlin!" Tonks shrieked, hysteria creeping back into her voice as she reached to grasp fistfuls of his jumper and give him a small shake. "Do I have to bloody spell it out to you?"

"I think so." her husband admitted, and for a moment Teddy was convinced that she would hit him. But instead she gave him a small push backwards as she reached to grab hold of a still-dazed Elijah by the arm, pulling him forward so that she could plant him directly in front of Remus, declaring:

"Artemis lied to me! HE'S THE BLOODY CHILD!"

"Yes...I can see that." Remus told her, apparently unconcerned.

"They'll lock him up!" Tonks elaborated, eyes wide in horror at the thought, but again Remus didn't appear concerned.

"In St. Mungo's, yes. Which is a perfectly sound idea, he's...troubled..."

"His uncle's DEAD!"

"Dora..."

"I...I'm not having him...shut away in some hospital ward! He's...he's suffered enough!"

Remus' eyes widened, and Teddy watched him take a small step backwards, shaking his head.

"No...no, Dora, we're not...we can't...absolutely not..."

"If anybody's going to get through to him it's YOU, Remus, he likes you, he likes werewolves..."

"For the love of Merlin, Dora! He doesn't need a werewolf, he needs a PSYCHOLOGIST and...and medicine!"

"Yeah, that's right, isn't it? Because they've done such a sparkling job in the past, haven't they? Look at him, Remus! LOOK!" Tonks gave Elijah a small push forwards, and it was then that Teddy realized that the glazed look in the boy's eyes had become focused, fixated upon the wizard stood before him.

Werewolf and boy stared at one another as behind them, the Ministry wizards neared the blaze, already beginning to shout instructions to one another, their wands drawn.

Elijah smiled.

"Artemis died for us." Tonks reminded her husband with a sniff. "He didn't do a runner, he dragged you out of that fire and...and he didn't get out of it alive. Whatever crap he's done over the years, however much you hate him...he was a good man and we owe him. And the one thing in the world that he cared about more than anything else by far was Elijah. He spent years in and out of Mungo's trying to stop them from permanently admitting him. We can't just let that happen now."

Remus glanced over his shoulder again at the approaching people, before gazing down at Elijah's smiling face for another brief moment, a frown creasing his brow.

"Well..." Teddy heard his father murmur as Tonks let go of Elijah to swipe furiously at her eyes. "Nobody's perfect."

And with that, Remus reached forward to lay a hand upon Elijah's shoulder, before the two of them disappeared with a soft pop.