1st September 2009

September came a bit too early for Harry Potter, 11 years too early. He wasn't ready to let go of Teddy yet. Ginny observed as they entered the platform and approached the army of relatives present to drop Teddy off that Draco, Harry and Andromeda had the same expression. Worry and apprehension was painted on their face and it looked like the three of them had not slept at all. Astoria smiled as she watched Ginny approach; she was holding her daughter in her arms who looked like a miniature version of Narcissa right down to the stormy grey eyes. Ginny and Astoria had remained friends over the years, though their husbands chose to ignore each other. They were determined to not let that animosity go down to their children but unluckily; their husbands had successfully foiled all their plans of play dates.

Ginny and Astoria thanked their stars that at least Teddy was a joining factor between the two families.

"You took forever." Teddy accused, disengaging himself from Victoire and what looked like a mini Draco as he walked over to Harry and Ginny. James gave a gleeful shout and jumped straight into Teddy's arms, followed by Albus who latched himself on Teddy's right leg as Scorpius had latched himself on Teddy's left while Victoire made disgusted sounds in the background and Lily squirmed to go to Teddy.

Teddy laughed; he had inherited his mother's light heartedness and his father's kindness. Her metamorphing abilities and his physical strength but he had a grace of his own. He was graceful when he moved, almost like a trapeze artists, with perfect balance.

"Come on you guys, I will be home for Christmas. I promise." He said gently as he put James down and then tried to free himself from Albus and Scorpius who refused to budge. He looked up pleadingly at both Harry and Draco who wore similar expressions of torn approval. As soon as Harry and Draco had whisked away Albus and Scorpius, Teddy made his way to Ginny and Astoria, giving both women tight hugs.

"I will miss you mum. And you too Aunt Tori. Now come on, let me hold those two before I go." As he opened his arms for Lily and Carina. He staggered a little as both girls jumped into his arms. "Whoa! I didn't realize you guys are so grown up now." Lily giggled. "I am a big gurrrrl now." She said with a laugh. Carina stared at Lily, "Teddy, she is pwetty." She said, reaching out to touch Lily's hair as Teddy knelt down to gently put them down.

"Thanks. You are pwetty too."

"I like your hair. It's wed!"

Lily giggled. "Do you like stowies?"

"Yup. I like babbity rabbity."

"My mum is my stepmum. She makes me work all day in the kitchens and doesn't even give me food and she is not really nice too. Is your mum your stepmum too?" Lily said suddenly.

"What is a stepmum?"

"Oh, you know like my mum. She yells at me and puts me in a corner and doesn't give me cookies at all." Lily said with a pout.

"You can come to my place. We have lots of cookies. But mum doesn't let us have any cookies before dinner."

"Yeah my mum too." Lily said with a dramatic sigh. "Hey! Your mum is a stepmum too, then."

Astoria exchanged a look with Ginny, as Teddy slinked off to say goodbye to everyone else and the girls continued their conversation.

"She has an active imagination." Ginny said, "We read Cinderella the other day and now she thinks she is Cinderella."

"What is Cinderella?" Astoria asked curiously.

"Muggle fairytale."

"You should send me such books. I think it would be healthy for the kids to read some other story books."

"Sure."

Astoria and Ginny lapsed into momentary silence as they watched Teddy kneel down in front of James, Albus and Scorpius, trying to cheer them up.

"Your kids have taken it pretty well." Astoria commented. "Scorpius threw a fit when he found out that Teddy would be going away."

"Don't remind me." Ginny groaned, "They are acting civilized now, but James almost set Teddy's letter on fire and though Albus looks like the calm one, he kept sneaking Teddy's stuff out and hiding them all over."

"And Lily?"

"She is too young to really understand what's going on, but even she started crying about it because Al and James were sad. What about Carina?"

"Oh she adores Teddy. But unlike Scorpius who threatened to hex Teddy, she just hugged him and made him promise that he would write and come meet her soon."

"He will be fine, won't he?" Ginny asked, giving in to the panic and worry that was gnawing at her.

"He is so well loved, why wouldn't he be fine? Also, Neville and Professor McGonagall would take care of him." Astoria replied, understanding Ginny's need for some reassurance.

"Hey, Uncle Draco. You okay?" Teddy asked Draco as he came to stand next to him on the platform.

Draco put an arm around Teddy and squeezed his shoulder before nodding. Teddy nodded thoughtfully too, noticing the looks of mixed awe and disgust on people's faces as they crossed the Malfoys. Teddy huffed angrily.

"Who rained on your parade, Teddy?" Draco asked lightly.

"The people! They are so- it must be so irritating living around such judgmental folks. Why can't they give you guys a break?!"

"Oooh! Judgmental, you learned a new word Ted." Draco joked.

"It's not funny Uncle Draco. I don't like the way they treat you. It has been 11 years, what happened to building a new happy world for everyone?"

"Don't let that get to you Ted. You will hear a lot worse. That's the way it is, I have accepted it. I am just glad that you don't hate me."

Teddy gave Draco a frustrated look.

"Aww.. come on!" Draco said, pulling Teddy in a hug and mussing up his hair.

Teddy gave in and hugged his uncle back. "Did you really think I would hate you?" Teddy muttered into Draco's chest.

Draco smiled, "I was afraid that you would."

"Why?"

"Because we were the people who killed your parents and grandfather."

"No, you didn't kill my parents. Bellatrix Lestrange and Antonin Dolohov killed them and they are all dead and we don't really know who killed Granddad but it sure wasn't you or Great Aunt Cissy." Teddy explained, his nose flaring. "All the bad things that happened to me weren't your fault. You were trying to save your parents."

"Who told you that?"

"Dad did. He said you never were an evil person; you were just forced into becoming one. It wasn't your fault." Teddy said with a shrug. "People with Unicorn hair in their wands aren't all that scary you know." He added with a smirk. "They have the disposition of a Huffelpuff."

"You watch it there young man." Draco said with a mock glare, "I still know a few good hexes, that will make you toenails curl." He added before grinning at Teddy and pulling the little trouble maker to him. "I will miss you, Ted." Draco said with a final hug. "Now go give hell to McGonagall." Teddy laughed before giving a quick hug to Draco with a hurried "I will miss you too."

Draco watched Teddy walk to his Godfather, his chest constricting with the pain of loss before Teddy stopped midway and rushed back to him.

"I love you, Uncle Draco. Take care." Teddy said with a final hug before walking off to Harry.

"I love you too kid." Draco whispered, with a smile as the tips of Teddy's turquoise hair turned platinum blonde.

"Teddy bear." Harry said, looking into space. "You ready to go?"

Teddy nodded glumly.

Harry nudged Teddy's shoulder. "What's up? What's worrying you?"

"What if I am not good enough at being a wizard? What if the sorting hat can't really decide on my house? What if I really am a squib?"

"Teddy. I know you are nervous and it is okay to be nervous but remember we bought you a 12 and a quarter inches, pear wood wand with Unicorn hair. Didn't we?"

Teddy nodded.

"Well, there you are. The wand wouldn't choose you if you were a squib now, would it? And even if you were a squib, it wouldn't have made a difference to us. Being a squib isn't a bad thing."

Teddy nodded.

"But what if I am not good enough for any of the houses? I mean granddad was a Ravenclaw, gran was a Slytherin, then grandpa was a Gryffindor, Moony da was a Gryffindor and Mum was a Hufflepuff. What if I am none?"

"The hat doesn't look at your talents Teddy, but at what you value and hold dear. All of us have all the qualities required to be in any of the houses. It is what we value the most that sets us apart."

"How do you know that?"

"A wise man once taught me, that what we choose to value defines us."

"So, you would be okay with no matter what house I guess."

Harry nodded. "Although your Uncle Ron would disown you, if you get Slytherin and Uncle Draco would disown you if you get Gryffindor or Hufflepuff." He added with a mischievous.

"That's no pressure at all." Teddy commented with a laugh before hugging Harry.

"I will miss you dad. A lot."

"I will miss you too, bear."

Teddy ran back to hug everyone a last goodbye before hopping on the train. The children idolized Teddy and had started crying already and it looked like Andromeda couldn't stop either, she cried on Narcissa's shoulders. But what touched the crowd waving goodbye to a well loved Teddy Lupin were moist eyes belonging to Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.

AN: Another chapter done. I planned on showing a bit of Teddy's childhood and relationships with the Potter- Weasley- Malfoy children but this fic has got such a lukewarm response, I think it would be better to finish it in a couple of chapters and write separate spin offs for all the things I thought I would add to it.

Anyway, Happy Reading. Please do read and review.

Much love,

The fishes