Teddy kept the knowledge of his father's condition to himself. He wasn't ashamed of what his father was, he knew enough stories to recognise that he had been a brave and brilliant man, it was just that he didn't want there to be something else that made him 'different'. He was already the boy with no parents, the boy who lived with his grandmother, the boy whose hair unexpectedly changed colour...he didn't need anything else to set him apart.
It felt slightly wrong, not telling Victoire. It wasn't that he didn't want to, he just wasn't sure quite how to bring it up. He had tried a few times, but lost his nerve before the words were properly out of his mouth. Of course, she knew that he was keeping something from her. Why wouldn't she? They had always told each other everything. Victoire had been his only playmate until Dominique had been old enough to join in their games. They had spent so much time together that a natural closeness formed between them; often they knew exactly what each other was thinking with just a look. Whereas Teddy could find the other children young and annoying, Victoire had always been so mature for her age that it didn't seem like there was any age difference between them.
The last few times they were together she had watched him closely, trying to solve the puzzle of what was going on. She had gone as far as to ask whether he had been told something new about his parents, but upon his confirmation had left it at that. As forthright and bold as she was, she was also intelligent enough to recognise when a matter didn't need to be pushed and so an unspoken understanding remained between them that he would tell her in his own time. Teddy couldn't help but think that it wouldn't be that long until he was at Hogwarts, where he wouldn't be able to share all of his secrets with her. He wasn't quite sure how he was going to cope without his closest confident. She had assured him that she would write every day, but he knew it wouldn't be the same.
He was developing an awareness of time that had never existed before. The days no longer stretched out before him, seen only as endless opportunities for play and adventure; instead each one now existed as a countdown until his life changed forever. With the arrival of his Hogwarts letter imminent, Teddy knew he would soon be facing a completely different world, far away from his grandmother, Harry and the Weasleys.
It wasn't that he didn't feel excited about Hogwarts; he couldn't wait to see the castle and discover all of its secrets. It would be great to be around people of his own age and he was really looking forward to learning proper magic. At the same time, he knew he would miss everyone terribly. Also, he was so used to living just with his grandmother; he wasn't sure how he felt about having to share a dormitory with others. What if they started asking questions about his family? Those close to him knew about all of his..differences...but letting someone new in was a different matter entirely.
It was only early Spring, but things were already starting to feel different. Since asking that question on her birthday two years ago, Victoire had put the wheels in motion for change. They weren't pushed out of rooms quite so often and occasionally snippets of information were given voluntarily, without them having to pry. Last year had been the Tenth Anniversary Memorial Service, which the adults decided they were old enough to attend. Teddy found the whole experience rather surreal; hearing his parents names read out in monotone by a complete stranger, their deeds commended by someone who had never even met them. Meanwhile, a number of people from the Ministry had openly gawped at him and speculated about 'how his life had turned out' a little too loudly. Harry assured him it wasn't always like that; it was only because it was a 'special' anniversary. Still, he felt reluctant to return to the ceremony this year.
These thoughts had started keeping him awake at night. Counting the stars on the ceiling in his small bedroom at the Potter's house wasn't helping. Not only was his mind preoccupied, but his room was directly above the kitchen, where Harry and Ginny's voices had been getting progressively louder for the last ten minutes. Initially Teddy had tried to ignore them, but then he heard his name mentioned. They were arguing about him. With that established it became impossible to block them out; instead he began trying desperately to catch every word. At the volume they had currently reached however, it wasn't hard. He was amazed they hadn't woken Lily.
"You need to tell him. Before he goes to Hogwarts," Ginny proclaimed.
"He's not old enough."
"He'll find things out when he's there. Everybody else will know more about things than he does."
"But he's too young. He wouldn't understand."
"How many people said that to you? How many people did you rant and rave about for saying exactly the same thing...for only telling you half a story? You're doing exactly the same thing to him. If you don't tell him things, he'll go looking elsewhere for answers, just like you did. Even Ron says –"
"Since when do you and Ron get any say in how he's raised?" Harry cut in sharply.
"Oh, you're impossible!"
Teddy winced as Ginny came thundering up the stairs. His mind was racing. What wasn't Harry telling him that Ginny thought he should?
Even after his grandmother's revelation about his father, he knew there were still many secrets that were being kept from him. He had come to presume that most of these mysteries would remain just that until he was much older. What would other students at Hogwarts know that he didn't? He wished that Victoire was there, she would be very interested in this turn of events.
Victoire...Teddy thought of how boldly she had marched into her father and demanded information about what happened on her birthday. Maybe this was his time to be brave? There were too many secrets, too many mysteries...why shouldn't he know about them?
Mind made up, he swung himself out of bed and tiptoed across the room, closing his hand around the door handle. He hesitated. Should he? He could hear Ginny brushing her teeth in the bathroom next door. Obviously she thought it was important. Hadn't she said Harry himself would have wanted to know? He ran his thumb over the indentation in the metal. Ginny was leaving the bathroom now; there wouldn't be any risk of bumping into her. Slowly he pulled back the door and put one foot in front of the other.
He could see the moon, round and bright, shining in through the landing window. It gave him enough light to creep down the stairs.
The bottom stair gave an almighty creak.
Instantly, Harry swung around, his hand going straight to his pocket.
"Teddy?" Harry hastily shoved his wand away.
"I...er..."
"Sorry, you made me jump. I thought all of you kids were asleep and I wasn't expecting to see Ginny down here again." A look of realisation dawned on his face. "You heard that, didn't you? Me and Ginny?"
Teddy looked down at his feet, feeling somewhat ashamed.
"She was right right, as usual."
Teddy looked up at his Godfather, surprised. Rather than being annoyed, as he'd expected, Harry was smiling at him.
"I didn't want her to be, but she is. We have so much in common Teddy, more than you can ever realise. I know what it's like to feel like you know nothing about your life. Ginny hit the nail on the head; I used to hate it when people insisted on treating me like a child, when the war had cost me far more than it had most of them. I do think you're too young to know Teddy, but I know how being told that feels. How about this; I promise I will tell you as much as I can, as much as you're old enough to understand."
Teddy frowned at Harry. Hadn't he just said...
"You're only eleven. There are some things that you shouldn't know yet. But I will tell you those too, as soon as you're old enough."
"You'll tell me now?" Teddy asked hopefully.
Harry chuckled. "It's a bit late to start telling stories now, but next weekend you can come to stay again."
...
And so the following weekend Teddy found himself sat in the Potter's lounge with his grandmother, Harry and Ginny. James, Al and Lily had all been shipped off to Ron and Hermione's for the day so that they could have 'a proper chance to talk'.
Harry coughed uncomfortably as he realised that everyone in the room was staring at him. Ginny squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "Go on Harry, this is your story. The true story. It's better he hears it from you than getting some twisted codswallop fed to him from someone else."
Harry nodded. "Well, I guess it all began when I was a baby..."
Teddy's eyes never left Harry, eagerly anticipating all he had to say. Although he thought he had pieced together the most important details about the war, he could never have imagined all that Harry told him.
He had heard Harry called the 'Boy Who Lived' before, but he never realised all that he had gone through in the years leading up to final battle. He never knew what had happened when Harry was only a baby or that he became 'The Chosen One' because of a prophecy. He had always assumed Harry's defeat of Voldemort to be a chance happening, that it had been his wand that cast the final curse amidst a battle involving many others. The idea that the battle between the two of them had been pre-determined, that the defeat of the darkest wizard of all time should fall solely into the hands of his godfather...if anyone had been telling him this story other than Harry, he wasn't sure he would have believed them.
On occasion Ginny or his grandmother added an extra detail, or Teddy interrupted to ask a question but for the most part they sat in silence, listening intently to Harry's words. What made it even more shocking was that Harry had gone through everything whilst he was still at Hogwarts, without any particular guidance. Teddy had always presumed that Harry had been given lots of training to prepare for the war, so the knowledge that it had been mostly self-taught was shocking, as was the fact that he had been training his own army of students to help the cause.
He felt a new found respect for Harry. He had always been a cool godfather but now Teddy realised that he was absolutely epic! He also recognised how much Harry played down his fame; although people often came up to Harry when they were out and about in the wizarding world (and Teddy now realised they were admiring fans), Harry was an expert at getting rid of them almost immediately, so that Teddy had never really realised that anything was going on. He was pretty sure that Harry could go up to any witch or wizard and demand anything he wanted, but he never did. He just wanted a quiet life. Teddy thought that if he were a famous wizard, he would at least try and get free sweets every now again, but that was another matter.
...
Teddy ran straight upstairs when he arrived home that evening and started madly throwing things out of his drawer. His mind was still whirling. Aha! He pulled forward a box with a model dragon set on the lid. The box had been a gift from Charlie; the dragon on top a Hungarian Horntail. For some reason Harry and Fleur had found this highly amusing when he had opened it. Inside were all of Teddy's most important possessions. He picked through the photos, letters and trinkets until he found what he was looking for. Three smiling faces, younger than the ones he was now familiar with, looked up at him.
Teddy smiled, thinking back to the day Ron had turned up with boxes and boxes full of Chocolate Frogs, insisting they eat them all until they had found his, Harry and Hermione's cards. Hermione had been mortified at her husband's chocolate consumption, not least because her parents were coming round for dinner that evening. Harry had to take Teddy home before the arguing got too explosive.
It turned out that the three of them were to receive an official minted copy of the cards, but Ron had gifted his to Teddy, saying that he was much happier with the ones he had discovered 'naturally'; he felt like they fit much better into his collection.
Teddy carefully read the back of the golden cards, linking the words to his new understanding of events. They hadn't just helped to defeat Voldemort, they had been the ones who made it all possible. His godfather was probably the most famous person alive in the wizarding world. He vaguely wondered if they would learn about him at Hogwarts. Wouldn't that be strange? Maybe there were books about him in the library! Teddy felt a surge of pride. Just wait until he told Victoire! She'd never believe her ears...
A/N: I had trouble writing this one, partially because I couldn't get the timings right (if you're confused, this all happens about 6 months before Teddy goes to Hogwarts) and because I found it really hard to summarise all that Harry did in the war in a few paragraphs. Also, Victoire kept butting in and trying to steal the show, completely failing to listen to the fact that it's supposed to be all about Teddy. This led to lots of chopping out and saving for a later date... I'm thinking I might need to give her a fic of her own just to keep her quiet...Teddy will be off to Hogwarts in the next chapter though, so hopefully she will stop badgering me there.
Disclaimer: the wizarding world and all of its inhabitants come from a mind far more creative than mine.
