The line of students in front of Teddy was slowly getting shorter. He had been watching the sorting intently until Jack was sorted into Ravenclaw, but as the nerves got too much for him, he took to studying his surroundings instead as a means of distraction.

Although he had heard many stories, none of them quite did Hogwarts justice. The room he stood in was enormous, with magnificent carvings and gigantic windows. The other students sat at four long tables, each decorated with their house colours, their eyes upon the hat. At the front of the room sat the Hogwarts staff, again watching the sorting closely. Neville had given Teddy a small wave when he first saw him, which had made him feel ever so slightly better. Hundreds of candles hovered above the tables, giving the room an elegant feel. Looking up, Teddy could see the awe inspiring ceiling; the dark blue sky had a mysterious quality to it and the stars shone brighter than he had ever seen them. He traced the familiar patterns with his eyes to keep himself calm.

"Lester, Annie."

Teddy jerked back to reality as the girl in front of him moved forward. He was at the front of the line now...he'd be next. He didn't know what he was more worried about, the actual outcome of the sorting or the eyes of the school upon the magical headpiece. Don't morph, he willed himself. Sometimes it happened outside of his control, at times when he felt extreme emotions. He tried to focus his mind on exactly what he looked like now. At least he was himself. That made things easier.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Teddy gulped. This was it.

"Lupin, Edward."

He stumbled forwards, trying to ignore how much he was shaking. Don't morph. Don't morph. Don't morph. His shaking hands lifted the hat onto his head.

"Hmmm, interesting," the hat mused. "Teddy Lupin. You have your mother's warm heart and your father's curiosity and sense of adventure. Now, where shall I put you? You fancy your chances blending in amongst the Potters and Weasleys when they arrive I see, and you're already convinced they'll be in Gryffindor. No, Teddy Lupin, you need to carve your own path. Grow into a person others can aspire to be. You'll thrive in HUFFLEPUFF."

Relieved it was all over, Teddy quickly took off the hat and walked over to the Hufflepuff table. He was met by a flurry of smiles and warm greetings which eased his nerves somewhat, although it was nice to slip onto the bench and finally be out of the spotlight.

"Nice to meet you. Edward was it?" A boy with wavy black hair and piercing blue eyes offered his hand.

"Er...call me Teddy, everyone else does."

"Joshua Jones. I guess we'll be sharing a dorm." He gave a wide smile.

"I guess so."

"Which Quidditch team do you support?"

Teddy thought it might be a little too soon to start with the admission that he had been brought up watching Harpies matches because of Ginny, so settled with the safer Falmouth Falcons, who Bill used to take him to see with Victoire and Dom.

Joshua pulled a face. "You're having a tough season, aren't you? I'm a Puddlemere fan myself. I want to be a keeper just like Oliver Wood. How old do you reckon we'll have to be to get on the house team?"

"Er, I dunno. Maybe second or third year? First years can't have broomsticks."

Joshua rolled his eyes. "What a stupid rule! It didn't stop Harry Potter though, did it? He joined the team right after his first flying lesson. Amazing, isn't it?"

Teddy nodded dumbly. How did Joshua know that? Maybe this would be harder than he first thought. He'd been having a conversation for less than five minutes and he was already pretending that he didn't know Harry or Ginny and that Oliver Wood wasn't a frequent presence when they went to visit George and Angelina. He thought back to his Chocolate Frog card on the train. He'd never really considered that he was surrounded by a world of wizarding celebrity before, but when you thought about it a lot of people he knew were quite famous...

His thoughts were interrupted when Aiden came and sat himself down beside him. Teddy grinned at him and then quickly introduced him to Joshua.

The boys continued to chat throughout the feast, stopping only to listen to the speeches and announcements. Eventually, after they had filled themselves to a point where Teddy suspected he would not need to eat for another week, they followed the Hufflepuff prefects to the common room and then into their dormitory. Teddy looked around the room. It was definitely cosy. He spotted his things at the end of a four poster bed and suddenly realised how tired he was. It had been a long day. With any luck, his grandmother would have packed his pyjamas and toiletries on top and he wouldn't have to do too much unpacking tonight. Opening his trunk, he saw he was right. Brilliant! Now, where had the prefects said the bathroom was?

He turned to ask Joshua, who was knelt beside the bed to his left. However the boy was already staring at him.

"Do your eyes normally change colour?"

Teddy flushed. When he was younger his eyes had always turned a strange, light yellow when he was tired, however he thought he had grown out of it.

"Er...well...the thing is-"

"Wait...are you a metamorphmagus?" Joshua exclaimed.

Teddy nodded.

The other boys in the dorm were staring now.

"A meta what?" asked Matthew, a Muggleborn.

"It means he can change his appearance just by thinking about it," Joshua stated excitedly. "Doesn't it?"

Teddy nodded again, feeling very self conscious. Aiden and Joshua looked impressed but Matthew was eying him suspiciously.

"Can you change yourself now?" Aiden asked.

Teddy concentrated hard. Morphing was much more difficult when you were tired, but he didn't want to be a letdown. His hair turned blue and Aiden and Joshua shrieked with excitement.

"We're going to have such fun with this! Think of all the tricks we can play!"

Joshua's smile reminded Teddy a lot of George's when he was telling his nieces and nephews about the pranks he used to play with his twin.

After modelling a few different hair colours and a new nose, even Matthew was seeing the fun side of Teddy's morphing. Teddy felt a little relieved. They didn't think he was a freak, not because of this anyway. He'd worry about the other stuff later.

Snuggling down beneath the thick, yellow duvet, Teddy's mind wandered briefly to his grandmother and Victoire and he wondered what they were up to and whether they were missing him. Soon however, he was fast asleep.

...

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has followed or reviewed, it's nice to know someone is reading this

Disclaimer: I am enjoying playing with J. K. Rowling's characters and settings, but they still belong to her.