Ted awoke the next morning to sunlight filtering in through the curtains. He raised his head to find his dad still asleep and Q still sitting on his desk in exactly the same position the night before.
"Morning," Ted mumbled with a yawn and Q turned his head to blink dully at him.
"Did you sit there all night?" Ted asked feeling a sense of awkwardness but Q shrugged his indifferent shrug.
"Hungry?" he asked instead and Ted nodded as he stood up and, managing to step over his father, clumsily got off the bed.
As they went downstairs Ted realized that there was noise coming from the kitchen.
"…there's a carousal and a haunted house for the little kids and there's street vendors performers- hey Ted!"
Ted grinned as he found Vic enthusiastically seated at the table with Helena sipping a cup of coffee next to him.
"Vic was just telling me about the fair you're going to. Sounds like a lot of fun," Helena said and Vic beamed.
"Yeah and there's those carnival kinda games and shows and all sorts of stuff. Wanna come?" Vic asked and Helena looked amused.
"What do you say?" she asked to the man by the stove.
"Now?" he replied, turning to face the pair with a bewildered look on his face
"Well not now. It's not even breakfast time. We can leave whenever you want," Vic said with a look at Ted who nodded.
"It'll be fun," he added when Q gave the faintest of frowns and turned back to his cooking.
"Eat first," he said as pointed to the cabinets so Ted and Vic could fetch their own plates.
Breakfast was a blur as Vic told Ted and Helena about all the things to do at the Fair. They waved their goodbyes to the rest of the Rodors as one by one they left for work. In fact, Ted had been so absorbed by Vic's excited rambling during and even after breakfast that he hadn't even notice Q leave until he came back about an hour or so later.
"Well?" Helena asked. By then the group had moved to the family room where the boys were busy watching cartoons on the television.
At Helena's question both Vic and Ted looked up expectantly.
"Two weeks. Can leave now if you must," Q replied and he was awarded by an affectionate kiss by Helena as Ted and Vic jumped in delight.
"Wait. But don't pack too soon!" Ted said as he dashed back up the stairs.
His footsteps slowed by his father's room and he peeked inside happy to see that the commotion downstairs hadn't disturbed his father's rest.
"Dad?" he whispered but Remus didn't respond.
"Dad?" he asked again, nudging his father but Remus only succeeded in giving a small mewling sound before drifting back off. It didn't look like he wanted to wake any time soon.
"Ted? Where'd you go?" Vic called from downstairs and Ted sighed before doing a sweep of the room and grabbing a pen.
"Coming!" he cried and a few minutes later he dashed back out the door.
"Come on. What took you so long? I called Roy and everything now grab your trunk and let's go!" Vic called again and Ted quickly did just that.
"Don't leave without me!" Ted exclaimed as he hurried down the steps.
"We taking the train?" Ted asked as he reached Vic waiting by the door but his friend shook his head, "Not when 007s got his own car," he said with a grin and Ted frowned.
"Don't call him that."
"I know I know but hey it's cool don't you think?"
"You think everything's cool," Ted mocked and Vic grinned in reply.
Ted let Q load his things into the back of the car and they went back in to help Helena with her things.
"All set?" Helena asked as they finally had everything packed and ready to go.
The two boys gave eager nods before getting into the car. Ted was satisfied to find that Q had done a good job in cleaning his car. Not a color was out of place as all stains had been painstakingly removed and the car smelt clean and refreshing after being doused repeatedly in water all of yesterday.
The car ride itself was pleasant to say the least. Ted had been told not to read or play video games in the car as it would cause car sickness but he was much too busy marveling at the scenery whizzing by them to play games anyways.
Vic was also having a good time looking through his own window and for several hours the boys sat in silent awe as the car radio played its tunes and the landscape rolled by..
They took breaks now and then as every road trip had to do. Gas stations were like sanctuaries, especially for that time Ted had to desperately go to the bathroom. They ate at random fast food restaurants and once even had a small shopping outbreak at a mall.
Vic and Helena seemed to have made fast friends as he talked openly about the most random things that sometimes left her and Teddy himself holding their sides in laughter. Even Q seemed to have relaxed a bit although he said nothing unless practically forced to by his wife.
But after a while as the morning sun rose and fell the inevitable came.
"Are we there yet?" Ted asked finally as boredom began to kick in.
"Hour or so," Q replied, eyes not leaving the road.
"It'll be dark out in a few minutes."
"Stops made it longer. Bit behind schedule," Q replied and Ted left it at that.
"So. Do you know where to meet Roy when we get there?" Ted asked to his friend who shrugged.
"The plan was for us to call him when we get there and he'll find us."
"You know plans like that always go wrong," Ted said in good humor and Vic grinned again.
"Guess we'll just have to go and find out. Did you guys have a hotel stop in mind by any chance?" Vic asked, directing the last statement to the two adults at the front.
"Yup. It's all in here," Helena said reaching to pat her husband's head with her hand.
"Haha," Q replied with sarcasm before brushing his wife's hand off his head.
"Wait. We don't know Q's name," Ted suddenly called out. It was true. This whole time it'd just been 'Q' and surely you can't just go walking around a crowded area with a single letter name. He remembered when they'd met Neville and Proudfoot Q had been introduced as "Robert" but surely that was more of a "first thing that popped into you head" name other than an actual name.
"That right. What is it this time?" Helena asked and Ted had a feeling "this time" meant there had been other times so really Q probably went through a thousand names a year.
"Can we stick with Q names?" Vic asked and Ted nodded in agreement. That would make things so much simpler.
"There's not that many Q names," Helena mumbled as she frowned in thought.
"Qadir?"
Q raised an eyebrow, "Not Arabic," he murmured and Helena nodded. "Yeah didn't think so. Help boys?"
"Quinn?" Vic asked eager to jump in.
"Can be confused for a girl."
"Quintrell?" Vic asked again.
"Awkward to pronounce."
"Quinlan?"
"No."
"Quennel? Quillan? Quinby? Quincy?"
Q shook his head. "Too long. Can't pronounce. Sound weird."
"Geez you're picky," Helena mumbled, "Qing? Qi? Quy? Quang? Quan?" she asked only to trail off when she saw her husband's raised eyebrow.
"No good?"
"I'm not Asian either Helena," he reminded her and Helena shrugged, "So? I know kids in my school who have those names."
"Because their parents are Asian."
"Quinton," Ted suddenly spoke up and all eyes were focused on him, "Always liked that name," he added with a shrug and Helena nodded.
"Alright. That's as English as it's ever going to get. Quinton it is."
Q made a "Hrmm" sound but resumed driving quietly. Ted liked to think he approved.
The car was silent once again with only the radio playing in the background. Ted watched as the night sky got darker and the streetlamps by the sides of the roads began to turn on one by one.
He was just starting to nod off when Vic suddenly shot up from his seat.
"We're here!" he shouted and Teddy gave a startled jump.
"Geez Vic keep it down," he said, but Vic ignored him as he frantically pointed out his window.
"See that Ted? You see it?" Vic asked excitedly and Ted craned his neck to look out Vic's window.
And through the patches of trees along the highway he made out a large circle of glowing lights filling up the night sky.
"Cool," Ted breathed.
"It's a Ferris wheel Ted. It looks really nice at night," Vic said nodding his head a bit in approval, "That's where we're going. The wheel's the center of the whole fair."
Ted found it hard to keep still after that as his feelings of anticipation had him jumping up and down in his seat. He almost wanted to tell Q to drive faster had it not been for the sensible part of his brain saying that wouldn't be wise.
But soon they were driving into a hotel where the sights and sounds of the fair were practically right next door.
"Unpack and then go," Q said and Vic looked up at him.
"You mean we can stay?" he asked in a bit of confusion.
"Of course. You can't expect us to just leave you here can you?" Helena asked and Vic gave a happy shout.
"Awesome. Thanks a lot!" he said with a happy grin as they made for the lobby.
"I'll go phone Roy!" he said waving bye to Ted as he sped off towards the pay phones.
"Come on," Helena said, steering Ted over to the counter where Q was talking to someone at the front desk.
Ted watched curiously as Q scrawled down what looked like a legit signature before being presented with two room keys.
"Don't lose it," Q said as he handed one to Ted who nodded excitedly.
Rushing into the elevator Ted was anxious to see what his room would look like. He'd never been in a hotel before and he'd never imaged he'd ever be in one with people he'd only met a few days ago.
"Alright. Our room's right beside yours. Play safe," Helena said with a grin as she dragged her husband into the door next to Ted's own.
Ted started at the key card he was holding and then at the locked door.
'This way in,' the card read and Ted quickly stuffed the card into the reader giving a pleased smile when the card reader gave a beep and the door clicked open.
"That was easy," Ted thought to himself as he let himself in.
As the door swung closed Ted was left with a bathroom to the left of him and a closet to his right. Further in were three large well made beds facing a series of drawers where Ted was delighted to find a television sitting naturally on top.
The view was amazing. Ted could see well into the fair from their floor and the Ferris wheel from earlier shone like the sun.
He'd just managed to plop down onto the nearest bed with a woosh of air before there came a knock at the door.
"Let us in Ted!" came a shout followed by more banging.
"Alright alright. Geez," Ted called from inside. Letting his friends bound into the room.
"You got here fast," Ted said as Vic gave a loud shout of delight at the room and diving into a bed.
"This is awesome! I finally get a bed to myself," Vic said happily and Ted heard a sigh behind him.
"Hey Roy. Long time no see. Shame you didn't get any taller," Ted called over his shoulder as he shut the door.
"Screw you," Roy said with a smirk as he dropped his backpack to the ground and flopped down on his own bed.
Ted laughed before tackling the smaller boy and causing the mattress to wobble precariously.
"It's only been like three days Ted," Roy said as he pushed Ted off and made room for him on the bed.
"Yeah and do you have any idea the shit that happened in those three days?" Ted asked him, stretching slightly. "Damn this bed is big," he murmured, distracted.
"So. We're free now. What do you want to do Ted?" Vic asked.
Ted shrugged, "How should I know? You guys are the masters of this place."
"Well I'm hungry, let's grab some food first," Vic said as he romped his way back to the door, "then we can go on some rides and probably call it a night. Oh and we'll show you where we work Ted!"
Ted grinned at his friend's enthusiasm before he was pushed off the bed by Roy and followed his friends out the door.
The night was a blur.
Ted was always amazed whenever he saw someone breathe fire out of his mouth or step on needles in the show stands that littered the fair grounds. Other street performers seemed to just camp out at some random location, juggling balls and doing magic tricks right in people's faces.
It was organized chaos, children ran through ticket lines and people shouted out to come try their luck at various booths. Music was blasting from speakers placed throughout the area and the bright lights and loud colors screamed attention from one ride to the next.
It seemed like there was a place for everything and Ted quickly found himself caught up in the wave as Vic and Roy led him around the campus.
They had candy apples and jelly beans topped off with hotdogs and slushie drinks from nearby street vendors. By then the boys were practically jumping off the walls and it took only a few extra rides to make them feel sick. After that it was a race to find a gentler ride that wouldn't make all three of them upchuck everything they had eaten.
"Hey let's go on the Ferris wheel," Ted said, gesturing to the massive centerpiece of the fair.
"Have you seen that line? It's huge!" Vic complained, pointing to the massive line of people twisting and turning its way around the park stemming from the entrance to the ride.
"We'll go tomorrow Ted. It'll look better to you in the day time," Roy said only for his brother to interrupt, "Yeah. Now it's just couples who want some romance action up there," he supplied and Ted made a rather disturbed face eyeing the wheel with a hint of wariness now.
"No one's doing that stuff up there Ted," Roy said with a sigh and a smack to his brother's head for spouting nonsense.
"Fine but now what?" he asked as the boys continued on their way.
"It's just past ten. We can still check in with the Boss," Vic said with a nod to himself.
Ted raised a quizzical eyebrow at Roy who shrugged.
"Mr. Jeevas. He's our employer."
"I thought you played the trumpet," Ted said, confused.
"I do. Mr. Jeevas hires the magic folk to advertise during the day and then we perform for him in the show he hosts at night time for the Muggles. We split the cash. It pays pretty well," Roy added as an afterthought.
"What? But he's just using magic to trick Muggles!" Ted argued, appalled at the fact that Roy and Vic would just sell off their skills.
"He's using magic to show Muggles magic," Roy replied and Ted paused to think about that.
"He's not a bad guy Ted trust me. It's not just us either. He's got a whole bunch of other people working for him who could use the money. He gives us housing, food and a job and if anything gets out of hand he can just obliviate the audience. It's safe and it rakes in dough. Muggles think it's just a magic show and it really is a magic show. It's up to them to decide if it's real or not," Roy finished and Ted frowned.
It didn't really seem that bad if you put it like that and it was good that the magic folk could make use of their talents without fear of being discovered. Keep the truth so close to the surface and it was almost ensured that people would miss it entirely. Call it a magic show and actually use magic and most Muggles wouldn't even know it was real.
"Unless you're someone like Q," Ted thought briefly to himself but he was nudged by Roy as their feet had led them to a small theater to the side of the fair.
"It's closed," Ted said, pointing to the sign and frowning deeply when Vic walked over the turnstiles and waved for the others to hurry up.
"It's always closed. Show doesn't start until eleven and then it goes on till midnight," Roy said only to take a glance at Ted's guarded expression, "Relax Ted. We work here remember?" Roy finished with a grin as he too ducked underneath the turnstiles and made his way up to the entrance of the theater.
Ted felt a feeling of unease slowly creep over him looking at what seemed to be an abandoned theater.
"Isn't this how scary movies start?" Ted muttered to himself but he figured since Roy and Vic were with him it couldn't be too bad.
Afraid his friends would leave without him, Ted quickly clambered through and ran up to meet the pair. Then, much to his surprise, Roy and Vic led him around the building and through a back door. All the while Ted had to keep reassuring himself that Vic and Roy knew this area and they would be welcome here.
"What're you guys doing here?" someone asked as soon as they entered the building.
Ted jumped as the door closed with a bang behind him and he whirled around.
He realized that while the outside looked rather dark and eerie the inside was bright and festive looking.
"We got back early," Roy said casually and Ted's attention was drawn back to the person who had spoken earlier. It took a while of clueless searching before his eyes finally rested on a tall yet skinny boy to his right who was carrying an armful of boxes and looked to be in danger of dropping them.
The boy was dressed in a pair of jeans and a green sleeveless shirt although his face was mostly covered by the boxes
"Need help?" Ted asked, reaching to grab onto a box. In doing so the face of the boy was revealed.
Spiky blonde hair, blue eyes…."Hey! I know you!" Ted said suddenly and the boy adjusted the load in his arms before looking up, recognition dawned in his eyes a few minutes later.
"Oh. It's you. Lupin's kid right?" he asked and Ted nodded dumbly.
"Yeah and you're Matt," Ted replied and the boy nodded in return.
Ted had seen Matt before many times at Hogwarts. Although the boy before him was several years older than Ted and his friends he was a fellow Gryffindor. He was popular with the girls and considered cool enough to hang out with the guys. He was practically infamous as the mature, calm, collected type. Older kids respected him and younger kids looked up to him which was saying something for just a fourth year.
Ted had never really talked to him during his first year but Matt got around one way or another. Ted just never expected him to show up here of all places.
"Matt Jeevas. Nice to see you here," Matt went on cutting Ted out of his thoughts.
"Oh. Yeah. Wasn't really expecting you either," Ted said, shooting Vic and Roy a questioning look as to why no one told him there was someone he knew at this place.
"I'm Teddy by the way," he added rather awkwardly and Matt nodded.
"Of course. Everyone knows the werewolf tamer. Now come on. We'll go put these down and I'll show you to my dad."
"Werewolf tamer?" Ted whispered to his friends and Roy only shrugged.
"You're like infamous Ted. That stunt you pulled off last year is gonna follow you for the rest of your life," he said with a smirk and Ted sighed. Now that he thought about it there was no doubt that he was probably one of the few kids in the world who could tame a feral werewolf. Not only that but on that fateful day last year he'd also played a large part in capturing Fenrir Greyback; a criminal at large for decades. Ted had never really been affected by it. Roy and Vic and his fellow first year friends hadn't treated him any different but he'd never realized what an impact it would have had on the people he didn't know and the world in general.
It made him feel odd that people knew him but he didn't know them.
"Dad? Someone new to see you," Matt called and as they passed by a group of men talking to each other by the wall.
Matt then dumped off his stuff in a corner before grabbing Teddy's box.
"Good luck," Matt muttered to Ted as left the group alone.
Ted didn't even have the time to question anything before he was engulfed in a bear hug from behind as a loud booming voice echoed:
"And this must be Teddy! I've heard so much about you! Metamorphagus correct? I could run a whole show with your talents!"
Ted struggled out of the death grip to find Vic snickering quietly into his hand and a man before him smiling down at him.
The man seemed to be all set for a performance. His hair was slicked back and his face looked like it had been abused with white powder. He was dressed very formally and Ted could only assume through the makeup that the man must be a bit younger than his own father.
But what bugged Teddy was that whenever the man smiled he showed off incredibly long, sharp canines that appeared to be covered in red.
"Is that blood?" Ted asked before he could help himself and the man chuckled.
"Why yes. Painted them myself. What do you think?" he asked and Teddy, rather uncomfortable simply nodded in what he hoped stood for approval.
"Good now. What are your talents. Can you morph different body parts? Or just your face? You don't have any werewolf talents do you? No acute sense of hearing? No craving for raw meat?"
"Umm no?" Ted asked.
"Well that's alright. You can still perform. We'll have a whole segment of the show just for you. It'll be grand. Come now we'd better get you fitted for a costume."
"Wait!" Ted said trying to stop the flow of words that he was having difficulties dealing with.
"Umm. Sorry. But I don't really want to perform," Ted mumbled as everyone stopped to stare at him.
There was a long silent pause by the ringmaster and Ted had a feeling the other performers behind them were also watching him intently.
He didn't really know why but he just didn't want to perform. He didn't feel comfortable being displayed up on stage and forced to show Muggles and wizards alike his abilities. If he thought about his father surely he wouldn't have approved. Sure maybe some people like Vic and Roy wouldn't mind but they had no one to tell them otherwise. Teddy on the other hand didn't feel comfortable being used by a man he barely knew.
"That's OK Ted. We didn't think you'd be up for it either," Vic said, loud voice smashing through the silence, "You could help with tickets and stuff like admission. Or you could be a back stage hand."
Ted didn't think that was too bad and he looked at Mr. Jeevas guiltily but he received a warm smile much to his surprise.
"Yes well that'd probably be for the best. I had the whole show planned out before you anyways. It wouldn't have worked out if we just added another segment in."
Ted nodded looking relieved at the man's acceptance.
"Thank you mister. I promise I'll work really hard," Ted said and the man nodded.
"I'll have Matt show you the ropes tomorrow evening. Right now we have a show to host. Chop chop people!" he shouted to the rest of the people on stage.
As people bustled about for last minute preparations Vic and Roy steered Ted out of the way with a word of thanks and encouragement to Mr. Jeevas.
"I expect you two to be ready tomorrow night though understand?" the man shouted and Vic and Roy nodded before waving him off.
"So how'd it go?" Matt asked as the boys made to the furthest corner of the stage.
"It was interesting. Can come back for the performance?" Vic asked and Matt shrugged as they left the bright, crowed building to the cool outdoors.
"I run the doors. Shouldn't be a problem," he replied.
"What do you say Ted? Up for it?" Vic asked and Ted shrugged.
"Sure I'm game. When is it?"
"There's three shows. Main one runs from eleven to midnight," Matt said, pointing to the entrance sign, "you've got about half an hour."
"Then there's one from 1 to 2 and another from 2 to 3 but only the grownups perform in those ones," Vic went on and Ted frowned.
"Why so late?"
"Didn't anyone tell you?" Matt asked with a raised eyebrow, "my dad's a vampire."
And somewhere all the way back in London Remus Lupin would open his eyes to find a note hanging from the dresser.
Mum says it might be safer outside London so I'm going to the Fair with Vic and Roy. Don't worry. Q and Helena are with us. They might not look like it but they're good people. Get better soon. Then we can go shopping in Diagon together like you promised.
Love Teddy.
And Remus smiled.
Anyone notice the mistake I made a few chapters back regarding my AU universe? No? Good. Keep it like that until I work up the effort to change it :P
And starting now I'm gonna try and make chapter titles references of songs or movies. I'm doing pretty good so far. Guess where this one came from.
If you've made it this far leave me a review!
