Completely drained, Teddy collapsed onto his bed, laying his arms across his eyes. He felt the soft weight of Stuart on his stomach, giant paws kneading at his chest and he patted the cat on his head. "Well, it's good to know that you still love me," he said, rubbing Stuart's ears to elicit a rumbling purr. "Not too sure about the other people in the house."
Immediately upon Harry Apparating them home, Teddy had been engulfed in a hug by Ginny and nearly had the breath squeezed out of him. "Thank goodness you're safe," she murmured, lips pressed against his cheek. A moment later, she had him at arm's length, brown eyes stormy.
"Just what do you think you were doing? You leave poor Katie alone in a movie theater to run off and do … I don't even understand what you ran off to do! But the point is that you left a twelve-year-old girl alone in a movie theater!" She shook her head at him and the disappointment on her face struck Teddy in his heart. "I thought we'd raised you better than that."
Teddy glanced over at Harry and saw he was going to get absolutely no help there. His godfather leaned against the breakfast bar, arms crossed and face implacable as Ginny let him have it before turning her ire on Duncan. "And you! She's your own sister! I would have thought you knew better." Duncan just stood there, open-mouthed and stunned as his mom-crush unloaded on him.
Harry's phone rang, momentarily silencing Ginny. Teddy winced as he heard Mr Taylor's angry words from across the room. "Yes. They're here. Yes. We'll be there shortly." He hung up and put his phone back in his pocket. "Kelly, that was your dad. He's expecting you home soon."
"Yes, sir," Kelly said quietly, looking down at her hands as they twisted together nervously. She and Alison stood off to one side, trying their best to look invisible. Katie sat at the breakfast bar, taking everything in with her giant popcorn in her lap.
"Okay, um, I'm going to go, all right?" Alison said, waving to the room at large. She squeezed Kelly's arm. "Talk later?"
"Yeah." Kelly nodded and gave her a quavery smile as Alison Apparated out with loud crack.
"Duncan, take Katie home and let your dad know I'll be talking to him, yeah?"
"Yes, sir." Katie hopped off the barstool and slung her cat-shaped purse across her chest, still clutching her tub of popcorn.
"Thank you for having me, Mrs Potter. I like your cat," she said politely. "Let me know if you need me to babysit for James."
"You're very welcome, Katie. I'll definitely let you know," Ginny said, smiling warmly at the girl.
Duncan nudged Teddy in the shoulder and shrugged. "Later, man."
"Yeah. See you." Duncan and Katie disappeared amid powder and soot, leaving Teddy and Kelly with Harry and Ginny, both of whom were staring at them with their arms crossed. Teddy wanted to reach for Kelly's hand, but he didn't dare with the two adults staring holes through them.
"All right you two. Let's go," Harry said, holding out his hand. Just this once, Teddy wished that the airless squeezing of Apparation would go on forever and he wouldn't have to face Kelly's dad, but as usual, he didn't get his wish.
Almost as soon as they appeared on the Taylor's front porch, the door opened and Adam Taylor stood there, arms crossed, making his enormous biceps bulge. Teddy tried not to think about being strangled by those biceps as he forced himself to meet Mr Taylor's eyes, trying not to wince at the barely-contained fury in them.
"Kelly," he said shortly, opening the door wider and stepping aside. Ducking her head, Kelly stepped meekly in and Teddy had a glimpse of her mother hugging her before Mr Taylor filled the doorway once more.
Not sure what was expected of him, Teddy glanced at Harry who raised an eyebrow and nodded to Kelly's dad. Gathering his courage, he looked back at him. "I'm sorry I defied your orders and took your daughter out on a date," he said, deliberately taking the blame in the hopes that Kelly wouldn't be in as much trouble. "It, uh, won't happen again. Sir."
"You're damn right it won't," Mr Taylor said in a deep voice that sounded like he ate rocks for breakfast. "I never should have let her go to that dance. I'll have her off of that team as well."
Teddy nearly stepped forward and felt Harry put a hand on his shoulder. "No!" he protested, "You can't—"
"I'm her father, boy. You'd do well to remember that," he said and Harry squeezed his shoulder harder than he'd ever felt.
"Yes, sir," he said miserably, looking down at his feet. Kelly, I'm so sorry! God, I've fucked everything up!
Mr Taylor pointed a finger at him, making him look back up into his angry face. "And if I ever hear of you sniffing around my girl again, there'll be hell to pay."
"Adam, I hardly think threats are in order," Harry said mildly. "They go to the same school and will see each other every day."
"For now," Mr Taylor grunted and it was as if the ground had dropped out from under Teddy's feet. He was suddenly glad for Harry's steadying hand on his shoulder as it prevented him from stumbling backwards. Seemingly satisfied, Mr Taylor nodded and shut the door in their faces.
"Harry—" Teddy said, turning to his godfather, only to be silenced by a shake of his head. Hand still on his shoulder, Harry Apparated them back home.
Ginny had faithfully executed the lasagne Harry had started before he'd left to meet Archimedes, but as far as Teddy was concerned it may as well have been paste which was a shame because Harry's lasagne was usually a treat. He ate at the silent table only because he'd hardly eaten at all that day and excused himself to his room as soon as he'd choked down his last bite. Even James had been subdued and looked at Teddy with his big hazel eyes.
Teddy sighed and sat up, gathering Stuart into his lap. "Well, I've fucked everything up. Kelly's dad will probably get her off the Quidditch team. I'm pretty much grounded for the rest of my life, Harry and Ginny will never trust me again …" He sucked in a breath as a thought occurred to him. "The academy. Harry won't let me go. He'll say this is an example of how I don't have good judgement and would make a terrible Auror."
He desperately wanted to call Duncan and commiserate, but his phone and laptop had been banished to the lounge where they would stay for the foreseeable future. I guess this gives me the perfect excuse to work on sending a message with my Patronus, he'd thought as he handed over the devices. "But what about homework?" he'd asked when he handed Harry his precious laptop.
"You'll do it in the lounge with me or Ginny," Harry had said, locking the lid of the computer shut with a drop of blood. Teddy's heart sunk at the thought of being watched like a hawk by his godparents while he did his schoolwork and not able to sneak in messages with Duncan.
"Maybe I can go to Coyote and ask Him to make this right," Teddy mused, staring at the posters on his walls without really seeing them. "Except … I don't really know how to get to His den or where it is." He saw the feather on his desk and he felt the barest tickle in his memory, but he couldn't put it together. "I'll ask Duncan. He always brags about his memory."
I hope that Yoki agreed to marry or mate or whatever Niyol after all of this, he thought glumly, lying back down on the bed. Stuart had tired of his attention and sat off to one side, delicately licking his back feet. Teddy watched him enviously. "I wish I were a cat right now. No pissed-off godparents, no worries about your future. All you care about is food, a clean litter box and a pretty lady cat."
Thinking of Stuart and his harem made him think of Kelly and his stomach plummeted at the thought of her being taken off of the team or made to change schools. At least Harry went to bat for me when Mr Taylor was talking about me not talking to her at school. She probably hates me now.
He was in the middle of imagining how colorless life without Kelly at the same school would be when he heard a knock on his door. Ugh, can I pretend I'm not here? "Come in," he said, moving back to a sitting position as Harry came into his room and closed the door, standing in front of it for a moment before sitting down on his desk chair.
This is horribly familiar, Teddy thought, remembering the last time Harry had sat in that chair after they'd had the terrible argument about his desire to follow in his mother's footsteps and become an Auror. This time, Stuart continued his bath instead of jumping up into Harry's lap. Picking up the Rubik's Cube at the foot of his bed, Teddy nervously twisted it into scattered colors while he waited for Harry to say something.
When he finally did, Teddy nearly dropped the puzzle. "Have I ever told you how Sirius died?" Harry asked, looking down at his clasped hands.
"What? Sirius Black? Your godfather? That Sirius?" Teddy finally asked once he'd gotten over the shock.
"Yes, that Sirius." Harry looked up, the hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Um, no, you haven't," Teddy said, his mind whirling with what Harry's long-dead godfather could possibly have to do with his current predicament.
"Well, it was my fifth year at Hogwarts and things were just awful. Dumbledore was gone, the Ministry was being taken over by Death Eaters and Voldemort was back." Harry was quiet for a moment and Teddy saw him looking at the scar on the back of his right hand.
"And nobody believed me. About Voldemort being back. They all said I was a nutter for believing it, but they weren't there at the graveyard or had their blood taken from them." Harry never talked about this stuff and Teddy was completely drawn in, hardly daring to breathe for fear of disturbing him from his recollections.
"But, I could see things, I could see his plans, see what he was doing." Harry briefly touched his old scar on his forehead, looking up at Teddy. "We had a sort of connection, from when he tried to kill me, yeah?" Teddy nodded, trying to think of what it must have been like to have someone so unspeakably evil sending Harry visions. How did he stay sane?
Harry was silent for several moments and Teddy cleared his throat. "So, um, did you tell anyone? About the … visions?"
"No. No, I didn't. Well, Ron and Hermione knew, but they knew everything or nearly so."
"Was there anyone you could have told? Um, my dad?"
"I could have told Sirius. He and my dad had enchanted a pair of mirrors to communicate and he gave me one. All I needed to do was use it and I could have told him everything."
Harry fell silent again and Teddy looked at him sitting there in his desk chair. Same untidy black hair, jeans and jumper that he'd been in when he'd surprised the hell out of him at Mt Diablo, but there was something a little bit different about him now and Teddy couldn't quite put his finger on it. "So why didn't you?" he finally asked.
"I thought I knew best," Harry said after a long sigh. "I thought I knew what was going on in my own head, thought it would give me an edge over Voldemort. I thought I knew better than everyone."
"So what happened?" Teddy asked, breathless with anticipation.
"Well, I had a vision that Sirius was being tortured by Voldemort," Harry said and Teddy sucked in a breath. Tortured? How? he thought, mind full of visions of a body being twisted unnaturally, a loved one's face contorted in pain. "I felt I had to be the one who saved him. That I was the only one who could."
Teddy was silent, fiddling with the cube in his hands as he looked everywhere but at his godfather. He had never in his life imagined Harry telling him anything like this. All of his life, he'd looked up to Harry as the perfect role model and the epitome of coolness. The hero of the Wizarding world, but at the same time perfectly content to teach him to ride a bike.
Harry sighed and shook his head as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and staring down at the floor as he twisted his wedding ring around his finger. "So … ?" Teddy finally ventured.
"I screwed up. My friends refused to let me go by myself, so we all flew down to London because I was convinced that I could save Sirius from Voldemort's torture, but it was all a big lure. Voldemort had planted that vision in me and I was too pig-headed to realize it." Harry looked up and Teddy was shocked at the bleak expression on his face. "The trap was sprung and Sirius and the rest of the Order showed up to rescue our dumb arses."
"Was it a duel? That killed him?" Teddy asked hesitantly.
"Of a sort," Harry said after a moment, giving Teddy the feeling that he wasn't telling him everything. "The point is that my conviction that I was right led to the death of someone I loved very much." He looked back at Teddy and for the first time, he saw the worry for him that lurked in Harry's eyes. "When Katie said you'd gone to Mt Diablo … I didn't know what to think."
Teddy swallowed convulsively around the lump in his throat. "Um, well, Niyol came to me and asked me to help him out," he said, diffidently.
"He did, but how do you know what his motivations were?"
"He wanted the whisker for his lady thunderbird." Didn't he? That's what he said, anyway.
Harry nodded, crossing his arms across his chest as he sat up straight. "That's what he told you. Did you ever meet her?"
"Um … no."
"And how do you know that maybe Coyote Himself didn't put the idea in his head? Or in her head?" Harry raised an eyebrow, bringing Teddy's attention to his old scar. "Not every magical creature is on your side. They have their own agendas and it's up to you to protect yourself."
Teddy frowned, turning over these thoughts in his head. I really just took Niyol at face value when he asked for my help. I didn't really consider anything else. Maybe I shouldn't be an Auror; clearly, I'd be shit at it. "But I did some research on Coyote. He's not like a bad guy or anything," he said defensively, trying to salvage some of his wounded pride.
"He's generally not malicious, no. But he has his own sense of humor. What if He'd thought it was a laugh to let you wander around for days or weeks before showing Himself to you? What if He decided to keep you as a companion until the end of your days? He wouldn't think of that as being bad, would He? Of course not. You're having adventures with Him. He'd keep you warm and fed, just like a treasured pet until maybe one day He tired of you and dropped you off who knows where," Harry said and Teddy swallowed, remembering Coyote telling him of how He'd led Tom Riddle on a merry chase.
"So we were pretty lucky today, then." I don't feel so lucky right now.
"Extremely." Harry leaned forward, green eyes intense. "Listen, I told you about Sirius because I want you to know that I've been there, all right? You're a good person and you tend to see the good in others. It's one of the best things about you and one of the things I don't really want to see change in you. But an Auror can't trust so readily, yeah? Why didn't you come to me or Ginny?"
Teddy sighed, setting aside the cube and pulling Stuart into his lap. "I didn't want to tell you because … because you'd go all … Harry Potter on it," he said, a hot flush of embarrassment rolling over him, making his skin prickle.
"All Harry Potter?" Harry asked, a trace of amusement in his voice. "What does that mean?"
Shrugging, Teddy concentrated on petting the cat and not looking at his godfather. "I dunno. You'd take over and do everything and I wouldn't get to do anything. I mean, Niyol asked me for help, not you." That lump was in his throat again and he took a deep breath. "And I thought that if I could do this, that it would prove to you that I'm good enough to be an Auror like my mum."
Harry was silent for so long, that Teddy thought he'd Apparated silently out of the room and he snuck a look up at him from under his fringe. He sat there on his desk chair, so still he looked like he was carved out of stone until he heaved a huge sigh and scrubbed his hands over his face and through his hair. "I'm sorry," he said, surprising Teddy with the apology. "I'm sorry for making you feel like you aren't good enough or don't deserve to follow in your mother's footsteps. That my own fears made you take such a risk."
Hearing Harry apologize to him and admit that he had fears almost physically rocked Teddy backwards. I've seen him literally jump off a cliff into the sea and fly up into the air on a kiteboard. He's not afraid of anything … is he? "No, you … I mean … I just," he said, groping for words before giving up and staring at Harry, wordlessly pleading with him to make everything the same as it had been before today.
They sat there, staring at each other until Harry finally cleared his throat and slapped his hands gently on his thighs. "So, uh, you're grounded," he said, his voice a little rough.
Teddy almost sighed in relief. Here was something he understood, maybe a little bit better than he should. "I figured that out when you took my laptop and phone away. How long?"
"That depends on your godmother. Don't expect any freedom until after Valentine's Day."
"Well, I doubt I'll have much to look forward to for Valentine's Day, anyway," Teddy said glumly, Mr Taylor's angry face swimming into his vision. "Do you think Kelly's dad will make her quit the team or change schools?"
"I don't think he'll go that far. Adam Taylor is a tough man, but I know he loves his children and listens to his wife. I think he'll come around and if he doesn't, well, I can have a few words with Coach Parker." Harry grinned at him, giving Teddy the feeling that things were returning to a sort of normal. "I know you have Snohomish right after the break and they're a tough team. You want your best Chasers in the game, don't you?"
Teddy's heart lifted at the prospect of Kelly not being made to leave the team and he grinned back at Harry, feeling like they were sharing a secret between the two of them. "Is Ginny super angry with me?"
"She's not pleased with you at the moment. She's really upset that you all left Katie there in the theater."
"Well, we couldn't take her. She wasn't even supposed to be there! Duncan said we were going to that dumb Night at the Museum and his mum and dad made him bring her!"
Harry held up his hands in front of him in a quelling gesture. "Hey, all right, all right. I get it, but you can't deny that leaving a twelve-year-old girl all alone in the middle of the City isn't the best idea, even if she is a witch."
"We couldn't think of what else to do with her." Teddy shrugged helplessly and rolled Stuart onto his back, scratching the cat's belly.
"Well, be that as it may, that's what Gin's the most pissed off about."
"I'll have to make it up to her. I'll probably be changing James's nappies until he's toilet-trained." Teddy fell silent as he continued petting the cat, contemplating his nappy-filled future until Harry shifted to stand up. "Hey, um …"
"Yes?" Harry asked, settling back down into the desk chair.
"Thanks for not … getting all shouty. I mean, I know that you would have been well within your rights, but … thanks. And can we not … tell Gran about any of this? Maybe just keep it between us?"
Harry raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "What's in it for me?"
"What?" Teddy asked, surprised by the question.
"I don't tell your gran that you left a young girl in a Muggle movie theater and ran off with a bunch of friends to get a whisker from a Native American deity. It sounds like something she really ought to know about," Harry said, one corner of his mouth turning up in a smirk.
"No, she really doesn't."
"I disagree. I think she has a right to know what sort of shenanigans you get up to on this side of the pond."
Teddy fought to keep a straight face and shook his head. "Do you really want her to question your parenting skills?"
Harry opened his mouth and paused, brow creasing in a frown. "Hm. I suppose you have a point with that one. Having the redoubtable Andromeda Tonks questioning my parenting skills is the last thing I need."
"I'm glad we were able to come to an understanding, then." Teddy crossed his own arms, helpless to stop the grin stealing across his face. Harry's own grin answered and soon they were laughing, Teddy nearly giddy with the release of tension that came with the laughter. Stuart jumped up out of his lap and raced around the room, adding his own yowls to the noise.
The next few days were like a slow torture to Teddy. The holidays didn't start until Thursday, so Teddy was forced to go to school and endure seeing Kelly from afar. This made things awkward when Kelly made pains at lunch on Monday to sit at the opposite end of the table from him instead of across from him as she usually did. Maria Cruz and Jenny Ishikawa gathered close to her, shooting Teddy dark looks as they put their heads together.
"So, uh, you're not talking to Kelly?" Duncan asked, cutting his eyes at the group of girls.
"Her dad made it known that it would be best if I didn't talk to her. Ever," Teddy said glumly, pushing his lunch aside.
"Really? That's harsh. What about Quidditch?"
Teddy shrugged and sighed. "Her dad threatened to get her off the team," he said in a low voice, careful to not let the other team members hear him.
"No way. He can't do that! Snohomish—"
"Shut up! Harry said he'd talk to Coach about it. Her dad even threatened that he'd make her change schools." He snuck a glance down the table, startled to see Kelly looking back at him and he shifted his eyes away. "Anyway, what about you? I know Harry sent a patronus to your dad."
"Oh, I'm fucked. No computer, no phone. Dad's got me doing extra chores during the break and he's arranging some sort of volunteer work over the break. Says I need to learn the value of the 'chain of command' or I'll be paste when I get my first assignment." Duncan sighed and upended his bag of crisps into his mouth, crunching noisily. "Won't be able to see Alison until school starts again and Mom has suddenly forgotten every housekeeping spell she knows."
"Sorry, man."
Duncan shrugged. "Eh, whatever. It's just a few more months and we'll be at the academy, right?" His eyes widened and he gasped. "You are still joining, right? Harry didn't …"
"No, he's not going to stop me from joining." At least something went right last night, Teddy thought as he bumped fists with Duncan.
"Did you tell him about the waiver?"
"He already knew. Archimedes told him."
"Well, I guess that's one less unpleasant conversation you had to have."
"It's the little victories," Teddy agreed, sneaking one more glance at Kelly.
At the end of the day on Tuesday, he opened his locker and found a wallet-sized picture of him and Kelly at the dance. His breath caught in his throat as he looked at it, eyes moving over the snow falling gently behind them, her hair glinting gold in the photographer's perfect lighting. He hadn't really appreciated it at the time, but his waistcoat and tie really did match the green of her dress perfectly and he flushed as he remembered showing off and changing the color of his hair for her.
Turning it over, he read her message on the back. Thank you for making my first dance so memorable.
—Kelly
xxo
X? That means a kiss, right? Teddy thought, heart quickening as he glanced around, hoping she'd be lurking somewhere nearby, but the hallway was empty. He looked at the picture again, wincing at the dopey expression on his own face before tucking it into his chest pocket.
"Why didn't we send all this stuff ahead?" Teddy grumbled as he dragged two heavy wheeled suitcases along the uneven pavement toward the San Francisco Portkey Departures office.
"We did. This is all last-minute stuff and fragile items," Ginny said, pushing James in his pushchair. Teddy noticed she carried only her purse. "Oh, wait a minute! Harry, look! I want to get one of these for Mum and Dad! I've been on the lookout and everyone said they were sold out!"
Teddy sighed as Ginny grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him into the shop, calling out, "Watch James! We'll only be a minute!" He took a moment to make sure the suitcases and James's pushchair weren't blocking the pavement and leaned back against the brick wall of the shop. After a moment, he reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and took out the picture of him and Kelly at the dance, watching as he took her hand and she smiled up at him, the snow falling endlessly behind them.
"Cute baby," said a voice and Teddy looked away from the picture, seeing the blanket-wrapped man he'd chatted with at Aquatic Park squatting down in front of James, dangling a strip of leather strung with beads in front of the boy. James screeched in delight as he reached for it with a chubby hand.
Looking around for Harry or Ginny and not seeing them, Teddy moved closer and put his hand protectively on top of James's head, tucking the photo safely away. "Erm, thanks," he said, surprised to see the man in the magical section of San Francisco. Harry always says not to make assumptions.
The man let James capture the beaded leather in his hand and let go, grinning as he crowed in delight. Standing up, he looked Teddy up and down, dark eyes sharp. "You look like you have the weight of the world on you. I might have a good skipping stone on me," he said, patting his hands over the pockets of his western-style shirt and jeans.
"No, it's okay. It's been a rough couple of days, but I'll be all right." He glanced down, noticing that the man was still barefoot. "D'you need any money for shoes? It's really cold out here."
The man smiled and shook his head. "Always ready to help those in need. Even those who don't ask."
"Um, Harry says that not everyone knows how to ask for help."
"Harry Potter is very wise," the man said, inclining his head. "Most of the time."
"How d'you—"
"I love this time of year," the man said, taking a deep breath and looking up at the clear blue sky. "Everyone is so happy and full of good cheer. It almost makes you think magic is real, doesn't it?"
"Um, do you know where you are?" Teddy said, wondering if the barmy old fellow had found a back way into the magical thoroughfare.
"I know exactly where I am. And where I've been." The man looked back at him and grinned, teeth flashing white in the bright morning sun. "Do you, Teddy Lupin?"
Teddy looked at him and gripped the handle of James's pushchair as a wave of vertigo overcame him. The man's dark eyes flashed gold and his teeth looked very sharp. "What … who …" he said weakly as Coyote reached out a hand to steady him, Teddy's skin prickling at the touch.
"Be easy, Teddy Lupin," He said, His voice transporting Teddy back to that darkened tunnel where it had just been the two of them for an unknown amount of time. "I wanted to give you a gift before you left for your holiday."
"A what?" Teddy asked, struggling to reconcile Coyote the deity with the blanket-wrapped old man in front of him, the man that he'd met twice before. He looked down and saw He was holding something out to him. He took it, turning it over in his hands and realized that it was a chunk of what looked like gold but couldn't be as it would be worth several fortunes. The shape of it triggered a dim memory and Teddy struggled to bring it forward, but it was like trying to hold on to a dream. "Um, thanks?"
"It's only fool's gold, but it's still pretty." He looked up at him and grinned again. "Maybe it will lead you on an adventure one day!"
"I don't—" Teddy started, only to be interrupted by Coyote's hand touching him once more, this time on his forehead.
"Be well, Teddy Lupin. Yoki has built her nest and she and Niyol are mated. You have a good heart, one that does your parents proud. You have challenges ahead and you will need it," He said, no longer sounding like a slightly dotty old man. "Enjoy your holiday. All will be well."
Teddy concentrated on the feeling of the piece of metal in his hands as a wave of befuddlement came over him and he shook his head, frowning as he looked around. He looked down at James and saw him chewing on what looked like a leather thong strung with beads. "Where did you get that?" he asked, gently pulling it away from him and looking at it. "And where did this come from?" The surface of the fool's gold shone back at him and he shrugged, tucking it and the string of beads in his pocket just as Ginny and Harry came out of the shop.
"Sorry that took so long!" Ginny said, holding the door open for Harry who was now carrying two very large shopping bags. "I had to use my powers of persuasion. Can you believe the shopkeeper said all of these were on reserve?" She took control of James's pushchair and headed off toward the Portkey Office, still blissfully unencumbered by any packages or luggage.
"All right?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow as Teddy continued to stand still, bemusedly watching Ginny sail off into the crowd.
"Yeah, great. We'd better get going or Ginny's going to leave us here!" He grabbed onto the handles of the rolling suitcases, his heart feeling lighter than it had the last few days. Maybe Kelly's dad will have cooled off by New Year's Day and we'll be able to talk to each other again. After all, miracles do happen.