A/N: I know it has been a really long time since I posted a new chapter, so I understand if not many people read this one. But I hope that those that do read it enjoy it. Thank you for letting me continue the story and for sticking with me even though it has been a while.

The Story Of Teddy Lupin

Chapter 12: Becoming a Teenager

the morning of Monday, April 18, 2011 found Teddy laying in his bed waiting until a reasonable hour to actually get up. He was always excited on his birthday and was usually the first up, but now that he was officially a teenager he thought he should start acting like one. So he was trying to sleep in, but he just couldn't make himself do it. Instead he got up and got ready for class. Just as he was getting ready to head downstairs to the common room there was a tap on the dormitory window. When he looked over he saw Harry's owl, a tan owl named Prongs (he had considered getting a white owl like the one he'd had in school, but decided that would be too weird). Teddy went to the window and let Prongs in. The owl landed on Teddy's bed before holding his leg up to give Teddy his letter. He muttered to himself, "wonder why they're writing me when they're coming up this afternoon?" He opened the letter and read,

Dear Teddy,

I know we are coming to see you tonight, but I still wanted to be the first to wish you a happy birthday. I know you are always up bright and early on your birthday so I knew Prongs' tapping wouldn't wake you.

I can't believe you're a teenager. I remember the day your dad came to tell us you were born and that I was to be your Godfather. I was so excited for him, it was the happiest I had ever seen him. I so wish he was here to see the young man you've grown to be. That being said, I found a picture of our dads from when they were around thirteen and thought you might enjoy seeing it so I sent it with this letter.

Now, on a less depressing note (I can say that right? I always liked when people told me about my parents but also thought it was depressing so I didn't want to discuss it too long) we have your presents all wrapped and ready to go this afternoon. And I must say, I think you'll like mine the best.

Enjoy your day and we'll see you in a few hours.

Love,

Harry

Teddy reached for the envelope again to look for the picture. When he found it he looked at it for a few minutes before he hung it on the wall next to his bed. He looked at it one more time before going downstairs realizing that he had his father's eyes. It was the one thing he was never able to morph. They were the same shade of green no matter how hard he tried to change them. He didn't know why he had never noticed his father's eye color before now, he'd seen plenty of pictures. But in this one he looked so happy. He was laughing with the other boys and his smile actually reached his eyes for once. Maybe the was why he finally realized their eyes were the same. Whatever the reason it meant one thing to Teddy, he would never try to change his eyes again.

When Teddy made his way into the Great Hall he ran into Neville.

"Happy birthday Teddy!"

"Thank you Professor."

"Here, Hannah and I got you a little something." Neville handed Teddy a small package then.

When Teddy took it he looked up at Neville and said with a smile, "Professor, do you get all of your students birthday presents?"

"Only the ones I've known since they were babies. And until Victoria starts school thats only you. Well go ahead, open it."

So Teddy tore into the wrapping and found a board game. Upon closer inspection he saw that it was an agricultural game where you had to build/grow a garden. It was so Neville Teddy couldn't help but smile. He looked back up at Neville, "Thanks so much Professor. Maybe when we see you over the summer holiday we can all play it together."

Neville beamed, glad Teddy liked his gift. "That would be great Teddy. Well, I better get to the greenhouses to get ready for class. Enjoy your day!"

Teddy made his way over to the Hufflepuff table, it was mostly empty seeing as he was up so early. But he sat down to have breakfast and wait for his friends to join him. He was only alone for maybe 10 minutes before Neil and Lee came running into the Great Hall.

"Happy Birthday Teddy!" Lee gasped out of breath from racing Neil down there.

"I can't believe you get up so early on your birthday. I prefer to sleep in, its the only day my mum lets me get away with it."

The boys laughed in response and then Neil and Lee handed Teddy poorly wrapped packages. Teddy smiled and immediately started opening the first one he could get his hands on. Lee got him a quidditch play book specifically geared toward plays for chasers. Teddy smiled and thought that it would come in handy for next year. "I'm gonna read this cover to cover and memorize everything it says over the summer."

"Hey Lee maybe you should get yourself one of those books to study this summer too," Neil said jokingly.

"I did." Lee then pulled the same book out of his school bag.

Teddy shook his head at his friend and opened Neil's present. It was a broom cleaning kit. "Thanks Neil this is great."

"You're welcome."

The boys sat down to have breakfast then. While they were eating members of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team came by to wish Teddy a happy birthday. By the time the boys left for their first class of the day Teddy was having a great day already.

When Teddy got out of his last class of the day he was heading straight for Hagrid's hut to meet his family when he smack into Draco.

"Draco! Did you come with Gran?"

"Oh. No. I'm actually here for a different reason. Astoria and I sent your present with Andromeda. This was a last minute appointment or I would have brought it to you myself."

"I trust you've had a good day?"

"Yeah. It was good. Wish I didn't have homework. But other than that it was good."

"Ah, Draco there you are. Thank you for coming last minute." Headmistress McGonagall came walking down the corridor towards them with William Greengrass. "Oh Teddy, happy birthday."

"Thank you Headmistress. See you Draco, I'm meeting Gran Harry and Ginny at Hagrid's."

Teddy went to run off in that direction but Greengrass stuck his foot out tripping Teddy and muttering "Mutt" under his breath. Draco and McGonagall both rounded on Greengrass as Teddy was standing back up. Draco grabbed Greengrass' arm, "This is still going on?! I thought we talked about this! You and Your father swore to me that you would stop treating people like this!"

"Not sure why you care so much. I hear your favorite word when you were my age was Mudblood," Greengrass mumbled.

Draco paled and glanced at Teddy. He had definitely heard.

"Mr. Malfoy has grown into a wonderful man who does not deserve to have his past thrown in his face. You would be lucky if you turned out half as good as he did. Now, apologize to Teddy and your uncle and come with me."

He mumbled "Sorry" and followed McGonagall to her office.

Draco looked at Teddy again before following after them.

Teddy made his way down to Hagrid's a bit slower than he was going before thinking about what Greengrass had said about Draco. Draco had always been great to him. He never would have thought him capable of using such an awful word. When he finally made it to Hagrid's he was still very confused, but when Hagrid threw the door open and Junior jumped up to lick him in greeting he forgot about Draco. Inside he found his Gran, Harry, and Ginny sitting around Hagrid's table with a huge yellow cake sitting at the center of it. They all stood up so they could hug him and Ginny and his Gran kissed him. They all sat down around the table and his Gran started serving the cake.

"Cake before dinner?" Teddy asked with a look of shock.

"Every once in a while is okay, especially on your birthday" Andromeda said with a smile.

As Teddy dug in to his cake Harry started setting presents next to him on the table.

"You've got one from Grandmum Molly and Granddad Arthur, one from Hermione and Ron and the kids, one from George and Angelina and the kids, one from Percy and Audrey and the kids, one from Charlie, one from Bill and Fleur and the kids, one from Victoire -"

"I thought you said Bill and Fleur and the kids? Why wouldn't Victoire be included in that?"

"She got you a present on her own this year" Harry said with a shrug. "And then we got you one and so did Andromeda."

"Oh and Narcissi sent one and so did Draco and Astoria and Scorpius" Andromeda added.

This reminded Teddy of what he'd heard Greengrass say earlier. "Harry, you went to school with Draco right?"

"Yeah I did. Why?"

"Well, I know you guys weren't friends, because you're still friends with all the people you were friends with in school. But I wanted to ask about something I heard today about him."

Harry and Ginny exchanged a look. "Go ahead."

"Well, I ran into him on my way down here and then Professor McGonagall came by with William Greengrass and as I was leaving Draco Greengrass tripped me and called me a mutt -"

"WHAT?!" Ginny yelled. "I thought Draco handled that a long time ago?" She looked at Andromeda.

"He did. He talked with Griffin and William about it. Told Griffin in no uncertain terms that if he wanted to continue working for Draco then he would teach his son how you're supposed to treat people and that Astoria agreed with him so not to try running to her to get her to convince Draco to change his mind. William swore it would never happen again." She turned to Teddy, "Has this been happening all along and you just didn't mention it?"

"No, he's left me alone for a while now. Anyways, when he did that Draco tore into him and William's response was to say that he didn't know why Draco cared so much since when he was our age his favorite word was the M-word. Draco looked sick and Professor McGonagall said that Draco had grown into a wonderful man and that William would be lucky if he turned out half as good as he did. Was Draco horrible in school?"

They all exchanged looks again and seemed like they weren't going to answer. So Teddy looked to Hagrid because he knew he could get him to answer. "Hagrid?"

"Well, ter be honest Teddy, he wasn't the nicest. But I think it best if Harry or Ginny explained. They know more than I do bout how he was."

So Teddy looked to Harry and Ginny expectantly.

Ginny sighed, "Well, you have to understand that how you're raised affects how you act. The three of us raised you to treat all people nicely. But Draco's father was a very bad man and he taught Draco to be the same as him. Which meant putting stock in blood status. So yes he called muggle-borns the M-word."

"If you're going to tell him about how Lucius was you can't leave out Narcissi just because she's come to her senses now." Andromeda turned to Teddy, "She was just as bad as Lucius. That's why we didn't have a relationship until a while after the war. Really, it was the war that made her change. She almost lost Draco several times. And the war is what made Draco change too."

Ginny nodded, "When Harry, Ron, and Hermione saved him from the fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement during the final battle it meant a lot to Draco. He was grateful. He saw what our side was willing to do at the same time he saw what the Death Eaters were willing to do. And he didn't like what they were doing. He realized he'd been on the wrong side."

"Draco was a Death Eater?"

Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "Yes. But again, he's changed a lot. He regrets his actions during the war and has done a lot to make up for it. You know he helped Hermione pass the new legislature about the treatment of House Elves."

"I can't believe he was just like William. Worse really since he was a Death Eater. He's so nice now. Did he ever call Hermione the M-word?"

Hagrid snorted, "She was his favorite person her call that. Ron tried to hex him fer it once. Backfired on 'im. But Draco always called her that."

Harry and Ginny gave Hagrid a 'please stop talking' look then and he thankfully did.

"What? How am I supposed to be his friend now? How can you let him in our house Gran? He's horrible!"

"No he's not Teddy. Not now. He was bad when he was a teenager. Would you want something you did in school to be held against you for the rest of your life? You didn't know him back then, you have to focus on how he's been since he's been in your life."

Teddy stood up then, "He was on the same side as the people that killed my parents! Your daughter! Your husband! Harry's parents and Godfather! How could you all just get over that and let that go?! I love you all but I could have my parents now if it wasn't for them!"

Harry walked over to Teddy and reached out for him but Teddy backed away. Harry looked him in the eye, "I understand better than anyone else in this room how you feel. You just said they killed my parents and my Godfather. I was in the same situation as you growing up with no parents and then when I was 15 I lost my Godfather too. But Draco did not personally kill any of them. Voldemort himself killed my parents and Bellatrix killed Sirius. So I blame them for their deaths. Draco did not kill your parents. And there's no way to know if they would've lived had he been on our side instead. I know this is hard Teddy. But I've forgiven Draco for his involvement. And I think you would be better off doing the same. I'm not saying you have to do it this second. Take some time to come to terms with it of course. But you love Draco, so don't let this ruin your relationship with him."

Teddy looked away. "I couldn't imagine losing you in two years. You're the closest thing I have to a dad. You basically are my dad. I don't know how you get over that."

Harry reached for Teddy again and this time Teddy let him pull him into a hug. "It takes time. I still miss Sirius. It's why James is named James Sirius, for my dad and my Godfather. But its not healthy to blame everyone for it, especially someone who didn't do it. It's not healthy to hold grudges for too long."

Teddy nodded against Harry's chest.

Ginny added softly, "Why don't you come open some presents. Lets not let this ruin your birthday sweetie."

So Teddy sat back down and started on his pile of presents. He got books, a sneekoscope, drawings from the little kids, all sorts of things from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and Honeydukes, and a jumper. But his best present by far was Victoire's. She got him a signed England International Quidditch poster. It was of his favorite player, Liam Jennings. He decided he would owl her that night to ask how she had gotten it signed.

After they finished up their cake they all made their way back up to the castle to put Teddy's presents away before dinner. Teddy promptly hung his new poster above his bed next to the picture of his dad. Then they all made their way to the Great Hall. Unfortunately Harry and Ginny can never be at Hogwarts without getting a lot of attention. All the professors knew them and the students knew of them so they were often surrounded by people. Tonight was no different. All of the professors stopped by to say hi and the students were pointing and whispering. But Teddy was pretty used to it at this point, so he just enjoyed his time with them. Then when dinner was over they walked with Teddy to the faculty lounge and told Teddy goodnight there, hugging and kissing him.

"Bye. Thanks for coming and for my presents. Tell everyone else I said thanks too. I'll try to send them all letters thanking them."

"Good idea Teddy," Andromeda said, she was very old school in that she thought all presents deserved thank you letters.

"Love you all" Teddy said as he turned to head to his dormitory.

"Love you too" they called after him.

Harry led them into the lounge then where they found McGonagall waiting on them.

"Punctuality was never your strong suit was it Potter? I believe you and Weasley were late to your very first class here."

"Sorry Professor."

"Oh come on now Potter, I'm just kidding. And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Minerva?"

"Well its not easy to feel like an adult when you were always the scariest teacher and you just reprimanded me," Harry said with a slight blush.

Ginny, Andromeda, and Neville all laughed.

Harry looked to Neville, "You mean to tell me that when you hear her yelling at a student you don't panic even a little?"

Neville squirmed, "Maybe a little."

"That's what I thought."

McGonagall just shook her head at them both.

They all chatted for a bit before Andromeda, Harry, and Ginny used the floo to go home.

That night Teddy wrote everyone a thank you note. But Victoire's was different than the others:

Vic,

Thank you so much for the poster! It's my favorite present. But how did you get the autograph? Seriously, I bet its a great story so I can't wait to hear it.

Teddy

He sent the letter that night hoping she would answer him soon.

Teddy got his wish for a fast response, Moony came swooping in during lunch. When Teddy saw Victoire's handwriting on the envelope he set his food aside and immediately tore into it.

Teddy,

I'm so glad you liked it. I wanted to get you something special because 13 is a big birthday. You're a teenager now. I can't wait to be a teenager. I bet its great.

Anyways, I sent Liam a letter telling him how you were his biggest fan (even though we argue over which one of us is actually his biggest fan) and how you studied his moves and tried to duplicate them when you played because you were a chaser on your House team. I told him you were turning 13 soon and that I wanted to get you something amazing because you're my best friend and that a signed picture of him would be the best present ever.

He wrote me back saying how my letter really stood out to him because most people just ask for an autograph for themselves not someone else. He said that he was impressed with my selflessness and would therefore be happy to send me something he thought you would like. He asked for your name and everything.

I wrote back thanking him a bunch and told him your name, what Hogwarts house you were in, and your jersey number.

So then a few days later I got another owl from him. He sent a letter with the poster that said he sent you a poster and included a signed picture for me. The picture says "To Victoire, you sound like a wonderful friend for someone to have. Yours, Liam Jennings". He also told me what he wrote on your poster. The poster was rolled up and I didn't want to see it before you did. He said he wrote "To Teddy, I'm glad to hear you are a chaser too. I won't hold you being in Hufflepuff against you (I was in Ravenclaw myself). Maybe one day we can talk strategy together. Hope you have a great 13th birthday. Liam Jennings".

Is that what it said?

Love,

Victoire

Lee and Neil were reading the letter over his shoulder. When Teddy finished reading it he grabbed some parchment to write her back, hoping to get the letter sent before lunch was over. While he was writing Neil asked, "Does she always sign her letters 'love Victoire'?"

Teddy looked up. "Pretty much, yeah. Why?"

Neil shrugged, "Its kinda weird don't you think?"

Lee nodded, "Yeah. You said she's your best friend. And so are we, but we don't sign our letters love Lee or Neil."

"I don't know. She's just always done it."

"Do you sign your's love Teddy?"

"No."

"Why not?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I just never have. Does it matter?"

Neil shrugged again. "Maybe you should. I bet she would appreciate it."

Lee nodded in agreement.

Teddy thought about it while he was finishing his letter:

Vic,

Oh my gosh thats awesome! You're awesome! Yeah thats what the poster said. I couldn't believe it when I read it. I hung it above my bed. Thank you again, seriously.

And being a teenager doesn't really feel any different than being 12 did. I think the real difference between you're age now and being a teenager is that you'll be at Hogwarts. But you'll start Hogwarts next year (hopefully being sorted into Hufflepuff) since you turn 11 soon. So I think that'll be more exciting than turning 13. Speaking of, I now have to try to top this gift for your birthday and you didn't leave me much time to do that. Especially since final exams are soon. But I will succeed. But lunch is almost over and I want to get this sent before I have to go to class so I guess I'm gonna be done now. I'll see you soon though.

Love,

Teddy

Teddy folded the letter and gave to to Moony, telling him to take it to Victoire. He started gathering his things for class but noticed Lee and Neil staring at him. "What?"

"You actually wrote love Teddy."

"Yeah. I didn't think you'd actually do it," added Lee.

"You were the ones that said I should."

"Yeah, but I didn't think you would. She's gonna think you're in love with her now."

"What? No. We're just friends."

Lee shook his head. "I'm pretty sure she's in love with you Teddy."

He shook his head, "No way. Not possible."

Neil nodded. "Dude, next time you're with her pay attention to how she looks at you. She's totally in love. You'll see."

Teddy just shook his head again, "Whatever guys. Come on, we better get to class."

They followed him from the Great Hall shaking their heads at just how thick their best friend was when it came to Victoire.