Of Snowmen and Made-up Memories
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
It had been many years since someone had called him the Boy Who Lived. Though Harry supposed people didn't go about calling men 'boys' when they had fathered a couple of their own, except in jest or alluding to their antics. They certainly didn't call Aurors so, though he was no longer that, either.
As Hogwarts' Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor now, as well as Gryffindor's Head of House, he had far bigger shoes to fill. His short stint at teaching Dumbledore's Army in Fifth-year hadn't prepared him for watching tiny robed children walk the length of the Great Hall and have their heads dwarfed under the Sorting Hat as it deliberated their house. Had he been that little then, when he had first fought Voldemort? When he had found the dark wizard hiding in the back of the head of the professor who had sat in this very office, employed to teach all of them how to defend themselves?
No, he couldn't have been.
Four months into the term, he still couldn't believe Minerva had trusted him with the position. Trouble found him all his life, and though Harry had always relied on luck, he was now responsible for teaching tiny little witches and wizards how not to die and trust that it would be enough when he'd much rather protect each and every one of them himself and spare them any grief.
It was a hard line not to cross, the one that divided being a mentor and a saviour. Especially when it involved his godson. Teddy had started Hogwarts at the same time as Harry had accepted the teaching position—or, rather, Harry had accepted it because Teddy had enrolled. Watching Remus' son perform an Expelliarmus had awakened not only pride but an unhealthy dose of terror. The thought that the incantation could one day be used in a life-or-death situation had Harry gripping his wand so hard it creaked.
Hermione had to constantly remind him that Harry himself had raged the most when kept unprepared and in the dark, no matter how protective the intent behind keeping him there had been. They would come together once again if needed, she would tell him, the three of them, along with the entirety of the Order. But knowledge was a tool, a powerful one. Better that the children were prepared and properly taught, rather than left to flounder for themselves, didn't he think so?
Her admonishments were ones he tried to keep in mind. She was usually right, always had been. Lost in his thoughts, Harry barely heard the knock on his door.
"Come in!"
The solid door slid open, his visitor peeking inside. Seemed his thoughts had manifested their object.
"I was about to come looking for you, Teddy. Have a seat."
"Uncle Harry… There's something I wanted to ask."
"Yes, Teddy? What is it?"
"You're not really my uncle, are you?"
The question stabbed right through his heart, though Harry tried not to show it.
"Well, not strictly speaking, no. But I am your godfather, and that's close enough, wouldn't you say?"
"No."
Another blow. Children's straightforwardness could be rather brutal.
Harry rose from his chair and went to kneel by Teddy's seat. "To be honest, if things had gone differently, I would have been more of a cousin."
"How so?" The boy's eyes were brown today, but no matter how different he looked, Harry could always pick him out in a crowd. It was almost like a sixth sense, something he had developed in time after spending Teddy's baby years worried he would lose him somewhere and never find him again.
"Well, our fathers were the best of friends. Had life been different—kinder, I suppose, my dad would've been your godfather instead."
Brown eyes darkened to a full black. "But it never is, is it? Kinder?"
Harry went still. "Not unless we make it so. Your aunt Hermione spends most days fighting to—"
"She's not my aunt either," Teddy added.
"Not technically."
Though she definitely wouldn't bugger up this conversation half as much.
His godson's gaze dropped to the ground. "They said I had no parents. And that you're not my uncle, that you couldn't be."
"Whoever said that is a word I cannot say without being hexed by Andromeda and Hermione both, but that isn't true. They might no longer be with us, but I see them every day, your parents. You've inherited your father's personality and your mother's looks. I can't look at you and not remember them.
"And I would adopt you in a heartbeat, Teddy Lupin. Hermione would fight me for the privilege if the amount of books she buys you is any clue, and she'd probably win. She's scary that way. We just didn't think it was something you would have wanted, or we would have brought it up.
"The fact that we haven't… it doesn't make us any less your family. Hermione, she's your godmother and like a sister to me. You know, when I was your age the little I had left for family, by blood, was rubbish. They were awful people. And somewhere along the way, I learned that family is as much collected as it is born. You have your grandmum, and she's terrific, but you have all of us as well. The Weasleys, the Potters, the Grangers, the Lovegoods and Longbottoms. The last names might change, but it doesn't make us any less loyal, any less loving."
"Do you think Dad would've objected to it?" Teddy asked. "If—if you adopted me?"
"I think your father would want whatever you wanted. He was the best of men."
A thoughtful expression stole over his godson's face. "Will you tell me another story of him? Of Messrs. Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs?"
"Of course," Harry replied. "Let me see… did I ever tell you about the time Padfoot changed into a dog and ran around with an invisibility cloak?"
Teddy shook his head.
"Well, Padfoot had, like the other Marauders, an uncanny talent for magic. One of his strengths was Transfiguration and he used it to transform himself into a large black dog."
"He was an Animagus, wasn't he? Like the Headmistress?"
"Yes, that's exactly what he was, though the shape he took was close to that of a Grim."
Teddy frowned. "A Grim?"
Harry nodded. "Grims are thought to be an ill omen in the Wizarding World, many people are afraid of them. I myself thought I'd die after seeing one."
"But he wasn't scary, was he? Padfoot?"
"No, he wasn't. What he was, was a prankster."
"Like Uncle—" Teddy stopped, and Harry waited to see if he would forego the 'uncle' part. "Like Uncle George?"
"Like Uncle George," Harry confirmed. "So, knowing he took the shape of a terrifying dog, Padfoot bit the corner of Prongs' invisibility cloak, and took off, carrying it across Hogwarts in his dog form."
"Why?"
"To scare the Slytherins, mostly. Imagine how terrified they were, seeing a vanishing Grim appearing at random spots throughout the dungeons? Now Moony, figuring out what he had planned, chased the half-there, half-not Grim all over, trying to stop him. Your dad… he was the sane one."
Harry spotted a happy glint in his godson's eyes.
"What happened then?" Teddy asked.
"Well, Padfoot ran out of the castle and Prongs joined the chase, in full deer form. They got covered in snow, the three of them. At the time, Headmistress McGonagall was the Head of Gryffindor, so, when Mr. Filch alerted her to the situation, she marched into the grounds after the Grim. Padfoot and Prongs weren't supposed to have become Animagi, you know, it was highly illegal to do so without the Ministry knowing about it. They had only done so because they loved your father so much, but they couldn't risk having McGonagall find out, so Padfoot ran off into the Forbidden Forest with the cloak and hid. Prongs wasn't quick enough though, he was too noticeable, so he tried to act like he was a regular stag. Except he took a bite and tried to munch on frozen grass and had to spit it back out. I honestly don't know how that pitiful display could have fooled McGonagall, but I guess it did. She told your father off, but let it slide without detention. There was no dog to be seen, after all, just Remus and a fumbling, panic-eyed buck in sight."
Teddy smiled. "Did this story really happen?"
"I one hundred percent have no doubt in my mind that it did, Teddy." Harry mussed his godson's now blue hair. "Now come, I managed to get permission from the Headmistress and James, Albus, and Lily are coming to visit for the New Year. We don't want to be late to building snowmen, do we?"
When Teddy was layering snow on the ground, a prickling feeling ran up his neck. He turned his head towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest—a huge black dog was playing tug-of-war with the man he had only ever seen in photographs, while a large deer shook its body and head, dislodging the snow from its antlers and torso.
Teddy packed up a snowball and threw it in their direction. The dog released the shimmering fabric, tongue lolling out its mouth. Dad shook his head, folding the cloak in his hand. He shot Teddy a conspiratorial smile.
Teddy snickered.
A/N: Written for The Marauder's Guild as part of Marauders Advent 2023 over at Archive Of Our Own. My character and prompts given to me were: Sirius Black/Invisibility Cloak
This is my second entry to the fest, the main one is called "Three, Two, One... Happy Mischief!" and is all romance and fluff, so if this brought you down, go read that instead (I swear I tried to come up with a happy story based on the character and prompt for this one, but my mind came up with this instead and I made myself cry, so... sorry if that was the case for you as well).
Hope you guys enjoyed it anyway and Happy New Year!