Shortly afterward, the rest of the Aurors joined him in the living room. Hasan immediately stood by Teddy, brushing their shoulders. Teddy gave him a tight smile, hoping it would be enough to assuage whatever was freaking Hasan out at the moment. Was it the werewolf element? This was the first time they had ever been pulled into a case involving dangerous magical creatures on their own terf. The tight smile Hasan returned didn't give Teddy any clues.
Once their circle had formed, Collins spoke up in annoyed tones, "Why is the Ministry wasting resources on this? The marks are clearly from a werewolf. It should be easy enough to quarantine the werewolves until we find out which one of them did it."
Teddy's teeth clenched at the idea and he glanced at Hasan for his reaction. Hasan looked equally annoyed, so that was something. Belatedly, Teddy thought of the Alpha. He checked to see if the Alpha was listening. The Alpha stood outside the kitchen, body angled so that he could observe inside and the forest around them. Probably feeling Teddy's gaze, he turned his head to the kitchen. If he had been making an effort, he could have heard Collins. Again, his face gave away nothing. He stared at Teddy for several seconds until Teddy had to look away, unnerved. Out of the corner of his eye, Teddy saw the Alpha turn to scan the rest of the forest.
Teddy swallowed and addressed Collins, "How do you explain the knife and skillet? She had already returned from being a wolf before she was killed."
Jones, Collins' teammate, spoke up. "How do you explain the claw marks?" He didn't have the same accusatory tones as Collins, but waited curiously for the answer.
Teddy shrugged. "I'm not saying I have an answer but I am saying that it isn't as cut and dry as Collins is making it out to be."
Harry raised a hand and everyone turned to him. He quietly asked, "Have you heard of the Moonlight Killer?"
The Moonlight Killer was a mass murderer from over twenty years ago that Harry had never caught. They were infamous for attacking people with werewolf-like markings. The werewolf community had only been freed of suspicion when it was proved a few of the kills couldn't have happened on the full moon.
Harry continued, "I believe this may be another of his victims but the Ministry disagrees and doesn't want to waste me on the case. I will still be overseeing this investigation but that is why you have been called on."
That made sense. If they were going to catch this bastard, they were going to need more manpower than what Harry could spare between 'more important duties.' That didn't mean Teddy was happy about sharing this case with Collins and Jones. Lilith was his. Her murderer was his. He turned towards Hasan to gauge his reaction.
Hasan solemnly nodded back and clapped Teddy firmly on the shoulder. "We'll get him," Hasan said in a soft dangerous voice that made Teddy glad to have him as a friend.
After that, Collins, Jones, and Harry wanted to talk logistics. Teddy kind of followed the conversation but after awhile mostly gave up when it was clear that Hasan was actually following the conversation. Teddy hung on a little longer before slumping onto one of Lilith's couches, past caring about protocol or evidence. Hasan sat next to him and Teddy assumed the rest of the Aurors followed suit. By that time, Teddy had covered his face with his hand, hoping everyone would just assume he was tired or had a headache.
Eventually, the torturous conversation came to an end and they had to trek back out to the apparition point. Collins and Jones walked briskly, nerves probably spurring them on. Hasan and Teddy hung back. In the dark, no one saw when Hasan squeezed Teddy's hand or the tears that pricked at Teddy's eyes afterwards.
At the precinct, Hasan nudged Teddy along the basics of putting away their gear as Teddy followed in a dream-like trance. Normally Hasan was a lot more strict about protocol around paperwork and gear, and Teddy made a note to jibe him about it later when Teddy wasn't so wrung out. Then he followed Hasan to the apparition points.
When Hasan saw him stepping towards one, he said, "Oh no you don't." Then he pushed Teddy towards the floo network. "I'm not going to have my partner splinch himself because he was too fucking tired to apparate properly."
Teddy merely grunted and followed where Hasan pushed him. Teddy briefly considered where he wanted to go. Everyone was probably asleep and he didn't want to see Harry or the werewolves just yet. His grandmother's it was. Teddy turned to say goodbye to Hasan and was startled to see him still standing right besides him.
"I don't think you realize how bloody out of it you are right now," Hasan said dryly to Teddy's surprised look. "Just go through the floo so I know you got home alright, yeah?"
Teddy nodded, tried to thank Hasan, and then put his effort into enunciating clearly enough to end up where he wanted.
Later, alone in his childhood bed, Teddy waited for the tears to come. Instead he stared up at the ceiling, dry eyed and painfully awake, as his thoughts chased themselves in incriminating circles for a very long time.