September 1st, 2009
The train station was buzzing. Remus usually did not take the train, so he hadn't been to the station for years now, but they were here for a very important reason today.
It was time for Teddy to go to Hogwarts.
Dora had only been released from St Mungo's a week ago, while Eliza stayed in the hospital. She had survived August's full moon without issue, which Healer Davis said was promising. By introducing Wolfsbane at the very beginning, they may be able to help Eliza live a relatively normal life. She would remain in St Mungo's for a few months, however, to monitor her. She would return for full moons for a long time. The lycanthropy had stunted her growth before birth, which was why she was so small, but she had already been able to gain weight.
Dora was still struggling with that, and was only allowed to leave as long as she followed the very particular potion and meal plan set up by Lonnie. Remus was happy to put himself in charge of making sure she did, much to her annoyance. He argued it was only fair, because she was obsessive over making sure he was cared for around full moons.
Remus kept his arm around her to keep her at his side in the busy train station, because she was still a bit weak on her feet and to ensure none of the jostling crowd bumped into her. Harry and Ginny were also with them, along with the rest of the kids, all eager to see Teddy off. Teddy had chosen an owl for his pet, but the owl had to stay in Teddy's room because it truly disliked Remus' presence, like most animals. At night, Teddy would open his window and allow Mercury to go free. It would be much easier at the school for the black feathered owl, he could have free roam all the time.
"Have you got everything?" Dora asked Teddy for the tenth time that morning.
"If I've forgotten anything, Dad can just bring it." Teddy said, facing her. He had been disappointed that she had been unable to go to Diagon Alley for his supplies, but they knew he understood. Teddy hugged her carefully.
"Or we'll owl it, because I'm certain you wouldn't want your teacher to give you spare socks." Dora said, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
"I'll see you at Christmas, Mum." He said.
Dora nodded, smoothing his hair as he stepped back. "I want a letter as soon as you are in your dorms tonight."
"Dad'll probably have sent you a patronus long before then." Teddy said.
"I will not." Remus said. "You'll have to tell your mother when you end up in Gryffindor."
"He could be a Hufflepuff." Harry said. "Or Slytherin like his Gran-"
"Ravenclaw just to surprise us all." Ginny added.
"It doesn't matter. Whichever house you go to, it doesn't matter, just make some friends and enjoy your lessons." Dora said to Teddy, and he nodded. "And don't break too many rules, your father's not going to be lenient on you."
Remus and Harry were already loading Teddy's trunk, and Evan hugged Teddy tightly. Ginny had set three year old Albus down so Teddy could give James and Albus hugs too. The train's whistle blew, and Teddy gave Harry and Ginny tight hugs when the two men returned. Ginny scooped up Albus before the black-haired toddler could run off- which he was often keen to do. Lily was left home with Molly, too young for such a noisy train station, they figured.
Teddy gave Remus a hug too, which seemed to almost surprise Remus. "I'll see you in the Great Hall later." Remus said.
"Yeah, but I won't be able to hug you in the Great Hall, you'll be my teacher." Teddy said and Remus smiled, patting Teddy on the back.
"I won't be your teacher until next week, once the moon passes." Remus reminded him. He was only going today because Teddy was being sorted. "Professor Harris will be watching the class this week."
"The other kids will still know." Teddy argued.
"Alright, off you go, don't miss it." Dora said, smoothing his hair again.
"Say bye to Eliza for me, I hope I get to see her at Christmas." Teddy said.
Dora nodded. Teddy was already protective over tiny Eliza, just as he was over Evan, despite not being to see her more than a handful of times since she had been born. "She'll likely be home with us by then." Remus said. "Now, go before the train leaves without you."
"Trust me, it's more hassle to miss it." Harry said, and Teddy hurried onto the train, starting a conversation with a pale haired boy who had rushed to the train at the same time.
Remus wrapped his arm around Dora's shoulder again as they watched the train pull away. "You know, we have to do this every year for the next seventeen years." Dora remarked as Evan and James waved enthusiastically at the train.
Remus had not realised that. Teddy would be twenty two the year Eliza started. Their children would hardly overlap each other. At least there'd be no chance of the three of them working together to wreak havoc on the school, though Remus was sure Minerva had already decided she had a soft spot for the Lupin children- Remus had been surprised to be approached by her a few days before, when he went to set up his classroom, with her having already outlined a plan for when Eliza came to attend Hogwarts.
"By that point, I'll be so old, you might be helping me walk." Remus said, and he heard her let out an amused huff while Harry had outright laughed. "And that means we'll have a student in Gryffindor every year for the next seventeen years."
"They're not all going to be Gryffindors!"
Remus laughed. Truthfully, he did not care. Dora's certainty that at least one of their kids would be a Hufflepuff was the only reason he kept teasing her.
As soon as the hat said Hufflepuff, which was nearly the instant it touched Teddy's dark green hair(he was nervous, Remus knew, he did not choose green for himself often), he knew Dora would be glad to repay all of the teasing Remus had done.
Remus knew Teddy's letter would arrive the next morning and Remus would have to spend the night trying to keep it quiet so she could be surprised in the morning. Her triumphant cry of "I told you so!" was what woke him the next morning, and he truly did not mind at all.
2011
Remus Flooed home, finding it impossible to hide his smile when he saw them. Dora was at the stove, singing along with the radio under her breath. She stopped only to greet him over her shoulder before continuing. Two year old Eliza was babbling about something at the table, crayons spread all over the surface. No one would ever know she was infected unless told, the pale haired toddler was always excited to see anyone and show them some random toy or drawing of hers, and she bore no scars- likely, Healer Davis said, because she had been introduced to Wolfsbane from the very start and with the extra precautions taken as an infant for her first few months, she had never injured herself enough to cause scars. From the beginning, she had been bottle-fed, and given a special potion on full moons to keep her from getting hungry while transformed, as no one would be able to feed her during those times. Dora had wanted to at least breastfeed other times, understanding that she absolutely could not on full moons, but the toll the pregnancy took on her meant her milk just never came in.
Eliza still was in St Mungo's under special precautions during the full moons, but it was planned to start allowing her to transform at home soon - ideally, by the time she turned five.
The entire idea made Remus anxious, because how would they keep her safe at home? He'd be there, always with Wolfsbane, but would she be okay without Healers monitoring her so closely? He had been surprised that he hadn't been as terrified of raising a born werewolf as he always expected. She was definitely what Dora called a "Daddy's girl", but Remus wasn't sure if the added bond was due to him technically being the one who infected her or if it was a coincidence.
Dora insisted it was just because he was such a good Dad.
Much to Dora's chagrin, Eliza's first word had been 'Da'. At least Evan had said 'Ma' before anything else, so Dora had one out of three- in terms of first words, anyway. Eliza had also inherited Remus' pale green eyes, which meant none of their kids took after Dora's appearance much at all. Eliza's fair hair appeared to be the same shade as Ted's, so at least some genetics from Dora's side had made an appearance. However, as Evan got older, she did start to look a little more like Dora and less like Teddy, but both were very clearly Remus' children and the resemblance was lost on no one.
Dora still voiced concern every once in a while that people would think they were into something deranged, but Remus had run out of responses. At this point, he didn't care what people would think. He had the perfect family and he wouldn't let anyone ruin it for him. It had taken Dora close to a year to fully recover from the pregnancy and birth. She took a few months off before aiding Harry from home, before returning to office when Elizabeth was six months old. It was still another six months before she had managed to gain enough weight to please the Healers. She was still thinner than she had been before, but Remus knew it had taken years of Order and Auror work and two pregnancies for her to look the way she had before Eliza. She was healthy again, and that was what mattered to him.
"Good day at work?" Dora asked as Remus approached and planted a kiss on her cheek. He hadn't seen Dora for nearly two days and was happy she was finally home at the same time as him. "You're later than usual."
"Minerva wanted to have a meeting." Remus said. "What time did you get home this morning?"
"Just after nine, thank Merlin that Ginny could come over, and then she took the girls to the park with her own so Harry and I could sleep. What did Minerva want?" She asked, turning back to the stove.
"She needs a deputy Headmaster."
Dora spun back around. "Headmaster." She repeated slowly. "Did she ask you?"
"She said there would be no one better."
"Did you say yes?"
"Well, first I asked about the other teachers with more experience. I had thought Filius would have been asked, but apparently Minerva has asked other teachers what they thought and they all agreed." Remus said. "I'd have to spend more nights at the school, and when Minerva retires, I may have to spend the entire school year. It would leave you alone with the kids-"
"Teddy will be done in a few years, Evan's going in a few years and then Eliza. We have no shortage of people who will watch the kids if you're at the school and I'm at work. But they may all be adults by then, Minerva doesn't seem eager for retirement. She was deputy Headmistress for decades, after all. So, did you say yes?"
"She wouldn't let me say no."
Dora beamed, throwing her arms around Remus. "You can tell everyone at dinner, they're going to be so excited-"
"Everyone?" Remus asked.
"I should have warned you, I suppose, but work was insane and then I was so tired." She said. "Harry said the kids wanted to get together again, so they're all coming, but then I guess Molly told Ginny they wanted to have dinner so everyone's coming here since our back garden is bigger. Well, not some of the kids, I suppose. Molly will be fine arranging another get together in a few weeks when they're home, though." She said. "We'll need the tables taken to the yard, if you don't mind?"
"I don't mind. Let me just get changed." He said, giving her another quick kiss. He paused and turned back to her. "You know, this means that we'll need a new Defense Professor eventually."
"Eventually, you will, I suppose."
"And you did say you would eventually retire from the Aurors."
"I did." She said. "But I was hoping it would be to become Head of the M.L.E. Not many Head Aurors make it far enough to move up that far, they either die or retire. So the Head of M.L.E is usually hired from different departments, but Kingsley is teasing retirement and there has been interest in Hermione moving up and Penny taking her place as undersecretary. I think it would be a great chance to get another Auror in the role if Penny retires soon, after everything Robards did."
Remus nodded. "I know, I just thought I'd mention it."
"If I get maimed at work again, I'll consider it."
"You have been, more times than you seem to want to admit." Remus said, teasingly brushing a finger over the faint scarring along her jaw and cheek. "One day, the damage could be more permanent."
"Okay, if I get maimed worse than I have already been, I will consider it."
Dora sank onto the step, joined by Harry a moment later. He took off his glasses, which he still didn't love and had almost replaced with different ones that he liked better, but then Rita Skeeter made an offhanded remark in a Quidditch article about his old ones being more true to the appearance his fans knew. So, he continued to keep these ones out of spite.
"I had a weird dream last night. Or, this morning, when we got home." Harry said.
Dora gave him a look. "I thought we were well beyond that crap."
"I don't remember it, I just know whatever it was, it was weird. I don't really remember my dreams anymore, but I think it was just... absurdly normal. I think that's why it felt so weird."
Dora hummed. She was watching Remus with Eliza. In the years since the war, he had begun to age more closely to his own age. Now, at fifty one, his greying hair and the lines that joined the scars on his face didn't make him look older at all. She wasn't sure what had done it- the fact he was happier, living healthier, or the Wolfsbane and allowing his lycanthropy to have just a little more control over him- but she didn't care. He was doing well, and she hoped their work to make him healthier would pay off eventually.
Her own hair was starting to grey, especially on the side she had been burned. However, she could still morph it all away if she wanted. She wondered if she'd eventually ever have trouble morphing her age away.
"It just got me thinking." Harry continued. He was watching James and Evan play. The two were best friends already, but there had been some concern over the fact Evan had yet to show any sign of magic. It didn't matter to any of them, of course, but was curious to them. The two were inseparable and the big concern was how they'd feel if one got to go to Hogwarts and the other did not. "Did you ever think it would be like this?" He asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You know, when we were holed up in Paris after the war." Harry said. "Did you ever think..." He gestured to everyone. "... all of this would happen?"
"No, but I'm glad it did."
