Chapter 1: The Story
Chapter Text
“They gave their lives for you, Ted. So that you could live freely, however you wanted. They were among the best people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Your mum was so cool and funny and your dad – he was just the kindest, most sensible guy I knew. He loved you and your mum so much. He didn't want her to fight but she wasn't the type to stay home while others put themselves in danger.” Harry smiled. “She wouldn't have wanted to miss the fun.”
Teddy Lupin was quiet for a long time after Harry's explanation, mulling over what Harry had said.
Finally, he spoke.
“My mum sounds a lot like you.”
Harry cleared his throat, eyes wet.
“That, uh…that means a lot, Teddy.”
Teddy looked up at Harry.
“So who killed them?”
Harry blinked. He had expected and prepared for a lot of questions along the lines of why did they have to die but he had not expected this one. He realized as soon as Teddy asked it that that was a stupid mistake; that would be his first question too if he were in Teddy's shoes, and indeed had been one of his first questions when Hagrid told him the truth.
“I…I don't know,” he confessed.
He looked away, unable to face the hurt look in the boy's eyes.
“I'm sorry. I only saw Remus after – your mum came late to the battle. Your dad had told her to stay home. She was with Ginny but she wanted to find him. She ran off, I think Ginny wanted to stop her but we had bigger things to deal with –” Harry winced at his phrasing. “Not bigger than your mum's life, I just mean – there was a war on. We trusted Tonks to take care of herself. The next thing I knew, they were both…well, I never saw them alive after that. I'm sorry, Ted, I wish I knew more.”
“Did she find him?” Teddy asked desperately. “Did Mum find Dad before they were both killed?”
Harry shook his head and Teddy's heart stopped, only to start beating again when he said, “I don't know. I really don't. I imagine they did and were fighting side-by-side when they went down, but that's just an idea I have.”
Teddy nodded and looked down at the floor. When Harry realized he was ready to be left alone, he squeezed his shoulder and left the room.
Immediately, Teddy got up and hurried over to his closet. His usual school holiday garb consisted of a Holyhead Harpies hoodie, jeans, and trainers. Given that he would be visiting a noble residence for the first time in his life, he decided to change into something more suitable for the occasion. He didn't want to give the person he was visiting any more reason to dislike him than he figured she already had.
After flipping through his closet for several minutes, discarding things he didn't deem appropriate (which turned out to be most of his clothes, unfortunately), Teddy settled on what was essentially his school uniform: a white button-down shirt, black pants, his Hufflepuff tie, and black trainers. He changed his hair color to blue and went down to the kitchen, where Kreacher was washing the dishes.
“Kreacher, do you know where Narcissa Malfoy lives now?”
The ancient house-elf turned to look blearily at him.
“Of course I do, Master Teddy. Miss Cissy is the last remaining member of the noble house of Black.”
Teddy wasn't particularly keen on hearing about the noble house of Black.
“Great. Take me to her house, please.”
Kreacher grabbed Teddy's wrist and Disapparated.
—————————————————
They appeared on the doorstep of a mansion.
The term mansion didn't seem to do the place justice; Teddy was sure he could fit the entire Burrow, plus Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione's two houses, in here and still have ample room left over.
“Blimey, this thing must have cost a fortune,” he muttered, more to himself than to Kreacher.
“It didn't, actually,” said a voice from behind him.
He turned and saw a woman with a blonde ponytail walking towards him. His heart skipped a beat; for a minute he thought it might be his grandmother Andromeda, before he realized this woman's hair was lighter than hers.
“Our ancestors built it. It's been in the family for generations. Hello, Kreacher.”
The house-elf bowed low.
“Hello, Miss Cissy.”
“Go back to Harry's house,” Teddy told him.
Kreacher nodded and Disapparated. Teddy looked at the woman. She was studying him.
“You're less scary than I expected,” he blurted out.
Immediately, he winced and said, “Sorry. I didn't mean to say that out loud.”
Narcissa smirked.
“Have you heard lots of scary stories about me?”
“About your family, yes. You personally, not so much. The only thing I know about you is you're Draco Malfoy's mum and you saved Harry's life at the end of the war.”
Narcissa tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
“According to the Ministry of Magic, that last bit is all anyone needs to know about me.”
“That's what kept you out of Azkaban.”
Teddy thought Narcissa might have looked a little impressed.
“You know your stuff.”
Teddy shrugged.
“We're family. I've done my research.”
“Would you like to come inside?”
“Please.”
Teddy followed Narcissa into the house and down a series of winding hallways. By the time they arrived at their destination – the living room – Teddy was hopelessly lost and he knew he had zero chance of getting out of here without Narcissa's help.
“Tea?” she asked.
Teddy decided to brush off his common sense and use it for once.
“I'm good, thanks.”
He didn't fancy being poisoned by a known…Death Eater might be too strong a word for what Narcissa had been but she was certainly Death Eater-adjacent. That's the entire reason Teddy was here.
Once the two of them had gotten settled on the couch – Narcissa relaxed, Teddy deeply uncomfortable – she asked, “What did you say your name was?”
Teddy tried to distract himself from his discomfort by switching his hair color rapidly. He liked the warm feeling it gave him.
Blue, yellow, red, purple, pink, brown…
“Teddy. Edward Remus Lupin, to be exact. But please don't call me Edward. Um…” Teddy almost wished he had a teacup to hold and fidget with. “My mum was…I mean, my gran is your sister.” Now that he had gotten the hard part over with, the rest of the words he had rehearsed while getting dressed came out in a rush. “I know she was disowned, I know you think she's a traitor, I know you probably hate her, but this isn't about her.” Teddy took a deep breath. “Her name is Andromeda.”
Another smirk flickered across Narcissa's lips.
“I know what her name is, Teddy. And I'll have you know, I don't hate her. I have never hated either of my sisters.”
“Even Bellatrix?”
Again, the words came out unbidden. Teddy wanted to gag himself. He winced and ducked his head so Narcissa wouldn't see the blush on his cheeks. Unfortunately, his hair gave him away; it turned red against his will when he was embarrassed.
“Even Bella,” Narcissa confirmed. “Why are you really here, Teddy Lupin?” She smiled. “Never mind, I think I know. Nymphadora was your mother.”
“I want – no, I need to know how she died. Please. Harry didn't know and I figured maybe you…”
Teddy hesitated, unwilling or perhaps unable to articulate exactly what had led him to come here for fear of offending Narcissa. She had already been far kinder to him than he had expected and he didn't want to make himself unwelcome.
“You thought because all of my friends back then were Death Eaters I might have some insider knowledge to share with you?”
Again, Teddy's cheeks burned. It sounded embarrassing and childish when she put it that way.
“Something like that. Yes.”
Narcissa nodded.
“Well, as a matter of fact, you're in luck. I know exactly how both your parents were killed and I'm willing to tell you if that's what you really want. Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken you this long to visit me.”
“Harry always said I was too young to have the details until now,” Teddy explained. “It's my seventeenth birthday, see, and he says I'm finally old enough to know the truth.”
“Happy birthday.” Narcissa paused, realizing something. “April 30th. You were born two days before the final battle?”
“Yep.”
“That explains a lot. I want you to be certain this is what you really want, Teddy. It's not a nice story.”
“I know. I'm sure.”
Narcissa nodded.
“I only met my niece once. After my sister was disowned, we cut off all contact with her family.”
“Is that what happened with Sirius too?”
“Yes, but Sirius was different. We were cousins, not siblings.”
“When did you meet Mum?”
“She was a baby, literally days old. It was a couple weeks after the Christmas holidays. Andromeda brought her here in secret, said she wanted her to meet me. I should have kicked her out but I've always been too sentimental for my own good. Her hair was doing that thing yours did –”
“Harry says my dad said mine started changing color hours after my birth.”
“In the time I saw her, just in the span of an hour or so, it was pink, purple, brown, and blonde like me. You're a mimic?”
“Yeah, kind of. I spend most of my time with pink or purple hair like hers. When I'm with the Weasleys it's red. Sometimes I'll go blond.” Teddy gestured to his hair, which was currently brown. “This is my natural color, like my dad.”
“And Andromeda. Her hair was that color when she was your age. Nymphadora's –”
Teddy's eye twitched. Narcissa pretended not to notice.
“– powers were legendary, and it wasn't exactly a secret that she was our disgraced sister's daughter. Bellatrix was ashamed.”
“Yeah, I bet she was,” Teddy muttered, scowling.
“Bellatrix's husband and the other Death Eaters used to tease her. More than one of them ended up on the wrong end of a Cruciatus Curse because of that.”
“Teasing Bellatrix Lestrange.” Teddy didn't know if he was impressed or horrified. “That's gotta take guts.”
“Yes, well, this lot were already a bunch of adrenaline junkies, so…” Narcissa shrugged. “Plus, some of them weren't the brightest. The Dark Lord chose them for their viciousness and their blind loyalty, not their brains.”
“You don't sound too fond of them,” Teddy noted.
“You have to understand, Teddy, I was never a Death Eater. That's not to say I didn't firmly believe everything they believed. Everyone I associated with was a Death Eater so I might as well have been, but I never had the Dark Mark. Harry said I saved his life at the end of the war?”
Teddy nodded.
“I shouldn't get any credit for that. It was purely selfish. I wasn't trying to help him. Draco – my son – he was running around the castle, I hadn't seen him since the battle started and I was terrified he'd been killed. The Dark Lord asked me to check if Harry was dead. He got lucky; if it had been anyone else, he would have been caught and killed for real this time. I think he did die for about three minutes. He took a Killing Curse straight to the chest, he didn't even try to defend himself. I asked him if Draco was alive and he said yes so I told the Dark Lord that Harry was dead.”
“Why? How did that help you?”
“I knew the only way I would be able to find my son is if the Dark Lord thought he had won.”
“So you lied to Voldemort's face?”
“It was a huge risk. He's a highly accomplished Legilimens.” When Teddy looked at her blankly, Narcissa explained, “He can read minds. If he had decided to make sure I was telling the truth, I wouldn't be here and most likely you wouldn't either.”
“You're giving the impression that you didn't like the Death Eaters very much.”
“I was cut from the same cloth as them. I believed all the same things, I just wasn't as fanatical. Besides, they all lived in my house for two years. I challenge you to go through that and come out afterwards with exactly the same amount of fanatic loyalty as when it started. Bellatrix did, of course, but Bellatrix was genuinely crazy. She wasn't always like that, you know. Azkaban messed her up.”
“But Sirius went to Azkaban too and he came out just fine,” Teddy pointed out.
“Sirius knew he was innocent. Bellatrix knew she was guilty. That's a big difference.”
“Bellatrix killed Sirius, didn't she?”
“Yes. God, she was insufferable for weeks afterwards. She kept gloating.”
Teddy clenched his jaw.
“She was even worse when she killed your mother.”
Teddy was so surprised that he nearly cracked a tooth.
“Come again – she –”
Narcissa nodded.
“From what Dolohov told me, Nymphadora got her licks in before she was beaten. They were fighting together, your parents against Bellatrix and Dolohov. Bella had wanted to kill her since she killed Sirius. I think both of your parents wanted revenge for his death. Dolohov was vicious, he liked seeing your father struggle. He was trying to protect your mother more than he was trying to kill either of his opponents. She wasn't supposed to be there. Neither of them were in great shape, so it was a recipe for disaster from the beginning. Dolohov finally finished your father off, which just made Nymphadora fight harder, but she didn't stand a chance after that. Two against one and she had just had a child…”
Teddy stared at his hands.
“I don't know what I expected but it wasn't this. I didn't think – Jesus, her own aunt –”
“That's not how either of them thought of it.”
Teddy looked up at Narcissa.
“Did you visit Andromeda? Afterwards?”
Narcissa shook her head.
“I thought she wouldn't want to see me.”
“Were you sorry? When she died?”
“Not really. She wasn't family. I only knew her as ‘the young Auror with the purple hair.’”
Narcissa's air-quotes made it clear she was repeating someone else's description.
To Teddy's horror, he started to cry. He buried his face in his hands, ashamed.
“Oh –” Narcissa sounded uncomfortable. “I did warn you.”
Teddy sniffed and wiped his eyes.
“You did.”
The library door opened and a tall man walked in. He had blond hair like Narcissa and was wearing the same regal clothes that she was.
He stopped and stared when he saw a blue-haired teenager crying on the couch next to his wife.
“What on Earth – Narcissa, who's this?”
“Teddy Lupin,” Teddy answered.
The man nodded slowly.
“And what are you doing here?”
“I had questions that only she could answer.”
“Oh? What kind of questions?”
“About the war.”
“Do your parents know you're here?”
“Lucius, don't antagonize the boy,” Narcissa said quietly.
Teddy glared at Lucius Malfoy and replied, “I think you know the answer to that, sir.”
Lucius smirked.
“Of course. My apologies. Are you leaving?”
Narcissa spoke for Teddy.
“Yes. Come on, boy.”
Teddy followed her into another room, where she opened a cabinet and started rummaging through it.
“‘Boy?’” he hissed angrily. “Is that what you're calling me now?”
“Shut up. Put this on.”
Teddy stared at the Slytherin tie Narcissa had just handed him.
“What the – why?”
“You want to save your parents? I can help you.”
Teddy had the tie on before Narcissa had even finished speaking. She handed him a small box.
“What's this?”
“That's your ticket into Malfoy Manor. Go back to the blond hair. It will help you blend in, since you look like my son.” After a moment, Narcissa added, “And it suits you.”
Teddy smiled and obeyed.
“When you show up with no warning, a strange young man at their headquarters, the Dark Lord might try to read your mind.”
“I can fight him. I know Occlumency.”
Narcissa shook her head.
“Don't fight. And don't lie, he'll know if you do. Give Bella that box and tell her I sent you. I can't promise anything, but that might be enough to convince her to let you join them.”
“Wait, what? I don't want to be a Death Eater.”
“I can't get you in with Harry's allies – they wouldn't trust me even if I could – so this is your only chance to meet your parents,” Narcissa whispered. She glanced at the door and Teddy realized she was nervous that her husband was about to walk in. “When you're being interrogated, it's very important that everything you think and say is technically the truth. Legilimency can't tell the difference between technically the truth and fully the truth.”
“So basically, if I say Voldemort killed Harry, he won't be able to tell that it was only temporary?”
“Possibly not. What will you say if they ask about your parents?”
“The truth. They're dead.”
Narcissa nodded.
“It's probably a good thing you don't remember your parents. You have no memories of them to betray you.”
“I'm going to kill Bellatrix and Dolohov before they can kill my parents.”
“You could do that, but it would most likely get you killed. Bella was the Dark Lord's lieutenant, he'd be furious if she were killed. If you want a chance to really do some good you'll have to bide your time.”
Teddy started pacing. His heart was pounding with anticipation and nerves.
“Thank you, Mrs – Lady –”
“Oh please. You can call me Narcissa.”
“Thank you, Narcissa. This is one of the nicest things anyone's ever done for me.”
“Yes, well…do me a favor and don't get yourself killed immediately.” Narcissa held up a gold hourglass and started flipping it. “This is a special Time-Turner, a family heirloom.”
“Is there anything in this place that isn't a family heirloom?”
“Be quiet, you insolent boy. You're doomed if you use that smart mouth with my sister.”
Teddy smirked.
I'll take my chances.
“It's different from regular Time-Turners because it takes you back years, not hours. What's in the locket?”
Teddy reached under his shirt and held the necklace he almost never took off.
“My parents. Harry gave it to me when I started Hogwarts.”
“I thought so. Hide that.”
Teddy took the necklace off and put it in his pocket.
“Who should I tell them I am?”
“You'll be fine just calling yourself Teddy. They should accept that I really did send you when they see the box.”
“I thought you told me not to lie.”
“Don't, at least not explicitly, unless it's absolutely unavoidable, and then do it convincingly. If you get really lucky no one will bother to read your mind.”
“I'm named after my grandad – Ted. Do you think Bellatrix will make that connection?”
“I doubt it. Remember, she hasn't seen that side of the family in more than twenty years. I doubt she ever even met him.”
“Will my powers give me away?”
“Probably not – I'm a Metamorphmagus too.”
“Really?”
A pink streak appeared in Narcissa's hair before disappearing just as quickly. She smiled slightly.
“All the same, try not to let it slip. You want to avoid awkward questions for as long as possible.”
“What's in the box?” Teddy asked.
“Don't worry about it.”
“Shouldn't I ask Gran's permission before I run off? We're all at her place right now, I know she'll go mental if I disappear for too long without telling her where I went.”
Narcissa sighed.
“Oh very well.”
She grabbed Teddy's arm and Disapparated with him before he could even blink.
Chapter 2: The Argument
Summary:
Narcissa, Andromeda, and Teddy have a fight. Teddy makes some bad choices
Chapter Text
Narcissa watched, unfazed, as Teddy stood with his hands on his knees, gasping for breath.
When he stood up, she said, “Straighten your tie.”
“Gran doesn't care –”
“I know she doesn't, but I do. Straighten your tie. And tuck your shirt in.”
Teddy scowled but obeyed before he led the way into the house.
Almost immediately, they saw a young girl running out of the kitchen, laughing as an older boy chased her.
“Teddy! Teddy, save me!” she giggled.
Teddy didn't hesitate to lift her onto his shoulders. The boy skidded to a stop in his stocking feet. His messy black hair fell into his eyes as he grinned at Teddy.
“Not to fear, Miss Lily,” Teddy said dramatically. “You're safe now.”
Lily kept giggling. She waved at the other boy from her perch.
“Suck it, James,” she said sweetly.
Teddy put her down and looked at her sternly.
“Hey, now! We don't use that kind of language in this house, do we?”
“No,” Lily muttered, looking crest-fallen.
“Apologize to your brother.”
“Sorry, James.”
“Good girl. Now, I can't blame you, older brothers can be bloody great gits sometimes –”
They heard a yell from the kitchen: “Teddy Lupin! What are you telling my daughter?”
Teddy smirked and yelled back, “Sorry, Aunt Ginny! Hey, I brought company!” He turned to Narcissa, who looked extremely hesitant, and said, “Come on.”
Lily and James watched, wide-eyed, as Narcissa followed Teddy into the kitchen.
“She's pretty,” Lily whispered.
“I bet she's rich,” James whispered back.
“She's Malfoy's gran,” a third boy said from the stairs.
They looked up. Hugo Granger-Weasley, age nine, was leaning over the banister.
“How do you know that?” James asked at the same time that Lily asked, “Who's Malfoy?”
“He bullied Mum, Dad, and Uncle Harry when they were in school together. His dad was a Death Eater. I don't think his mum was, though. She's Teddy's mum's aunt.”
Lily's eyes widened and she whipped around to stare at the kitchen door, which was now closed.
“That's Aunt Andy's sister?” she hissed.
Hugo nodded importantly. He was very pleased with himself for being able to pass on this important knowledge to his peers.
“You know who else was their sister? Bellatrix Lestrange.”
“The famous Death Eater?” Lily whispered, horrified.
“The one and only.”
Lily's eyes now resembled dinner plates. James was less impressed.
“There's no way. You're lying.”
“It's true, and I'd bet anything they're about to have a huge fight right now.”
“Five galleons. You're on.”
“Ten galleons says Mum, Dad, or Uncle Harry get dragged in as well.”
“Is that in addition to or in place of the five –”
“In addition to.”
“Ugh. Fine.”
They shook on it. All three children watched the kitchen door with great expectation.
Within minutes, Hugo's face lit up when he heard Ron's voice yelling indistinctly. James scowled but handed him some coins. His face fell when he counted them. He glared at his older cousin.
“This is only five!”
“I don't have fifteen, mate, I'll pay you the rest tonight,” James said dismissively.
“You better,” Hugo threatened.
Lily hushed them both.
“I want to listen!”
James hurried away and came back with two small, flesh-colored devices.
“I stole these from Uncle George. We can hear everything they're saying.”
Andromeda dropped a plate when Narcissa walked in behind Teddy. With lightning-fast reflexes, Harry managed to catch it before it shattered on the floor.
“What on Earth?” he asked, staring at Narcissa. “Teddy –”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Andromeda demanded.
“It was Teddy's idea,” Narcissa said instantly.
Teddy glared at her.
“Oh, that's nice, blame the teenager! No, this was your idea.”
Harry grabbed his wand.
“Stand down, she's not dangerous,” Teddy assured him.
“She stood by and didn't intervene while my best friend got tortured by her sister in her house,” Harry said coolly. “Forgive me if I'm not quite ready to make amends.”
“Ditto,” Andromeda said. “Teddy, what are you even doing with her?”
Teddy wasn't listening. He stared at Narcissa, who (somewhat to her credit) did look guilty.
“Is this true?”
“I wasn't responsible for what Bellatrix –”
“You could have stopped her!” Ron snarled.
Hermione pulled him back, whispering, “Ron, stop it, it's not worth it, this was years ago –”
“No, Hermione, I'm not letting this go! Narcissa was a grown adult, we were seventeen! She had to know Bellatrix had lost the plot, but she let her torture you! Because she didn't give a damn about any of us until her precious Draco was threatened!”
Narcissa stiffened.
“You leave Draco out of this!” she snapped.
“Bella had lost the plot long before she went to Azkaban,” Andromeda commented under her breath.
Teddy was distressed by the rapid breakdown of diplomacy in the Potters’ kitchen. He now clearly understood that he had made a grave mistake in bringing Narcissa here but wasn't quite ready to give up.
“Guys, please, can we just – this isn't why I brought her here.”
“I think they need to have this out,” Ginny told him quietly. “Let's just get it over with.”
Teddy stepped between the combative adults.
“No! Quit it, all of you. I get it, she's a horrible person. With all due respect, I don't particularly care. She's not here because I think she's a good person. She's here because she's the only person who's ever offered me the chance to see my parents again –”
“Why would you tell him that, Narcissa? You know that's impossible.”
“It's not. Draco has a special Time-Turner that can take you back years.”
“How long have you had that in your possession?”
“I –”
“How long, Cissa?”
Narcissa sighed and confessed, “Eighteen years.”
Andromeda looked up at the ceiling. Her voice was remarkably even when she spoke but her tone was so cold that Teddy was suddenly, violently reminded that his gran, whom he adored, was Bellatrix's sister by birth.
“Eighteen years. So that's seventeen years you watched me grieve my daughter – not to mention my husband –”
“She wouldn't give a damn about him, Andy, since he was Muggle-born,” Ron put in. He was obviously still furious about whatever had happened in the past.
Hermione jabbed him in the ribs and hissed, “Shut up, Ronald!”
“– and you never thought to mention you had a way that I could see them away?”
Andromeda was looking at Narcissa now and she was angrier than Teddy could ever remember seeing her. Narcissa, being a sensible woman, took a step backwards.
“When you had to know I would have given anything to see her again? Just once?”
Ginny was crying now. Ron and Hermione hugged her. Harry kissed her forehead and murmured something soothing; Teddy was too invested in the fight in front of him to hear what it was.
“Andy, I swear –”
“Don't call me Andy, Narcissa, you lost that privilege when you threw your lot in with Mum and Dad and Bellatrix. This isn't just about what happened to Dora and Remus –”
Teddy's heart skipped a beat or two. He hadn't expected to hear his dad mentioned in this argument but he was strangely proud that Andromeda thought he was important enough to mention in the same breath as her beloved daughter.
“ – this is about everything that happened before and after I ran away.”
Narcissa bristled.
“You think you are the only one? Bellatrix and I were right there with you! For years! She loved you, And –” Narcissa hesitated, clearly wondering if she dared use the nickname again, before wisely deciding not to. “– Andromeda. More than Sirius –”
“Don't talk about him,” Harry snapped. “Don't you dare.”
Narcissa spared him a glance and a “Sorry” before she turned back to her sister. Blue eyes met grey. Narcissa spoke softly now, almost pleading.
“We all loved each other more than anything, remember?”
Andromeda shook her head, disgusted.
“She killed my daughter, Cissa. She killed Dora.” Andromeda's voice broke. “Her friends killed Ted. And I'm never going to forgive her for that.”
“No one's asking you to. This isn't about her, or even you.”
Narcissa glanced at Teddy. It took several moments for him to realize this was his cue to speak. He stepped forward and cleared his throat.
“Gran –”
His voice cracked and he cleared his throat again as his hair reddened slightly.
“Gran, I know you hate the idea for a million perfectly valid reasons but it's not really up to you,” he said, gentle but firm. “The truth is I'm doing this with or without your permission because it's genuinely the only chance I'll get to see my parents again. You can even come if you want.”
“No she can't,” Narcissa whispered.
“Shut it,” Teddy whispered back, not unkindly.
Andromeda smiled and shook her head.
“That's very sweet, Teddy, but Narcissa's right: I'm rather proud to be as notorious a blood traitor as I am. Bellatrix would kill me on sight if I went back with you. As it is, I am not sending you into the lion's den with the woman who was too much of a coward to step between our sister and my daughter the night she was killed.”
“Andromeda, I'm not sure that's fair,” Harry said quietly. “I don't like Narcissa any more than you do but she did lie to Voldemort's face and she and Lucius were running around without wands during the battle when everyone wanted them dead. That doesn't exactly seem cowardly to me.”
Andromeda shook her head.
“She never stood up to our family, she never defended me and Ted, she just barely redeemed herself at the end of the war, and she escaped Azkaban by the skin of her teeth not once but twice. Teddy's not going anywhere with her.”
Andromeda's tone left no room for argument. Narcissa glanced apologetically at Teddy.
“I'll just…go, then.”
“Good idea,” Andromeda said coolly.
Teddy watched helplessly as Narcissa left the house. His hair turned a fiery red and he glared at Andromeda.
“Why would you do that? How could you take away the only chance I'm ever going to have to see my parents again?”
“Teddy, this isn't up for debate. You can't trust her.”
“Maybe you can't, but I do!”
“You don't know her like I do.”
“She's been nothing but kind to me since I met her.”
“Thirty minutes ago? I've known her for my entire life. I know her far better than you could ever hope to.”
“Just because she hurt you doesn't mean she'd hurt me. People change, Gran! Aren't you always telling me to give second chances?”
Andromeda shook her head.
“Not with her. Anyone else, maybe, but not my family. They had so many chances and they always blew it. Besides, even if I did trust her I wouldn't let you go back in time.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Don't swear,” Harry said quietly.
“You have no idea what it was like back then. You're lucky that you can't imagine the danger and the fear that people like me, Harry, and your parents felt every day. I'm not going to allow you to experience that. Ever. And that's all I'm willing to say on the topic.”
“I'm an adult, you can't legally stop me from doing whatever I want.”
Teddy went up to his room, grabbed the picture of his parents he kept on his nightstand, and lay on his stomach on the bed.
“What's up?” Tonks asked.
“Your mother is killing me, that's what.”
Teddy told her the entire story.
He finished with, “What would you do if you were me?”
“You should listen to your grandmother,” Remus answered. “She only wants what's best for you.”
“I know, but I think she's wrong in this case. I think I can do good. I can save you guys and Fred, even Sirius!”
“You don't know what you're getting yourself into. It's a dangerous world out there.”
“I'm an adult. Mum, what would you do?”
Tonks smiled.
“I ran to fight alongside your father two days after giving birth to you. I am not the epitome of good decision-making. Just be careful. Your family would hate to lose you.”
“I'll be sensible. I promise.”
Teddy kissed the portrait and put it down.
“Teddy, wait,” Remus said. “Who will you be with?”
“I'll probably be undercover with the Death Eaters. I'll blend in, I can look like anyone I want.”
Remus sighed and said, “Wait.”
He walked out of the portrait and came back a couple minutes later, dragging a handsome young man behind him. When the newcomer straightened up and pushed Remus away, Teddy saw he had grey eyes and curly dark hair.
“Sirius?” he blurted out.
The young man sighed. Remus smiled. Tonks snickered.
“No, I have been informed I am your grandmother's cousin Regulus. Sirius is my brother.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Reg died in 1979,” Remus explained. “He was eighteen. In the mid-to-late 1990s you'd be about the right age to be his son.”
“That's mad,” Regulus told Remus.
“That's his best shot!” Remus corrected. “He can morph to look just like you – see!”
Regulus stared at Teddy, who now had shoulder-length black hair and silver-grey eyes.
“Not bad. What's your name, kid?”
“Teddy.”
“What's that short for? Theodore?”
Teddy was about to shake his head, but then he reconsidered.
“Yeah.” When Tonks raised her eyebrows, he shrugged. “Better than Edward. Reg, what's my mum's name?”
Regulus reddened slightly.
“Laurel,” he mumbled. “Laurel Greengrass.”
Greengrass…like Scorpius's mum?
Teddy did some quick mental gymnastics via the sketching of family trees in his head before he decided it wasn't worth the headache to figure out.
“Don't do anything stupid,” Tonks told him. “Please don't get yourself killed.”
“I won't,” Teddy promised. “At least, I'll do my best.”
“We love you, Ted,” Remus said.
“You should write my mum a letter,” Tonks suggested. “Hang on, let me try.”
She walked out of frame and came back five minutes later with a messy, ink-stained piece of parchment.
“It's not much, but it'll do. You can copy it if you like.”
It did not occur to Teddy to mention that he was perfectly capable of writing a letter like this himself. He wanted to hear what his mother had to say.
She showed him the note and he copied it down with mild adjustments per Remus's suggestions. When they were all satisfied, Teddy folded up the note, scribbled “Gran” on the front, left the picture on the bed, and climbed out the window.
Chapter 3: Escapism
Summary:
Andromeda and Harry find out that Teddy left. Lucius is baffled, Andromeda is furious, Harry is amused, and Draco isn't drunk enough for this. Back in 1995, Teddy and Draco have a fight. It's very "we're either going to hit each other or kiss and we're not ready to kiss"-coded
Chapter Text
“Did I do the right thing?” Andromeda asked Harry.
“Yes.”
“He's not a child anymore and he doesn't appreciate being treated like one.”
“He may be an adult in the eyes of the Ministry but he's still a teenager. He still needs adult guidance, whether he likes it or not.”
“Do you think I was too harsh with him?”
“I think you both have a bit of the Black family temper but you didn't say much that wasn't justified. Stop second-guessing yourself, Andromeda. You have far more experience raising well-adjusted kids than I do and you did it brilliantly. You really did. You're not screwing Teddy up and I don't ever want you thinking anything like that.”
“Should we go check on him?”
Harry shook his head.
“He'll sulk for a bit and come down when he's ready.”
Minutes passed, and Teddy didn't reappear. Finally Harry and Andromeda went up to his room.
The door was closed and there was no answer when they knocked.
“Teddy, we're coming in,” Harry warned.
When they entered the room, the window was open and Teddy was nowhere to be seen. Andromeda grabbed the letter off the bed. Several moments later, she stopped reading and glared at the picture on the nightstand.
“This is your handwriting, Dora.”
Tonks was grinning. Remus had stepped out of frame, not eager to face his mother-in-law's wrath for his part in the scheme.
“Sorry, Mum. He'll be okay, honest. He's a good, smart kid. Narcissa won't let anything happen to him.”
“You don't know that! You can't know that. How is she supposed to protect him in a world like that? He's not prepared, Dora. He's never known a world with the Dark Lord – thank Merlin – but that means he has no idea what he's getting himself into. Narcissa's a fool, she's not going to warn him.”
“She's not that bad, Mum. She's not a fool, she's more intelligent than anyone gives her credit for. I don't like her anymore than you do but I would trust her in this instance.”
“Where's Remus?”
“He's hiding.”
“Tell him to get back here. If he didn't want to get yelled at he shouldn't have helped with this ridiculous plan.”
Remus walked back into the picture. His hands were in his pockets and he looked sheepish.
“Hello, Andy.”
“Why would you agree to this? I would have thought you'd be more sensible.”
Remus shrugged.
“I would have preferred not to die. If Teddy's willing to give us that chance, who are we to stop him?”
“Responsible adults?” Andromeda suggested. “Merlin, Remus, I –”
“He's an adult. He knows the risks. He's finished all of his schooling. He's not a child, Andromeda.”
“Neither were you! Neither was Dora, neither was Sirius! You think the Death Eaters care?”
“Narcissa will look after him, and if necessary he'll have the entire Order to protect him. We won't let anything happen to him.”
Andromeda shook her head and turned to Harry, who had been standing awkwardly behind her throughout this entire conversation.
“He's going to Malfoy Manor. If Narcissa lets him run away I am going to kill her.”
Teddy Apparated to Malfoy Manor and walked straight in the front door. Narcissa was waiting for him.
“Back so soon?” she asked dryly.
“Can we go? Please.”
“Your grandmother specifically forbade you from doing this.”
“I'm an adult. I can do what I want.”
“You're being reckless, Teddy,” Narcissa cautioned.
“I'm not. I won't. I've thought this through, I have a whole plan, I swear. I can pass as Regulus's son, I'm the right age…”
Narcissa crossed her arms and challenged, “Well, then it doesn't sound like you need my help. You can go by yourself.”
Teddy's resolve cracked.
“I want you to come,” he admitted. “Please, Cissy –”
“Don't call me that.”
“What should I call you, then?”
“If you must give me a nickname you can call me Cissa. Flip that Time-Turner nineteen times and we'll be on our way to save Sirius.”
Teddy, who had already flipped the Time-Turner sixteen times on the way here, flipped it thrice more.
What happened next felt like Apparition. When Teddy regained his bearings, he and Cissa were outside a familiar mansion. Somewhat to his surprise, they were able to walk right in the front door. He was staring in awe at the grand entrance hall when someone held a knife to his throat. This same person put the end of their wand between his ribs.
“Bellatrix, that's enough,” Cissa said calmly.
Teddy waved.
“Wotcher. My name's Te – Theo.”
Bellatrix glanced at her sister.
“Cissy, what –”
“He's Regulus's son, Bella.”
Bellatrix stepped away and stared at Teddy suspiciously.
“How do we know you are who you say you are?”
Teddy held up the box. This was his trump card. If it didn't work, he was absolutely cooked.
“Recognize this?”
Teddy would never be entirely sure what happened next. All he knew was he was on the floor, bleeding from a stinging gash in his cheek, and Bellatrix was holding the box.
“Merlin,” Teddy gasped. “Just ask next time, would you?”
“Crucio.”
Bellatrix said the curse so casually that, if it hadn't been for the searing pain that suddenly hit his entire body, Teddy might not have even registered it. As it was, he was later glad that he hadn't stood up before being hit with the curse; it wouldn't have been nice to fall onto the hardwood floor without being able to catch himself.
Through the screams — his screams, oh, this is going brilliantly — he heard Cissa yell, “Bellatrix, stop!”
After several long seconds, the pain stopped. Teddy lay on the floor, gasping for breath, before he remembered where he was. He scrambled to his feet and glared at Bellatrix, who still looked furious.
“Was that really necessary?”
“Where did you get this box?” she demanded.
“Where do you think? Cissa gave it to me, she said you would never believe I am who I say I am unless I gave this to you.”
Bellatrix rounded on her sister and hissed, “Of all the things you could have –”
“Stand down, Bella. It worked, didn't it?” Cissa retorted.
Bellatrix scoffed and turned back to Teddy. Upon seeing how battered he looked, she smirked.
“First time under the Cruciatus Curse, boy?” she asked mockingly.
She said "boy" in the same tone that Cissa had, a comparison that did not endear Teddy to either of them.
He saw Cissa discreetly wipe her face. He followed her example and realized his nose was bleeding. He nodded a subtle thank-you, which she pretended not to see.
Teddy followed Cissa and Bellatrix into the kitchen. Like the rest of the house, it was far grander than anything he had grown up with. He was grateful for the lack of natural light, which helped conceal the look of awe on his face as he looked around.
Unfortunately, it didn't escape Bellatrix's eagle eyes.
“Is this your first time here?”
“Pretty much.”
“Where were you raised?”
“A Muggle orphanage. Didn't know I was a wizard until Dumbledore showed up in my room the day I turned eleven.”
“Disgraceful,” Bellatrix sneered. “What house were you in at school?”
Teddy didn't miss a beat.
“Slytherin, obviously.”
“Good boy.”
Teddy's eyes widened as he caught sight of a tall young man walking down the hall. He was shirtless, wrapped in nothing but a towel, and Teddy thought his white-blond hair looked like snow.
“Merlin, Draco, don't walk around like that!” Bellatrix snapped.
The young man came into the kitchen and snapped back, “It's my house, not yours. I'll walk around however I like.” His silver-grey eyes flitted over to Teddy. “Who's this?”
“We have a guest,” Bellatrix said dryly.
“Hi,” Teddy said, raising a hand in greeting. He winced when he heard his voice crack. He cleared his throat, blushing, and continued, “I'm Teddy. I'm – you're my –”
“His father was our cousin,” Cissa explained.
Draco raised his eyebrows and leaned on the table. Teddy felt his face flush an even deeper shade of red as he leaned back. It was taking a lot of willpower to avoid letting his hair change color to match his face.
“Oh really?”
Teddy nodded.
“Who's his mother?”
“Laurel Greengrass,” Teddy answered.
Draco blinked.
“Like Daphne and Astoria?”
Cissa nodded. Draco smirked.
“What a scandal.”
Teddy could have kicked himself.
Astoria and Draco are in the same year at school. Now they think her mum cheated on her dad with Regulus.
Teddy wasn't exactly sure how pure-bloods felt about infidelity but he guessed the Greengrass family wasn't going to be too pleased with him.
“Show him to your room, Draco,” Narcissa said. “He can share with you.”
Draco nodded.
“Come on, then.”
Teddy was more than happy to follow Draco to the bedroom. He waved his wand and conjured another bed out of thin air. The two of them sat down on beds across from each other.
“What are you doing here?” Draco asked.
“My dad died when I was a baby and now I'm an adult so I wanted to meet the rest of my family.”
“We're barely family.”
Teddy shrugged.
“We're cousins of some sort.”
“You should cut your hair.”
Teddy ran his hands through his black curls, offended.
“What's wrong with my hair?”
“It's too long. It's not proper to have it that long. You look like a girl.”
“Rude.”
Draco shrugged.
“That's what my father says.”
“Your father sounds like a dick.”
Draco's silver-grey eyes darkened with anger until they were nearly black.
“Don't you ever talk about my family that way. Ungrateful bastard –”
“Shove off, Malfoy.”
Draco crossed his arms and smirked.
“I bet you were, you know. I bet your parents weren't even married. If you're really Laurel Greengrass's son how come you weren't raised with Story and Daph? My father says Regulus's brother was no-good blood traitor scum. I bet your precious dad went the same way. He got some little Mudblood knocked up and you were the result.”
When Draco started detailing exactly how he thought his new roommate had been conceived – at any other time Teddy might have been impressed with the younger boy's imagination –Teddy didn't hesitate to reward him with a fist to the face.
He fell back on his bed, stunned, but quickly sat up again, eyes blazing.
“You want to talk about my family like that?” Teddy snapped. He was well aware that Regulus wasn't actually his father but he didn't care; he had heard enough insults to his actual family during his life to be sensitive to the topic. “Put your money where your mouth is, you wanker!”
Draco's gaze flitted around the room.
“Mummy and Daddy aren't coming to save you. Are you too much of a coward to stand up for yourself?”
Draco tried to punch Teddy in the face. He dodged easily.
“Pathetic. My cousin Dom throws a better punch than that and she's a fifteen-year-old girl.”
Draco threw himself at Teddy. They grappled for a while, kicking and punching – Teddy even got bit once – before he felt a stinging pain in his scalp and someone pulled him off of Draco.
“Ow! Bloody hell, Cissa, watch the hair!”
“What in Merlin's good name is going on in here?”
Teddy froze. He recognized that cool tone. It was the same voice Andromeda used when she was furious with him.
“He was saying a bunch of nasty stuff about my parents.”
“He was saying nasty stuff about Father!” Draco snapped.
“I said one thing, and only because you insulted my hair!”
“Grow up,” Cissa ordered. “You're seventeen and fifteen, not twelve, and you better act like it because if Lucius finds out you've been fighting you'll both be in hot water. Dinner is ready. I don't want either of you coming down until you're ready to behave yourselves.”
Cissa went downstairs. The boys glared at each other but followed her without another word.
When Andromeda and Harry arrived at Malfoy Manor, they were surprised to see Lucius already running towards them.
He and Andromeda spoke at the same time:
“Have you seen Teddy?”
“Have you seen Narcissa?”
This was immediately followed by:
“What?”
“What?”
Harry decided to step in so they could actually have a decent conversation instead of acting like parrots.
“Teddy ran away,” he explained to Lucius. “We think he came here to talk to Narcissa.”
“Is that the word we're using?” Andromeda wondered under her breath.
“Fine,” Harry admitted grudgingly. “We think they may have time traveled together.”
“And what on Earth led you to this ridiculous conclusion?” Lucius inquired.
“I dunno, maybe the fact that Cissy came to Harry's house and essentially asked if she could kidnap Teddy to travel back to the 1990s!”
Lucius blinked. Evidently this was far more specific than he was prepared for.
“I knew they were talking but I thought he just had questions, I never imagined she would have something like this up her sleeve.”
“Get them back,” Andromeda ordered. “Right now.”
“I have no idea how to do that. She took our only Time-Turner and all of the others were destroyed in 1996.”
“You're a smart man,” Andromeda said coolly. “Figure it out.”
While Lucius was processing this demand, Draco ambled over to the group. He nodded at Harry.
“Potter.”
Harry nodded back.
“Malfoy.”
Gone was the hostility that had plagued their school years. This was, at worst, friendly ribbing.
“Have you kidnapped my mother?”
Harry scoffed.
“Bold of you to assume I would willingly spend more than five seconds with your mother.”
“Well, where is she, then?”
“It appears she and Ted have gone back to nineteen ninety-five or -eight.”
“Mhm. And in your boundless imagination, why, exactly, would they do this?”
Harry was saved from having to answer this when Narcissa walked up to them.
“Brilliant,” she said. “I assume this means my initial impression was correct and I have indeed traveled into the future.”
Andromeda let out a long-suffering sigh, comparable to the one Hermione sometimes let out after a particularly successful prank from her nephews.
“What year are you from?”
“1995. What year am I in?”
“I need a drink,” Draco announced.
He turned on his heel and strode back into the house. Andromeda and Lucius stared at each other. Harry fought the urge to grin.
“It's 2015,” he told Narcissa.
“You're still alive, then?”
Harry shrugged and nodded.
“It seems that way.”
“And we're back on speaking terms?”
This last bit was directed at Andromeda, who replied, “Only out of the purest necessity, and only until you give me my grandson back.”
“You may have to give me a few more details on that front.”
This time Harry really did snort. Andromeda glared at him.
At that moment, Draco returned with a glass of something alcoholic in his hand.
He said, “Given that we have a project to work on together –”
“We?”
“– I think it might be ideal if we all stay in the same location. I know Potter will refuse to stay at the Manor on principle –”
“That's for damn sure.”
There were too many bad memories in that place for Harry to even consider spending a single second there.
“– and I know the Weasleys will refuse to let pure-blood scum like us into their humble home, which leads me to the conclusion that we're left with only one option.”
“Absolutely not,” Andromeda said.
Narcissa's eyes widened.
Draco tried to say, “It's the best option.”
“I'm not hosting her!” Andromeda snapped.
“I'm not staying with her and Ted!” Narcissa agreed.
“Oh for Merlin's sake,” Harry muttered. “We're all adults, can we act like it?”
“Blood prejudice isn't something that goes away overnight,” Andromeda told him.
“Grow up! You're as bad as she is!”
“How dare you –”
“No, you are! She didn't ask to be sent here, this isn't her fault, have a little grace! I know you're capable of that, Andromeda.”
Narcissa blinked at the pair.
“Are you two –”
“Don't be sick,” Andromeda interjected coolly.
Narcissa put her hands up.
“My apologies. I figured not, I just thought I should confirm.”
“I'm younger than her daughter,” Harry reminded Narcissa, disgusted. “We're just friends!”
“I don't know what pisses me off more, the implication that Harry and I are a couple or the fact that you came to this conclusion while you still thought Ted was alive!”
“Wait, what happened to Ted?” Narcissa asked quickly.
Harry mussed his hair anxiously.
“This is a train wreck,” he muttered in Draco's direction.
“Are you kidding?” the Slytherin retorted. “This is a contender for the funniest thing I've ever witnessed.”
He gulped down the rest of his drink. Harry rolled his eyes.
Andromeda put her foot down in the debate over where the Malfoys should stay and Harry had to admit her argument was compelling.
“I'm the only one in our family who hasn't ever risked a stint in Azkaban and I'd like to keep it that way but if I let this lot into my house my streak will be at risk.”
Lucius rolled his eyes but with that in mind, they walked back to Harry's house. There, they were greeted by two dark-haired boys and a red-haired girl. The trio ran out to greet them as they entered the yard.
“Where's Teddy?” James Sirius demanded. “Hi, Draco. Did you bring Scorpius?”
“Not today, Jamie.”
“I want my cousin back!” Lily Luna said with a fierceness that rivaled Andromeda's.
“And you'll get him,” Lucius promised.
“Who are you?”
Hugo leaned over to her and whispered, “That's him. That's Lucius Malfoy.”
Lily's eyes widened. Lucius looked faintly amused.
“My reputation precedes me.”
“Why is he here?” Lily asked Harry.
“They're going to be staying with us for a bit until we get Teddy back,” Harry explained.
James nodded.
“C’mon, Lily. C'mon, Hugo. Let's go play upstairs.”
The trio walked away. As soon as they got upstairs, they went into James's room. He locked the door and started pacing back and forth.
“This is a nightmare,” he said. “If even half the stories I've heard are true, those are some very dangerous people.”
“That's Scorpius's grandparents,” Lily pointed out. “How bad can they be?”
“There's a reason he never sees them, Lil.” James's expression changed from anger to resolve. “We have to get them out of our house.”
“They haven't done anything, Jamie! It wouldn't be polite to just kick them out!”
“They hurt Aunt Andy and Aunt Hermione and Dad and Uncle Ron. That's quite enough for me. They deserve what's coming to them.”
“You can't use magic outside school,” Hugo reminded Jamie.
“I don't have to.”
“What are you going to do?” Lily asked anxiously.
“I don't know yet,” Jamie admitted. “I do know I'm going to keep a very close eye on all of them. One wrong move, and they're gone.”
Chapter 4: New Plans
Chapter Text
Teddy was nearly forbidden from going back to Hogwarts for Draco's fifth year. This would have been perfectly fine with him, seeing as he didn't particularly look forward to repeating two years of school, especially with a roommate that hated him (Teddy and Draco had barely exchanged ten words since his arrival) but Cissa wanted him out of the house. This was the subject of a vicious argument between Cissa and Bellatrix, one that might have escalated to a real fight with wands if Teddy hadn't stepped between them at the last minute.
“He's a boy, he should be at school!”
“Dumbledore will ask questions that we can't afford to answer.”
“Maybe you can't, but I am perfectly respectable!”
“If you send him to school, Dumbledore's lot will start wondering who else you're hiding in this mansion of yours! If that happens, we're finished.”
“Since when is it my job to –”
Bellatrix held up a hand, cutting off Cissa's furious question.
“Careful, Narcissa.” Bellatrix's voice was quiet, and the use of her younger sister's full name made Teddy flinch. “It sounds like you're about to say something disloyal.”
Cissa looked away and seemed to calm down a little bit.
“No. No, of course not. I only think…I'm not sure I want either of the boys going back this year.”
Teddy and Draco were hidden in a cabinet, watching the argument through a crack in the door. They glanced at each other, eyes wide.
“If you take Draco out of school, Dumbledore will be even more suspicious.”
“That's foolish, I –”
“That's Dumbledore,” Bellatrix retorted. “We're trying to keep a low profile. Taking your son out of school just because you're afraid to lose him –”
Cissa drew her wand. Teddy burst out of the cupboard and ran to stand between her and Bellatrix.
“Get out of the way, Theodore.”
“Don't hex her, it's not worth it. Bellatrix, stop antagonizing her.”
Cissa put her wand away with a scowl.
“What do you want to do, Theo? You're seventeen, you don't have to go back if you don't want to.”
“I don't have a preference.” Like any sensible teenager, Teddy relished the prospect of time off school. On the other hand, he wasn't too keen on spending the next ten months locked up in Malfoy Manor with no one but Death Eaters, Draco, and Cissa for company. “I just think, if I stay here, I should be allowed to help…gather followers and stuff. I want to be busy, wherever I am. I don't want to just sit around.” He looked at Cissa. “Bellatrix is right: you can't pull Draco out of school, that will make Dumbledore too suspicious.”
Inspiration suddenly hit Teddy. He got excited.
“I could stay in Hogsmeade and keep an eye on him! You know, to make sure he stays safe.”
“What would you do if he got in trouble?” Cissa asked.
“I've talked my way out of dozens of scrapes in my childhood. If worst comes to worst, I can fight. Besides, it's Hogwarts. There are loads of protective enchantments around the castle. Snape and Dumbledore and McGonagall won't let anything happen to Draco.”
“Would you mind keeping an eye on him?”
“Course not,” Teddy answered casually.
Secretly, he was elated at the idea that he would have ten months to himself without Death Eaters breathing down his neck and Draco doing nothing but glare at him icily. Unfortunately, Bellatrix knew something Teddy didn't.
“Lucius is governor, he can keep an eye on both boys.”
“Governor of what?” Teddy asked.
“Hogwarts. Don't they have a board of governors in your time?”
“I don't think so.”
“Then who keeps the headmaster in line?”
Teddy shrugged.
“Trust, common sense, a basic idea of decency?”
Bellatrix laughed.
“That would never work now. I daresay Dumbledore would have already destroyed the school if Lucius weren't there to keep him in check.”
Teddy resisted the urge to defend the fallen headmaster.
On September first, after changing into a gray sweater and black ripped jeans and changing his hair color to a startling bright yellow – wildly different from what he had been favoring for the last few months – Teddy went to the Three Broomsticks. He was reasonably certain that Draco was actually in no danger at school so he felt justified in using his time off to just be regular old Teddy Lupin for the first time in weeks.
He spent the next several months hanging out in Hogsmeade. He had told Cissa to send him messages at Madam Rosmerta's. He regularly changed his features as he went between Honeydukes, Madam Rosmerta's, and the Three Broomsticks. When he wasn't in a shop, he was walking around town. He always hoped to catch a glimpse of Draco, even on weekdays when he knew students weren't allowed out of school.
Shortly before Halloween, he ran into a bunch of Hogwarts kids in the Hog's Head. He put on his Hufflepuff tie in order to blend in even without his robes. He stood in the back and listened as Harry explained that their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was a Ministry plant who tortured disobedient kids and didn't teach them anything. Because of that, they decided to set up an illicit school club to actually teach each other how to fight.
Teddy ran out of the pub before the meeting was even over. He knocked over a chair on his way out.
Five minutes later, Teddy knocked on the door to Umbridge's office. Her sickly-sweet voice made him shudder.
“Come in.”
He didn't give her a chance to react when he entered the room with his wand drawn.
“Petrificus Totalus!”
He stuffed her petrified body in her trunk, unintentionally mirroring the actions of last year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He looked around the office and grimaced. With a flick of his wand, all of the kitten pictures disappeared and were replaced with Holyhead Harpies posters. Teddy grinned.
“Much better.”
By the time Harry, Andromeda, and the Malfoys arrived home, Andromeda seemed to have calmed down a bit. She was understandably terse when she told Narcissa what had happened in the latter half of the nineties but accepted her sincere apology without comment. The kids were given strict instructions to avoid antagonizing any of the Malfoys. To her credit, Narcissa didn't try to needle her sister at all. Harry was actually surprised by how respectful all of the Malfoys were. All it took was one glare from Draco and Lucius shut his mouth.
Chapter 5: Attack
Summary:
Teddy does some good things and some bad things, Draco has a gay panic moment, and Narcissa comes up with a plan to get back to her time
Chapter Text
Teddy had his first class the next day, with third year Hufflepuffs. He resisted the urge to give them House points on principle. He decided to keep up with Umbridge's strategy of only teaching theory, feeling secure in the knowledge that Harry was teaching practical skills to Dumbledore's Army at the same time.
If you asked him, he would have said he played his part quite well. He looked and acted like Umbridge whenever anyone else – student or teacher – was around and he only let his guard down enough to revert back to his natural look when he was alone. No one ever came into his office so he didn't mind leaving the Quidditch posters up. It made the office feel like home.
When winter vacation started, Teddy went back to Malfoy Manor for the holidays. Bellatrix didn't waste time with pleasantries either, not that Teddy expected her to.
“Do you really want to make yourself useful to the Dark Lord?”
Teddy didn't hesitate.
“Of course. I want nothing more.”
“Good. You're going with Dolohov and Carrow to the Department of Mysteries. There's a man there, a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Don't kill him, but rough him up a bit and steal the thing he's guarding.”
“What is it?”
Teddy side-stepped the hex Bellatrix sent his way.
“Don't ask questions. Just do as I say.”
“Yes ma'am,” Teddy muttered.
He was saved from being punished for his sass when Cissa came in with a house-elf. Bellatrix blinked at the unexpected pair.
“Kreacher?”
The house-elf bowed low.
“Miss Bella.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Master Sirius sent me away.”
Cissa and Bellatrix looked at each other. The latter's expression was calculating while the former's was, at least to Teddy, unreadable.
Finally Bellatrix spoke.
“Go. All of you. Kreacher, go to the kitchens. You, boy…you know what to do.”
Kreacher Disapparated with a crack. A moment later, Teddy followed suit. Cissa glanced at her sister.
“You're corrupting him.”
Bellatrix laughed.
“Oh please. He asked for this one.”
Teddy had to push down his instinct to morph into Harry when they walked into the Ministry of Magic. In addition to the fact that he didn't fancy walking into the Ministry when everyone there currently thought Harry was a liar, he really didn't want Carrow and Dolohov figuring out that he was a Metamorphmagus. They would tell Bellatrix and, best case scenario, she would exploit his abilities. Worst case scenario, she would figure out who he really was and tell Voldemort.
As they walked, he found himself wondering whether anyone really would make the connection between himself and his mother. Controlling his powers was difficult, but manageable, and it would certainly take a huge weight off of Teddy's shoulders if he didn't have to worry about keeping his emotions from hijacking his morphs all the time.
He didn't have any more time to dwell on his thoughts because Dolohov whispered, “This is it.”
Teddy flinched when he saw Arthur Weasley, looking much younger than Teddy remembered. He had a feeling that would be the common thread between any Order members he met on this journey.
Arthur was standing in front of a crystal ball labeled with Harry's name. It didn't take a genius to figure out that was what he was guarding.
Teddy took a deep breath and aimed his wand at Arthur, who suspected nothing.
“Sectumsempra,” he whispered.
Arthur fell with a cry. While Dolohov and Carrow were celebrating their victories Teddy silently cast Vulnera Sanentur to stem the bleeding.
But when he tried to grab the crystal ball, an alarm started to screech. Teddy stumbled backwards as if burned.
“Come on, lad, let's go!” Carrow yelled.
Teddy sprinted out of the Ministry with them, making no attempt to be subtle. As soon as they were far enough away, they apparated back to Malfoy Manor.
(At Hogwarts, Harry Potter woke up in a cold sweat after a nightmare).
Bellatrix came running to meet them at the door.
“Did he do it?” she demanded.
“Yes, he was brilliant, there was blood everywhere!” Dolohov answered.
“Bit quick for my taste,” Carrow muttered. “The bastard nearly got us arrested, he triggered an alarm of some sort.”
“Damn,” Bellatrix cursed.
She raised her wand, freezing Teddy in place. He braced himself for the pain.
Bellatrix said an incantation that Teddy wasn't familiar with and blue flames shot out of her wand.
He was not prepared for the pain. The flames didn't harm his skin but he really did feel like he was being set on fire.
It felt like hours before the pain stopped, and even longer before Teddy was able to drag himself to his bedroom to change his clothes.
He wasn't fully dressed when Draco walked in. The younger boy stopped in the doorway and stared at Teddy's shirtless torso. He looked like he'd swallowed his tongue.
“Do you mind?” Teddy asked.
Draco blinked, hurried into the bedroom, and closed the door behind him.
“Sorry. I didn't mean to – sorry.”
Teddy pulled his shirt over his head, wincing as it scraped over his burned skin. Despite the pain, there were no marks. Draco busied himself with making sure his hair looked perfect in the mirror.
“Are you queer?” Teddy asked bluntly.
Draco turned around so quickly that he knocked over a tin of pomade. He ignored the spill in favor of glaring at Teddy. His neck was bright red.
“Are you out of your mind?”
Teddy shrugged.
“It's not a big deal. I mean, I'm pansexual.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“Attracted to everyone, regardless of what's between their legs. I swing more towards guys, but I've dated both.”
“And why are you telling me this?”
Teddy shrugged again, brazenly. The torture had given him a new appreciation for his situation and the important things; he figured if he was going to be killed he should probably confess this first. Even if it backfired on him at least it would be out in the open.
“I'm attracted to you.”
Draco's mouth fell open.
“You –”
“Do you feel the same way?”
“Absolutely not! I'm not a fucking –”
“Okay, there's no need to get angry. And don't you dare say anything insulting. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.”
Draco's face twisted into a sneer.
“Stay away from me. I'm not like that.”
“Great. Fine. I don't fucking care.”
“Good.”
“Great.”
Draco rolled his eyes and left the room. Teddy sat on Draco's bed, punched his pillow, and did his best to pretend he wasn't crying. It wasn't the first time he had been rejected but the circumstances made it feel so much worse.
Several days after Narcissa's arrival, she approached Andromeda with a plan.
“I've been doing some research, and there's a potion version of a Time-Turner. You would have to put up with me for several weeks while it brewed but if you're willing to do that…”
“We could go rescue Teddy.”
Narcissa nodded.
“And get me back where I'm meant to be.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
When Harry, Hermione, Draco, Lucius, Narcissa, and Andromeda looked over the recipe, their hopes plummeted.
“This is very complicated,” Hermione fretted.
“You were top of our class for six years,” Harry reminded her. “You can do this, ‘Mione.”
“I was also top of my class,” Narcissa revealed.
Harry raised his eyebrows at her.
“Really?”
She nodded.
“It looks like it'll take about three weeks to make,” Andromeda predicted.
“Perfect, so we only have to stay here for three more weeks,” Lucius said coolly.
Andromeda glared at him.
“You are welcome to go home.”
“And miss all the fun? You must be joking."
Chapter 6: Choices
Summary:
I'm so sorry
Chapter Text
One night in the spring, Teddy stopped by Madam Rosmerta's and was surprised to see Cissa waiting for him. He ordered a butterbeer and came over to her table.
“Hi.”
“Any news?”
Teddy shook his head. Cissa tapped her fingers on the table. Teddy put his drink down and stared at her.
“What? What's wrong?”
“Bellatrix managed to get you on a mission,” she said quietly. “Alone, with her.”
Teddy's heart skipped a beat, or four.
“What kind of mission? Why me?”
“She thinks you need training.”
“Jeez.” Teddy finished his butterbeer. He suddenly wished he had something stronger. His hands were shaking. “I'm…I don't think I'm ready.”
“That's why you're here, isn't it? To help win this war?”
Teddy swallowed hard. Every story he had ever heard about Bellatrix Lestrange and Death Eater raids was suddenly flashing through his mind at a hundred miles an hour. He felt sick.
That time when he was fourteen and Neville told him, “They made us practice the Cruciatus Curse on first years.”
That time he cried in fifth year History of Magic class when the professor casually mentioned how his grandparents had been tortured by Bellatrix and some other Death Eaters.
His godfather telling him just before he traveled to the past that Bellatrix had laughed after killing Sirius.
Cissa snapped her fingers in front of Teddy's face. He blinked and came out of his own head.
“Sorry…got distracted.”
“You are not Death Eater material,” she noted.
“Just because we're not all fanatics like Bella doesn't mean we don't support the cause.”
“Your hair's turning red,” Cissa pointed out dryly.
“Shit!”
Teddy covered his hair with his hands.
“You need to get a handle on those powers.”
“I've been doing fine all year.”
“Don't hesitate. Bella will know, and she won't think twice about punishing you for it.”
Teddy winced, remembering exactly what Bellatrix's idea of punishment entailed.
“Thanks.”
Cissa nodded. Teddy clenched his fists when she told him where to meet Bellatrix.
“You can't Apparate. You can take a train from here to get there,” she informed him.
Yeah, I know, Teddy thought. I've done it a dozen times, skiving off class to go visit Gran.
He resisted the urge to put his head in his hands.
You can lose it once you're alone on the train.
He hurried out of the pub and ran to the nearest train station. As soon as he boarded the train to London, he broke down crying.
He hadn't cried at all in the months he'd been here, but knowing he was being sent with the worst Death Eater to torture his mother's parents for no apparent reason other than the fun of it — Cissa had only said Bellatrix had suggested the idea as training for him, which Teddy thought was worse than if they were actually being interrogated about something — was his breaking point.
Once he recovered, he managed to clean himself up a bit to hide the fact that he had been crying. He felt better now that he had a plan.
After making sure his hair was a respectable shade of black, he met Bellatrix in the backyard of his grandparents’ house.
“Who lives here?” he asked. He was more interested in what Bellatrix would say than in the actual answer.
“Blood traitors,” she answered.
Teddy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He made a mental note to make Bellatrix pay for all of her insults to his family once he visibly switched sides.
Revenge will be sweet, Bella.
“Reducto!”
The front door was blown off its hinges.
“Bellatrix!”
Bellatrix laughed. Teddy followed her inside.
Andromeda and Ted were standing in the kitchen, clearly caught off guard. Teddy grabbed their wands. Ted glared at him.
“Well, well, well, look who we have here,” Bellatrix taunted.
Teddy took advantage of her being distracted to quietly repair the front door.
“A blood traitor and her –”
“Don't say a word against him,” Andromeda said sternly. She was standing protectively in front of her husband. “What do you want, Bellatrix?”
“Just came by for some fun.”
“Not likely,” Ted spat bravely.
“Silencio,” Teddy said.
“Finite incantatem. No, I like it when they get mouthy. Makes it a lot more fun when they stop.”
“I thought this was supposed to be my show?”
“Yes, well, I have a personal issue to deal with.”
Just one? Teddy thought.
“Wait your turn.” Bellatrix raised her wand. Andromeda flinched and Ted stepped in front of her. “Cru –”
“Bellatrix, wait.”
Bellatrix rounded on Teddy, furious.
“What?!”
“The Ministry tracks Unforgivable Curses whenever they're cast, right?”
“Yes…”
“As soon as you cast the Cruciatus Curse on her you'll have a dozen Aurors here to drag you back to Azkaban.”
“Damn it, I told Cissy you didn't have the stomach for this!”
“I do, and I'll do it if you tell me too, I'm just being sensible!”
“I don't –”
“Yeah, I know you don't care, but I do!”
“Why are you defending her? You had no such reservations when it was you on the receiving end.”
“What do you think is going to happen to me if you get arrested? If the Aurors come for Narcissa and Lucius?” Teddy sighed, changing tacks. “Look, just…let me do this myself. In my own way. That's why I'm here, isn't it? For practice?”
“How dare you!” Ted exclaimed. Teddy admired his guts, but had a feeling they were about to land him in hot water. “My wife and I are not tools for you to –”
“Shut up!” Bellatrix snarled at him. She turned to Teddy and he could see the hesitation in her eyes. She clearly didn't want to, but she nodded. “Fine. You get five minutes before I come in there.”
“Ten,” Teddy requested.
He knew instantly that he had overstepped. Bellatrix stepped towards him, a move that would have seemed more intimidating if Teddy hadn't been nearly a foot taller than her.
“You think you can bargain with me?” she hissed. “Me?”
“Five minutes,” Teddy amended. He pushed Ted through the door to the other room. “Go on, then.”
As soon as they were inside, Teddy closed the door.
“Muffliato,” he murmured, pointing his wand at the door. “Colloportus.”
Satisfied that the door was locked and Bellatrix wouldn't be able to hear a thing, Teddy promptly collapsed face-first on the bed.
After several moments, he heard Andromeda's footsteps and knew that she was tentatively approaching him.
“Is he alive?” Ted asked.
“Yup,” Teddy mumbled through a mouthful of bedsheets.
He stood up, kicked off his shoes, and sprawled on his back on the bed, the same way he always used to do as a kid. Ted looked affronted. He let his hair change color from black to the bubblegum pink that his mother had so adored. Andromeda gasped in recognition.
“I'm not going to hurt you,” Teddy informed them. “I'm even going to let you rough me up a little bit, for show. If I go out there unharmed Bellatrix will know I betrayed her.”
“Are you a Death Eater?” Andromeda asked.
Teddy laughed.
“God, no. I hate them. I'm undercover.”
“Do you work for the Order?”
“Oh, great, you know the Order!” Teddy said brightly. “Nah, I'm not exactly working for them either. I'm kind of doing my own thing to help the good guys. But I'm seriously deep undercover, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell any Death Eaters that I'm actually working against them.”
“Do we look like the kind of people who know Death Eaters?” Ted asked.
Teddy snorted.
“Definitely not.” He couldn't stop himself from giving Andromeda a genuine smile. “You don't know me, but I know you. It's good to see you. And…I'm sorry. Genuinely.”
She blinked.
“What for?”
“I don't have the time or inclination to explain right now — I'll stop by sometime soon and give you the full story — but right now I want you to punch me in the face and then get the hell out of here. Don't come back for a week or so and then redo all the protective charms you have on the house. Wait, what day is it?”
“The thirtieth of April.”
Teddy laughed.
“Oh, that's perfect.”
“Why?”
“I'll tell you later. Punch me.”
Ted didn't hesitate. Teddy fell back on the bed.
“Ted!” Andromeda reprimanded. “You're going to hurt the boy!”
“That's the idea,” Teddy gasped. He sat up. “Merlin's beard, that hurt. Go again.”
Teddy didn't like the smirk that crossed Ted's face before he punched him in the mouth. Teddy let him get a few more hits in before Andromeda made him stop.
“How do I look?” Teddy asked.
He felt awful; his nose was almost certainly broken, his mouth was bleeding profusely, and his eyes were already nearly swollen shut.
“Terrible,” Ted answered proudly.
“You're blood-thirsty,” Teddy complimented.
“It's not every day I get to punch a Death Eater.”
Teddy sighed but didn't correct the assumption. He gave Andromeda back her wand.
“Tie me up,” he requested. “Then blast through the window, unlock the door, and get the hell out of here before Bella realizes what we've done.”
Andromeda gestured to his hair.
“You might want to go back to the blond, if that's what Bellatrix is used to.”
“Oh God, I almost forgot about that.” Teddy quickly changed his hair color. “Thanks.”
“Thank you,” Andromeda said sincerely. “For rescuing us.”
Teddy nodded.
“Go on, then.”
Andromeda pointed her wand at him and quietly said, “Incarcerous.”
Teddy gasped as thin ropes shot out of the wand and wrapped themselves around his body.
“Can you breathe?” Andromeda asked anxiously.
Once a mother, always a mother, Teddy thought.
He nodded. The rope wasn't loose — that would be suspicious — but it wasn't dangerously tight or painful either.
“Y – yeah. Go.”
Andromeda spared him one last worried look before following his instructions to unlock the door and cast Deletrius on the window. Teddy was glad to be far enough away from the window to avoid being hit by shards of glass. Ted helped Andromeda climb over the windowsill and Teddy watched happily as they climbed out the window and ran away.
Unfortunately, the Blasting Spell attracted Bellatrix's attention. She burst through the door just in time to see Andromeda and Ted running away.
“What did you do?” she yelled at Teddy.
“Nothing!” he exclaimed. “He attacked me, she tied me up — you said they were blood traitors, Bella; you never said they were smart, too.”
He sent a silent apology to his grandmother for that line.
Bellatrix grabbed Teddy's chin and he was momentarily afraid she was going to break his neck the Muggle way. But she just forced him to look her in the eyes.
“What did you do?” she asked, slowly and quietly.
“S — Sectumsempra,” Teddy gasped.
“The spell Severus invented?” Bellatrix asked, surprised.
Teddy nodded. Bellatrix vanished the ropes binding Teddy. He stood up, theatrically rubbing his wrists.
“Thanks.”
“Let's go.”
They left the house and Disapparated.
They appeared with a pop outside Malfoy Manor.
“Are you mad at me?” Teddy asked.
“Quiet,” Bellatrix said.
Teddy followed her inside. He was surprised to see Draco Malfoy in the living room.
Bellatrix pushed Teddy towards Draco and said, “Heal him.”
Draco complied immediately.
“Come on, then.”
They went to Draco's bedroom. Draco grabbed a box from under his bed. It was filled with magical healing supplies like dittany, balms, and salves.
Teddy sat on the bed and remarked, “That's quite the apothecary you've got going there.”
“Mmhm.”
Draco started dabbing Teddy's wounds with the balm. He winced and tried to pull away.
“Stop flinching.”
“It stings.”
“Suck it up.”
Teddy scowled but followed directions. He sucked in a breath when Draco rubbed the balm on his cracked and swollen lips.
“That hurts,” he whispered.
“Well, that's just too bad, Mr Black,” Draco replied.
Before he could think better of it, Teddy corrected, “Lupin.”
Draco's hand stilled. It was warm on Teddy's cheek and he was a bit sadder than he had any right to be when Draco pulled it away.
“What?”
“I'm Remus Lupin's son. Andromeda's grandson. I was born in 1998.”
“Does he know you're here?”
Teddy shook his head. His heart was racing. He knew he shouldn't have admitted this but it had just slipped out.
In all honesty, he wanted to tell someone the truth. He was tired of lying and pretending. For some absurd reason, Draco felt safe.
“My mother said –”
“Your mother lied.”
“I should tell Bellatrix.”
“Please don't,” Teddy begged. “She'll kill me. She'll kill my parents.” He took a breath. He felt bad for what he was about to say but he knew he had to say it. “She'll kill Cissa too, for lying to her. You don't want that, do you?”
Draco's reply was instantaneous, as Teddy knew it would be.
“Of course not.”
“Good. Please don't tell anyone what I told you. I trust you. Please don't betray that trust.”
Draco picked up the balm again and rubbed it on Teddy's forehead.
Several moments passed in silence before Teddy said, “Can I ask you something?”
“You just did,” Draco pointed out.
“Why didn't the Ministry come running when Bellatrix cast the Cruciatus Curse on me? Don't they track that kind of thing?”
Draco smiled, but there was no humor behind it.
“Mother and Father have put dozens of concealment charms on the house. Auntie Bella can do whatever she wants here and the Ministry is none the wiser.”
Teddy shivered.
“Stop it, you're going to make me spill this balm everywhere. It's nasty, sticky stuff and I'd really rather not have it on my robes.”
“Shouldn't you be at school?”
“I came down for the weekend, just to visit. I go back Monday.”
“What's your favorite class?”
“Do you always talk so much?”
Teddy shrugged.
“I'm a friendly guy.”
“Well, I'm not.”
They lapsed into silence again for several minutes.
Finally Draco said, “History of Magic.”
“What?”
“My favorite class.”
“Wicked. Mine too.”
Draco smirked and sat back to examine his work.
“You're all better.”
Teddy looked at himself in the mirror. He smiled at Draco.
“Thanks.”
“Don't mention it. Seriously, don't.”
Chapter 7: Department of Mysteries
Notes:
I woke up super early today and I'm very mad about it, please be kind xoxo
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Teddy was genuinely stunned when he made it to the end of the year without getting caught. In mid-June, he was packing up his trunk while listening to the Weird Sisters on his headphones when someone tapped him on the shoulder.
He screamed and whirled around, yanking his headphones off. He was so caught off-guard that he felt his hair flash from brown to blue before settling on a hellish thing that combined Umbridge's curls with his favorite teal blue color.
“Mother of Merlin, a little warning next time?” he exclaimed.
Snape and McGonagall stared at him.
“You are not Professor Umbridge,” Snape observed.
Teddy morphed until he looked like her.
“As of November, I am.”
“Where is she?” McGonagall asked.
Teddy nodded at her trunk.
“In there.”
“And who are you?”
“Edward Remus Lupin, more commonly known as Teddy. I was born in 1998 and I'm here to stop the world from going to hell in a handbasket for…well, all of you, actually, but my family specifically.”
“You're Remus's son?”
Teddy nodded.
“With Nymphadora?” Snape guessed.
Teddy smirked.
“What gave it away?”
“You locked a Ministry official in a trunk for seven months?” McGonagall asked in disbelief.
“She tortured a PTSD-riddled fifteen-year-old and called him a liar for talking about his trauma, so…yeah, I felt completely justified in getting her out of the way.”
“And what was your plan for once the school year ended?”
“Obliviate her and send her back where she came from,” Teddy answered with a shrug.
“You're a menace like your father,” Snape informed him. “This is exactly the kind of ridiculous scheme the Marauders would come up with.”
Teddy grinned and replied, “That's a higher compliment than you know.” He jerked a thumb back towards his trunk. “Can I go?”
“Where are you staying?” McGonagall asked.
“Malfoy Manor. I’m undercover there.”
Snape rolled his eyes and muttered, “The plot thickens.”
“Yes, go,” McGonagall said.
When Teddy Apparated back to the Manor, he was disappointed not to see Draco. The conversation where Teddy had admitted his real identity was the most they'd spoken at any one time since Teddy confessed he was in love with Draco. It was excruciating because Teddy hadn't been lying when he told Draco he was attracted to him.
He's unfairly gorgeous, with his blond hair that you just want to run your hands through and his perfect features –
Teddy stopped himself right there.
Stop thinking about him like that, goddammit. You're just going to get your heart broken again.
Later that day, Bellatrix delighted in informing Teddy that she and half a dozen other Death Eaters would be going to the Department of Mysteries to retrieve the prophecy from Harry.
“I've decided you have proven yourself worthy of coming with us.”
It's cute that you thought it was your choice, Teddy thought.
He wisely decided not to say that out loud.
“Excellent. When do we leave?”
“Now, you idiot.”
“Don't call Regulus's son an idiot!” Cissa called from the library.
Teddy went in to talk to her.
“Are you coming?”
Cissa looked up from her book, surprised.
“I'm not actually a Death Eater, Edward.”
“If you come with us, we can fill out our ranks without actually planning to hurt anyone,” Teddy explained quietly. “I'm only one person, Cissa. I can protect my mum but not my dad at the same time. And this is supposed to be the fight where Bellatrix kills Sirius. I can't be everywhere at once and I'm scared I'll miss something important if it's just me.”
Cissa stood with a sigh.
“Alright, alright, calm down. I'm coming.”
Teddy grinned and went back to the entrance hall. Yaxley, Carrow, Dolohov, Lucius, and half a dozen other Death Eaters had joined Bellatrix.
“Do we really need this many people for a simple retrieval mission?” Lucius inquired.
Teddy opened his mouth to answer but Cissa beat him to it.
“They may just be teenagers, Lucius, but they were trained by Harry Potter himself. They can go toe-to-toe with the best of us, especially if they call reinforcements.”
“Will you be joining us?”
Cissa did a much better job at faking nonchalance than Teddy did. He figured she had more practice.
“Yes.”
“Excellent,” Bellatrix said. “Let's go!”
Cissa grabbed Teddy's arm and Disapparated at the same time as the others.
Exactly as Cissa had predicted, they appeared in row 97 behind half a dozen teenagers. Harry was examining the prophecy.
“Very good, Potter, now give it to me,” Lucius said quietly.
The kids spun around. Ginny gasped. Teddy couldn't blame her; the Death Eater masks were quite horrifying up close.
“Where's Sirius?” Harry demanded.
Bellatrix laughed.
“You truly believed we had him?”
“Kreacher said –”
“Kreacher lied!” Bellatrix shouted triumphantly. “Kreacher followed his new mistress's orders after his former master released him from service!”
“Sirius kicked Kreacher out of the house so he went to the next Black family heir: Narcissa,” Teddy explained. “Bellatrix was in prison and Andromeda was disowned –”
“As well she should be.”
Teddy took great pleasure in ignoring Bellatrix.
“ – so darling Cissy was the only one Kreacher was willing to recognize as his master.”
Teddy was almost sure Bellatrix was smirking under her mask.
“Very well done, boy. You're smarter than you look.”
Teddy rolled his eyes.
“Look, just give us the prophecy and no one needs to get hurt,” Cissa said calmly.
Hermione tilted her head slightly, like a confused bird, as she studied Cissa.
“Why does she look so familiar?” she whispered to Ron.
“I think that's Malfoy's mum,” he whispered back.
Cissa smiled.
“Narcissa Malfoy, at your service.”
“Is there anyone in your family who's not completely evil?” Harry asked her.
“It's complicated,” Teddy answered.
Harry turned his attention to the slightly older teenager.
“And who are you?”
“My name's Theo.”
“Are you seriously making small talk?” Bellatrix demanded. “We don't have time for this! Grab the prophecy!”
Harry tried to hold the crystal ball out of Teddy's reach when he lunged for it, but Teddy was six inches taller than him and had been playing Seeker since grade school. He grabbed the tiny ball and tossed it over his shoulder to Cissa.
“Reducto!”
Cissa yelped and rolled out of the way to avoid Ginny's curse. Seeing that she had dropped the prophecy, Teddy grabbed it and stuffed it in his pocket before it hit the floor. His idea was something like out of sight, out of mind, but he wasn't confident that would work in this instance.
When Lucius pulled Cissa to her feet, her hair was slightly more red than it had been the moment before. It was barely noticeable; the only reason Teddy noticed was because he knew her so well by now, he knew she was angry, and he knew what happened to his own hair when he got angry so he fully expected the same thing to happen to hers.
“Little brat just tried to kill me!”
“Don't call my sister a brat!” Ron snapped. “Stupefy!”
The Death Eaters, Cissa, and Teddy scattered. The kids started casting Reducto to destroy the shelves of prophecies.
Teddy ran down several aisles and took the prophecy out of his pocket. He was about to destroy it when he heard Cissa behind him.
“Teddy, wait.”
He turned around.
“If you destroy it now, Bella will know you did it. Better to let one of the kids ‘accidentally’ get ahold of it.”
Teddy put the small sphere back in his pocket.
“Good idea.”
“Give it to the Longbottom boy; he's notoriously clumsy, he'll just drop it and then we can all go home.”
Teddy nodded and ran back into the atrium.
According to Sirius, it took entirely too long for them to arrive at the Ministry.
“Harry could be dead already,” he muttered to Remus.
“He's not,” he replied.
“How do you know?”
“I just do. He's the Chosen One, right? He's not going to die tonight.”
“He might. And then I don't know what I'd do.”
“He's not going to die, Sirius. If even half of the stories I've heard are true, he's going to be just fine. He's already fought the Dark Lord twice – three times if you count that Basilisk nonsense – is that true, by the way?”
“Harry never mentioned anything about a Basilisk.”
“Yeah, well, he wouldn't, would he?” Tonks chimed in, pulling up beside them. “He's too damn humble for his own good. As it happens, Charlie Weasley told me all about it. He said his younger sister nearly died but Harry saved her.”
“How much of that do you think was just him trying to impress you?”
“Shut up, Sirius. Charlie and I are never going to happen. He knows that.”
Sirius smirked and threw his broom into a steep dive towards the Ministry building. Mad-Eye and Tonks led the way into the Department of Mysteries.
“Harry!” Sirius yelled. “Harry, where are you!?”
“Merlin's beard, Sirius –” Mad-Eye hissed.
“Here!” Harry yelled.
“Christ, he's dueling Malfoy,” Remus muttered.
“Who's that next to him?” Tonks asked.
“Narcissa,” Mad-Eye answered.
“His wife? What's she doing here? I didn't think she was a Death Eater.”
“Presumably she's here for the same reason as her husband. Now, do you plan to stand here gawking all night or would you like to do your job?”
Mad-Eye and the others ran into the battle.
Harry immediately stunned Narcissa.
“Cissa!”
A young man ran over to them. He knelt down next to Cissa.
“Oh God –”
He whipped around to glare at Harry.
“What did you do?” he demanded furiously. He raised his wand. “Crucio!”
Harry yelped as the curse hit him, more out of surprise than pain. Lucius pushed the boy out of the way.
“Calm down, she's just stunned. Where's the prophecy?”
The boy turned pale and Harry saw the roots of his hair turn blue.
“It smashed. I was running –”
Lucius shoved the boy. Instinctively, Tonks grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him protectively closer to her.
“Don't touch him,” she ordered Lucius.
“You idiot, he'll kill us all now!” he snarled.
“Well then you better think of a good story real quick, Lucy, because I'm not taking the blame for this but I sure as hell ain't blaming the kids!” the boy shot back. He shook off Tonks's grip and told her, “You should go.”
Lucius turned his wand on her.
“She's not going anywhere. None of them are.”
“You first,” Tonks told the boy. “Fumos!”
Black smoke poured out of her wand. Lucius started coughing. The boy stared at Tonks, clearly conflicted about abandoning her.
“Go!” she yelled. “Get out!”
He grinned and ran off. Tonks did the same, running in the other direction.
Tonks was disappointed but unsurprised to discover that Bellatrix was hot on her heels when she ran into the atrium. The Death Eater had abandoned her mask, allowing Tonks to see her face for the first time.
“Your master's gonna kill you for this, Bella,” Tonks taunted. “Letting the famous prophecy be snatched out from under your nose by a teenage boy?”
Tonks clicked her tongue and shook her head in mock disappointment. Taunting her aunt gave her a wonderful rush of adrenaline, but that may have had more to do with the fact that she genuinely thought she might be about to die.
“And here I always thought you were good at your job.”
“You insolent little – Crucio!”
Tonks cast a silent shield charm.
“Honestly, Bella, I know you know more than one spell.”
Bellatrix started fighting harder, which forced Tonks to stop egging her on.
“Aranea!”
“Oh, Merlin!”
Tonks scrambled up to higher ground to avoid the swarm of spiders pouring out of Bellatrix's wand. She laughed when she saw the unbridled fear on Tonks face.
“You're afraid of spiders too?” she taunted. “Just like your mother. That's good to know.”
Tonks glared at her. She was now standing on the top step and the spiders were crawling rapidly towards her. In a few seconds they would be on top of her.
“This is dirty fighting, Bellatrix.”
Her voice was pitched high with fear. Bellatrix smiled.
“My parents always said no fighting is dirty if it gets the job done.”
“Yeah, well, your parents also said your little sister was terrible for falling in love with the wrong guy, so, you know, grain of salt.”
As Bellatrix raised her wand to curse Tonks, the doors burst open and Sirius ran in. He was dueling Snape.
While Bellatrix was distracted by them, Tonks remembered she could use magic to get rid of these spiders.
“Impedimenta! Aguamenti! Incendio!”
“Stupefy!”
“Dora!”
After finishing Snape off with a Full Body-Bind Curse, Sirius ran into the flames Tonks had created and dragged her unconscious body out of Bellatrix's reach, then turned back to fight.
“Azkaban wasn't kind to you, Bellatrix,” he noted as they started to duel.
“Nor to you,” she retorted. “You're still sporting that stupid haircut – or lack thereof, I should say.”
Sirius scoffed.
“At least I brush my hair. Yours is a rat's nest. I can't imagine your mother would approve.”
“Enough about my family!” Bellatrix snapped. “It's getting very tiresome!”
“Yeah? Who else is giving you a hard time?”
“That stupid girl –”
Sirius laughed.
“Tonks? Good for her, she deserves to get his licks in with you.”
Bellatrix used a spell to throw Sirius head over heels. He would have gone directly through the strange veil behind him if someone hadn't yelled another spell at the last minute.
“Duro!”
Sirius groaned, dazed, as he hit the new stone wall with a crunch. He got his feet and used the last of his strength to cast a Shield Charm before he sank to his knees. His head was pounding where it had smacked against the rocks.
Luckily for him, Tonks and Lucius had both woken up and were dueling once more.
“Dora –” Sirius rasped. “Tonks, get Remus. Or Mad-Eye. I'm down.”
Tonks knocked Lucius out and ran over to Sirius.
“No you're not. Episkey. Reparifors.”
The two spells revived Sirius. He took a deep breath and stood.
“Thanks, mate. Go find Remus and Harry, yeah?”
“That's the plan!”
She ran out of the room. Sirius got rid of the shield and lunged at Bellatrix. They instantly started dueling again. Several moments later, Tonks ran into the room. She took one look at Sirius and Bellatrix and ran to help him.
“I thought I told you to leave!”
“Remus and Harry are safe, I can help you finish this!”
“Why are you protecting her?” Bellatrix asked.
Sirius thought she might have been genuinely curious.
“I like her. She's better than you, at any rate.”
“That bar isn't very high!” Tonks pointed out.
Sirius shrugged.
“True. It's hard to get worse than you, Bellatrix.”
“Really? I would have thought your dear friend Peter would be worse.”
Sirius abandoned his wand completely in favor of punching Bellatrix in the mouth. She stumbled backwards, as stunned as if Sirius had cast a curse.
“Don't you dare talk about him,” Sirius hissed. “Don't you dare. You have no right –”
Bellatrix laughed.
“Have I touched a nerve, Sirius? Are you still mourning –”
Bellatrix looked down and touched her chest. Her hand came away soaked with blood. Before she could figure out what had happened, she collapsed, unconscious.
Notes:
Hehehe cliffie
Chapter 8: Arrest
Chapter Text
Snape crouched in the shadows of the Ministry, healing Bellatrix's wound with a counter-curse only he knew. She was seething beneath him. She winced and gasped quietly at one particularly painful point.
“Oh, stop whining,” Snape drawled. “This isn't even close to the worst injury you've ever had.”
She glared at him. He might have been a little more unnerved if she hadn't been lying prone on the floor, completely at his mercy and – until fairly recently – bleeding profusely.
Snape pulled Bellatrix to her feet when he finished healing her. Together they ran out into the fray.
Sirius was lying in wait for Bellatrix when she came back. They were very evenly matched. They each knew the other's fighting style so well, it was like they could read each other's minds. They stopped bickering now, choosing instead to pour all of their energy into their fight.
It was more like a dance than a battle. As they cast and parried spell after spell, Sirius found himself wondering if either of them really wanted to kill the other.
Then he remembered who he was fighting.
Of course she wants to kill you, you idiot. Don't be a fool.
Funnily enough, the chiding voice in his head sounded a lot like Remus.
Bellatrix took a step back. Sirius smiled. He had her cornered. He was about to end this once and for all.
Before he could decide what snarky comment he wanted to throw at his cousin before ending the fight, Yaxley ran over, grabbed Bellatrix's arm, and Disapparated.
“Oh, come on!” Sirius yelled.
Remus ran over to him.
“Let's get out of here. The Minister – he knows. Voldemort's back.”
Sirius rounded on his best friend. He was furious that his chance to give Bellatrix what she deserved had been stolen from him and unfortunately Remus bore the brunt of that anger.
“You think I don't know that? I've been locked up in that curséd house for months because of him!”
Remus held his hands up in a placating gesture.
“Calm down, Sirius, I only meant – he was here. Just now. Dumbledore fought him and the Minister saw, so he can't deny it anymore.”
Sirius was so relieved that he almost collapsed. Within seconds, however, his relief was replaced by terror. He grabbed Remus's hand.
“Where's Harry?”
Please, Merlin, don't let me lose him. Not today.
“He's fine,” Remus assured him. “Dumbledore took all of the kids back to school. They're all fine.” His brow furrowed. “Well, Hermione's a bit banged up, Dolohov got her good –”
As much as he liked Hermione and wanted to hear that she was going to be okay, Sirius stopped listening. He suddenly felt dead tired. He was too exhausted to be embarrassed when he fell to his knees and started crying. Remus knelt next to him and put a warm hand on his shoulder.
“I wish they were here,” Sirius whispered through his tears. “James and Lily and Marlene and Mary and Dorcas – even fucking Peter, for Merlin's sake. I just want all of this to be over.”
“Me too, mate.”
Teddy sprinted out of the Ministry. Halfway to the exit, he was tripped by an Auror. He fell to the floor and went sprawling. The Auror grabbed Teddy's collar and pulled him to his feet. Before he could gather his wits, he was being handcuffed and pushed through a door.
Cissa looked up sharply. Teddy saw that she too had been handcuffed.
“Sit,” the Auror commanded.
Teddy obeyed, sitting on the bench next to Cissa. The Auror left the office and Teddy heard the door behind him.
As soon as they were alone, Teddy let his shoulders slump and his hair turned blue.
“This went well,” he muttered sarcastically.
Cissa was unfazed.
“They won't lock either of us up. We'll be back at the Manor by dawn.”
“How do you know?”
“I'm a Malfoy,” Cissa answered simply. “The Ministry can't afford to lose Lucius's support by locking up his wife.”
“Because he's bribing Ministry officials?” Teddy guessed.
“Constantly.”
Teddy snorted. He was suddenly seeing Cissa in a new light.
“Did you marry him for love or because you knew it would help you move up in the world?”
“Both,” Cissa confessed.
The door opened and a young Auror walked in. Cissa smiled.
“Hello, Nymphadora.”
“Don't call her Nymphadora,” Teddy said instantly.
Tonks, who had opened her mouth to say exactly that, closed it and stared at Teddy.
“How'd you know I hate my first name?”
Teddy smiled and gave himself turquoise hair. Tonks sat down.
“Who are you?”
“Your son. We're time travelers from 2015. I saved Andromeda and Ted because they're my grandparents. I grew up in that house – your house. I wasn't going to let anything happen to them in it.”
“You're lying.”
“I'm not.”
“Yes you are.”
“Your bedroom is the first one on the left when you go up the stairs. The walls are pink like your hair. You painted it the summer after your first year at Hogwarts. You felt a bit self-conscious about it in fourth year because you thought pink was babyish and you were going to repaint it either green or blue because you were having a major tomboy phase at the time that you actually never really grew out of, but your dad – my namesake – managed to convince you to keep it.”
Teddy smiled.
“Do you believe me now?”
Tonks was visibly astonished.
“There's no way you could know all of that –”
“Unless I actually did grow up in that house. Correct. Ten points to Hufflepuff.”
“You can't actually give House points –”
“Unless you're a prefect, which your head of house refused to make you because you lacked the ability to behave yourself, or Head Boy, like me. Of course, this is all theoretical anyway because we're not at Hogwarts so House points don't matter. You graduated in June of ‘91 and qualified as an Auror in the spring of ‘94. You trained under Alastor ‘Mad-Eye’ Moody and you're so close to him that the other Aurors call you Mad-Eye's kid.”
Tonks reddened slightly.
“They've never said that outside the office –”
“You told your mum and dad. Your mum told me. I know a lot about you, Dora.”
“Do you even realize how creepy you sound right now?”
Teddy shrugged.
“I've spent the last year having to watch what I say all day long. Now I'm with people I trust completely, I don't care about watching my mouth.”
“How long have you known Narcissa?”
“Just a year.”
Tonks was surprised.
“Really?”
“We don't talk much about Gran's family at home. I learned more from history class at school than I did from her.”
“That's embarrassing,” Cissa said under her breath.
“You're embarrassing,” Teddy retorted equally quietly.
“Excuse me, I am perfectly respectable –”
“Coward.”
“Touché.”
“Who's your father?” Tonks asked.
“If you're not dating him yet this is going to be super awkward –”
“Tell me. I won't tell him.”
“Remus Lupin.”
“Why are you working with the Death Eaters if you're really my son?”
“There's going to be a war. It's already started, but it's going to get worse. I know people – good people – who aren't going to survive it. When Cissa told me we could go back in time to change things and save people, I jumped at the chance. I'm undercover with the Death Eaters because that's where I think I can do the most good. I can manipulate them from the inside better than I could if I were working for the Order.”
“And you're safe there?”
Teddy shrugged.
“As safe as I can be when I'm surrounded by Death Eaters at all times.”
“I swore to his guardian that I would protect him,” Cissa told Tonks. “And I intend to keep that promise?”
“Guardian?” Tonks repeated. “Not parent?”
Teddy and Cissa looked at each other. Suddenly Tonks understood.
“I don't need to know. I trust you. Maybe I'm naive but I'm going to let you go.”
“Thank you.”
“Just know, if you end up betraying us –”
“I will have earned whatever you decide to do to me.”
“Good luck.”
Tonks vanished the handcuffs. Teddy and Cissa stood up. Tonks started to leave, but then turned back.
“Come and visit sometime, yeah? Maybe when this is all over.”
Teddy didn't have the heart to tell her he wasn't convinced they would all be alive when this was over.
“I will,” he promised.
Teddy and Tonks both hesitated. They each saw the same question in each other's eyes. They stepped forward at the same time and hugged.
When they finally pulled away Teddy's eyes were wet and he had his natural sandy brown hair. Tonks smiled when she saw it.
“You look like your father.”
Teddy smiled. A single tear spilled down his cheek.
“Bye, Mum,” he said quietly.
As soon as they were a safe distance away from the Ministry, Teddy broke down in tears. Cissa put a comforting hand on his shoulder and waited until he stopped crying to Apparate them back to Malfoy Manor.
Chapter 9: Decisions, Morse Code, and Family Times
Chapter Text
Teddy went straight to his bedroom and sat in front of the mirror. He played with his features for a while, changing his hair and eye color for his own amusement. After a couple minutes of that, he felt a lot calmer.
Unfortunately the feeling didn't last. Draco entered the room. He looked even paler than normal, if that was possible.
“The Dark Lord is here,” he said shortly. “He's furious. He wants to speak to all of us.”
Merlin, no.
“We're in trouble, aren't we?” Teddy asked as he followed Draco into the dining room.
“Well, I don't know about we –”
“Fine. Me and your parents and your aunt Bella. We're completely fucked, aren't we?”
“Maybe. The Dark Lord doesn't like when people fail him.”
Teddy couldn't resist teasing Draco a bit.
“You're close with him?”
Draco scowled.
“Shut up, Theodore. We've never met.”
“Please don't call me that.”
“That's what my mother calls you.”
“Your mother is an exception in many ways, including the fact that she's allowed to call me anything other than Theo.”
“Whatever you say, Theodore.”
Teddy rolled his eyes and sighed. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he may have seen Draco smirk.
Teddy's stomach plunged down to his toes when he walked into the dining room and saw Voldemort standing at the head of the table in front of a glowing green cauldron. Bellatrix sat at his right hand, next to Cissa and across from Lucius.
Draco nearly walked right into Teddy when he stopped in his tracks. Teddy ignored his annoyed mutterings.
“Oh, Merlin,” he said quietly. “I think I know what this is.”
“What?”
Teddy didn't answer. He prayed he was wrong and he didn't want to manifest his idea by saying it aloud.
Draco sat next to his father and Teddy sat next to Cissa. She stared straight ahead and didn't acknowledge either of them.
Teddy leaned over to her and whispered, “Is this what I think it is?”
Ever so slightly, Cissa inclined her head. Teddy's stomach did another flip.
Even though he knew full well that he couldn't communicate telepathically with his godfather, he tried damn hard.
Harry, if you're going to rescue me, now is the time. Please. I'm not ready.
Cissa tapped Teddy's leg. It took him a minute to realize she was communicating a Morse Code message to him.
He thought, I doubt this is what Gran had in mind when she taught me Morse code.
Teddy nearly blacked out with the effort of trying to listen to Voldemort and translate the code at the same time. To his relief, Cissa didn't stop tapping after one go. She made sure he had understood before she stopped.
Her message was simple: You don't have to do this.
Teddy grabbed her wrist and tapped a reply: I know.
She tapped, You want to? (The question mark was implied).
He tapped back, Fuck no.
Cissa pinched Teddy's wrist, a silent reprimand. Teddy bit his lip to keep from laughing.
He tapped, When in Rome.
Cissa's tapping became more insistent, but simpler: No.
There was a pause, then Cissa tapped, Just a boy. Draco too.
Teddy squeezed her wrist, trying to offer some measure of comfort. He realized for the first time that Draco was in the same boat as him and Cissa was having to suffer through this for the second time.
He tried to ignore the way his chest tightened as he listened to Voldemort's speech.
“As you all know, tonight's mission, though intended to be simple, was a horrific failure. Because apparently I am working with amateurs.”
Teddy disguised his laugh as a cough. Draco kicked him under the table.
“Now, would anyone like to take the blame for what went wrong tonight?”
Teddy raised his hand. Cissa's eyes widened slightly.
“I refuse to take the blame for anything that happened today – if anyone's to blame, it's Bellatrix, seeing as the whole thing was her idea in the first place –”
Bellatrix bristled and reached for her wand. Cissa grabbed her wrist. Bellatrix shook her off and glared at Teddy.
“Now look here, boy, I'll have you know –”
“Quiet,” Voldemort growled. “What were you saying, boy?”
Teddy took a deep breath.
“I just think I should point out that we failed today for two main reasons.”
“Oh? And what might those be?”
“First, none of us expected half the Order to show up. We thought we were just going up against a couple of kids. This was never even supposed to be a battle. Lucius called it ‘a simple retrieval mission.’”
“You said there were two reasons you failed today,” Voldemort reminded Teddy. “You've only given us one. What was the other?”
Teddy nodded. Bellatrix was obviously still miffed about the insult he had thrown at her; he guessed she was going to be even less pleased with what he was about to say.
“I won't name names, but I just think you should know that some of us were a bit more preoccupied with petty family rivalries than doing what was required of us, my lord.”
Bellatrix stiffened.
“You were the last person who had the prophecy. Did you smash it on purpose?”
Teddy allowed himself to look incredulous and hoped she couldn't tell how much he wanted to laugh.
“Are you serious? Why would I do such a thing?”
“Do you even know who you're dealing with, boy? I am Bellatrix Lestrange –”
“Yes, yes, you're very scary,” Teddy said in a bored voice.
He was trying not to show that he was genuinely terrified. He knew he was on thin ice but he didn't care; it was exhilarating to needle Bellatrix. He turned to Voldemort, rolling up his sleeve.
“You want me and Draco to take the Dark Mark today, right? I'll do it.”
Bellatrix's mouth fell open. Teddy didn't waver.
“Let's go, right now.”
“Are you so desperate to prove your loyalty that you would get my Mark without really meaning it?” Voldemort asked.
“It's not desperation, it's common sense,” Teddy replied. “I want in on what you're doing. I can help win this war. It makes perfect sense for me to get the Mark.”
“If you are a traitor –” Voldemort warned.
“If I'm a traitor, Bellatrix will make sure I don't live long enough for you to hear about it. I know what I'm doing, believe me.”
Cissa tapped another message on Teddy's leg: No.
This was a bit more ambiguous than Teddy would have liked; he couldn't figure out if she meant you don't know what you're doing or don't do this.
Either way, he ignored her.
“And the boy? How does he feel about this?”
Draco looked petrified.
“I –”
“Do it, Draco,” Lucius ordered.
Cissa replied so quietly Teddy almost missed it: “It's his choice, Lucius, not yours.”
Draco swallowed hard and nodded.
“Yes. I'll do it.”
Voldemort smiled. Teddy suddenly felt as sick as Draco looked.
“Excellent. Who wants to go first?”
Teddy looked at Draco.
“Rock paper scissors you for it?”
The glare Draco gave him was dripping with contempt.
“This isn't a game, Theodore.”
Teddy shrugged and took his long-sleeve shirt off.
“Fine, I'll go first. Don't fucking call me Theodore.”
“Language,” Cissa reprimanded.
Voldemort grabbed Teddy's arm and plunged it into the cauldron. Teddy flinched, expecting to be burned, but the liquid was actually freezing cold.
It was only cold for a moment before Teddy really did feel like he was being branded. He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw, resisting the impulse to scream.
He gasped and stared at the black tattoo when Voldemort pulled his arm out.
“Thanks,” he muttered without thinking.
When he looked up, he saw Cissa had her face in her hands. Her shoulders were shaking but Teddy couldn't be sure if she was laughing or crying.
“Thanks?” she shouted later. “What is wrong with you?”
“I panicked!” Teddy yelled defensively. He was immensely grateful for the silencing charm Cissa had placed around the library when she came in. “I was raised to be polite!”
Cisaa shook her head.
“Merlin almighty, Edward. I am going to murder your grandmother.”
Teddy rolled his eyes.
“Oh perfect. Between you and Bellatrix I'm going to have even less family this time around than I did the first time.”
Cissa froze. Teddy thought she might have looked a little guilty.
“Teddy, I wasn't – I didn't mean that,” she said quietly.
“I know you didn't.”
“I would never hurt Andromeda.”
“I know, Cissa.”
Teddy stared at the brand on his arm.
“This was a stupid plan. It was the best idea I had, but it was still fucking stupid.”
“You didn't have a choice.”
Teddy looked up.
“Didn't I?”
“Not if you wanted to prove your loyalty.”
“Would you have done it? If you were in my shoes?”
Cissa hesitated.
“I don't know,” she said honestly. “You're a better man than me, Teddy.”
Teddy appreciated that she didn't call him Edward or Theodore.
“Go to your room.”
Teddy obeyed. His legs were shaking.
When he entered the bedroom, he heard muffled sobs coming from Draco's bed. Teddy's stomach clenched at the noise. He crept towards the bed.
“Draco?”
The noise stopped immediately. Draco sat up. His eyes were red.
“Go away, Teddy.”
“This is my room too, you know.”
“You need to leave. Because if you don't I'm going to kiss you and that's just…”
Teddy sat on the bed.
“Do you want to kiss me?”
“Desperately.”
Teddy leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to Draco's. Draco grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down on top of him. Teddy let out a surprised laugh.
“What happened to I'm not fucking gay?”
“Shut up. Kiss me.”
Teddy was more than happy to oblige. He carded his hands through Draco's hair and was surprised to discover that once you got rid of the hairspray, his hair was actually wavy.
In between kisses, Draco explained, “I'm probably going – ah – to be dead before I –” Draco gasped as Teddy's teeth scraped the outside of his throat. “– graduate. If that's the case – Merlin, Teddy, do that again – I'm done pretending.”
Draco whimpered – he actually whimpered – as Teddy's tongue entered his mouth.
“So good,” he moaned. “Merlin, Pansy wishes she were this good.”
“You like that?” Teddy teased.
“Mhm.”
Eventually Draco dozed off and Teddy fell asleep with his head on Draco's chest. When he awoke, it was still dark out. Draco was playing with Teddy's hair.
“Your hair's soft,” he murmured.
“Watch this,” Teddy said.
Draco yelped as Teddy's hair started to glow in the dark.
“That's terrifying. Make it stop.”
Teddy chuckled and returned his hair to its usual blue color.
“You can do that ‘cause of your mum? My cousin?”
“Yep. I never met her, but that's what I've been told.”
“Did she die?”
“Bellatrix killed her when I was a baby.”
“I'm sorry,” Draco said sincerely.
“Thanks. I'm not gonna let her do it this time around.”
“You're not from our time, are you?”
“Nope. Neither is your mum.”
“What year are you from?”
“2015.”
“Do you think that's where my version of my mother is? I mean, the version they'd not from the future?”
Teddy hadn't considered this.
“I don't know,” he admitted. “Maybe. Probably.”
“What's it called? That thing you are. Meta – something?”
“Metamorphmagus.”
Teddy gently scratched Draco's chest. He writhed happily, like a cat.
“I want to see her again,” Teddy admitted. “And Dad. I don't know if I'll make it through the next few months without being able to talk to them.”
Draco glanced at the clock.
“It's the middle of the night. They'll all be asleep.” He glanced at Teddy and said, “I think they wouldn't mind being woken up in this instance.”
Teddy's heart felt too big for his chest.
“You would sneak out to visit your blood traitor cousin…for me?”
The look Draco gave him was pure adoration.
“I would do just about anything for you, Teddy Lupin.”
“That's sickeningly sweet. Where was this cuteness when you swore you'd never date me?”
“That Draco Malfoy regrettably had his head rather far up his arse.”
Teddy made an unprintable comment about what else he could stick up his – the adjective “delectable” may have been involved – arse. He dodged, laughing, when Draco tried to smack the back of his head.
“Sorry,” Teddy said, still giggling.
Draco scowled at him. Unfortunately, Teddy was so cute that Draco couldn't stay mad at him for long. He slipped his hand into Teddy's before they Disapparated.
When they arrived at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Teddy didn't hesitate to walk right in. Draco cast a Silencing Charm on the portrait before it could start abusing them.
“Would she yell at you?” Teddy asked. “Your mum was the perfect cousin, the one who married a rich, powerful pure-blood.”
Draco smirked proudly.
“I would think she'd love you.”
“She did,” Draco confirmed. “It's not me I'm worried about.”
Teddy smiled grimly. He went upstairs before joining Draco, who was surprised by how easily Teddy was able to navigate his way around the house in the dark.
“You've been here before?” Draco asked.
“All the time,” Teddy confirmed as he started making tea. “Harry brings the cousins here a lot; when it's all of us – seven kids, twelve adults – this is the only place that will hold all of us. Harry cleaned it up a bit, of course…”
Draco sat down at the table.
“Tell me about everyone,” he requested.
Teddy sat down across from him.
“Well, there's Andromeda, that's who I live with. Harry and Ginny have two kids, James Sirius and Lily Luna. James is thirteen and Lily is nine. Hermione and Ron have two kids as well. Hugo is the same age as Lily and Rose is seven. We call her Rosie. Then there's Grandma and Grandad, Molly and Arthur. Bill and Fleur have two kids, Victoire and Dominique. They're sixteen and fifteen. George and Angelina have one kid, Freddie. He's eleven.”
“What about his twin? Fred? Does he have any kids?”
Teddy locked eyes with Draco until he figured it out. When he did, he gasped.
“Bloody hell.”
“He was killed in the final battle when he was nineteen,” Teddy said quietly.
“Who else?”
“My mum and dad. Sirius. Bellatrix. My grandad. Snape.” Teddy sketched a pattern in the dust on the table. His eyes looked haunted. “So many others.”
Draco reached over and squeezed Teddy's hand.
They both jumped a mile when the kettle started whistling. Without thinking, Teddy aimed his wand at the kettle. His intent was only to make the kettle stop whistling but it accidentally exploded. Draco and Teddy dove under the table to avoid the boiling water.
When they came up, Tonks, Mad-Eye, Remus, Sirius, Molly, and Arthur were staring at them.
“I can explain,” Teddy said calmly.
Behind him, Draco was cracking up.
“No you can't,” he said.
Teddy glared at him.
“What's going on here?” Mad-Eye demanded. “Who are you?”
“My cousin,” Tonks answered. “Draco Malfoy.”
Draco waved. He looked so incredibly awkward; Teddy thought it was adorable.
“Hello.”
“Right, and who's the other one?” Mad-Eye asked.
Teddy looked at Tonks.
“You didn't tell them?”
Tonks blushed.
“Oh Merlin, are you embarrassed?”
“I am not! I just –”
“Yes you are, you're totally embarrassed!”
“I will hex you,” Tonks threatened.
“Please do,” Draco requested.
“Hush, you.”
This came from Mad-Eye.
Teddy pouted but there was an amused twinkle in his eyes.
“Yes, I'm so embarrassing. An eighteen-year-old boy –”
“Shut up,” Tonks groaned.
“I thought you were seventeen?” Draco asked.
“My birthday was in April.”
“Why didn't we do anything?”
Teddy shrugged.
“You were at school and pretending to hate me so it wasn't the best time for a –”
“Romantic tryst?”
Teddy punched Draco on the shoulder. His hair was suddenly a flaming red.
“Damn it, Malfoy, one more word about us having romantic anything in front of my family and we're breaking up,” he threatened.
Draco smirked. When Mad-Eye handed Teddy a mug of tea, Tonks sat down next to him. Remus and Sirius blinked at each other.
“What just happened?” Remus asked.
“I dunno, but I'm digging it,” Sirius answered.
“Your son is a prat,” Tonks told Remus.
His eyes widened.
“My son?”
“Our son.”
Teddy snorted.
“Mum, I love you, but there are a million better ways you could have led up to that revelation.”
Tonks shrugged.
“I've never been subtle in my life and I don't intend to start now.”
Draco leaned against Teddy's chair and said, “To be fair, I think I'm the prat in this instance.”
“You usually are,” Arthur says coolly.
“Oh, lay off him,” Teddy said tiredly. “He's nice enough once you get him away from his dad.”
“The kissing helped,” Draco murmured in Teddy's ear. “They wouldn't know, they've never tried that.”
“Maybe they should.”
“I refuse to kiss a Weasley.”
Teddy threw his elbow back without looking. The grunt as he hit something soft told him he had hit his mark in Draco's sternum.
“Bloody hell, Theodore.”
“Classist prick. How many times must I tell you? My first name is Edward.”
“Theodore sounds better. It's a very regal name. Almost royal, I would say.”
“You would say that, wouldn't you? Tosser.”
“What's your full name, son?” Sirius asked.
“Edward Remus Lupin,” Teddy answered promptly.
“When's your birthday?”
“April 30th, 1998.”
“And your parents?”
“Tonks and Remus Lupin.”
“Is that my sweater?” Remus inquired suddenly.
Teddy looked down at what he was wearing. He laughed.
“Yep.”
Draco snickered.
“Well, he's telling the truth,” Mad-Eye said.
“How do you know?” Draco asked.
“He put Veritaserum in my tea when he thought I wasn't looking,” Teddy answered. When Mad-Eye stared at him, he shrugged. “You thought I would just drink this without knowing what's in it? Come on. I may be a Death Eater but I'm not stupid.”
Draco sighed.
“Do you ever think before you speak, Edward? One of these days your smart mouth is going to get you killed.”
“It's funny, your mother said the same thing before I came here. I figured it was a good idea to just rip the bandage right off.”
“Teddy,” Tonks said calmly. “How could the child of an Auror and a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher possibly have become a Death Eater?”
“I panicked,” Teddy answered simply.
He rolled up his sleeve to reveal the Dark Mark. Molly gasped and he started to cry.
“I have one too,” Draco said quietly. “If you care.”
“Why?” Mad-Eye demanded.
Tonks scowled at him and muttered, “Don't talk to my son that way.”
Teddy tried to take deep breaths. He curled up, hugging himself, and Tonks instinctively wrapped her arms around him. Draco twitched, as if wanting to do the same, but he held back.
“I want to save everyone,” Teddy mumbled. He turned and buried his face in Tonks's shirt so his voice was muffled. “I've studied this war my entire life, it's in my blood. Both sides of it. I can draw you timelines of every battle. I knew when I got here – and I think Cissa knew as well – that I could do the most good by hanging out on the wrong side. That's where I can really protect you guys. Everything I'm doing or planning to do is calculated to a T, but I'm so, so scared. If I fuck up even once it's game over. I have a family. I need to go home.”
Teddy's hair turned the Weasley red and then the same untidy black as Harry's. Remus closed his mouth, deciding he no longer needed to ask who Teddy's family was.
“I'm scared – not just for myself, though. I'm scared I won't be able to save everyone. I'm scared I'm going to get someone killed.”
Tonks pushed Teddy's purple hair back from his forehead and wiped his tears.
“You're too young to be carrying so much on your shoulders, Ted.”
“You're not much older,” Teddy pointed out. “Harry's younger.” He shook his head. “Everyone told me I didn't have to do this but I wanted to. I fought with my gran to let me do this. She said no but I came anyway. I brought Cissa with me because I knew she could protect me.”
Draco snorted.
“She sort of failed in that when she let him get the Mark.”
“She let Voldemort brand my son –”
Teddy let out another sob and squeezed his eyes shut. Tonks stood up.
“Okay, you need tea.”
“I'll make it,” Remus said quickly.
“No, it's fine, I can –”
“We've already blown up one kettle tonight, Tonks,” Molly remarked gently. “Let Remus handle this one.”
Tonks scowled but sat down. Teddy smiled but it faded quickly.
“Some people are going to have to die,” he murmured. “If I don't do it someone else will and I'd rather it be me so I know I've done it right.”
“What are you talking about?” Remus asked.
Teddy sat up and took a deep breath. Draco held his hand.
“Harry is going to die. But it's only going to be temporary, and that's the thing that gives him the ability to defeat Voldemort. The first time around, he didn't do that until we'd already lost a bunch of people. I figure if I kill Harry soon he'll be able to defeat Voldemort before anyone else gets hurt.”
“There must be another way,” Arthur said.
Teddy shook his head.
“There isn't. It has to happen this way.”
“But why do you have to be the one to do it?” Molly asked. “You're a child –”
“I'm eighteen, Grandma, and I –”
Teddy froze. Molly's eyes widened. Draco bit his lip in a valiant effort to keep from laughing. After a minute, Teddy finished his thought.
“I don't mind taking this responsibility on myself.” Teddy shifted uncomfortably and murmured, “Sorry. Habit. You're not really related to me, it's just that all the kids – I'm like their cousin. I've kind of been adopted into the Weasley-Potter-Granger family. We've all grown up together.”
Molly hugged Teddy.
“It's alright, darling. I understand. Would you like something to eat?”
Teddy smiled and glanced at Draco.
“I'm good, thanks. We should probably get going before Draco's parents realize we've escaped. Sorry to wake all of you.”
Teddy stood up and stretched. He was nearly as tall as his father.
“Are you two an item?” Remus asked.
“Is that a problem?” Draco replied coolly.
Interestingly, for all of his sass and posturing, he was about five inches shorter than Teddy. The latter filed this information away to tease Draco about later.
For some reason, Draco's question made Sirius burst out laughing.
“Not at all,” Remus answered. “I only meant – Sirius, be quiet – to ask a clarifying question. I didn't mean to insinuate that anything about this was untoward.”
“Definitely not,” Sirius confirmed. He was still snickering. “Not after what he did in the sixth year common room with Frank –”
“Merlin help me, Sirius, I will murder you in your own kitchen if you finish that sentence.”
Teddy looked at his father with renewed interest. For the first time it occurred to him that he might not be the odd man out for being queer.
“When will we see you again?” Remus asked.
“I'll sneak away as often as I can. As fun as Malfoy Manor is, I'd rather be here.”
“We'd much rather have you here than with them,” Sirius said coolly.
Draco wrinkled his nose but didn't say anything.
“I know it's a bit late, but is there anything you want for your birthday?” Remus asked.
"You don't have to get me anything --"
"I know, but I want to."
“A skateboard,” Teddy admitted. “Nothing fancy or magical, just a straight-up plank with wheels. I left mine at home, see, and I actually really miss it.”
Remus nodded.
“I'll see what I can do.”
Teddy grinned.
“Thanks!” He turned to Sirius and asked, “Is it true you can turn into a dog?”
The words were hardly out of his mouth when Sirius transformed into Padfoot. Teddy sat cross-legged on the floor and started petting him. His hair turned a happy shade of blue as he cooed in delight at the big dog.
“Hi, doggo! Good dog, good pup. Good boy. Who's a good boy?”
Remus and Tonks glanced at each other and looked away, smirking.
“We should go,” Draco said.
“Just one more minute, Dra –”
“Now, Edward. You need to sleep and we need to get home before anyone realizes we've left.”
Teddy groaned and kissed Padfoot's head.
“Good dog. Love you.”
Teddy waved and left with Draco's hand in his. Sirius turned back into a human and grinned at Remus.
“Your son is my new favorite kid, Moony.”
“Don't let Harry hear you say that,” Remus warned half-heartedly.
Chapter 10: Choices
Summary:
In which Teddy and Draco both make sketchy decisions
Chapter Text
Teddy was sitting next to Draco in the dining room of Malfoy Manor when Voldemort informed him he would have to kill Dumbledore.
Draco swallowed hard. Teddy squeezed his hand under the table.
“M – me, my lord?”
“Yes, of course. There can be no higher honor, Draco.”
“Y – yes, my lord.”
Later, Draco sat on his bed and stared at the floor. Teddy sat next to him.
“He's punishing you, you know. He wants to get you killed to make your family pay for your dad's screw-up at the Ministry.”
Draco glared daggers at Teddy.
“You think I don't fucking know that? God, Teddy –” He threw himself back on his bed and scrubbed his eyes. “I don't want to die.”
“You won't,” Teddy assured him. “I won't let you.”
Draco sat up.
“You won't?”
“‘Course not. I'll kill Dumbledore. You don't have to.”
Draco shook his head.
“I'll do it. It has to be me.”
Teddy sighed but didn't argue. He kissed Draco.
Teddy accompanied Draco to the train on September first. At the platform, Remus fell into step beside him.
“Good summer?”
Teddy shrugged.
“I've had better. You know, you just saw me in June. What's up?”
Remus handed Teddy a skateboard. It was the same sky blue as his favorite hair color.
“Happy birthday.”
Teddy was so overwhelmed and astonished that all he could think to do was hug Remus.
“Thank you. This means so much to me, you have no idea.”
Remus smiled.
“Do you have plans for the year or are you just staying at Malfoy Manor?”
“I'll hang out for a couple months at Hogwarts but then I have plans. If all goes well they shouldn't take too long.”
“Is Bellatrix giving you a lot of trouble?”
“Not much beyond stressing me out constantly.” Teddy looked around. “Speaking of, I definitely shouldn't be talking to you in public.”
“What are your plans?”
“I'm going to be hunting Horcruxes.”
Remus stopped in his tracks and stared at Teddy.
“You're serious?”
Teddy nodded.
“If Voldemort catches you…”
“He won't.”
“Teddy, you could die.”
“I won't.”
Remus hugged Teddy.
“Be safe, son.”
“I will, Dad.” Teddy handed Remus the skateboard. “Can you keep this safe at Grimmauld Place? I'll swing by and grab it once this is all over.”
“Do you even know where the Horcruxes are?”
“Yeah. I bet I can find most of them within a month. Dumbledore's already destroyed one, Harry's destroyed another, and I have a third but haven't destroyed it yet, so I'm really only looking for two. Then there's the snake and Harry, both of which don't have to be dealt with right now.”
“Harry's a Horcrux?”
“That's why he has to die; it'll kill the Horcrux part of him so it'll only be temporary. I'm going to kill all the other Horcruxes first so when Harry dies Voldemort will be vanquished for real.”
Remus shook his head.
“I don't like this.”
“You think I do? It's the best way, Dad.”
“That doesn't make it right.”
“This is war. Nothing is right.”
Remus sighed and reached into his pocket. He handed Teddy a mirror identical to the one Harry had given him.
“This is a two-way mirror. You can use it –”
“I know how it works, Harry gave me one. Who can I contact with it?”
“Me or Sirius. Please don't hesitate to call if you need anything, any time.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
The train pulled up.
“Bye.”
“Bye, son.”
After arriving at Hogwarts, Teddy decided to lay low until things started happening. It was quite boring until around Christmastime, when Teddy caught a Gryffindor girl talking to Draco in Hogsmeade. Teddy was close enough to see the package that Draco handed her.
He followed the girl and her friend out of the pub. When she tried to open the package, Teddy stepped in front of her. He had dirty-blond hair and green eyes so he knew no one would recognize him.
“Don't open that.”
The girl froze. She had an unfocused look in her eyes that Teddy recognized from victims of the Imperius Curse.
“I have to,” she said stubbornly. “I have to deliver it.”
“To who?”
“Professor Dumbledore.”
Teddy shook his head.
Damn it, Draco, you fool.
He pointed his wand at the girl and said, “Finite.”
Her eyes cleared. She blinked and stared at the package in her hands.
“What's this?”
“What's your name?” Teddy asked.
She looked at him.
“Katie Bell.”
“And your friend?”
“Leanne,” the other girl said. “What happened to her?”
“You need to see Professor McGonagall. Tell her that someone gave Katie a cursed necklace and tried to make her give it to Professor Dumbledore while she was under the Imperius Curse.”
“Who was it?” Katie asked.
Teddy hesitated, but couldn't bring himself to sell out Draco. It wouldn't help anyway.
“I don't know.”
“Come on, Katie,” Leanne said, tugging her friend's sleeve. “We need to report this.”
Katie glanced at Teddy, visibly confused and scared, but let her friend lead her away. Teddy put the cursed necklace down in the snow and pointed his wand at it.
“Bombarda.”
To his relief, that was all it took to destroy the necklace. Just to be safe, he carefully piled snow on the remains before he walked away.
At the end of April, Draco met Teddy in Honeydukes. Although he was in disguise, he had kept some pink and blue streaks in his hair so Draco was able to recognize him easily.
They kissed and then Draco said quietly, “I talked to Potter and Weasley. You're invited to their place for your birthday.”
Teddy grinned.
“Wicked.”
“Be there at six tonight. Don't have too much fun without me.”
“I could never. Do you want to come?”
“Absolutely not.”
Teddy shoved his shoulder and grabbed a piece of the fudge that Draco had just purchased.
“Give that back, that's mine!”
“Boyfriend tax.”
“Oh, you tosser!”
Teddy laughed and walked out of the shop.
At six pm, he Apparated to Number 12 Grimmauld Place. All of the adults who had already met him were pleased that he seemed much more relaxed and happier than he had been last time they had seen him. He beat Ron at wizard's chess before joining the Weasleys and Harry to play Quidditch. Harry was delighted to have another Seeker to play against. Together he and Teddy played half a dozen games before Molly called them in for dinner.
“I like this kid,” Ron announced. “Can we keep him?”
Teddy laughed.
“I think that can be arranged.”
After dinner, the kids disappeared into someone's bedroom. When Molly went to find them, she found them having a dance party to a playlist of Teddy's favorite Muggle songs.
“Teddy taught us new songs!” Ginny exclaimed.
“They're not new in my time, but they're new for these kids,” Teddy explained.
“That's wonderful, dear, but I'm afraid it's time for bed now.”
“Aww…”
“Just a little longer, Mum?”
“Please?”
“Does Teddy have to leave?”
“I'll be back soon,” Teddy promised.
A couple weeks later, Teddy caught Draco walking back to school with a bottle of alcohol. He followed him, still in his blond hair-green eyes disguise.
“Where are you going with that?”
Draco scowled at him.
“None of your business.”
“Gift for Professor Dumbledore?”
“What's it to you?”
“Honestly, if you want to kill him, why don't you just use the Killing Curse? That's what you would do if you weren't a coward.”
Draco shoved Teddy. He landed on his back in the snow.
“Say it a little louder, why don't you?” he hissed. “I am not a coward!”
Teddy smirked.
“Well, I'm not going to stop you. Carry on. It won't work anyway.”
Draco sent Teddy a venomous glare and walked away. Teddy watched him go and came to a terrifying conclusion.
It's time.
Teddy made a beeline for the Room of Requirement.
He walked past it three times, thinking, I need the place where everything is hidden.
He got into the room and then realized something important. He took his mirror out of his pocket.
“Sirius Black.”
Sirius appeared.
“Hi, Teddy, what's up?”
“Yeah, sorry, I can't chat right now. I have a fairly time-sensitive question. What's a diadem?”
“You mean, like, a crown?”
“Brilliant. Thanks, bye!”
Teddy shoved the mirror into his pocket and went to find his next Horcrux. He found it on a statue of an ugly old wizard. He grabbed it and went to the second floor girl's bathroom.
The minute he walked in, he was accosted by the ghost of a teenage girl.
“This is the girl's bathroom! You're a boy!”
“I'm sorry, but I really need to get in here!”
Teddy ducked past Myrtle and went over to the sink. She gasped when he asked it to open in the Parseltongue he had picked up from Harry.
It worked. Teddy slid down the slide and found himself in a dark basement.
He took a step and heard a crunching noise. He looked down to see bones underneath his feet.
“Bloody hell,” he muttered.
He ran over to the Basilisk skeleton and tore out a couple of its fangs. He stabbed the locket first.
He heard screaming as the Horcrux died. It was only the thought that he could end this war before anyone else died that kept him from losing his nerve completely and running away.
You won't be an orphan this time.
Teddy gasped and reeled backwards. The locket was nothing but a smoldering wreck.
He caught his breath and relaxed before stabbing the diadem.
This was even worse. Teddy got the feeling the piece of Voldemort's soul knew that its fellows had been killed and it wasn't going down without a fight.
Teddy managed to overpower it, but not until he felt weak and slightly sick. He lay on the ground, hardly caring that he was lying on snake skin and the bones of small animals.
He grabbed his mirror and called his father.
“Hey, what's up?”
Teddy burst into tears.
“I'm on my way.”
Teddy couldn't have argued even if he wanted to. He climbed back up to the bathroom and met Remus in the Room of Requirement.
When Remus arrived, Teddy tried to control his emotions long enough to form coherent thoughts.
“I killed the locket and the diadem. Together with the ring and the diary, now there's just Harry, the cup, and the snake. The cup and the sword are in Bellatrix's vault. I hate this. I want to go home.”
“You can, Teddy. You don't have to stay –”
“I do. I can't leave you and Mum until it's all over. I've barely gotten to see you at all because I'm locked up in that mansion constantly.”
“No one's asking you to stay. We don't expect that of you. Your mum and I will still love you just as much if you choose to save yourself and go home now.”
Teddy shook his head.
“I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I left now.”
He smiled, and Remus nearly gasped. He was used to hearing how much his son looked like him but that grin was pure Tonks.
“Besides, I wouldn't get a chance to live if I went home now. Gran is going to murder me. If I'm going to die either way I might as well have something to show for it.”
“You're so messed up.”
“But in an endearing way, right?”
Remus rolled his eyes and walked away.
“Right?” Teddy called after him.
Chapter 11: Godric's Hollow and the Astronomy Tower
Notes:
Hehe heyyyy, long time no see!! I'm so sorry it's been so long, I would have had this posted ages ago but I got skittish about that first scene at the beginning
Idk I hope you enjoy!
Chapter Text
Andromeda did not approve of letting Narcissa and Lucius stay with her but it turned out that the kids loved Narcissa. This may have been because she answered all of their questions with a degree of frankness that was missing in the rest of their lives.
“Were you really a Death Eater?”
“I was not.”
“Why did you go along with everything Bellatrix and Lucius did?”
“They were family. Also, they're rich and powerful and I've always liked being rich and powerful.”
“What's your take on blood purity now?”
“I was wrong. We were all wrong
“Would you still support Voldemort if he came back today?”
“Of course not.”
“Is it true you saved Dad's life?”
“I suppose so.”
“Why does Teddy's gran hate you so much if you're sisters? I could never hate Rosie even if she did something stupid like join the Death Eaters.”
“That's enough questions for now, Hugo,” Andromeda said. “Leave Narcissa alone.”
Narcissa smirked.
“No, it's okay. I don't mind.”
“You've always been the quiet one, Cissy.”
Narcissa flinched.
“Sorry.” Andromeda didn't sound particularly sorry. “Cissa."
After Disapparating from Hogsmeade, Teddy found himself outside Gringotts Wizarding Bank. He morphed to camouflage himself and walked inside.
He went up to the desk and cast a silent Imperius Curse on the goblin.
Take me to Bellatrix Lestrange's vault, he thought.
The goblin obeyed. Teddy followed him to a cart and got in beside him. He was reminded of an old Muggle movie his gran had shown him as a child.
They picked up speed until they went through a waterfall. The goblin turned and stared at Teddy.
“Who the blazes are you?!”
“Imperio!” Teddy said quickly.
He morphed, camouflaging himself again.
His heart was pounding while the goblin led the way into Bellatrix's vault. He spotted the sword almost immediately. Grabbing it, he looked around for the Horcrux.
“Accio Horcrux!”
Nothing happened.
“Accio cup!”
Still nothing. Teddy was forced to use non-magic means to find his prize.
He was terribly aware of every second ticking by, but he did eventually find it. He took a deep breath and stabbed it with the sword.
Teddy, the goblin, and the Horcrux all screamed. An alarm started going off.
“Shit! Shit, shit, shit, oh, Merlin, no!”
The second he was sure the cup was dead, Teddy ran out of the vault. He heard a roar from nearby and turned to see a dragon storming towards him.
“What the fuck!”
Thinking quickly – or perhaps not thinking at all – Teddy jumped onto the dragon's back. It roared in protest and crashed through the ceiling, nearly crushing Teddy in its attempts to escape.
Teddy held on tightly as the dragon flew away, out of Muggle London.
He waited until they were above a lake, then he jumped off and landed in the water. He swam to the shore and Disapparated to Godric's Hollow.
He found himself, dripping wet, in a Muggle town square. He was glad it was a Wednesday so the Muggles who lived here were all at work or school.
He knew he should focus on finding the snake but he couldn't resist first going to the house where his godfather had been born.
He leaned on the gate and stared at the destroyed home with a kind of morbid fascination. Half of it had been wrecked when Voldemort's curse rebounded but what was left was enough for Teddy to deduce that it would have been a nice comfortable house to grow up in.
The sound of hissing behind Teddy nearly gave him a heart attack. He turned and saw a very familiar snake rearing up to attack him. Panicking, he dropped his wand and fell backwards over the Potters’ garden gate.
The snake slid through the gate and sank its fangs into Teddy's leg. He yelled in pain and called the snake something that would have gotten him grounded for a week back home.
Teddy scrambled to his feet but nearly collapsed within seconds. His vision was blurry and he could feel Nagini's venom already coursing through his system. He knew he wouldn't be able to fight Nagini like this, much less kill her.
Fuck it, he thought eloquently. New plan.
He grabbed his wand and the sword and limped away as quickly as he could. He felt extremely lucky that Nagini didn't follow him.
He managed to make it across the threshold but fell to his knees once he was inside the house. To add insult to injury, he started sneezing.
Of all the times to have a dust allergy, he thought.
Teddy forced himself to focus. He needed medicine. Antivenin, dittany. Something.
He raised his wand and rasped, “Accio dittany!”
Nothing happened. The frustration sent a spike of adrenaline through his body which allowed him to stand up on his injured leg.
“Bloody hell. Come on, Lily, I know you have a medicine cabinet!”
Teddy looked around. He was crouched in the entrance hall in front of the stairs.
He nearly blacked out halfway up the staircase, but managed to make it into the bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet. To his relief, it was full of bottles. They were dusty, but still contained medicine like what he was looking for.
“Thank Merlin,” Teddy muttered. He corrected himself: “No; thank you, Lily.”
Unfortunately, he felt himself losing consciousness; he had taken too long to get here.
He grabbed his mirror out of his pocket, praying he had grabbed the right one.
“Remus Lupin! Sirius Black!”
Teddy hadn't meant to call them both at once but both of their faces appeared on his mirror.
“Merlin –”
“Bloody hell, Teddy, you look awful!”
“Snake bite,” Teddy explained. He gripped the sink, trying desperately to stay conscious. “I need you to tell me, does dittany go bad? Does it expire or would it still work the same after fifteen years or so?”
“Where are you?” Sirius demanded.
“Godric's Hollow. I really don't have time to explain, I'm about to pass out, but I'm at Lily and James's house.”
“We're on our way,” Remus said.
Teddy managed to limp into the bedroom before collapsing, unconscious.
"Why the fuck is he at Lily and James's house?” Sirius demanded.
“I don't know, Sirius,” Remus answered. “We'll have to ask him once he's all healed.”
“Does dittany go bad?”
“No, it should be fine. He could still use James's stuff on his wound.”
“If he's even alive by the time we get there,” Sirius muttered.
Remus glared at him.
“Don't say that. He will be.”
“Sorry.”
Remus and Sirius Disapparated and reappeared in Godric's Hollow. Remus looked around.
“This brings back memories,” he muttered.
“The good old days,” Sirius replied.
Together they ran into the house. One look around the entrance hall was enough to trace Teddy's weak footsteps in fifteen years of dust. Remus and Sirius ran upstairs. Remus nearly collapsed upon seeing Teddy's unconscious body in the bedroom.
“Merlin's beard.”
Sirius knelt and checked his pulse.
“He's alive, but weak. Get the dittany and some Pepper-Up Potion from the cabinet,” he instructed.
Remus didn't move. Sirius snapped his fingers.
“Any day now would be nice, Remus!”
That jolted Remus out of his stupor. When he ran into the bathroom, he tried to ignore the memory of the last time he had vomited in that sink after the full moon on October 13th, 1981.
The medicine cabinet was already open, evidence that Teddy had tried to help himself before collapsing. Remus grabbed the medicine and went back into Harry's nursery.
Sirius had gotten Teddy onto the bed and stripped his clothes off. Despite himself, Remus gasped. There were two nasty puncture wounds in his upper thigh that were oozing green and yellow liquid.
“Gimme,” Sirius said shortly.
Remus handed him the medicine. He watched anxiously as Sirius administered it to his son.
“This kind of venom is highly potent, Teddy was lucky not to be killed immediately. Hell, he'll be lucky not to lose his leg.”
“He won't, right? You'll be able to save his leg?”
“I'll certainly do my best.”
“Will the poison spread?”
“It's good that he called us when he did. If we'd gotten here ten minutes later…”
Remus didn't want to think about that.
They worked through the night. By mid-morning, Sirius was satisfied that Teddy was no longer in imminent mortal peril. Remus led the way into the kitchen, where the liquor cabinet was still fully stocked.
“I think we've earned this,” Sirius quipped as he grabbed drinks for himself and Remus.
“It's your firewhiskey, after all,” Remus quipped back. “Remember? You gave it to James to celebrate their anniversary.”
“May fifteenth,” Sirius and Remus said together.
Sirius stared at the alcohol, bemused.
“Blimey, so this was already five months old when they were killed?”
Remus shrugged and took a sip.
“Tastes fine to me. It'll only get stronger with age.”
Sirius put his unopened bottle down.
“I think I’ll pass. Teddy doesn't need both of his doctors being smashed.” He watched Remus drink for a couple minutes before he asked, “Do you think he knew?”
“Knew what?”
“Facedown on the bedroom floor – that's how I found Lily. Just like him.”
Remus froze. He knew Sirius had been first on the scene after Lily and James had been murdered but they had never talked about that night. For a moment the mental image of his best friend sprawled dead on the floor next to her infant son, her dark red hair like a curtain around her, was almost enough to make his firewhiskey reappear.
When he found his voice, he said, “I doubt it. How could he know? I'm sure he just collapsed in the first room he came to. And no wonder, with a wound like that.”
Sirius nodded.
“What was he even doing here?”
“He told me the snake was a Horcrux,” Remus remembered. “What if he was here to kill the snake?”
“Do you think he succeeded?”
“Do you see a great big dead snake here, Padfoot?”
“So where is it?”
Remus shrugged.
“Maybe it got scared when Teddy escaped.”
“It's Voldemort's snake, right? Do you think it's going to snitch on him?”
“It doesn't matter. He's not going back there, not after this.”
Two weeks later, Teddy was relatively healed and he was not pleased to learn that he was under strict instructions to stop doing undercover work.
“You're a kid, Teddy, it's time you start acting like it.”
“I'm nineteen! I'm not a little kid anymore, I have a job to do!”
“Not anymore,” Sirius said. “You nearly died, mate. If you ever do anything like that again your dad will die and that's not what you're going for, is it?”
Teddy scowled and muttered, “No.”
“Good man. Just take some time off, okay?”
“I've already taken too much time off – Wait, what day is it?”
“June 1st –”
“I'm sorry, I have to go back to school. It's an emergency!”
Teddy Disapparated. Sirius and Remus exchanged distressed glances.
“We're going after him, aren't we?”
“Of course!”
Sirius sighed but followed Teddy and Remus in Disapparating.
Teddy sprinted up to the Astronomy Tower. Bellatrix, Greyback, Rowle, Carrow, and Draco were already there.
“Nice of you to show up,” Bellatrix sneered. “Where have you been?”
“None of your business,” Teddy replied coolly.
He saw Draco about to lower his wand before Dumbledore had even been disarmed. Walking over to him, he pushed him out of the way gently and disarmed Dumbledore.
“Avada Kedavra!”
Teddy half expected it not to work, but it did. Dumbledore was blasted backwards off the tower.
Teddy grabbed Dumbledore's wand, stuck his own wand behind his ear, and suggested, “We should maybe go.”
Teddy and Draco ran down to the hall underneath the tower, where they were met by half a dozen Order members, including both of Teddy's parents.
“Why is there a Dark Mark in the sky?” Remus demanded.
“Dumbledore's dead!” Draco snarled. Now that he had escaped having to commit a murder, his bravado had returned in full force. “Now there's nothing standing between the Dark Lord and Potter!”
“There's us,” Remus pointed out dryly.
Draco laughed.
“You? A werewolf who can't even hold a job?”
“Stand down, Draco,” Teddy murmured.
Draco ignored him.
“Well guess what? We've got one of those too!”
Teddy heard footsteps and saw Remus's face drain of color. He didn't need to turn around to know that Fenrir Greyback was standing behind him. He quickly cast a barrier between the Death Eaters and the Order so he could argue with them in private.
“Let's just go,” he said quietly. “We've done what we came here to do, let's escape before this gets any worse.”
“You think you make the rules?” Bellatrix snapped. “You're not in charge here!”
“If you want to get arrested or killed for wreaking havoc here, be my guest. Draco and I are leaving.”
Teddy grabbed Draco's hand and dragged him off the Astronomy Tower.
Teddy was worried when they got back to Malfoy Manor that Voldemort would have realized his deception and would punish him for it, but the Dark Lord was surprisingly lenient.
For him, at least.
“I gave you a job to do, Draco. You failed.”
Draco was almost hunched over. He looked terrified, as did his parents.
“I'm sorry, milord. I –”
“Milord, Dumbledore is dead,” Teddy pointed out. “Why does it matter who –”
“Quiet!” Voldemort shouted.
Teddy jumped.
“I'm not concerned with you, boy.”
“But milord, he defected,” Bellatrix pointed out. “Ran off for months with no explanation –”
“He came back and proved himself loyal by killing my greatest rival when our own Mr Malfoy was too much of a coward to do so. Given that, I don't particularly care where he's been the last few months. He has earned his place in our ranks.”
Bellatrix scowled at Teddy. He grinned at her.
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