Fic: no challenge: families of blood and water
Title: families of blood and water | AO3 |
Characters/Pairing: teddy lupin, delphini riddle, marcus flint
Rating: pg
Disclaimer:i own nothing
Word Count:1585
AN I just realised I had never posted this year. Oops. I wrote this for last year's nextgen fest. Spoilers for the Cursed Child
Summery: Teddy wants to travel the world and needs cash to do that. In order to boost his bank balance he accepts guard duty at Azkaban for double pay. A few weeks after his start Delphini Riddle is sent to the Island. The thing is, Teddy has no idea who she is or anything that has happened in the life of his family. As far as he is concerned, everything is fine. Isn't it?
He is the heir to a fortune but that does not help Teddy right now and he is far too proud to ask his Godfather for any sort of advance even though he knows he would be granted it in an instant. His grandmother's death had allowed him to buy his own home but he still has more dreams than the basic Auror wage can give him. Azkaban has a bonus scheme. No one wants to work on the cold, wet and depressing island. The Dementors no longer stand guard over the prisoners but little has been done to change the prison in their absence. Officers are in what amounts to two converted cells as their office and eating area, and Aurors who agree to take a six month stint on the island are paid double.
The essence of Dementors does not just go while never leaving a trace. No. It lingers and still poisons every corridor and cell. Prisoners who had never been in the same room as one of the creatures shudder and cry in their sleep as if one hovers over their bed. Officers find themselves talking to Healers at St Mungo's about their work after going decades without needing to; after seeing countless horrors on the streets and back alleys of Wizarding Britain. Teddy knows all of this before he takes the job but he has plans and dreams and a hard-headed determination that he won't be impacted the way others have. He wants to take a year off and travel; see the places his parents always hoped they might get to one day.
He wants to quit and run back to his cosy staff room at the Ministry with the coffee maker and warm buns provided by a staff of house elves after three days. Luckily that falls on the day when he has dinner with Harry and Ginny and after a full stomach of home-made pie and a hearty glass of wine he talks himself out of it.
The prison is divided into harder and softer criminals with more staff being drafted to the latter on each given day. On the softer wing with lesser criminals the Island actually gets direct sunlight for parts of the day and the inmates are less depressed and argumentative as a result. Obviously, they are less abrasive and violent in the first place and that helps too, but it's not like Teddy has never dealt with a difficult arrest before or had to control inmates in the Ministry holding cells. In a way, those things work against him because it gives him the idea that he can handle the rota switch after his pie and wine and wearing an extra layer under his robes and switching to his winter boots even though it is only August.
*
When he is finally shifted to the other wing he quickly realises he is very much mistaken and very much out of his depth. He also comes to understand why Harry had been hesitant to approve his posting on the Island in the first place.
Entertainment in B wing seems to consist of hurling insults at the Aurors as they walk past, which, while draining, is helpful in its own way because it helps Teddy tick off that yes, Perkins is still alive. Some hide in the dark corners of their cells to be difficult and others do it trying to escape from their own realities or fears. It is not common to find a body but it is something the guards prepare themselves for each time. The first few weeks are difficult but Teddy thinks of seeing the Paris stores Fleur speaks of and maybe even the tombs in Egypt that Bill reminisces of fondly.
Aurors are also briefed on facing their own family members and that puzzles Teddy at first when he's called over with other Aurors for that particular talk."I don't...have anyone in Azkaban? And if someone had been sent down Nana Weasley would have the whole family knowing within days to voice her disapproval. They are all long dead. If I did then I would have had this at the start, you know?"
"Not quite, Lupin. Fresh meat on the Island. Riddle. Delphini Riddle. She's yours ain't she?" Flint barks while flipping through a bunch of earmarked parchments to make sure.
"Who?" Teddy squawks more than a little undignified.
Flint looks up and his gaze scans the room briefly before he gestures everyone else to move out leaving the pair alone. "Sit."
Teddy does so while a growing feeling of unease settles in the pit of his stomach. He refuses to connect the dots in his mind even if they are staring him in the face.
"I thought Potter, um, Harry would have explained more of this to you when it all came out. Involved your Godbrother Albus, you see, and your second cousin Scorpius. She manipulated them into using a time turner to try and stop the fall of You-Know-Who."
"Voldemort? Also what?!" To his credit, Flint almost holds back the flinch. Teddy feels sick to his stomach. The thought of the war never stopping, of people who thought like him never winning, horrifies him. Albus had always been a quiet boy and somewhat estranged from the family but Teddy would never think he could get caught up in such a thing. Truly, Teddy has no idea if him being sorted into Slytherin had any impact to the rest of the family but it certainly never mattered to him and he always sent presents and letters to Al just like he did to James and Lily. The horror must show because Flint waits until he has regained his composure before continuing.
"Yes, him. Anyway that is a story I don't have the time to tell you, son so you can go chase your uncle for that. Turns out though that Delphini Riddle is You-Know-Who's daughter to your great aunt Bellatrix. So, a relation, and you need to go through the procedure. Take five alright, Ted?"
No, of course he is not ok but there is nothing to do but nod and try and pull himself together.
*
Riddle is fresh off the damn boat. If she has not been there long that means this whole mess is recent and Harry and Ginny didn't say a word at dinner. They acted as if everything was fine and normal and that gives Teddy enough fury to power through his first set of roll checks.
He is family and they should talk to him.
His steps falter as he approaches the Rs in the second corridor and he stops to change his hair to a deep red not wanting to give Riddle the privilege of seeing his face. Usually he just wanders around as himself because being on the Island is hard enough but there is something that doesn't want her to see all of him, doesn't want to think she might see any of herself in him. Her file was there to be read and he knows they are painfully close in age. Where Teddy tries to protect the world, Delphini only aspires to destroy it. He thinks of every feature anyone has ever connected to his maternal side and shifts it. He has no idea if the result even looks human but it doesn't matter as long as it doesn't look like him.
"Oh my? Have I upset the guard? You have come to a rather abrupt halt there."
With a bang long pale fingers grab the steel bars of the cell door as Riddle appears before him and rattles it. There had been a photo in her file but Teddy still tenses upon seeing her. The very idea that Voldemort had been capable of reproducing is horrifying but to see his own eyes reflected back at him is even worse. His grandmother's grin. Their family's pale skin.
"Auror Lupin. They said you would be here today. I like to ask you see. Know who I'm dealing with. So, you're the wolf cousin. It is....well, interesting to meet you."
Teddy balks and savagely scores her name off his list before marching past her cell. He's glad to find most of the prisoners are standing to scream at him anyway so he can score as he goes.
*
By the time he is back in the office at the end of the day he feels like he has lost all sense of reality. The world he woke up in is not the one he is living in now. So many questions are spinning around his mind and yet he can't quite decide if the answers are relevant or not.
Does it matter what happened if no one was going to tell him about it and the criminal is now under his watch? Harry clearly didn't feel like sharing that bomb so why should Teddy expend him to share anything more or even tell the damn truth? He has a cousin that tried to bring back Voldemort and another who was almost manipulated into helping her do it. Families. They are something else. He could go screaming and demanding answers from Harry. He could try to learn more about Delphini and understand why.
Or he could keep doing his job, silently passing Delphini's cell with dark red hair and a wider nose, send his presents to Al and the others at Christmas as usual and keep saving and dreaming of another day in Paris.
53 points sam/claw
Characters/Pairing: teddy lupin, delphini riddle, marcus flint
Rating: pg
Disclaimer:i own nothing
Word Count:1585
AN I just realised I had never posted this year. Oops. I wrote this for last year's nextgen fest. Spoilers for the Cursed Child
Summery: Teddy wants to travel the world and needs cash to do that. In order to boost his bank balance he accepts guard duty at Azkaban for double pay. A few weeks after his start Delphini Riddle is sent to the Island. The thing is, Teddy has no idea who she is or anything that has happened in the life of his family. As far as he is concerned, everything is fine. Isn't it?
He is the heir to a fortune but that does not help Teddy right now and he is far too proud to ask his Godfather for any sort of advance even though he knows he would be granted it in an instant. His grandmother's death had allowed him to buy his own home but he still has more dreams than the basic Auror wage can give him. Azkaban has a bonus scheme. No one wants to work on the cold, wet and depressing island. The Dementors no longer stand guard over the prisoners but little has been done to change the prison in their absence. Officers are in what amounts to two converted cells as their office and eating area, and Aurors who agree to take a six month stint on the island are paid double.
The essence of Dementors does not just go while never leaving a trace. No. It lingers and still poisons every corridor and cell. Prisoners who had never been in the same room as one of the creatures shudder and cry in their sleep as if one hovers over their bed. Officers find themselves talking to Healers at St Mungo's about their work after going decades without needing to; after seeing countless horrors on the streets and back alleys of Wizarding Britain. Teddy knows all of this before he takes the job but he has plans and dreams and a hard-headed determination that he won't be impacted the way others have. He wants to take a year off and travel; see the places his parents always hoped they might get to one day.
He wants to quit and run back to his cosy staff room at the Ministry with the coffee maker and warm buns provided by a staff of house elves after three days. Luckily that falls on the day when he has dinner with Harry and Ginny and after a full stomach of home-made pie and a hearty glass of wine he talks himself out of it.
The prison is divided into harder and softer criminals with more staff being drafted to the latter on each given day. On the softer wing with lesser criminals the Island actually gets direct sunlight for parts of the day and the inmates are less depressed and argumentative as a result. Obviously, they are less abrasive and violent in the first place and that helps too, but it's not like Teddy has never dealt with a difficult arrest before or had to control inmates in the Ministry holding cells. In a way, those things work against him because it gives him the idea that he can handle the rota switch after his pie and wine and wearing an extra layer under his robes and switching to his winter boots even though it is only August.
*
When he is finally shifted to the other wing he quickly realises he is very much mistaken and very much out of his depth. He also comes to understand why Harry had been hesitant to approve his posting on the Island in the first place.
Entertainment in B wing seems to consist of hurling insults at the Aurors as they walk past, which, while draining, is helpful in its own way because it helps Teddy tick off that yes, Perkins is still alive. Some hide in the dark corners of their cells to be difficult and others do it trying to escape from their own realities or fears. It is not common to find a body but it is something the guards prepare themselves for each time. The first few weeks are difficult but Teddy thinks of seeing the Paris stores Fleur speaks of and maybe even the tombs in Egypt that Bill reminisces of fondly.
Aurors are also briefed on facing their own family members and that puzzles Teddy at first when he's called over with other Aurors for that particular talk."I don't...have anyone in Azkaban? And if someone had been sent down Nana Weasley would have the whole family knowing within days to voice her disapproval. They are all long dead. If I did then I would have had this at the start, you know?"
"Not quite, Lupin. Fresh meat on the Island. Riddle. Delphini Riddle. She's yours ain't she?" Flint barks while flipping through a bunch of earmarked parchments to make sure.
"Who?" Teddy squawks more than a little undignified.
Flint looks up and his gaze scans the room briefly before he gestures everyone else to move out leaving the pair alone. "Sit."
Teddy does so while a growing feeling of unease settles in the pit of his stomach. He refuses to connect the dots in his mind even if they are staring him in the face.
"I thought Potter, um, Harry would have explained more of this to you when it all came out. Involved your Godbrother Albus, you see, and your second cousin Scorpius. She manipulated them into using a time turner to try and stop the fall of You-Know-Who."
"Voldemort? Also what?!" To his credit, Flint almost holds back the flinch. Teddy feels sick to his stomach. The thought of the war never stopping, of people who thought like him never winning, horrifies him. Albus had always been a quiet boy and somewhat estranged from the family but Teddy would never think he could get caught up in such a thing. Truly, Teddy has no idea if him being sorted into Slytherin had any impact to the rest of the family but it certainly never mattered to him and he always sent presents and letters to Al just like he did to James and Lily. The horror must show because Flint waits until he has regained his composure before continuing.
"Yes, him. Anyway that is a story I don't have the time to tell you, son so you can go chase your uncle for that. Turns out though that Delphini Riddle is You-Know-Who's daughter to your great aunt Bellatrix. So, a relation, and you need to go through the procedure. Take five alright, Ted?"
No, of course he is not ok but there is nothing to do but nod and try and pull himself together.
*
Riddle is fresh off the damn boat. If she has not been there long that means this whole mess is recent and Harry and Ginny didn't say a word at dinner. They acted as if everything was fine and normal and that gives Teddy enough fury to power through his first set of roll checks.
He is family and they should talk to him.
His steps falter as he approaches the Rs in the second corridor and he stops to change his hair to a deep red not wanting to give Riddle the privilege of seeing his face. Usually he just wanders around as himself because being on the Island is hard enough but there is something that doesn't want her to see all of him, doesn't want to think she might see any of herself in him. Her file was there to be read and he knows they are painfully close in age. Where Teddy tries to protect the world, Delphini only aspires to destroy it. He thinks of every feature anyone has ever connected to his maternal side and shifts it. He has no idea if the result even looks human but it doesn't matter as long as it doesn't look like him.
"Oh my? Have I upset the guard? You have come to a rather abrupt halt there."
With a bang long pale fingers grab the steel bars of the cell door as Riddle appears before him and rattles it. There had been a photo in her file but Teddy still tenses upon seeing her. The very idea that Voldemort had been capable of reproducing is horrifying but to see his own eyes reflected back at him is even worse. His grandmother's grin. Their family's pale skin.
"Auror Lupin. They said you would be here today. I like to ask you see. Know who I'm dealing with. So, you're the wolf cousin. It is....well, interesting to meet you."
Teddy balks and savagely scores her name off his list before marching past her cell. He's glad to find most of the prisoners are standing to scream at him anyway so he can score as he goes.
*
By the time he is back in the office at the end of the day he feels like he has lost all sense of reality. The world he woke up in is not the one he is living in now. So many questions are spinning around his mind and yet he can't quite decide if the answers are relevant or not.
Does it matter what happened if no one was going to tell him about it and the criminal is now under his watch? Harry clearly didn't feel like sharing that bomb so why should Teddy expend him to share anything more or even tell the damn truth? He has a cousin that tried to bring back Voldemort and another who was almost manipulated into helping her do it. Families. They are something else. He could go screaming and demanding answers from Harry. He could try to learn more about Delphini and understand why.
Or he could keep doing his job, silently passing Delphini's cell with dark red hair and a wider nose, send his presents to Al and the others at Christmas as usual and keep saving and dreaming of another day in Paris.
53 points sam/claw