Turquoise: Chapter 3
Title: Turquoise
Rating: PG14
Main character: Teddy Remus Lupin
Pairings: Teddy/Victoire, possible others
Summary: Teddy Lupin thought he knew what awaited him at Hogwarts, but nothing could prepare him for the friendship of an illegitimate child of Oliver Wood, the prejudices of other students against werewolves, and a certain silvery-red haired Veela girl... punkrocker!Victoire, half-werewolf!Teddy
Notes: centerpoint of the Turquoise-'verse
Part 7 of the Turquoise_verse
Chapter 3: Teddy Has Blue Fur
“What do you mean?” Ted demanded, his eyes wild with fear.
“I mean that the potions you’ve been taking until now will not continue to work.”
Ted’s gaze slid to the ground. This couldn’t be happening. Not now.
“It seems that your lack of responsibly when it comes to taking your potions-”
“I’ve never forgotten before! It was only once!” He ground out in his defense. He knew his hair was wildly changing colors, but he couldn’t get himself to care. Everything was lost now.
Professor Slughorn’s eyes were kind, but guarded, as he studied the young boy in front of him. “… Once was all it took.”
Ted’s eyes finally retracted from the floor and turned on the potions master. The eyes were changing colors as well, but no matter what color they were, they always held a golden tinge to them… an aftereffect of the werewolf blood that had managed to further infect the small boy.
“You chose the wrong time to forget. Puberty is a challenging time for any boy, but in werewolves, it is a time when the wolf begins to try to take them over. The wolf is struggling to be free and even though it is weakened in you, it still holds pull over your body… and mind.” The professor swallowed and continued in a less sure voice, “It is possible that the wolf affected your mind to get you to forget the potion-” His voice went hard and sure again, “But that doesn’t excuse you from your actions. I told you never to forget the potion. Now that you have allowed the wolf time to expand its control, any potion I make will have even less effect.”
Professor Slughorn studied the twelve year-old boy’s eyes as they widened with guilt and fear.
“It won’t-”
“No,” The potions master cut him off behind the boy could break, “The potion won’t be able to control your transformations anymore. It may tame them somewhat, but never to the degree they have dampened before.”
Ted went back to staring at the ground, his mind was whirling in confused and guilty circles of fear.
“Headmistress McGonagall has taken the time to contact your guardians-”
“Shite! ‘Drom knows?” The part-werewolf was muttering under his breath, until he remembered the professor was still there and instantly apologized.
“It’s fine.” Professor Slughorn grunted. “Also, I believe your Grandmother and Mr. Potter will be coming in a moment to discuss with the Headmistress what will be done.” He caught Ted’s puzzled look and explained, “We can’t have halfblood werewolves running around free during the full moon. You could hurt someone.”
Ted’s face sunk, and then was replaced by a blank expression, hiding his fears and pain. He hadn’t realized until now that this was the sort of thing that had nearly gotten his father kicked out of Hogwarts and had later lost him his job as a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, regardless of how wonderful a teacher he had been.
“Come. I’m supposed to bring you to them now.” Slughorn commanded, a soft edge in his voice for the boy.
The part-werewolf followed the potions master as they walk silently through the hallways. Each was lost in his own thoughts.
All Ted could think of was how he had managed to fail his parents by a simple mistake.
--
”Who else knows about this?”
Ted shrunk in his seat. His grandmother’s angry face filled his vision. “J-just a few…”
She pulled away, sputtering to herself, “This is what I get for letting my daughter marry a bloody werewolf! Stupid girl, went and got herself killed…” Andromeda trailed off, her steely hands suddenly dropping to her sides. She had a blank look on her face, but Ted knew better.
Slipping off his seat, he curled his arms around his grandmother’s waist. “You’re not going to lose me, don’t worry, ‘Drom.” He muttered, using his nickname for her in hope to knock her out of her mood.
Wrinkled hands wrapped themselves around him and held him close, nearly desperate in the way she gripped his shirt.
His grandmother had always feared losing him, especially since, to her, he was the only one she had left. She had lost her family, her husband, her daughter, her son-in-law… to her it was only a matter of time before she lost Teddy too. No matter what Ted said, she always ended up falling back on this fear at the worst moments. He continued to mutter, even though it was only repetition. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re not ever going to lose me.” He buried his face in her dark robes, struggling to provide comfort even though he needed it just as much.
As usual, his words finally snapped her back into place and she grabbed his shoulders and jerked him back, “You’d better not leave.” She threatened in a voice that was broken, before it suddenly hardened and she was back to being his crazy neat-freak of a grandmother again, “What in the world were you thinking, you idiot!”
Ted wound up back in the chair, as they waited for the Headmistress and his Godfather. ‘Drom was still muttering to herself about how stupid Ted was, but he could tell she was really more upset that Harry was coming at all.
She wasn’t just afraid that Ted would do something incredibly stupid and get killed, but also that one day he would run away to live with his Godfather’s family. He had realized this when she had refused to let him stay at the Potter’s for any holiday unless she was with him. She constantly would put herself between him and Harry, no matter how much Ted told her that he wouldn’t leave her like that.
“Sorry, ‘Drom,” He said finally, holding his head up by his arms and hiding his face in his hands. “I didn’t mean for this to happen… I just…” His voice faded under his guilt and the silence that had followed his words.
Then he felt a hand curl around his shoulders, holding him close. ‘Drom was still refusing to look at him, but her gaze was soft as she watched the window. Her arm tightened around him, and he knew she could feel the tremble that ran through his small frame.
Her tone was harsh, but underneath it he could hear the soft kindness, “I know you didn’t mean for anything to happen. Honestly, who would? But that doesn’t change that it has happened.” It was about as close to forgiving him as she would get. In a softer tone that he probably wasn’t meant to hear, she added, “You’d never do anything to leave me…”
They held on to each other, both desperate to prove that neither was alone.
--
“You’re stayin’, right?” Rennie asked as he caught up with Ted in the hallway.
Ted gave him an odd look, “Well yea. They can’t just kick me out. Hogwarts has already had a fullblood werewolf in its midst, so why’s a halfblood any different?”
Rennie gripped his hands together, “Ah.” The dark-haired boy wasn’t looking at Ted. They walked together in silence for a moment before Rennie continued, “Sorry for telling the teachers on you. Didn’t mean for you to get in trouble,” he hung his head.
Ted laughed, patting his friend on the back. “No. You did the right thing. It’s always good to know you have my back.”
Rennie graced him with a bright smile.
It was then that Ted remembered Victoire’s words. “Did Victoire say anything to you?” She was right, Rennie was a good packmate. ‘Drom, Ted, and Rennie made up a small and broken pack in Ted’s mind. They were all he had sometimes. The other parts of Ted’s family made up a sort of “extended” pack, but his small, broken pack was always what came first.
“Nah, she left, once we got you to the healers.”
“Well, I had to tell the Headmaster who knew about that night… and what I could remember…” Ted knit his brows together, “What did happen? I couldn’t remember much.” Flashes of the night before jumbled in Ted’s mind: pain, howls, teeth, claws, and grasps of silver… His dream reminded him of something, “Victoire… what did she do? I can’t remember.”
“Miss Weasley… well she saved me, than threw you back in the room.” Rennie looked thoughtful, “Well really she kicked you into the room, but she seemed to be havin’ fun with the whole thing.”
Ted just looked at him and Rennie frowned, “What?”
Shaking his head, Teddy just frowned right back, “I don’t understand the female section of our species.”
“Our species?” Ren attempted to make a joke of it.
“Right. Your< species apparently…” Ted frowned, and Rennie paused.
“Sorry, Teddy. Didn’t mean it that way.”
The part-werewolf shook his head, “Not anything to worry about, Rennie. I suppose I should go find Victoire… see if she’s alright and thank her.” His brows knit together, wondering at the idea of his ‘cousin’ kicking a half-werewolf then spending the whole night with him. Of what he remembered, she hadn’t been hurt… “Ren, do you think I bit her?”
Rennie looked thoughtful, “Dun think so. She looked a bit scratched but not bit.”
“But then…” Ted paused, “How did she manage the whole night with the wolf? I would have hurt you if you’d stayed… and she’s just a girl.”
His best friend looked puzzled. “Dunno. Ask her.”
So Teddy Remus Lupin set out to do just that.
--
Unfortunately it was then that the seventh years finally broke the silent shunning of the halfblood werewolf.
Broke it with violence.
--
“I’ll get ‘em! I told ‘em nobody messes with you and gets away with it! I’ll beat the shite out of ‘em.” Rennie muttered angrily as he watched Madam Pomfrey dress Ted’s bruises.
The old nurse had her lips pursed and opened her mouth to scold Ren’s thinking, but Ted beat her to it.
“Ren, that won’t solve a thing.” He held his arm to his side as he waited for the potion to take effect and mend it. “We’re only second years, they’re seventh years. They’ll just hurt you as well and then there won’t be anyone to drag us to the healers.”
Rennie had a deep scowl on his face, his blue eyes nearly blazing. He gave Ted a look for a moment, before his words startled Ted out of his thoughts, “Why didn’t you fight back, Ted?”
Teddy ducked his head, and Madam Pomfrey gave him a strained look, obviously trying to make him feel better and hide her worry, but failing. She took care of his father when Remus went to Hogwarts. She knew why he couldn’t fight. Instead of looking at either of them, he stared at the ground. “Ren… I can’t fight anymore. I can’t afford to get angry. I can’t afford to be angry enough to hit someone.” He looked up at Renald then, his gold flecked eyes matching the blazing blue of his friend, “If I do, I could kill them.”
Ted watched his best friend as the boy struggled to find words to comfort, to understand, to do anything but sit and realize the full consequences of being half-werewolf.
The metamorphmagus let his gold flecked eyes drop to the floor, not wanting to see the struggle on his friend’s face. “McGonagall told me that if I don’t control myself, I’ll…” His voice fell suddenly, “The wolf wants to get out. It’s going to be trying for every outlet I let it. If I let my anger get a hold of me, then the wolf will have that too. I can’t let that happen, Rennie. I can’t let anyone but me control my life.” The last sentence wavered but was more solid in sheer will then anything else he had said.
Ted nearly jumped when an awkwardly large hand fell on his shoulder. Gold flecked eyes jumped up and Rennie gave his friend a tight smile and squeezed his shoulder gently.
The half-werewolf slumped suddenly, aware that he had been worried over Renald’s reaction all this time. As the relief flooded him, he felt his best friend squeeze his shoulder again, silently saying that he won’t leave, not now, not ever, even though the going is about to get even more then tough.
It was mind-blowing to have such an astounding person as his friend.
--
Frank wouldn’t have anything to do with Ted or Renald, but Olive gave them a small smile whenever they passed each other.
Teddy understood why Olive didn’t want to hang out with them, even though Rennie didn’t. Ted had seen the way Olive looked at a certain Ravenclaw, named Millicent Clark. Milly, as she was called, was best friends with Valya Krum, who was one of the most vocal Second Years when it came to Ted’s inherited Lycanthropy.
Valya, along with a small group of mainly Ravenclaws and Slytherins, wanted Ted to be expelled from the school. Milly wasn’t technically part of that group, but she still wouldn’t want to go out with anyone closely allied with her best friend’s ‘enemy’.
Olive would walk Milly to class, even though it made him late for his own classes. Valya mostly ignored him, but Milly was beginning to show interest in him. Olive wasn’t going to screw that up just to be friends with his part-werewolf dormmate.
Teddy understood, but that didn’t mean he liked it.
--
By the time third year came around, Ted still hadn’t been able to talk to Victoire about what happened. ‘Drom and he had visited Harry and the rest of the Weasleys over the summer, but hadn’t managed to talk to Victoire at all.
Ted avoided acknowledging Victoire in public for fear she would be targeted by the older years for bullying as well. It was bad enough Rennie had been dragged into it.
Rennie, of course, didn’t mind, but that didn’t mean that Ted didn’t blame himself… or rather, his parents.
To be honest, Renald was worried more about Ted’s reaction then the actual beatings themselves. His friend had proven that werewolves may look scrawny but could really take a punch. However, it was the quieting of Ted’s already quiet nature that made Ren worry. The lack of pranks and sneaky ideas from his friend worried Rennie further.
He knew Teddy was very obsessive about his parents. If one brought them up, Ted would cheerfully chatter on, retelling stories from Harry, as well as the rest of the Order’s various tales about the two people held most highly in Ted’s eyes, whom the boy had barely ever met.
Ted seemed to gaze off more and more often these days and even the topic of his parents’ adventurous tales couldn’t cheer him. This wasn’t like him at all.
Rennie walked into the Common Room one day, to find it empty except for his half-werewolf friend. This itself wasn’t strange, as most people avoided the two of them now, even their dormmates avoided them, but something about Teddy’s crumpled posture made Ren pause for a moment in the entryway.
Regardless, Ted’s eyes, gray today, but still flecked with gold, turned themselves on Renald. The naked fear in those eyes is what finally broke the darker-haired boy’s hesitation and moved him forward to rest a calming hand on his friend’s shoulder.
A small voice filtered up through the still air of the room, “I just wanted to make them proud.”
“I know. You will.” Rennie squeezed the shoulder in his grip, even as the gold flecked eyes turned back to the empty fireplace.
“I… think I’ve failed them, Ren.” The small voice trailed off, becoming softer in final defeat.
But Rennie wasn’t Ted’s parents… The lean-framed boy just squeezed his best friend’s shoulder again, not knowing what to say to make everything better.
--
Halfway through third year, Victoire suddenly made another saving grace appearance.
She seemed to only turn up around full moons, Rennie reasoned, as Victoire once again yanked him out of her way and strode purposefully into the Room of Requirement. Ren vaguely wondered how she had found out they weren’t using the Shrieking Shack like the Headmistress had told Ted to, but mostly he was worried what would happen. Once again, the silvery-red haired girl was locked in a room with a halfblood-werewolf.
But the room stilled all sounds from inside as the door clicked shut, leaving Ren to sit outside and wonder.
By the morning, she was gone.
--
Dominique, Victoire’s little sister, had started at the beginning of third year. She had escaped the odd mix of Weasley red and Veela silver hair that gave Victoire her strawberry silver-blond hair. Dominique, instead, had managed to have sleek vibrant auburn hair with soft freckles on her shoulders and cheeks. She had her father’s soft brown eyes and all in all was a very lovely child.
However, either Victoire’s speech the year before had held out for her sibling, or Dominique had escaped inheriting the Veela lure that Victoire managed with threats of violence and a sharp tongue.
Still, Ted avoided being seen with Dominique. He had met her briefly during the summer when Bill and Fleur had decided to move back to London to be closer to the rest of the family and their children in Hogwarts. The youngest, Louis Delacour-Weasley, still had a year or two until he could come to school, but for now he went to a nearby Muggle middle school with George and Angelina’s twins, Fred and Roxanne, along with Percy and Audrey’s oldest, Molly.
The other kids were still in the Muggle elementary school, including Percy’s youngest Lucy, and the three Potter children, James, Albus, and Lily, along with Ron and Hermione’s two kids, Rose and Hugo.
True, there were Magical pre-schools for witches and wizards, but it was a new movement in the magical world to mix their culture with the Muggle world. …Or rather, it was a movement that the Potters and Weasleys had started when they bought TV for their homes. The press had a field day when Harry requested a satellite dish so they could get more channels. Rita Skeeter pulled off a few “Magic Muggles: Are the Potters Finally Going Insane?” columns before Hermione went about blackmailing the writer into silence once again.
Fortunately, Skeeter’s columns had only sparked more interest in Muggle culture. Weasley Senior began selling his flying cars more and more as the average post-war sparked a rise in the wizarding population. Flying carpets were still banned from England, and brooms were horrid for traveling families. The Weasley Flying Cars were a huge success. Molly Weasley, however, still hated to see her husband out working on ‘those ridiculous Muggle machines’.
Teddy’s generation had grown into stealing from Muggle fads constantly and applying magic to them. Olive had a Magic-Approved Laptop which he used to connect to the Wizarding Net. Computers were still a hard thing to use in high concentrations of magic, Olive’s constantly died on him, especially if someone used a spell too near it, but CD-players were easier to apply magic to and to guard the technology in it against outside magic. So ironically, while Muggles played with their mp3 players and tossed out their old CD-players, wizards picked up the CD-players and magic’ed them into musical awesomeness.
Peter Bast, a Muggleborn, had been the first to get catch in class with his magically-adapted CD-player (now commonly called a Wiz-player), but luckily for Hufflepuff, Professor Longbottom had been too interested in how the device worked to deduct points.
Rennie talked about getting one, until his mum, a Muggleborn herself, decided getting him something half Muggle and half wizard was good for his growth and Owled him one.
Teddy laughed at the look of joy on Ren’s face when he tore into the odd package and found the Wiz-player.
The half-werewolf glanced down at Victoire’s end of the table, something he had made a habit of, and was shocked to see her watching Rennie with an amused look on her face.
Her silver-blue eyes caught on his flecked gold ones for a moment before she snapped her head away. He watched her seem to force her gaze in the other direction, looking to the Hufflepuff table for her little sister.
--
Hey Harry,
Why’s everyone upset about Dominique being in Hufflepuff?
I mean, sure, there’s the family tradition of ‘All Weasleys in Gryffindor’, but breaking family traditions isn't always bad.
What would Sirius say? If he never broke that tradition, mum and I would have been expected to go into Slytherin the same as the rest of the Black bloodline.
Don’t be so hard on her. She’s really a nice girl after all, Hufflepuff or not.
I miss you guys.
Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.
-Teddy R. Lupin
previous chapters/next chapters
more comments
Rating: PG14
Main character: Teddy Remus Lupin
Pairings: Teddy/Victoire, possible others
Summary: Teddy Lupin thought he knew what awaited him at Hogwarts, but nothing could prepare him for the friendship of an illegitimate child of Oliver Wood, the prejudices of other students against werewolves, and a certain silvery-red haired Veela girl... punkrocker!Victoire, half-werewolf!Teddy
Notes: centerpoint of the Turquoise-'verse
Part 7 of the Turquoise_verse
Chapter 3: Teddy Has Blue Fur
“What do you mean?” Ted demanded, his eyes wild with fear.
“I mean that the potions you’ve been taking until now will not continue to work.”
Ted’s gaze slid to the ground. This couldn’t be happening. Not now.
“It seems that your lack of responsibly when it comes to taking your potions-”
“I’ve never forgotten before! It was only once!” He ground out in his defense. He knew his hair was wildly changing colors, but he couldn’t get himself to care. Everything was lost now.
Professor Slughorn’s eyes were kind, but guarded, as he studied the young boy in front of him. “… Once was all it took.”
Ted’s eyes finally retracted from the floor and turned on the potions master. The eyes were changing colors as well, but no matter what color they were, they always held a golden tinge to them… an aftereffect of the werewolf blood that had managed to further infect the small boy.
“You chose the wrong time to forget. Puberty is a challenging time for any boy, but in werewolves, it is a time when the wolf begins to try to take them over. The wolf is struggling to be free and even though it is weakened in you, it still holds pull over your body… and mind.” The professor swallowed and continued in a less sure voice, “It is possible that the wolf affected your mind to get you to forget the potion-” His voice went hard and sure again, “But that doesn’t excuse you from your actions. I told you never to forget the potion. Now that you have allowed the wolf time to expand its control, any potion I make will have even less effect.”
Professor Slughorn studied the twelve year-old boy’s eyes as they widened with guilt and fear.
“It won’t-”
“No,” The potions master cut him off behind the boy could break, “The potion won’t be able to control your transformations anymore. It may tame them somewhat, but never to the degree they have dampened before.”
Ted went back to staring at the ground, his mind was whirling in confused and guilty circles of fear.
“Headmistress McGonagall has taken the time to contact your guardians-”
“Shite! ‘Drom knows?” The part-werewolf was muttering under his breath, until he remembered the professor was still there and instantly apologized.
“It’s fine.” Professor Slughorn grunted. “Also, I believe your Grandmother and Mr. Potter will be coming in a moment to discuss with the Headmistress what will be done.” He caught Ted’s puzzled look and explained, “We can’t have halfblood werewolves running around free during the full moon. You could hurt someone.”
Ted’s face sunk, and then was replaced by a blank expression, hiding his fears and pain. He hadn’t realized until now that this was the sort of thing that had nearly gotten his father kicked out of Hogwarts and had later lost him his job as a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, regardless of how wonderful a teacher he had been.
“Come. I’m supposed to bring you to them now.” Slughorn commanded, a soft edge in his voice for the boy.
The part-werewolf followed the potions master as they walk silently through the hallways. Each was lost in his own thoughts.
All Ted could think of was how he had managed to fail his parents by a simple mistake.
--
”Who else knows about this?”
Ted shrunk in his seat. His grandmother’s angry face filled his vision. “J-just a few…”
She pulled away, sputtering to herself, “This is what I get for letting my daughter marry a bloody werewolf! Stupid girl, went and got herself killed…” Andromeda trailed off, her steely hands suddenly dropping to her sides. She had a blank look on her face, but Ted knew better.
Slipping off his seat, he curled his arms around his grandmother’s waist. “You’re not going to lose me, don’t worry, ‘Drom.” He muttered, using his nickname for her in hope to knock her out of her mood.
Wrinkled hands wrapped themselves around him and held him close, nearly desperate in the way she gripped his shirt.
His grandmother had always feared losing him, especially since, to her, he was the only one she had left. She had lost her family, her husband, her daughter, her son-in-law… to her it was only a matter of time before she lost Teddy too. No matter what Ted said, she always ended up falling back on this fear at the worst moments. He continued to mutter, even though it was only repetition. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re not ever going to lose me.” He buried his face in her dark robes, struggling to provide comfort even though he needed it just as much.
As usual, his words finally snapped her back into place and she grabbed his shoulders and jerked him back, “You’d better not leave.” She threatened in a voice that was broken, before it suddenly hardened and she was back to being his crazy neat-freak of a grandmother again, “What in the world were you thinking, you idiot!”
Ted wound up back in the chair, as they waited for the Headmistress and his Godfather. ‘Drom was still muttering to herself about how stupid Ted was, but he could tell she was really more upset that Harry was coming at all.
She wasn’t just afraid that Ted would do something incredibly stupid and get killed, but also that one day he would run away to live with his Godfather’s family. He had realized this when she had refused to let him stay at the Potter’s for any holiday unless she was with him. She constantly would put herself between him and Harry, no matter how much Ted told her that he wouldn’t leave her like that.
“Sorry, ‘Drom,” He said finally, holding his head up by his arms and hiding his face in his hands. “I didn’t mean for this to happen… I just…” His voice faded under his guilt and the silence that had followed his words.
Then he felt a hand curl around his shoulders, holding him close. ‘Drom was still refusing to look at him, but her gaze was soft as she watched the window. Her arm tightened around him, and he knew she could feel the tremble that ran through his small frame.
Her tone was harsh, but underneath it he could hear the soft kindness, “I know you didn’t mean for anything to happen. Honestly, who would? But that doesn’t change that it has happened.” It was about as close to forgiving him as she would get. In a softer tone that he probably wasn’t meant to hear, she added, “You’d never do anything to leave me…”
They held on to each other, both desperate to prove that neither was alone.
--
“You’re stayin’, right?” Rennie asked as he caught up with Ted in the hallway.
Ted gave him an odd look, “Well yea. They can’t just kick me out. Hogwarts has already had a fullblood werewolf in its midst, so why’s a halfblood any different?”
Rennie gripped his hands together, “Ah.” The dark-haired boy wasn’t looking at Ted. They walked together in silence for a moment before Rennie continued, “Sorry for telling the teachers on you. Didn’t mean for you to get in trouble,” he hung his head.
Ted laughed, patting his friend on the back. “No. You did the right thing. It’s always good to know you have my back.”
Rennie graced him with a bright smile.
It was then that Ted remembered Victoire’s words. “Did Victoire say anything to you?” She was right, Rennie was a good packmate. ‘Drom, Ted, and Rennie made up a small and broken pack in Ted’s mind. They were all he had sometimes. The other parts of Ted’s family made up a sort of “extended” pack, but his small, broken pack was always what came first.
“Nah, she left, once we got you to the healers.”
“Well, I had to tell the Headmaster who knew about that night… and what I could remember…” Ted knit his brows together, “What did happen? I couldn’t remember much.” Flashes of the night before jumbled in Ted’s mind: pain, howls, teeth, claws, and grasps of silver… His dream reminded him of something, “Victoire… what did she do? I can’t remember.”
“Miss Weasley… well she saved me, than threw you back in the room.” Rennie looked thoughtful, “Well really she kicked you into the room, but she seemed to be havin’ fun with the whole thing.”
Ted just looked at him and Rennie frowned, “What?”
Shaking his head, Teddy just frowned right back, “I don’t understand the female section of our species.”
“Our species?” Ren attempted to make a joke of it.
“Right. Your< species apparently…” Ted frowned, and Rennie paused.
“Sorry, Teddy. Didn’t mean it that way.”
The part-werewolf shook his head, “Not anything to worry about, Rennie. I suppose I should go find Victoire… see if she’s alright and thank her.” His brows knit together, wondering at the idea of his ‘cousin’ kicking a half-werewolf then spending the whole night with him. Of what he remembered, she hadn’t been hurt… “Ren, do you think I bit her?”
Rennie looked thoughtful, “Dun think so. She looked a bit scratched but not bit.”
“But then…” Ted paused, “How did she manage the whole night with the wolf? I would have hurt you if you’d stayed… and she’s just a girl.”
His best friend looked puzzled. “Dunno. Ask her.”
So Teddy Remus Lupin set out to do just that.
--
Unfortunately it was then that the seventh years finally broke the silent shunning of the halfblood werewolf.
Broke it with violence.
--
“I’ll get ‘em! I told ‘em nobody messes with you and gets away with it! I’ll beat the shite out of ‘em.” Rennie muttered angrily as he watched Madam Pomfrey dress Ted’s bruises.
The old nurse had her lips pursed and opened her mouth to scold Ren’s thinking, but Ted beat her to it.
“Ren, that won’t solve a thing.” He held his arm to his side as he waited for the potion to take effect and mend it. “We’re only second years, they’re seventh years. They’ll just hurt you as well and then there won’t be anyone to drag us to the healers.”
Rennie had a deep scowl on his face, his blue eyes nearly blazing. He gave Ted a look for a moment, before his words startled Ted out of his thoughts, “Why didn’t you fight back, Ted?”
Teddy ducked his head, and Madam Pomfrey gave him a strained look, obviously trying to make him feel better and hide her worry, but failing. She took care of his father when Remus went to Hogwarts. She knew why he couldn’t fight. Instead of looking at either of them, he stared at the ground. “Ren… I can’t fight anymore. I can’t afford to get angry. I can’t afford to be angry enough to hit someone.” He looked up at Renald then, his gold flecked eyes matching the blazing blue of his friend, “If I do, I could kill them.”
Ted watched his best friend as the boy struggled to find words to comfort, to understand, to do anything but sit and realize the full consequences of being half-werewolf.
The metamorphmagus let his gold flecked eyes drop to the floor, not wanting to see the struggle on his friend’s face. “McGonagall told me that if I don’t control myself, I’ll…” His voice fell suddenly, “The wolf wants to get out. It’s going to be trying for every outlet I let it. If I let my anger get a hold of me, then the wolf will have that too. I can’t let that happen, Rennie. I can’t let anyone but me control my life.” The last sentence wavered but was more solid in sheer will then anything else he had said.
Ted nearly jumped when an awkwardly large hand fell on his shoulder. Gold flecked eyes jumped up and Rennie gave his friend a tight smile and squeezed his shoulder gently.
The half-werewolf slumped suddenly, aware that he had been worried over Renald’s reaction all this time. As the relief flooded him, he felt his best friend squeeze his shoulder again, silently saying that he won’t leave, not now, not ever, even though the going is about to get even more then tough.
It was mind-blowing to have such an astounding person as his friend.
--
Frank wouldn’t have anything to do with Ted or Renald, but Olive gave them a small smile whenever they passed each other.
Teddy understood why Olive didn’t want to hang out with them, even though Rennie didn’t. Ted had seen the way Olive looked at a certain Ravenclaw, named Millicent Clark. Milly, as she was called, was best friends with Valya Krum, who was one of the most vocal Second Years when it came to Ted’s inherited Lycanthropy.
Valya, along with a small group of mainly Ravenclaws and Slytherins, wanted Ted to be expelled from the school. Milly wasn’t technically part of that group, but she still wouldn’t want to go out with anyone closely allied with her best friend’s ‘enemy’.
Olive would walk Milly to class, even though it made him late for his own classes. Valya mostly ignored him, but Milly was beginning to show interest in him. Olive wasn’t going to screw that up just to be friends with his part-werewolf dormmate.
Teddy understood, but that didn’t mean he liked it.
--
By the time third year came around, Ted still hadn’t been able to talk to Victoire about what happened. ‘Drom and he had visited Harry and the rest of the Weasleys over the summer, but hadn’t managed to talk to Victoire at all.
Ted avoided acknowledging Victoire in public for fear she would be targeted by the older years for bullying as well. It was bad enough Rennie had been dragged into it.
Rennie, of course, didn’t mind, but that didn’t mean that Ted didn’t blame himself… or rather, his parents.
To be honest, Renald was worried more about Ted’s reaction then the actual beatings themselves. His friend had proven that werewolves may look scrawny but could really take a punch. However, it was the quieting of Ted’s already quiet nature that made Ren worry. The lack of pranks and sneaky ideas from his friend worried Rennie further.
He knew Teddy was very obsessive about his parents. If one brought them up, Ted would cheerfully chatter on, retelling stories from Harry, as well as the rest of the Order’s various tales about the two people held most highly in Ted’s eyes, whom the boy had barely ever met.
Ted seemed to gaze off more and more often these days and even the topic of his parents’ adventurous tales couldn’t cheer him. This wasn’t like him at all.
Rennie walked into the Common Room one day, to find it empty except for his half-werewolf friend. This itself wasn’t strange, as most people avoided the two of them now, even their dormmates avoided them, but something about Teddy’s crumpled posture made Ren pause for a moment in the entryway.
Regardless, Ted’s eyes, gray today, but still flecked with gold, turned themselves on Renald. The naked fear in those eyes is what finally broke the darker-haired boy’s hesitation and moved him forward to rest a calming hand on his friend’s shoulder.
A small voice filtered up through the still air of the room, “I just wanted to make them proud.”
“I know. You will.” Rennie squeezed the shoulder in his grip, even as the gold flecked eyes turned back to the empty fireplace.
“I… think I’ve failed them, Ren.” The small voice trailed off, becoming softer in final defeat.
But Rennie wasn’t Ted’s parents… The lean-framed boy just squeezed his best friend’s shoulder again, not knowing what to say to make everything better.
--
Halfway through third year, Victoire suddenly made another saving grace appearance.
She seemed to only turn up around full moons, Rennie reasoned, as Victoire once again yanked him out of her way and strode purposefully into the Room of Requirement. Ren vaguely wondered how she had found out they weren’t using the Shrieking Shack like the Headmistress had told Ted to, but mostly he was worried what would happen. Once again, the silvery-red haired girl was locked in a room with a halfblood-werewolf.
But the room stilled all sounds from inside as the door clicked shut, leaving Ren to sit outside and wonder.
By the morning, she was gone.
--
Dominique, Victoire’s little sister, had started at the beginning of third year. She had escaped the odd mix of Weasley red and Veela silver hair that gave Victoire her strawberry silver-blond hair. Dominique, instead, had managed to have sleek vibrant auburn hair with soft freckles on her shoulders and cheeks. She had her father’s soft brown eyes and all in all was a very lovely child.
However, either Victoire’s speech the year before had held out for her sibling, or Dominique had escaped inheriting the Veela lure that Victoire managed with threats of violence and a sharp tongue.
Still, Ted avoided being seen with Dominique. He had met her briefly during the summer when Bill and Fleur had decided to move back to London to be closer to the rest of the family and their children in Hogwarts. The youngest, Louis Delacour-Weasley, still had a year or two until he could come to school, but for now he went to a nearby Muggle middle school with George and Angelina’s twins, Fred and Roxanne, along with Percy and Audrey’s oldest, Molly.
The other kids were still in the Muggle elementary school, including Percy’s youngest Lucy, and the three Potter children, James, Albus, and Lily, along with Ron and Hermione’s two kids, Rose and Hugo.
True, there were Magical pre-schools for witches and wizards, but it was a new movement in the magical world to mix their culture with the Muggle world. …Or rather, it was a movement that the Potters and Weasleys had started when they bought TV for their homes. The press had a field day when Harry requested a satellite dish so they could get more channels. Rita Skeeter pulled off a few “Magic Muggles: Are the Potters Finally Going Insane?” columns before Hermione went about blackmailing the writer into silence once again.
Fortunately, Skeeter’s columns had only sparked more interest in Muggle culture. Weasley Senior began selling his flying cars more and more as the average post-war sparked a rise in the wizarding population. Flying carpets were still banned from England, and brooms were horrid for traveling families. The Weasley Flying Cars were a huge success. Molly Weasley, however, still hated to see her husband out working on ‘those ridiculous Muggle machines’.
Teddy’s generation had grown into stealing from Muggle fads constantly and applying magic to them. Olive had a Magic-Approved Laptop which he used to connect to the Wizarding Net. Computers were still a hard thing to use in high concentrations of magic, Olive’s constantly died on him, especially if someone used a spell too near it, but CD-players were easier to apply magic to and to guard the technology in it against outside magic. So ironically, while Muggles played with their mp3 players and tossed out their old CD-players, wizards picked up the CD-players and magic’ed them into musical awesomeness.
Peter Bast, a Muggleborn, had been the first to get catch in class with his magically-adapted CD-player (now commonly called a Wiz-player), but luckily for Hufflepuff, Professor Longbottom had been too interested in how the device worked to deduct points.
Rennie talked about getting one, until his mum, a Muggleborn herself, decided getting him something half Muggle and half wizard was good for his growth and Owled him one.
Teddy laughed at the look of joy on Ren’s face when he tore into the odd package and found the Wiz-player.
The half-werewolf glanced down at Victoire’s end of the table, something he had made a habit of, and was shocked to see her watching Rennie with an amused look on her face.
Her silver-blue eyes caught on his flecked gold ones for a moment before she snapped her head away. He watched her seem to force her gaze in the other direction, looking to the Hufflepuff table for her little sister.
--
Hey Harry,
Why’s everyone upset about Dominique being in Hufflepuff?
I mean, sure, there’s the family tradition of ‘All Weasleys in Gryffindor’, but breaking family traditions isn't always bad.
What would Sirius say? If he never broke that tradition, mum and I would have been expected to go into Slytherin the same as the rest of the Black bloodline.
Don’t be so hard on her. She’s really a nice girl after all, Hufflepuff or not.
I miss you guys.
Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.
-Teddy R. Lupin
previous chapters/next chapters
more comments