I follow Alfie’s advice, and simply laugh and deny my father’s condition whenever anyone asks. Three weeks have passed, and everyone seems to take my word over Edith and that boy’s, who I am told is a friend of hers called Arlen Kay. Jason and I have a good laugh about the girly-ness of his name. Poor kid “ it’s wrong of parents to call their children stupid names. I tell Harry this again and again; how could he have cursed Al with a name like Albus Severus?
Anyways, all I really have to endure is the occasional snide comment from her or her friend, and maybe a dirty glance now and again. But with Alfie’s connections and Jason’s knack of being friends with anybody and everybody, I’m surrounded by people while they mutter darkly in a corner, only pausing to glare at me occasionally, which usually makes me feel all the more smug at the thought of them being on their own, and me being all popular and loved.
“Oi, Teddy,” says Jason loudly over the chatter of the breakfast table, one grey and bland October morning, “we should head to Defense early “ Kasy Miller says that she saw Dermot stalking about, and he looked grumpy.”
“Great, we’ll have such a fun lesson,” I mutter sarcastically, grabbing my cup of pumpkin juice and downing it in one. Vaguely, I register that it doesn’t taste quite right, but I push it aside “ maybe it was made with a funny pumpkin. “Where’s Alfie?”
“Gone to get his bag; I said I’d wait for him outside the Great Hall.”
We loiter about outside the doors, chatting over the sound of the nearby portrait’s snores, and when Alfie comes rushing out, we head to Defence Against the Dark Arts, plotting on how best to annoy Dermot. We decide on fireworks. Hey, if I get more detentions, who cares? Detention has practically become part of my timetable now.
***
“Okay, class, please shut-up and listen to me,” says Dermot as he walks through the door, despite the fact we’re already silent. “Lupin, nice try, but hand over the fireworks and we’ll talk about your detention at the end of the lesson.”
I roll my eyes and moodily hand over the fireworks as he passes, sending an apologetic look over at Jason and Alfie, who grin sympathetically in return. How on earth did he see the fireworks, though? Stupid git.
“Today, we shall be focusing on the basic essentials of duelling- what?” He’s staring behind me, and I twist around in my seat to see, with dread, Edith Gunner leaning back in her seat smugly, a single hand raised into the air.
“I was just wondering, sir,” she says sweetly. “Would the child of a werewolf also be a werewolf?” After three weeks, why is she asking that now?
Dermot frowns at her slightly. “I don’t know. It’s never happened before. As I was saying, duelling has been known for centuries as a-”
“But, sir, it has. What about Remus Lupin?”
Whispering breaks out in the class, and I freeze in my seat as I feel every eye in the room flick towards me. “My Dad wasn’t a werewolf,” I say, laughing feebly. “That’s just a stupid rumour that’s flying about, I don’t know where it actually-”
“Now, now, Lupin, don’t deny your heritage,” says Dermot smoothly. “You should be proud that you are, ah, one of a kind.”
I stare at him. I don’t think I’ve ever hated anyone else so much in my life. “All right. Yes, my father was a werewolf. So what? It doesn’t make me one. Lycanthropy is not in genes. Nor did it make my father a bad person.”
“How would you know? I thought you said you couldn’t remember him?” asked a curious boy at the back of the class. Everyone else seems just as frozen as I was a few moments ago.
I answered him without looking at him, still glaring into Dermot’s subtly leering face. “I can’t, but everything that I’ve heard from my family-”
“What family?” asks Dermot. I can see the enjoyment in his eye, the eagerness to force me to spill all…
“My grandmother and my godfather,” I say firmly, after taking a deep, calming breath. “All of the Weasley’s… they’ve all told me about him-”
“That doesn’t prove anything. Besides, werewolves are evil creatures, aren’t they, sir?” Edith says loudly and smugly.
“That is true, for the most part. They tend to prey on small children-”
“No! No, it’s not true!” I cry out in distress, twisting to the side and placing one hand on the back of my chair, as if about to stand and run out of the classroom. My heart is pounding in my throat, I feel shaky and weak as adrenaline speeds through me…
“Biting them, killing them sometimes, or simply scarring them for life-” he continues, as if I am not there.
“My father wasn’t like that! You’re lying, you don’t understand-”
“Occasionally raising them as their own, and training them to bite and infect more people, more sons and daughters-”
“LIAR!” I shout, standing up sharply, knocking the chair over. Many people jump and gasp, and then watch me fearfully as I glare at him, breathing heavily. Strangely, I feel tired. His face stays blank and cool, as if he is telling students some facts about Bogarts, or as if I am not there.
“Often, werewolves have unpredictable mood swings…”
“SHUT-UP!”
“What on earth is going on here?” I look over at the door to see Professor Gemmell, looking between Dermot and myself in bewilderment.
“I… he…” I splutter, unsure of what to say. Dermot’s steely glare confirms that I should not say anything. I feel light headed; I really want to close my eyes for some reason… my eyes ache…
“Professor Dermot is insulting Teddy’s father,” says Alfie bravely, a hardened expression on his face. “He’s tormenting Teddy deliberately.” Everyone sounds very far away…
“Don’t lie, boy,” snarls Dermot at him. He turns to Professor Gemmell. “The children are over-reacting to a simple fact of life-”
My head is swimming. I can feel myself sway. I hear lots of shouting, everything goes blurry, the hazy figure of Professor Gemmell is running towards me, everything goes black.
***
“Don’t be silly, Harry.” That’s my grandmother… definitely Grandma… she’s in a bad mood…
“I’m not “ why is it you can blame yourself and I can’t blame myself?” Harry… he’s irritated… at himself, I think…
“Because it’s my fault, and not yours.”
“What? No, that’s absurd. I-”
“Oh, for goodness sake, you two, how about it’s both your fault? Or, better yet, neither of you are at fault?” Ginny… she’s stressed…
“Ginny, you-”
“If you say that I don’t understand, Harry Potter, I will smash your head against the wall. Andromeda, stop glaring at me and face it “ you can’t blame yourself for everything.”
There is a long silence. I’m struggling to wake up, but all I can do is listen.
“Well, if I’m not allowed to blame myself, I know who I can blame,” says my Grandmother suddenly.
“Who?” asks Harry warily.
“That Defence teacher of his. How dare he-?”
“Andromeda, you know he’s been cautioned. I just can’t believe that Teddy told me what he’s like, and I assumed he was over-reacting. I just… everything I heard about him at work was always positive…”
“Well, he’s a Hit-Wizard, isn’t he? He might well be amazing at his job, but it’s a violent job “ a job which violent people take as a career path!” snaps Grandma. “Being cautioned isn’t enough, he should be sacked!” Inside, I cheer for my grandmother.
“You know he won’t, the newspapers are on his side,” says Harry, sounding older and more tired than I’ve ever heard him before. Newspapers? The newspapers are involved? “We should have told Teddy… we should have prepared him…”
“Too right you should’ve,” I say, finally opening my eyes.
“Teddy! You’re awake!” I’m pulled left right and centre by Grandma, Harry, and Ginny all trying to hug me at once.
“Stop it,” I mutter embarrassedly after one too many kisses have been planted on my head and face. “I’m fine… what happened to me?”
“You collapsed. Have you drunk anything funny tasting today? Madam Pomfrey reckons someone slipped you a sleeping draught of some sort. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”
“Erm… I thought my pumpkin juice was a bit weird this morning. It was probably Alfie’s idea of a joke. How long have I been out?”
“Teddy,” says Harry, looking alarmed. “This is quite serious “ someone spiked your drink!”
“Yeah, but there was no harm done, was there? How long have I been out?” I repeat, but Harry continues.
“No harm done? You collapsed! Because you were so worked up, the draught was sped up and there may be complications. If this is a prank, it’s a very poor one, and whoever did it should be-”
“Harry, it doesn’t matter. I’m fine. How long have I been out?” He sees the irritation in my eyes, and decides to leave it.
“Half an hour at the most.”
“You all got here quick,” I remark, sitting up and folding my arms, staring down at my blankets, suddenly remembering that I am annoyed at them all. I don’t want to look at them… I don’t want to talk to them…
“Well, we weren’t going to leave you all alone in a hospital wing, were we?” says Harry in a falsely cheerful voice. “A lot’s happened in half an hour-”
“Yeah, I heard, Dermot’s been cautioned. Great,” I snap moodily.
There is a long silence. “Teddy…” begins Ginny hesitantly.
“Why didn’t any of you tell me?” I ask harshly, still refusing to look at them.
“How could we, Teddy? How could we tell you that was what some people thought of him?” says Grandma, sounding close to tears.
“He was a won-”
“He was a wonderful man, yes, you’ve said,” I snap, and Harry falls silent. “Doesn’t make a difference though, does it? Everyone’s still going to hate me. And I would have though you,” I glare at Harry, who looks down, ashamed, “would know how it feels to be kept in the dark. I mean… I…” I gesture helplessly with my hands, trying to find the words to express my pain. “How could you? How could you just… not say anything? Not tell me anything?” I can hear my voice beginning to crack, and I feel my Grandmother’s arms grip me in a hug. I don’t hug her back, but neither do I pull away.
“We’re so sorry, Teddy… we knew we should have, but we just couldn’t… we…” she is crying now, and I feel Harry’s hand grip my shoulder, as he continues for her.
“We love you too much, Teddy. We couldn’t face letting you know what people thought of Remus. He was such a brilliant, kind and intelligent man, and all his life he had to face the views of ignorant people. He was always paying such a high price for it, and we couldn’t let you feel the same weight he did.”
“And not everyone will hate you “ your two friends, Alfie and Jason, they kicked up such a fuss about it all. Refused to continue with their lesson at first “ insisting to come down here and see you. There were a couple of other people that joined in too, but I don’t know their names,” said Ginny.
“You should get back to sleep, dear. You’ve had a hell of a day,” says my Grandmother, but I ignore her.
“You said something about newspapers, Harry. But if I’ve only been unconscious half an hour…”
“Well, the headline this morning,” he says, as if it is blatantly obvious.
“What headline? What did the headline say?”
There is yet another long, uncomfortable pause. “You… you haven’t read the newspaper?” asks Ginny.
“No, I’m eleven years old, what makes you think that I read the newspaper everyday?” I ask, dumbfounded.
Harry swallows, and runs a hand through his messy hair. He reaches underneath his chair, and hands me a newspaper.
BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN: DOLOHOV AND GREYBACK.
In the early hours of this morning, writes Robert Beake, Daily Prophet reporter, the alarm was raised as the “high-security” cell shared by Fenrir Greyback and Antonin Dolohov shared was found empty, except for an unfortunate Azkaban guard who was found dead “ full details page three. The Death Eaters are believed to have stolen his wand and keys, before making their escape.
It is unknown how long the two had been planning this breakout, but the general public must ask the Ministry why a high-security cell was so easy to escape from. A spokesperson from the Ministry stated:
“Without the aid of Dementors (Dementors were relieved from Azkaban duties following a petition created by Hermione Weasley nee Granger “ is it time for them to return? Page seven), breakouts are becoming ever more common in Azkaban, but never before have two criminals as dangerous as these escaped. Rest assured that they will be found quickly, as have all other escapees in the past.”
When I asked the spokesperson how two unarmed Death Eaters had managed to knock-out a trained Ministry guard, the spokesperson called an end to the press conference.
The two infamous Death Eaters are extremely dangerous, and the Ministry has urged the public not to approach them, but instead contact the Ministry as quickly as possible.
Dolohov is known to have committed a large list of murders and attacks, along with brutal tortures and blackmail. It is believed that the last murder he committed was that of Remus John Lupin, father of Harry Potter’s godson, Ted Remus Lupin.
In a bizarre twist, Remus Lupin was also turned werewolf by Greyback as a small child, and is believed to have been in league with Greyback during the early stages of the war-
“What?” I cry, looking at the offending sentence in horror. “What does it mean Dad was in league with-?”
“Don’t listen to it!” says Harry, hurriedly. “They got it wrong “ your father worked undercover with the werewolves for a time as part of the Order of the Phoenix. Hermione is sorting stuff out so that we can sue them “ sue them not only for that but for… well, read on.”
- before supposedly switching sides to fight alongside the Order of the Phoenix. Ted Lupin, or “Teddy” as he is known by family and friends, is believed to be the only child born from a werewolf parent in recorded history, and readers must ask whether Harry Potter is hiding a dark secret about his godson, and whether they want a half werewolf in the same school as their children.
Greyback is widely known as the most vicious of all werewolves; preying on small children, to raise within werewolf packs, training them to become more bloodthirsty than the disease which infects them. It is known the Greyback even hunted when it was not full moon, perhaps the most famous case of this being Bill Weasley, whose effects of the attack are unknown.
With the next full moon fast approaching, and the thought that Greyback could attack even before then, it is no wonder that many members of the public are already calling for the control, or possible cull, of all known werewolves.
“Cull?” I say blankly. “Cull? What… like… killing them all?”
“Don’t worry, dear. Anything like that would have to pass the Minister, and you can’t see Kingsley doing anything like that, can you?” says Ginny kindly.
“And anyone anti-werewolf in my department is automatically sacked,” growls Harry.
I nod, feeling rather numb inside. Out of all the Death Eaters that could have escaped…
“Greyback turned Dad werewolf. He scarred Bill. Dolohov killed Dad. He nearly killed Hermione when she was fifteen. And now they’re both out there somewhere,” I saw dully, lying back down onto the comfortable hospital wing bed.
“They’ll be caught in no time at all. Trust me “ I’m working on the case myself,” says Harry.
“It’s nothing to worry about “ it just means that people might be a little more anti-werewolf than usual,” says Grandma.
I nod sullenly. Then something clicks in my mind. “That’s why she said it today. Edith, I mean; that’s why she brought it up during Defence. She must have seen the newspaper,” I say quietly.
“She’s being talked to by Professor Gemmell now,” says Harry. “She won’t be bothering you anymore.”
“She will, though, won’t she? You can’t stop her from giving me dirty looks and stuff! Her and that second-year boy!” I snap. I cast around for another subject. “So we’re suing the newspaper?”
Harry nods coldly. “Yes. I’m furious about the whole thing, and the public generally agrees with what I say, so maybe I’ll be able to influence a few more people.”
“How much are you going to sue them for?”
“No idea “ I’m leaving all the legal stuff to Hermione, but all the money will go to the Lycanthropy Charity for Werewolves and their Families.”
“The what? I’ve never heard of it.”
“Of course you haven’t; Hermione and I are setting it up.”
I stare at him. “And what exactly will this charity do?”
“Well, hopefully it will be able to offer advice and support for werewolves and their families, and we’re going to build a secure centre where they can go at full moon, if they wish.”
“That’ll need a lot of money.”
“I know, but we’ve got Hermione to help us sue the Daily Prophet, haven’t we? She’s an amazing lawyer; she’ll get plenty of money for us. Hopefully people will be a bit more aware of it then as well. Sound good?”
“Yeah, sounds great!”
“Oh, good “ now we’ve got your okay, you should get back to sleep. You’re going back to lessons tomorrow, and you’re going to act like nothings happened, okay, kid? Hold your head up high, and smile as much as possible. Preferably in front of that Edith girl and Dermot.” I laugh, and Harry stands up and ruffles my hair, which I turn a bright magenta colour, just for the hell of it. “I’d best get back to work. I’ve got a lot to do. See you at Christmas, Teddy-bear!” With his coat over his shoulder, he leaves the room.
Ginny stands up as well. “I’ve left a screaming Lily with Mum, so I’d best go, too.” As she is leaving she suddenly turns. “Oh, you have an appointment with Professor Obando tomorrow at five o’clock. I expect he wants to talk about all this business.” She waves goodbye and leaves.
Grandma turns to me, and says, “Get some sleep, Teddy-bear. You look exhausted.” Indeed, I can feel my body screaming out for sleep, my eyelids trying to pull together, and a yawn rising up my throat. Without another word, I rest my head deep into the pillow, and fall asleep in a matter of seconds.
Teddy by dumbledorefluertwins
Chapter Endnotes: A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys. Don't worry, Kevin gave me a good kick for neglecting all of you, and therefore neglecting him. He's in a really bad mood - I think reviews will cheer him up, though...