Teddy Through Time

An extraordinary assortment of people had already settled into half of the chairs; shabby and smart, old and young. Most Harry did not recognise, but a few he did, including members of the Order of the Phoenix: Kingsley Shacklebolt; Mad-Eye Moody; Tonks, her hair miraculously returned to vividest pink; Remus Lupin, with whom she seemed to be holding hands; Mr and Mrs Weasley; Bill supported by Fleur and followed by Fred and George, who were wearing jackets of black dragon skin.
Then there was Madame Maxime, who took up two and a half chairs on her own; Tom, the landlord of the Leaky Cauldron in London; Arabella Figg, Harry’s Squib neighbour; the hairy bass player from the Wizarding group the Weird Sisters; Ernie Prang, driver of the Knight Bus; Madam Malkin, of the robe shop in Diagon Alley; Teddy, who was leaning against the trunk of an ancient tree, standing aside as if forcing himself not to interfere with time and not to choose a seat, lest he accidentally take someone else’s place; and some people whom Harry merely knew by sight, such as the barman of the Hog’s Head and the witch who pushed the trolley on the Hogwarts Express.
The castle ghosts were there too, barely visible in the bright sunlight, discernible only when they moved, shimmering insubstantially on the gleaming air.

Teddy, who had a keen instinct for sensing trouble in time, hurried over to Harry and the man who had cornered him shortly after the burial.
“I see you are —”
“Dumbledore’s man through and through,” said Harry. “That’s right.”
Scrimgeour glared at him for another moment, then turned and limped away without another word.

“What did Scrimgeour want?” asked Teddy.
“Same as he wanted at Christmas,” shrugged Harry. “Wanted me to give him inside information on Dumbledore and be the Ministry’s new poster boy.”|
“You ought to be a bit gentler with him. He really is trying… he’s not so bad, you know,” said Teddy.
“If you say so,” Harry replied, unconvinced. “It seems that in the future, where you come from, there’s a lot of hope and light.”
“There really is.”
“If there’s one thing you’ve managed to teach me, it’s that everything has its time,” said Harry sincerely.
“I’m glad I managed to teach you something, you bottlehead,” said Teddy with a grin.
“The problem isn’t with my head, it’s with the teacher,” said Harry. “Your dad, for instance, is a much better teacher then you are, you little git.”
Teddy’s smile vanished at once. “My dad?”
“I can’t believe I didn’t see it before,” said Harry. “Teddy Lupin?”
Teddy no longer looked surprised.
“Took you long enough. Did you figure it out on your own or did you check the map?”
“Both,” said Harry. “Truthfully, I started suspecting there was a connection between you both at Christmas, when you got so excited to meet him. But then, in the hospital wing, when you looked at them both… it just clicked. A lot of things made sense… your smile, for one… and when you talked about Tonks at Christmas, trying to make him jealous.”
“And I succeeded,” said Teddy with personal pride. “For a moment, I was genuinely afraid he might punch me.”
Teddy turned to look at a pink and grey spot in the distance, closer than Harry had ever realised.
“I only looked at the map to confirm what I already knew,” said Harry.
“I should have been more careful, I didn’t do a good enough job,” said Teddy. “But honestly, I’m glad you figured it out on your own… secrets, lies… they’re not for me. Did you tell Ron and Hermione?”
“No,” Harry said quickly. “And I’m not planning to, either.”
“Thank you,” said Teddy. “I really appreciate that.”
“Honestly, I don’t understand how Hermione or someone else didn’t figure it out before I did, you really do look just like him.”
Harry and Teddy turned to glance back at Ron and Hermione; it seemed it took both Hermione and Ginny to hold Ron back from attacking Percy.
“Even I’m surprised no one else figured it out,” said Teddy. “The only one who suspected anything and told me I looked familiar was my mum.”
“When you said you’d get lost too…”
“Forget it, Harry. Just because you know who I am doesn’t mean I can tell you what happens in the future.”
“Is that why Dumbledore trusted you from the start? Because he knew who you were?”
“Yes.”
“You could have spared your mum a lot.”
“And my dad too. But like you said, everything has its time.”
“And what are your plans?” asked Harry.
“I don’t really know yet. I’m still helping Fred and George with the shop… I can’t really interfere with anything. But I want to spend time with my parents… if I get the chance, maybe even tell them I’m their son.”
Harry and Teddy noticed Hermione dragging Ron towards them. They fell silent, waiting for them to reach them.

“Hi, Teddy,” said Hermione with a sad smile.
Ron looked particularly disgruntled.
“Look, let me go back and hit Percy!”
“No,” she said firmly, grabbing his arm. “It’ll make me feel better!”
Harry laughed. Even Hermione grinned a little, though her smile faded as she looked up at the castle.
“Hey, Teddy, I heard you left the Burrow,” said Ron.
“Really?” said Harry, surprised. “Why?”
“My old flat’s available. I figured if I’m stuck in the past, it’s time to move on… Now that Albus is gone, there’s no chance I’ll make it back to my own time.”
“Oh, Teddy, that’s really sad,” said Hermione. “And I can’t believe there’s a chance we won’t return to Hogwarts…” she looked at him hopefully, as if seeking some words of comfort.
“It’s all right, Hermione, I told you before – I’m still home. Anyway, I have to go, I promised Tonks I’d help her. I’ll see you all very soon, but meanwhile, I wish you all best of luck,” he said almost in one breath, turned around, and walked away.

All three of them could not help but notice that Teddy looked tense and troubled.

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