I hadn't thought of Amelia and Teddy as a mini Tonks and Lupin, to be honest. I haven't been consciously writing them that way. Thanks for commenting

Here we are, final chapter, part one. Thanks to the lovely Paintbrush for beta-ing for me.

Eight, part one, Black.

“Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Cosmo, Caitlin and Teddy,
Happy Birthday to you!”

Teddy and his twins blew out the fifty candles on the enormous Hogwarts castle birthday cake: forty for Teddy and five for each of the twins. There was a round of applause and Cosmo and Caitlin jumped off his knee and ran to Molly, hugging her and shouting “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Teddy knew why his children were so grateful; they had tasted their mother’s disastrous attempts at baking. He looked over at Amelia; she had a slightly wounded expression. She was a fantastic mother but her kitchen skills left a lot to be desired, that was why he did most of the cooking. The cake was in the shape of Hogwarts because the twins had recently become obsessed with going to school, largely because Remus was due to start that September. He was talking about it non-stop and so of course the twins were too, they idolised Remus. Teddy looked at the cake closely and was amazed to hear deep gruff barking coming from Hagrid’s hut, where Freda was apparently supposed to be enclosed. The detail was remarkable; the surface of the lake seemed to ripple in the breeze as did the trees of the forbidden forest. The lights in the windows flickered and the white marble of Dumbledore’s tomb gleamed. Molly came to the table with a large kitchen knife to start slicing the cake so that it could be served.

“Molly thanks for such an amazing cake but next year we’ll have to keep my candles off. I think fifty three is the point where it stops being a cake and turns into a towering inferno.” He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. He looked over at the twins who were whispering to James’ son Oscar, no doubt planning some trick involving the goodies they had been given by George. The three of them broke into peals of laughter and Teddy made a mental note to keep his wand safe and his drink even safer.

“There’s the Birthday Daddy!” Keith was punching him on the shoulder genially, gripping his wife’s hand tightly.

“Hello Keith, Victoire how are you?”

“Oh fine, fine.” Victoire kissed him and where years before his cheek would have tingled now he felt nothing more than brotherly affection. She passed him three beautifully wrapped gifts.

“Thanks.”

“The pink one is for Caitlin.”

“Oh and I was hoping that one was for me.” He flashed her a wide grin.

“You don’t change do you?”

“Who me? Never grow up, never get old, that’s what I say.”

The three of them laughed easily and Keith started telling a story about a muggle whose memory he’d modified that day after a highly amusing incident involving a puffskein that had somehow been hiding in his handkerchief.

“… and he’s on his back, legs in the air shouting ‘No! Not my brain!’ while…”

Teddy’s attention had been drawn to the garden gate. What looked like a dark cloud had begun to form in the air, despite the mid-afternoon sun shining brightly in the otherwise cloudless sky.

*****

“…There's no need for living in the past
Now I've found good loving gonna make it last
I tell the others don't bother me
'Cos when they look at you they don't see what I see
No I don't listen to their wasted lines
Got my eyes wide open and I see the signs
But they don't know about us
And they've never heard of love…”

Remus watched the flame haired woman singing while he leaned against the bar. The drink in his hand didn’t taste as good as anything he might have been served in the Three Broomsticks but it wasn’t too bad. He looked at his watch. She was late but that wasn’t unusual. The song ended and there was a cheer from the crowd. He rather liked the singer, she seemed nervous but her voice was amazing.

“So that’s what you look like!”

She was chatting to the crowd and she proved to be witty and acerbic in a charming kind of way. The band played the opening cords of the next song and another cheer went up. The singer seemed to relax into the new song and Remus wondered if she liked it more than the first. He turned to the barman, this time asking for lemonade. He wanted to keep his wits about him. He felt slender arms creep around his waist.

“I must warn you that if you are going to pick my pocket, you may find more than you bargained for.”

He heard a feminine chuckle.

“Is that a promise?”

He turned and saw her, lovely long brown hair and her beautiful face.

“I hope you know by now that it most certainly is.”

He kissed her lightly on the lips and his skin tingled where it had met hers.

“Who is this singer?”

“Kirsty MacColl. Isn’t she great?”

“Yes, she has a really unique voice.”

“Come on, let’s dance.”

Remus looked around. No-one else was dancing really; they were either standing by the stage or sitting at the tables. Before Remus could comment on this, she had pulled him into a clear bit of space and had started to waltz which didn’t exactly fit the music. Remus gave a hoarse laugh. This was why he loved her, she was totally unexpected.

On the way home, she chatted about the singer and a new band that she wanted to see the following weekend, the new exhibition at the V&A, the man on the tube who had been staring at her shoes in a rather disconcerting way and how she was thinking of applying for a job with a rival firm because it had a better reputation than her own. Remus listened to her, commenting where necessary but feeling again and more strongly than last time that he didn’t deserve her, that he was too different, that he was being selfish. He heard footsteps following them and cast a glance over his shoulder. He couldn’t see anything but he felt uneasy.

“I think we should go my way home.”

“What are you talking about your way? It’s only just up -”

He silenced her with a kiss, whispering “My way home. The quick way.” He raised his eyebrows as she still looked puzzled, willing her to understand.

“Right, ok then.”

He saw an alleyway up ahead and gripping her hand tightly, he lengthened his stride. The footsteps behind them increased in pace too. As they turned into it a voice came out of the darkness.

“Dirty wolf, messing with a muggle!” She gave a small cry and crumpled into him. Having no other option, holding her up, he turned on the spot as quickly as he could and they disappeared. He took her to back to Lupin Cottage and settled her on the sofa. She was breathing, apparently just stunned. He looked down at her and waves of guilt crashed over him. She had been attacked because of him. She was a muggle, completely defenceless against wizards. A woman as beautiful as she was should have a real man, not a monster who brought trouble to her door. She should have someone who could protect her and he clearly couldn’t do that.

*****

The black cloud swirled closer and Teddy knew what it was.

“HERMIA! GET THE KIDS INSIDE!” he bellowed. “EXPECTO PATRONUM!”

His patronus bounded off towards the heart of the cloud, swiftly followed by several others. He saw Harry’s stag charge, horns down, ready to engage with the fiends. He could distinguish a horse, a weasel, a terrier, a fossa, a snow leopard, an eagle, a hyena, an otter and a lynx joining his own jaguar as his family ran towards him, wands aloft, sending their own silver guardians out at the oncoming storm of dementors. There seemed to be at least a fifty of them, trying to claw their way through the patronuses with their pale, skeletal hands. The patronuses shone silver bright against them. The dementors seemed to group together to try and drive through a weak point in the defences and seemed to grow nearer. Teddy turned to see Remus standing transfixed, staring at the fight. Hermia was trying desperately to pull him away but he seemed with unable or unwilling to move.

“REMUS! INSIDE, NOW!” Not even father’s voice seemed to wake Remus from his trance and he still resisted as Hermia pleased with him to move, almost pulling his arm out of the socket.

It seemed that the dementors were gaining ground; they were now in the garden. A lone dementor had broken through and sensing weakness, headed towards the boy. Hermia drew her wand and cast the charm, but only whips of silver leaked out of the tip. No-one noticed the dementor gliding towards them. Remus was still rooted to the ground and Hermia was desperately repeating “Expecto Patronum” still unable to produce a shield patronus. With the dementor only feet away from them she stepped in front of Remus and took a deep breath.

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!”

The silver light erupted from the tip of her wand, taking the form of a huge bear. The bear charged at the dementor, driving it back towards the group of wizards who were fighting its fellows.


“Remus, go inside, please.” The gentleness of her voice finally seemed to wake him and he turned and ran into the kitchen.

“WATCH OUT! MIND YOUR BACKS!” Hermia followed her bear as it continued to swipe at the dementor. It rose into the air, fleeing in the face of the relentless attack.

Some of those who had run into to take care of the children now came to join the fight. The force of so many patronuses was too much for the dementors and they scattered, the black cloud that they had formed swirling away like dirty water down a drain. The sky was soon clear and cloud free once more. Most of the patronuses vanished but Teddy’s prowled back towards him, almost as though it was expecting a reward. He nodded subconsciously but his attention was on Lilly, who had sunk to the ground in shock. It was the first time that she had used the charm defensively. He helped her to her feet as Cosmo ran out of the kitchen shouting;

“Chocolate for everyone! Nanna Molly said so!” He gave Lilly a big chunk and then made sure that everyone had a piece, making frequent dashes back to the kitchen for more supplies. Teddy walked over to Harry. Keith joined them.

“Well sir, what do you make of that?” Keith asked, sounding drained. Teddy looked at his hand and saw that his chocolate was untouched. He gave his friend a stern look and Keith popped the chocolate into his mouth, grimacing.

“Well, I’m not sure what to make of it Moore, but don’t go repeating that.” Kingsley too gave Keith a stern look.

“Me neither, but I think we need to put some feelers out.” Harry looked at Teddy “Up to a mission?”

“Me? Always.” Teddy wanted to know who had tried to attack his family and why. He would find them and make sure they never did it again.



Those who have read the Remus drabbles will know who his muggle girlfriend is. The singer they went to see is the late, great Kirtsy MacColl.

I felt guilty after mentioning princess of *hp*'s story and not any of the other stuff that I love on SS. SO check these out too:
Sub Rosa by MalfoyzBeloved
Fred and George go to Hogwarts by fawks_4ever
100 Drabbles for the Everchanging Teddy Lupin by Zoerawrr
Aftermath by BreBear
The Arguement: 100 drabbles of Katie M. & Legend C. by D.A.Forever
Of Hormones and Frizzy Hair by Ozma
What's in a Name? by Meh Reh
Abberation and Adversity by Antwone Thomas
It's Time by Nat Nat
Bonafide Rise of Bones by Thomsina Riddle
Echos by firejen
Paws: Ninety-nine Plus One for Crookshanks by SenoritaMaxie
and everything by Paintbrush, Mustang Sally, Miss Lissy Lou and Ottery St. Catchpole