mr. lupin

Family Bonds and Brewing

No surname, Draco noticed but did not comment. That was interesting, if not exactly unprecedented – although the fact that the truncated introduction was accompanied by an offered hand added an uncommon layer. So this “Edward” wouldn’t give his full name, but he was willing to shake Draco’s hand – not something he had in common with all of St. Mungo’s staff, and Draco had learned a long time ago to stop offering his hand unprompted if he could avoid it. Proper manners might have dictated otherwise but there were many who considered it far more rude to be pressured to take a Malfoy’s hand than to skip over the requisite social ritual (usually those wix whose upbringing lacked the awareness of the historical roots of said ritual, e.g. a demonstration that said hand was empty of wands or other weapons, not that Draco was prejudiced against such wix any more of course). Draco always found that slightly amusing, since the people who were most adamant about not shaking his hand were almost always also those who seemed most convinced that he couldn’t be trusted not to cast a Curse at the earliest opportunity. One might have thought that they would want to be assured that his wand wasn’t in hand, but ignorance would have its way…

So, was Edward a Muggle-born who was avoiding giving his surname for fear that Draco would somehow recognize his blood-status and react unpleasantly – as though he kept a list of all known Muggle-borns in Britain memorized!? Even when he’d been a passionate advocate of blood-supremacy, he hadn’t done that. It had been, what, nearly a week before he’d realized that Granger wasn’t some crass know-it-all half-blood? That was one possibility, although Edward could just as easily be a half-blood or even a pure-blood from a family whose surname Draco would recognize; a family that had fought on the other side of the war, perhaps…or one from his side that had spent the last twenty years simmering with anger over the Malfoys’ betrayal of the Dark Lord? Draco could detect nothing but sincerity in Edward’s tone – honored, indeed – but that didn’t mean it was genuine. He told himself it didn’t matter; told himself that whatever Edward’s personal feelings were, they were irrelevant right now.

Draco had had a long time to get used to ignoring the way people felt about him personally – and there was brewing to be done. Still, he eyed the younger wizard sideways as he turned his attention back to the worktable in front of him. Learn from the best, he said. Was it sarcasm or sycophancy? It didn’t matter, he repeated again silently, mental voice firm. They had work to do.

“It’s not a Curse-breaking potion,” Draco said, tone a little harsh. It was just semantics, yes – but sometimes semantics mattered, and this boy was a Healer. He ought to have more respect for the fine details. “There’s no such thing. You can’t break a Curse with a potion, only with another spell. The potion is to undo the effects of the Curse – which is well past the point of being able to be broken, anyway; it’s already done its damage. Now we work to mitigate the results.” It wasn’t his mother he felt that he was echoing now, but his own late and lamented potions instructor: one Severus Snape. Well, Edward had claimed he wanted to learn from “the best” after all…so whose footsteps to better walk in?

“You need to be aware of those differences,” Draco continued as he lifted the bat wing and gave it a careful visual inspection. “Otherwise you risk doing more than confusing your patients or your co-workers; you’re apt to confuse yourself about what’s possible and what isn’t, and that can lead to disaster. Now,” he thrust the bat wing at Edward, “scrape some skin-shavings from that into this dish and be careful not to cut deep enough that you nick the veins. The wing isn’t fresh so you aren’t going to have any spurts of blood, but even some dried flakes will weaken the final draught.” After watching a few seconds to make sure that Edward was following the instructions he added, “When you do this on your own in future, you’ll want to make sure that you’re using a pearl-inlaid vessel to catch the scrapings. Anything else risks contaminating them too early – and it must be real pearl, none of that cheap Muggle imitation stuff, and no Transfigured products either. The magical influence of a Transfigured item can unbalance a delicate spell.” Edward ought to have known that much already, of course – but one could never be sure what level of potioneering instruction these junior Healers had received, nor how much they’d retained. Better to be overly-detailed now than risk disaster later through undetected ignorance.

“Chop the dandelion root next,” Draco instructed, stepping to his own task: reclaiming his wand from the table, he ignited the fire under the cauldron before sheathing it again and lifting a sieve so he could strain the mashed slug as he poured it in to the slowly-heating vessel. “Equal-sized pieces of one no more than centimetre thickness. Use the bronze knife.” He didn’t mention that the root’s hairs needed to be shaved before it was chopped; that was standard procedure too, and he needed to see if Edward knew that much for himself. If not, Draco was ready to step-in and correct him before he could do anything irreparable – besides, dandelion root was a common ingredient; if they had to discard this one before Edward bungled something, starting with a fresh piece would cost them almost nothing – but he needed to know what level of skill he was looking at. If Edward wasn’t up to the task of brewing the curative required, he’d have to let St. Mungo’s know to provide a more competent potioneer instead…or else continue to rely on him and him alone to brew the needed potions. Draco hoped Edward would prove sufficient to the task; while no brew this complex and precise could ever bore him, now that he’d solved the mystery of what balance of brews the patient needed, he’d rather do something new than repeat the same task over and over for the two weeks the woman would need to heal. That sort of tedium was what St. Mungo’s had regular staff for – such as, should he prove up to the task at least, this Edward Someone-Or-Other.

Ｔ. Ｌ.

     “Pardon me.“ Of course you can’t break a curse through a potion, you dumb’o. Teddy facepalmed himself mentally, only trying to seem competent enough so Draco wouldn’t dismiss him immediately. He knew he could do this, and there was no point in being nervous, but even the air in the room felt tighter, or was that just Teddy? The healer hoped no knives or bat wings would fly accross the room by accident, mistakes that could very well materialise should Lupin fall to his inner demons who affirmed him that he couldn’t do it. He straightened his back, carefully listening to Malfoy and trying to take every ounce of information like a sponge. Processing would come later.

     Teddy took the bat wing and held a silver knife firmly in his other hand. Don’t cut the veins, use a pearl-inlaid vessel, got it. He looked down at the little dish-like item in front of him that was conviniently placed in front of him. Was that the right vessel? A suspicious look was thrown towards his instuctor and as Teddy was holding the dry wing he leaned down to inspect the tray. The item had a bold shine, but infusions of pearl didn’t always have to produce a glimmer. It was a bold move to make, but with his decent enough knowledge of the different cauldrons, trays, their materials, and most importantly -- trick questions by teachers -- he judged that this was not, in fact, a pearl-inlaid one. The knife was put to rest on the table while Teddy confidently swapped the vessel for another which he believed was the correct one. Maybe all of this was a test. He wouldn’t expect any less from Malfoy. This entire thing could’ve been accepted as an exam more than an instruction, but Lupin liked challenges. “There.“ The shaving of the bat wing began, the vein clearly visible through the dried skin of the ingredient. When he was done, he put it back in its designated spot where it was originally taken from. He didn’t know if the procedure was done correctly and any of the vein was shaved but he was confident of his vessel of choice, at least.

     The junior healer grabbed the root and the bronze knife, confidently nearing the blade to the root in a position for cutting. He stopped in his tracks, books of potions mastery and the exam list of his NEWTs coming to mind. Merlin, was any preparation for the dandelion root in need before chopping it? Teddy’s hands relaxed before he started cutting anything and inflicting himself the torment and wrath of Draco Malfoy. Cracking his neck, his brain was scrambling through the mountains of notes his aunt Hermione had once lended him for his studies. He remembered anything from the preparation of lizard tails to spider legs, cleaning the ingredients, shaving any scales from the tail before placing it in a heated couldron or removing snail shells before mashing them to a puree. Yet, he couldn’t remember this quite right. He grabbed the bronze knife and allowed his potion’s professor back at hogwarts to remind him once more what needed be done with the root. 

                    ‘And students, please remember! In healing concoctions the root must be shaved of its hairs, otherwise leave it raw. Never shave the root of a herb if used for any other class of potions.’

      Gotcha!, Teddy mentally exclaimed to himself while putting a smug smirk on his face, smoothly turning the knife from a cutting position to a shaving one while maintaining eye contact with Draco’s cold expression. Carefully scraping its hairs before cutting it into said centimeter pieces, Teddy set them aside and readied himself for another set of instructions.

     “I either,” he paused again, abruptly, the profanity almost rolling down his tongue”... messed up the bat wing tray or the cutting. But we’re here to learn, right?“

“Yes, yes. How that case came to light is strange. How are you doing after that anyway? Have you guys figure out how that all came to be? Confusion like that isn’t easy sweetie…” It was a habit of Ginny’s to call give her children pet names. It was something she did since they were all tiny little babes being swaddled, she couldn’t stop it no matter how hard she tired. “Well then let me walk with you to grab that pumpkin juice, I’d hate to keep you from it.” Nodding slowly she motioned for him to follow her as the walked down the streets in the direction of his sought after drink. No matter how old he got Teddy was her child in every way but blood and that wouldn’t change. She always had a house full and she loved every part of it.

“I’ll have to have a chat with them once I get back, make sure they know to take better shots and not to get what some could think of the worst side of people. Though in my opinion I think the whole Prophet staff needs a good refresh.” Ginny huffed with a shake of her head. She wasn’t fond of some people that worked in her building, in fact there were a few people that the Prophet could do without and it would make it far better. “I swear one of these days I’m going to shave both of their heads I love their rats nest of a hair but all the same I could do without it at times.” She chuckled softly. Even though Albus had the dark hair of his father and sweet Lily had her color Ginny was grateful that her two youngest had her tamable hair. It was a blessing in disguise.

“Oh they’re doing well, I would imagine we’ll be getting some letters from them soon talking about their adventures.” Pausing for a moment she shot a playful glare at Teddy and shook her head. “They better not of found any passageways and they better not be getting into any more trouble. I don’t need another owl from Mcgonagall about the terrors they’ve become. Merlin knows that Andy and I got enough concerning you and James. I do not need anymore.” Ginny stated as she pointed a finger at the metamorphmagus. “What I did in my Hogwarts days is none of your concern Mr. Lupin.”

Ｔ. Ｌ.

     As he walked down the street with his godmather ( technically, he’d imagine that he had at least five godparents in the face of Harry, uncle Ron, Hermione, Ginny and headmaster Longbottom, but he didn’t really mind ) for his pumpkin juice, he finally began to understand the confusion that adults experienced when they couldn’t give a concrete answer in their field of expertise. After all, people would expect a competent enough healer would know what this was, yet Mungo’s was as confused as the public was. “Actually, nobody is sure. I asked Hannah Abott what she thought of it and, well, everybody in the hospital is as clueless as the public is. Which is bewildering, I don’t like to be clueless.” If anything, Lupin was known to be curious and always seeking answers to the matters that peaked his interest. This malicious condition didn’t exactly peak his interest, but more grinded his gears. He didn’t like unsolvable mysteries.

     “Oh, I’m sure they have already discovered the hidden corridors or made pranks that headmaster Longbottom covered up to protect the children from the wrath of their beautiful mother.“ Teddy chuckled, a cat-like grin on his face. “I’m joking, please have mercy, aunt Ginny.“ A ringing laughter followed, the first one since the events of Harry Potter day. Teddy finally started to present himself as, well, himself. “Well, we know that in your Hogwarts years you nailed Harry Potter himself. I’m a firm believer that Harry is the lucky one to have a Weasley as their wife, not the other way around. You know my bias towards gingers. I just love my Weasleys.“

A grin spread across Teddy’s face, and then he started to wiggle in his seat with excitement, reminiscent of a puppy. Too bad Terry preferred the company of cats to dogs; and at this very moment preferred the company of anyone else to Teddy. Terry looks him at him from top to bottom, “Gloating isn’t a good look on you, boy.” He says, the corners of his mouth neutralise to the grim serious look he always wears, “Especially, for such a rudimental accomplishment.”

Another sip of whisky trickles down his throat, Terry’s so accustomed to it the liquid goes down like water, without the burn. He observes as Teddy’s hair turns grey when he speaks of his parents, it marks a lack of control over his abilities. Terry filters that information into the back of his head, adding it to his file. “How adorable.” he responded in regard to the photograph, watching as Teddy struggles to keep a smile. Terry is a master at changing the subject, as so he does, “Your beer’s no good warm. Drink up.” 

Ｔ. Ｌ.

     “You just can’t accept defeat, can you?” Teddy bursted in laughter, taking a sip of his disgusting warm beer. “You might consider this acomplishment rudimental, I consider it of great importance! I don’t know what your inner turmoils are but everyone deserves to smile here and there. Even if they have to deal with the annoyance that I am.“ Teddy, despite sometime facing the worst of people, always tried to find the good in people. Sometimes that was done while a cold steel expression was put on his face. Yet, that’s how his brain worked. It could be considered naive or lacking any instinct of survival -- but that’s how Lupin was taught to be. Maybe this characteristic of his would slap him in the face one day, especially as the world became much more reminiscent of what it looked like twenty years ago.

Family Bonds and Brewing

Draco stared at the young man – the child, really – in front of him with ill-disguised annoyance. The boy’s sarcasm and attitude would have been off-putting even in the more pleasant hours of the afternoon; this early in the morning, they grated on Draco’s ears like a Caterwauling Charm. He looked down his nose at the now violet-haired junior Healer with narrow eyes and a furrowed brow.

“You could start with your name,” Draco suggested coolly. “That’s generally an appropriate precursor to any shared endeavor – unless you’d prefer me to simply call you ‘Healer’ during the entire instruction period? I suppose it’s an option, but it seems a bit inefficient…not to mention rude.” He was aware of how much he sounded like his mother just then but he didn’t mind; there were worse people that he could have echoed and Narcissa Malfoy was a paragon of proper manners – something that this boy’s parents had obviously failed to impart in their offspring.

That he hadn’t bothered to introduce himself did not strike Draco as hypocritical in the least; any Healer sent to him for instruction would already know to whom they were reporting, and he had found that while the staff of St. Mungo’s were generally a little more accepting – or at least, more pragmatic – than magical society as a whole when it came to making use of the talents of people like him, there were still plenty of them who got a bit tetchy at having a Malfoy around. He found things generally went better when he didn’t rub their noses in his identity – not that there was anything inconspicuous about who he was, but it wasn’t as though he was trying to hide it. They all knew. There was simply no reason to force them to acknowledge it every time.

✦

     “Yes,-” he almost said ‘fuck’ as well, but controlled himself, unlike how he controlled his hair today., “Uhm,“ he reached a hand out to the man ( who really, needed no introduction, but he was part of the grown up officials now, right? ). It felt weird for Teddy to introduce himself as, well, Teddy, so he did a thing he hadn’t done in years. Literally a decade, probably. “I’m Edward. Very honored to have you as my... instructor?” Damn, it still felt weird in his mouth. Edward. What the fuck Teddy? He shook off his inner voice and guessed the word ‘instructor’’ was the most accurate for what was about to go down in this room. Teddy felt like he was in his sixth year again, being helped by his Ravenclaw friends to pass a measly Potions standartized test. He truly understood how intricate the art of crafting potions was, more than ever in the hospital. Malfoy wasn’t kidding when he said one wrong move and one can obtain a poisonious vial of death rather than a rejuvenating essence of life. And that made Teddy fucking terrified.

     Teddy glimpsed the table and scanned the various ingredients. A whole bat wing, uncrushed; mashed horned slug; some kind of green and yellow dust presented in a small vial and swirled around so they could intertwine gracefully into each other; dandelion root; a vial of mud-tinted, glowing liquid; eyeball of some sort, perhaps a lizard’s; peppermint; a tray of ash and of course, a wand. The most important utensil for potion making. The junior healer sighed at what was to follow. The ingredients, on their own, were used in popular and widely-spread potions. Hell, the countless times in which horned slugs were tossed around the dungeons of Hogwarts were uncountable in Teddy’s brain. But in conjuction with each other, the young adult wasn’t sure how exactly they’d pull this off. That’s why he had Malfoy, right? His dear cousin, who instilled a colder exterior than Teddy had imagined. He expected from the popular adult before him a certain tone of arrogance, terror-like insults and whims at every word. It was with carefuly blunt and authoritive tongue that Draco spoke with, however, and that wasn’t to Lupin’s expectations, for better or worse.

     “I guess now we can begin.“ Teddy grinned widely, even if his thoughts were so malicious ( as far as Teddy could even be of mal-intent, which was near impossible ) towards the man. Let’s just say that the boy didn’t very much like him. It had nothing to do with his past, more with the fact that he had to torture him with potions at nine in the morning. Nine o’seven, to be exact. “I’ve never seen such an intricate recipe before. I’ve rarely brewed Cursebreaking potions anyway, only watched. I’d be more than happy to learn from the best.“ He jumped in his spot and genuinely presented excitement. Despite his feelings towards the man, he still couldn’t help but extrude his warm personality to him. There was no reason to be a dick unprovoked and learning new stuff was Lupin’s new hobby.

✷

Harry was worried sick for Teddy. That was nothing new, obviously – Harry Potter losing it over his children doing anything remotely challenging? Go figure. But this, this was huge. He hadn’t been too sure when the boy first went into training to become a healer, it seemed like such a shot in the dark, and dramatically different from the Auror training he’d been in before this. Healing was difficult, dangerous, it was so much responsibility. Perhaps some of that fear came from being bad at healing magic himself, Harry could admit to that.

He could see, now, how Teddy seemed to thrive in this area, how it seemed like he was completely at home taking care of others. Today, Harry was more worried about the reporters, if anything. Boy, did he know how it was, dealing with all the attention after something like this, feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders, worrying someone might twist your words against you. When he saw his godson charging at him, he was relieved.

He was going to ask if the boy was fine, to be fair, so it was good that he got that out of the way. The mention of “his day” that came soon after had him scoffing a little. Hardly anything he cared too much about, if “his day” got ruined or not. “No, we’re still looking. Don’t worry, we’re gonna figure it out, okay?” He was quick to pull Teddy in for a hug himself, squeezing the kid in hopes to offer some comfort. He was a forty-year-old man who’d been robbed of his own childishness too young, he didn’t give a single damn about being accused of not acting his age when it came to comforting his family. Besides, there was hardly anything immature about needing a hug, and he could see one was needed today. “Catch your breath, kid. Are you okay? What do you need?”

✦

     Teddy’s instincts told him there was something bad in this situation. Something in his skin tingled and his stomach turned when he remembered the blue face of the wizard. Not like he hadn’t seen tragically ill people for the past three years - but this was something else. No one would take his word for it since his field of expertise didn’t even dare match his superiors’ experience, but the way the Ministry dodged the question, the heavy mix of symptoms and the singled out cases was Teddy’s main concern. He didn’t really know what the Aurors could do much on their part except calm the panic. They were more of the security body in this istuation. It was the healers’ job to do the evaluating and identifying the source, and frankly, his colleagues were as clueless as the public.

     Nevertheless, Teddy sunk into Harry’s hug as if he found home in the man’s hands. Teddy was a physical person. He liked to hug and show people that his intents are not ill, that he meant no harm. Body language was his thing, but these past few months he’d been straying away from his true personality. Call it stress or simply his nightmares becoming a literal reality with his often uncontrollable morphs. When his godafther asked him if he was alright, he couldn’t help but feel like a whining peace of ass. ‘Teddy Lupin, always so demanding of attention. Grow up, you nerd. Your godfther here went through so much at your age and you whine ‘bout some stupid sleeping setbacks. Maybe people are right. Maybe you really are childish and immature.’

     “I’m fine, I just... wondered if you wanna get out of here and talk.“ He shook his head. Teddy’s hands waved around and then his fingers squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Thought you’re probably busy. You have a family to see and Aurors to lead, I’m sorry.“ For whatever reason, Lupin felt like he ws nagging for no reson, yet the only two people who could help him were Victoire and Harry. He didn’t want to let Vic know he was having his sleeping issues again, neither did he want to bother the Head Auror.

     “See, no, I just, overthought everything tonight.“ He exploded, out of nowhere, like a bomb with a ticking mechanism. Teddy’s hands begun motioning in the air, switching between ruffling his messy curly hair and wiping his forehead of Butterbear sweat ( or at least he assumed that’s what it was ). “This day celebrates the victory against the Noseless Banshee, right?“ he took a pause, taking a big breaht. Boy, this was gonna be along one. “And... you know, that’s nothing new, but it occured to me today... You guys, you know, you, aunt Hermione, unlce Ron, all the others... you fucking fought him. You were god damn deprived of so many things. I-... I whimper at a weird healing case and you faced the Dark Lord. Like, I’ve been nothing but cared fore my entire life by so many people and I’m still so filled with immaturity and stupidity and-“ he stopped. This entire monologue had struck him like a thunder. Maybe it was Broody Man’s subtle remarks of how childish Lupin was, maybe it was his inner self telling him he had to grow up faster. 

     “With all this, I tried to say that I’ve been getting the morphing attacks again. And I’m worried. I need to toughen up, i guess.“

Having been an Auror for almost a decade, she was a strict teacher. Just like the ones who trained her. It required so much of a person, it had to be someone who posessed the qualities. Someone who could take a life if required to. Some say the Auror profession as a path to glory, a way to look good. Some like herself saw it as a call, to protect the public. Some didn’t know why they wanted it. Edward Lupin was a good man, he posessed many good qualities. Sadly, Violet and some others didn’t know if he would make a good Auror. He might be suited for a gentler profession. Perhaps he thought her unfair, but she held all of them to the same standard.

As she saw the name on the list in front of her, she didn’t know if this would go well. Violet knew many found her intimidating. It was never her intention to scare anyone, she just knew she couldn’t send someone who was soft out into the field. Violet couldn’t live with herself if someone fresh got taken out on their first day.

Looking at the one in front of her, Violet felt uneasy. It wasn’t easy knowing she had to fail him, but then again it would perhaps let him live longer. “Hello Mr Lupin,” Violet said as a way to break the silence.

     As Teddy heard Burke’s voice echo in the room, his blood ran even colder. Just the simple ‘Hello’ sent shivers down his spine. “Mmm, hello, I guess.” He grasped his wand even tigther, knowing full well this was about to be a disaster. It was the first maor exam in his training programme which made the big cut when it came down to its candidates. The programme itself took three years to finish with exams of importance in the summer of each year. Was he going to be part of the big clearance and good ridding? He hoped not ( thought deep inside, he knew this was not his place and that instinctively, he flinched from the professions that the Aurors practiced ). It was all or nothing and Harry better be proud of him for doing this. ( So that’s it, Lupin, huh? You want to make somebody proud? Why don’t you make yourself proud for once, brave boy? )

     He readied his stance, knowing what the modules of the exam were. Basically, he had to try and save his skin from Burke, which was not gentle, even if she was training entry-level Aurors. Were, not technically Aurors, but trainees, more like. “Is there some speech that’s gonna happen or, you know... we start the death chase right away?” Teddy inquired with uncertainty. He was probably going to have to lay in bed for a week after this little encounter.

Viktor had to resist the urge to throw the boy an odd look as shoved the popsicle back into his pocket. The cleaning charm was very useful, certainly, but why not avoid having to use it in the first place? He simply did not understand children these days. Something that was once again proved as Lupin went on about all the wonderful flavours one could come across and Viktor was left blinking at him. “That sounds nice?” He himself wasn’t too excited by the idea of tasting ear wax or bee fart, or any of the aforementioned options, really, but all the more power to wix who found it fun.

His eyebrows rose as Lupin addressed him so casually. What could he say to that, really? “Right. My apologies.” Next was the barrage of questions which all came so quickly one after the other that he nearly got a whiplash. He hurried to clarify, “No, no, I feel fine, thank you. No need for a pain-relief spell.” While his muscles were still a bit sore, it was nothing he couldn’t handle and he didn’t want to ruin the festivities by bothering Lupin while he was off-duty. However, since he’d been saying no to every offer Lupin had made so far, Viktor felt a bit guilty refusing a drink as well so he swallowed down his initial response and instead said, “If you’re sure. I don’t want to interrupt if you may have any other plans.”

And because the only thing worse than small talk was an awkward silence, he tried to come up with something else to say. “Is Harry around by any chance? I haven’t seen him even though the holiday carries his name.“

     Teddy was glad that the treatments of Viktor were having good effects on his case. It was often that the man came into the hospital with symptoms of his past trauma that seemed like was neglected. While Teddy was concerned about the former Quidditch Player, policies of St. Mungo strictly instructed healers not to interfere with the patient’s choice of lifestyle. When did Teddy follow the rules, though? The countless times he’d tried to cheat his way through his Auror training or his OWLs even, it wasn’t until his sixth year when he actually started reading tomes of books. What a great discovery, that was. And what a relief it was that he was able to qualify for a Healer. It was truly his dream job.

     Teddy furrowed his brows and took out a napkin to clear the mess in his pocket caused by the candy. “No, I haven’t.” Which was weird. He’d suspect Harry would show somewhere since he would have the chance to see his kids. “He’s probably lurking somewhere, I doubt he’d miss on a chance to see Albus and James.” Teddy smiled at the mention of the Potter children. It was with joy that he talked for them, the little ones having a big part in his childhood. “Do you need him for anything special?”

Closed starter for @vicweazley​ Location: Teddy’s flat Time: Late at night, 03 of November, 2020

     Teddy was very excited for tonight. He hadn’t seen Victoire properly in days and given the chaos spreaded just three days ago on one of the most festive days of the year and generally their day-to-day life, a warm and hearthy dinner was never unwelcomed. He spent the entire afternoon marinating and gently roasting an entire chicken with sweet potatoes and a myriad of vegetables. He also prepared a red velvet cake with strawberries which he knew Victoire liked. It was one of his specialties. The salad he tossed together was a bit wack in his eyes, but he knew the woman of his dreams would appreciate it despite its simplicity. It was just some spinach with tomatoes and cheese, nothing more.

     Lupin put on his best jacket paired with a swirly shirt of red and blue underneath, he even put on his official pants and shoes, and much to Ginny’s advice fixed his hair all fancy and bussiness-like all while rocking his favorite turqouise color. He clicked his fingers and winked at himself in the mirror, being the cheesy young adult that he was. Tonight was about them, not the problematic world surrounding them.

     When the door rang, he jumped in place, checked his breath and grabbed the three white roses prepared for Victoire on the table. He opened the door and her sheer beauty made his jaw drop. Around her, Teddy was rarely wordless but there were moments in their relatively young and flourishing relationship that still made his brain think ‘What the fuck did I do to deserve this girl?’. Their relationship was something he cherished very much and a night like this was his way of showing his girl that he was thankful that she was always there for him, no matter what.

     “You’re stunning, as always,“ he smiled at her wholeheartedly and kissed her on the lips, gently. “Here,“ Teddy gave her the roses and invited her inside. “The salad is a bit simple, but I think you’ll like the rest.“

Teddy Lupin. Of course it would be one of her own children that Ginny would run full force into. Ever since her relationship with Harry had restarted she saw Teddy as her own child, to her Teddy was her eldest child and her eldest son. There was nothing in the world that would change that. She could feel her lips curling into a bigger smile as she watched him and finished collecting all of her things she felt terrible for running into him and sending him crashing to the ground. She knew that he wasn’t completely alright no matter what he said, it was the mother in her that could see right through the small lie. Shaking her head she made she reached out and made sure that he was steady. 

“Oh yes forgive me the mighty Teddy can handle anything that comes his way.” She teased as she started at him. When he finally admitted that he wasn’t completely alright she let out a small laugh and shook her head. “Hmm I didn’t think so but yes it is a good thing that you’re a healer.” Taking in a deep breath she moved closer to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulders and gave him a half-hug. “Speaking of healing how is our favorite healer doing anyway? I feel like it’s been a while since we’ve last had a chat.” She mused softly as she gave him a motherly kiss to the side of his head. 

“Well considering that I work with the sports section and nothing else I think that would be reason enough, but please you looked as handsome as you always do.” Ginny chuckled as she moved to brush his hair back.”But honestly I didn’t even know you were going to be there until it was fully printed and set to go out, but next time I will give you full warning.” she nodded slowly. “Although you’re not wrong, you should fix your hair in general. Though if we can’t get Harry or James to tame their hair then why should we force you to do so, hmm?“

     “Except the horror-induced and mysteriously sudden Dragon Pox case we got,“ which Teddy was still very sceptical about, “and the common drunken jinx treatment we have to deal with, your favorite healer is fine. I got off my shift thirty minutes ago and wanted to grab a pumpkin juice but I saw you and, well, thought I’d come by.“ He paused for a moment and reminisced about all the days throughout his childhood that he spent in the Potter household. The ringing laughter of James, Albus and Lily, the many Christmases spent there together with his grandmother Andromeda, the comfort and warmth of the fireplace which Ginny kindled while their family was preparing for festivities. Teddy Lupin was a lucky kid. He had so many people caring about him when those very people had no one at his age.

     Teddy blushed at the compliment which he didn’t fish for... but very much welcomed. “Listen, the Prophet’s photo people are really nagging, aren’t they? They shoot their shot without a warning and then print out an image where one pricked their nose or blinked. Honestly, it’s funny but when one is on the receiving end, it’s quite frustrating.“ He grinned, thinking about the untamed wilderness that was James’ hair. “Well, old man Harry doesn’t really have anything to tame and James, well, that’s an entire undiscovered forest yet to be explored, so I guess my hair is the least of the world’s concerns, yes.“

     “Speaking of the children, how are they holding up? Is Hogwarts treating them well? Did they find all the secret passageways? I can show James and Albus some pretty great tricks of the castle, I reckon they are in the pranking age now. The secret entrances which I’m sure you are totally oblivious about.“ Teddy laughed, knowing Ginny was as knowledgable of the castle’s secrets as much as he was. Hell, she was probably even more proficient in them.

                                        BREAKING NEWS!

                DRAGON POX IN HOGSMEADE! IS THERE A NEW OUTBREAK APPROACHING?

Harry Potter Day is widely known to be a day full of festivites all over Britain and Scotland. But today’s festivities will forever remain in the records of history as a celebration gone wrong. As the fireworks were coming to an end and the last few glasses of Butterbear were filled to the brim, numerous civillians reported hearing screams of panic and horror as a nearly dead wizard was found on the very streets of the popular Hogsmeade village.

Many reporters of the Prophet tried to get in contact with prominent figures of the wizarding society, but Aurors and Healers alike were actively working to isolate the populated and crowded area so that an eventual disaster could be avoided. As the trustworthy source of information for everything magical, The Daily Prophet was able to interview first responder Aurors, Healers, Nurses and Hogsmeade Workers for the events that occured during the dreadful anniversary of the Dark Lord’s defeat. More on that, p.14.

p.14, as reported by: Phinneas Smudgley

... and after this compelling interview, we present you with a Healer who was present on the case of our now popular victim. Edward Lupin, known by his peers and friends as Teddy, a Junior Healer at St. Mungo’s, together with his colleagues healers were able to help the victim and provide the very needed medical care he required. 

- Edward, tell us, what did you see at the scene?

“Uhm, I was having a chat with a...*coughs* friend at The Three Broomsticks when I heard screams and weird... ahem, panicked sounds. I ran outside and saw a man on the floor. Together with some of my colleagues, we quickly ran to the scene and aided with whatever we could. The first-hand external symptoms definitely show signs of Dragon Pox but due to the nature of the disease we couldn’t fully examine the patient without being at the Hospital. He's been taken there now, I wish his family content and warmth. St Mungo’s will do its best to keep him healthy and protected.“

The last outbreak of Dragon Pox occured in 2014 in Moldova, the healers remind our audience, taking severe fatalities mainly amidst their National Quidditch team. In order to prevent this from happening, The Daily Prophet and St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries want to advise citizens to avoid any suspicous wix who appear to have the typical symptoms of the disease. 

     Panic was rising and spreading like wildfire, yet Teddy was able to remain calm. Hannah and the other seniors had taught him well in the hospital. Nerves were never good when somebody’s life was on the line and it was the healer’s job to save it. Holding a heartbeat in your palms, however nervewrecking, was also an art which required exquisite precision and thankfully, the situation was normalised with the help of the other healers who had attended the festivities. Thank Merlin Teddy wasn’t alone in this, he wasn’t sure if he was going to be capable enough to handle it all by himself. However horrible it felt, he took that experience as a humble victory, for stressful cases like these breeded good craftsmen in the medical field.

     His gaze was dazy, journalists from the Prophet and freelance networks were already crawling like ticks on the ground ready to get anything from the event. It was when Teddy’s eyes met his godfather’s pair when his hair finally returned to his vivid turqouise shades. The boy literally charged towards the man and stopped right before him, thinking a hug would be too childish. It was imprinted in Teddy’s brain by numerous people now that he had to act up and present himself as an adult. At eighteen years of age his godfather had defeated the Dark Lod and here Lupin was at twenty-one, giving popsickles and getting drunk with Butterbear.

     “Before you ask, I’m fine. Together with the other healers we stabilized the patient’s condition and they should at least survive. It’s probably not Dragon Pox but we’re still uncertain.“ Teddy’s voice was somber, his eyes staring into the glasses of Harry. “Did the Aurors find anything suspicious? Man, it sucks that this had to happened on... well, your day.“ He tried to crack a smile, but he couldn’t. He wanted to admit that this... thing that had inflicted the poor wix was perhaps one of those few cases which were locked under the mysterious cabinet and ignored by the Ministry. Merlin, he was still angry over that. “I’m asking, because I can’t help but find it suspicious one person out of the crowd got downed by Dragon Pox out of all. If it’s even Dragon Pox, that is. You don’t just get it like that.” He took a breath. “I’m sorry, I’m just-... my brain is all over the place.”

Closed starter for @aurorburke​ Time: Summer 2017 Location: Department of Law Enforcment, Exam Hall

     Teddy was rarely nervous when he attended exams at Hogwarts. It was mostly easy to scribble down the utmost nonsense on a piece of parchment and watch McGonagall lose her bonkers at the trash he’d written. It was still a miracle that he had all required NEWTs to even enter the Auror program, but while most people succeeded and got motivated by these entire fight to win shenanigans, Teddy was utterly failing. His wand hand was sweaty and he could feel the piece of magical wood in his hand slipping from his grasp. All he knew was that his exam was to be conducted by one of the three Aurors that had trained them over the past year. Out of them all, Teddy prayed to the Niffler gods that his deployed official wouldn’t be Burke. It was as if the magical creature gods were listening to him and decided to fuck him over, because why not? One shouldn’t go down easy in life fresh out of school, right?

     The old screechy lady in the courtyard right before the exam hall’s doors slowly announced the hour of his doom. “Edward Remus Lupin. Number twenty-four, Metamorphmagus, Squad B. Please enter for examination. Examinor: Auror Burke.“

     His blood froze. As Teddy entered the hall, he could feel the hawk eyes of Burke watching him from somewhere, as she was not present in the room as of his entrance. It was dead silent in the room, the last sounds made by the girl before him who was excitedly jumping out of happiness because of the success of her exam. Lupin wasn’t sure this was going to be as pretty.

People often mistook small talk for conversation, it seems Teddy Lupin was one of them. To Terry, small talk was simply mannerly and cordial. Conversations were meaningful and often purposeful. When it came to Teddy Lupin, Terry deemed small talk to be fit. He shrugs, “Stranger things have happened.” Terry remarks taking another sip of his Butterbeer. The sweet note of the drink shines through the rest of the flavour more sharply than it did in his youth, leaving a subtle distaste but Terry powered through nevertheless. In this older years, he’d grown accustomed to bitterness, both with people and his choice of beverage. He regrets not ordering a single malt instead. He should know better; nothing can recreate the simplicity of the past, not even Butterbeer.

“Remembering the war.” He repeats under his breath, somewhat in contempt. Still, Terry chose to listen before forming opinions. And a very strong one could have been formed about the youth’s careless attitude towards the sacrifices made and blood spilled to provide this somewhat safe world, just basis that first sentence. Terry waited, he listened silently as Teddy spoke of his godfather, but almost loses his composure at the sound of ‘noseless banshee’. A smile twitches imperceptibly on his lips, “That’s an incredibly creative description of Lord Voldemort.” Much to the kid’s credit, in hindsight, Voldemort was noseless and did scream a lot. Terry had first-hand experience. “Especially, for someone who I assume, has never had to face him.” But when you have been subject to Voldemort’s peril and presence, the last thing it was, was a funny anecdote. 

“You’re a Metamorphmagus. Like your mother.” Terry observes, he’d only known Nymphadora Tonks in passing but had taken note of her unusual ability. Useful ability. “I do have an inclination to less saccharine beverages, yes.” Like the hot coffee you spilled all over me, Terrence thinks, “But you’re quite presumptuous, aren’t you, young Lupin?” He doesn’t expect such a hearty cheers, their glasses clink together with a little more force than he Terry would have liked. “Good heavens.” He exclaims softly. Terry’s beer tips over the sides of the glass, falling to the table. “At least, it’s not boiling hot coffee.“

     Teddy Lupin almost danced in his seat as the corners of Terry’s mouth twitched. His eyes widened at the sight, smile widening to his ears. “I made you smile! Can we write that somewhere, maybe in your very important Ministry special guy office? I can already see it!” Teddy extended two hands, describing the single best description of the other man’s position ( even though the healer still had no idea what the man did with his life other than brood ). “Terry... whatever your second name is. Very important man. I smiled once in my adult life because of TEDDY LUPIN.” He looked back at the man, winking playfully. “I insist on having my name in full caps.”

     “Yes, I’ve never faced him. My parents did, though, as I’m sure you know.“ And just as he spoke these words, his hair turned into a somber gray, his emotions taking control of his magical skills again. He had learned how to control them with the years, but as he mastered that another problem arose. Turning into other people wasn’t the most respectful thing he could do as a metamorphmagus, yet the burning desire to master this as well to be used for the greater picture and good was burning inside of him. “Yes, like my mother.“ A heary smile appeared on his lips. “I’ve seen my parents only in pictures. There’s one where she made a literal duck face. You know, with the beak and all.“ The boy allowed some air to pass through his teeth as he said his joke even while the topic was quite dark. His lips were forming the slightest of smiles, but his body language was showing reserveness.