Work Text:
If something goes wrong, I'm the first to admit it
The first to admit it - but the last one to know
If something goes right, well, it's likely to lose me
It's apt to confuse me
Because it's such an unusual sight, oh
I can't get used to something so right
Something so right
-Annie Lennox
***
Teddy took a breath, pausing in front of the office door of the Head Auror, and closed his eyes. These days it always took a little extra to face the man, even if it wasn’t anything specific that was the problem. Another breath, patting his pocket for his wand since he’d twice now forgotten it after being called into a meeting, he knocked and let himself in.
Harry Potter—Head Auror, godfather, father of his ex boyfriend—was sat in his desk chair holding a piece of parchment in front of him. His glasses were pushed up into his mess of hair, and his eyes were squinting at the writing.
“You know, I’ve heard that wearing your glasses is actually supposed to solve that whole blurry vision problem,” Teddy said with a quirk of his lips.
Harry lowered the parchment. “Is that so, smart arse? Why don’t you have a seat. We need to have a chat.”
Teddy did so, and smiled gratefully at the tea and Jaffa cakes that appeared in front of him with a quiet pop. “Is this one of those, we really ought to be having this talk over Sunday lunch, and not in the office sort of talks. Because Jamie and I…”
“No,” Harry said, his voice a little sharper than usual, and it made Teddy wince a little. “This isn’t about my son. This is about this assignment that was just sent in, and I want you to check it out.”
Teddy reached for the parchment Harry was handing over, and he noticed the article across the top, groaning loudly and flopping back into his seat. “Are you joking?”
Harry stared at him pointedly—if not a little boss-eyed from the whole no glasses thing—and lifted his brows. “Problem, Lupin?”
Teddy grit his jaw. “You want me to go investigate a possible misuse of magic on an animal report? By that Blackthorne woman who keeps calling in false reports?”
Harry smiled sweetly. “That’s exactly what I want, yes.”
Teddy licked his lips, gently setting the parchment on Harry’s desk, and he folded his hands primly. “You do recall last week, right? When she sent in a report claiming her neighbours—her muggle neighbours—were secret wizards who were charming their furniture to walk? We sent in a team, she surprised everyone, and we ended up needing a memory charm on half the damned neighbourhood.”
Harry sat back, shrugging. “I have earnt my time in this chair, Lupin. I’ve taken those crap investigations, and if you want a shiny office of your own, and a nice Head Auror badge to go along with it…”
Teddy curled his hands round his mug, giving his godfather a very serious look. “Are you punishing me because of Jamie?” he blurted, and Harry’s words died on his lips. “Because I know I haven’t talked about it, and I’d be surprised if Jamie whose motto in life revolves round emotional constipation just like the rest of you bloody Potters—but he ditched me, alright? He was the one who packed up his things and left me.”
Harry drew his bottom lip into his mouth, and when he spoke, his voice was quieter than before. “I would never let something like that interfere with work, Teddy.”
Teddy swallowed against the lump forming in his throat, because bloody hell he was still so in love, and he’d spent the last three weeks begging Jamie to just talk it out with him instead of burning their entire relationship to the ground. They’d fought so damned hard to be where they were, and for him to just let it go…
“I know I’m not like, family family but…”
Harry looked startled, almost like he’d been slapped, and he leant across the desk, almost like he was going to reach for Teddy before stopping himself. “Listen to me, okay? Normally I’d leave this for outside work, but nothing is more important to me than you understanding that you are family. There’s no such thing as family family here, okay? The moment your dad walked into my dad’s place and declared he was now a surrogate Potter, that’s what happened. Not to mention I’m your godfather. I was there when you were born. You took your first shit on me…”
“Oh my god,” Teddy groaned.
“I have changed countless nappies, and was there for your first word, and first step, and first day at Hogwarts, and even if I hadn’t been, you’re still family. Whatever went on between you and Jamie…”
“I didn’t want him to go,” Teddy said in a faint whisper, knowing any more talk of this was going to make for a very awkward meeting.
Harry seemed to sense it, because he gave a firm nod, sat back, and bit his lip again. It was so Jamie, too, that look, that gesture, that Teddy felt like he was being stabbed in the heart. “I’m sorry. I figured that’s why you weren’t coming round for tea, and we miss you, but we get it. Though truth be told, Jamie hasn’t been, either.”
Teddy licked his lips and decided the only way to avoid further disaster was to get back to the issue at hand. “So this isn’t a punishment?”
“No,” Harry said, then sighed and ruffled his hair. “Actually I…I haven’t heard from Jamie, and Malfoy mentioned that Scorpius has gone erm…well not missing. I mean, he’s done this before you know. Research and things tends to have him gone often but Draco’s worried. Of course you know how that prat fusses over his child…”
“Like you don’t,” Teddy pointed out, trying not to feel panic over the fact that Harry hadn’t heard from Jamie. The break up was bad, yes, but Jamie never, ever skipped Sunday tea at his grandparents’. He carried on in an attempt to distract himself. “And aren’t you dating now?”
“Doesn’t make him less of a prat. Just goes to show I have shite taste in partners. Well, apart from Gin but that’s another story…”
“We’ve all heard,” Teddy reminded him, knowing how Harry liked to wax poetic about the beautiful, short-lived romance he had with Ginny, and how utterly evolved they were being able to divorce, and have kids, and still be friends…
Teddy thought that Gin quickly jumping into a relationship with Luna, and Harry having already had his sights set on Malfoy had something to do with it, but no one was brave enough to bring it up.
“Anyway, I’m going to stop by Jamie’s and see if he’s around. I need you to check that out by tomorrow, and get back to me.”
With a heavy sigh, Teddy finally grabbed a Jaffa cake, bit into it, and savoured the jelly on his tongue. “So,” he said thickly through the crumbs, “can I arrest her for false reports if this turns out to be rubbish—which it will.”
Harry gave him an unimpressed look. “So long as she has reasonable cause, it’s not a drain on our resources.”
“Sounds like someone’s up your arse about pandering to this woman,” Teddy pointed out.
Harry dragged a hand down his face, knocking his glasses from his hair, onto the floor. He didn’t bother picking them up. “I really don’t want to talk about this mess. But if you hear your aunt bitching about a strongly worded letter…”
“You’re willing to court Hermione’s wrath. Brave,” Teddy said dryly.
Harry waved him off. “Anyway, I’m going to go round to Jamie’s. Your dad said maybe he and Scorpius were shacking up now anyway, which I suppose is a possibility, and I could ask Al about it since he and Scorp are always attached at the hip…”
Teddy had all-but stopped listening at ‘maybe Jamie and Scorpius were dating.’ There was a faint ringing in his ears, and he was only vaguely aware of himself saying, “Why don’t I stop by Al’s and ask, so you don’t have to make two stops.”
Harry gave Teddy a look that told him he knew exactly why Teddy wanted to go. Teddy had inherited Remus’ absolute and utter lack of Chill, and the absolute disaster at everything he’d inherited from Tonks hadn’t helped matters either. But Teddy was absolutely unapologetic.
If Jamie had ditched him to shack up with that little blonde brat, Malfoy well…
“Alright,” Harry said, shrugging. “Just pop in the floo if you hear anything. Chances are, Jamie’s just sulking and he’ll get over it soon enough. But I’m worried. I’m always worried. About all of you. Only difference is I get to see you every day and make sure with my own two eyes.”
It was said with such love, so fond, Teddy’s panic stopped and he couldn’t help but grin at his godfather. “Gross. You’re sappy and gross in your old age. I have to leave right now.” He stood up and stuffed his pockets full of the biscuits before heading for the door.
“Have a nice night, don’t forget your wand,” Harry called after him.
“Piss off old man, it was two times! Two!” He slammed the door for good measure, and headed back to his desk to try—and inevitably fail—to think about his assignment rather than whether or not his ex-boyfriend had moved on to Malfoy.
***
All Teddy really wanted was to go home and have a lie down. Maybe a glass of firewhiskey first, and maybe something on the telly since Remus had got him addicted to old re-runs of Star Trek, but he was also a professional and he might as well stay late and give his all to his job. After all, that’s why Jamie left. That’s why it had all crashed and burned and Teddy couldn’t be sure if there was any coming back from this.
Teddy remembered putting up a fight when Jamie first showed interest in him. They’d grown up together—were kids together, like family, and Teddy was too afraid to lose that. Jamie had been too important to him.
But Teddy was already falling in love, and that was the problem, and knowing Jamie felt the same well…it was impossible to ignore after that.
They’d promised each other things wouldn’t change, that it would be alright. And Teddy was angry—rightfully so—about Jamie’s frustration. Jamie knew what Teddy did for a living. Jamie had grown up with his Auror father, he knew what the job entailed. And Teddy had worked hard for this. He wasn’t giving it up, and he missed Jamie like someone had carved out an organ, but he wasn’t willing to compromise his career.
So with bitterness in the back of his throat, he slipped Harry’s borrowed cloak on, took out his wand, and slipped into the building Mrs Blackthorne had claimed something was going on.
The moment Teddy stepped inside, his hackles raised. The truth of it was, this time it felt different. Wards, he realised—the sort that repelled both muggle and wizard alike. Luckily Teddy was trained to push past them, but it still gave him a bit of resistance, and he reckoned if it weren’t for the cloak, he probably would have been identified by now.
There was also something familiar about the magic—like a familiar scent in a way, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. It was making him uneasy, though, a sort of squirming sensation in his belly that made him want to leave the place and not look back. But he was good at his job, and whatever this was, he would put a stop to it—problem solved.
Navigating the empty rooms, Teddy found nothing until he came to the far wall. It took him a moment to see the glamour—a sort of shimmering sensation over a wall sconce. He reached out with his hand still under the cloak and gave it a turn. The wall began to move, but Teddy stopped it with his hand, and let it shift only large enough for him to put his head through.
The room beyond was dark, though there was a bit of light, and Teddy pushed the wall back further, just enough to slip through, and then he started down the dark corridor. It curved slightly at the end, and the place had clearly been magicked because the area round the building was in the muggle section of Islington, a bit dodgy but otherwise no reports had been made until now.
Teddy breathed out carefully, controlling the pace so he didn’t make a sound, and he came to a stop right as the narrow corridor opened up to a full room.
In the centre was a unicorn—young by the look—still hadn’t completely lost its gold sheen, though it was mostly silver, and it had a nearly fully grown horn. It was lying on its side, and beyond it, a cloaked figure was waving a wand, casting a bit of magic from a tattered, ancient book on the floor that Teddy didn’t recognise.
That wasn’t entirely the problem though. Because the book and magic were strange, but not the person casting it.
“Jamie.” The name fell from his lips before he could think about it, and he lost his grip on the cloak. He watched as Jamie’s eyes widened. Teddy held out his wand, hand shaking only slightly. “Jamie,” he said again.
Jamie rose slowly, hands up in surrender, his wand having clattered to his feet. “Teds…”
“Don’t,” Teddy said automatically. The pain of his nickname falling from Jamie’s mouth was almost too much. He flicked his wand, casting a wordless expellairmus, and caught Jamie’s wand in his empty fist. “You need to tell me what the hell is going on. I know for a fact that isn’t Ministry approved magic. What even is that book?”
Jamie’s eyes flickered down to the book at his feet, then back up to Teddy’s face. He took on a steely look of determination reminiscent of his gran—and in that moment he really did look like Lily. His dark olive cheeks were even darker with a blush, which only made his light smattering of freckles stand out more. His hair was a mess—black as pitch and all over just like his grandfather, just like his father.
Teddy missed him so much it hurt. And he was so, so confused. “Jamie, you need to talk to me right now.” His wand hand steadied.
Jamie licked his lips, then took a step forward until Teddy lifted his wand higher as a threat. His hands raised again. “I promise it’s not what it looks like.”
“It looks like you’re casting illegal magic on a sodding unicorn,” Teddy hissed.
Jamie rolled his eyes. “Yes, thank you Captain Obvious. But it’s not entirely…” He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. “There’s more to it than it seems. I just…I can’t tell you.”
Teddy sneered at him. “Why’s that, then?”
“Because you’re here to arrest me, because Captain Auror always does his job, even at the expense of people he loves…” Jamie started, his tone taking on the bitter anger of their last row. Right before Jamie walked out.
“Don’t give me that. I got a report of a wizard performing illegal magic on an animal. It’s a bloody good thing she didn’t see it was a fucking unicorn, Jamie! Or there’d be a sodding team with me, and you’d already be unconscious, Potter’s kid or not.”
Jamie’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, we’re going there, are we?”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Teddy all-but shouted. “You’re going to tell me what the bloody, sodding, shitting hell you’re doing with that book and that unicorn, and then we’re going to…to…” But he wasn’t entirely sure what he was going to do, because he never, in his entire life, thought he’d be facing off with Jamie Sirius Potter and illegal magic. At least, not this serious.
Jamie clenched his jaw, then turned to look at the unicorn who appeared to be watching with vague, lazy interest. It didn’t seem hurt, which was in Jamie’s favour, but the entire situation did not look good. Something like this was an automatic Azkaban sentence—even if Teddy wanted to spare him, he couldn’t.
“I can’t tell you,” Jamie said.
“Then I’ll have to arrest you,” Teddy said.
Jamie rolled his eyes up to stare at the ceiling. “Of course you will.”
“I don’t want to. Bloody hell, Jamie, this is the last thing I expected, and sure as hell is the last thing I want.”
“But you won’t trust me,” Jamie pointed out.
“You won’t tell me,” Teddy shouted again. “I can’t trust you with information I don’t have.”
Jamie sighed, which came out like a hiss between clenched teeth. “This whole thing with the book…it’s just better if you charge me with that, alright? Just…just take me in, I’ll take the sentence, and it’ll be…” He stopped, then shrugged helplessly. “Fine.”
“You’d rather do six months in prison than tell me what you’re up to,” Teddy said, at the very end of his patience.
“Not that you’d even try to understand,” Jamie cut in, “but I don’t really have a choice.”
“Fine,” Teddy said, and raised his wand again, preparing bonds for Jamie. He took a step back. “I’ll call in a team for the unicorn and then we’ll…”
“Wait,” Jamie interrupted. “No wait just…just let him go. It’s fine.”
Teddy scoffed. “Let a fully grown unicorn go in Islington. Merlin’s left bollock, Jamie, have you seriously lost your head? I mean, I don’t even know how you got the damned thing here but…”
Jamie then proceeded to show him, because he knelt down, put his hand on the Unicorn, and with a loud crack, disappeared.
***
It took Teddy at least a full minute to get over his shock, by which time Jamie’s signature had long-since disappeared and there was no telling where he’d gone. He sat another two minutes in a newfound shock at the fact that Jamie was a criminal. He was performing illegal magic on a sodding unicorn of all animals, and Teddy couldn’t even imagine how well this was going to go over in the press. They’d have a field day, and Skeeter was always looking for some way to humiliate the Ministry—Harry in particular—which meant things were about to get ugly if Teddy didn’t act fast.
His first task, he told himself, was to gather the remaining evidence.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his endless sacks, then accio’d all of what Jamie had left behind. The book, a few empty phials which probably contained traces of whatever potions he’d been feeding the poor beast, and a few dry ingredients which were on the ground. Apart from a handful of candles which seemed standard, the rest of the place was empty.
Jamie and the unicorn—the two biggest pieces of evidence—were long gone.
The idea that he was collecting evidence against Jamie of all people, hit him like a sack of bricks, and if it weren’t for the fact that he needed to get out of there, he would have sat on the ground and stared at it for at least an hour as he processed.
But there was no time.
He slipped the cloak back on, pushed through the wards, and found an apparition spot.
Teddy didn’t even really thing—instinct drove him somewhere safe, and he supposed in a way there was no surprise he ended up on the steps of Grimmauld Place.
He pushed his hand to the door, which set the wards and let him inside. He could smell something cooking—something spicy—which probably meant James had come round. Teddy felt a sudden wave of guilt, of knowing what he knew, and not being able to say anything. He knew he needed to talk to Harry as quickly as possible, but this sort of seemed like a job for at least one or more of his parents.
Slipping the cloak and the endless sack onto a chair, he brushed his hands through his hair, hoping the colour wouldn’t give him away, and he plastered on a smile before walking into the lounge.
Remus was there already, lounging by the fire with a stack of essays for marking. He glanced up, and his entire face went soft as he rose. “Teddy! What are you doing here. Don’t tell me you sent your dad an owl and he forgot to say.”
Teddy rubbed the back of his neck. “No, not exactly.”
Remus’ mouth turned down. “Is it the whole Jamie thing? Your uncle’s here so…”
“Not…exactly,” Teddy said. “It’s sort of a work problem that I erm…well…the thing of it is, it’s complicated and…”
“Oh my god, Teddy!” James’ voice boomed through the lounge, and Teddy turned, giving a sheepish smile to his surrogate uncle. The Potter genes were strong—disturbingly so, and it was particularly hard to look James in the face with the heartbreak he was feeling, seeing as the younger resembled his grandfather almost exactly—slightly less than Harry, but not noticeably. It was only for the streaks of grey which James declared were ‘in fashion’ and ‘distinguished’ that he really stood apart from the youngers.
Teddy allowed himself to be drawn into a huge, soft hug, and he was reminded just how much he loved the Potter hugs. Especially James’. They were all-encompassing and soft, and let you forget just how shite the world was outside of his arms. Teddy found himself collapsing quietly into them, squeezing his eyes shut.
“I heard,” James said quietly. “You know I love that boy, but you also know that I know he’s a bit of an idiot at the best of times, and I know he’ll come round. Meanwhile I can’t stand not seeing you for Sunday lunches. It’s killing me, Teddy. Literally. Do you really want to be responsible for my death? Can you live with that on your conscious?”
“Oh my god,” Teddy groaned, shoving his uncle away.
James grinned at him, wolfish and sharp. “There’s my boy.”
“He isn’t yours,” Sirius said, hip-checking James out of the way. “Now fuck off and let me say hello to my son who apparently finally remembered that he has parents who miss him.”
Teddy rolled his eyes, but let Sirius fuss for a few moments before pulling away. “I didn’t really come round for tea or anything. I just sort of…had a problem I needed help with.”
Remus had gone back to his marking, but Sirius and James looked properly hungry for it. Retired aurors were the worst. He realised this was probably not a good idea to share this just yet. Not until he had some idea about what the bloody hell James was up to.
“It’s about a filing system for work and…”
Suddenly the room was bare, apart from Remus who was chuckling quietly into his cup of tea. Teddy turned round to look at him, and sighed at the quirked brow.
“You can tell I’m lying.”
Remus rolled his eyes. “Please. I could tell you were lying from the moment you started trying to spin tales. You were never any good at it. You’d have made a terrible Marauder.”
Teddy flopped into the chair, kicking one boot up on the table until Remus flicked it off. “Yeah well…I just realised if I involve that lot, the entire thing is going to explode and dad it’s…” His voice started to tremble, and that’s when he saw Remus get properly worried. “It’s kind of a huge problem.”
Remus set his quill down and leant over. “Do you want to take a walk?”
“That would be the best idea, I think,” Teddy confessed.
Remus leant his head back and shouted that they were going for ice cream and to talk about filing systems. James and Sirius waved them off, and soon enough Teddy and Remus were bundled in regular muggle clothes, strolling down a mostly deserted street.
“Well…?”
Teddy fidgeted with the buttons on his pocket. “So the thing is…” He heaved a sigh. “Erm. Well.” He cleared his throat, and ignored Remus’ pointed stare. “Harry asked me to investigate a report of a magic user performing spells on an animal. Low risk stuff, the person who made the report has a history of making false ones, so I was just popping by to tidy the scene and file a report at the end of my shift. We talked, by the way, and he’s…I mean I think things are weird, but not too weird?” Teddy ruffled his curls. “Anyway, so not the point. I get to this abandoned house and there’s these intricate, clever spells all over. Muggle and wizard repelling charms and everything. I had the cloak, so I slipped inside and dad I…” Teddy stopped by the side of a building and let himself fall against it. He winced as his head hit the stone, but he just closed his eyes and said, “Dad, it was James.”
There was a long pause, then Remus said, “Our James?”
“James Sirius Potter, James,” Teddy said, then let out a funny sort of hiccup-sobbing noise thing that he didn’t realise he could make. He dragged a hand down his face. “He had a unicorn, dad. A sodding unicorn, nearly full-grown, and he was putting all these spells on it, and it looked like he’d been using potions as well. We had a huge row, he asked me to trust him, said he couldn’t tell me what he was up to, said that a six month stay in Azkaban was worth the secret. He was giving himself up, but when I said I’d be calling in a team to get the unicorn, he just touched it and poof. Gone.”
Remus was staring, slightly wide-eyed, but his brow furrowed the way he always did when he was trying to calculate out a problem. “Have you told Harry yet?”
Teddy let out a high, stressed laugh. “No. Am I seriously meant to tell him that his son, who just split up with me, is now committing crimes against magical animals? And that I failed to bring him in?”
Remus rubbed his hand over his mouth. “Do you have any evidence?”
Teddy shook his head, then shrugged. “Well, yes. Actually I’ve the book he was using, and a few of the left-over phials and there might be remnants in there of what he was giving to it. But dad it’s…it’s Jamie, okay? Not some evil wizard. It’s Jamie.”
Remus put a hand on his shoulder. “I know. And we’ll figure it out. It’s a good thing you didn’t tell those two at home. They’d have gone literally mad, and that wouldn’t help matters.” He hummed in thought, then squeezed Teddy’s shoulder. “If you like, you can tell them what happened—just not that it was Jamie. Your uncle might even be able to help you with the book, and your aunt Lily with the potions. That way you have some answers when you tell Harry. Because Teddy…you really need to.”
“Dad,” he started.
“Edward,” Remus said, his tone low.
“Mum wouldn’t make me tell him,” Teddy pouted.
Remus rolled his eyes. “She, in fact, would. She might have been a pain in the arse—worse than your dad, but she’d tell you the same damned thing I’m telling you. Because she was an auror just like you, and she understood the rules you couldn’t break. These are some of them. You want to send for her?”
“Actually yeah,” Teddy said. “I mean, after I talked to James and dad. We don’t need that mess, you know? But I might pop round when I’m done here.”
Remus nodded. “She’ll be able to help better than I can.”
They didn’t go for ice cream after all.
***
James and Sirius were confused when Teddy and Remus came back empty-handed, but only until Teddy took his sack and tipped it on the rug in the lounge as he explained—in vague terms—what he’d come across that evening. James’ eyes immediately went to the book, and then he snatched it from the floor.
“Do you know the wizard who had this?” James demanded.
Sirius tensed at the tone he was taking with Teddy, but before he could overreact, Teddy stepped in. “Why? Do you know it? I think that’s probably the key to figuring out what the hell this wizard was doing with a unicorn.”
James didn’t say anything. Instead he opened the flap and showed it first to Sirius, then to Remus. Remus didn’t react much, but Sirius paled.
“Is that…” he whispered.
James nodded, then looked over at Teddy. “This is my book. Or well, I nicked it from my dad’s library when I was a kid. Your dad and I used it to become Animagus.”
Teddy blinked at him. “But that…doesn’t make any sense,” he said. He pushed his fingers through his curls again, tugging on them a bit. “Unless he was trying to force a transformation on himself, but I know it doesn’t work that way so…” He trailed off, looking round the room as though something might just manifest out of thin air and give him the answers he needed. “What else is in there?”
“Not much,” James admitted. “What to do when the spell goes wrong, dos and donts, how to register, rubbish like that. It’s nothing dark.”
Teddy bit his lip. “Do you think aunt Lily will take a look at the phials? See if she can get anything from them? I need to report back, but I don’t want to report back that I got literally nothing from that scene, and lost Ja—the wizard I was tracking.”
James didn’t seem to notice the slip as he gathered up the small, glass bottles and slipped them into his pocket. “It might take her a while. She and Regs are home though, two heads and all that.”
Teddy waved him off. “That’s fine. I promised I’d go round to Al’s later, and to mum’s. So there’s no rush. Well, I mean there’s a little rush but…”
James smiled and dragged Teddy in for another hug. “Why don’t I come to yours in the morning, before you’re due at the office, and we’ll see what we’ve got. I’ll give this book a thorough read and see if unicorns crop up anywhere. I don’t think so, but it’s worth a look.”
Teddy nodded, feeling miserable and knowing he was doing entirely the wrong thing involving his family like this. But they loved to help, and he was fairly sure Harry had utilised his parents more than once, and well after they all retired from the ministry. So he wouldn’t let himself feel too bad about it. Really, the guilt eating him inside was the fact that it was Jamie, and there was no way to ease that.
He needed to know. He needed to believe Jamie wouldn’t be up to something truly dark. It just wasn’t in his nature.
***
Teddy sipped his tea, sighing at the feeling of home because no one made tea quite like his mother, as much as his dads gave it their best try. But it was Tonks’ special blend she grew herself, and it instantly relaxed him, even though he felt the literal opposite of relaxed.
He’d just finished telling her everything he knew—far more forthcoming with her than he was at Grimmauld Place, only because he knew she’d react with a more sound head than Sirius would have, or James. He watched as her hair shifted, a slight pink growing from the roots out and out until the whole thing was like bubble gum. He brushed his fingers through his own curls and wondered if his had done the same. He often mimicked without realising it, even after practising his control most of his life.
If he had, Tonks didn’t seem to take notice. She was chewing on her lip, her brows furrowed in that way she did when she was deep in thought. “Well okay, let’s think rational for a moment,” she said, sitting back and draping one arm along the back of the sofa. “You and I both know James isn’t up to something bad. Illegal, maybe, but that family has always had a sort of…wonky idea about legality…”
Teddy snorted a laugh. “Unregistered animagi and a werewolf, I’ve no idea what you could possibly mean, mum.”
She flashed a grin at him. “You’re no better, just because yours is by nature, not spells.” She winked, then said, “But it’s important to remember that. Don’t go attacking him like he’s a criminal…even if he is one, just because you’re angry…”
“I’m not angry,” Teddy said with a slight sulk. “I’m hurt, I’m sad, I’m heart-broken. Anger doesn’t factor in.”
“You might be able to lie to other people—even yourself—but you can’t lie to me,” she said. “Being angry is okay. You know your maman and I split up for a year after you were born, and I was furious. I was all those other things, and I was also furious because it was so bloody stupid, and she and I both knew it. But we were young and stupid so…”
Teddy licked his lips. “I just don’t think letting my feelings factor in is the best idea.”
She gave him a pointed look. “Do you have some sort of special power of turning off feelings that I’m unaware of? Because if that’s the case…”
Teddy let out a frustrated sigh. “No, I’m just saying…”
“If you don’t plan for your feelings, that’s what’s going to fuck you up. It’s probably why you fucked up so badly when you saw him there with the unicorn.”
Teddy wanted to back-chat her, but the truth was, she was right. His feelings had taken over completely. If he’d been prepared to see Jamie there, he might have stayed silent, let him continue on with what he was doing—had some damned evidence of the whole thing instead of just going in head-first and not thinking.
“You know I’m right,” Tonks said, and reached over, squeezing his shoulder. “I think your best move would be to maybe see if some of the others have seen him. Check with Hugo, yeah? I know they were working together last month on Hugo’s research. Or you can pop by Rose’s, or even Lily’s.”
“Or Scorp,” Teddy said, unable to get rid of that hint of bitterness.
Tonks gave him a pointed look. “Jamie is not shagging Scorpius.”
“How would you know?” Teddy countered.
“Intuition,” she said, and grinned wickedly. “Now fuck off, okay? Go do the rest of your job, try and get some sleep, and you’ll feel refreshed in the morning. If things are still tit’s up by then, send me and owl and I’ll see if I can get Harry to assign me as a consult to your case. Two heads are better than one.”
Teddy rose, his mum going with him, and he turned to her. “D’you think dad’s right? That we shouldn’t tell Harry until I’ve got something to tell?”
“I think Harry probably deserves more credit than you lot are giving him, but I also think it’s not a bad thing to have something to go on before you walk into his office and tell him his son might be up to dark magic with a unicorn.”
Teddy shuddered and let out a tiny sigh. “Yeah. Yeah I…thanks, mum. I love you.”
“I love you too, ridiculous child.” She dragged him in and kissed his cheek, and held him for a long, long time. It was just what he needed. “And if your aunt and uncle don’t have anything for you by morning, just tell Haz. He’s a good man to have on your team.”
Teddy pursed his lips, then nodded. “Yeah. I will. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
He left his mums’ place feeling only slightly better than before, but that slightly was enough to carry him down the street, and to his next stop.
***
He hadn’t meant to make Scorpius and Al’s place his first stop. He’d intended not to go there at all, and let that be the last ditch effort in finding Jamie. Only he should have known better—known himself better, because there he was, pacing in front of their door with his hand in his hair telling himself that he was just going to casually ask if they’d heard from Jamie.
Teddy forgot to acknowledge he’d probably never done anything casually in his entire life.
He knocked on the door, and it was only a moment before it opened, and he saw Al standing there looking a little confused. His brow furrowed, even as he stepped aside to let Teddy in. “I…were we meeting up tonight?”
Teddy shook his head, walking into the flat, his eyes darting round for some sort of evidence that either Al or Scorpius had seen Jamie. Or that Scorpius and Jamie were you know…seeing each other. “Have you seen your brother?” he blurted.
Al blinked at him, looking bleary-eyed. “Er. Since when?”
“Since…I don’t know? In the last week or so?” Teddy asked.
Al gave a tired sigh. “Is this some like stalker ex thing, because I really don’t have time. I love you both, and I already told him I wasn’t taking sides so…”
Teddy felt his gut clench, and he shook his head. “No I…need to ask him something. About erm. A case I’m working on. I thought maybe…” He cleared his throat. “It’s only just your dad said something and I thought…well I didn’t think, because that would be mad but…”
“You’re not making sense. You don’t smell like booze, but if you’ve got into gran’s potions…”
Teddy scowled at him. “I’m not high, you arse. Just, your dad mentioned that Scorpius has been gone a lot and that he thought maybe Jamie and Scorp were erm…you know. Hooking up? But of course that’s ridiculous and…why are you laughing at me, it’s not funny…”
Al, who had doubled over, was waving his hand. “Oh my god, Teddy, they’re not shagging.”
“You don’t actually know that for sure,” Teddy said, a little defiant, a little petulant as he crossed his arms over his chest. Somehow his much younger cousin was making him feel like a complete twat and that was not okay. “They might be…”
“First of all, Jamie is too old for him. He’s particular, and he’s never been interested in him. Second of all I do know, because I know Scorpius better than I know myself.”
Teddy chewed on his bottom lip, then said, “Alright well…when’s he coming home? I could ask him if…”
That’s when Al’s face went dark, and almost worried. His hand went to the back of his neck, and he squeezed it. “So the thing of it is, he went out for some research and he’s not been back. Not since the night of that huge lightning storm.”
Teddy’s eyes went wide. “That was nearly a week ago.”
Al wrung his hands together. “I know. I’ve tried everything, and I’m worried, but he’s done this before so I’m doing what I can not to panic. Jamie came round the night before last. He seemed a little stressed, but nothing major. And no, I really, really don’t think they’re shagging.”
Teddy swallowed thickly. “No I…that was stupid, I know. I’m being an idiot. This case has me all twisted up, and the split is just fresh, you know? I feel like I don’t know up from down and I just…” He took a breath. “I’m sorry. It’s late, I should go.”
Before he reached the door, Al’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. “You can stay if you like. I’m studying for the certification exam, but if you need the company…”
Teddy managed a smile—small but genuine—and he shook his head. “Thanks, but I’m alright. I just need a cuppa and a long sleep. Things will feel better in the morning.”
He wasn’t entirely sure he believed that, but he decided to rest his hope on things making more sense with the rise of the sun.
***
He didn’t make it that long.
The crack of apparition woke him in the dead of night. His reflexes were slow from the quarter draught of the sleeping potion he’d taken, but his training had him on his feet and wand in hand in seconds. His heart was thumping, though logically—even through a potion haze—he knew that no one but family could get in through his wards.
A spark of hope—or maybe fear—flared to life in his belly, and he crept into the lounge. It was dark, but there was no mistaking Jamie’s form stood in the centre of the room. He turned when Teddy entered and flicked on one of the lights.
“Hey,” Jamie said.
“Hey?” Teddy repeated. “You’ve had me on a wild chase all night after catching you with a unicorn, and you say hey?” He breathed, remembering his mum’s warning about emotions, and he clenched his jaw shut.
Jamie gave him a determined stare, then said, “I told you I’d come with you, and I meant it. I just couldn’t let you take him.”
“Him,” Teddy echoed.
“The unicorn,” Jamie said with a helpless shrug.
“What’s so damned special about that thing?” Teddy demanded. “I wouldn’t even need to take you in if you’d just tell me…”
“If I could trust you to understand that some things are more important than following the law to the letter,” James began.
Teddy wanted to rage and scream, to remind James that the pair of them had done plenty of their fair share of breaking all the rules at school, and how Teddy would never put the law before the safety of his family. He didn’t even know where this was coming from. But if Jamie was so determined to paint him this specific way, he wasn’t going to fight him. Clearly no amount of promises, of history, of trust, was going to make James give in.
So he did the only think he could think of. He flicked his wand, and let Jamie’s arms become bound by ropes as he prepared to take him in for questioning.
***
Teddy had faced quite a few magical people in the interrogation room over his few years working as an auror. He’d been afraid before—afraid of the power the other person wielded—stronger than his own, bound only by the flimsy magical restraints. But this was the first time he felt bone-chilling fear, because whatever was going to come of this, there was no going back.
Teddy paced in front of the table, trying not to look down at the way Jamie’s hands were yanked behind him, held probably just this side of too-tight, because he wasn’t meant to be comfortable. And the sentence facing him wasn’t a long one, but just because they no longer employed Dementors at Azkaban didn’t mean that it wasn’t going to be some version of hell for at least three months, and that’s if the Wizengamot went lenient. Which they likely wouldn’t, seeing as Jamie was Harry’s son, and the last thing they needed was a Ministry employee’s family going rogue.
Teddy squeezed his eyes shut, breathed out, wondered if anyone had owled Harry yet. It was just a matter of time.
“If you want to tell me anything before your dad gets here, now’s the time,” he said.
Jamie snorted. “Everything in this room is being recorded, Lupin. What makes you think I’m going to be candid now?”
“I don’t know? Because I know you’re not the sort of person to get up to anything really bad, and I can’t for the life of me figure out what the hell you were doing,” Teddy spat. “And I never, ever in my life thought we’d be in this position right now.”
“Last year’s anniversary…” Jamie began with a smirk.
Teddy swallowed. “If you’re trying to hurt me, you don’t need to drag our past into it. This is quite enough.”
Jamie looked shocked, like he’d been slapped. “I wasn’t…I didn’t mean…” He trailed off, looking away. “It was a joke. I’m sorry.”
Teddy pulled a hand down his face, then looked out the small window in the centre of the door. There was a slight commotion, which likely meant Harry had been informed. They weren’t going to let him in on the case, and there was every chance Teddy would be pulled off of it considering his relationship to Potter.
He was just biding his time. “I’d just rather you make any confession you’re going to make with me than whomever they put on your case. That’s all,” he finally said.
Jamie blinked at him, looking properly sad. “If I could tell you, Teds, I would. I would literally rip my guts out and spill them in front of you if it gave you the answers you needed. But this isn’t just about me. So I can’t. Yes, I was casting a spell on a Unicorn, yes, I took the Unicorn and I fled, and you won’t find it. So charge me with what you want. I’ll take my sentence.”
“I just want to see my son!” Harry’s voice echoed through the corridor, and Teddy knew their time was up.
It was only moments before the door opened and Ron put his head in. “Hey guys. So…this is fun, right? All the shit we got up to at school, I always knew one of us would end up here. Anyway, Teds…”
“Yeah,” Teddy said with a sigh. As he stepped out of the room, one of the rookies passed him up, and Teddy almost balked. But there was no point. He was off the case.
***
He didn’t see Harry until nearly half an hour later when Teddy had finally helped himself to a cup of tea. He was against the wall, shoulders sagged, and he looked up when he heard the sound of boots on the polished floor.
Harry looked furious, and Teddy winced as Harry got right into his space. “How long did you know?”
“Most of the night,” Teddy confessed. “I…I was trying to track him down before I said anything. I wanted to know what the hell he was doing.”
“Did you seriously give evidence to my dad?” Harry asked in a hissing whisper.
Teddy blanched. “Did Jamie…” But no, there was no way Jamie could know.
“I got the owl just now. In my dad’s ridiculous code,” Harry said, rolling his eyes. “I could never decipher that shit. I think he might have some idea what James was up to, so we need to go see him.”
“We?” Teddy asked, eyes wide.
Harry gave him a determined nod. “We’re not letting my son rot in Azkaban, and I know you don’t think he was up to something dodgy…”
“Well,” Teddy began, but he stopped himself. Now was not the time, and the evidence would speak for itself. Not to mention that he was fairly sure whatever Jamie was up to, it was to help someone. He was just going about it in the worst way possible. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
He was unceremoniously dragged to the nearest fireplace by his elbow, and thrown into the flames. Harry got in right alongside him, the tightest fit ever, and the pair of them spun all the way to Godric’s Hollow.
***
Harry and Teddy both sat with a cup of tea in hand—a liberal dollop of whiskey for the nerves, James insisted—and they both stared at Harry’s parents expectantly.
James was pacing, as he did, and Lily and Regulus sat on the loveseat with careful expressions.
“Someone start talking before I completely lose it,” Harry said. “I’ve been ripped out of my bed and told my son is going to be sent to Azkaban for performing illegal magic on a unicorn, and you lot have all the evidence pointing to why.”
James stopped pacing, and looked sorry. “The book,” he said, and waved his hand. It went flying from the mantle, into his hand. “It was the book your godfather and I used to become animagi in school.” James ruffled his hair with his free hand. “I didn’t think it was significant—I didn’t see how it could be, until they figured out what was in the phials.”
Harry and Teddy looked over at Regulus and Lily with tense expressions. After a beat of silence, Teddy blurted out, “Well?”
Lily’s mouth quirked. “Potions to aid in transfigurations. Counter-potions for human transfiguration, to be exact.”
Harry frowned. “What does that mean?”
“I checked the book,” Regulus said, “for residue. There’s a small section in the book on what to do if the Animagus spell goes…awry. We think James is trying to help someone stuck in their Animagus form.”
This hit Teddy like a punch to the sternum, and he sat back. “I…” It made sense. Though who in the world could he possibly be helping. “That’s why he wouldn’t tell me. The punishment for an Animagus not being registered is far worse than using magic on an animal. Especially if he can prove the animal came to no harm.”
“Which he won’t be able to do unless he produces the Unicorn, and then the person who it is—assuming it really is a person,” Harry said, “could face a life-sentence.”
Teddy felt like he’d been doused in cold water. “So what do we do?”
Before anyone could answer that question, an owl flew in through the window. Regulus caught it, and pulled the bit of parchment from its leg before waving it off to the post owl perch. He unfolded the letter, and sighed. “Jamie’s being taken to Azkaban for holding, until is trial day after tomorrow.”
Harry dragged a hand down his face, then looked at Teddy. “I don’t know how to get him out of this. They’re going to require you to submit a memory for this since we don’t have any physical evidence, and you were the only auror on duty. And knowing Jamie, he’s not going to give up the name.”
Teddy felt his stomach sinking, everything in him aching with desperation to figure their way out of this. He knew better than to tamper with the memory, there were far too many ways for them to detect it. The only things they had on their side were the book and the potions phials. They proved that Jamie wasn’t up to anything harmful, but the problem was, they’d start the hunt for the person who could illegally transform into a Unicorn.
“Have you ever seen anything like that?” Teddy murmured. When all eyes in the room were on him, he flushed. “A Unicorn Animagus. That has to be rare, right?”
“Nearly unheard of,” James said. He finally backed up, flopping next to Regulus where he snuggled in a bit. “One of your thatha’s friends could transform into a Gryphon,” James said, directing the statement at Harry, “but I never saw it. I used to think he was talking rubbish, but now I’m not so sure.” He was still holding the book, fingers thrumming on the cover.
“We can’t let them believe James was trying to undo an Animagus transformation,” Teddy said into the tense silence. Everyone looked at him again, and he sighed. “Well, we can’t. If he’s protecting someone, it’s probably someone he knows—probably someone we know.”
“Is anyone else missing?”
Teddy opened his mouth when he immediately thought of Scorpius, but at Harry’s quick flash of a look, he closed it again. “Not that I can think of,” he said. “But that’s not important right now. What is important is trying to prove that Jamie wasn’t up to a crime.”
“How do you suggest we do it?” Harry asked, sounding genuinely curious, and overly tired.
Teddy worried his bottom lip between his teeth, then said, “Would the potions in those phials work on transfigurations, not just animagi?”
Lily frowned, glancing at Regulus who shrugged. “I reckon so,” she said. “I mean, it’s not something really common—more of a last-ditch effort, really.”
“Can you erase the traces of your…you know…investigation?” Teddy asked. “So it looks like the only person who touched them was Jamie, and then me?”
James snickered, and Regulus elbowed him. “Yes, but you are asking us to help cover up a crime, you realise.”
“Says the ex-death eater,” James pointed out.
“Who saved the world,” Regulus snapped back. “I’m not saying no, I’m just stating the obvious.”
Harry sighed, rolling his eyes. “Teddy, you realise this is…I mean if we get caught…”
“There’s no we about it,” Teddy said. “I started this mess, and I’m going to finish it. What I really need is to get into Azkaban and have a chat with Jamie where he’s not being overheard. Do they record anything in the cells?”
Harry shook his head.
Teddy gave a firm nod. “Alright. Then I’m going to use the cloak and hitch a ride on the next person who has business out there. I’ll do my best to get as much information as I can out of him, and when we get back, we present the case as it is. James Sirius Potter was merely trying to help a witch or wizard out of a misused transfiguration spell. And they’ll be able to test his wand and prove he didn’t cast the spell, so…it’s all I’ve got.”
Harry finally looked like there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and he flung his arm round Teddy, nearly knocking over his cup of tea. “It’s a brilliant plan. Let’s get the evidence sorted, and then we can look at the docket and see who’s travelling next.”
***
In the end, they decided only to turn in the phials. Teddy’s memory surrender would end with James disappearing, so he wouldn’t have to show what evidence he gathered. James took the book with him for safe-keeping, and Teddy returned to the ministry to turn in his evidence, and his memory before meeting with Harry.
“Alright. It looks like Gupta’s got an interrogation at the prison tomorrow at half eight, so you’d best be here to join his floo half an hour before that.” Harry looked worried, but not nearly as bad as he’d been over the last few hours. “D’you think you’ll be able to get some sleep?”
Teddy shook his head. “No. I don’t think the world’s strongest potion could save me now. But I do some of my best work under pressure so…”
Harry chuckled, then dropped his hand on Teddy’s shoulder. “Thank you for not mentioning erm…you know…”
“Do you really think it’s him?” Teddy asked.
Harry let out a sigh, shrugging. “I couldn’t tell you, but chances are, yes. And I know this is far from the point and the last thing I should be worrying about right now, but if Malfoy’s son is a sodding Unicorn Animagus, he’s going to be insufferable for the rest of my life.”
Teddy laughed. “Isn’t he already?”
“He somehow manages to always find a way to be worse,” Harry said, and there was a flicker of grin on his face.
Teddy pulled him in for a hug. “We’ll figure this out. At the very least, it’s a short sentence, and I know it’s a nightmare out there, but Jamie is the strongest person I know. He’ll be okay.”
Harry swallowed thickly. “I know. Now I have to go break the news to his mum, so if I die, tell my other children I love them.”
Teddy rolled his eyes, and shoved Harry away from him. “Go on. We’ll meet up when I get back and figure the rest out from here.”
“And possibly try to figure out how to fix a sodding Animagus spell gone wrong,” Harry said.
Teddy was choosing not to focus on that right now, but he knew that would be part of it. He also felt a sharp stab of hurt when he realised why Jamie had hidden it from him. Had Jamie really thought Teddy would turn in Scorpius? Or anyone he was close with? Teddy had kept his mouth shut about his uncle and his father all of his life—why would he suddenly change who he was now?
He decided not to focus on that. Instead he stepped to the apparition point, and let himself land right outside Al’s door. It swung open shortly, and Al, who looked like he hadn’t slept at all yet, stood there with his brows up.
Teddy let his arms flop to his sides in a half shrug as he said, “Well, your brother’s been arrested, and I think your best friend is an unregistered Animagus.”
***
In the end, Teddy supposed he wasn’t surprised to learn that Al already knew about the Animagus thing.
“I didn’t realise he’d accomplished it, but I had a feeling,” Al said, sinking into the sofa. He was in a dressing gown, clutched round him like a safety blanket, and he looked more exhausted than Teddy had ever seen him—including Hogwarts exams. “I’d been worrying myself sick after he didn’t come back from the lightning storm. I read too much, I read about everything that could go wrong and I just…” His breath was shaking. “I guess he’s still alive. I sent Jamie after him when he didn’t come home, and when Jamie didn’t come back I just thought he was still looking. I didn’t think he’d get stuck that way.”
“Did you know he was going to turn into a unicorn?” James asked.
Al laughed, shaking his head even as he couldn’t meet Teddy’s eyes. “I knew he’d be something fantastic, though. I mean, he’s Scorpius—of course he’d be something beautiful and unusual.”
Teddy fixed his gaze on Al, hard. It was all coming together. “You two are shagging.”
Al blinked, then laughed. “Well, in the simplest terms, yeah. But we’re also like…you know…boyfriends.” He bit his lip and looked away again. “It’s been a while now.”
“Since Hogwarts,” Teddy said.
Al shrugged. “I think we’ve always been something. But we didn’t want to tell you lot cos you’d all make a huge deal out of it. Then at thatha’s for Diwali we were going to make an announcement, but then everyone caught dad and Draco snogging so…”
Teddy let out a huffing laugh. “Okay, yeah. That’s fair. This family is a sodding nightmare when it comes to your personal life, and your dad does like to steal the spotlight quite a lot.”
Al chuckled. “Bit. So erm…so you know where Scorp is or…?”
Teddy shook his head. “I have to go see your stupid, dipshit brother in Azkaban tomorrow and see what I can get him to tell me. Once he realises we all know, I’m sure he’ll crack.” Teddy hesitated, then asked, “D’you know why he’s so convinced I’d have turned Scorpius in? I mean, you trust me, right? You know I would never, ever do that.”
Al sat up a little straighter. “Yes, and I told him loads of times he was being a fucking twat about this whole thing. I don’t know what got into him, Ted, I swear. I think he just…he just got freaked out or something, because he was falling in love with you and…” Al trailed off, looking horrified.
Teddy blinked at him. He and Jamie had been together off and on for a long time, but they’d never gone there. Teddy had known—of course he’d known. He’d been in love with Jamie for ages. But every time they started to talk about feelings, Jamie got nervous, so they just let it drop. Teddy had no idea he felt the same way.
“He’s such a dipshit,” Teddy breathed out.
Al laughed. “Yeah, he is. But maybe if you go down there and tell the idiot you love him too, he’ll get his head out of his arse. Also maybe help me find my boyfriend so I can put him right.”
Teddy nodded. “I’ll do what I can, I promise. This is the biggest mess I’ve ever been in, and I don’t know why I’m even remotely surprised it involved half our family.” He stood up and ruffled Al’s hair before heading for the door.
He knew he wasn’t going to sleep, but there was a weight off now that he had some idea of what was happening. And if he played his cards right, by mid-afternoon the next day, he’d have some idea of how to fix this whole mess.
***
Teddy anticipated anything and everything going wrong the next day, but he somehow managed to hitch a ride on the floo to the dank, damp, ugly prison with his co-worker undetected. They slipped through security, and Teddy hovered near the prisoner’s list until he found Jamie’s floor. He was still in holding, which meant he wasn’t being exposed to the general population—probably a security measure since Harry was responsible for at least two dozen of the prisoner’s there, if not more.
The hallways were less terrible than they had been when Dementors had roamed them, but there was a lingering presence if despair and ugliness that put a chill in his bones, even under the cloak.
He made his way past cells to the holding area where he found Jamie, thankfully alone, curled up on a small stone bench with his forehead against his knees.
“Potter,” he hissed.
Jamie’s head poked up, and he peered out of the bars, seeing nothing.
Teddy, very carefully, let the tips of his fingers slip out of the cloak before yanking them back in. “Don’t get up.” He quickly cast a muffliato around them, and hoped it wouldn’t be detected for just long enough to have this conversation. “Put your head back down so you can talk to me without being seen.
Jamie obeyed, but Teddy saw the confusion on his face before he did. “What the hell are you doing here?” he hissed.
“We know about Scorpius,” Teddy said.
Jamie groaned. “Sweet Merlin, was it Al? I swear that boy cannot keep his mouth shut even if it’s to save the life of his damned boyfriend…”
“Your dad figured it out, actually,” Teddy said. “And we’re working on finding him and putting him right. We’re also working on your case, presented as you trying to help a unicorn you thought was a person, but wasn’t.”
He could see Jamie’s shoulders tense. “Lupin…”
“Will you please stop that, you idiot,” Teddy said, emotion colouring his voice. “You make it so fucking hard to be in love with you when you push me away like that.”
In spite of the situation, in spite of himself, Jamie’s head popped up and his eyes were wide. “What did you…”
“I’m in love with you,” Teddy said. “If I could show you on my face right now, I would, but you’re just going to have to trust me. And we’re going to have a long, long bloody talk about you thinking I’d turn in Scorpius for…all this. I don’t…I don’t even know how to process that. What I do need to know is where the hell he is so we can fix him, and I need to know that you’re going to corroborate my story so I don’t end up in here with you.”
“I…” Jamie cleared his throat, then dropped his head to his knees again. “He’s in the Shrieking Shack. He’s got food, access to the Forbidden Forest if he needs it. He’ll sleep there until I get back.”
“You were going to leave him there six months,” Teddy breathed, then shook his head. “Not important right now. Just promise me you’ll…”
“I promise,” Jamie interrupted. “You’d better get the hell out of here before someone figures out what you’ve done.”
“Yeah, I’m going,” Teddy said. “Also I love you, and I hope you can live with that because if I didn’t stop after all this mess, I can’t imagine a single thing that will make me fall out of love in the future.”
James said nothing, but right then, Teddy didn’t need him to.
***
Teddy, wisely, stayed out of the retrieval of Scorpius. He became aware of his return when he stumbled through the floo at Godric’s Hollow with James and Sirius right behind him. He looked a little thin, and definitely exhausted, but alive and well enough.
Teddy had half a mind to rip him a new one, but chose to hug him instead, with just a tiny, whispered, “You are such a prat,” before letting him fling himself into Al’s arms.
At that point, the relationship was out, but no one seemed to care.
Malfoy showed up not long after, Harry at his side, and dragged Scorpius into the other room. There was muffled shouting, and something slamming on the counter, but when they returned, they were both pink-cheeked and Malfoy looked more relieved than anything. So relieved, that when Harry dragged him into a cuddle, he didn’t protest at displaying affection in front of all the Potters.
“So the hearing is tomorrow,” Teddy said, and Harry poked his head over Malfoy’s shoulder.
“Yeah. Are you ready?”
“I know where my memory is going to stop, and after that we just need Jamie to agree,” Teddy replied, wishing James was there to hug him right now. It was difficult watching the couples be affectionate with each other when Jamie was so far, and would be for so long, and there was no telling that he’d return Teddy’s affection when this was all over.
Harry merely sighed. “He might have to stay a bit longer, until they investigate the animal. But I’ve been able to round up a Unicorn and I might have slipped it a potion or two so it shouldn’t be more than a few days…”
“I really should not be hearing this,” James said, standing up. “I’m going to…I’m going to go cook something.”
“Prongs, stop being such an old man about this,” Sirius called, following James into the kitchen. “We would have literally died for something this cool at their age!”
Teddy just smiled at his dad’s words, and sank deeper into the sofa cushions, trying to will time to go a little faster.
***
The trail could have gone worse. It could have gone better—they could have just believed Teddy and Jamie, and released him there, but they didn’t. They got testimony from neighbours, and from the woman who filed the report, then from Harry. Then they went over evidence, and then sent out a team for the Unicorn which meant Jamie was returned to Azkaban until the team was able to find a unicorn with traces of potion in its system.
That didn’t take too long.
Three days later, Jamie was back in front of the Wizengamot, and being sentenced.
A fine.
“Three thousand galleons.” The gavel banged, and Jamie was released.
Teddy didn’t want to make a show out of everything in front of the Ministry, so he merely looked at Jamie and nodded, knowing they’d meet up away from prying eyes. It took everything in him to go upstairs and begin his paperwork, and he only stopped when Harry sat at the end of his desk and plucked his quill out of his hands.
“I’ve had my teary reunion, and my moment of threatening my child within in an inch of his life if he ever pulls something like that again. Gin’s just gone, so he’s all yours. I told him to take my floo to yours.”
Teddy felt his throat get tight. “Oh. I don’t know if he wants to…”
“He wants to. I told him he’d be dead to me if he let you slip through his fingers, Ted.” Harry dragged Teddy up, and into a hug. “Jamie is my son, and I will always love him, but I know he can be an idiot. He gets it from me. And you know, at least half the Weasleys. But you’re just as important to me, okay? And I happen to know the two of you love each other and not the way Gin and I do, but the way two people are meant to. Two people who are meant to last. So please just end the madness and go.”
“I told him I loved him,” Teddy confessed, even as he reached for his wand and his housekeys.
Harry snorted. “He told me.”
Teddy didn’t want to hear anything else, not from anyone but Jamie. So he turned, hurried toward the floo, and felt his world spinning as he headed home.
***
Harry was right—Jamie was there, eating biscuits straight out of the tin, lounging on Teddy’s sofa when he stumbled out of the fireplace. He didn’t stop, just raised his brows the way he used to do when things were alright.
Teddy balled his fists and was torn between starting a screaming row, and starting a shag because he really wanted both. Instead he flopped down next to Jamie and grabbed the tin from his hands, stuffing a whole biscuit into his mouth.
“What the fuck,” he said.
Jamie covered his face with one hand. “I know.”
“Do you?” Teddy demanded. “Have you any idea what I’ve been through these past few days?”
“No, and I’d rather not find out,” Jamie admitted. “I do know I’ve been a right twat, and I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’d like it. I’d like it, so we can get back to where we were.”
“Where were we?” Teddy demanded.
James huffed. “You’re actually going to make me say it, aren’t you?”
“Bloody right, I am,” Teddy said, his jaw tight. “You’re going to be saying it a long time to make up for all this.” Then he let out a yelp as the biscuits went flying from his hand, and he was suddenly sprawled out on the cushions with Jamie hovering over him. He was so close to Teddy’s face, their noses were touching.
“I’m in love with you. I’ve been madly in love with you since I was fifteen, and it terrifies me to my core, and I thought if I was awful to you, and convinced myself you would put your career, or the rules before me, then it would be easier to leave. Because if I let myself admit how I felt aloud, it would mean when you finally walked away, I wouldn’t recover.”
“God, you are the worst fucking boyfriend mmpfh…” His words were cut off with a kiss, irritating him because Jamie knew just how much he hated that. But the irritation only lasted a minute. Just long enough for him to bury his hands in Jamie’s hair and tug, just slightly, just the way Jamie liked.
“I love you,” Jamie said as he pulled back, speaking the words through a gasp. “Merlin help me, but I love you, and I always will.”
“Good,” Teddy said, grinning a little sharp and wicked. He bit down on Jamie’s bottom lip, then said, “I love you too. Stupid amounts. And I’m not going to stop.”
“Good,” Jamie echoed back. “This is a story we’re going to have to tell our grandchildren, aren’t we?”
Teddy raised both brows, cupping Jamie’s cheeks. “We’re having grandchildren?”
“After all this mess?” Jamie asked, then laughed as he dropped his face into Teddy’s neck, kissing softly there. “You bet this gorgeous arse we are. Half a dozen. And then maybe a few more.”
Teddy held him tight, possessive, closing his eyes as he just basked in holding Jamie there and not needing to let him go any time soon. He’d be proper angry later. For now, he’d just have this. “I think I can live with it.”
“Good,” Jamie said once more, with a chuckle, and kissed his neck again. It was the last thing either of them said for a long, long while.