บท 163: 19
Chapter 19 – Inbreeding
As a general rule, Harry was a light sleeper. And since Naomi's death, since the war, Harry hadn't really slept well.
Deep sleep in the last four years had been achieved only ever by exhaustion or magic induced.
So waking up from the sun warming his face was- alien, yet so completely welcome.
He let himself sink into that warm feeling, breathing deeply to take in the moment.
Teddy was safe with his Uncle Lyall, and Harry was in his rooms at Hogwarts, and it was Saturday. He had nowhere in that moment to be.
He tensed his muscles, planning to stretch which is when his brain caught up to why he had slept so well, as his body informed him that it was very happy to be here.
Harry tried to see Narcissa, keeping his arms relaxed as to not wake her up.
All he saw was light, her skin so pale that she seemed to be made of sunlight, writhed in gold around the edges.
Carefully, he twisted his hand and his glasses settled themselves on his face.
His breath caught.
Narcissa was…
Impossibly lovely. She had the type of beauty that poets agonized over, that classical painters fantasied about.
And knowing her intelligence, her loyalty for her family, and her unwavering strength, her iron willed sense of self.
Harry felt a surge of possessiveness.
He had never really had a normal relationship, he knew how to be an awkward teenager and how to be a husband. And it wasn't that he hadn't wanted sex over the last three years, it wasn't that he hadn't wanted Narcissa, but he had wanted someone that would stay. Someone who would be welcomed in both his bed, his life, and his son's life.
He knew asking that was a lot to ask of anyone.
That asking someone to stay forever from the beginning was unreasonable.
But he wanted to ask, though he would let her go if she wanted to go, he truly wanted her to stay.
He ran his fingers over her hand, up to the snake shape burn that mirrored his own.
The scar was her blemish, her only physical imperfection. The burn was red, but partially healed on both their hands, not blustered like a non-magical burn should have been. The pain of it was uncomfortable but ignorable.
Harry ran his up her arm, brushing her blonde hair off her shoulder where it sparkled like metallic threads in the morning light.
He kissed her collarbone.
She let out a breath, shifting slightly toward him, but she stayed asleep.
He smiled. She is adorable, he thought.
And his heart sang. He let himself enjoy this moment, have this hour of peace.
Let the future go, let his past go, let his responsibilities rest for a time.
He had one of the most beautiful women in his arms, naked in his bed.
He planned to take full advantage.
He ran his hands along her so soft skin exposed by the sheet, remembering last night and taking the time now to ingrain the sight of her into his memory.
She woke gradually, and the smile that curled her lips as she blinked up at him was…
Was not the look of a virgin.
The look in her blue eyes was proprietary, knowing, lazy.
The look of a woman who knew she was beautiful and knew the man in her bed was willing to worship her.
Naomi had never looked at him like that. And Naomi hadn't come to him innocent either, but she had not been confident in her appearance, lacked the self-assurance that Narcissa radiated.
That confidence which Harry found so outrageously attractive. Not because he didn't have to be careful, not because he didn't want to pay Narcissa every compliment. But because when he said in a voice deeper than his normal tenor:
"There are no words to express how beautiful you are."
Her answering smile, the look in her eyes, told him that she believed him.
It was an aphrodisiac all its own, one that sent a happy thrill down his spine as he bent to claim her lips.
To be believed where Naomi would have squirmed and averted her eyes. It was a relief, and when Narcissa reached down to squeeze his butt, he let all thoughts, all his worries go.
Right then, words didn't matter.
Lily woke from sleep in a panic.
She clutched the blankets to her, looking around the room looking for her son, for James, for the madman who had been torturing her.
Her son.
Lily rubbed her eyes.
She didn't have a son. She was fifteen!
But-
Shouting outside her bedroom door broke her train of thought.
Her bedroom.
She was back home, no longer at Hogwarts.
"Please, I have to see her," said a familiar voice.
"James!" she called, ready to climb out of bed when she realized she was only wearing an oversized T-shirt. She got her legs back under the covers when James came into the room, hazel eyes wild as they found her.
"You're alive!" he exclaimed. In two bounds he was in her room, on the bed, and hugging the life out of her.
Ordinarily, she would have been throwing a fit about a boy barging into her room. Heck, ordinarily she would be throwing a fit about James' very existence.
But with the memory, the nightmare, still fresh in her mind, she found herself hugging him back.
The sight of his eyes empty, unfocused, his face slack, and his body bonelessly still as she writhed in pain next to him would never leave her.
Nor would the soul deep fear of their son hiding in a cabinet feet away.
When they parted she had tears running down her face.
He didn't look much better. His hair was a mess and the shadows under his eyes made it look like he hadn't gotten any sleep.
She wanted to ask him what he remembered. She wanted to ask about their son.
God, that was weird, but whether what she had seen, felt, lived, had been a vision or somehow someone else's memories, they were real.
And she had a crazy idea about who the little boy had been.
But she looked toward their audience, her parents and James' stared at them in bewilderment for a moment longer before her dad and mum came in to fret.
It took some convincing but within half an hour, she had changed into fresh clothes in her bathroom and was alone with James back in her room, both of them with mugs of tea and tray of crackers between them.
James had woken up before her, and had demanded to see her, pestered his parents until they had brought him here.
The 'adults' were conferencing downstairs about their sanity and wellbeing.
"What do you remember?" Lily asked once she was absolutely sure no one was lingering by her door.
"Dying," he said, looking down into his tea looking exhausted, "I remember… I remember breaking. He broke me."
Lily shuddered, she knew, she had seen, and it had taken him much longer to break her mind, but, "He broke me too."
James looked up, "Then that- thing, got our son?"
A part deep inside her being stilled, glad he was the first to say it. "No, I couldn't talk, once, once he- that thing, was through with me. I guess neither of us really broke, seeing as we didn't tell him about whatever it was he wanted to know and we both kept quiet about where our son was hiding."
"Do you know who he was?" he asked.
"By he? Do you mean Mr. Crazy or the little boy with your hair and my eyes?"
James looked at her for a long moment, then said what they both knew to be true, "Professor Henry Peverell is our son."
"Harry," Lily snapped, "his name is Harry."
James shook his head, "How the hell is this possible? We can't have had a son, we- Rell is twice our age."
"He's in his early twenties actually."
"Lily," James said exasperated.
"This is so weird. You realize we are also grandparents?"
"Are we? How is this even possible? How-"
"Isn't it obvious?"
James glared at her, "How is any of this obvious?"
She smiled, "Time travel."
He gaped at her, "No… no- Oh, Merlin."
Lily at a cracker, thinking through the idea more thoroughly, "I mean it would make sense, right? He comes out of nowhere, one of the best wizards in Britain and nobody has heard of him before. And yet he knows Hogwarts, like really well. It has to be time travel, it has to be."
James ate a cracker too, then took a sip of tea, "Yeah, I guess it does. It's also why he seems to know everything without knowing anyone." Then he looked up sharply, "Sirius said Harry said that his parents and his wife were murder by the Dark Lord Voldemort, Tom Marvolo Riddle."
She drank from her mug, clinging to it to help bring warmth back to her fingers, "I guess the question is now, how can we remember the future?"
"I have a lot more questions than that but yeah, that's the big one. How could it have been so real? I felt it, I actually felt it. And I was so afraid for you and Harry. I can't believe he survived. He must have gone into shock or something in order to stay quiet through that."
Lily had to focus on her breathing, in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to find Lord Tom and kill him. "You know, I'm surprised at you," she ventured.
James looked at her questioningly.
She flushed, "If this really is the future we lived, then, well, then, you and I are- I mean you and I end up together."
"Lily," James said, sounding much older than he was, "being tortured to death by a psycho as our baby son looks on is about the least romantic thing I've ever heard."
She nodded, even though a part of her, a very small part of her, was hurt by his rejection. He had been an annoying pest for her entire time at school, and now…
He touched her hand gently, "Lils, I like you, I really do. But this month… I helped get one of my friends killed and this- whatever this dream-thingy is, it looks like I made a lot of bad choices. I don't think I'm the person I thought I was."
She shook her head, grabbing his hand to squeeze it, "You're a good person, James Potter. You're obnoxious and you can do some really, really, and I mean really stupid things sometimes, but that doesn't make you a bad person. What happened to Peter was an accident, and this-"
He squeezed her hand back, "If Harry is a time traveller, maybe the future has already changed, maybe we weren't supposed to know this."
She felt her temper rise, like rising steam off of hot bathwater, "Yes, the future has changed. Because I'm not living through that again. Whoever Tom Riddle thinks he is, he's going down."
He looked a bit nervous at this, "Maybe we should make sure Rell really is our Harry."
"We should get DNA samples from him and Teddy then."
They both stilled at the idea of Teddy.
James shook his head, no, then said it out loud, very firmly, "No, no, if we so much as take a hair from Teddy's head Rell will kill us."
"Or get us expelled."
"But how are we going to get a sample from Harry? He's so, so-"
"Paranoid?" James offered, "At least now we know why."
A knock came at the door, and Lily ripped her hand back from James as her mum came into the room. "We have dinner ready, we made white rice, nothing heavy."
"We'll be right down, Mum, thanks."
"Thank you, Mrs. Evans."
Mum hesitated at the door, "You should know, Vernon is out here, Lily dear."
Lily groaned.
"Who's Vernon?" James asked.
"Vernon Dursley is my sister's fiancé," she said sourly.
A small smile curled his lips, "Is he that bad?"
"He's a pig," she said flatly.
James looked at her mum, "And you're letting him marry your daughter?"
"My daughters make their own choices," Mum said, resigned, closing the door behind her.
"We've all tried to talk Tuni out of it. She knows we all hate him. Dad's tried to scare him off, but the guy is thick, and I think the less we all like him the more determined she is to go through with it."
"How bad could he be?"
Lily set her mug down on the side table, "You can meet the Pig yourself."
Vernon was as bad as Lily said. And with all of them in their small dining room, Vernon Dursley seemed to take up too much space.
He kept scowling at his parents, himself, and Lily, as if they had leprosy or something.
Finally, he asked, "What's your problem?"
"James," his mother chided.
But Mr. Evans said coldly, "Mr. Dursley is afraid of magic."
"I'm not afraid," Vernon grumbled, but it looked like he wanted to say something worse.
"Oh, Lily," Mrs. Evans said, "That reminds me, Vernon is related to your Professor Peverell."
James felt his eyes go wide, "What!?"
"We are not related," Vernon bit out, "my parents fostered him after our neighbors were murdered. My parents saw it as the responsible thing to do, of course, Harry was always ungrateful. He was lazy and always causing trouble."
Lily bristled, "You don't know anything about him."
Vernon sneered, actually sneered at her, "I grew up with him, girl. He isn't a suave as he pretends to be."
"I heard Professor Peverell is the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher since Dumbledore himself taught the subject," James's mum said.
"He is," James said, "His classes are-" he cut himself off before he said 'insane.'
Lily coughed, "Practical, very practical but never boring."
"Has Remus become closer to him?" Dad asked him, "Or has it created problems to be the new professor's nephew."
James shook his head, "They have gotten closer but Remus has not been treated any differently. Professor Peverell is extremely fair, if he shows any sort of favouritism it is toward the Slytherins."
Lily snorted, "That's only because his mantra is survival, and Slytherins tend to be good at that."
James shrugged, "He also likes bold action."
"Harry Peverell is a menace to society," Vernon cut him off, "I don't know how anyone could possibly hire him to teach, much less enjoy his company."
Mrs. Evans snapped, "One might wonder the same of you."
"Mum!" Petunia exploded.
As the argument started, James leaned over to whisper to Lily, "Not so obvious."
Because if Vernon Dursley grew up with Harry in this timeline, then maybe time travel wasn't the answer.
Kingsley accompanied Narcissa to get a new wand at Ollivander's.
Mr. Ollivander was furious on her behalf for the stolen wand. "It was is one thing to lose a wand in a duel, quite another in an ambush."
"I killed a few of my attackers," she said blandly.
"Good," Ollivander said briskly as he all but stomped into his aisle to find another wand for her.
Kingsley shared an amused look with her.
Ollivander came out a moment later, "This one called to you last you came here, but the other called louder. Nonetheless, I think this wand is more suited to a young woman than a young girl."
The moment the wand was in her hand, it warmed and emerald, ruby, and white sparks emitted.
"This will do," she said, hiding how pleased she was. This wand was a dark brown, the handle smooth. It was long, elegant, but comparatively simple to her adorned Blackthorn wand.
"Cedar wand, 11 inches, dragon heartstring of a Chinese Firebolt. I find that those who favour Cedar wands have an uncommon strength of character and unusual loyalty. It is also a wand, well, it is quite useful for offensive magic."
She nodded, "Thank you." She paid and they exited the shop.
Kingsley was oddly quiet as they walked down the street. She needed to pick up supplies for Madame Pomfrey at the apothecary before they departed.
"What is it?" she demanded.
He stiffened, "Nothing."
"Kingsley."
He sighed, "Your sisters," he sighed again, "your sisters have something they would like to discuss with you."
"Do they?" she asked blandly, "And why should that upset you so?"
"I think Malfoy should be held at the courts. A lifetime sentence is-"
"Is escapable," she cut him off, "and I will not go through the slander. You put him on trial and he has at least a fifty-fifty chance of getting out. In the process, I will be made a laughing stock."
"Too my knowledge, Sirius is the only Black who has inspired laughter in anyone," Kingsley said drily.
"If Lucius's fate bothers you, you're are marrying into the wrong family."
He stopped, and as she was on his arm, she stopped as well. "What if this pushes Bella over the edge?"
Narcissa's heart softened a bit, "It won't."
"How can you know that?"
"Because we haven't asked a terrible thing of her, and Lucius attacked her family. Bella will be fine."
"The law-"
"The law is inefficient."
"But-"
She pulled back from him, "Do you realize what he could have done to me?"
He scowled, he was an Auror, of course, he knew. "You shouldn't have been alone."
"It was evening, the sun was still up. And yes, I admit, I should have been more cautious or apparated right in front of Ollivander's shop, but that isn't permission, that isn't an excuse for him attacking me. For attacking Harry."
Kingsley frowned, "Who is Harry?"
"Henry Peverell."
Understanding flashed across his expression, then he asked, "Will he press charges?"
"He would if I asked him to, but he was very blasé about the whole thing."
"Blasé? Who the hell is blasé about an assassination attempt?"
She said nothing. Narcissa was well and truly entangled with Mr. Peverell, but he had let a few things slip last night that had made her believe there was much more to learn about her lover.
"Be careful of him, Narcissa."
She patted Kingsley's arm, "If he betrays me, what I do to him will be far worse than the fate awaiting Malfoy."
"Don't give me details, please, what I don't know I can't lie about."
Lucius was tied to a chair in the basement of Grimmauld Place.
It was the first time Andromeda had been back her years, but Father hadn't said a word when he stepped back to let her in.
Apparently, an unconscious traitor of the family slung over ones shoulder was enough to buy entrance back into the Black family.
At least for the night.
Narcissa did not know what Andromeda and Bella, or her father for that matter, had done to Lucius. But by the time she saw him, he barely had enough strength to sit up in the chair, even with the ropes holding him.
He glared at her with bloodshot eyes as she entered. They stood in a triangle around him, so that he would have to turn his head to see each as they spoke, so that no matter where he kept his focus, he would always be blind to at least one of them.
He didn't seem to like that. He didn't seem to like that at all.
"You little whore, my Lor-" he roared with pain when Bella jabbed at his eye with her wand.
Which probably explained the bloodshot eyes.
He twisted in his seat, squeezing his eyes tight as both his eyes watered.
"Oh poor little Lucy, bug caught in your eye?" Narcissa cooed.
"We can cut them out if they are bothering you?" Andromeda offered kindly.
Bella let out a giddy laugh.
Narcissa stepped closer, pulling her wand to tilt his chin up. He looked up at her with fear, humiliation, and most of all rage. Rage as he tried to rebuild himself.
They couldn't have that.
Narcissa trailed her wand up to his hair line, and with a flick of her wand, a chunk of his fair hair fell to the ground like a ribbon.
His chaw tightened, and he glared at her, "It will grow back. A quick spell and everything you do to me-"
Narcissa laughed, "You think we are going to leave your mind in tact? Oh, my dear Luce, you will never be able to intelligibly be able to cast a spell again." She continued to chop away at his hair.
For a moment she thought he might crap himself, and he said with a thread of desperation, "Bella is marrying an Auror."
Bella put a hand on his newly bold head, "The Auror is marrying a Black." She licked up his jaw to the shell of his ear.
He flinched away from her as if he had been scalded.
"Would you like to know you're fate?" Narcissa asked, sitting across his lap, brushing his cut hair off his shoulders onto the floor.
He said nothing, so proud.
That would change.
Bella whispered in his ear, "We are going to take your memories from you, like you thought you could do to Cissa."
Panic crossed his expression, breaking that mask of arrogance, "I took less than an hour. I meant her no harm."
Narcissa undid his cravat, "Unfornutaly, Lucy, my darling, we cannot say the same."
Andromeda put her hands on his shoulders, and leaned in to whisper in his other ear, "We mean you harm."
"You know," Narcissa said flirtatiously, "As your fiancé, I have certain rights. I cannot, let's say, take gold from your vault, but I can direct funds to help you, help you if you find yourself in need of medical assistance."
"We can settle this in court, Narcissa," Lucius said, desperation ruffling his words.
"No, no, Lucius, no courts, you're going to disappear."
"My Lord will find me."
"Your Tom Riddle will find you in a muggle asylum, stripped of wealth, memory, power-" Andromeda said.
"-and sanity," Bella finished. "He won't save you. He'll leave you to rot. They all will. There's nothing St. Mungo's could do for you anyway."
Andromeda dug her nails into his shoulders, apparently hitting some tender parts because he gasped, "I found a nice little place, near a cow field in the United States of America in Southern Texas. I heard their ACs break down a lot, but I'm sure with your inheritance being donated, they will be able to get you your own unit."
"What is an AC?" Lucius asked, his voice higher than normal.
Narcissa patted his cheek, "The muggles will teach you."
Which is when he snapped, he began struggling, "Get off me! Get off me! You damned freaks!"
They laughed at him, and the tears that fell down his cheeks made them laugh harder.
They had won, and he knew there was no saving himself.
Narcissa stood, kicking his thighs apart and Andromeda held him in place so that he couldn't tip the chair.
Narcissa brought her heel done on his soft bits.
Lucius screamed.
They gave him time to feel the pain.
"I feel like this was too fast," Bella pouted.
"He doesn't deserve more time."
Andromeda pulled back Lucius's head, so he looked up at her, "Where is your Dark Lord?"
He whimpered.
"Tell us and we will let you go," she lied.
"Riddle Manor, a muggle town, Little Hangleton," he gasped, his words tripping over themselves.
"How many followers?" Narcissa asked.
"Thirteen Death Eaters, and about twenty others," he said quickly.
It was not enough to save him, no matter how corporative he was being.
"How many of them are still in school?" she asked.
"There were fifteen, now five, or maybe less. Peverell has made the Slytherins wary of commitment."
Narcissa felt a thrill of pride go through her.
Her Harry.
"And Riddle's Horcruxes?" Narcissa asked.
Andromeda and Bella looked at her sharply, even Lucius looked surprised.
"What are yo-" he began but then he seemed to connect something, "I don-"
Bella jabbed at his eye again.
He yelled at her wordlessly.
So she shot a stinging hex at his bruised junk.
His scream reached to a glass breaking volume.
"In the Malfoy Manor!" he yelled desperately, "Please, Merlin stop!"
"What is it?" Narcissa asked.
"A diary. He gave it to me, he told me to keep it safe on pain of death."
"Well, you will get to keep your life," Bella told him cheerfully.
"Is that all?" Narcissa asked.
"All I know?" he asked.
She lowered her brows, and he scrambled, "I didn't even know what it was! I don't know about any other possible Horcruxes! You're only supposed to be able to make one!"
"Is that all you can tell us?" Andromeda asked.
And Lucius sang for them.
He gave them everything.
And it was not enough to save him.
Bella Obliviated him, and she took everything. She whipped his mind clean and clear as a window.
Andromeda slid a one-way, one-use portkey in the shape the form of peacock feather into his breast pocket.
Lucius didn't try to stand as they undid the binding charm. He blinked into the darkness around him, blinked up at their lamp lit faces.
"You're beautiful," he said to them. Then he frowned, "Where am I? Who am I?"
"Lucy Smith," Andromeda said at once.
"Don't forget to ask the kind nurses about the ACs," Narcissa told him.
He looked at her earnestly, shifting to rub at his arms, "ACs? Why? What's so important about ACs? Where am I?"
"ACs are torture devices they use on criminals like you," Andromeda said seriously.
"Torture?" he asked worriedly.
"Like this," Bella sang, then kicked him where it counts.
He screamed, and Narcissa snapped her fingers after Bella removed her heel, activating the portkey that whisked him out of the country.
Bella sat in the chair, "That was fun."
"How soon do you think it will take his Dark Lord to find him?" Andromeda asked, bending to hug Bella from behind.
"Does it matter?" she asked, "you know he will just leave him there. And even if his father was freed from his sentence, the head of the Malfoy family isn't going to admit his only child, his only male heir is ruined."
Bella patted Andromeda's arms, "I'm just glad our father welcomed you home, you can be my maid of honour without having to keep it secret to the day now."
Andromeda hugged her tighter, she was the middle child, but in a way, Andromeda would always be the protective older sister. She looked up at Narcissa, "So when are you bringing this Mr. Peverell over for supper?"
Harry arrived at the Lupins not long after Narcissa departed his rooms. They had lunch in bed.
It had been… very fun.
He was freshly showered and smiling when Hope opened the door and Teddy came running at him.
Harry scooped him up and Teddy clung to him. "Daddy!"
"Hey, my little man, how was your night with the Lupins?"
Teddy clung to him a little tighter, "Uncle Lye told me a story about Sunny Bodler."
"Sunny Baudelaire?" Harry asked, turning a glare on Lyall, "You read a three year old stories from Lemony Snicket?"
Looking a bit sheepish, Lyall shook his head, "No, I simply told him the story of a little girl with a penchant for chewing."
"She has magic teeth," Teddy told Harry.
Harry sighed, "Yes, I suppose she does." He sat down at the table where Teddy had been colouring pictures.
Hope set a cup of tea down for Harry, and he asked, "How's Remus?"
She made a face, "As well as can be expected. James's parents sent a letter this morning. He is safe and appears completely well. Though they had to take him to the Evans house, he was extremely worried about Ms. Lily Evans."
Harry was left wondering if they had seen a version of what he had. And not just seen but lived. Which for Lily and James, might be far more traumatic given they were both teenagers.
Lyall patted his shoulder, "They are going to make it through this, your worry won't do them much good."
Harry smiled at the man. It was so strange, to go from having no family to having all these strings tying him to all these different people.
"Hi Uncle Rell," Remus said morosely as he came into the room.
"Go ahead and call me Harry," he said, "everyone is now."
Lyall looked at him oddly, "Why the change?"
Harry kissed the side of Teddy's head, "I went from having no family to having more people in my life than I could possibly imagine. Family calls me Harry."
Lyall smile lit up his eyes, "I am honoured you consider us such."
"James said in his letter that your cousin Vernon was awful," Remus said.
"My foster family is awful."
"But they must like Teddy?" Hope said.
"I don't think they knew Teddy existed, and if they knew I got married, it wasn't I who told them."
"They can't be that bad," Remus said, "Muggles aren't evil."
"The general populous of muggles, no," Harry agreed, "but the Dursleys, well, they make for good candidates for the description."
Teddy tapped at Harry's hand, "Daddy owwy?"
Harry tapped Teddy's hand back, "It's healing, I met an angry snake."
"A nope rope?"
"A nope rope," Harry agreed.
"Nope rope?" Remus asked, confused.
And then they chorused, "Nope ropes, the important thing to note is no step on no nope ropes because no nope rope likes to be stepped on or else you know why nope ropes are called nope, nope ropes!"
Teddy was pretty advanced for his age group, partially because Harry read him a lot of stories and partly because he got Teddy to 'read' the stories back to him. Which was more memorizing than understanding the words on the page.
Remus looked at him oddly.
Teddy answered that look, "No step on snek."
Lyall and Hope laughed.
"How is Rosie?" Teddy asked.
Harry hissed, and Rosie the black and white Kingsnake unwound from her hidden perch on Harry's shoulder to coil gently on Teddy's shoulders.
Rosie main desire most days was to sleep and eat. Mainly sleep, though she did like to soak in warm water.
"You carry a snake around with you always?" Remus remarked, "Guess you really are a Slytherin."
"Rosie is my familiar."
"Who names a snake Rosie?"
"Who names a werewolf Lupin?" Rosie hissed, "A little on the nose, is it not?"
Harry suppressed a chuckle.
And then Lyall said something that completely stripped away Harry's good mood.
"Harry," he said, "I think Teddy might need a check up at St. Mungo's."
His hands immediately went to his son, "What's wrong?"
Teddy put down his crayon and hugged Rosie to him, "I'm okay, Daddy."
Harry turned him in his lap, looking for anything, the dilation of his eyes, every inch of exposed skin. He felt his forehead for a temperature, and then he pulled his Holly wand to run a diagnose spell.
"It's his hearing," Lyall said.
"His hearing?" Harry echoed, "Teddy's hearing is incredible. Teddy, what happened?"
"His hearing is too good," Lyall said, "he said loud noises hurt him."
A million little things and incidents ran through Harry's mind, and he was so incredibly angry with himself for not putting it together. "Teddy, is that true, do loud noises hurt you?"
Teddy nodded, looking guilty.
Harry had to work to calm his tone, he was mad at himself, not Teddy, but he had to ask, "Why didn't you tell me, Teddy? You know you can tell me anything."
Teddy dipped his head, and he muttered, "You're not loud."
Harry sighed, and hugged his son to him, Rosie rested her head on Teddy's heart. He asked Lyall, "How do I schedule an appointment a St. Mungo's?"
Hope laughed, "You just show up. St. Mungo's really isn't organized enough for planned visits."
"Are you okay to leave now, Teddy?"
Teddy nodded into Harry's chest.
Harry stood, and said to Lyall, "Thank you." Before he disapparated.
Harry wished he had brought Teddy's crayons and colouring book with them because as their issue wasn't strictly an emergency the ended being stuck in the waiting room for hours.
They resorted to playing a thousand questions with Rosie, who after the hundredth question over detailed about the rat she once caught herself only for a pet store owner to chastise her for it, did the Kingsnake start sighing.
Teddy began shifting his hair an eye colour to match Rosie, then started shifting to match every person in the waiting room.
Most people who entered looked at them like they were crazy, some dude talking to a snake with a metemorphmegus son asking him to translate back and forth to the snake as he changed colours.
At least no one accused them of being boring.
Finally, a mediwitch called them in to a room to be seen, where they had to wait fifteen minutes longer for a medi-wizard to come in.
Harry recognized him instantly.
Ted Tonks.
He felt his heart race, as the friendly man smiled at him.
And as real as Naomi was to Harry now, was as real as Andromeda and Nymphadora had been.
Ted Tonks, Teddy's namesake and grandfather. Ted Tonks, the man's whose death along with Nymphadora had driven Andromeda to take her own life.
Leaving Harry utterly alone with a baby in a world divided by war.
"So sorry for the long wait, Professor Peverell. I am Ted Tonks, I am most skilled in treating patients who come in contact with the Dark Arts or cursed objects, but all mediwitches and mediwizards are trained to do basic check ups. Also, my daughter is a metamorphmegus so they thought I would be useful to you."
Harry nodded, "Teddy is healthy, but loud noises and voices are causing him trouble."
"Ah, sensitive hearing," Ted said kindly, speaking to Teddy, "Well, little man can you sit up straight for me?"
Teddy looked at Ted with wide, wide eyes. Harry had, of course, told Teddy stories of his grandfather, and Harry wasn't quite sure what lie he could spin, but instead of saying anything, Teddy held his arms out to the other man.
Ted smiled delightedly, pulling the boy into a hug, before setting him beside Harry on the bench seat. "Thank you for the hug, son. Can you tell me how long things have been too loud?"
"Anybody can be loud," he informed his grandfather, "or loud things can happen."
"Can you remember when things weren't loud?" Ted asked as he tapped Teddy's knees, before running a much more advanced series of diagnoses charms that Harry was now determined to learn.
"Daddy isn't loud."
Ted nodded, then he looked up at Harry, "Has he ever had balance issues? Hand and eye coordination delays?"
"No," Harry said, "Teddy has always been extremely graceful, and the older he gets the more active. He learned how to walk quite quickly. His crawling phase was quite short to what the range most child care books described."
"Interesting," Ted said, frowning as he shinned a lit wand into Teddy's eyes, "Look at the light for me, Teddy."
"It's bright," Teddy complained trying to pull back and hide against Harry's side.
"Does sunlight and bright room lights bother you? Like things being too loud?"
Teddy shook his head, "Lights are supposed to be bright, it's not like people being loud."
"Do you see well in the dark?"
Teddy nodded, "Unless it's really, really dark. I'm not afraid of the dark." He said the last with an upraised chin, his eyes flashing emerald.
"And your shifting ability, can you change your hair and eye colour to anything you want?"
"And length!" Teddy told him, "I can also change my skin colour." He held out his tiny arms and they turned black and white like Rosie, then green, then blue, then violet.
"What about your height, and facial features, like you're nose?"
Teddy shifty his nose into a clown's nose, then wiggled his fingers until they looked like they were double jointed. He couldn't hold it for long, but it was extraordinary for someone his age.
Ted hmmed.
"What?" Harry asked, clearly the man had spotted something.
"Well, for starters, Teddy should not be so well coordinated. Metamorphmegi are infamous for their balance issues. And your son is clearly a powerful metamorphmegus. The lack of physical coordination is the result of unstable forms, and extra growing as well as the extra energy needed to shift."
"I eat a lot," Teddy said.
Ted looked at Harry, who answered, "Probably double or triple what his peers in his age group eat. His metabolism is very fast."
Ted pulled an ear scope out of his robe pocket, "Teddy, can you let me look into your ears please, it might tickle, but I promise it won't hurt."
Teddy consented and clung to Harry's hand as he sat very still.
"Deep breaths for me, Teddy, no need to hold your breath."
Teddy let out a gasp and sucked in another breath like a fish.
Ted was finished in a minute and he pulled out a thumb stick in his hand.
Harry narrowed his eyes, "What do you think the issue is, Doc?"
Ted chuckled, "I know I'm a healer, but I appreciate the title. Naomi Lupin was your wife, correct?"
Harry nodded as Teddy said, "My mum."
"I have a suspicion, but I would like to run a few tests first. We have Naomi's samples," Ted pulled a second stick, "Might I have yours as well?"
Harry nodded, and wondered what they hell would turn up in those tests. The goblins had assured him that Teddy was his, and no matter what timeline/universe, Teddy was a Lupin.
Though, would maternal or paternal make a difference?
"This is going to prick your finger, it hurts only a little."
"Like a snake kiss," Rosie reassured from her master's shoulder where she had resettled herself.
Harry didn't pass along that reassurement.
But Teddy was very brave, he held out his hand to his grandfather, and jumped only a little at the prick.
Harry hardly felt it, his pain tolerance was such that short of a knee to the groin or the Torture Curse, he could probably handle it. Probably.
"I'll be back shortly."
When Ted left Teddy asked, "Is Doctor Ted, grandpa Ted?"
Harry pulled him into a hug. Harry couldn't lie to him, though he didn't really know anymore what the truth was, "Yes, but it is okay just to call him Ted."
"He didn't recognize me."
"This is the first time he's met you."
"Is Grandma Andy dead?"
"No," Harry said, heart clenching. And as well as they had done here, a part of him hated the time travel. Hated having to lie about it. Or in this case, possibly explaining it.
How does one explain the unexplainable?
"Why hasn't she come to see me? Doesn't she love me?"
Harry wondered when Teddy had become so much more- intelligent didn't seem the right word, he had always been smart for his age. Advanced, seemed right. But then, if like Harry, he had twice the memories, maybe it was like Harry's magic. Two life times of memories, two life times' worth of studying, at Hogwarts, at the muggle school. Years of war, years of being a librarian. Not older, per say, but more. Maybe it was the same for Teddy.
Double the family time, double the running and playing memories, double the number of hours of reading and reciting rhymes.
"Of course she loves you, but the magic did something weird to us all, Teddy."
"Weird?" Teddy asked.
"Do you know who Nymphadora is?" Harry asked.
Teddy's smile was brilliant, "She's the girl in my dreams, she's my best friend!"
Harry blinked, "What dreams?"
"When I'm sleeping. She's like me, but she falls over a lot and she's a girl. We're friends and Grandma Andy is her mum."
Harry had a headache, and if he ever died for real one day, he was going to find Ignotus Peverell and beat the crap out of him.
"Ted is Nymphadora's dad."
"Oh," Teddy said, then frowned at his hands. "But he's not Mum's dad?"
"He's not Naomi's dad, no."
"Oh," Teddy said again, looking confused. "Then who are my grandparents?"
Harry wasn't sure how to answer that one and was saved by Ted coming in with a mediwitch.
Harry could tell something was wrong but the strained smile on Ted's face, "Mr. Peverell, might I speak with you a minute. Ms. Greengrass can wait with your son out in the waiting room, if that is acceptable."
Harry stood and helped Teddy down to his feet. He knelt before his son, "Stay in the waiting room, don't go anywhere with anyone. We will get dinner after this, alright?"
Teddy nodded, and Harry looped Rosie over his head. Harry glared at the mediwitch, "Do not take him anywhere. Do not leave that waiting room."
"Nothing is going to happen to him," Ted assured him.
But the mediwitch said, "What if he has to use the restroom?"
Harry looked at his son, "Do you have to use the restroom?"
"No," he said.
Harry looked back at the witch, "Then he can wait. If he isn't that room sitting beside you, I will be holding you responsible."
She frowned up at him, "It's a hospital, sir. No one gets attacked in a hospital."
Harry smiled at her, and it was his smile that Hermione had called the sign that he had a few loose screws, "I am the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. I do not know you, I do not trust you. You will sit in that room you say you will be in or you will return my son to me."
Her expression turned dark. "Or what?"
His smile grew, "Or I will make Albus Dumbledore look like a charlatan."
She paled, took Teddy's hand, saying, "Hey little Peverell, why don't you tell me about your pet snake?"
"Her name is Rosie," Teddy told her primly.
When the door shut behind them, Ted asked, "Are you always that protective?"
He shrugged, "Someone tried assassinating me last night, you can never be too careful."
Ted nodded, probably having heard the story already, or at least enough of it to suspect. "To get to the chase, Mr. Peverell, your son has lycanthropy."
Harry saw spots for a moment, as he thought of the pain his son would go through during transformations.
"I personally did the tests so this information stays confidential."
Harry swallowed, and he asked, "When is he likely to shift?"
"Assuming by that question, he has never shifted before, possibly never. Naomi also tested positive for lycanthropy, but she did not shift to my knowledge either."
Harry confirmed as much, "It's hereditary?"
"It appears so, but I do not believe it is contagious. All the same, I urge you to treat open wounds seriously and never let Teddy give blood or bleed onto another person."
"Of course," Harry said, "Is he-"
"Alright?" Ted cut him off, "Quite so, the advanced hearing, balance, appetite, and vision seems to be the only markers that the gene did indeed pass on. It is possible that he might deal with heightened aggression as he gets older, and I urge you to keep an extra close eye on him during puberty, but I have no serious concerns for him. I've also treated Mr. Remus Lupin when he came in after his attack. He and Lyall Lupin will probably be able to tell you any more secondary problems outside of the change itself that might be possible."
Harry sighed, knowing at some point this would come out and effect Teddy. Stupid wizarding world and its prejudices. "Was there anything in my blood work that-"
"No, no, your son seems to inherited nothing but the best, though-"
"Though what?" Harry demanded.
Teddy flipped over the paper he was holding, it looked more confusing than the charts muggles use. All lines and dots and slashes. It looked almost like two Jackson Pollock paintings.
"See this," he pointed at blob on the shorter chart, "This is where our genetic magical abilities tend to show up. Metamorphmegus is here-" blob, "and the lycanthropy is here." He pulled another chart, "This is Remus's chart, that I shouldn't show you, but I doubt you understand most of what these shapes mean anyway. Do you see how the lycanthropy is more tightly tied to Teddy's genetics, more natural, and it almost overlaps with the metamorphmegus ability." He pulled yet another chart that Harry could sort of understand was missing the werewolf blob, "And this is Nymphadora's chart, so you can see the metemorphmegus ability."
Harry looked between the charts, and he could hardly tell any of them apart, he asked casually, "How, er, how can you tell who's related to who from these?"
"Oh, that's easy," Ted walked over to the bench and spread out the charts. "Here, you can clearly see that you are Teddy's father, and Naomi Lupin his mother. The waves ripple in the same parts and alternate accordingly." Ted said with a smile, "And here is something else I wanted to show you, see that there, I think that's your parselmouth ability. I know that because I study the Dark Arts effects on the human body, and while not exactly Dark Arts, it is a type of wild magic, Teddy is still very young, but see here, between the ages of ten and twelve he might inherit your gift. He doesn't quite have the ability to channel as much magic as you, but again, he is still quite young."
"You can tell how much magic someone can channel from a drop of blood?"
Ted smiled, "The whole pureblood mania isn't just propaganda, I'm afraid. Though, I've been studying these charts for years and I haven't noticed a significant difference between muggleborns and purebloods, only that magical lines can inherit powers."
Harry was amazed, and kind of awed that he really was related to Teddy. Teddy was Naomi and his son. Which made him wonder if his other life had been the fake one.
"And this," Ted was saying, "you can see that Naomi and Remus are related but not parent and child, while-" he cut himself off, staring down at the maps in astonishment.
"What?" Harry asked, hoping like hell that Ted wasn't about to say what Ted was about to say next.
"This is impossible." Ted moved Teddy's map between his and Naomi's maps to between Remus's and Nymphadora's.
Teddy's map didn't change, but in the way of an optical illusion, the similarities and patterns were remininsant of both sets of parents.
Ted moved the Teddy's map back and forth between them, "Um?"
"Ted?" Harry asked.
But Ted wasn't paying attention, he started flipping the maps upside down, "How? What-?"
"Ted?"
Ted looked almost frantic, "This can't be possible. How can he be directly related to four-"
Ted opened his notebook, and Harry saw the names of Remus and Nymphadora. The charts he pulled out where Lyall's, Hope's, Ted's, and Andromeda's.
"He isn't your grandchild," Ted said to himself, tracing the lines and blotches with his fingers. "But he is my grandchild and Lyall's?"
Harry put a hand on Ted's shoulder, and he jumped, charts going everywhere. Harry waved his free hand and the papers righted themselves.
Ted looked at the sheet left on the top, "Um, I don't know how to explain this, but according to you're son's chart, he has four parents."
Harry, who had been half expecting this and was almost positive his own chart would look just as strange with Potters and the Evans's chart, said, "But he is my son, and Naomi's, correct?"
"Yes?" Ted said uncertainly, frowning down at the paper, before shaking himself, "Yes. My daughter is the same age as your son, genetic anomalies happen. Are you related to the Blacks by chance?"
"I am, though distantly, I think. My parents died when I was very young, so I have no way to be sure."
Ted nodded, "Ah, that might be it, and, um, are you a pureblood?"
"No, half-blood."
Ted's smile was uneasy, but Harry could see him rationalizing a solution, "Then I guess I and your muggle relatives must have a tie, that must be it. And Hope is a pureblood or half-blood, she's- well, she's-"
Harry asked, "How closely am I related to your wife? She's a Black too, correct?"
"Oh," Ted said, "Um, I shouldn't but, well, Dromeda will forgive me." He pulled his and her chart back out, "Not close, third or second cousins at the absolute closest. Oddly, Teddy's chart looks closer, but then the Lupins are purebloods too."
Harry sighed a breath of relief, not that anything short of siblings could have made him regret last night, it was still nice to know that Narcissa and he were not inbreeding. At least, not overtly so.
"So, about Teddy's hearing problem?"
"Ah yes," Ted pulled a strip of paper from his pocket, "This is an order you need to give to a metal smith who charms hearing aids. Unfornutaly, it's closed for the day, but they'll be able to charm hearing pieces that will prevent a max volume barrier. Teddy's hearing will still be far above average, but loud noises will be toned down to tolerable levels. You might have to go back for adjustments, but they are perfectly safe unless, you know, he swallows them."
"Teddy does not put random objects in his mouth."
Ted smiled, "That's good to hear, as for his light sensitivity, just make sure he has sunglasses on bright days, even overcast days might strain his vision causing headaches.
Harry nodded. "Thank you, Doctor Tonks."
Ted's smile was infectious, "Well, you're my last patient of the day. Can I tempt you to accompany me for dinner at my home? I know my wife is eager to meet you." His smile turned to a sly grin, telling Harry he had known exactly why Harry had wanted to know how closely related he was to Andromeda, "As would my sister in laws."
Harry grinned back as they walked out into the waiting room, where Teddy ran at him, "We would be delighted."
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