Fic: War Wounds, Part Seven
Title: War Wounds, Part 7 Rating: PG-13 for pre-slash and concepts Summary: two war casualties meet in St. Mungo's. Can they aid each other while the rest of the world goes on its way? Note: this is DH-compatible. The other parts can be found here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6. Sorry to end this one on a cliff-hanger, but I promise that all be resolved next time.
Excerpt from wireless service report, 30 November.
WAR HERO RECLAIMS SON; "I'M SO GLAD TO HAVE HIM HOME," SAYS LUPIN
London - In a heartwarming development, war hero Remus Lupin was awarded custody of his son, Teddy, after an emotional day of testimony before the Wizengamot. Mr. Lupin's mother-in-law, Andromeda Black-Tonks, had taken care of the infant during Mr. Lupin's convalescence from wounds suffered at the Battle of Hogwarts, and then had petitioned for full and permanent custody.
"I'm thrilled to have him back," said Mr. Lupin. He works for a bookstore in Halifax and lodges with Order of Merlin (third class) recipient Severus Snape. "I can't believe how much he's grown! I'm so very grateful to the Wizengamot for giving me the chance to raise my son. I'm sure that's what my wife would have wanted."
Mrs. Black-Tonks had no comment for the press -
Excerpt from letter to Severus Snape from Narcissa Malfoy
…please tell me the brat isn't another werewolf. If he is, please know that you'll always have a place here. I told Andromeda that she never should have married that Muggle, and look what happened - "
Reply from Severus Snape to Narcissa Malfoy. The letter is written in a very shaky, very spiky hand.
Narcissa:
Lupin has been critical to my recovery, such as it is, and I am more than capable of handling a babe in arms. The child is assuredly not a werewolf, even if his abrupt changes of coloring are disconcerting -
"Ooo, he's so cute!" Sarah smiled and tickled Teddy's nose. He cackled and grabbed at her fingers. "Why didn't you tell us you had a little boy? He's adorable!"
"It's a long story," said Remus. He smiled as she gently stroked the wisps that passed for Teddy's hair. "Thanks for letting me have the time off for court."
"Oh, no problem! I can't imagine what it must have been like, not seeing him for so long. He's lovely." She gave Teddy a chuck under the chin and handed him back to Remus. "Here, it's getting late, you should be home before it's too cold. Thanks awfully for bringing him by!"
"You're welcome." Remus still fumbled a bit dressing an infant for winter, but he was getting more confident by the day. "See you tomorrow!"
Teddy squealed and grabbed at a snowflake as they started for home. It was nothing more than flurries now, but the weather reports predicted an inch or two by morning. Severus had grumbled and insisted on casting no-slip charms on the front and back steps "so you don't kill yourself and the boy." Remus had been worried more about Severus taking a tumble on the way to his cousin's Sunday dinner, but given the way his family took care of him, there was probably nothing to worry about.
There was a light on in the kitchen, and Remus knew without asking that there would be tea, biscuits, and a warmed-up bottle of formula waiting on the scarred old table. Maybe he does care. At least we'll have Christmas here before he gets tired of us.
It had been surprisingly easy to reclaim Teddy. Andromeda's solicitor hadn't made more than a token protest when Remus casually mentioned that he was a personal friend of the Minister, and Mrs. Martingale had pulled strings to have the usual home visit waived since she was familiar with Spinner's End. Teddy had shrieked when the Friendly Visitor handed him over, but five minutes in Remus' arms had evidently triggered some memory of safety. He'd fallen asleep in the baby sling Mrs. Martingale had provided, much to the Friendly Visitor's amusement.
Now Teddy slept in a cot by Remus' bed every night, and watched from his playpen or high chair while Remus cooked or tended to Severus. Miss Gideon's Squib cousin ran a small, Ministry-certified creche in York, so Teddy would start at day care after the holidays while Remus worked at the bookstore. One might almost call it a happy ending.
Almost. Remus could see Dora in the child, of course, especially when his hair changed color. But where was Charlie Weasley? There was no trace of freckles, or ginger hair, or Charlie's sturdy, muscular build. If anything, Teddy resembled Remus' long-dead mother, who had been fair and fine-boned. Normally he would have put it down to Wizards being ridiculously inbred, but both his mother and Dora's father had been Muggleborns, which meant fresh blood.
Was it merely his imagination desperately trying to see something of himself in the child? And what would it mean as Teddy grew older?
Most of all, what would it mean to the wolf? He'd reclaimed Teddy after the December moon, but the January moon was on New Year's itself. How would the wolf react to the child as the change neared? And who would look after Teddy? It wasn't fair for him to ask his friends to babysit on a holiday while Moony roamed, and where else could he leave him? Severus couldn't watch an infant overnight, that is if he didn't finally accept a Malfoy invitation and go to the Manor for the holiday -
Teddy babbled happily as Remus stepped into the house and began unpeeling the layers of clothing every expert insisted an infant needed for warmth and good health in the winter. Remus gave the boy a light kiss on the cheek.
"I missed you, Teddy," he murmured. "I hope you missed me."
"Training him to be a sentimentalist already, I see." Severus, leaning on his cane, stood in the doorway to the kitchen. "I assume your co-workers fawned over him in the traditional fashion?"
"Of course, and why not? He's a beautiful baby, aren't you?" Remus chuckled as Teddy, free from the restraining charm, immediately turned his hair acid green. "One would think you, of all people, would think that tradition - "
"I spent two years complimenting Draco Malfoy despite the fact that he bore an unfortunate resemblance to an albino frog until his hair came in," said Severus. "Teddy is, at least, attractive enough to merit the praise, appalling color sense notwithstanding."
"I'm not sure he quite grasps the concept of color yet," said Remus. He settled Teddy in his high chair and sank into what had become his place at the table. "He's barely eight months old."
"One hopes he isn't color blind." Severus eased into his own seat. "Given his abilities, the results could be - "
"Blinding," said Remus. He fixed a cup of tea the way Severus liked it before pouring his own cup. "Then again, he hasn't changed much beyond his hair yet. Dora could alter anything, any time. Eyes, skin, hair, features, height, weight except when she was pregnant, gender - "
Severus set down his cup and stared so hard that Remus nearly choked. "Gender? You're joking."
"That I am not." Remus dabbed at his lips with a paper napkin. "I never saw her do it for more than a few minutes, but she could flatten her chest and, um, extrude - "
"The illusion of male genitalia? Fascinating." Severus rubbed his chin. "That must have been useful for the Corps. The ultimate undercover agent."
"So one would think," said Remus. Teddy banged a tiny fist on the tray of his chair and made a ba ba ba sound. He summoned the bottle resting on the counter, checked its temperature against his wrist, and carefully placed it in his son's hands. "Actually, she was barely used in covert operations. Kingsley and the younger Aurors were fine with it, but Moody's successor didn't believe in women doing field work. He forced at least three agents in Dora's class to retire or go into administration."
Severus snorted. "Pucey, wasn't it? Imbecile. I tutored Nymphadora for her Defense and Potions NEWTs. She deserved better than that, for all her flaws."
It was rare for Severus to say something good about Dora, even now. Remus set down his teacup and stared. "I'm glad you agree. She never stopped thinking she should have been sent to the Muggle PM instead of Kingsley - said a female secretary would have blended in a lot better."
"She was right. Then again, wasting talent is not unusual at the Ministry." Severus stared into the depths of his tea. "She could change her gender? Fascinating. That must have - "
"I'd rather not discuss that part of our lives," said Remus, a bit too loudly. "It was more a - novelty. A joke sometimes. It made good camouflage when she had to go outside until she was too big to disguise it."
The sugar bowl floated over to Severus as he poured himself a second cuppa. Teddy leaned forward to grab the tempting new toy, then began to wail as it manuevered its way past him. Severus tapped one tiny hand with a shaking finger. "None of that, young man. You're far too young for tea."
"Give him time. He's British, after all." Remus couldn't help smiling as Teddy blew a spit bubble in Severus' general direction and started in on his bottle again. He was a happy child, and Remus would do everything he could to make sure Teddy stayed that way. As long as he could find someone to babysit during the full moons, it would all work out.
Of course the Ministry was throwing a massive New Year's party to celebrate the great victory. And of course everyone who had offered to watch Teddy "any time, just ask," was invited.
Remus binned the polite note from Molly Weasley that sent to tell him that she was planning to attend "Harry's party," and thus was unavailable. For all that she'd spent the better part of a year shoving him at Dora, she'd barely spoken to him since the battle, and hadn't once visited Teddy, either during his months with Andromeda or now that he was home. Remus was almost tempted to tell her that Teddy was her biological grandson, but what good would that do? She wouldn't chuck her plans to tend her son's baby without proof, and that would mean trashing Dora's reputation over a party.
Molly. He crossed her name off his list and capped the inkwell. She was the last Wizarding possibility unless he begged an elf from Minerva, and he doubted that Minerva had any to spare. He could always ask one of his coworkers to watch the baby, but what if the morphing-suppression charm failed?
He put his head in his hands and squeezed his eyes shut against the building migraine. What the hell was he going to do?