The Skeletons in Teddy Lupin's Closet

A/N: Welcome to Teddy's second year at Hogwarts! The Skeletons in Teddy Lupin's Closet is a sequel to The Escapades of Teddy Lupin, and references characters and events introduced in the latter. While the story may be able to stand up on it's own, I recommend you to read TEoTL first.

Awards: The Escapades of Teddy Lupin won the 2014 Hallows Award in Best Multichapter, Best Next-Generation Era & Best OC for Alfie Hayes, and was also nominated in the Best OC category for Ella Anderson. It has also been nominated for the Best Fanon Multichapter and Best OC (Alfie Hayes) in the 2015 Fan-Picked Fanfiction Awards.

Chapter One: Smoke (Chain)

Teddy Lupin had never liked travelling by the Floo network. It was jerky and nauseating, and Side-Along Apparation was far more convenient. But today, he was willing to make an exception.

As he stumbled out of the fireplace at Diagon Alley, he dusted himself off and looked eagerly around. The Alley was bustling, as it always was at this time of the year. Hogwarts letters had arrived a week earlier and the street was filled with young witches and wizards buying books, equipment and supplies that they would need for a new year at school. Teddy was to be starting his second year at Hogwarts, and while he'd bought most of his school things last year, there were still a few textbooks and Potions supplies that he needed to pick up.

And yet, it wasn't the shopping that he was most excited for. Today, he was to be meeting his best friends from Hogwarts, Ella Anderson and Alfie Hayes, in the Alley, and after doing their shopping together, they would be coming to stay with Teddy and his grandmother at their little cottage in Godric's Hollow. His childhood best friend, Victoire Weasley, who was to be starting at Hogwarts this year, would also be coming.

His grandmother, Andromeda Tonks, stepped out of the fireplace. She was wearing fine black robes that—somehow—weren't covered in soot. She stood up and brushed herself off, looking completely unfazed by the wild journey. "Now, where did you say we were meeting your friends, Teddy?"

"By the ice cream parlour," Teddy replied.

Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour wasn't too far away, but Teddy practically ran towards it, only stopping when his grandmother reprimanded him by saying that he was leaving her too far behind. He couldn't wait to see his friends—he'd kept in steady contact with them throughout the summer, sending letters via Gran's owl, Amaryllis, and Ella's owl, Athena. But it had been months since he'd seen them in person.

He was terribly disappointed, then, when although the parlour was bustling with activity, his friends were nowhere in sight.

"Fleur did say that she'd be a little late with Victoire," his grandmother tried to reassure him. "And I'm sure Ella and Alfie will be here soon."

"Yeah," Teddy said, although his excitement was completely dashed.

He glanced around the nearby shops, trying to see if he'd missed them, or if they were hiding from him. The doorbell of Quality Quidditch Supplies jangled slightly as the door opened and a family, a mother, father and a twelve-year old boy, walked out, carrying a small trunk behind them. The boy had light brown hair, bright green eyes, and was dressed in Muggle clothing. Teddy recognized him instantly.

"Alfie!" he yelled, waving frantically.

Alfie spotted Teddy and his entire face lit up. The two boys ran towards each other and hugged, talking over each other in excitement.

"It's so good to see you!"

"How've you been?"

"I can't believe it's been so long!"

"Have you grown?"

"Ahem." Alfie's father, a large man in a suit, cleared his throat. Alfie's mother, a smaller, yet kind-faced woman, stood next to him. Teddy looked up at Mr. Hayes and smiled.

"Good morning, Professor, ma'am. I hope you're well." Alfie was a Muggleborn, the son of an Oxford professor and a housewife. He'd met Teddy at Flourish and Blotts the previous year, and after they'd both been Sorted into Hufflepuff, they had become fast friends.

Alfie greeted Teddy's grandmother and then the two boys left the adults to chat amongst themselves while they waited for Ella and Victoire. Alfie's parents, as it turned out, were to accompany them on their shopping trip. "They didn't trust me alone with that much money," Alfie grumbled. "They thought I'd spend it all on Quidditch supplies."

"Are you thinking of trying out for the team this year?" Teddy asked.

"Yeah, why not? I mean, I doubt they'd take me, but it'd be pretty great to be in the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team."

"It would," Teddy agreed.

"So, where are the girls?" Alfie asked, glancing around.

"Vic's going to be a bit late," Teddy said. "Ella should be here soon, I guess."

"Do you think she'll bring her parents too?" Ella's parents were a great source of mystery to Teddy and Alfie. They were fashion designers who ran a very successful Muggle clothing brand, but Teddy and Alfie had never met them; Ella had always been picked up from King's Cross Station by her chauffeur. They didn't even know whether they were Muggles or Wizards; Teddy figured that Ella was a half-blood, but he couldn't be sure.

"I have no idea," Teddy said thoughtfully. "I wonder where she is."

As if on cue, a voice called out to them from a few metres away. "Teddy! Alfie!"

A petite girl with black hair, huge brown eyes and creamy brown skin was running towards them, waving. She was wearing new glasses, a Ravenclaw scarf, and was carrying a fairly large black handbag. A taller, Indian man was following her: his beard was greying and he was wearing a suit. Teddy wondered whether he was Ella's father—her ethnicity was, after all, partly Indian.

"Ella!" Alfie exclaimed. She had reached them before they could run towards her, and she enveloped them in a massive hug.

"I'm sorry I'm so late!" she said. "I had to stop at Gringotts first—my parents don't let me withdraw from my bank account by myself. Rajiv bhaiya* had to help me."

"Rajiv bai-ya?" Alfie said, his eyebrows crinkling as he looked up at the tall, Indian man. "I thought he was your father!"

Ella laughed. "No, silly, my dad's from London. Rajiv bhaiya is my butler, of sorts."

The man inclined his head. "Pleased to meet you." He had a slight Indian accent. "I have heard much about you from little Pari – Ella—all good things, of course."

The boys greeted him and Ella went bright red. She greeted Alfie's parents and Teddy's grandmother, who received both her and her butler with great interest.

"Will you be coming shopping with us as well?" Teddy's grandmother asked Rajiv bhaiya. "You're more than welcome to."

"Unfortunately not," he replied. "Thank you for the invitation, but I was only to bring Pari and help her withdraw the money. I shall take my leave, now."

Teddy turned to Ella and whispered, "I didn't know you had a butler."

She shrugged. "He's been with my family since before I was born."

"I thought your parents were going to come with you."

"They were busy," she mumbled, bristling slightly. "Plus, I'm more than capable of doing my own shopping. They were only worried that I'd spend too much money on books. They don't need to worry though—the Hogwarts library has everything that I could possibly want."

"Yeah, as long as you don't go into the Restricted Section," Alfie teased, coming up to the trio. He lowered his voice slightly. "I hope nothing like what happened last year happens again."

"Yeah, you and me both," said Teddy quickly. The previous year, the three of them had managed to get tricked by a seventh-year student, Ralph Lewis, and his friends into stealing a book from the Restricted Section. Although Ralph had claimed that the book was completely innocent, they'd soon found that it contained dark magic and had managed to take it back. Ralph found out and ended up attacking Teddy, landing him in the hospital wing. Teddy still hadn't told anyone but Alfie and Ella that it had been Ralph; he had threatened to hurt all three of them if Teddy spilled the truth to anyone.

"Have you told any—"

"No," Teddy cut him off quickly. Ralph and two of his friends had graduated the previous year, leaving only Andrew Averdeen, a current seventh-year behind. Even though they were long gone, they were still a sore subject for Teddy. He couldn't help but feel guilty about what he'd done; his parents had died fighting to stop dark magic, and yet he'd subverted their cause. Ralph had wanted to revive the blood purity movement, and he'd helped him.

He suddenly remembered seeing Ralph at Platform Nine and Three Quarters at the end of the school year. He'd been carrying around papers with variations of the word 'Morsmordre' sticking out of his bag. Teddy hadn't told anyone; he still didn't know what exactly the word meant, but he was sure that it couldn't have been anything good.

"I'd really rather not talk about him," Teddy said, forcing a smile. "We're going to have an amazing year at Hogwarts, and nothing's going to spoil that."

"And you're going to have an amazing year at Hogwarts because this time, I'll be there!"

"Victoire!" Teddy exclaimed, hugging the blonde eleven-year-old who had just arrived beside them.

"Hiya, Teddy," Victoire said, grinning. "Hi Alfie, hi Ella."

The other two waved at Victoire. They didn't really know her very well; they'd only met her a few times at King's Cross Station, but Teddy just knew that they were all going to get on splendidly. After all, they were all his best friends, and now, they were all going to be at Hogwarts together.

He couldn't wait for the new year to begin.

.oOo.

"Books, check, potion supplies, check," his grandmother said, her eyes scanning the piece of parchment in front of her. "I think we have nearly everything."

"It sure feels like we've got everything," Alfie groaned. He was struggling carrying a large, heavy Flourish and Blotts bag, and despite Gran's frequent offers to put a Lightweight Charm on the bag, as she had done with all their other bags and luggage, he had steadfastly refused. Ella had rolled her eyes and muttered something about boys and their apparent need to prove that they were strong.

"Just Victoire's wand eez left," Aunty Fleur said, pushing some of her elegant blonde locks out of her face. "Wand-buying eez always ze best." She flashed a smile at Alfie's parents. "Eet is so wonderful to see a wand choose ze wizard—or witch, in ma cherie's case. Do you 'ave something similar in your Muggle world?"

"Er, not exactly," Mrs. Hayes replied. Teddy thought she looked rather intimidated by his aunt Fleur.

"Zat is a pity," Fleur said, although she didn't seem very pitiful to Teddy.

"I can't believe I'm getting my wand," Victoire practically squealed. "What do you think I'll get?"

"Something that's right for you," Ella said, matter-of-factly. "The wand always chooses correctly—there's an entire science devoted to it, you know."

"I want a unicorn hair wand," Victoire said, pushing the heavy, wooden door to Ollivander's open. "Unicorns are so pretty and the wands are so lovely, too!"

"That they are," a voice came from behind the stacks, causing Victoire to almost jump out of her skin. "Unicorn hair makes very loyal wands." An old man on a ladder appeared. His face was worn and crinkled, and yet he still had a very kind smile. "You must be Miss Weasley."

"That's right." Victoire puffed her chest up. "I'm here for a wand." Aunty Fleur shot her a look, and she quickly added, "Please. Sir."

"I can't imagine what else you'd be here for," Mr. Ollivander chuckled. He averted his eyes from Victoire for a minute and nodded to the rest. "Mrs. Tonks and, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, am I correct?" Alfie's parents nodded, looking startled that they'd remembered them. "And of course, Edward, Alfred and Ella. I hope your wands are serving you well."

They all nodded. "Yes, sir," Ella said, answering for all three of them. "We're very pleased with our wands."

"Excellent!" Mr. Ollivander turned back to Victoire. "Now, what can we get you?"

Victoire opened her mouth, as if to suggest a unicorn hair wand, but Mr. Ollivander beat her to the chase. "Gervaise!"

A man who looked to be in his twenties appeared from around the corner. He had the same facial structure as Mr. Ollivander and the same kind eyes, but his nose and mouth were very different. "Yes, Grandfather?"

"Get me a selection of wands, the seven-inch unicorn hair and birch, the eleven-inch phoenix feather and the nine-inch dragon heartstring."

The man nodded. "Yes, Grandfather." He disappeared for a few seconds and then came back, carrying three oblong boxes. Mr. Ollivander smiled at him.

"My grandson," he explained. "Teaching him the trade while I still can. Now, let's see—try this one first, Miss Weasley. Give it a wave."

He opened the box containing the wand made of unicorn hair and held it out to Victoire, who eagerly grabbed it and waved it at the wall behind Mr. Ollivander. There was a loud crash as several jars from the shelf clattered to the floor. Victoire winced. "Sorry."

"No matter, no matter." Mr. Ollivander waved his wand. "It appears that the unicorn hair is not for you, after all. Try this one."

He held out another wand to Victoire. She took it, although a lot less enthusiastically, and waved it. Teddy could tell that she was trying to be delicate, lest she break anything again, although he knew that it wasn't really her fault. He, too, had broken a glass when he had been buying his wand. He actually had a unicorn hair wand, although it was locked up in his gran's safe at home. She hadn't wanted to risk him getting caught performing underage magic.

But Victoire didn't, in fact, break anything. Instead, the wand began to glow, and she exclaimed, "I feel warm! It's like I'm glowing, too!"

Mr. Ollivander smiled. "Nine-inch fir with a dragon heartstring core. That wand has been on our shelves for a long time, Miss Weasley. It's been waiting for you."

"Really?" Victoire beamed, the disappointment of the unicorn hair long forgotten. "I'm glad I found it, then!"

Teddy, Alfie and Ella looked at each other and smiled, each remembering the joy of getting their own wands at Ollivander's a year earlier.

"Victoire, say thank you to Mr. Ollivander," Fleur told her.

Victoire blushed. "Thank you, Mr. Ollivander."

"Do not thank me," Mr. Ollivander told her. "Thank the wand that chose you."

After they finished at Ollivander's, the party split up, with Alfie's parents leaving for Oxford. They turned down Gran Andromeda's invitations for dinner, saying that they really had to get back as Mr. Hayes had some important work to finish. Alfie bid his parents goodbye, although Teddy noticed a definite note of masked excitement in his voice as they left.

"I can't help it," Alfie told Teddy. "I'm just really excited to get to stay with you!"

"So am I," Ella said. "You know, my parents almost didn't let me come until your gran wrote assuring them that I'd be sleeping in a different room." She rolled her eyes. "Parents."

Victoire seemed to be sharing Ella's sentiment; she was engaged in a loud argument with Aunt Fleur over her wand. Aunt Fleur refused to let her keep it with her while she was staying at Teddy's, saying that she was likely to either get in trouble by using it, or that she would lose it.

"But it chose me!" Victoire wailed. "Not you!"

"Calmez-vous, Victoire!" Aunt Fleur snapped. "Do not make a fuzz in public!"

Eventually, Aunt Fleur won the argument, and Victoire's new wand was put away safely in her handbag, much to Victoire's chagrin.

His grandmother checked her list again. "Just one more thing—medicine for Teddy."

"I didn't know you were sick!" Alfie turned to Teddy in horror, slapping his palm onto his forehead. "You don't feel like you have fever."

"Because I don't," Teddy said, gingerly removing Alfie's hand. "Gran heard about this…" He lowered his voice. "…Lycanthropy expert, who's recently graduated from St. Mungo's Medical School. Apparently, he's invented a new medicine for people like me, you know, with the tendencies, that helps stop the full moon cravings. He has a shop in Knockturn Alley."

"Knockturn Alley?" Ella wrinkled her nose. "Aren't all the shops there really dodgy?"

"I've met this man," Gran reassured her. "He's not too far into the Alley—says he only has a shop there because he's starting out and the rent is cheaper."

"That it would be."

"My dad's tried his stuff," Victoire affirmed. "Says he's really good." Although it had taken Teddy ages to confess to Alfie and Ella that his father was a Werewolf, Victoire had no problem letting people know that her father had been bitten by one years ago.

"I 'ave to get some feminine potions from my potioneer," Aunt Fleur said. "I shall go there while you pick up zis medicine."

"Yes, and you can take the other children with you," Gran suggested. "Knockturn is no place for them."

"I can take Victoire and Ella. But I am afraid zat Alfie will 'ave to go wiz you—boys are not allowed into zat shop."

"What kind of shop is that?" Alfie whispered to Teddy, who shrugged his shoulders, just as confused as Alfie was.

"It's a special shop just for girls," Victoire told Alfie. "Filled with pink, and soft fluffy toys and all sorts of other things that we like."

"I don't mind soft, fluffy toys."

Victoire rolled her eyes. "It sells girl stuff, Alfie. Things that you don't need."

"Alright," Gran proclaimed. "Victoire, Ella—you go with Mrs. Weasley. Alfie and Teddy, you two come with me."

"Why don't you just leave us outside Knockturn Alley?" Teddy suggested.

Gran laughed. "Not after what happened last year"

"What happened last year?" Alfie asked.

Teddy remembered vividly and to Alfie that he and Victoire had snuck into the Alley to see some of the shops. He left out the part whereby he'd gone in because he'd been jostled by a group of boys, and he'd seen them arguing with the proprietor of an old shop named Selwyn & Shafiq. He couldn't be sure after all this time, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the boys who he had seen that day had been none other than Ralph and his cronies.

They followed Teddy's grandmother in silence, listening as she instructed them on what to do. "Stay very close to me. Do not look at anyone else, do not speak to anyone. If anyone speaks to you, do not reply, and if anyone grabs you, scream. We're not going very far in—we really should be in and out in a few seconds—but it's imperative that you stay safe."

"What does imperative mean, Mrs. Tonks?" Alfie asked.

"Very important."

The three walked through a narrow passageway. It was different from the one that Teddy had used last time, although it was just as dank and dirty. Crumpled up napkins and parchment littered the floor, and the plaster was peeling off the walls. The shops on the other side were no better: many had smashed windows, paint that was either peeling or faded or both, and doors that were practically swinging off their hinges. Barely anyone was around, a stark contrast to the ever-bustling Diagon Alley.

No wonder the rent was cheaper.

The store that they were going to was actually quite nice, though. The owner had done it up very well: the exterior was freshly painted, the door and windows recently replaced, and an engraved bronze sign hung over the entrance. It stood out like a sore thumb when compared to the sorry excuses of buildings next to it.

As Teddy glanced at the other shops, he noticed with a start that they were about to pass Selwyn & Shafiq. If it had looked miserable and broken down a year ago, it looked even worse now; the storefront was practically crumbling. The door was open and an old man was standing just inside the threshold. He didn't look like the man Teddy had seen last year; this one had darker skin and hair. He was, however, arguing with someone who was also standing just inside, but in a position where Teddy was unable to see him.

"It's mine!" Teddy could hear the other person yelling. "You've got to give me the shop now, it's all mine now that Mr. Shafiq has died. You have no right over any of its contents."

"Take it up with the Wizengamot," the older man snarled.

"What's going on in there?" Alfie whispered.

"Ignore it, boys," Gran said. "Little quarrels—happen all the time."

"If you don't let me upstairs, I'll report you to the Aurors!"

The older man scoffed and removed a long, black stick from his robes. His wand. He pointed it directly at where the other figure was standing. "You wouldn't dare. You won't be able to, you ungrateful brat."

The figure snorted. "I am not ungrateful. I am simply back for what was promised to me years ago. You cannot deprive me of this."

"You don't even own up to who you are, how can you receive this? It will never be yours, not as long as we live." The wand was higher now, the man's grip more tense. Teddy was right by the door, and he tried to crane his neck to see the other figure without anyone—including his grandmother—noticing that he was looking.

The last words he heard were, "We'll see about that."

And then, the Alley filled with smoke. Thick, black smoke, the colour and texture of volcanic ash, rushed out of the door of the shop and into the open air. It burned Teddy's eyes, and he reflexively clamped them shut, grasping in the dark for Alfie and his grandmother.

"I've got you both," Gran yelled. The smoke made it sound like she was a mile away. "Keep holding on."

The smoke sucked the air from the Alley and for a few, horrendous seconds, Teddy felt like he couldn't breathe. But then, just as quickly as it had come, it cleared. The smoke dissipated, and Teddy opened his eyes to see the Alley just as it had been before his eyes had started to burn. Alfie still had his eyes clenched closed, so Teddy elbowed him and whispered, "It's okay."

"What was that, Gran?" he asked his grandmother, who had suddenly gone very pale.

"I think we should leave," she said in a slow, calculated voice that he had never heard from her. It was almost as if she was afraid, but she couldn't be. His grandmother was never afraid, she was always strong, no matter what. She was staring at a spot near the shop, so he followed her gaze.

The two figures were gone and the wooden door of Selwyn & Shafiq was firmly closed. Etched in the wood, still smoking slightly, was a dark, burned imprint of a symbol unlike any Teddy had ever seen. A skull with a horrible, toothy grimace was emblazoned on the door, two crosses on its forehead and snakes coming out of its mouth. There were other animals behind the skull, although they looked dark and lifeless. An eagle, a lion and a badger.

Teddy vaguely recognized the symbol but he couldn't place it. All he knew was that when he looked at it, he was filled with a sense of dread. The symbol was slowly fading on the door and yet it remained vivid in his mind.

"We need to leave, now," his grandmother said, grabbing the two boys and practically dragging them out of the Alley.

"What was that, Gran?" Teddy asked again.

She remained silent, but Teddy knew that she knew exactly what the symbol meant. He wracked his brains, trying to think of where he'd seen it before, but he just couldn't remember; he knew that he'd seen a similar one once in a book about the War, but it wasn't the same one. There hadn't been the other animals, or the crosses—just the skull and the snake.

What did this all mean? Why had it appeared on a door on Knockturn Alley? And who had done it?

He realized, with a start, that Alfie had been very quiet as they had left the Alley. It didn't take them long to get back into Diagon, and when they were finally back and assimilated into the crowd, Teddy turned to him. He was very, very pale, almost deathly white, and when Teddy put an arm on his shoulder, he was cold and shivering slightly.

Gran, somehow, hadn't noticed; she was too busy looking at a nearby map to find out where the shop where Aunt Fleur had taken the girls was. Teddy took advantage of her distraction to whisper, "What happened?"

Alfie shakily met Teddy's eyes, his green eyes filled with fear. "I saw who cast the spell. Just before the smoke came, I saw."

"Who was it?" Teddy asked, although he had a sinking feeling in his stomach that he already knew.

"Ralph," Alfie whispered. "It was Ralph."

A/N: Thank you for reading and continuing on Teddy's journey with me. From now on, this fic, not Escapades, will be updated regularly, so please make sure to follow it! Reviews are always welcome (:

*bhaiya is the Hindi word for brother, and is used, in this case, to respectfully refer to servants.