Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I don't own any of the characters in the series. :(
Harry Potter sat at his dining room table groggily, a mug of milk in one hand and the Daily Prophet in the other. It was eleven o'clock at night and Ginny had already gone to bed nearly an hour ago. Normally, Ginny would be up with Harry at this hour as well, but she had had a particularly exhausting day at home with young James and Teddy Lupin running around the house and getting into mischief.
Andromeda, Teddy's grandmother and guardian, declared that she would like to take a much needed vacation and would only be out of town for three days. Harry and Ginny were more than happy to take Teddy off her hands—they loved the boy just as dearly as their own son—but when Teddy and James got together to play, chaos ensued.
Harry had just finished up the last article in the newspaper and was about to turn in when a faint, yet definite noise got his attention. Getting up from the table, Harry slowly made his way down the dark halls of his home.
Peering into his own bedroom, he could see his wife lying across the bed. She was obviously deep in slumber by the way she was breathing and lying so still.
The noise continued. Harry wasn't sure what it was—he couldn't quite put his finger on the noise. So he ventured further down the hall and stopped at his son's doorway.
James Potter was sprawled across the bottom bunk of the bunk bed, the sheets entangled around his body, which was always in an awkward and different position every night. Harry smiled. He could see drool dribbling down his son's chin.
He was definitely asleep.
But Harry noticed that the top bunk was unoccupied. Quickly taking a few steps inside the room, Harry saw Teddy Lupin kneeling next to the large window in James's room. He was staring up at the big, bright full moon.
And he was crying.
Harry realized that the noise he had heard was Teddy sniffling. He had never seen Teddy cry before.
Cautiously, Harry crept up towards his godson.
"Teddy?" he asked softly.
Teddy gasped and his head snapped in Harry's direction. Tears were streaming down Teddy's pale cheek and were sparkling like diamonds in the moonlight. He seemed surprised and slightly embarrassed that he had been caught crying. Harry didn't blame the boy—if Harry were twelve years old again, he would be slightly embarrassed as well—but he knew that something must have been seriously bothering the boy if he was sobbing in the middle of the night.
"Are you all right?"
Teddy didn't answer. He merely shifted his gaze back towards the window, towards the full moon.
"Teddy?" Harry tried again. He knelt down next to his godson and put a hesitant hand on Teddy's back. "Did you have a bad dream?"
Teddy gave out something between a scoff and a laugh as he shook his head and gazed downward at something. For the first time, Harry noticed that Teddy was holding a crumpled photo of his parents.
Remus Lupin stood beaming next to a small, white crib while holding his young wife, Tonks in one arm. Tonks grinned down at a small bundle in her delicate arms. Baby Teddy was waving his tiny arms around happily, his hair changing color every couple of seconds.
Harry stared at the picture for a moment then directed his attention to Teddy once again. He opened his mouth to try to get Teddy to open up to him, but Teddy beat him to it.
"I—I can't—I can't…" Teddy swallowed hard. "No matter what I do, I can't b-be exactly like them."
Harry blinked. "I don't understa—"
"I can't be like them!" Teddy said with sudden fierceness. "I can't get them right! I can't get mom's hair exactly right…I've tried and tried, but I can't get it to be exactly the right shade of pink! And dad…I've tried to get his eye shape and color right, but I—I just can't!"
Teddy swiped his arm across his nose and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands almost angrily as he turned away from Harry. Suddenly, Harry understood.
Teddy was a metamorphmagus, just like his mother was. He could change his appearance to his liking. Harry noted that Teddy's usually turquoise hair was replaced with a dull brown color and his skin was unusually pale. Harry remembered that when Tonks had been grieved about Remus not wanting to be with her, she had become so traumatized that had lost her ability to morph and resumed her natural form. This was obviously what Teddy really looked like.
Harry had known Teddy since he was just a baby, and he had never really seen what he truly looked like.
"Teddy," Harry coaxed gently. "Come here."
He didn't have to ask twice. Teddy was obviously so upset that he would seek comfort anywhere. Nevertheless, Teddy rather sheepishly scooted closer to his godfather.
Harry wrapped an arm around his godson and smiled down at him. "Teddy Lupin, is that what all this is about? You want to be more like them?"
Teddy gave a half shrug and tried to make it look like he didn't care, but Harry could tell that being like his parents was obviously something that Teddy desperately wanted.
"You're more like them than you think," Harry assured Teddy. "You've definitely got your father's color of hair and his chin. It's obvious that you've got your mother's eyes and her nose. But besides your looks, you've got your father's natural intelligence and kindness. You inherited your rebellious, spunky spirit from your mother. And…you got her, uh, elegance as well."
Teddy actually laughed. He knew as well as anyone else that he was the biggest klutz in the world.
"But you know, Teddy," Harry continued, "your parents wouldn't like it if you tried to be exactly like them. I know that they would have wanted you to be your own person. They would want you to be yourself."
Teddy lowered his head. "I figured you'd say something like that. Typical grown-up stuff." He lifted his head up and met Harry's eyes. Teddy was smiling. "But I guess you're right."
The boy's smiled faltered abruptly. "I just wish that I could have known them better."
Harry nodded sympathetically. "I know."
Teddy bit his lip. "Do—do you think that they'd be proud of me?"
Harry smiled. "I know for a fact that they're looking down at your from heaven and they are very proud." Harry stood up, knowing that Teddy was feeling more and more awkward by the second. He offered his godson his hand and lifted him to his feet.
"You feeling better?" Harry asked.
Teddy smirked. In the moonlight, Harry could see that Teddy's hair was slowly starting to become turquoise again.
Teddy didn't even have to answer.
Harry waited until Teddy had climbed up onto the top bunk and buried himself into the covers before walking away.
"Goodnight, Teddy," Harry said as he lingered in the doorway.
"G'night, Uncle Harry," Teddy muttered sleepily.
Satisfied, Harry turned to leave. Just before he was out of an earshot, Harry heard something else. This time, he knew exactly what it was.
"G'night, Mom," Teddy whispered. "G'night, Dad."
A/N: This is my first one-shot and this is the first time I've ever really thought about writing a non-romantic piece, so go easy on me. But this has been stuck in my head for a while now and I just had to publish it. I've read like, two or three Teddy Lupin fan fics, so I don't know what all is really out there, but if someone else had had this idea as well, I'm sorry. I seriously had thought of it on my own. But Lupin and Tonks were my favorite characters beside Draco, Luna, Fred, George, and Hagrid. AND SHE KILLED NEARLY HALF OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS! SO, in honor of Tonks and Lupin, here's a piece about their son. Enjoy!
Edit--thank you so much to Black Dracus for correcting my mistake--i was thinking of an animagus and got metamorpmagus confused with it!:)