Teddy Lupin was small.

This surprised everyone, though everyone knew it shouldn't really be surprising. Remus was only a little over average height, and Tonks had been several inches shorter tan everyone. Ginny once decided--though she never said it out loud--that it was because Tonks was loud. She had an expanding presence that made her seem taller.

Teddy Lupin was small from birth. He was also good at blending in. Some people said it was because he was a Metamorphmagus, but that wasn't it. Not really. Teddy just liked being invisible without really disappearing.

The day his grandmother died, Teddy felt smaller than he had in his entire life. He simply allowed himself to melt into the walls--metaphorically of course--and watch everyone else be sad without having to shed a single tear of his own.

"Teddy!" Victoire called softly, even as she walked right past him. He wanted to call out to her, but he was afraid if she came near him he would hit her. Teddy had this fear a lot, but today it was worse.

"Teddy!" she cried, louder this time, as she stomped her foot. "Will you stop hiding?"

Closing his eyes, Teddy counted to ten. Her knew as well as anyone that this is not actually a sufficient method of calming down, but it did stop him from strangling the little blonde girl.

Teddy like Victoire of course. She was his cousin, or as close as he had to a cousin. But she was so annoying! Then again, the same could be said for the majority of the Weasley/Potter clan.

"Teddy?" Ginny called pleadingly, appearing from nowhere. "We have to go home."

Teddy looked around, shocked, as he realized that the service was over. He had been so caught up in watching the misery he had almost forgot why they were actually sad. Almost.

"Come one Teddy," Harry told him suddenly, appearing to his side and taking hold of his shoulder as he steered him away. "Let's go."

Harry could always find Teddy. Teddy wasn't sure if this made him feel safe or annoyed. He decided it was both. Somehow, even when he was doing his best to blend into his surroundings, or melt into a crowd, only Harry could always spot him right away. Well, Harry and…

"Lily," Teddy asked suddenly, his voice void of emotion. "What are you doing?"

"Don't go!" the tiny red-haired girl screamed as she threw her arms around his leg, sobbing into his jeans and clinging to it for dear life as he continued walking at normal speed.

"I'm going home with you," Teddy told her, confused by her irrational behavior. He didn't stop walking, however, as he was already behind Harry and Ginny.

"Don't leave me!" Lily sobbed, and Teddy was vaguely aware that she was getting his jeans all snotty. Sighing, he stopped and bent over to pry the tiny redhead from his leg.

"Lily, what's wrong?" he asked her, and it felt like such a stupid question to ask as he was leaving a funeral, but in a way, talking to Lily helped. She was only five years old, and tiny for her age. She had always seemed so little and fragile, and Teddy had always felt especially protective of her.

Lily didn't answer, distraught beyond words, and simply grabbed hold of his arms when he bent down and hoisted herself up so that she was clinging to his hest, sobbing into his shoulder as he held her.

"Lily," he said, shocked, as he turned to look for a bench. Seeing that there wasn't one anywhere in the near vicinity, he sighed again and sat in the dirt.

"Why do people die?" Lily sniffled, not looking up at him. The question caught Teddy off guard, and he sat there for a moment, puzzled.

"Well…" he began slowly, but trailed off. He smoothed her hair absentmindedly as he searched for an answer. "Well, I suppose we just have to. Everyone dies."

This, apparently, was not the answer Lily was looking for, and she erupted into a whole new bout of sobbing.

"Hey," Teddy said softly, patting her back. "It's not so bad," he told her, and the words surprised even him. "People have to die, or new people couldn't be born."

Lily quieted the tiniest bit. "Why?" she asked him.

"Well, because if we didn't die, and people kept having babies, then there would be no place to put everyone, and we would all be crowded together.

Lily sniffled again, and wiped her nose on Teddy's shirt. He rolled his eyes but said nothing.

"So," Lily began cautiously, as if somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she shouldn't say what she was about to say. "Your parents died because they had to?"

That question really stumped Teddy. It took him a full two minutes to respond, simply because of the fact that he didn't understand either. And he told her so.

"I don't know," Teddy answered honestly. This seemed to surprise Lily, but Teddy continued. "My parents didn't die like my grandma did. She was very old. But my parents, they were really young. And I don't think it was time for them to go when they did."

"So why did they die?" Lily asked, interested by now. Her eyes were growing wider by the second, and Teddy figured that as long as he could explain it to her in logical terms, maybe she would stop crying.

"Because," Teddy started carefully. "There was a wizard once who was unlike everyone else. He wanted to be the ruler of the whole world, even muggles, and he started two big wars."

"And my daddy saved everyone," Lily finished, awe in her voice. She had obviously heard he abridged version of this story before.

Teddy didn't say anything. He didn't have to. Even at the age of five, Lily was good at reading people.

"Not everyone," she amended. "Not your mommy and daddy. And not my Uncle Fred."

Teddy shook his head, and Lily continued. "Why did he do that?"

Teddy was confused. "He didn't mean to," he told her. "He tried to save everyone, but-"

Lily shook her head impatiently. "Not Daddy," she insisted. "The bad wizard. Why did he kill your mommy and daddy?"

Teddy couldn't believe that the most thought-provoking conversation he'd ever had was with a five-year-old. "I don't know," he told her truthfully.

"I do," she concluded, almost as if she were talking to herself. Then she raised her eyebrows at Teddy, beckoning him closer with her hand, as if she were going to share with him the secret of life. Then she whispered, "I bet he was lonely."

Teddy nodded, and Lily threw her arms around him again and hugged him as tight as she could. "But you're not lonely, Teddy!" she informed him loudly, right next to his ear. "You'll never be lonely, because you have me! And even if your mommy and daddy and grandma aren't here, I'll always be here forever, and Jamie, and Albus, and Vic, and Mommy, and Daddy, and-"

"You're right," Teddy said, smiling slightly as she picked her up and hurried to try and catch up with Harry and Ginny. "I'll never be lonely."

*****

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