Notes: So, I totally wrote this AGES ago, after the seventh book came out, and then forgot to post it anywhere. RECTIFYING THIS NOW. :D

Summary: Teddy Lupin goes to Hogwarts, argues with the Sorting Hat, and makes a choice.

Rating: PG

Circumventing Tradition

Harry Potter – "Mr. Potter-my-godfather" to strangers and friends of his Gramma Meda – did not so much as tell Teddy that he wanted him to be in Gryffindor. No, what he said was something long-winded about being a Good Person and True to Himself and yes, Teddy, your dad was in Gryffindor, but your mum was a Hufflepuff and either would be perfectly fine, I'm sure - but Teddy could tell, by the way that Harry's eyes softened somewhat when he mentioned his old house, that what Harry really meant was that Teddy really should be a Gryffindor, even if anything else was fine.

Of course, Harry was very good about Not Playing Favorites. Uncle Ron was a lot less discreet.

"Of course you're going to be a Gryffindor," he had said when Teddy asked, ruffling his hair and messing up the blond curls that Teddy had spent all morning perfecting. (Curls were a lot more difficult than they seemed, especially without using any kind of sleeking spell like Aunt Hermione did at special parties.) Ron went on, "You'll love it, you know – and you dad was a Gryffindor, and he and his friends at school were absolutely brilliant, and you know, practically everyone in this family has been Gryffindor or Hufflepuff for generations—"

"But I'm not a Weasley or a Potter," Teddy had pointed out logically, frowning. "What if that doesn't count?"

"It counts!" Ron protested, looking flabbergasted by the mere presumption, and this was why Teddy liked talking to Uncle Ron. Harry would smile and tell Teddy that anything was possible, and Aunt Ginny(-my-godmother) would laugh and tell Teddy that what matters is the heart, and he definitely has a Gryffindor heart. Aunt Hermione would probably launch into facts about each house, but Teddy hadn't yet asked her and didn't really want to. But whenever Teddy bought up the idea of being in a house other than Gryffindor, Uncle Ron, without fail, would give Teddy a look of such astonishment that it bordered on horror.

Because of course Teddy would be a Gryffindor.

And that's what Teddy kept trying to tell the Sorting Hat, but it wasn't listening.

"Aren't I supposed to be in Gryffindor?" Teddy thought, after a long moment of various Hmms and Interesting, interestings, which was all very disconcerting.

Whatever gave you that idea? asked the Hat, who had been "born again" after the last war, according to Harry's story. Teddy had never quite understood how a hat could burst into flames and then come back, but here it was, completely whole. Maybe it was secretly a phoenix.

"Well," Teddy thought after a moment, "my dad was a Gryffindor. And my mum was a Hufflepuff, but my uncle said that if you're going to be Hufflepuff, you might as well just go for Gryffindor instead…" He trailed off, because he had just realized that perhaps the Hat was a fan of Hufflepuffs, and it probably wasn't polite to tell him what Uncle Ron had said.

Well, your parents' houses certainly don't matter, said the Hat. He sounded a little like Aunt Hermione. You aren't your mother or father, after all.

"What does matter, then?"

What do you mean by that?

Teddy fidgeted, because on top of this conversation, he could still hear the tittering of conversation from the Great Hall. Everyone had been staring at him when his name was called anyway – "Son of a werewolf-" he had heard in a passing, gossipy whisper, and his hair had tinted red -, and now he was taking too long on a process that really (according to everyone) should have been simple.

"Well," Teddy began, "why do you choose people for different houses? I can be brave. I promise. My parents were both really brave, and I can be brave too."

Gryffindor isn't the only house for which you are suited, replied the Hat, and even though all he could see was the barest glimpses of the Great Hall from beneath the brim, Teddy suddenly got the mental image of sitting by the fire at Gramma Meda's, chatting amiably with the Hat. Perhaps you could consider another. Ravenclaw, for instance – you have both your parents' brains as well as their bravery, after all.

"I… suppose," Teddy replied; the only idea he had of Ravenclaw was how Uncle Ron would mention that Aunt Hermione should have been in Ravenclaw whenever she showed off how much she knew. Teddy didn't much want to be like that all the time.

Perhaps not, the Hat murmured, and then asked, What do you want to do with magic, young Lupin?

"Be a wizard, I guess."

Besides that, the Hat said. As a wizard – what do you want todo?

What would he want to do?

No one had ever asked him that, exactly. Whenever Teddy had asked about the different Hogwarts houses, he always received the same kind of response about how it was up to him. Inevitably, though, everyone kept going back to his parents. Harry would talk about how great his father had been during the war, and Gramma Meda would tell him stories about his mum's time at school. Teddy had just come to assume that he would have to be in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, because it seemed that where ever his parents had gone mattered.

And Teddy did care about doing well by his parents. They had died for him, after all, according to all the stories – they had died so that people like him wouldn't be persecuted. Half-bloods, or even half-breeds, depending on how much werewolf people thought he had inherited from his dad. (Not much, as it turned out; Teddy had a great sense of smell and hearing, and he had always liked his meat rarer than most, but he couldn't turn into a wolf no matter how hard he morphed his face.) All of his family talked about his parents with a tone of honor, and Teddy wasn't about to disappoint them.

So he answered, "I want to make it so that werewolves and other magical creatures are treated right. I want to be someone who can make laws saying that they have to let werewolves study like my dad—" An idea suddenly hit him, and Teddy exclaimed, "Like Minister of Magic, or something! I want to be strong like the Minister."

There was a moment of silence, and then the Hat replied, Those are quite lofty goals, but not so surprising. I did tell you that there was more to you than what your parents were.

Teddy said nothing, waiting anxiously for what the Hat would say. From the sound of the muttering in the Great Hall – which had gone from amused chatter to a distinctly awkward quiet as Teddy's sorting went on and on -, the students wouldn't care if the Hat sorted him into another school entirely.

There are two paths that you could take, the Hat went on, not paying the rest of the students any mind. One would be more difficult, but you would achieve much more than you would if you took the easier path. So which will it be, Teddy?

Teddy scarcely had to think – he had never met his parents, but he knew they would never back down from a challenge. They hadn't, after all, even when it had cost them their lives – even when it had cost Teddy his parents –, and he would never be anyone less that who his parents were.

"The difficult one," Teddy said immediately. "I want to do as much good as I can."

Your bravery will certainly be needed on this path, but it's no less that what I thought you'd do, the Hat said. It'll take some work, but I'm sure you'll find your place in "SLYTHERIN!"

Teddy reached up and took the hat off his head, noticing for the first time how cramped he felt from sitting on the stool for so long. The second thing he noticed was how the entire Great Hall was staring at him in a sort of stunned silence – particularly the house in the corner, where everyone was wearing shades of dark green and was looking incredibly surprised. Some of them looked horrified, even. Clearly, no one had expected the son of the famous Auror and renegade werewolf, both heroes of the second war against Voldemort, to be sorted into Slytherin.

Teddy took this all in, realizing with a brief pang that Uncle Ron was not going to be happy with him.

As it was, the entire Great Hall was staring at him, and Teddy knew that he would have to do something before someone else did. If he was going to be in Slytherin, he couldn't be seen having someone else make his decisions for him any longer, even when it came to protecting him from embarrassment.

Donning a cheeky grin, Teddy hopped off the stool and set the hat back down. As he turned to greet his house, Teddy concentrated on his hair. A moment later, the mousy brown color – which he had adopted out of respect for the muggle-borns, who had probably never seen a metamorphamagus before – puffed out into a dazzling green and silver mix.

A series of gasps and startled laughter followed his change, and Teddy Lupin walked proudly over to Slytherin. It was going to be an uphill battle, but he was ready.

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