Daddy

Written for the Mix it Up Competition (Round 2)

Main Character: Remus Lupin

Additional Character: Teddy Lupin (Edward Lupin is his full birth name)

Prompts: (in order of appearance.)

Clear

"It's four in the bloody morning."

Accio

A scream came from down the hall.

"Bloody hell – Dora?" Remus Lupin rounded the corner, a hand on the door frame of the washroom and stopped at the sight before him.

Dora was standing in a puddle of water as more dripped down from underneath her dress.

His face went hard. "Let's go."

...

He was ushered into the room. He shuddered. He hated hospitals.

He gazed gratefully upon his wife, and she looked at him, relieved. When she'd entered the room hours before, surrounded by a crowd of green-clad Healers, her eyes had been fogged with pain but now as she blinked up at him happily, they were clear of anything but joy.

"Edward!" she said as he sat down in a chair next to her bed. Remus's eyebrows shot up.

"You have gone off your rocker, haven't you!" he exclaimed. "I'm Remus, remember? Your husband?"

A few of the Healers in the corner snickered quietly.

"No, you big dolt!" Dora said, hitting him softly on the arm. She looked down at the small bundle in her arms. "Edward. After Dad." Remus felt a pang of pity for his wife as she held the tiny bundle closer.

"Teddy." Remus said.

"What?" Dora asked.

"Teddy. It's just a nickname," he added quickly. "After your dad." Dora smiled sleepily up at him again as her eyes drifted closed.

"My little Teddy," she sighed contentedly.

"Our little Teddy." Remus corrected softly, kissing her on the top of her head.

...

"Here, hold him." Dora looked exhausted as she shoved Teddy into Remus's arms. She had her hair pulled sharply back from her face and it was bordering on dangerous looking purple. It was almost time for her to leave for work, and she couldn't get Teddy to take his bottle.

"Love," Remus started out tentatively, "How about you just go to work. I can handle this. I don't have to be anywhere today and –" he stopped as Dora turned to him, a wide smile on her face.

"Really? Oh, thank you Remus! Have I mentioned how much I love you?" she leaned over Teddy to peck him on the lips. She smelled of coffee and vanilla, and the scent still made Remus's head whirl.

"Not lately," he grinned, tucking a lock of hair that was now turning lighter by the second behind her ear. She smiled again, and disappeared into their bedroom.

"Okay, Tedster." Remus started looking at the bottle that lay on the ground in front of them. He looked at the baby in his arms. "Let's do this."

A half an hour later, Remus was tired and hungry himself but Teddy was happily sucking on his bottle. Dora came out of their room in her work robes. She stopped and laughed. "Looks like I married the right man after all," she laughed. "You're a baby whisperer, you are!"

Remus snorted as he ran a hand though his hair.

"Hardly."

...

"Remus, where's the bottle?" she asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Dora," he muttered, turning over and bringing another pillow on top of his head, blocking out the wailing that was coming from down the hall. "It's four in the bloody morning."

"I know!" she snapped, throwing her hands in the air. "That's why I need to know where the bloody bottle is."

"Sorry, love," Remus mumbled, and hand emerging from the bulk of blankets and pointing to the pillow covering his head. "Can't hear you."

"Where. Is. The. Bottle?" She shouted. Remus groaned.

"This," he sighed, his voice muffled by the fabric of the pillow. "is why you breastfeed."

Tonks stalked over to his side of the bed, avoiding the piles of robes he discarded the previous night. Lifting up a corner of the pillow, she put her lips by his ear.

"Remus," she started out dangerously. "Where is the goddamn bottle?" she shouted the last part, causing Remus to shoot up in bed and crash his head against hers.

"Ow…" he groaned. He yawned slowly, rubbing his forehead and looking at her. "Dora?" he asked her sleepily. "Are you not a witch?" Dora stared at him.

"Of course I am, Remus, but…where is this going?" she asked, confused. Remus sighed dejectedly and shook his head. Fumbling his hand upon his bedside table, he found his wand.

"Accio baby bottle!" He mumbled. It zoomed toward Dora and she grabbed it, looking a bit sheepish. Remus fell back against his pillows. "Now, go. Be gone foul creature! Leave me in peace!"

"All right, Your Sleepiness." Dora laughed, making her way out of the room. "Oh, and Remus?" she turned back before she got to the door. "Next time it's your turn."

There was no reply. "Remus?" she asked again.

He'd already fallen asleep again.

...

He is scared.

So scared.

He puts his forehead to his knees.

Dora has tears streaming down her cheeks as she hugs Teddy tightly. She smiles weakly as he squeals and squirms.

Remus, too, realizes that his cheeks are wet. He takes the month old boy in his arms, staring lovingly into the face he couldn't imagine living without.

"Goodbye, Teddy," he squeezes his eyes shut to stop the tears from falling, but they do, harder and harder as he kisses his son's forehead. He hands him to Andromeda. "I love you."

...

The destruction around him doesn't feel real.

Twenty years ago he strolled on these same grounds with his mates in the sun, enjoying the shade under the large tree by the lake. But now, the grass is no longer green and the sky no longer blue. The ground is brown and black with scorch marks running across it. Large pieces of stone from the castle litter the once open space.

The sky is black, but it is dancing with fiery explosions. Streaks of light shoot everywhere, curses coming from every direction. He turns to face a new opponent and recognizes him instantly.

Dolohov.

He mutters a curse under his breath, but it misses as Dolohov spins, shooting another back at him. Suddenly, he hears his name shouted across the field. He turns to see Dora dive across his back, letting a curse hit her full in the back. She falls without a sound, lifeless.

Shock.

He doesn't even feel sorrow, just shock.

Dora.

She can't be – she isn't…dead.

He drops to his knees, holding his wand out as a threat to any who may dare disturb him as he pulls her body close to him. Her hair is fading, losing its pink hue, and suddenly, it melts into a rich brown colour like her mother's.

He sobs against her soft head, his shaking body against hers.

The world seems to stop and there's only him, with his grief.

But then, the anger sets in.

Whoever did this…well, they were going to have a lot more just hell to pay.

He turns and his eyes catch on a figure with matted black hair and a cruel smile.

Bellatrix Lestrange.

Of course.

"Hello werewolf." She snarls at him, lifting her wand. "What're you going to do? Bite me?" Dolohov appears at her side and he gives a low chuckle.

Remus just stands there, his body trembling in rage.

"What, no last words, dog?" Dolohov taunts, spitting on the ground in front of him.

Remus lifts his wand, and those few seconds; the moments before he sees the green light explode from the end of Dolohov's wand, the moment before he feels the force hit his chest and he is pushed back into nothingness, those few precious seconds are filled with thoughts and wishes and promises.

Thoughts of Dora and of Teddy, thoughts of Harry and his quest.

Promises to himself and to Teddy that his parents didn't die in vain, that they died making a safer world for him to live in. A better place.

Wishes that Teddy, his own son, wouldn't hate him for abandoning him. Wishes that he could walk beside him like a real father would, see him grow up.

And most of all, he wished that Teddy would understand.

...

He still remembers his father. Not in images, of course, he was too young for that.

But he remembered the smell of him. He smelt of leather and sandalwood. And he also remembered a voice, soft and reassuring, even if he couldn't make out words.

Harry always told him that his father was one of the best men he knew. He said that his father had been friends with Harry's dad.

Father.

What a difference from Dad. He supposed, if he'd lived, he would have learned to call him Daddy, and eventually Dad.

But he didn't know him. He didn't know what it was like to have someone who walked beside him every step of the way, guiding him. He didn't know how Harry, whose parents had also died before he could remember them called them Mum and Dad. How could you give such a casual title to someone you didn't know, nevertheless never met?

No, he didn't know his father, and he definitely didn't understand him.

Some people had a dad.

All he had was a father.

And the smell of leather and sandalwood.