"Edward Remus Lupin! You apologise to Ginny, right this instant." Harry ordered sternly. Teddy had been a complete and utter nightmare since James was born three weeks ago. Harry would have given anything to experience the terrible twos again, because if this is what Teddy was like at five years old, he wanted none of it.

"NO!" Teddy yelled back, his face contorted in anger. His hair turned from brown to fiery red to prove his point.

"Teddy, do you understand how much you've upset Ginny? Hate is a very strong word, and you and I both know that you didn't mean what you said, so I want you to go back downstairs and say you're sorry."

"I did mean it! I hate you. I hate both of you!" he cried, stamping his foot.

Harry clenched his jaw and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You don't mean that." He sighed. "Look, if you're not going to calm down and apologise, you can stay in your room and think about what you've done."

Teddy's lower lip quivered, his eyes stinging with unshed tears. Before Harry could see him cry, he bolted into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him with as much force a little boy could muster.

Harry shook his head and made his way back downstairs to Ginny. He entered the living room and saw her perched on a loveseat, cradling James in her arms, who had now fallen fast asleep, despite Teddy's tantrum.

"Don't worry, Harry. He'll calm down soon enough. Kids say stupid things." She reassured him, offering him a small, sympathetic smile.

"I know. I know. It's just…when he says things like that, I feel like a terrible parent. Remus and Tonks would have been much better at this." Harry sighed, sitting down beside her.

"Don't be silly, Harry. He's lucky to have you. No one could ask for a better godfather. He's just jealous of having a little brother. Mum said it was perfectly normal for young kids to feel this way. He'll come around soon, you'll see."

"Yeah, you're probably right." He murmured, before pecking her gently on the cheek.

Upstairs, Teddy's vibrant mop of red hair had mellowed into a lifeless mousy colour, mimicking his unhappiness. Harry and Ginny clearly didn't want him anymore, now that they had another son, a real son. It was only a matter of time before Harry would realise he didn't want Teddy anymore, and send him away. Teddy knew that they loved James more than him, so what was the point in pretending that he was a part of the family? This was it. There was no turning back now. He'd decided he was going to run away.

Sniffing loudly, Teddy pulled out his tiny blue rucksack from under his bed and began packing straight away. He stuffed his fluffy wolf toy into the bag, a photo of his parents holding him as a baby, his secret stash of muggle chocolate, a couple of half-chewed crayons and his parents' chocolate frog collectible card. Zipping up the bag, he grabbed his Chudley Cannons cap and put it on. Now all he needed was some money. He wasn't sure how much things cost, but whenever he went to Diagon Alley with Harry and Ginny they always brought money with them, so he was sure he would need to bring some with him.

Teddy quietly creaked his bedroom door open and tiptoed into Harry's study. He knew he wasn't allowed in there on his own, but he was sure that he could find at least a couple of coins in there. With great effort, he scrambled up on to the large armchair behind Harry's desk and began pulling the draws open. On the third draw down, he came across a green velvet pouch. He pulled the bag open and dumped the contents onto the desk. Teddy was disappointed to find that there weren't any Galleons or Sickles, but was surprised to see some sort of golden necklace. He stared at it in awe and held it up with his chubby fingers. In the centre of the pendant, there seemed to be a little glass filled with sand. "Cool." He murmured, staring at it transfixed.

Suddenly, Teddy heard footsteps coming up the stairs. "Teddy?" he heard Ginny call out.

Teddy gasped and quickly wriggled off the chair. If Ginny caught him in here, he was as good as dead! He tried running for the door, but unfortunately, he wasn't the most graceful five-year old. His shoe caught on the edge of the rug and he tripped. His knee slammed against the hard wooden floor, causing him to cry out. Tears started welling up in his eyes from the pain, but once he saw that he had broken the necklace too, he couldn't help but burst into tears. Harry and Ginny were going to be so mad with him!

But before he could pick himself up off the floor, he suddenly felt a strong tug at the centre of his navel. The room began to spin violently. Then, just before he couldn't take it anymore, the whirling began to slow down and eventually stopped.

Teddy furrowed his brow, looking at his surroundings in confusion. Where was he? It still sort of looked like he was at home. Yet, it was different. The room was darker and there were terrifying shrunken house-elf heads hanging morbidly on the walls. This wasn't the home he remembered.

"H-Hello?" Teddy stammered, his heart beating painfully against his chest. He took a shaky deep breath in a vain attempt to calm himself down. He was a brave boy, almost five and a half. He wasn't going to let himself be scared easily. "H-Harry? G-Ginny? I'm…I'm sorry I broke the necklace. I didn't mean to." He called out weakly, his voice trembling.

Teddy stepped into the gloomy corridor and screamed when an old painting of a woman in a black cap started screeching, "Filthy little half-breed! How dare you enter my house without my permission!". He ran back into the room he came from and hid himself under the desk, terrified out of his mind.

/

Sirius was about to pour himself his second glass of firewhisky, when he suddenly heard his mother shrieking upstairs like a banshee. Startled by the sudden sound, he'd managed to spill his drink on his robes. "Bloody mother." He grumbled, yet there was a hint of apprehension in his voice. Why would she have woken up like that? Who would she be yelling at? None of the order members had visited the past couple of days. He was sure he was alone. Sirius placed his half-filled glass on the table and took his wand out, before silently making his way upstairs.

"Stains of dishonour…blood traitors!" Walburga continued to shriek.

Sirius rolled his eyes and yanked the moth-eaten curtain slightly, making sure her face was completely hidden from view. "Much better." He muttered under his breath.

The weight of his foot made the floorboards creak loudly as he stepped into his father's old study. Sirius frowned slightly, there didn't seem to be anyone there. He was about to take another tentative step forward when all of a sudden, he heard the faint sounds of someone crying.

"Who's there?" Sirius called out confidently.

He heard a small gasp, and noticed out of the corner of his eye, a child's foot disappear under his father's desk.

Sirius made his way over to the desk and crouched down, so that he could be face to face with whoever was hiding underneath it. Hiding in the shadows was a small boy, who could not have been more than five or six years old. He wore a hat that was far too big for him that almost covered his eyes, a Weird Sisters t-shirt and jeans. The boy looked up at him with his fearful, red-rimmed brown eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. How did a bloody kid get into his house? The place was protected by the Fidelius Charm. It didn't make any sense!

"T-Teddy." He replied, swallowing nervously.

"Teddy what? What's your last name?"

"I…I don't know."

"How did you get into my house Teddy?"

"I…I thought…I…I don't know! I thought this was Harry's house, but…but it looks different. I don't know how I got here."

"Harry's house? What do you mean you don't remember coming here? I don't believe that for one second."

"It's true!" Teddy snapped back. "I…I don't know. I was playing with the necklace and then I tripped and I dropped it. I think I broke it, but it was an accident, I swear. Please don't tell Harry. I didn't mean it." He said, his soft brown eyes beginning to brim with tears.

This was a nightmare. Sirius didn't have much experience with kids. Especially not crying kids. "Alright, alright. Don't start the waterworks." He huffed, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "Can I see the necklace?"

Teddy nodded meekly, dipping his hand into his pocket and pulling out the shattered time-turner.

Sirius grabbed it between his thumb and forefinger, and frowned. A time-turner? What was the kid doing with a time-turner? Hang on, did that mean…? "What did you say Harry's place was called again?" he asked, as he pocketed the necklace.

"Harry and Ginny's house. It looks like this place, but it's much nicer and not so dusty." Teddy replied, wrinkling his nose.

Sirius inhaled sharply. Harry and Ginny? That couldn't just be a coincidence, could it?

"What do you think the date is?"

"I…I don't know. Why?"

Sirius sighed. How was he supposed to help this kid when he was too young to even remember his surname, where he lived or what the date was? "Come with me." He instructed, standing up again.

Teddy crawled out from under the desk and slung his backpack on. "Where are we going? Harry says I'm not supposed to go anywhere with strangers."

Sirius sighed again. "Fine, my name's Sirius Black. Now you can't say we're strangers."

"Sirius? Like in my bedtime stories?"

"Your bedtime stories?" Sirius repeated, giving him an incredulous look.

"Yeah. The Marauders! The stories about the Marauders are my favourite." Teddy grinned, his fear slowly abating.

Sirius blinked at him in disbelief. The Marauders? Maybe Molly was right, maybe he did have a firewhisky problem, or he was finally losing his mind. "You know about the Marauders?"

Teddy gave a small, happy nod. "Yep! I always ask Harry to tell me their stories before bed." He said matter-of-factly before slipping his chubby hand into Sirius' grasp.

Sirius looked down at his hand surprised. The kid obviously trusted him. "Right…well, follow me then." He said, slightly bewildered. He needed to contact someone else from the order to help him sort this mess out. This whole situation was too bizarre for him to even contemplate.