Prologue - Teddy's Journey

Hogwarts was over. For Teddy Lupin at least, seven years of magical education had been completed and now he was off on what his Muggle-born friend Mike Williams termed a 'gap year', something that was apparently quite common in the Muggle world, taking a year long vacation before moving into the real world.

They had planned it meticulously after finishing their exams. They were going to travel mostly as Muggles, using their trains, cars and aeroplanes where needed, to travel from Thailand, south through Malaysia, island hop across Indonesia, down the East Coast of Australia, up through New Zealand, up the California coast in the USA, hop to New York and then finally back to London, taking just a little over twelve months. If they could afford it, that was.

When Teddy had approached Harry with the plan, he had insisted on paying for them both to travel, using the Black family fortune. His godfather had inherited a considerable amount of money which he didn't want or indeed need, and thought there could be no better use for the Pureblood family's money than to be spent on sending his son of a blood traitor and half-breed godson and his Mudblood best friend on a round-the-world trip as Muggles. Somewhere, he said, his own godfather, Sirius Black, would be laughing his arse off.

And so it was, that three days after leaving Hogwarts via the same small boats they had entered in as young and innocent first years, they would be taking an aeroplane (Teddy's first trip on such a contraption) to Bangkok to start their adventure. However, before that, there was a small matter of a going away party, organised by the formidable Molly Weasley, a woman you did not say no to.

Teddy was sat in his room at his Grandmother's house, awaiting Mike's arrival. At eighteen years old, Teddy Lupin was a lean man of just under six feet tall, and due to his mother's Metamorphamagus genes his appearance was ever-changing, though these transformations were mostly focused on his hair, today a short crop of jet black.

Mike and Teddy had met, as many of best friends do at Hogwarts, on the train to school in their first year. Mike was slightly short and podgy in those days, with floppy blonde hair and a cocky smirk on his face. Teddy, having been raised in the magical world, had spent much of the journey explaining all he knew about Hogwarts to the fascinated boy who had in turn shown him some of his Muggle things he'd brought with him to school. Whilst Mike would not be proficient enough at Charms to get even the most basic electronics working for another four years, Teddy still firmly believed that the Biro was the greatest of all the Muggle inventions. It had saved him hours of broken quills and ink-stained fingers, especially when they had learnt how to put spell-checking charms on the pens.

This was how the friendship started, and over the years it had grown. Being the only one of three brothers who had been given the gift of magic, Mike remained very rooted in the Muggle world, and had at an early part of his Hogwarts career decided it was his calling to bring the best of Muggle to the Wizarding world. For Teddy, this came in many forms over the years, music and film, gadgets and games, even sports. Apparently the Muggleborns of Hogwarts couldn't resist a kick-about when someone produced a football, despite years of watching Quidditch.

That was how the travelling plan was formed, to live and interact with people as Muggles for a year, to give Teddy a proper education. Not so much abandoning magic, but letting it take a back seat in their lives for a while.

There was a knock on the door, and Mike Williams ambled into Teddy's bedroom. Puberty had been especially kind to Mike, transforming him from short and pudgy to very tall and broad at some point over the summer between their 4th and 5th years. No longer floppy haired, Mike preferred to keep his head shaved, though he still smirked in that same cocky way. While Teddy was polite and the perennial 'nice guy,' Mike was brash and somewhat obnoxious, something that took some getting used to if you didn't know him very well.

"Alright, shithead," Mike said, employing his ever-friendly greeting with a broad grin on his face. "All ready to rock-and-roll?"

"Yeah, think so. I know we're Muggle-ing this up, but I did cheat and put some expansion and feather-light charms on my bag, so we don't get stung at the airport for being over weight."

"Good thinking, Batman, I did the same thing. My bag is downstairs." Mike surveyed Teddy s appearance. "I see you went shopping for the big trip!"

"What? Oh yeah, look alright?"

"Yes mate, you're perfectly passable."

Teddy had always been brought up on robes and only owned a small selection of generic Muggle clothes, so he had been shopping round London for a larger wardrobe of more Muggle articles. Today was the first dry-run with his adoptive family with the new attire. Teddy had selected a white fitted t-shirt with a somewhat abstract pattern in black and blue on the front, with a pair of black slim jeans and a pair of trainers called 'Converse' which Mike kept banging on about.

"Is that a new shirt I see there, Mr Williams?" Teddy said coolly, surveying his friend's attire. Mike wore all sorts of eclectic t-shirts and today's was a tight, bright yellow one, which proclaimed in black and pink: 'Never mind the bollocks, here's the SEX PISTOLS'.

"Yeah, my brothers bought me some new gear for the big trip. There's this one, a couple of other random ones, a very nice one with The Clash on and some new jeans."

"Check you out!"

"Yeah, well, Dave and Alex said it was my Christmas and 19th birthday presents rolled into one, as they're not seeing me. Only right I feel!"

"That was nice. Anyway, better not keep Gran waiting, we should head off to this party.. It's gonna be manic, you do know that right?"

Mike pulled a funny face. "I have met your not-family before, you know."

"Not all at once you haven't..." Teddy said with a bit of reservation. Mike clearly had no idea.

"How bad can it be?" He replied nonchalantly.

Teddy just laughed.

Half an hour later, Mike had found out just how bad it could be. There were twelve Weasley/Potter grandchildren of varying ages, from sixteen-year-old Victoire to seven-year-old Lucy, and to put them all in the same place usually meant a riot. This was exactly how The Burrow was on this bright July day.

"Bloody hell," Mike muttered, as James and Albus Potter with Freddy Weasley close behind rocketed past him, brooms in hand. "Bloody buggeration."

"Told you," Teddy said smugly. "I'm guessing Vic and the older kids will be in with the olds. At least they won't try and run you down, brooms in hand."

"Olds?" Mike raised an eyebrow.

"Well, they kept referring to us as 'the kids' so we started to referring to the adults as 'the olds'. It kinda stuck."

"I like it," Mike smiled. "Though I'd not dare call Harry Potter or Ron Weasley old, they'd probably sling me in Azkaban."

"It's Ginny you want to watch out for, not those two," Teddy laughed. "Come on, lets get out of the madness."

The three eldest Weasley grandchildren were all the offspring of Bill and Fleur Weasley. Victoire was the eldest at 16, with the twins Dominique and Louis a year younger at 15. There was then a gap of three years before you reached Freddy and James, who were just about to start Hogwarts, meaning that there was a distinct clique of older children at the top of the tree, which included Teddy both as a member and as de-facto leader as the eldest.

Dodging round the squirts and saying hello to various members of the family, the pair made their way into the sitting room, where as predicted, Mike and Teddy found Victoire, Dominique and Louis sat with Ginny and Hermione. Louis looked distinctly bored and was the first to spot his not-cousin, shooting out of his chair.

"Teddy! Alright, mate?" He exclaimed, before adding in a mutter, "Thank Merlin you're here mate, I was about to go spare with all the girl-talk."

"Alright, Louis," Teddy said, giving him a one armed hug, Louis then turned to Mike, waving hello.

"Mikey, how's it going mate?"

"Not bad, geeze. Yourself?" Mike replied, shaking his hand.

"Yeah, better now you boys are here," Louis smiled, evidently very glad to have some male company.

Victoire and Dominique both stood too, and there was a round of hugs and hellos amongst the young adults of the group, before Ginny and Hermione waded in as well. Mike had met Ginny before, as it would have been hard to avoid meeting Teddy's godmother, but he was duly introduced to Hermione also. He was only a little bit star-struck.

The three eldest Weasley grandchildren were various combinations of their parents. Victoire was most like her mother, sharing her flowing blonde hair and features, but her temperament was more of her father. Dominique, or Nikki as she was usually know, had strawberry blonde hair and was a mix of both her parents, whilst her fraternal twin Louis was pretty much a blonde Bill.

After the greetings had been exchanged, the two boys had sat down with the group and the questions started.

"So, tell us everything!" Ginny exclaimed. "Where are you going? What are you planning to see?"

"Er, I'll let Mike answer this one. He's the genius behind this little adventure," Teddy said, handing over to his friend.

"Excellently delegated there, Ted," muttered Victoire, who was sat immediately to his left. He just smirked at her.

"Right, well," said Mike, pulling out his wand and flicking it so a globe appeared to float in the air before them. He showed how they were to fly to South East Asia, and then highlighting his proposed stop offs with a small dot at each location, joined up by a neat golden line. Their walk-through of the trip was well practised, having explained it to just about everybody they knew over the last few weeks. Teddy was sure this was the fifth time Victoire for instance had seen it.

"..and then from New York, we fly back to London," Mike concluded.

"Wow," said Hermione, "that's quite the trip. And you're intending to pass yourselves off as Muggles for the whole thing?"

"Yeah, that's the plan. Hence the get-up!" Teddy said, gesturing to his clothes.

"I like it," Nikki added. "Robes are a bit stuffy, you two are looking sharp."

"I wonder if Mum will get me some proper Muggle t-shirts.. That one is so cool!" Louis added, pointing at Mike's shirt. Victoire wrinkled her nose at it.

"Sex Pistols? Are they that awful Muggle band you two like?"

There was some loud outrage at this remark from both Mike and Teddy. Though it is genuinely accepted that the Sex Pistols were not actually a very good band, one did not insult the Sex Pistols, especially when you were a teenage girl who thought warbling dirge like The Stupefys was good.

"I was always more of a Clash fan myself," Hermione interjected, hoping to stave off an argument. Teddy and Mike just goggled at her. "What? They're a very good band."

"Hermione, I am suddenly seeing you in a very new light," Teddy said, somewhat in awe. Mike looked like he had just fallen in love. "Vic, you'd do well to get some records off your Aunt here, she clearly has very good taste."

"Well, it'll give me something to do whilst you two are off globe trotting and I'm stuck with the munchkins," she retorted, sticking her tongue out at Teddy.

They discussed their travel plans in more depth. Louis and Nikki were both particularly interested in their aeroplane journeys, something they had read about in Muggle Studies, but never actually seen or experienced. Hermione and Ginny departed eventually, looking for their own offspring, leaving the teenagers alone in the front room.

"Right, so it's boring in here," Louis said, standing up. "Let's head outside and see if we can inspire the parents into playing that Muggle game Mike likes with the funny coloured Quaffle."

"Football, Lou." Mike corrected, as he and Nikki both stood and started to make their way outside. "I've never understood why Wizards have so much trouble remembering the names of stuff."

Nikki's voice carried back into the room from the doorway. "Well, it's because the Muggles insist on giving everything stupid names."

"Stupid names? It's FOOT, as in bottom of your leg, BALL as in round thing. Not exactly complicated like 'Quidditch,' is it?"

Teddy and Victoire were left alone in the living room. Teddy hopped up from his chair and offered both his hands to her, tugging her out of the chair.

"Come on then blondie, let's go say hello to the kiddies," Teddy said, but Victoire didn't move, rather she was staring at her feet.

"I can't believe you're leaving me for a whole year," she said quietly. "It'll be like those two years you were at Hogwarts without me all over again."

Almost instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, her head resting in the crook of his shoulder. "It's only a year Vic, it's not like I'm leaving permanently. I'll send you a ton of postcards!"

"Yeah, but you'll still be gone," she said, squeezing Teddy tightly round the waist. "Who's going to look after me now?"

"Victoire Weasley, we both know you are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. Though I am going to have to charge Louis with dealing with all those potential boyfriends who come sniffing round.. We can't just stand Mike next to you now to scare them off."

Victoire laughed a little and relaxed her grip, looking up at Teddy. "You better write me, Teddy Lupin, or Merlin help you when you come back."

"That's actually the scariest threat I've ever had, and it came from a 5'4" blonde girl," Teddy smirked.

"Yeah, and you know Williams won't hit a girl, so you're on your own this time my dear," Victoire said, breaking loose from the embrace, but grabbing Teddy s hand. "Come on, lets go see if they've been inspired to play that silly ball game."

Several hours and several courses later, the party was beginning to wind down. Most of the younger children were nodding off and even the elder kids were beginning to wane. The usually perpetually hyper-active Freddy Weasley looked like he was about to drop off and an exhausted James Potter was fast asleep on the rug. Slowly the children and their parents began to leave, until only Bill and Fleur Weasley and their three children remained at The Burrow. Molly Weasley had long since gone to bed leaving Arthur Weasley, his eldest son, his daughter-in-law and three grandchildren in the front room with Teddy and Mike.

"So, Mike, how did you find your first proper encounter with our family?" Bill asked the teenager, handing him a small glass of Firewhiskey.

"Manic," Mike answered honestly. "I mean, been over for dinner at Harry's, so I've met James, Albus and Lily before, and I obviously know these three reprobates from school, but I think having you all in the same place pretty much defines chaos."

Bill Weasley laughed. "You didn't warn him before you brought him over, Teddy?"

"I did, he didn't believe me though!" Teddy said, sipping his own Firewhiskey.

"Nobody every does.. You have no idea how worried I am now you two are leaving. Rumour has it you keep the less respectable boys of Hogwarts away from my daughters." Teddy and Mike both snorted into their drinks.

"DAD!" Exclaimed both Nikki and Victoire

"The day these two are 'respectable' will be a very cold day in dragon s belly." Victoire added.

"I'm sure Louis will fill the role well, to be honest. Though another rumour has it you were the one who taught Ginny her Bat-Bogey Hex, so perhaps you needn't be worried," Teddy said, thoughtfully.

"I'm not," Bill stated, looking proudly at his children. "But it was always nice to have a pair of substitute older brothers to look after then. I nearly decked Harry when I found out he was going out with Ginny, so I guess I wanted that same thing for these two."

The thought of the mild-mannered Bill Weasley beating up the Voldemort-defeating, hardened Auror Harry Potter brought the room to roars of laughter.

"What? He used to be much smaller and skinnier than he is now!" Bill said, affronted by the laughter.

"I'm sure Dad. Uncle Harry would kick your arse!" Louis said, smirking.

"Fleur, back me up here!" he said, turning to his wife, perhaps trying to regain some male pride. She just giggled behind her hand. "Dad?"

"I'm staying out of this. I was always very happy for Ginny and Harry, unlike you and Charlie," the ever even-handed Arthur Weasley said. "Charlie s plan of setting a dragon on him was brilliant, until he realised Harry had bested one of his dragons at the age of fourteen and thought the better of it."Bill groaned, "Anyway, whilst I may have not been able to protect my own sister, she was being chased by the bloody Boy-Who-Lived.. Wait, was I making a point here?"

"Something about Teddy protecting us from harm?" Nikki smirked.

"Yes! Well, now you're gone, it just makes me worry." He paused looking thoughtful.

"Bill, trust me when I say, given the choice between the business end of Victoire's or Mike's wand, I'd always chose Mike's. And they wanted him in the MLES."

"Well, that makes me worry less..." Bill said, smiling at his daughter proudly. "Anyway troops, I think we should be making a move."

"Yeah, us too," Teddy said. "Got a plane to catch tomorrow!"

There was a round of handshakes and hugs, and the Weasleys started to make their way to the fireplace. Bill, Fleur and Dominique disappeared quickly, and it was soon Victoire's turn.

"Oh bollocks," Victoire muttered, just before she stepped into the fire. "I've left my bag in the garden. Louis, tell Mum and Dad I'll just be a minute."

"No worries," he said, before promptly disappearing too in a swirl of green flame.

Mike and Teddy stood alone in the front room, Arthur Weasley having retired to his bedroom after saying his goodbyes.

"You go ahead mate, I'll wait for Vic." Teddy said. Mike just smirked.

"I bet you will. That whole big brother talk left me very amused, I must say."

"Bugger off, you know it's not like that," Teddy said, punching his friend on the arm, who just laughed and disappeared into the fireplace.

Mike, from the day he had met Victoire some five years ago on the Hogwarts Express, had been insinuating that Teddy and Victoire were madly in love with each other, but too stubborn to admit it. The concept was ridiculous, but the teasing that led from it was what made it fun for him apparently.

Several minutes passed. Stood alone in the near-dark, Teddy watched the flames of the fire. Victoire was certainly taking a long time. Teddy headed towards the doorway which led to the Kitchen, on his way to the back door. He didn't so much as meet her on the way through as run straight into her. They toppled backwards and fell onto the living room floor with a soft thump.

"Ah, there you are," Teddy drawled sarcastically to the top of Victoire's head, which was currently buried in the front of his t-shirt, blonde hair a mess. Her legs had managed to end up straddled either side of his, and a hand had been flung round his neck.

"Very funny Lupin, now help me up," Victoire muttered, lifting her head to meet his eyes.

"Er, you're laying on top of me dearest, not the other way round," he smirked, but suddenly the intimacy of the position seemed to catch up with them and the world went quiet. Victoire's Weasley blush was almost bright enough to light the room and she got up hurriedly and they walked toward the fireplace in silence.

"So..." she said, turning to Teddy, "you're leaving tomorrow then."

"Yeah," Teddy replied quietly, avoiding eye contact.

"This should be less awkward," Victoire said, moving slowly toward him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "That's better."

They stood again in silence just holding each other for a moment, before Teddy spoke. "I really am going to miss you Vic. It's going to be a mad year, and I wish you were coming with me."

"I know," she said softly. "I'll miss you too, Teddy." She released his from the hug again, slipping backwards until the tips of her fingers were just barely still rested on his torso. Standing on her tiptoes, she delicately kissed him on the lips. "Bye, Ted, don't forget about me."

With that, she turned and disappeared into the fire.