Chapter Nine

A/N: The only thing I own is the plot of the story in bold (and the plot of this story as well). All characters belong to Ryan Murphy or J.K Rowling. I just get to play with their toys.

*ducks incoming projectiles* Sorry for the long wait! I got caught in an update loop with another story. That's no excuse though so I'm going to spend 2020 making sure each of my stories gets updated at least once a month.

Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter! Oh, should I bring Teddy in for the reading or wait a bit?

The rest of Glee club was spent practicing songs for Regional's. It was decided that, despite the fact that the event was five months away, that they needed to change their songs.

"So a typical rehearsal before a competition then," Kurt chuckled.

"Honestly, why do we always pick our set list at the last minute?" Tina sighed, shaking her head. "We'd be better off for competition that way."

"Doing Michael again is just too risky," Mr. Schue said with a frown. "Not to mention predictable."

"But we didn't do Michael…." Rachel said, trailing off as she realized that no one was listening to her.

It was then that he dropped a mother load on them. He was going to propose to Ms. Pillsberry.

"We know you're not going to screw it up this time," Quinn said with a grin. Teddy chuckled at their teacher's face.

"Nice Q," Santana snickered.

After practice, Teddy leaned up against the door to wait for his girlfriend.

"Miss me?" Victorie asked as she approached him, leaving a visible trail of broken hearts as she walked by.

"Only a lot," Teddy grinned and kissed her. As they walked out to the front of the school, Santana stopped them.

"So," she said, "party at Puck's tonight. You guys going?"

"Worst idea ever," Sam groaned, remembering the hangover he had the next day. Kurt and Blaine nodded in agreement.

"We probably could have gone without that party," Rachel muttered.

Teddy looked over at Victorie, who shrugged.

"I'll go if you go," he said. Santana grinned.

"Great! It starts at ten," she said and sauntered off. Teddy shook his head.

"Thank Merlin it's a Friday," he said. "So, you sure you want to come to this thing? Some of Puck's ideas veer on the idiotic."

"Hey!"

"Puck, you know he's right," Mike told his fellow team mate. "More importantly, how did no one hear him say 'thank Merlin'?"

"Crowded hallway?" Tina threw out there. "Not to mention it was Friday and we were all trying to scurry out of there to get home?"

"You never experienced a party in Gryffindor Tower," Victorie said with a smirk. "It'll probably be tame to my standards."

"I think I would like it there," Puck smirked.

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Tame, it was not. By the time Teddy, Victorie, Brittney and Santana arrived; half of the guests were wasted.

"Seriously you guys?" Mr. Schue groaned. Thankfully, most of his students had the good sense to look guilty.

"Wait, this is what you lot call a party?" Victorie asked nervously. Teddy could understand. Even in the Muggle world, Victorie was underage despite her…ahem, more mature appearance.

"Wait, what?" Rachel exclaimed. "She's under the age of 18?"

"She was a sophomore when she was going to school here," Mercedes pointed out. "Not many sophomores are 18, unless they've been held back."

"More importantly, Teddy's implying that he's of a legal majority in the wizarding world," Sam pointed out. "Wonder how hard it was to try to be a regular kid when he was an adult in his own world?"

"It might have been like when tourists from other countries come here and find out your drinking age is 21," Rory suggested.

"They get out of hand, I'm taking you back to your place," Teddy whispered in Vic's ear. No, he was nervous about something else entirely. His powers. He'd never drank before so he didn't know how they'd react to alcohol.

"He should have left regardless," Mr. Schue stated. "But you all did do the right thing and got me when the situation got too out of hand. So it's the last I'll say on the matter."

"Plus you and Mr. Hummel chewed us out that night," Quinn added. "Not to mention Mrs. Weasley."

"She's really scary when she's mad," Finn nodded.

"John, dude!" Sam called from his spot on the dance floor. "Come and get a drink!"

Teddy shook his head. Victorie, somehow, already had a drink in her hand and was eyeing it nervously. Puck forced a beer into Teddy's hand.

"Which one of us gave her a drink?" Puck asked, a little nervous now that he knew that she was under 18. His own classmates were around his age so he felt fine giving them alcohol but even a couple of years difference made him think of his little sister.

"Hell if I know Puck," Santana groaned.

"I barely have any memory of that night," Rachel added.

"Lighten up dude," Puck said. "Even Berry's drinking."

Sure enough, Rachel was wasted and Santana chuckled.

"So much for her vow to never drink again," she said. Despite arriving at the same time as Teddy, she'd already consumed three beers. Teddy and Victorie watched as the party began to get very out of hand. The worst part was there was nothing they could do. Teddy had already consumed four beers so if Victorie wanted to leave there was no way she could without getting Teddy in trouble.

"How did you drink three beers despite arriving at the same time as Ted?" Quinn asked.

"I'm just that skilled," Santana smirked. "More importantly, how did Ted consume four beers? Puck only handed him the one."

"We may have all handed him a beer at some point," Sam said, rubbing the back of his neck. "He'd take one and then set it down somewhere. In all honestly, I think he really only had two beers."

"At least she knew that it would be a bad idea for him to leave drunk," Mr. Schue nodded. "If you are going to drink, I'd rather you all stay in your locations and sleep it off if you're not going to call me or your parents."

"Come on," Mercedes grinned at her. "No one's going to know!"

"In my defense, I did not realize that magical papers were going to come from out of nowhere detailing everything that happened," Mercedes said, putting her hands up as if to defend herself from an oncoming attack.

Victorie sighed and took a sip. It tasted disgusting and made her miss her home back in England but there was nothing she could do now. Slowly consuming it, she glanced up to see Teddy's hair changing colors. Rapidly.

"Shit." Finn exclaimed. "That was like the one thing he was afraid of happening, wasn't it?"

"John," she whispered, tugging on his arm. She knew when to act when she needed to. "John, come with me."

"Smart," Quinn nodded. "We were so drunk, none of us would have noticed the two of them sneaking off. Even if they slept it off in Puck's rom, we still wouldn't have realized until the next day."

"Wow, looks like someone's getting some action tonight!" Puck yelled but then looked over at Teddy as well.

"Oh, good to know the upcoming events are all your fault, Puck!" Kurt exclaimed.

"I was drunk!"

"That's no excuse!" Rachel shouted. "Victorie had already consumed a portion of a beer by then and yet she still had the mental capacities to not draw attention to the fact."

"What's wrong?" Teddy asked, seeing the look on Puck's face.

"Dude, your hair!" Puck shouted.

"Don't say a word," Puck groaned as everyone shot him a look.

"Yeah what about it? I mean," Teddy chuckled, "your's looks like someone glued a squirrel to your head but you don't hear me saying anything."

"Can I just say that Teddy needs to like, get drunk and then roast all of us because I'm stealing that line," Santana chuckled. "Not to mention, it is true. The 'hawk has gotten out of hand Puck."

Victorie forced a mirror into his hand and Teddy froze just as his hair decided to land on neon pink. He couldn't breathe. He'd been so good about it! Hiding his identity to the entire glee club was hard, but it was necessary. Not even thinking about his next move, he ran to the stairs that kept him from the front door.

"That had to be the most terrifying moment of my life," Finn said. "I don't know how he was able to run so fast and so stable."

"Even with the two full beers he had, Ted was wobbling on his feet," Mercedes nodded. "Yet as soon as he saw his hair, he booked it out of there like he was Usain Bolt."

"Where did Victorie get a mirror?" Rachel asked and everyone paused, realizing that the smaller girl had a point.

"John!" Finn, the only sober one there, shouted and ran after him. Drunk or not, there was one advantage Teddy had over Finn. He was shorter, and therefore, he could duck any chance Finn had to grab him. He ran as fast as he could but stopped when he started seeing double. His knees sunk to the ground and before he knew it, the world went dark.

"At least one of you was sober," Mr. Schue sighed.

"I wonder if Ted's experience with bullies was what gave him the ability to duck around Finn like that," Tina commented. "I mean, I don't think he would have run like that if he hadn't spent six years being tormented for it."

"You don't know that," Quinn told her. "After all, this seems like a pretty big secret that he's trying to keep. The pages have mentioned a ministry, meaning they have a system of government and laws that they have to follow. Ted might have run because he was afraid of blowing the secret."

"Still, it was not a good idea for him to run while he was drunk," Kurt sighed. "Thank goodness for dad and you, Finn. I don't know what would have happened if he had stayed out there for too long."

"Mrs. Weasley would have killed us, that's what would have happened," Blaine told his boyfriend.

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Waking up in a strange place was not fun. Waking up in a strange place when one was hung-over was not fun at all.

"True," Puck and Santana nodded.

"Victorie?" Teddy groaned as he woke up in a bed that most definitely was not his.

"Hey kid," a man with a cap on his head poked his head in. "Glad to see you're up. Another hour and I would have taken you to the hospital."

"Why did your dad wait?" Rachel asked, turning to Kurt.

"He said that he didn't want to leave Carol and Mr. Schue with a bunch of inebriated teenagers," Kurt told her. "Plus he wanted a chance to try to call Ted's host parents."

Teddy went to answer but the lurching of his stomach prevented any words from coming out of his mouth. Gagging, he only got to a rubbish bin quickly enough because of the man.

"He didn't really drink that much. Why was he so hung over?" Tina asked.

"Lightweight?"

"Not used to our alcohol?"

"First time?"

"There you go," he said in a comforting voice. "I'll go tell the other's that you're up."

"I'm sure that put Ted right at ease," Kurt sighed. "After all, he ran off when he noticed his hair. I'm surprised he didn't try to run off after hearing that considering he was in my room and my room's in the basement."

"Maybe he didn't want to try to apperate hungover?" Rachel suggested.

He left and Teddy got up. He remembered enough to know that his hair changed colors. That was all he needed to know. The others probably hated him now, and for good reason. He lied to them. Victorie probably told them all about the Wizarding World.

"Dad left him alone?" Kurt groaned.

"You know your dad doesn't know he's a wizard right?" Mercedes asked, raising an eyebrow. "Plus with all of us still being there, and your parents, he wasn't going to try to run. Avoid us? Yes. But not run."

"Also, can we please address that Teddy's first thought was that we would all hate him?" Quinn added. "You know, instead of being worried about a friend who had run off while drunk and passed out?"

"Gah!" he groaned. All that thinking was making his head hurt.

"That's his brain contemplating his own stupidity," Kurt muttered under his breath.

"John?" a woman knocked on the door. "I brought some of Kurt's things out for you if you wanted to get changed."

"Would Ted have honestly fit into your things?" Finn asked, looking at his step brother.

"Better my things than yours," Kurt told him. "Ted would be swimming in your things."

Teddy smiled at her and she left to give him some privacy. Teddy sighed. He didn't want to go out there, but more importantly, that woman had begun to bring up thoughts about his family again. Thoughts he'd hidden.

"Okay," he groaned as he changed. "Let's go face the mob."

"I'm pretty sure we weren't a mob."

Opening the door, he saw not of the angry faces he'd expected but the concerned faces of his friends and allies.

"Told ya."

"You okay John?" Mr. Schue asked. Teddy nodded but was confused. What was he doing here?

"Sam called me," the teacher explained. "Said that you lot had been drinking and that I needed to come and pick all of you up right away."

"Thank goodness one of you kept that sheet I gave you last year," Mr. Schue sighed.

"Apparently, you running out shocked them all sober," the woman who brought him his clothes said, giving a look to Finn and Kurt. Why Finn received a look, Teddy had no clue, as Finn had been the only sober one there.

"Mom told me I should have left when you all started drinking," Finn said with a shrug. "I told her that it was better that I was there so at least there'd be one sober driver."

"Will came and got me," the man who'd woken him up explained. "Kurt blurted something about you running off and Finn went to help me look for you."

"Dude, we thought you'd O.D'd or something," Finn said and Teddy looked down. He didn't want to worry them. He had wanted to get out of there before they started calling him a freak.

"Like we would have done that," Tina scoffed. "We're the club of freaks and weirdos after all."

"Teddy doesn't know that though," Quinn pointed out. "Besides, it hasn't been too bad for us but he's been bullied and put through hell for six years. That doesn't go away."

"Mr. Schue along with Mrs. Weasely really chewed us out," Rachel said and winced at the sound of her voice but carried on, "for letting you run out."

"Well it's not like we could have done much," Sam added. "Sure Finn could have tackled him but that would have also potentially killed Teddy."

"Fleur was here?" Teddy asked, turning his head to his girlfriend quickly but regretted it as the swift movement was enough to make him gag again.

"Trash can!" the man shouted and Finn tossed a rubbish bin over to him. Teddy forced up something –how that was possible when he'd not eaten anything since he'd woken up he didn't know.

"First time hung over?" Rachel asked in a sympathetic tone.

"I can't remember my first time hung over," Puck commented.

"Not everyone's you Puckerman," Rachel shot back.

"Yeah," Teddy nodded. The woman passed him some crackers and some odd colored liquid.

"Saltines and Ginger Ale," she said with a smile. "Thought it'd be best on an upset stomach, and yes she was here. She picked up her daughter."

"And scared us all so badly that we'll probably think of her in a brand new light," Artie added.

Mr. Schue got up and grabbed his coat. "Well Burt, I see there's no need for me to be here."

"Wait, Will," Burt got up and whispered something to Mr. Schue. Schue nodded and whispered something back to him. Teddy grew nervous. What if they were still going to kick him out?

"First of all, my dad would never do that," Kurt said. "Second of all, dear lord does he notice everything?"

"I'm sure it's a defense he's picked up after being bullied for so long," Mike sighed.

"John, you alright?" Quinn asked.

"Just fine," he said. "Umm…ma'am? Where's the bathroom?"

"It really is amazing how polite he is," Tina noted.

"It's the Brit in him," Rory chuckled.

The woman smiled and pointed him in the right direction. His departure was the cue for the rest of the Gleeks to start the inquiry session.

"Okay," Rachel started the session off, "what was up with John's hair at the party?"

"I could have phrased that a little better," Rachel winced.

"You still remember that?" Santana groaned. "You were pretty wasted Berry."

"I can still remember it as well," Puck defended Rachel. "I think most of us remember our class mate's hair changing colors like that."

"That was messed up," Mercedes shook her head.

"You know, I hope he didn't hear me say that," Mercedes sighed. "It would almost be like I was confirming his worst fear."

"What about when he took off like that?" Mike asked. "What do you think was up with him?"

"Too much to get into detail," Tina sighed. "Plus it was a bunch of stuff we didn't even know about."

"Maybe he's a wizard?" Brittney suggested. Everyone looked at her as if she had two heads. "What?"

"Britt, wizards don't exist," Quinn said and Brittney shrugged. No one else commented after that.

"Apparently I have to eat my words," Quinn sighed. "Sorry Britt."

"It's okay," Brittany told her.

"Hey," Rory grinned at Teddy as he walked back. "So, you okay?"

Teddy nodded. "Yeah I'm good."

"Except for the hangover and the fact that he's possibly the most neurotic person alive," Mercedes added.

"Good, so let's find out what the hell was up with your hair," Santana said with a smirk. Teddy groaned and instantly a trash can ended up in front of him.

"Oh," Blaine flushed at Teddy's raised eyebrow. "That wasn't a 'I'm gong to puke' groan?"

"There are different groans?"

"No, that was a 'I'm not talking about that' groan," Teddy said. "It's a British male thing."

"Like we'd actually believe that," Santana scoffed.

Some of the more gullible members of Glee—Puck and Brittney—bought it. Finn and Rachel didn't seem persuaded.

"Did you guys seriously buy that?" Finn asked.

"Dude, I was so hungover I would have believed anything he said at that point," Puck told him.

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Monday brought even new challenges. Teddy was ducking each glee member in the hall, except for Puck and Brittney. Victorie had been sent back to Hogwarts by Fleur as punishment for being around alcohol—to the disappointment of all the males at McKinley.

"Some of the females too," Santana muttered under her breath. She never made any moves on Victorie though—she was Teddy's girlfriend. Allies didn't do that to each other.

"Hey Thomas!" one of the hockey players shouted. Teddy's eyes widened before they began to burn. Some cold liquid had just been thrown into his face.

"I hate those things," Blaine grumbled.

"Ooh!" Mike winced and led him to the boy's bathroom. There, they could see Sam wiping off his own face.

"Slushie?" Sam asked.

"Slushie," Mike nodded. Teddy got cleaned off and went to class. The rest of the week was hell, with the exception of Mr. Schue's proposal getting accepted.

"Brilliant," he whispered and his thoughts moved to Victorie. Maybe one day they'd have a family of their own…maybe.

"You know, I think that's the first hopeful thought he's had since we started reading this," Blaine stated. "I don't know if that's sweet or sad."

"Sad." Most of the other New Directioners commented.

"John," Mr. Schue said as they left. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure Mr. Schue," Teddy nodded. "What's up?"

He noted that Ms. Pillsberry was still there as well, something which made him extremely nervous.

"Nervous and Mrs. Pillsberry are two words that don't belong in the same sentence," Mike said. "She's one of the few people in McKinley who don't make the students nervous."

"Yeah, if Ted had said 'Sue', that'd be another thing entirely," Quinn nodded.

"When Mr. Hummel called your place, he got the machine," Mr. Schue said. "I called the number you put down for your parents' cell phones. The one on the handout you got when you first arrived at McKinley."

Teddy nodded, not sure where his teacher was going with this.

"I got your machine," Schue said. "I thought I had misread it so Mr. Hummel gave it a try. He also got your machine."

"You know, I don't know why that's such a big deal," Rachel stated. "His host parents might not have had a landline. I know my dads are looking into getting rid of theirs."

Teddy gulped. He'd snuck in and changed the number after Santana had given him the phone as a sign of alliance.

"Sneaky," Santana smirked. But the smirk faded as she realized how desperate he was to avoid getting caught and going back to his life in England.

"John, we don't want to frighten you," Ms. Pillsberry said gently. "We just want to know where your parents are."

"Even if it was just his host parents, we would need to know where they were," Mr. Schue stated. "They were responsible for him."

Teddy stayed silent.

"I wonder if this was the first time a teacher showed any concern about him?" Mercedes asked. "I mean, if he'd been bullied for six years, clearly the teachers at his school didn't do anything to stop it."

"Look John, you're seventeen. It's not right for anyone to have to take care of themselves," Mr. Schue said.

Teddy scoffed. "According to all the teachers, we're supposed to be learning to take care of ourselves. I don't see why it matters now."

"Dude's got a point."

"You're still a minor," Ms. Pillsberry said. "You need someone to take care of you."

"You know, I have to wonder if Teddy was insulted by that?" Mike asked. "Since, in his world, he is a legal adult."

"We're only going to ask one more time John," Mr. Schue said, "and then we're asking Mrs. Weasley. Where are your parents?"

"First off, Mr. Schue, well done on the guilt," Rachel told him. "You'd be a great Jewish mother. Second of all, what would you have done if he said "England?"

"Probably asked about his host parents," Mr. Schue told her.

"That's the end of the chapter," Puck told them, holding up the pages. "Anyone else want to read?"

"I'll go," Rory told them and took the pages from Puck.