A/N: I am utterly embarrassed at myself for putting this tale in the back burner for so long as I concentrated on my other works, there are millions of reasons why, but I fear each one is just as unsatisfying as the next. I apologize for this short chapter, as I know many are used to longer ones for this tale, I'm going to try and get back in the hang of it, so please forgive me for the horrifying long wait.

Thank you and again I must apologize.

And now…

Onwards.

Disclaimer: Characters belong to J.K. Rowling

May

A fire crackled loudly in the background as two figures sat still in the warm study. The taller of the two sat on a plush leather chair as he eyed the smaller with love and affection.

Remus smiled encouragingly at a now pouting Teddy. The boy's hair had shifted into a dull grey colour as he made his irritation over the situation obvious. He looked up at his father with murky green eyes; a soft glare was directed to the man before the young boy huffed softly and looked away.

Remus shook his head and laid a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. "Come on pup, I know you can do it."

The metamorphmagus sighed sadly and shook his head in denial, a small pout forming on his lips. "I can't daddy, it's just too hard."

Remus smiled softly at his son, they had realized recently that while Teddy possessed the same abilities as his mother did, he sadly did not have her control. His powers rather were directed by his emotions on a rather instinctual level. Both Severus and he had decided to try and train the young boy to control his powers now, fearing that it may be dangerous for him in the future to not stay in one form should his abilities become well known. But the lessons weren't going as smoothly as they'd previously hoped. The young boy was so used to letting his magic instinctively take over that to gain even a small semblance of control over his powers was extremely taxing for him and left the poor child irritated for several agonizing hours after.

"Come here pup." He lifted up the slim six years old and placed him on his lap. The small boy tilted his head and puffed out his cheeks cutely, letting his green eyes become a startling blue. "I don't think I'll ever be able to control them daddy." He looked down in shame and tugged on his dirty shoelace. "It's just too hard for me."

Remus shook his head and grab hold of the boy's chin so that both were facing the other. "That's not true little one." He smiled warmly at his son. "You have an incredible gift and I'm sure one day you'll become a master in controlling it." He chuckled as he lost himself in memories of time long past. "Did you know your godfather still had problems controlling his magic even at school?"

The boy's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he gaped at his father in disbelief. "No way! Harry's way too awesome, that's just impossible!" He waved his hands exaggeratedly as to prove his point.

Remus laughed loudly, no matter what Harry did, his son truly worshiped the small wizard. It was almost impossible not to see the two together whenever Harry would come by for a visit. In Teddy's mind, his godfather simply could do no wrong; he was just too powerful and great in his opinion.

"It's true, took till he was just about sixteen for him to finally gain control of his abilities." He hummed thoughtfully. "Though he still does lose slip up every now and then." He grinned and winked at his son. "But that's all just a part of being human. And personally I think he loses control on purpose at times."

Teddy bit his lip nervously as he looked up at his father. "So does that mean he won't be mad at me for not being able to control my power yet?"

Remus sighed and grabbed the boy into a warm hug. "Harry could never be mad at you, neither could I nor Severus, we love you pup." He laid a soft kiss on the boy's brow. "We're only doing these lessons because we love you, and want to make sure you're always protected."

Teddy fiddled with his shirt sleeve before nodding and looking at his father with determination. "What can I do to make it easier then?"

Remus stayed silent as he thought on the question for a few moments before a thought flashed through his mind. "Well pup; when my dear friends were learning how to become animangus; they lacked control as well…"

The young boy's eyes lit up with childish glee as he smiled widely. "You mean Uncle Paddy and Prongs had trouble too?" He seemed almost amazed at the thought of the great marauders ever having problems with anything. Just like his godfather, they too had reached hero levels in his young mind.

Remus chuckled and nodded. "Oh yes; Padfoot especially had difficulties; he was too headstrong. Always tried to jump into something instead of taking a moment…" He paused as his amber eyes glinted with a hint of sadness, making Teddy wrap his arms around his father's neck in a show of love and comfort. "What did they do then daddy?"

The old wolf smiled and ran a hand through his son's now curly black locks. "I decided to teach them an interesting meditation technique that helped them to control their magic and make it easier to transform." He tilted his head with a thoughtful expression. "It's a bit advance, but will help you should ever decide to learn occlumency."

Teddy's eyes widened and a brilliant smile lit up his face; instantly his hair flashed a bright gold color as the small boy began to practically buzz with excitement. "Can you teach me it!?"

Remus smiled and nodded, glad to see the eager look in his son's eyes instead of one filled with worried or failure. "Of course, first you have to take a deep breathe and try to clear your mind…"

Severus sighed as he slumped ungracefully into his dark leather chair. The school seemed to be in a blind panic with all the end of the year assignments coming up; once more he was thankful to have been given the headmaster's position, no longer did he have to suffer the horrors of spending agonizing hours grading some dunderheads pitiful attempt at potion genius.

Though unfortunately there still were things that needed his attention giving his high ranking position.

Albus smiled sadly at him from his portrait. "Tough year again my boy?"

Severus snorted and suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "Isn't it always?" He drawled coldly.

Albus shook his head. It was disheartening just how much their once close relationship had disintegrated over the years, and his heart always panged painfully when he thought of just how worse Harry's view of him must be. He looked at the boy, now man he had once taught and sighed heavily. "Do you know…?" He started nervously, though taking great pains to hide it. "How he is now?"

Severus glanced at him; his dark onyx eyes seeming to inspect him before he nodded curtly. "He's fine." He shook his head and smiled softly. "Both him and Draco have decided to raise their son's together." He snorted at the thought. "The small hooligans will no doubt leave Hogwarts in shambles once they come of age."

Albus smiled warmly at him, thankful for the information given to him, regardless of how painfully little it was. "It's good to know he has a family now." His twinkling blue eyes dimmed as countless memories flashed before his eyes. "That was always a wish of his at school; to have children of his very own to love and care for…"

Severus sighed tiredly as he looked up at the morose man. "Why do you torment yourselves with these useless questions?" He frowned at the portrait of the former headmaster. "You know very well that Potter will never come around, or forgive you for what you did to him." He smiled grimily as his own bitter memories came to the forefront of his mind. "His grudges are like his mothers in that department, of that I can assure you."

The old man smiled sadly and nodded in agreement. "I know there will be no forgiveness for me Severus, in either this life or the next, yet I still need to know." He sighed and closed his eyes. "I knew what I was doing all those years ago, and no excuse I give will ever make up for my past actions and transgressions… however…" His eyes stared intently into Snape's own, and for one terrifying moment the current Headmaster was reminded of just how powerful the elder used to be, of how he could seem to look into one's very soul. "I still wish to know that he is well and happy; that I didn't destroy the one light this world has with my own recklessness."

Severus sighed and stood up, straightening his dark robes as he did so. "You always were such a fool." He smiled a small smile at the former headmaster; a man he had once looked up to for guidance. "He sent me a picture a short time ago." He snorted in amusement. "He takes pictures of his son in almost a maniac level; you should see how many albums he has. And the child used to dare complain about that Creevey boy." Shaking his head in fond amusement he took out the picture and smiled. It had quickly become one of his favorites when it came to his adoptive son. In the picture Harry had young Tom sitting on his lap as he read the small boy a fairy tale from an old tome. Tom's light blue eyes seemed filled with fascination for the story as he followed the words with his finger, pointing them out as his father read them aloud to him. Harry in turn smiled softly and kissed the back of the boy's head in a show of love before he hugged the small child close and laughed at Tom's surprised expression at the action. It warmed his heart to see how peaceful and loving Harry had grown to be; and more then once he had silently vowed to protect the boy as much as he possibly could.

Fate be damned.

He sighed and contemplated his action before looking up at the previous Headmaster. "Would you like to see them?"

Dumbledore smiled sadly before nodding his head to him. "I would be delighted to see them… if you do not mind Severus."

Severus shook his head and showed the old man the picture before smiling. "He probably had Draco take this picture; it came out well compared to some of the other's I've seen."

He frowned at Dumbledore's odd expression. The old man had smiled warmly when he saw how peaceful and content Harry seemed in the small frame, but the smile had slowly faded away only to be replaced with a look of disbelief, and… fear? He kept staring at Tom until Severus grew almost uncomfortable from the rather intense examination of his pseudo grandson. "Who…" He paused and slowly turned to look at Severus, his face pale and grim. "Who did young Harry say the father was?"

Severus frowned as he placed the picture back in his inner chest pocket. "He never did." He paused and thought back to the countless conversations everyone had shared on the subject. "We all assumed he did not wish to speak of the other man as a way for him to deal with his grief over the other's passing. Now after all these years it seems almost inappropriate to bother him with such a question."

Dumbledore nodded slowly; his face still pale. "I see."

Severus eyes narrowed in distrust, knowing the man far too well to take his words at face value. "What are you hiding? Do you know something?"

Dumbledore sighed and shook his head. "I am sorry, but I will not say." He turned and faced away from his former student. "I refuse to make yet another mistake; I refuse to let harsh things come to pass from my foolish actions." He tried to smile, though it was faint. "Just... make sure Harry is happy…" His blue eyes looked upon him sadly.

Severus nodded curtly, feeling mildly insulted that the man expected anything different. "He is like my own son Dumbledore; of course I will assure him happiness."

Dumbledore smiled at him sadly and as he valiantly tried to push back his thoughts.

He would not cause any more unneeded grief.

It was just a coincidence. He nodded to himself even though the words sounded empty to him.

Besides, anything else was simply impossible.

No.

His time had long since passed.

And so too had passed the one who shared such similar blue eyes…

"Louis!" Teddy squealed happily when he caught sight of his friend. Grabbing hold of the other boy's arm in excitement they both sped out of the room, leaving behind two exasperated and gaping adults.

Bill shook his head and chuckled when he caught sight of an equally gobsmacked Remus. "I swear; I'll never understand where they get all that energy from."

Remus wholeheartedly agreed. Smiling he motioned for the oldest Weasley to sit in one of the worn but comfortable armchairs. Bill groaned tiredly as he slid bonelessly into the seat, finally relaxing after looking after his energetic son.

Remus followed suit after handed the redhead a warm cup of hot chocolate. "So how have you been Bill?"

The younger groaned and shrugged. "Good I suppose." He frowned as he became lost in thought. "I forgot how frustrating it is to deal with wizard clients though." He scowled angrily as he looked at the graying werewolf. "Sometimes I just want to rip them apart…" He grinned wickedly, showing off his large canines. "Or at least sit down and watched the fools try to put up their own blasted wards for once."

Remus chuckled softly as he took a sip of his own drink. "Yes, I can imagine that this sort of work is a big difference from how things were in Egypt."

Bill nodded before sighing softly and looking around at all the defense books lining the shelves. "I don't mind though in all honestly." He grinned brightly at the professor. "It's nice spending more time with my family; I wouldn't trade it for the world. Even if I do have to put up with idiotic wizards for it."

Remus smiled at him softly as they both relaxed, sometimes it was nice for them both to simply sit back and discuss the rather dull things that went on in their lives.

Teddy narrowed his eyes as both he and Louis attempted to colour in the small garden gnome from his picture book, they kept glaring daggers as the silly creature tried to hide away from their reach behind a few strands of white grass, making it more difficult to colour him in all the way.

Finally Louis let out a loud roar and pounced angrily at the gnome with a red coloured pencil, attacking it with rigor until the poor thing was pouting alone in a corner of the page, all red and blotchy from the rather vicious attack.

Teddy blinked in surprise before laughing loudly in hysterics, it looked so funny to him that he couldn't help but congratulate his friend. "That was awesome!"

Louis grinned wickedly, his blue eyes glinting with excitement. "Well I couldn't really help it! The silly thing just wouldn't stay still!" He crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't even wanna try and colour in the unicorns."

Teddy grimaced before instantly agreeing, there was just some things that spelled trouble when it came to wizarding picture books.

He looked around thoughtfully for something else to do. After looking around the room and failing to find anything of interest he moaned loudly and flopped down on the ground dramatically. "I'm bored!"

Louis pouted before nodding. "Me too…" He tilted his head as his eyes lit up with an idea. "Why don't we go and explore?"

Teddy frowned and shook his head slowly. "Daddy says that isn't a good idea…"

Louis looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Come on! It'll be fun." He smiled at his friend. "We'll be back before they know it!"

Teddy bit his lip before slowly nodding. Giving a loud whoop of excitement Louis grabbed hold of his hand before leading him out of the room.

It wouldn't be too bad, and besides he'd always did want to see more of the castle.

Besides…

What's the worst that could happen?

Teddy gulped nervously as they wandered around the forbidden forest. The forest seemed filled with loud and mysterious sounds, and every now and then they would catch sight of something scuttling out of their line of vision. It had been a little over an hour now since their little excursion had taken them out of the halls of Hogwarts. He could now safely say that they were completely and utterly lost.

He could also safely say that they were going to get into loads of trouble when their fathers finally found them.

Louis kept biting his nails nervously as he looked around the dark forest. Every now and then a sound would come from deep within its dark depths, scaring the two as they tried not to run around in a blind panic. They kept holding the other's hand in a death grip, not even noticing the almost painful loss of blood circulation between their fingers.

"Louis…" Teddy started slowly, gasping in fear when a roar was heard not too far away from them. "I'm scared…"

The two jumped as a tree branch broke nearby, a group of ravens flew past then, their loud caws seeming to announce the two's imminent doom with each passing moment. Small tears began forming in their wide eyes as they became even more terrified of their surroundings.

Louis slowly nodded before leaning in close to his ear. "Me too." He whispered softly, as if scared an unknown monster would suddenly appear should he make a noise louder then his whisper.

They both screamed loudly when suddenly a large form came bursting through the darkness of the twisted and warped trees in the forest. The great beast seemed to stop just before them. Both boys started to whimper pitifully as they closed their eyes and waited for the end.

"You should not be here."

Teddy blinked back his tears and gasped in shock at the centaur before them. After the war, they had moved deeper into the forest, and his Papa would often tell him how rare it was to see them now.

It could be called handsome, with its white blonde mane and astonishing blue eyes. But at the moment their eyes were merely fixated at the large and threatening arrows tied firmly to its back with a thick piece of twine.

Louis gained his courage back first and trembled as he tried to stand proud before the mighty creature. "We-we're lost." He blushed pink in embarrassment at his stammer. "We don't know how to get back."

If the centaur had heard them, he did not make any form of acknowledgment for their plight; rather it kept looking at the two in confusion. Its head was tilted to the side and long locks of white blonde hair fell softly against it's muscled chest as it looked far beyond them, the haunting blue eyes seeming to pierce through their very forms. "All is not as it should be."

His eyes landed on Teddy, making the boy gulp nervously and take a hesitant step back. "You should not be here."

Teddy looked up at him in confusion. "But I live here..." He blushed darkly. "Well not here but in the castle."

The centaur shook his head slowly, as if puzzled by something beyond its comprehension. "No, you are not supposed to be here childer."

Louis looked at the two in confusion, mentally wishing they could just go back to the castle and leave the confusing centaur alone. He sighed tiredly as he looked up at the creature. He just wanted to go back to the castle and be with his father again, and this strange creature wasn't helping. "What do you mea-"

He was cut off by a loud noise coming from behind them. Quickly they both turned and sighed in relief when the caught sight of the great hulking form of the groundskeeper, Hagrid.

Hagrid blinked at the two in surprise, shocked speechless for a moment at seeing the two children all alone. "Teddy? I dind't think yer dad would've let yer out here all al'one."

Teddy chuckled nervously at him as he suddenly found his shoes fascinating. "Well you see Hagrid…"

Louis sighed in relief at finally having an adult to bring them back home. Turning he blinked in shock and disbelief when the centaur they had been speaking to was no longer there. He frowned in confusion before following after Teddy.

Both of them were tired and desperately in need of comfort, and perhaps some chocolate if they were lucky enough.

And they both inwardly agreed they would rather deal with their sure to be irate parents then any of the strange creatures from the forest.

Neither stopped to think for a moment on the strange Centaurs words; though much later would the secret meaning behind the innocent sounding statement come back to haunt them.

A/N: I feel like everyone is going to come after me for waiting so long yet writing so little for this story; yet that might just be my paranoia talking.

I have the outlines for the next few chapters done, I even have it partially written out, yet I can't bring myself to take the time to write them out completely just yet.

I admit, this story will be long and large, it's a personal project of mine and unfortunately it worries me sometimes with how it will be received. Because of that and many other foolish reasons I might have embarrassingly gotten intimidated by my own tale. I'm going to try and find some time soon to simply sit down and write out chapters that are a reasonable length and something enjoyable for everyone to read, please do forgive me for causing such a long wait again.

I hope this next installment will be well received, and I hope I can be forgiven for causing such an awfully long wait.

Thank you.

Till next time.