Lucy Weasley was late for breakfast.

On a balmy July morning, Percy Weasley sat at his breakfast table, skimming through the day's issue of the Morning Prophet and trying to find something newsworthy. In one hand was a cup of strong tea, which he was sipping at regular intervals as he waited for his daughter to come down. He had been disappointed with the paper so far - the news consisted mainly of things such as gargantuan daisies or the inauguration of the fastest broomstick to date. Useless tosh, he thought as he turned a page. Why bother with inaugurating a broomstick when a faster one would come out and take its place in a few months?

â€�“Percy, that’s your third cup of tea,” his wife said as she sat down beside him, looking at him with her eyebrows raised. â€�“And you’ve already finished the paper twice! You know, if you are so worried about her, go to her room and call her down. It’s maddening to see you two like this.”

He shook his head. â€�“She’ll think I’m imposing on her,” he replied, setting down the paper and turning around to look at her. â€�“As it is, she’s not talking to me, so--”

â€�“Percy,” Audrey interrupted, looking into his eyes. â€�“You went through her personal things. She’s supposed to be a bit ticked off.”

â€�“But I’m her father; I’m supposed to be worried about who she’s dating!” he cried exasperatedly. Even with two teenage daughters, he still wasn’t sure if he was doing the parenting job properly -- and considering his most recent showdown with his eldest daughter, he decided he was very, very bad at it. â€�“It’s my job, isn’t it? It’s really not my fault for caring about her. Just… tell me where I’m going wrong,” he finished with a sigh

To his surprise, Audrey laughed. He loved it when she laughed; her eyes crinkled slightly around the edges and a slight dimple formed in her left cheek. Ever since the first day he’d seen her laughing, he’d fallen in love with her.

On Fred’s third death anniversary, Percy couldn’t bear to face his family. After Fred's death, Percy had felt like he had taken a blow to the chest. There were times when he was unable to eat or sleep, when grief and guilt ate at him like acid. Fred's funeral was the worst day of his life, ever. He couldn't bring himself to say goodbye to his brother, knowing it was his fault he laid there. He hoped his mind was playing a joke on him, that it was fooling him and showing him false visions.

Every morning started bleak and dry and Percy would have to convince himself that he wasn't a murderer. That it was a mistake anyone could have made. Deep down, though, he knew it was his fault that Fred had died. If Fred hadn't been distracted by him, if he hadn't been talking to Percy when that wall collapsed, he could have got that extra second to save himself. A moment's distraction had cost him his brother's life. What bothered him the most was that Fred's murderer had got away that day. Percy hadn't been able to track the bastard down. Rookwood had been killed, anyway, that very same day by a stray Killing Curse aimed at someone else by one of his own kind, but Percy was far from satisfied. Seeing Rookwood's dark, vacant eyes staring up into the vast sky hadn't been enough for him. He had wanted to destroy Rookwood himself, to punish him for taking away his brother. Percy had wanted to take revenge, to pull Rookwood apart, limb by limb… to see the light leaving his eyes. And he hated his luck for not being able to make it happen.

As everyone had been leaving for the services to be held at Fred’s grave, Percy had slowly slipped out (for his mother would have dragged him along if she had seen him leaving) and had gone to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink. He had never accompanied his family for the services, and he could tell that Gorge hated him for it. He had even gone to the point of calling Percy a coward, and though Percy had hit him hard in the face, he knew George was right. But while George had lost his twin, he was not the one responsible for it. He could never know how Percy felt, for it had been all Percy’s fault.

He had been sitting in the pub all alone, clutching a bottle of Firewhiskey, bringing it up to his lips unsteadily from time to time. And Percy had been on his third bottle when he saw her for the first time.

She came in like an angel, dressed in white robes, her blonde hair billowing in the wind as she stepped into the pub from the howling street outside. And yet that angel looked like her whole world was falling apart. Her grey eyes were bloodshot. Her face was drained of all colour, and her robes were askew. She sat down on the barstool beside him, ordered a glass of gin, and then stared into blankness.

Later on he found out that her boyfriend had left her for someone else. He couldn’t believe how someone could toss aside such a beautiful creature as herself for anything else, for he knew that anything else would be unappealing compared to her. They often met at the Leaky Cauldron for drinks afterwards, and gradually Percy found himself being drawn to her in a way he’d never been towards any other woman.

As days passed, she became more open to him. She told him that she worked as an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries, and Percy was glad to find that she worked at the Ministry. To his own surprise, Percy would often leave work early and go down to the tenth level to wait for her outside her Department. Then they would leave work together and head for lunch, talking about subjects ranging from mundane things as ants to deeper things like politics or the meaning of life. Audrey, he knew, knew far more about the subject than he could ever imagine, but her research on the subject was classified and she couldn’t share it with him. Percy hated mysteries, but he let it pass. After all, she couldn’t know about the internal affairs of Shacklebolt’s campaign, either.

One sunny Sunday morning, as they sat outside Fortescue’s ice-cream shop, Percy told her about his ambitions to be the Minister for Magic and change the world. She laughed, to his dismay -- but then he realized that she wasn’t mocking him; in fact, she had said, she was glad to have found someone like him with a purpose in his life and who shared her enthusiasm for work, and that she was finally starting to enjoy herself. That day as they sat together under the azure sky sipping hot chocolate, he finally realized that he was falling in love with her.

He couldn’t believe that he was the same Percy Weasley who loved his work more than anything else.

The thing about grief, he realized soon, was that it changed people. It made them someone they weren’t. His grief had in the end brought him closer to everyone in his life.

â€�“Percy, are you listening to me?”

He jerked out of his reverie. She was waving her hand in front of his face, an exasperated smile on her face.

â€�“Sorry, dear,” he said quickly, wiping that lovesick grin off his face. â€�“What were you saying?”

â€�“You should really apologize to her,” she prompted, trying to keep her face straight.

â€�“But --”

"You know how stubborn she is, Perce. Until you apologize to her she won't talk to you. And she's a big girl," she said patiently, taking his hand in hers. "She knows how to deal with boys. And she knows your position in the ministry, Percy; she won't do anything that will upset you or dishonour your name. She's old enough to know what's right and what's wrong. Just give her a chance to prove it to you."

Percy didn’t want to admit it, but what his wife said made perfect sense, he knew. And he hated it. Lucy was his little girl, and she was still too young to be dating anyone. And just to know if she was in any sort of relationship, he had snuck into her room when she was downstairs and gone through her drawers to find any sort of hint of the existence of a boy.

But to his chagrin, Lucy had seen him and the face-off that had followed was worse than one of Mrs Weasley’s tirades, he recalled with a grimace.

â€�“She really has grown up, hasn’t she,” he mumbled.

â€�“And now you’re finally speaking sense!” Audrey said happily, clapping her hands. â€�“Bravo!”

â€�“So I should go up to apologize?”

â€�“Double bravo to you,” she replied, standing up and kissing him on the cheek. She picked up his empty cup and took it up to the sink, and placed a cleaning charm on all the dishes. â€�“Now you go up there and make up with your daughter while I clean up. Molly’ll be back from Fleur’s place soon, and if I’m not wrong, Dominique will be will her. Those two are attached to the hip.”

Percy laughed. He got up, pecked his wife on the cheek, and, squaring his shoulders, shuffled up to his daughter’s room.

Percy knocked twice, but Lucy didn’t answer. She was probably asleep, Percy thought, which was a good thing. He’d tiptoe in, kiss her on the forehead and wake her up like he used to do when she was a child, and he’d apologize. And then things would return to normal, he thought as a huge grin split across his face.

He pushed the door.

The door opened with a creaking noise, swinging in a wide arc until it hit the wall behind it. The blinds were drawn, and the minimal amount of sunlight diffusing in through the red curtains gave the room an oddly eerie feel. He peered into the dark room, his eyes adjusting to the dimness inside.

Lucy’s bed was empty. The blanket had been carelessly tossed aside, revealing the white bedspread underneath. The pillows were dented inwards, and the sheets were crumpled up, so she had certainly been sleeping in it. The bathroom door was ajar and the lights out; she was definitely not in there.

Where is she? Percy thought.

â€�“Lucy?” He called out. Resting his hands on the doorframe, he leaned in. â€�“Luce, are you in here?”

The room was completely vacant, except for the furniture and a small bundle of clothes at the base of her bed. He scanned the room, an oddly apprehensive feeling rising up in his chest. Something was terribly wrong, he thought as his heart started to beat faster. A lump formed in his throat. Lucy was nowhere to be seen. There was nothing odd about her room, though, except for the bunch of clothes; Percy knew that Lucy was a perfectionist and hated when anything was messy --

He peered at the bundle. And then he realized it was not a bundle at all.

He staggered.

And then he let out a bone-chilling howl.

No, please, no… He thought frantically, leaning onto the doorframe, his legs unable to support him any longer. The air seemed to have left his lungs. He couldn’t breathe. Not this. Please let this not be true…

Footsteps thudded up the stairs. â€�“Percy, are you alright?” Audrey cried from the landing, her voice panicky. A second later she skidded into view, her eyes widening at the dishevelled form of her husband. â€�“Percy, wh-what happened, what -- why did you --”

â€�“Lu-- she-- there--” He could say no more. He sank to the floor as his legs finally gave way. His hands shaking uncontrollably, he pointed into the room.

Audrey’s eyes followed the direction of his finger, wondering what on earth had him so shaken up.

And then she saw it.

Her mouth widened into a silent scream as she collapsed onto the floor, her fingers clutching at her face.

Lucy Weasley lay on the floor, her body oddly contorted, her brown eyes staring into nothingness. She was dead.

---

Teddy Lupin had wanted to be an Auror ever since he could remember.

As he grew up, he had seen his godfather capture what he had termed "baddies". Harry Potter had been a hero, a shining beacon of light for everyone in times of need. Teddy had always dreamt about following in his footsteps. And he had finally achieved his goal, after countless hours of rigorous training and studying till the crack of dawn.

What he hadn't envisioned were the piles upon piles of boring paperwork.

Teddy dropped his quill and slumped. The day hadn't even started and every inch of his desk was covered with stacks of files from Aurors who needed their works filed and compiled, only to be stored away in some dusty old dungeon. Teddy's job was simple: read the latest cases and decide what was important. Then he'd compile them in a file and throw the rest of the unnecessary details into the rubbish bin. It was very easy, really. Too easy.

Sometimes, when the rest of the trainees were busy on other cases, Harry would take Teddy on smaller assignments to take notes and learn how fieldwork was like. Harry would do most of the poking around and ask Teddy about his opinions. He would then analyze Teddy's ideas, tell him where he was going wrong and where he was right, and then he would explain how the case really was. Together, they would then solve the case. In Teddy's opinion, he learned far more in the investigations with Harry than he ever did by studying hundreds of case files.

But today was not one of those days, much to his annoyance. He was stuck in the filing cabinet all by himself, surrounded by musty shelves and creaky drawers… and the cooling charm was not working, either.

Great, he thought irritably. Just my bloody luck.

He needed fresh air, he thought. Closing the file he was working on, he grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and headed out of the door.

Harry, he knew, wasn't working on any case at the time. Wondering if his godfather was up for a chat, Teddy made his way past the crowd of Aurors towards the door of Harry's office. Some of the Aurors would look up and wave and Teddy would happily wave back. Others, though, often ignored him. And one of them was the surly and rather old Williamson, who would look at him and wrinkle his brows in what was ill-disguised disgust. Teddy absolutely loathed the man.

Williamson's main problem was that Teddy's father was a werewolf, and he had tried countless times to convince Percy Weasley that Teddy was not to be trusted. Percy, however, would turn a deaf ear to his words, for he had liked Remus Lupin and refused to judge him for his condition. Harry didn't like Williamson either, but there was nothing he could do; Williamson was a senior Auror and had a high case closure rate. Harry couldn't possibly kick him out just because he was biased against someone. Until Williamson retired (and that was still around a year away) they were stuck with him.

Shaking his head, Teddy knocked on Harry's door.

"Come in!"

Teddy turned the doorknob and entered. Harry's office had a bureaucratic look about it, and yet it looked rather homely. The wooden floorboards gleamed brightly as though recently polished, and the walls were covered with shelves stacked full of books and case files. Though Teddy was sure Harry hardly ever went through them, they were a bit haphazardly stacked; Teddy had a sneaky feeling Harry did that just so it seemed he was a busy person. In front of a rectangular wooden table were two chairs for guests, and despite of their formal look they were very comfortable. Behind the table on a revolving wooden chair sat Harry, his back to the door, poring over a long piece of parchment whose bottom had disappeared from view. Harry's emerald green cloak hung from the back of the chair.

"Harry, do you have a moment?"

Harry turned, and on seeing Teddy his eyes lit up. He grinned and placed the top of the parchment on the table, which fell down immediately due to the weight of the rest of the parchment pulling it down. "Teddy, I haven't seen you in a while," he said, ignoring the paper on the floor. "What brings you here?"

"Just popped by to see how you were doing," he replied, walking over to the desk. Harry motioned for him to have a seat, which he gladly took. "I took a break."

"It's a good thing you dropped by," Harry said, taking off his glasses and polishing them with the hem of his robes. He looked exhausted. "It's been a hectic day. The international desk has a new lead on the man running the Hallmark case."

Teddy had briefly heard about that one. A Dark Wizard had been making deals with various businessmen around the country, and every single wizard who had signed a deal with him turned up dead, with their vaults mysteriously wiped clean. The legal documents all showed signs of very dark magic, though none of it could be traced back to the caster.

"Is he going to attack businesses abroad?"

Harry nodded. "Dawson tells me about a new business that's suddenly popped up in Egypt. It's making a deal with the biggest flying carpet company. What do you think we should do?"

"Me?" Teddy sputtered, surprised. "But this is a major case, Harry! I think you should -"

"I have theories," Harry interrupted, smiling grimly. "Tell me your opinion."

"Well," Teddy said, frowning. "Maybe talk to that company and somehow bring him to England, where you have the jurisdic-"

A sudden whooshing noise cut him off. A second ago, the fire had turned emerald green, and a letter had popped out of the fire and landed on Harry's desk.

Harry curiously picked up the letter and looked at the name inscribed. "It's Ginny," he said, smiling. He unfolded the paper and scanned through it. "Probably wants to know when I'll -"

Harry froze.

"Harry?" Teddy could sense something was terribly wrong. Harry stared at the letter, his eyes wide with horror, his mouth gaping open. For a second, Teddy feared for the worst. What if someone -

He snatched the letter from Harry, who had gone numb with shock. His heart beating wildly, Teddy read through the letter.

In an instant, all his fears came true.

---

Teddy stood in the corridor in front of Lucy’s room, unable to process what was happening. The entire family was herded together, some silently weeping, others stone-faced and disbelieving. In the middle of Lucy’s room was Percy’s hunched figure, sobbing beside the still form of his eldest daughter. The once strong and proud Minister was pitifully crumpled up, completely shattered. Beside him sat Audrey, and it killed Teddy to see her staring wide-eyed into vacant space. Somehow it was even worse than Percy’s tortured howls.

His mind flashed back on the note.

Come to Percy’s house quickly. Lucy’s dead. -- Ginny.

Lucy was dead.

His rebellious, annoyingly smart cousin was gone.

A lump formed in his throat. He wouldn't cry. He didn't want to break down. Lucy wouldn't have wanted anyone to grieve over her death - she would have wanted them all to be strong and accept it.

He spotted Victoire on of the chairs in the corridor, one hand on her forehead, her elbow resting on her knees. Her silvery blonde curls were in tangles. She was very distressed, Teddy knew, for she had often told him that Lucy had been her favourite younger cousin. They were so similar: both of them were perfectionists and overachievers, and often spent hours talking together. Victoire had adored her very, very much.

Teddy shuffled over to her and put a hand on her shoulders. "Hey," he murmured.

Victoire looked up. She was a mess, indeed. "Hey," she sniffed, dabbing at her bloodshot eyes with the back of her hand. "When did you get here?"

"Just now. I came in with Harry."

"Is he going to investigate?" she asked.

Teddy looked over at Harry, who was muttering darkly to George and one of the Aurors who had accompanied them there. Every now and then Harry would sneak a glance at Percy. "I think so."

Victoire bit her lip. "They're suspecting foul play, you know."

A chill ran through his spine. "Murder?"

Victoire nodded. "Powerful men like Uncle Percy have a lot of enemies."

"Harry'll find him," Teddy said firmly. "If anyone can, it's Harry."

They both looked on as Harry slowly walked over to Percy. The moment Percy saw Harry, he threw himself towards him, sobbing, if possible, harder. Harry himself looked so tortured, and it seemed as though it took him all his effort not to become a wreck himself. He pursed his lips tightly, gently patting his brother-in-law, while a tear rolled down his cheek. Teddy had never seen Harry this emotional before. As an Auror, Harry always tried his best not to become emotional even in the toughest of cases. The only time Teddy had seen Harry close to breaking down was when the case was about a little girl who had been thrown off the roof after being hit with a Killing Curse. The girl had been Lily's age then, and upon seeing the mangled body, Harry had to step outside for some air. He was as white as sheet, his eyes haunted, and Teddy knew Harry had been wondering about what would have happened had it been Lily instead of that girl.

Teddy looked away. None of the Weasley children could bear to look at Lucy. He quickly did a head count. Frowning, he did it again. "Where are Molly, Dom and James?" he asked Victoire. "Are they okay? They shouldn't be roaming off, what if -"

"Calm down," she cut across him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Molly and Dom are upstairs. Molly refused to come down. She can't believe that..." she trailed off, glancing towards Lucy.

"And James?"

She shrugged. "He came in, all wild eyed and shaken up. And then he saw Lucy and just ran out of the house."

Teddy stood up. "See you in a bit," he whispered to Victoire.

She grasped his hand. "Where are you going?"

"To see Lucy."

"No, don't," she said quickly, her eyes tearing. "It's - it's horrible. She's been so badly disfigured, Teddy. It scared the hell out of me."

"Victoire, how bad can it be? Don't worry, I've seen worse pictures. I'll handle it.

She still looked doubtful, but let go of his hand anyway. Giving her a weak smile, he made his way into the bubbly room, which was in stark contrast with the setting. Dolls and stuffed toys were put neatly around the room, grouped together according to size or colour. The bed sheets were crumpled up, and Teddy knew Lucy would have a fit if she could have seen it. He felt a knot in his stomach thinking about her, alive and happy. He walked slowly towards Lucy's still form, afraid of what he'd see there, wondering what on earth had had Victoire so shaken up.

He hadn't expected the scene to be so mortifying.

Almost all of Lucy's body was covered in tiny blisters. Tiny red spots dotted her skin and her face. Her hands were scrunched together, her knuckles white, her nails digging into her palms. A thin band of light traced the shape of her body, presumably drawn by the Aurors. Her body laid there, twisted and crumpled up, as though she was having a violent seizure. Her eyes had been closed, but her expression was that of intense pain, and her mouth was open in a silent scream.

Rigor mortis. Her body had already hardened. She would have to be buried that way.

He clutched the bed for support, his legs feeling weak. No wonder Victoire had been so shaken up. It was terrifying to see.

Audrey sat beside him, staring hard at Lucy's mangled figure, and Teddy was at a loss as to how she could see her daughter in that condition. Her face was expressionless, her eyes hardened and her jaws set. Her hand rested delicately on Lucy's thigh, as though she were afraid she'd hurt her. And yet she said nothing; she simply sat there, looking into her daughter's face, unmoving.

Teddy walked away, quickly as he could, not wanting to intrude on something that felt so personal.

"Teddy?"

He turned. It was Ginny.

"Have you talked to Harry?" she asked, her voice firm and strong, her eyes hard. Teddy admired her ability to stay resolved even in such a situation.

"No," he answered. "We came as quickly as possible; I haven't spoken a word to him about this. Do you think someone killed her?"

"Yes," she replied without hesitation. "And so do the others. I don't believe she would have committed suicide, and this doesn't seem like a natural death."

Teddy didn’t reply. Who would want to kill Lucy?

Harry spotted the duo and walked up to them, wrapping an arm around Ginny, who rested her head on his shoulder. Looking at Teddy he said, "It's a murder."

Even though he knew it was coming, the confirmation chilled him to the core. Here was proof that someone had wanted Lucy dead - that someone hated her so much to have her killed.

Ginny looked up. "You've confirmed it?"

Harry nodded grimly. Somehow, Teddy sensed there was more to the story.

"And?" Ginny pressed on.

Harry hesitated. "Well, um... she was..."

"What?"

Harry bit his lip and looked away, obviously contemplating on how to break the news. Teddy raised an eyebrow. What could this be about?

"What is it, Harry?" Ginny prodded her husband.

"Well," Harry said, taking off his glasses and wiping them as slowly as he could. He then took a deep breath, put them back on slowly and turned to Ginny. "Shewaspregnant."

"What?"

"Ginny..." Harry looked tortured. "Lucy was pregnant."

---

"Harry," Ginny whispered, raising her hand up to her mouth, her eyes wide. "What are you saying?"

But that couldn't be right, Teddy thought, opening his mouth to protest. Lucy didn't have any boyfriend, and she simply wasn't the type to have a one-night stand. As a cool sort of older brother, he knew about the relationships of every one of the Weasley children - even if they weren't able to tell their own parents. Teddy even knew about Rose, who was currently in a secret relationship with none other than Scorpius Malfoy.

So unless there was something else in play, Lucy couldn't have been pregnant.

But before any words could come out of his mouth, someone interrupted him.

"Dad?"

The voice sounded so feeble and so desperate that for an instant Teddy couldn't recognize it.

Turning around, he found himself looking into James' ashen face. He looked like he'd been through hell and back. His hair was tousled up, and he was as white as sheet. His eyes were bloodshot - he had been crying. Teddy remembered that Victoire had said he'd ran out of the house on seeing Lucy, and he wondered where James had gone, and when he'd come back. Judging by his looks, Teddy had a feeling he'd gone to a pub to wash off his sorrows.

"Dad is it… is it true?" he managed to gasp, looking at Harry longingly, as if begging him to deny it.

Harry nodded. "Yes. She was pregnant."

James took a deep breath and blinked several times. Ginny went over to her son and hugged him. Everyone knew that Lucy and James had been very close ever since they were very little; the news would be very tough for James in particular.

He staggered in Ginny's arm. Taken by surprise, Ginny couldn't support him. He fell to the floor, all crumpled up.

"James!"

Teddy's eyes widened as he rushed forwards to help his god-brother, and though he knew James was bound to be upset, he couldn't fathom why James looked like he had just lost everything.

"Lucy was… she never told me… I thought… b-but I - we were so…"

He couldn't make head or tails of what James was going on about. Teddy looked on as James blabbered away, staring into nothingness, not acknowledging their presence at all anymore.

"James, what are you saying?" Harry demanded, crouching down in front of him, and judging by his looks, he had no more idea about what was bothering James that Teddy had. He glanced at Ginny, who looked as lost as him as she held James' hand. "What are you talking about?"

James looked at him in the eyes and whispered, "Dad, I was… the child - the child was mine, Dad."

Harry froze.

James looked a little scared. He took another deep breath and steadied himself. "Never mind. I-I guess... you continue with your investigation, Dad, I'll just..."

Biting his lip, he stood up and stumbled out of the room.

Ginny pulled herself up. Squeezing Harry's shoulder, she murmured, "I'll go talk to him," before following after her son, calling his name.

It took Teddy a while for the whole thing to register in his head. Normally he would have felt indignant, but that feeling never came. In the light of the present situation, it seemed very insignificant.

Suddenly he understood why the two of them had always looked so radiant around each other. He had never missed the stolen glances during family dinners, neither had he failed to notice that James would always protect Lucy during snowball fights and Quidditch matches. What he had always interpreted as brotherly affection had actually been much, much more.

And he knew why James had been so tortured.

He looked at Harry, who was staring hard at the door of the room James had disappeared into.

"Harry?" he said. "You okay?"

Harry jerked his head. Slowly, he looked at Teddy. His eyes looked like they'd suddenly aged a hundred years. "Yeah, I… yeah."

"This changes things," Teddy sighed. "It really does."

---

It was a while until Teddy finally got home for the night. Since the Medi-witch had announced that it had indeed been a murder, Harry had taken charge of the case, and surprisingly he had asked Teddy to assist him. Bewildered, Teddy had tried to refuse, saying that he was too unqualified for such a high profile job.

"Percy trusts you," Harry had said. "In fact, we're the only two he trusts on this. You're in."

And so they had officially started the investigation.

With a flick of his wand, Teddy switched on the lights in his house. It was the same one his parents had lived in, and though he could have easily managed to rent a new apartment, he preferred this house much more. It was full of his parents' memories - the parents he'd never known. If he closed his eyes he could imagine his father walking down the stairs, wearing the same threadbare robes he'd seen in their photographs, or else he could feel his mum making breakfast in the kitchen, knocking over pots and pans in the process. In this house he could feel truly close to them, to their memories, and he knew he couldn't have done it elsewhere.

He threw the files he was carrying onto the coffee table and unfastened his cloak, throwing it casually onto the armchair beside him. Stretching, he sat down on the sofa and began to pore over the notes he had made so far.

Victim had no apparent enmity with anyone.

High profile parents. May or may not have had enemies.

That was an understatement. There were many people out there who hated Percy, including other candidates for the top seat. Teddy knew them personally, though, and none of them seemed like to kill an innocent child for revenge. His training had taught him, however, not to trust people by their looks. They could not disregard anyone.

Death occurred in the early hours of morning.

No one could have got into their house with all the wards cast by the Aurors and old Order members alike. That suggested long term untraceable methods, including slow poisons or weakening hexes.

Middle of vacation.

Could it have been anyone inside Hogwarts? Lucy would know not to eat anything given by people she didn't know. That put her friends, classmates and teachers at the top of the list. And it would be something that she had to be constantly consuming in the case of poisons, such as chocolates or medicines. He'd have to ask Percy if she had been taking in any of them.

The fireplace burst into swirling green flames. Jerking, Teddy looked around to see who had been calling so late at night.

He was mildly surprised to see Victoire.

"Hey," he said, getting up and hugging her. Gingerly, he kissed the top of her head, catching a whiff of his favourite shampoo.

"Hi," she breathed against him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Are you busy?"

"Nope," he said, pulling away from her. "You all right?"

Victoire nodded as she took a seat on the sofa. Her eyes were still puffy, though, and her lips slightly swollen. "Better than before. Dad, Mum and Dom are all spending the night at Uncle Percy's. I doubt any of them would get any sleep, though. Uncle Percy was still pretty shaken up after everyone left. He kept on going on about how he never got to say sorry to Lucy. I couldn't bear to see it."

"Why, though?" Teddy voiced the thoughts that had been nagging him all day. He started to pace the room. "Who would have killed Lucy?"

"I wish I knew," Victoire sighed, her eyes following him. "She was just a kid... barely of age. She had her whole life ahead of her."

Teddy hesitated for a second before asking, "Do you think that anyone inside Hogwarts would...?"

"No," Victoire replied at once. "From what I've seen, she was a very quiet girl who only mingled with either the family or a couple of her good friends. She wasn't the type to mix with the wrong crowd. No drugs, no bitchy girlfriends."

"Did anyone have a grudge against her about anything at all?" he asked. "From the evidence, it strongly suggests she was under some long term administration. And that's only possible if the killer's from inside Hogwarts."

The though sent a chill down his spine. All of a sudden, Hogwarts wasn't safe anymore.

Victoire shook her head. "Not that I'm aware of. But whoever it was, you'll find them, won't you?" she asked softly.

Teddy stopped pacing and shuffled over to the sofa. Taking a seat beside Victoire, he took her hand and slowly stroked it. "Yes. We will."

Victoire rested her head on his shoulders. "James is shaken up badly. He won't talk to anyone."

"Do you know anything about them?" Teddy asked.

Victoire hesitated slightly before answering, "Yes. They were... they were together."

"He told me today," Teddy said quietly. "Harry and Ginny, too. He said that the... child Lucy was carrying was his."

Victoire nodded. "I knew about it."

Teddy was surprised. "You never told me."

"They made me swear not to tell anyone," Victoire replied, biting her lip and looking at Teddy apologetically. "I wasn't supposed to know either, really. I found out by accident. It was a few months ago, when we were at Grandpa Weasley's place. Everyone was outside. I needed to go to the loo, so I was inside the house, going up to Dad's old room when I suddenly heard... voices."

Teddy raised his eyebrows. "And let me guess..."

Victoire smiled slightly. "And they were making smooching noises and everything. For a second I thought maybe Rose had somehow snuck Scorpius in, so I pushed the door open, hoping to tell them off."

Teddy knew what was coming next.

"Imagine my surprise when I found James and Lucy inside. I was a bit grossed out, to tell you the truth," she admitted, not looking at him. "I mean, they are cousins and everything."

"That's about how I felt when I found out," Teddy agreed.

"I threatened to tell Uncle Percy about it, but they begged me not to. They didn't want anyone else in the family knowing about it, either; I think they were afraid of how Uncle Percy would react if he ever found out."

"How long have they been together?" Teddy asked, genuinely curious.

"Lucy later told me that they got together in their fifth year."

"Two years now," Teddy calculated.

Victoire nodded. Teddy kissed her cheeks softly as she nuzzled into his neck, sighing dejectedly. "They loved each other a lot," she mumbled, twirling the hem of his robes in her finger carelessly. "He spoke so endearingly about her, you know? It was obvious. And then she... she told me that she was pregnant and she was worried what James would say about it. I told her not to worry, I told her to go tell him, that they'd work it out together..."

Victoire was close to crying again, Teddy could feel that. He brought her closer to him. "Did she tell him?"

"I don't know. She didn't tell me."

"Victoire," he said, frowning. "Was she acting oddly recently? Do you know anything about her behaviour, or..."

"Well, other than the bouts of morning sickness and the itchiness, no. She was perfectly happy. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Morning sickness and itchiness, together with pregnancy and the possibility of being poisoned... There was something that seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"She was throwing up?"

Victoire nodded. "She was throwing up a lot, yes. And Dom even told me that Molly said Lucy was having gastric problems. Her throat and her stomach burned and her face and limbs itched a lot. That's common in pregnancies, though. It happens to everyone." she paused for a while, frowning. "The itchiness isn't supposed to come until later, though, not until the baby bump starts to show and the skin stretches. That's what we read in Healer training. It wasn't supposed to happen now."

His Auror training kicked in. "Is that all? Just vomiting and itchiness and stomach aches?"

Victoire nodded. "Well, she did mention something about bloody diarrhoea, too, but -"

Teddy paled.

"Teddy what's wrong?"

"I - I think I..." he couldn't bring himself to speak. The symptoms... memories from his potions course came flooding into his brain.

Victoire looked panicky. "Teddy, do you know anything -?"

And for the second time that night, the fireplace burst into green flames. "Teddy," said Harry's voice. "Come to my office right now."

He had to tell Harry what was going on.

"Go home now," he told Victoire. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Victoire looked bewildered. "No, Teddy, I -"

"Trust me," he told her, kissing the top of her forehead. "I'll tell you everything later. I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered. She stepped into the fireplace, and in a swirl of green flames, she was gone.

A minute later, Teddy found himself rushing down the hallway to Harry's office. The Auror office was empty except for a couple of senior Aurors hunched over their desks, working on Merlin knew what. Teddy skidded to a halt in front of Harry's office door, and without knocking, he let himself in.

"Teddy, there you are," Harry said, standing up. His face was grim. In his hands was a thin roll of parchment.

"Bad news?" Teddy asked, fearing the answer.

"I've just come from supervising the post-mortem," Harry replied. Aside from the coroner and the Medi-wizard, Harry was there as the duty-Auror. Harry had seen many post-mortems in his life, but Lucy's had so far been the most daunting, and he prayed to Merlin that he never had to face that again."Guess what they found." Harry handed Teddy the post-mortem and toxicology reports.

Teddy unfurled it and skimmed through the details, which mainly stated about her skin rashes and corroding intestines. He closed his eyes briefly, knowing how badly she must have suffered.

He finally stopped when he found the line he was looking for.

His eyes widened. He was right.

6. High level of toxalbumin found in blood.

Toxalbumin.

His legs weakened. Clutching for the chair, he sat down.

She had been poisoned.

---

6. High level of toxalbumin found in blood.

Toxalbumin.

His legs weakened. Clutching for the chair, he sat down.

She had been poisoned.

"She was being given small doses for a very long time," Harry said, looking down at his desk.

Chronic poisoning. He'd known it would be something of that sort. The implications were very severe -- it was either a person from Hogwarts or their relatives. No one else had been in contact with her for more than a few days, after all, and certainly not anyone inside the Ministry. Lucy herself had been the target.

And then came the big question: what was the motive? Personal hatred? Jealousy?

"Do you think it could have been suicide?" Harry voiced aloud. "I know Ginny disagrees, but we can't rule it out."

Teddy looked up, frowning. "What makes you think that?"

"She was pregnant," Harry said quietly. "She was sixteen, Teddy, do you -?"

"But James said --"

"James didn't even know about the child," Harry pointed out. "It came as a shock to him too, remember? Do you think Lucy felt so scared about this ordeal that she'd opt for the easy way out?"

Teddy sighed, remembering what Victoire had told him earlier. "They were in love, Harry. Did you know they were together for the past two years?"

Harry looked taken aback. "Really?"

Teddy nodded. "Victoire told me about it. She might have been hesitant to tell James, but I don't think she'd have killed herself. She loved James and must have trusted him enough to know he wouldn't leave her. She never got around telling him, in the end though."

Harry sighed, and Teddy realized what was going on inside his head. "It was your grandchild," he said softly.

Harry gave him a wistful smile, though it didn't reach his eyes. In a few minutes, he looked like he'd aged a hundred years. "I can't believe James would have been a father. Seems like yesterday that he was learning to walk himself."

Teddy managed a small, humourless chuckle.

"You're right," Harry said, shifting the topic. "I'm ruling out suicide."

"What do you suggest, then?"

"I have some other theories, but I'm waiting for more reports before I make any decisions. The potioneers are trying to determine the ingredients of the poison now. It could give us an idea."

"I want to go to Hogwarts to get some leads," Teddy said. "Once the holidays are over. I'm sure something would pop up."

Harry nodded, and added, "Tomorrow we'll head over to Percy's for some proper questioning. I don't want to do it so early, but it's necessary." Standing up, he grabbed his cloak from the back of his chair. "Go home now and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow."

Teddy got to his feet and headed to the fireplace. "Okay. See you, Harry." He reached for a jar of Floo Powder and grabbed a fistful before sighing and turning around to look at Harry. Then with a nod, he threw the powder into the flames.

"Teddy?"

Teddy paused, one foot in mid air. "Yeah?"

"Take care."

Teddy looked into Harry's eyes and look of understanding passed between them. For a second Teddy felt like the little child who used to snuggle into his godfather's side after a very frightening nightmare. Harry had always taken care of him like a son, and even now, in a situation that was no better than a nightmare, Harry was there for him.

"Thank you, Harry," he replied, smiling. "You too. We'll get through this. All of us."

And this time Harry truly smiled, and even without saying anything, Teddy knew what he was thinking. Taking a last look at his godfather, Teddy turned around and vanished in a swirl of green flames.

---

â€�“Have you found anything yet?”

Teddy was greeted by the question the moment he stepped out of the fireplace in Percy’s house the next morning.

The house seemed so dark and quiet, and despite the posh furniture, it seemed like a set of a Muggle horror movie. Chairs from the previous night were scattered all over the living room. There was a heaviness in the air Teddy couldn’t describe, but it was suffocating him. He’d experienced it often in other crime scenes, though this was probably the worst of them all.

Crime scene.

Shaking the dust and soot off his robes, he shook his head to answer Percy's question. He immediately felt guilty for lying to Percy as the older man slumped back in his seat, disappointment and helplessness etched on his face. Teddy couldn't tell him anything yet - not until everything had been confirmed. The less Percy knew, the better right now.

"We're trying to do everything we can, Percy," Teddy said earnestly, walking over to him and sitting down beside him. "Harry and I are working on a few… leads - we can't tell you yet, at least," he hastily added, as Percy sat up with a demanding look. "Not until we're fully sure ourselves." Truth was, he didn't want to tell Percy yet that his oldest daughter had been poisoned to death.

Percy nodded slowly. Teddy was glad to see that he was holding himself a lot better that day. He grasped Percy's shoulder in support. Percy smiled at him gratefully, patting the hand on his shoulder.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Teddy asked.

"Not much," Percy admitted. He looked haunted. "I kept on seeing her face in my dreams."

Teddy didn't know what to say to that. How were you supposed to comfort a man who had lost a child? After a few moments of heavy silence, he spoke again. "How's Audrey?"

"Still in Lucy's room," he croaked. "She's just sitting there on the floor, clutching Lu's favourite bear. We tried our best to get her to eat something, but she won't budge.

Teddy sighed. "She can't go on like this. She's gonna fall ill if she doesn't have any food."

"She's lost the strength to go on." Percy's voice was weak, no more than a soft whisper. He closed his eyes, his lips pursed tightly. "We all have."

"Percy, you can't go on like this," Teddy pleaded. The family was falling apart, and the way Teddy saw it, Audrey would soon be on her way to St Mungo's and they didn't need that at all. To cap it all off, if Percy didn't pull himself together, how would he do his job as the Minister? They needed him the most. "You have to be strong for all of us, for the family, and for the Wizarding population. Lucy wouldn't have wanted --"

"We won't know what she would have wanted thanks to them," Percy snarled, clenching his fists. His kind eyes were full of anger and hatred. "Because she's gone now."

Teddy mentally smacked himself for that careless slip. "We'll get them," he offered weakly.

Percy nodded, his fist still clenched. A moment passed in silence.

"Percy," Teddy began cautiously. "I need to ask you a few questions."

Teddy gauged his reaction. Percy's jaw slackened, his eyes softening a bit. After a second he nodded. Teddy thought it was safe to go on.

"Was… Lucy under any medication?"

"Medicines?"

"Yes. Long-term ones, to be precise."

Percy frowned. "Not many, as far as I know. She's only been taking her daily potion for her haemoglobin issues. Why?"

"Can I see it?"

Puzzled, Percy repeated, "Why?"

"I can't tell you yet," Teddy said apologetically. "Please, Percy, we need to see it."

Slowly, he nodded. Standing up, he said, "Wait here, I'll go get it."

He shuffled out of the large living room, leaving Teddy to his thoughts.

Medicines. He'd have to take the potion in for testing whether the contents matched with the poison found in Lucy's blood. A long term potion was just the perfect thing to disguise a chronic poison in, he realized. Lucy would never have realized anything was amiss, and with her pregnancy, any sickness or irritation would be considered normal. A genius ploy.

Percy returned after a few minutes, a vial of potion in his hand. He handed it to Teddy, who peered into the vial. The liquid inside swirled ominously.

"Thank you," Teddy said. "I'll have to keep this; we need to test for a few things."

Percy nodded.

Teddy smiled and headed to the fireplace, the vial clutched tightly in his hand. Taking a pinch of Floo-powder from the jar, he threw it into the flames, immediately turning them bright green.

"Teddy?"

Teddy turned back, recalling the conversation with Harry the previous night. "Yes, Percy?"

Percy had a hard look on his face. "Catch those bastards who killed my daughter."

He nodded solemnly. "Yes, Sir." Giving Percy a small salute, Teddy stepped into the swirling flames and disappeared.

---

â€�“You were right, the poison was in there.”

Teddy looked up. Harry strode into his office, rather dishevelled, but looking like he'd accomplished something big. There was a strange gleam in his eye and his lips formed a knowing smile, a smile that only appeared on his face when they found new and promising leads. For a second Teddy felt relieved and hopeful; he and Harry were one step closer to catching whoever had killed his cousin.

"Did they find out what it was?" Teddy asked, his voice betraying his attempt to sound calm.

Harry shook his head. "Not yet. The potioneers took one whiff and realized something was off, though - apparently that's not how the Ferrosophoric Potion smells." Harry took off his cloak and draped it carelessly over the back of his chair before sitting down himself. "They said they need a couple of hours before they can determine what poison it was."

"Can't they do it sooner?"

Harry chuckled. "I asked them that. The head potioneer nearly bit my head off - he thought I was implying that he wasn't doing his job. He said, yelled as a matter of fact, that matching the symptoms on her body with the ingredients, breaking some things down, letting things simmer and all that potioning tosh took time."

Teddy nodded, smiling slightly. Two hours and they'd know what poison killed her.

"Do you think many people knew?"

"About what, all that Potions details? I didn't, after all, I never paid any -"

"No, no," Teddy cut across, shaking his head. "I meant about the Ferrosophoric Potion she took."

"Oh," Harry looked sheepish, but then the look was replaced by a somber one. "I doubt it. Not many, surely, except those close to her."

Teddy let out a sigh. There it was again, the sign that told him that it was someone close. If not many knew about it, surely…?

"I can't believe this happened to us."

Teddy looked at Harry. He held his head in his hands, and his elbows rested on the table. His voice sounded muffled. "Harry, what…"

Harry looked up, and Teddy saw that the gleam had vanished, replaced by a deeply haunted look. "One of our children are dead, Teddy. This wasn't supposed to happen anymore."

"There's nothing we can do now, Harry," Teddy sighed.

We thought we'd stopped it, we worked so hard for freedom so that our children wouldn't die." Harry looked into the fireplace, a faraway look in his eyes, and Teddy understood that he was recalling the days of the battle of Hogwarts. "So many died for us, for a victory. Fred died, Moody died… your parents gave up their lives to save ours." Teddy closed his eyes at the mention of his parents. He was so proud of them. They had died for his future, but despite that there was a gaping hole in his chest. They were not with him anymore. They had fought for him, but at what cost? They had died, left him alone in the world.

"I became an Auror so I could keep them all safe," Harry continued. "This wasn't supposed to happen. They were all supposed to live happy, carefree lives. It's not a war anymore, so why did she die? How could this have happened?"

"You and I became Aurors just for this," Teddy answered, his throat dry. "To try and stop the crimes before they happen. But if we can't, we'll just track down the criminals and put them behind bars so the bastards can't do it again." Teddy put his strongest face he could. That's the reason he had joined the task force - to finish what his parents started, to keep his generation safe. "Lucy's killer won't go unpunished."

Harry looked up, his jaw set. "We will find them."

Teddy nodded, relieved that he'd gotten through to Harry. If Harry had lost hope, Teddy wouldn't have been able to go on alone. Harry was Teddy's rock, his guide. He was always there to handle him.

Two hours later, as they sipped cups of strong tea while discussing Lucy's case along with various others, the door opened and a pink memo flew in and landed in front of Harry. Setting his cup down on the saucer, Harry straightened his glasses and unfolded the paper.

He paled.

"What is it?" Teddy asked apprehensively, not failing to notice the colour drain out of Harry.

"The… the results. Take a look."

Teddy almost snatched the paper from his hand in his haste to read it.

He looked at it.

And then… he looked at it again.

---

Traces of toxic substance present.
Identity: Croton Tiglium.
Nature: Oil from Croton Seeds

Teddy’s mouth fell open as he stared at the paper in shock.

â€�“Croton oil…” he heard Harry whisper. That explains everything.

Teddy nodded, his throat dry. Croton oil was the perfect poison in this situation, one that would be impossibly hard to detect. Lucy could not have known that she was consuming it. The fatal period, too, could be several days. The symptoms matched closely with those of pregnancy: Nausea, severe vomiting, itchy skin... as well as bloody stool and urine.

There was another thing about Croton oil, though, something that scared Teddy.

For Croton oil was a known abortifacient.

He looked at Harry, opening his mouth to speak, but he closed it again. â€�“Harry...” he managed to whisper, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat. â€�“Do you know what this means?”

Harry looked up, his eyes tired. â€�“Someone knew.”

---

Teddy looked around, taking in the appearance of the family. The older women were huddled together around Grandma Molly, looking apprehensive. George, Ron, Hermione and Harry were standing in corner; Harry spoke in an undertone, saying something that made the others' eyes go wide. He noted that none of the younger children were there - he presumed they were at the Burrow; and besides, they didn't need to know the story. The only Weasley children present were Molly, Victoire and James. Victoire was hugging herself, looking at Teddy in confusion, whereas James was… Teddy was taken aback when he'd first seen him: he was pale, much paler than before, and dark circles lined his eyes as though he hadn't slept the entire night. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and his thin lips were chapped. Hs hair was tousled up, sticking up at odd angles, looking even more unruly than his father's.

Teddy couldn’t imagine what he was going through. Losing his girlfriend, and then the child he hadn’t known nothing about… He wondered what he’d have done if it was Victoire instead of --

No, he thought, disrupting his train of thoughts and clenching his eyes shut. He shook his head. He wouldn’t think about that. Victoire was perfectly safe. Opening his eyes, he looked at her. Their eyes met, and he saw Victoire give him a small, encouraging smile. He nodded.

Harry cleared his throat. All the eyes in the room snapped towards him. â€�“You must be wondering why I called you here.” his voice echoed through the room, and, if possible, the tension in the air became thicker.

Silence.

â€�“Ha-have you found anything?” Percy finally croaked, looking at Harry, voicing the question everyone was afraid to ask. Beside him, Charlie, who had come from Romania after hearing of the incident, gave his brother a squeeze on the shoulder as Bill exchanged worried looks with Fleur and his father.

Harry nodded, pulling out the parchment from his robes. He looked around the room uncertainly. His eyes softened, taking in all terrified faces as they stared at him. Looking rather guilty, he spoke, â€�“I know this is hard on all of us, but you all have a right to know.” His eyes lingered for a fraction of a second longer on James, who gave a small nod, as if encouraging Harry to continue. He took a deep breath. â€�“Lucy was poisoned.”

Victoire gasped, and so did a few others. Molly’s eyes widened as she held on to her mother for support.

â€�“Poisoned…” George trailed off, looking from Harry to Teddy, gauging their reactions. â€�“You can’t be serious.” Teddy looked at him. George looked horrified, in stark contrast with his usual airy self. â€�“How?”

Teddy closed his eyes. This was it. Harry was about to drop the bomb.

Harry swallowed a lump in his throat before continuing. â€�“She was given an abortifacient --”

Percy’s head snapped towards Harry. â€�“Abortifacient?” he demanded incredulously, his eyes became like stone. â€�“Why would she be given that?”

Harry looked pained. â€�“She... she was pregnant,” he said weakly, pursing his lips.

The silence that followed was deafening.

One second passed.

Then two.

Then three.

Grandma Molly was the first to break the silence. â€�“Harry dear,” she said, gaping at him with wide eyes. â€�“Are you… are you sure about this?”

"Yes, Molly," Harry promised her. "It's true, we -"

Percy laughed nervously, cutting across Harry. "Harry, that's just… it's just not possible," he insisted, looking at Teddy and Harry desperately, as if pleading them to deny it. "Lucy wouldn't… she'd never -"

"Uncle Percy," Victoire cut in, looking at him hesitantly. "It's true, she was pregnant."

Everyone looked at Victoire as if she'd gone mad.

"Victoire, how -"

"No, Daddy," she interrupted Bill before he finished, shaking her head. "She really was, she told me."

"But that's crazy!" Percy exploded, putting his hands up in exasperation. Teddy looked at Harry nervously. Things weren't going well at all. "She didn't even have a goddamn boyfriend! I checked! I even asked her, she said she didn't. Then how in Merlin's name could she be pregnant?"

A nervous silence followed his proclamation. Percy exhaled deeply, running a hand through his auburn hair.

Teddy nudged Harry. "What do we do now?" he mouthed.

Harry's brow was drawn into a frown, his eyes focused on the floor. Teddy could almost hear the cogs turning in Harry's brain. Then slowly, he looked up, focusing his eyes on James.

James stared back at him. A silent conversation took place between father and son.

Teddy snuck a glance at Victoire. She had noticed the exchange, it seemed, for she was looking back at him with wide eyes. She shook her head slightly, her eyes pleading.

Teddy pursed his lips and nodded. It had to happen.

James cleared his throat. "Uncle Percy, Lucy did -"

"Shut up, James, you don't know anything."

"But Uncle Percy, I -"

"But she didn't have a boyfriend, James!" Percy snapped at him, his arms folded across his chest.

"Of course she did! I know -"

"How would you know?"

â€�“Because I was her boyfriend!”

For the third time that day, the room went deadly quiet.

Teddy closed his eyes, waiting for the explosion.

â€�“What. Did. You. Say?” Percy hissed. His eyes blazed in fury as he slowly took a step towards James.

Sensing the impending danger, Harry slowly edged towards James, shielding him from Percy. Teddy looked on hesitantly as Percy strode across the room, a murderous look on his face.

â€�“She was my girlfriend, Uncle Percy,” James replied, his voice firm. Unflinching, he looked into Percy’s eyes. â€�“And the child was mine.”

â€�“You --”

â€�“Percy,” Harry warned, his hand reaching inside his coat for his wand. Teddy edged forward, his own hand circling around the thin piece of wood in his pocket; Percy was mad and Teddy knew he might just do something he’d regret.

Without thinking, Percy shoved Harry roughly aside and grabbed James by the collar.

â€�“What the hell did you say?” he growled, his nose inches from James.

â€�“Percy, put him down!” Grandma Molly hollered, her eyes wide as she took the scene in. Looking at her older sons, she screamed, â€�“Bill, Charlie do something!”

â€�“I loved her,” James said, his hands grabbing Percy’s. â€�“Let me go!”

â€�“You’re her damned cousin!” Percy screamed into his face, ignoring Bill and Charlie as they tried to get him off James. â€�“You’re supposed to protect her from crazy boys, not bloody get her into bed with you! I’m gonna kill you for this!”

â€�“Percy, stop it!” Harry shouted, pointing his wand at Percy. â€�“I mean it.”

â€�“You can’t attack me, I’m the Minister,” Percy spat.

â€�“You’re threatening him,” Teddy said, backing Harry up. â€�“Let go of James.”

â€�“Why should I? He--”

â€�“He's my son, Perce, and there is no need to be a git about this,” Ginny said, standing up, her eyes hardening. â€�“This is exactly why he didn’t tell you.”

Percy let go of James suddenly, rounding on Ginny, his eyes wide. â€�“You knew about this?” he asked accusingly.

â€�“No we didn’t,” Harry replied, lowering his wand. Teddy followed suit. â€�“We found out after she died.”

A look of realization dawned on Percy’s face -- and for some reason Teddy didn’t like it one bit.

For the second time, Percy rounded on James, pure fury etched on his face.

Oh, shit, Teddy thought as his hand instinctively flew to his wand. He didn’t like it at all.

â€�“You killed her didn’t you.”

His voice was nothing more than a whisper, but it rang around the whole room like a clap of thunder.

James looked like he’d been slapped on the face. â€�“What?” he said incredulously. â€�“Do you -- what -- are you insane?”

â€�“Percy,” Ginny said in a deadly tone, her eyes narrowed dangerously. â€�“Are you accusing my son --?”

â€�“You knew she was pregnant, didn’t you?” Percy continued, ignoring Ginny as he edged forward. â€�“You didn’t want the child and so you killed her.”

â€�“I didn’t know she was pregnant!” James yelled furiously. He took a step back, noticing the gleam in Percy’s eyes. â€�“Merlin be damned, Uncle Percy, you--”

Instantly, Percy had his wand pointed at James’s throat. A few sparks flew out of the end and brushed over James’s skin. He hissed in pain.

Harry didn’t even bother with the fact that he was attacking the minister. In a flash, he had his own wand at Percy’s throat.

â€�“Wand down, Percy,” he snarled, his emerald eyes flashing dangerously. â€�“That’s my son.”

â€�“He is the reason --”

â€�“You don’t have any proof, though,” Bill cut across him. â€�“And it’s not likely that it was James, anyway.”

Percy glared at James.

â€�“I loved her, Uncle Percy,” James said coldly, massaging his throat, his eyes hardening. â€�“She was the best thing that happened to me. How the hell could you think that I would kill her? And my child?”

Percy lowered his wand, his eyes not leaving James. â€�“Why did you hide it from us, then?”

James scoffed, shaking his head. â€�“After what you did just now, I don’t think anyone would disagree with me that it wasn’t the best idea to tell you.”

â€�“I agree,” Molly piped up, looking up at her father in annoyance. â€�“You would have flown off the handle.”

â€�“Lucy said they were going to tell you when they graduated,” Victoire said.

Percy lowered his gaze, unable to look at James any longer. He shuffled over to the sofa and collapsed, his head in his head. Teddy felt sorry as he saw the broken man before him. â€�“Lucy was pregnant…” Percy whispered. â€�“My little daughter… and someone wanted her child dead.” He took a deep, shuddering breath.

Molly walked over to her father and wrapped her arms around him. â€�“Dad…”

Percy didn’t say anything. He looked up, his lips pursed.

Bill laid a hand on his shoulder, his scarred face reflecting his pain.

Percy looked at James, his eyes slightly red. After a pause, in which both men stared into each other’s eyes defiantly, Percy said, â€�“I’m sorry for what I did. But that doesn’t mean I’m not mad at you.”

For the first time, James’ face broke into a somber smile. â€�“I know.”

Teddy looked over at Victoire. Her eyes found his, and she gave a weak smile. Teddy walked over to her and sat down.

â€�“That didn’t go so well, did it?” he whispered.

â€�“That’s an understatement,” she replied, leaning her head against his shoulder. â€�“I knew it would happen. I told her to tell him earlier. At least Uncle Percy wouldn’t think that James tried to kill her.”

Without saying anything, Teddy rested his cheek on her hair, breathing in the scent that was so Victoire. He wrapped an arm around her protectively, enveloping her in his embrace, trying to ignore the looks Bill was giving him.

His eyes found Harry, Ginny and James huddled together, Ginny’s arms wrapped around Harry and her son tightly. He had always loved them as a family. To him Ginny and Harry were a perfect couple; as he grew up he’d seen them together, having small squabbles but in the end their bond strengthened over time. Looking down at Victoire, he could strangely imagine himself in the same way, spending his life with her as they bickered and laughed. He smiled at the thought. Soon, when all this was over, he would ask Victoire to marry him.

Harry noticed him looking, and Teddy dropped his gaze, flushing. Breaking away from his family, Harry walked over to him and Victoire, a smile tugging on his lips.

â€�“What’s the next plan?” he asked.

Teddy disentangled himself from Victoire, a heavy feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. â€�“Term starts in a week,” he said. â€�“I’m going to Hogwarts.”

---

That night, as Teddy stepped out of the fireplace, he couldn’t help but feel that Harry was hiding something from him. He had been awfully quiet that day, a faraway look in his eyes, talking only when he was asked something. He hadn’t spoken to Teddy about it, even though he’d pressed, but eventually Teddy let it go; if it was important, Harry would tell him. All the same, Teddy thought as he hung his travelling cloak on the rack, he had a bad feeling that Harry was terribly bothered by something.

â€�“Look who’s home,” a voice said, making Teddy jump. Instinctively he whirled around, his hand flying to his wand, hundreds of offensive curses flying through his brain.

He relaxed, however, when he saw who is assailant was.

â€�“I was about to turn you into jelly,” he said, his face breaking into a grin as he let go of the wand.

â€�“It’s a good thing your reflexes are slow then,” she replied, smirking as she walked towards him. He casually spread open his arms as she walked into the familiar embrace. Resting his chin on her hair, he wrapped his arms around her slim figure, one hand on the small of her back and the other finding its way into her hair. â€�“To what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked.

â€�“You seemed awfully stressed out today,” she answered, resting her head on his chest. â€�“I was thinking maybe you would like some company for dinner.”

He grinned. "I'd love it."

Pulling away from the embrace, he took her hand and led her to the living room, where he plopped onto the sofa, pulling her down on top of him. Snaking his arms around her and pulling her close, he kissed her on the lips. It was slow and sweet, and Teddy filled it with as much love as he could. Victoire’s mouth worked perfectly with his, her soft lips starting to cloud his senses. The kiss started to become more passionate, and he pulled her closer to him, filling up the gaps between them as her fingers entwined with his hair.

Before things got more heated, though, he pulled away smiling as she pouted. He looked into her eyes. They were the colour of the ocean, and he always thought he would drown in them. Her eyes calmed him in a way nothing could. Reaching up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ears, he murmured, â€�“I could get used to coming home to this.”

She planted a soft kiss on his lips, letting it linger once she drew away. She sat up, taking his hand and pulling him up to a sitting position. â€�“We could move in,” she suggested innocently, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Teddy scoffed. â€�“Your dad would kill me,” he said.

Victoire rolled her eyes. â€�“And you’d let that stop you?”

â€�“I think I’ll be more useful alive, don’t you think?” he said, raised his eyebrows. â€�“As much as I love you, I’d rather not cross wands with him.”

â€�“You’re scared of him,” Victoire said smugly, crossing her arms in from of her chest.

â€�“Terrified is a better word, to be honest.”

She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing out loud. â€�“I thought you were supposed to be an Auror.”

Teddy stood up and stretched. â€�“I’d rather take on ten Death Eaters than tell your Dad I’m moving in with you. Now where’s Fleur’s delicious food you told me about? Did she make that lovely French stuff again?”

Victoire stood up proudly, flicker her strawberry blonde hair back and raising her chin. â€�“She didn’t send anything.”

Teddy frowned, confused. â€�“I thought you said --”

â€�“I cooked.”

His mouth fell open. He remembered the last time she’d cooked something, and it had resulted in an extremely salty soup, a bland bread and Wartcap powder in the pudding instead of sugar. James refused to visit Bill’s place for weeks afterwards. â€�“Is that -- is that a good idea?”

She scowled. â€�“What is that supposed to mean?” She asked, her Anglo-French accent rather pronounced.

Teddy backpedalled. â€�“I mean, you really shouldn’t have. Your soft hands --”

To his surprise, Victoire laughed. â€�“Oh, hush you. I didn’t cook myself. Maman helped. She thought you would like a good dinner, considering how stressed out you were today. Because no offence, you’re cooking is worse than mine.”

â€�“Thank you,” he said sincerely. He knew that Fleur really didn’t have to, but they considered him family. He was always grateful to the Weasleys for their love towards him, or making him feel that he was truly a part of their family.

Victoire took his hand and squeezed it. â€�“Come on now,” she said, smiling. â€�“You don’t want the food getting cold.”

Dinner was a quiet affair. They ate in silence, occasionally touching their feet together or brushing their hands as they reached for more food. It was their little romantic dinner, their getaway -- a small beacon of hope, a bit of normalcy in their lives while a violent storm raged on around them. It was moments like this that kept him alive and urged him on, showing him that he always had something to come back to at the end of the day.

After dinner, as they lounged on the sofa, Victoire leaning against him while his arms were wrapped around her waist, their conversation turned to more serious matters.

â€�“Have you found anything yet?” she asked.

â€�“No,” he replied, drawing small circles on her back.”But I have a feeling Harry knows something. He was very quiet today. His mind was not on his work.”

â€�“Have you asked him?”

He nodded. â€�“He didn’t say, though. If it was anything important about Lucy, he’d tell me.”

She played with a button on his shirt. â€�“Maybe he was thinking about Uncle Percy’s words,” she said quietly, after a while.

He pressed his lips together. â€�“It was a very serious allegation, what he said.”

â€�“Hmm, I know. Absurd, that’s what it was.”

â€�“He was just shocked, I think. It was probably a lot to handle. His daughter was pregnant, the father was her cousin, she was given an abortifacient, and the dose was enough to kill her. Naturally, he blamed the first possible suspect.” As he said that, an unbidden thought came to his mind. What if --? No, it was ridiculous. Impossible.

â€�“James loved her,” she said, breaking his train of thoughts. â€�“He wouldn’t. He’d rather die than do that.”

Teddy pondered over her words and decided to agree with her. James couldn’t have done it. He knew his god-brother; He was an immature idiot, but he wasn’t a murderer. He shook his head and pushed the thought out of his mind.

â€�“I know Hogwarts holds answers,” he said, more to himself than to Victoire. â€�“I can’t wait till term starts.”

â€�“Who do you think --?”

â€�“She kept her potion in her trunk,” he stated. That’s what Percy had told Harry earlier that day, and Molly and Roxanne had backed him up, saying that she never took it out of her dormitory. â€�“For someone to spike it, they’d have to have access to the girl’s dormitories. Now, boys can’t go up there, so--”

â€�“It had to be a girl,” Victoire finished for him. â€�“Or if it was a boy, a girl had to take it for him.”

Teddy nodded. â€�“Find the girl and we have some answers,” he said. â€�“Also, they must have had the password to the common room.”

â€�“The Fat Lady never lets non-Gryffindors into the tower, even if they had the password,” she pointed out. â€�“So it was --”

â€�“A Gryffindor, yes.” Teddy sighed, running a hand through his mousy-brown hair. Lately, he had avoided the vibrant colours. â€�“So that means one-eighth of the castle are suspects in a murder investigation.”

---

Victoire left at around eleven that night. Even though she was allowed to stay out as long as she wanted, Teddy didn’t want her to stay at his place till late night. He was rather scared of Victoire’s father, and he didn’t want Bill getting any ideas that he was doing anything wrong with Victoire.

As Teddy was getting ready for bed, he heard a soft tapping sound. Frowning, he looked for the source of the noise, until he spotted a small tawny owl near the window. He strode over to the window and unlatched it, allowing the owl to hop in and hold out a letter tied to its leg. It had a ministry seal on it. And it was addressed to him in Harry’s handwriting.

Puzzled, he unsealed the envelope and took out the piece of parchment inside.

Meet me at my office as soon as you can. --Harry.

He sighed; clearly he wasn’t sleeping anytime soon.

Changing out of his pyjamas and donning his work-robes from earlier that day, he grabbed his wand from the bedside table and went down the stairs. Heading for the fireplace, he grabbed a fist of Floo powder and threw it into the fire. Stepping into it, he Flooed directly to the Ministry.

Apart from the guard on duty, the Ministry was empty. Teddy had never been in the atrium so late at night, and he was glad for that; at night the room was dark and eerie, and without the usual hustle and bustle of the Ministry workers, his footsteps echoed oddly off the walls. He hurriedly took the lift down to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. As the elevator jerked to a halt, Teddy stepped out of it and ran along the dimly lit corridors until he skidded to a stop in front of Harry’s office.

He knocked on the door.

”Come in,” Harry called.

Teddy turned the knob and pushed the door open.

â€�“Teddy, there you are,” Harry said, smiling -- Teddy thought that the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. â€�“I was hoping the owl might catch you soon.”

â€�“I was just about to step into bed,” Teddy explained, taking a seat in front of Harry. â€�“What’s wrong? Why are you here so late at night? You never work this late.”

Harry closed his eyes. On closer inspection, Teddy realized Harry looked very tired. There were thin lines of worry etched on his forehead. His lips were chapped, as if he’d been biting them quite a lot.

â€�“Teddy,” Harry said, taking of his glasses and putting them on the table. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. â€�“I need your help.”

â€�“Anything,” Teddy answered instantly. He’d never seen Harry like this before.

Harry opened his eyes, though his eyes were unfocused. â€�“I’ve been thinking... about what Percy said.”

When Teddy didn’t say anything, Harry continued, â€�“Do you think... what I mean is -- well, I’m afraid, what if he’s right?”

â€�“What do you mean, Harry?” Surely he was not --?

Harry put on his glasses and focused on Teddy. He looked tortured. â€�“I don't know what to think, Teddy. James had a motive to do it.”

â€�“Of course not!” Teddy exclaimed, feeling his stomach squirm. â€�“You really don’t think that --”

â€�“I certainly don’t want it to be true.” Harry sighed, leaning backwards. â€�“He’s my son, Teddy, it’s not an easy thing to add your son to the list of suspects. Merlin forbid, it James did it though...”

Feeling a sinking sensation at the pit of his stomach, Teddy realized Harry was right. He’d thought of it himself hours before, hadn’t he? It was possible.

â€�“What if James had been lying that he didn’t know Lucy was pregnant?” Harry was saying. â€�“What if he was just pretending that Lucy hadn’t told him? I’ve known him long enough to know that he has a mean talent for acting. He’s done it countless times.”

â€�“But regarding this?” Teddy argued. â€�“There’s a difference between pranks and cold-blooded murder.”

â€�“Damn it, I know!” Harry said, his voice rising as he clutched at his hair. â€�“I don’t want it to be true. He’s my son, Teddy, my own son. I don’t want to put him behind bars.”

â€�“Then don’t!”

Harry exhaled deeply. â€�“I need you to do something for me.”

â€�“What is that?” Teddy asked wearily.

â€�“Go into his room and check it thoroughly,” Harry said. â€�“I want you to check whether he has anything on him. Anything that might link him to the case.”

â€�“You want me to snoop him?”

Harry nodded. â€�“I need to be sure it’s not him. I hope it’s not him.” He added the last bit very quietly, as if talking to himself.

Teddy sighed, wondering how they’d got into this mess. Harry was right. James did have a motive. And he knew that James had a knack for weeding out things that troubled him.

He was just scared to find out how far James was willing to go for that.

After a few seconds, Teddy asked, â€�“What does Ginny think about this?”

â€�“Hmm?”

â€�“Ginny,” Teddy repeated. â€�“What does she say?”

Harry scoffed. â€�“I haven’t told her yet. That is not a conversation I’m looking forward to.”

Teddy nodded, a rueful smile tugging at the corner of his lips. What would Harry say? ‘Hi Ginny, guess what? I think our son might have killed his cousin and the mother of his child. What do you say?’

â€�“Harry,” Teddy asked uncertainly. â€�“Are you sure you want me to do this?”

Harry looked at Teddy. His eyes had a dark look in them, like that of a man who was on the verge of losing everything. â€�“Find me the proof that my son didn’t commit this murder.”

Teddy nodded. â€�“Okay," he said, clenching his jaws. "I’ll come over tomorrow.”

---

Once, when Teddy was ten, Albus had come to him, crying, claiming that James had stolen his stuffed dragon. That was the first time he’d gone into James’ room, as a senior-field-agent Auror armed with a wand (in the form of a wooden stick he’d found in the lawn), to find any â€�“incriminalating” evidence against him. Of course, the stuffed Dragon had been under James’s bed at that time, and Teddy had succeeded in his covert mission.

This time, however, he would give anything to not find any evidence.

Teddy woke up early next day with a very bad sensation at the pit of his stomach. He was dreading the day already; not only would he have to snoop his own god-brother, he’d also have to lie to Ginny, who was as good as his mother. He climbed out of bed, took a hot shower, and changed into some casual Muggle clothes. Before he left, he popped into the kitchen and ate some leftovers from dinner the previous night.

He ate in silence, pondering over what he would say. James was going to be home; he hadn’t left the house since Lucy’s death. Teddy needed James out of the way in order to search the room. As he cut a piece of stake and popped it into his mouth, an idea came to his mind.

It’s now or never, he thought.

Putting back the soup into the refrigerator, he dumped the dirty dishes in the sink. After he grabbed his wand from the kitchen counter, he put a washing charm on the sink and ran out through the backdoor, locking it behind him. He closed his eyes and thought about the Potters’ home in Godric’s Hollow, and with a pop, he Disapparated.

Once that unsettling sensation had passed, Teddy opened his eyes and found himself outside the Potter’s house.

It was small and rather homely looking, with a white, wooden arch outside the gates and bright flowers planted in the front garden. The whitewashed house was two storeys high, with a red-tiled roof that was gleaming in the morning sun. The chimney was happily puffing out gray smoke. This house was in the same lane as the house Harry’s parents had lived in, where Voldemort had first attacked Harry; by looking to his right, Teddy could see that particular house near the end of the road. Harry hadn’t changed it -- Teddy could still see the blasted-off room, which was carefully hidden from Muggle eyes.

Teddy shook his head, already starting to feel a little nervous. He shuffled through the gate and stopped in front of the front door. Before he could ring the door-bell, however, Ginny swung it open, a bright smile on her face. The charm around the property boundary must have alerted her of his presence.

â€�“Good morning, Teddy,” she greeted, standing aside so he could come in. She seemed to have been baking something; over a blue T-shirt and jeans, she was wearing a flowery apron that was covered with flour. Her flaming hair was tied in a messy bun at the top of her head, but stray strands fell over her face from all directions. Ginny was smiling, but he could still see the sadness in her brown eyes. â€�“What brings you here this early in the morning?”

â€�“Wotcher, Ginny,” he said, stepping into the house. Harry had once told him that was his mum’s favourite greeting, and, since then, Teddy had made a habit of saying it often. It made him feel closer to her. â€�“I had a day off today, thought I’d drop by to visit my family.”

Ginny grinned. â€�“Of course, you’re always welcome here.” She closed the door and walked towards the kitchen. Teddy followed. â€�“You’ll be having breakfast? I’ve made pancakes.”

â€�“No thanks, I’ve eaten.” The wooden kitchen gleamed from top to bottom, courtesy of Kreacher the house-elf, who was currently dusting the pots and pans. He turned when Teddy came in, and greeted him with a customary â€�“Good morning, Master Teddy.”

â€�“Morning, Kreacher,” Teddy replied. He liked that house-elf, considering he’d seen his ever since he was born. The elf loved him; he was the first baby he’d helped taken care of ever since Sirius’ younger brother. Harry had brought him over when they shifted from Grimmauld Place, and Kreacher had become too attached to his mistress and the children to refuse. At the kitchen table sat a very groggy Albus, who was yawning, and a sleeping Lily, whose red hair was fanning out all over the table.

â€�“Hullo, Teddy,” Albus mumbled, picking at his pancake with his fork.

â€�“Alright there?” Teddy asked. â€�“You look like a zombie.”

â€�“Al was up half the night doing homework,” Ginny informed him as she sat at the table beside Teddy.

â€�“Homework? Merlin, Al, you still have a couple of days left to do it. Most people look like this on the last day of the holidays. Didn’t you leave anything for the last minute?”

Albus shook his head. â€�“I was doing a bit of light reading for next year.”

Ginny rolled her eyes. â€�“I know I’m his mother and I’m supposed to be glad he’s such an angel --” Lily sniggered, â€�“-- but really, he’s worse than Hermione. Personally I don’t know where he got those genes from. Neither his father nor I were such... what do you call them? Nerds.”

â€�“Guess that comes with being a Ravenclaw,” Teddy smiled.

Albus moaned. â€�“You guys are not going to let me live it down, are you? James already gives me a hard enough time.”

Teddy smile faltered. James. He was here to talk to him. Turning to Ginny, he asked, â€�“Is James home?”

She nodded, her lips thinning. â€�“He’s up in his room. He hasn’t come down much, not since he learned about --” she stopped in her tracks, glancing at Al, who was absent-mindedly pouring maple syrup onto his breakfast. They didn’t know about the pregnancy. â€�“About Lucy,” she amended.

He nodded. â€�“I figured. Harry asked me to... to talk some sense into him,” he lied. It wasn’t a complete lie; Harry had asked him to talk to James.

Ginny sighed. â€�“Good luck, then. He doesn’t listen to any of us.”

Teddy pursed his lips and nodded. â€�“I’m going up. See you in a bit.”

â€�“Okay.”

He got up from the table and made his way towards the stairs. The walls beside the staircase was diagonally lined with pictures of the Potter family, both moving and non-moving, with the occasional photo of the entire Potter-Weasley clan along with other family friends. Teddy was in most of them, his hair a bright turquoise or often acid green, unlike his present hairdo. At the moment, his hair was jet black and all over the place, rather like Harry’s own; he figured he wanted to look more like family as he talked with James.

He trudged up the stairs, and once he reached the landing, turned right. On the left was Ginny’s office and Harry’s study, and on the right, two on each side of the corridor, were four rooms, with the guestroom directly across. That was where Teddy used to stay when he came over. He walked to the farthest room on the right and, feeling an awful sense of déjà vu, he knocked.

â€�“James?” he called. â€�“It’s Teddy. Are you in there?”

There was some ruffling noise coming from inside, and after a few seconds, James replied hoarsely, â€�“Yeah.”

Teddy turned the doorknob and stepped into James’ room. It was a mess. The blinds were drawn, and the floor was strewn with clothes and pieces of paper. Shattered pieces of glass lay on the floor, along with a dismembered wooden Quidditch player figures. The bed was messy, and the blanket lay jumbled up at the foot of his bed. There was even food strewn throughout the room, like James had forgotten to eat. The room smelled horribly stuffy. James himself was lying on the bed on his belly, one of his arms folded, his chin resting on it. His jet black hair was far messier than ever. His clothes were wrinkled, and his eyes slightly puffy. An album lay in front him, and Teddy realised it was the Weasley family album. He was looking at Lucy.

James looked up and smiled wanly at him. Teddy felt horrible. There was no way on Earth James would do something to hurt Lucy; it was obvious he was dying inside. Harry must have been crazy to ask him to do this.

â€�“Hi,” Teddy said, tucking his hands awkwardly in his pockets. â€�“You all right?”

â€�“’M fine,” he said shortly. His free hand rested on the album, his fingers moving as though caressing the photos. Teddy inched closer. It was a picture of James and Lucy under a tree, sitting beside the lake. With a jolt, Teddy realised he was the one who had taken it, a month ago, the day after they came home for the holidays. Lucy looked so happy and carefree, unaware that she would die within a month. The Auror part of him wondered if she had already started consuming the Croton oil. His mind flashed back on Lucy’s heavily blistered face, her mouth open in a silent scream...

He closed his eyes and shook his head. No, he couldn’t think of that. He’d rather remember her the way she was before.

He focused back on James. â€�“Mate,” he said, â€�“You’ve gotta stop doing this to yourself.”

James’ eyes snapped up at him. â€�“She was everything to me,” he answered rather coldly. â€�“It’s not as easy as you think. How would you feel if -- if it were Vic?”

An awkward silence followed. Teddy didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t even imagine what he’d do if Victoire died. The very thought sent shivers down his spine. Instead, he let his eyes wander. If James was involved -- which he highly doubted -- where would he store the Croton oil? It was small and easily concealed. There was the chest of drawers, his bedside table, the wardrobe, his trunk… a number of likely places.

He tried to talk to James again. â€�“So, Lucy --”

â€�“I don't wanna talk about it, Teddy.”

â€�“Listen, James --”

â€�“Please,” James said, his voice becoming more agitated by the minute. â€�“You heard what happened. You know. There's nothing left to say.”

Slowly, Teddy shuffled over to his bed and sat down. He hesitated, then said, â€�“Well, if you need to talk...”

â€�“Thanks,” he said curtly.

Silence. He didn’t know what to say; he had never been good with emotional conversations. That was more of Victoire’s forte. Instead, he looked around the room. The wall was lined with Quidditch posters, mainly of Puddlemere United. He knew James wanted to go there after he graduated. There was one large, blown up poster of his house team -- James, Fred and Lily, along with Geoff Wood, who was a third year when he graduated, were the only ones he recognised.

â€�“How’s your Quidditch coming along?” he asked casually.

James looked like he’d been caught off-guard. â€�“Er, good I guess.”

â€�“You still aiming for Puddlemere?”

James nodded. â€�“I think so. You know my OWL results weren’t that good. I don’t think I’ll be able to get any other well-paying job anyway. What job can you get with an A in DADA, Care of Magical Creatures and Charms, anyway?”

Teddy shrugged. â€�“You could follow in Charlie’s footsteps and work as a dragon tamer.”

James cracked a smile -- the first true smile Teddy had seen after the incident. â€�“No thanks, I’d rather have my bones broken by Bludgers than get grilled by dragons.”

An idea popped into his head. â€�“Do you, er... do you wanna play?”

James frowned. â€�“Play what?”

â€�“Quidditch,” he replied. â€�“Come, on, one match. Just to get your mind off things.”

James pondered it over. â€�“I guess... I guess one match couldn’t hurt much.”

Teddy grinned. â€�“Great. Go get the brooms and get the pitch set up.”

James scowled. â€�“Why me?”

â€�“Because you’re younger.”

Muttering to himself James pushed himself off the bed with difficulty. It was as though sitting there for so long and wallowing in grief had rusted his joints. The dark, vacant look hadn’t left James’ face, but at least it was a start. It was as though James understood that Teddy just wanted to help. Which he really did.

But, he thought as James walked out of the door, his main intention was something else.

Quick as a flash, Teddy got to work. He had less than five minutes before James started to wonder why Teddy wasn’t downstairs with him. He pulled open the doors of the wardrobe and ruffled up the hanging clothes, then patted down the folded ones. There was nothing there. He then moved to the bedside table, and once he figured that was clean, he turned to the chest of drawers. Pulling out one drawer after the other, he rummaged through the contents in a flurry, not caring whether he upset the contents. James was very messy anyway; Teddy doubted he would notice. He grappled though the things, looking for any sort of small, viscous liquid -- any vial or flask or container. All he found, though, were clothes and an occasional letter, from Lucy no doubt. After all, no one would look in James’ underwear drawer.

Sadly (or not), there was nothing in there, either.

Teddy looked around, feeling a surge of hope. There was nothing there. James hadn’t done it. He’d gone through almost everything. And then he spotted James’ trunk.

â€�“Oi, Teddy! You can come down!”

Teddy’s head snapped up. James was done. He had a minute before he started to get suspicious. He hurried over to the trunk and muttered a quick â€�“Alohomora.”

The lid popped open. He quickly raised the lid and locked it into place. As he scanned through the mess of robes and parchment, his eyes fell on a glint of something made of glass. It was a small vial, containing a clear, colourless liquid. His eyes widened and he pocketed it. Just to be sure, he tumbled through the other material, and near the bottom, he found another glass bottle, which was corked shut. Two vials. Both of clear liquid.

He quickly slipped it into his pocket, where it clinked with the other glass vial. Now sweating, he slammed the lid shut, locked it, and making sure everything was as it was before, walked briskly out of the room.

---

An hour later, he left James considerably happier. Before he left, Ginny pulled him aside.

â€�“Thank you,” she said, beaming at him. She touched his cheeks. â€�“Thanks for making him smile.”

Teddy had never felt so guilty in his life. â€�“It was my job,” he answered.

â€�“If he ever shuts himself out like that, I’ll kill him myself,” she muttered, and Teddy stifled a laugh. Thanking Ginny for the hospitality, he said goodbye to Albus and Lily. He walked out of the gate and, once he was out of sight, he Disapparated.

Ten minutes later, he ran into Harry’s office.

Harry looked up from the parchment he was reading, his quill stopping mid-air. He peered at Teddy through his round glasses. â€�“Did you find anything?”

Teddy nodded, and held up the two vials. Harry’s eyes widened. â€�“I don’t know what they are,” he added hastily. â€�“I just found them in his trunk.”

Harry visibly relaxed. â€�“And?”

Teddy tried to smile. â€�“He’s better, now. He and I played Quidditch.”

Harry’s face seemed much calmer. â€�“Thank you, Teddy. Ginny didn’t say it, but I am sure she was worried about him, and so was I. Now, you better get those into forensics. Get them to determine what it is, and if they say it’ll take time, tell them it’s top priority.”

Teddy nodded. He turned on his heels and left, heading towards the forensics chamber.

---

It was nine o’clock at night when the results came back.

Teddy was sitting in Harry’s office, while Harry paced the room, when the letter materialised on his table. In a flash, Harry walked over to his table and picked it up. With shaking hands, he picked it up and tore open the letter.

There were two parchments folded neatly together. Harry removed the first one and his eyes scanned through it. He let out a sigh of relief, relaxing visibly. He looked up at Teddy and smiled, and Teddy himself couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face.

â€�“One of the vials contained a memory tonic,” he announced.

Teddy laughed. Thank Merlin. â€�“And the other?”

In response, Harry picked up the other parchment and unfolded it. Holding it at the corners, he slowly read through the parchment, still grinning. As he reached the end, though, his eyes widened and the smile dropped off his face.

It was replaced by a look of horror.

â€�“What does it say?” Teddy prodded, fearing the worst.

Harry collapsed onto his chair, staring at the wall ahead of him.

â€�“Harry!” Teddy exclaimed, standing up and dashing around the table. He grasped Harry’s shoulders. â€�“Was it --?”

In response, Harry uttered two simple words.

Two simple words that nearly stopped Teddy’s heart.

â€�“Croton oil.”

---

Croton oil.

Not a potion for headaches or a brain stimulant for the exams.

Not any banned drugs for Quidditch matches.

Not even some boil-growing potion or forgetfulness draught for his next prank.

Teddy would have been glad if it had been any one of those. Anything but the two words Harry had spoken.

Harry clenched his fists. His eyes were full of pain and betrayal. â€�“This cannot be happening. James couldn’t have...”

â€�“Some-someone could be framing him,” Teddy croaked, looking for any possibility, any slight chance that it wasn’t James. Harry would be crushed. His whole family would be crushed. â€�“Someone might have put it there, or--”

â€�“Look at the evidence, Teddy, just look at it,” Harry said, throwing the paper at Teddy. â€�“It says clearly that the poison used to murder Lucy was found in a vial in my son’s trunk. They don’t need any more evidence to acquit him. He’s as good as dead.” Harry slammed his fist down on the table, the thud resonating around the room.

â€�“He must have a chance to explain himself, Harry,” Teddy said. â€�“His statement must be taken into account as well.”

"Do you think the likes of Williamson will give a damn about what a convict says?" Harry pointed out, taking a piece of parchment and scribbling something on it furiously with his quill. He was going to do something irrational, Teddy knew it. "No they won't. If I were them, I wouldn't either. And besides, they've been trying to find a way to get me sacked, and they aren't going to let go of this opportunity. They will make him rot in Azkaban if only to get at me."

Teddy knew he was right. Head Auror Potter’s son, guilty of killing the Minister’s daughter. James had no way out, and those after Harry’s job were going to grab this chance like hungry sharks on a bloody piece of meat. It was going to be like the Crouch case back in the days of the first war, Teddy realised.

Harry folded up the parchment into a paper plane and let it go. It immediately whizzed out of the room and towards its destination. â€�“Harry, where did you send that?” he asked cautiously.

Harry stood up and grabbed his cloak from the back of his chair. â€�“To the elite team,” he said, a determined, calculating look in his eyes. â€�“The only way I can now think of a way to save both my son and my job is to arrest him and interrogate him myself.”

---

Auror Potter stood at his own front door at twenty-five minutes past nine that night, Auror Teddy Lupin at his side and a team of the best Aurors behind him, armed with wands. This was not his first time carrying out an arrest or a raid, and yet the feeling inside him right now was something he’d never felt before. He wasn’t arresting some common criminal. He was at his own house. Arresting his own son. The same son he’d sworn to protect his whole life the moment he’d first taken him in his arms the day he was born.

For a second Teddy was sure he saw apprehension in his eyes, a flicker of doubt; he wondered if Harry was having second thoughts.

â€�“Harry, are you sure you want to--” Teddy started, but Harry cut him off.

â€�“I have to.”

Ignoring the mutterings of the Aurors behind him, he raised his arm and rang the bell.

Teddy could hear a flurry of motion behind the doors. The doorknob turned and the wooden front-door swung open, revealing Ginny Potter.

â€�“I’ve been waiting for you for an hour, Potter, what sort of time do you --” she stopped mid-rant as she noticed the crowd behind her husband. â€�“Harry, Teddy,” She frowned. â€�“You should have told you were bringing some of the boys home from work, I haven’t cooked anything else except onion soup.”

The leader of the team, Auror Hemmingsworth stepped forward. â€�“Ma’am, we need to talk to James Potter. Please ask him to step out.”

Teddy cursed the man under his breath. He should have let Harry handle this.

â€�“My son is up in his room at the moment,” Ginny said briskly. Teddy understood she didn’t like the man interrupting her conversation with her husband, and especially not in such a fashion. Turning to Harry she said, â€�“What is going on here? You come home with a bunch of Aurors behind you and then one of them,” she glared at Hemmingsworth, â€�“demands to see your son, who, as you know, refuses to meet almost everyone these days. So before I lose my patience, you better tell me what this is all about.”

â€�“Ginny, please,” Harry said, looking at her. His gaze was hard. â€�“I need you to tell me where James is right now.”

â€�“He is upstairs, but --”

â€�“I’m here, Dad,” said a voice from inside. Teddy felt a chill. James was there and in a while Harry was going to arrest him. He didn’t want to imagine how this would play out. â€�“Did you need anything? And why’s Mum shouting?”

â€�“Mr Potter you are under arrest for the murder of Lucy Weasley,” stated Hemmingsworth, a stern expression on his face. He stepped forward and, before any of them could react, he snapped a pair of cuffs onto James’s wrists.

â€�“What?” Ginny yelled, looking from Hemmingsworth to Harry. "Harry Potter, what in the name of Merlin do you--”

James’s shout drowned out Ginny’s voice. â€�“Dad, you’ve got to be kidding me!” he yelled, struggling against the cuffs, which were bound tightly around his wrists. Two Aurors rushed forwards and grabbed him by his arms. â€�“How on earth --”

â€�“Hemmingsworth, you idiot,” Teddy muttered as Harry stepped forwards.

â€�“Ginny, I’ll tell you everything later,” he said, a pleading look in his eyes. This was hard enough for him as it was, Teddy knew, and Ginny was making it so much more difficult. â€�“Right now, James has to come with us for questioning.”

â€�“To hell with your questioning, Harry,” she seethed. â€�“You know James has nothing to do with it, and people don’t arrest someone unless they are a suspect. Are you suggesting that James killed Lucy?”

â€�“I can’t ignore anything,” Harry replied, not looking at Ginny or James, who was struggling against the Aurors with all his might.

â€�“Dad!” he pleaded, looking at his father with a desperate look, who was staring intently at the doorframe. â€�“I didn’t do anything, you know I didn’t. Mum, please --”

â€�“James, let’s go,” Teddy said quietly. He turned to Ginny, who looked ready to murder someone. â€�“I promise, we’ll explain this later.”

"I don't give a damn about your explanations, Teddy," she replied, staring at him with a fury he had never expected to see in his godmother's eyes, that too directed towards him. "If anything happens to James, you two will have hell from me. Especially you," she added, looking pointedly at Harry.

â€�“I’m sorry, Ginny,” Harry said quietly. â€�“But I have to do my job.” Turning to Hemmingsworth and Teddy, he ordered, â€�“We’re done here.”

Hemmingsworth nodded. â€�“Take Potter into interrogation.” He ordered the two Aurors holding James.

Ginny was furiously holding back tears, a hard look on her face, her jaws set. With one last look at her, Teddy Disapparated on the spot with the other Aurors.

---

â€�“What was the reason you decided to kill her?”

â€�“I didn’t kill Lucy!”

â€�“I’m going to ask you this one more time, Potter. Why did you murder the Minister’s daughter?”

â€�“Merlin damn it! I did not kill her! Why would --”

Williamson slammed his hands down on the table and pushed forwards. The edge of the table hit James in the chest, who hissed in pain at the contact.

It was around eleven thirty that night when James Potter sat facing Auror Demetrius Williamson in the small interrogation room of the Auror Office. For the previous hour the ruthless Auror had been grilling him in all sorts of ways possible: he started it off with a simple â€�“where you when Miss Weasley died” and â€�“What was your relationship with her”. And then, as calmly as though asking the weather, he asked, â€�“So, why exactly did you kill her?”

And when James denied it, he turned into the cold and ruthless interrogator he was famous for being.

In the observation room, which was located in a hidden extension of the room behind the one-way mirror, Teddy Lupin sat with his godfather, wondering why on earth the older man was letting this happen. Ever since they had brought James from the Potters’ house, Harry had not said a word. Teddy was worried he had gone into shock, but every now and then he saw Harry’s eyes dart from one corner to another, or would see him soundlessly mouth a few unintelligible words. Harry was thinking, and he was thinking hard. Teddy didn’t understand him, really; Harry had simply arrested James on the basis of the reports about the contents of the vials discovered in his room. What was his plan? What did he intend to do? Did he believe that James was the killer? Did he think he was innocent?

This was the first time Harry hadn’t discussed anything with him while he was on a case. And Teddy was confused. His instincts told him that James was innocent. But reports didn’t lie.

As they saw Williamson overturn the chair in his attempt to frighten James, Teddy finally sighed. â€�“Harry, what is going on?”

Harry remained silent for a few seconds. Finally, he answered with a frown, â€�“I need to talk to James.”

â€�“What?” he asked, confused.

â€�“I need to be in there. I have to speak to him. I need to know what James’s account is. There has... there has to be a reason why.”

â€�“So you believe him?”

â€�“As a father, I cannot believe my son did it. I know him,” Harry relied slowly. â€�“But as an Auror, I have been trained not to believe in emotions or to judge people by their looks. I have to see the evidence. And the evidence says he did it.”

â€�“But,” Teddy pressed. â€�“You’ve also been trained not to see things in black and white. And things aren’t always what they seem. You’ve got to see the bigger picture and trust your gut, not just rely on proof.” He looked at Harry with a determined expression. â€�“You told me that the evidence is not always the truth and those Aurors who acquit people only based on the proof are one-dimensional --”

â€�“I know, Teddy, I know,” Harry snapped. â€�“That’s why I need to be in there, I need to hear him talk.”

â€�“So this is the great Harry Potter’s son?” Williamson’s voice came through the glass. Teddy looked up to see him hunched over the table, sneering at James. â€�“Has Potter never been around to instil his heroic values in his kids? Was he too preoccupied with saving the world that he let his own children become murderers?”

â€�“Don’t!” James said, his voice weak. Teddy felt so sorry for his god-brother. The usually strong teenager was crumpled up in his chair, all but broken. â€�“My father is the best father there is.”

Harry closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

â€�“Look who’s snappy,” Williamson sneered. â€�“Didn’t think about daddy’s reputation when you decided to kill her, did you? Didn’t think what people would say? Potter’s son, a murderer!”

â€�“I DID NOT KILL HER!”

â€�“YES. YOU. DID!” Williamson shouted, accentuating each word with a thump on the table with his fists. â€�“The Croton oil that was used to kill her was found in your trunk! We don’t need any other proof to decide that you -- did -- kill -- her!”

â€�“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” James screamed, banging his wrist on the table.

â€�“Stop fucking lying!”

â€�“That’s it,” Harry said, standing up. He turned on his heels and strode out of the room.

As Teddy looked on, the door of the interrogation room opened in the middle of Williamson’s tirade, and a junior Auror popped his head in hesitantly.

â€�“What?” Williamson snapped at him, and the Auror flinched.

â€�“Um, the boss wants to talk to you,” he mumbled. It was common knowledge in the Auror office how everyone was terrified of Williamson; his fiery temper and sarcastic attitude didn’t tend to earn him any votes for the Friendliest Auror of the Month Award.

â€�“I am busy,” Williamson replied through gritted teeth.

â€�“But- but he says that it’s important.”

Williamson swore. â€�“Damn that man. Tell him I’m coming. Now get out.”

The Auror looked relieved to be dismissed. He nodded once and quickly closed the door.

Rounding on James, Williamson said, â€�“I’m not finished with you.” Striding over to the door, he yanked it open, and, as he stepped out, he slammed the door shut behind him.

---

Outside the door of the observation room, in the corridor with doors leading to both the observation and interrogation rooms, Teddy could hear muffled voices belonging to Harry and Williamson. And both of them sounded furious.

â€�“... do you think you were doing in there?”

â€�“... murderer! So what if... is a killer... treated like one.”

â€�“You have no... till then you have no right to...”

â€�“Don’t teach... my job!”

â€�“... my case, I’ll interrogate...!”

Silence. And then Teddy heard some very loud footsteps, which slowly faded into nothingness. He then heard the door of the interrogation room creak open. A second later, Harry came into view through the glass, slowly clicking the door shut.

James looked up, his face showing a confused mixture of relief one second and apprehension the other. â€�“Dad,” Teddy heard James say. â€�“Dad, I swear, I didn’t do it.”

For the first time since finding out about the contents of the vials, Harry smiled. â€�“Williamson gave you a hard time, didn’t he? It can’t be helped; he’s become like that ever since he had to send his own son behind bars. The boy killed his own girlfriend, and the evidence was so strong Williamson couldn’t do anything.”

â€�“Dad, I --”

Harry held up his hand. â€�“I know what you’re gonna say, James. But I have to do my job.”

â€�“Dad, come on!” James said, throwing his hands up in exasperation. â€�“I have no idea what that man was talking about! What evidence, Dad? What did you find?” he asked. â€�“Why on earth am I here? You should be hunting down the person who killed her, instead of wasting your time arresting me! Me, of all people!”

â€�“James, tell me, what do you know about Croton oil?” Harry asked patiently, pretending to ignore James’s rant.

â€�“Croton oil?” James repeated, his brows knitting into a frown. â€�“I think -- isn't that the same thing that was used to -- to poison her?”

Harry nodded. â€�“Yes. Do you know what it is?”

â€�“You said something about an aborti- abortiwhatsit --”

â€�“Abortifacient,” Harry supplied.

â€�“Yeah, that,” James said. â€�“They used it to kill her and... and my child,” he finished, a pained look on his face.

â€�“James,” Harry said, moving forwards. He rested his elbows on the table, clasping his hands together and placing his chin on top of them. â€�“Listen to me very carefully. Two vials were taken from your trunk today. One of them contained highly concentrated Croton oil.” James’s eyes widened. He started to speak, but Harry held up a finger to silence him. â€�“The potioneers here at the ministry determined that it was the same thing that was found in Lucy’s blood. The exact same substance.”

â€�“You... you think I would kill Lucy?” James croaked. â€�“Or my own child? Dad, how could you even think that I would -- someone must have placed it in -- Dad I swear to you, I know nothing about this. Please tell me you believe me, Dad?”

Harry sighed dejectedly. â€�“James, I am following procedure! Do you think I like this one bit? Do you think I don’t want to trust you?”

â€�“Then why am I--”

â€�“James listen to me,” Harry cut across him, looking him in the eye. â€�“Tell me whatever you 'know. Anything. I have to know every single detail. I will get to the bottom of this, and if you’re innocent, I swear upon merlin I’ll get you out of this. But you must give me enough substantial proof to override the evidence we found, do you get me?”

â€�“Yes,” James nodded.

â€�“Good. Now, start with Lucy’s pregnancy. Did you know anything about it?”

But before James could reply, the door opened and Williamson stepped in, a smug look on his face, a roll of parchment in his hands.

Back inside the observation room, Teddy thought, This can’t be good.

â€�“Yes, Williamson?” Harry said through clenched teeth, a fake smile on his lips. â€�“I’m in the middle of interrogating my suspect here, so if it’s not too important --”

â€�“Your suspect?” Williamson smirked. â€�“I don’t think you can call him that anymore, I’m afraid.”

â€�“What do you mean?” Harry asked quickly.

Teddy felt a sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach. Definitely not good..

Williamson sauntered over to Harry and handed him the roll. â€�“The Minister says that you cannot be a part of this case because the suspect is your family,” he said, a sickening smile on his lips. â€�“Although, he wasn’t too eager to get rid of his brother-in-law,” he emphasised, as if the only reason Harry was the Head of the Auror office because he was related to Percy, â€�“he had to be, ah, reminded of a few ground rules.”

Harry stood up. â€�“Williamson, you bastard.”

"Shut up, Potter," he snarled, the smirk on his face disappearing, replaced by one of extreme loathing. "Have you forgotten how you benched me when it was my son's case? He went to Azkaban. You found him guilty and I didn't say a word. Do not try to teach me the rules."

For a minute, the two Aurors glared at each other. Teddy knew this was it. Harry didn’t have any other choice. He had to get off this case or he’d lose his job.

Finally, Harry’s shoulder slumped. â€�“The case is yours.” Williamson grinned triumphantly.

â€�“Dad, you can’t!” James shouted, standing up. â€�“He’ll get me sent to Azkaban!”

Harry looked at James, a tortured look donning his face. â€�“There’s nothing I can do, James, I’m sorry. I’ll try everything I can.”

â€�“Dad...”

Harry sighed, and without another glance at James, he walked out.

James slumped onto the chair, one hand covering his mouth.

Teddy couldn’t watch anymore. Walking over to the door, he pulled it open and walked into the corridor outside, where Harry stood leaning against the wall, his head tilted backwards, staring up at the ceiling.

â€�“You can’t think of leaving him here like this.”

â€�“I’m not.”

Teddy was taken aback. He hadn’t been expecting this. â€�“What?”

Harry turned to face him. â€�“I’m going to get my son out of this if it is the last thing I do.”

---

Two days later came the first of September. Teddy woke with a start early that morning, and for a while he couldn’t remember why the day was important. Once he recalled the date, with a jolt he realized that he would be going to Hogwarts that evening.

Teddy quickly got dressed and made himself some eggs and bacon. As the egg sizzled in the fry-pan, he quickly poured himself a glass of orange juice and quickly drank it, licking his lips to remove the yellow moustache the juice had made. Before the egg could burn, he grabbed a plate from the cabinet and slid the egg from the pan onto the plate, burning a finger in the process. He hissed. He didn’t have time to apply any ointment, though -- he was already late.

Sometimes, he wished he could just hire someone to help him out, but his salary just wasn’t cut out for it. Why had he moved out of his grandmother’s house, anyway?

Gulping down the half-burned bacon and salty egg with a glass of water (how he wished he could have some of Gran’s or Mrs Weasley’s scrumptious breakfast), he donned his work robes sloppily with one hand and Flooed to the Ministry.

He was on the way to Harry’s office when he ran into Williamson. Quite literally. He looked at the old Auror in distaste; Teddy hadn’t forgotten how he had treated James the previous night, and following what he had done to Harry, Teddy wasn’t really eager to greet him with much affection. Mumbling a brusque apology, Teddy tried to sidestep him and continue on his way to Harry’s office.

But Williamson wasn’t ready to let him go. â€�“Where do you think you’re going, Lupin,” he spat, taking Teddy’s name with as much hatred as he could muster.

â€�“To meet the boss,” Teddy replied coolly, emphasizing on Harry’s post. Williamson needed to be reminded of who was in charge, that despite of what he had done, Harry still ran things around the office.

â€�“Whatever for?” the older man asked, his brows furrowed. â€�“You’re a lowly junior assistant, not even a proper field agent. What on earth would you want to meet the Head of the Auror Office for?”

Teddy gritted his teeth. â€�“He asked me to meet him for a case he’s working on.”

â€�“It’s not Miss Weasley’s case, is it?” Williamson asked, narrowing his steely grey eyes. â€�“If I recall correctly, the Minister benched Potter, didn’t he? And if Potter’s no longer on the case, I don’t see any reason why you should linger around. I certainly won’t be consulting you on anything so important.”

Teddy tried to ignore the venom in his voice, fighting hard not to get offended. He was tired of Williamson putting him down like this, of insulting him so blatantly. Why in the name of Merlin was that man so hostile towards him? His father might have been a werewolf, but he was also a hero. And Teddy was proud of him. He couldn’t help but feel frustrated at the way he was treated inferior to everyone else. His parents had died trying to create a new world, a world where people were free from the prejudiced eyes of men like Williamson, regardless of blood status. And here he was, the son of two war heroes, facing the very thing his parents had died trying to stop.

â€�“Mr Williamson, Sir,” Teddy said through gritted teeth, looking into his eyes. â€�“I was the trainee Auror who had achieved highest marks during my qualification exams, both written and practical. I was also the only trainee who had managed to solve a case study that no one except Harry Potter has been able to solve till date. Even if I’m not a senior Auror, I think I’m rather qualified to be in the same room as Mr Potter, don’t you think, Sir?”

Williamson bristled, staring into his eyes. For a second, Teddy thought he’d actually rendered him speechless. And then Williamson took a step forwards and said, his voice low, â€�“When I get Potter kicked out, you will be the first to follow him. Don’t ever show this type of cheek with me again.” And with that, he spun on his heels and strode away, his boots clicking loudly on the wooden floor.

Teddy sighed. He should’ve kept his big trap shut. But one thing did register in his brain, though: Williamson was definitely trying to overthrow Harry. He needed to tell that to him, but there were more important tasks at hand -- like finding Lucy’s killer and getting James out. Muttering to himself, he shuffled to Harry’s office and knocked on the door.

â€�“Come in,” came his godfather’s voice.

Teddy turned the knob and stepped into the cosy office. Harry, his nose buried in a file, motioned for Teddy to take a seat, which he did. Teddy politely waited till Harry was done with the file.

â€�“Yes, Teddy,” Harry acknowledged, folding the file shut and throwing it on top of an ever-growing stack of more files. It neatly arranged itself, all corners perfectly lining up with the ones below, so that the stack of files looked like a mini tower. â€�“Did you find anything new?”

â€�“I asked Misty to schedule a meeting for you with the Egyptian Head of Marketing Strategies to --”

â€�“Teddy,” Harry interrupted. â€�“You know very well which case I’m talking about here.”

Teddy grinned. â€�“I’m off to Hogwarts in a few hours,” he responded. â€�“I’m planning to talk to the Headmaster and a few of the teachers, as well as James’s friends and other housemates. I’m sure they can say something about it.”

Harry nodded, grabbing for his quill as another file materialised in front of him out of thin air. â€�“Ask them any personal stuff, I’m sure James would forgive you if it gets him out of this. He's been stuck in the holding cells for two days, I'm sure he misses his mum's cooking.”

Teddy chuckled. â€�“Sure. I’m not sure how much Professor Longbottom would know, but I’ll make sure to ask James and Lucy’s friends as much as I can. And do you think I should question Madame Patil as well?”

â€�“Do that,” Harry agreed. â€�“Padma must have known something about Lucy’s pregnancy. I’m sure she can tell you a few things.”

â€�“Okay.” Teddy took notes of their conversation in his notebook, and, when he was done, he closed it. He thought about what Williamson had said, and, for a brief moment, wondered whether he ought to tell Harry about it.

Harry already has a lot on his mind, he thought. He decided not to worry Harry any further that he already was. Once they got James back home and found out about Lucy’s murderer, He’d find a way to bring up the matter. Williamson can’t do anything right now, anyway, he concluded.

â€�“Teddy?” Harry said, breaking Teddy out of his reverie. â€�“What is it?”

â€�“Nothing,” Teddy replied. He wasn’t going to tell Harry. â€�“How did Ginny react that night?” he asked instead.

Harry looked grim. â€�“I’ve never seen her angrier in my life. The moment I went home, she started throwing my things at me and said I should start looking for a new home. Half my belongings were in the kitchen before I even stepped inside the house. She kept on going on about how I betrayed our son and wasn’t doing a good enough job. It took me an hour to calm her down and explain things. She still had me sleep in the living room, though.”

â€�“You explained that you’re working on it, right?”

â€�“You know your godmother,” Harry replied, removing his glasses and polishing them. â€�“She’s not going to let this rest till I have James back home. What could I do, though, Teddy?” he asked weakly. â€�“What else could I have done?”

â€�“You did the right thing.” Teddy replied firmly. â€�“As an Auror, you did your job. As a father, you’re doing your job. Don’t worry, Harry, we’ll free him. And we’re gonna find out who really killed Lucy and get her Justice.”

---

It was eight o clock evening when Teddy flood into the Headmaster’s office later that day. During his time at Hogwarts, he’d been to the office a couple of times. That was during McGonagall’s era. The office had been neat and tidy, with a few strange silvery instruments in one corner, and shelves full of books lining the room. McGonagall didn’t have many pictures or personal items in her office. It was portly and designed in a rather formal manner that was true to her character. It wasn’t the most comfortable of places, but it was effective enough to show troublemakers who was in charge, and polite enough for people on more business-like affairs.

Professor Longbottom, though, had redecorated the office to his liking. Warm colours filled the room, starting from the sunset-coloured curtains to the ruby-red carpet. A nice fire cackled in the hearth, the mantelpiece full of pictures of Longbottom’s family. Shelves were lined with books related to Herbology, and some uncommon plants resided in pots on the windowsills and desks. The only things constant between his tenure and that of the previous Heads were the pictures on the walls -- the portraits of all previous headmasters. Teddy could see the paintings of Professor Dumbledore snoring peacefully, his head resting against his frame, while Professor Snape stared at him over his hooked nose, a frown knitting his brows. The largest portrait belonged to professor McGonagall, who was look at him intently, and Teddy could swear he saw a thin smile on her lips.

Below her portrait, sitting on the headmaster’s chair, was Professor Longbottom himself.

â€�“Teddy,” he smiled, standing up as Teddy approached him and extended his hand, which Teddy shook. Longbottom then motioned for Teddy to take a seat. As the two men sat, Teddy said, â€�“You received my owl, Sir?”

â€�“Yes, I did. Lucy was like family, and one of my best students,” he said grimly. â€�“You and Harry had better find out who killed her.”

â€�“We need your help for that, Professor,” Teddy said, taking out his quill and parchment. â€�“Harry couldn’t come here because the Minister benched him and I’m here off the records. Harry wants to investigate anyway - and to be honest, I think it’s the only way we can find out the real murderer. Evidence points towards James, but it’s just... it seems impossible, Sir.”

â€�“James?” Longbottom asked disbelievingly. â€�“As in Harry’s son?”

â€�“Exactly, Professor,” Teddy said, leaning forwards. â€�“Do you think it’s--”

â€�“It can’t be,” he replied at once. â€�“And I’m not saying this as Harry’s friend, I’m saying it as James’s teacher. Potter doesn’t have the capability to kill anyone, let alone Lucy.”

Teddy smiled in relief. â€�“Thank you, Professor. Now, sir, I’ll need to ask you and some other people a few questions.”

â€�“Sure, Teddy,” he said. â€�“Ask away.”

Teddy nodded, going into Auror mode. â€�“Did James ever display any hostility towards any students?”

Longbottom shook his head. â€�“Other than a few harmless pranks, James didn’t have any record. And those that were a bit more... shall we say, colourful, were a few jinxes and hexes aimed at Slytherins. Not that I’m condoning this behaviour,” he added hastily. â€�“What I mean is that his pranks might have been risky, but they were not incurable or fatal in nature.”

Teddy made a grunt as he wrote the response down. â€�“And Lucy? Did she have any enmity with anyone, or did anyone ever do any prank against her?”

â€�“Lucy was a clean student. No one had ever even caught her cheating. Prefect, 7 Os and 2 Es in her OWLs, Head of the Gobstones club -- she was a star student.”

â€�“All the more reasons for people to be jealous,” Teddy pointed out.

â€�“Nothing that was on the record, though. From what we know, no one had ever pulled a prank her except for her family.”

â€�“Family being?” Teddy pressed. He had a feeling he knew the answer.

â€�“James Potter and Louis Weasley.”

Teddy sighed. â€�“But they were not injurious in nature?”

â€�“No, unless you count being turned into a canary as life-threatening.” Longbottom smiled a bit in an attempt to lighten the mood.

â€�“So basically, there’s no record of anyone having ill intentions towards Miss Weasley, or of Mr Potter trying to harm her?”

Longbottom shook his head. â€�“None, whatsoever. In fact, Potter was always trying to protect his cousin from anyone else. They were always together. The other teachers used to say they were inseparable.”

Teddy scribbled that down. â€�“What about Mr Potter? Any reason someone might try to frame him?”

â€�“Now, that’s another case entirely,” Longbottom sighed, running a hand through his thinning hair. â€�“Asides from being a Potter, James was also Gryffindor’s Quidditch captain. Naturally, these two roles mean that he was a natural target for Slytherins. Sadly the war did nothing to improve the relation between the two Houses. Many Slytherin students, even a Ravenclaw or two, would often get into fights with him that would lead them both to the Hospital Wing.”

â€�“Anyone in particular?”

â€�“Not really, no.”

Teddy hesitated for a while, wondering whether to ask the next question. â€�“Professor,” he said slowly. â€�“Did the caretaker ever find anyone trying to smuggle Croton oil in?”

Longbottom frowned. â€�“Hogsmeade doesn’t sell it, and we do not check the owls nowadays, especially with the parent-student confidentiality thing going around. Why Croton oil? That’s an...”

â€�“Abortifacient, I know,” Teddy muttered. â€�“It’s what poisoned her.”

Longbottom closed his eyes, grimacing slightly. â€�“That’s a very painful death. Overdose of Croton oil is very, very dangerous. Madam Patil doesn’t even keep much in store, just in case it fell into the wrong hands.”

Teddy’s ears perked up. â€�“You can find Croton oil in the Hospital Wing?”

â€�“Yes, Madam Patil keeps some in case of... teenage pregnancies. Some students choose the easy way out instead of facing their parents. There has been a case or two like that, though we kept it very quiet since the girls were above seventeen and legally adults, thus having the right to decide for themselves.”

Hogwarts had Croton oil, Teddy registered. That meant that it was accessible to the students. Anyone who had access to the infirmary could have managed to steal some and pour it into Lucy’s potion right inside the walls of the school. Teddy needed to talk to Madam Patil, immediately.

â€�“Thank you, Sir,” He told Professor Longbottom, standing up. â€�“I think I’ve got whatever I need.”

The two men shook hands, and after a brief, casual conversation about Harry and the Weasley family, Teddy walked out of the door and down the revolving staircase, making his way down to the Hospital wing.

Five minutes later, he found himself in the corridor leading to the infirmary. The doors were open, and Teddy could see that it was empty; after all, hardly anyone got into fights on the first day back to school.

â€�“Madam Patil?” Teddy called out, hoping the matron was not too busy getting things ready for the new academic year.

â€�“Be out in a mo’!” a hurried voice came from inside. â€�“Come inside and get yourself into a bed! How in the name of Merlin did you manage to get yourself injured already? It hasn’t even been two hours since you lot came back.”

Teddy stepped into the infirmary. He hadn’t been in there for a very long time. It was just as he’d remembered, though; everything was the same, down to the last dusty potion bottle. Not finding a stool or a chair, he climbed onto a bed and sat on the springy mattress, the bed creaking under his weight, with his legs hanging off the side.

Madam Patil came in through a side door within a minute, tying her long, black hair into a bun, looking around for her new patient. When she spotted Teddy, though, the disapproving frown on her face disappeared; she now looked a tad confused.

â€�“Hello, Mr Lupin,” she said, coming up to him. â€�“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what exactly are you doing here? You left around five years back, right?”

â€�“Wotcher, Madam Patil,” he said, smiling at the witch. â€�“It’s been six, actually. I’m here to ask you a few questions about Lucy Weasley’s death.”

â€�“Yes, it was all in the news,” she said, sighing as she wiped her hand on her apron. â€�“I still can’t believe something like this would happen.”

Teddy nodded, unable to find any response. Instead, he said, â€�“Madam Patil, do you know how she died?”

Madam Patil shook her head. â€�“I’m afraid not.”

â€�“She was given an overdose of Croton oil, and we have reasons to think that the perpetrator was someone inside Hogwarts.”

Madam Patil gasped. â€�“Croton oil? That’s terrible!”

â€�“Ma’am, we know you have a stock of Croton oil. Do you know if anyone had stolen some, or if anyone recently took a vial from you?”

â€�“Croton oil is a highly controlled substance here at Hogwarts,” the matron replied. â€�“In the rare cases where a student needs it for... certain reasons, I administer the dose personally. It’s deadly if the dosage goes wrong. There’s no way I’d hand it to any student for them to take it themselves.”

â€�“Is there any chance someone stole it, then?”

Madam Patil frowned. â€�“Last year... no, I didn’t have anything stolen last year. Sometimes I’d catch a student or two trying to get their hands on some ingredients, probably to make banned potions, but... I don’t think anyone stole Croton oil from me.”

Teddy jotted down Madam Patil’s words on his notepad. â€�“So you are saying --”

â€�“Although,” she cut across him, â€�“Around two years back, I went into my store to find the only bottle of Croton oil I had knocked over on its side.”

Teddy’s jaw tightened.

â€�“I am a very neat person, the matron continued, â€�“and I was sure I didn’t do it myself. There are no windows down there -- so the wind couldn’t have done it. Back then I didn’t give it much thought, but now I think it might be worth mentioning.”

There it was, a new lead. â€�“So there is a chance someone might have taken it?”

Madam Patil nodded. â€�“I... there seemed to be a bit less in it that there was supposed to be too.”

â€�“When was this?” Teddy asked, furiously taking notes. Stolen Croton oil. Student? Time --

â€�“Around may the year before the last.”

Tedy paused. â€�“But Madam Patil, Lucy wasn’t pregnant till then. Do you think it might be linked to this?”

Madam Patil looked surprised. â€�“You know about her pregnancy?”

Teddy nodded. â€�“We found out after she died. But really, she became pregnant a few months back. She wasn’t even showing. If anyone wanted to kill her child or her, wouldn’t the Croton oil be taken sometime in the last six months?”

She shrugged. â€�“I don’t know that. I’m just saying the Croton oil was stolen.” She paused, wondering how to go on. â€�“Whether it was to stolen to kill Lucy, or whether the person decided to use it because they had it already... I don’t know.”

Teddy frowned. That was rather odd, indeed. He’d have to run this across Harry.

â€�“Madam Patil,” he said. â€�“Lucy came to you when she found out about her pregnancy?”

Madam Patil nodded. â€�“I was the one who told her about it, actually.”

â€�“Can you tell me how she reacted?”

â€�“She wasn’t overly happy, but then again, teenage mothers never are. I asked her if she knew the father. She kind of looked at me like I was accusing her of... you know, sleeping around,” Madam Patil said sheepishly. â€�“She said she knew, of course, so I asked her to bring the father to me so that we could talk about what to do. She said that she didn’t want him knowing at that time. She promised me she’d tell him during the holidays, though.”

Teddy nodded, feeling a glimmer of hope. If James didn’t know about it at Hogwarts, he definitely couldn’t have stolen it from Madam Patil’s stash. If Lucy never got around to telling him... there was a good enough chance he was telling the truth when he said he didn’t even know Lucy was pregnant. And there was a very good chance he didn’t take it two years previously -- why would he? He surely had no reason to.

â€�“Was anyone else with Lucy when she found out about her pregnancy?”

Madam Patil nodded. â€�“Yes, her best friend, Clara? Clara Stettin. She was there, of course.”

Teddy sighed, closing his notepad. â€�“Thank you, Madam Patil. That’s all I need for now. I’ll call on you again if I need anything.”

The matron smiled. â€�“Of course, Mr Lupin.”

Giving Madam Patil a small smile, Teddy turned around and left the infirmary. Clara Stettin. He needed to talk to her.

---

Alone in his dingy holding cell inside the Ministry of Magic, James Potter was sitting on a small bunk bed with his feet up and his elbows on his knees, his arms crossed and his forehead resting on them. The candle light flickered in the darkness, casting grotesque shadows on the walls. The last few hours had been a great blur. Being pulled out of his house like a common criminal, he had been thrown into interrogation with Demetrius Williamson, the man reputed to be the fiercest Auror around. James pretended to be a very tough person, but in his current mental condition and after what Williamson had said to him in the past hour, James felt like all the life had been drained out of him. He was tired, frustrated, and all he wanted was to go home.

James couldn’t believe it. He had been accused of killing his own girlfriend, his cousin, and -- he closed his eyes -- the mother of his child. How could the Aurors even think--? And all that hype about Croton oil being found in his trunk... James didn’t even know what Croton oil was, for Merlin’s sake. He had no clue how that vial ended up in his trunk. A million questions raced through his mind as he tried to get a grip on the situation, and he could make no sense of the maelstrom of thoughts in his head. Who had killed Lucy? Who tried to frame him? Did anyone have a problem with him and Lucy? Was it a kill-two-birds-with-one-stone thing? Did they harm Lucy to hurt him?

He whimpered softly, clutching his hair. How he missed his Lucy. Her beautiful smile, the way her eyes lit up every time she saw him. She would run up to him and hug him so tight and he’d get a strong whiff of strawberries and roses from her Auburn hair. A tear fell from his eyes onto the stone floor below as he remembered her funny little laugh. He used to compare her to a horse, and she’d swat him on the head. He tried to smile, but it only made him shudder as a fresh wave of sadness rolled over him. He missed her so bad, it hurt. All he wanted to do was curl up and die. It destroyed him to think he’s never meet her again, never kiss her sweet lips, never hold her in her arms...

How he wished he’d told everyone earlier. Lucy had been so scared. She was very apprehensive of how everyone would take it. Her father, especially. She loved her father, but she was afraid of his orthodox thinking, and she feared to think what he’d think, what he’d do to James if he knew.

He hated keeping their relationship a secret. But for her, he’d do anything.

He took a deep breath, letting his mind think of their last night at Hogwarts before the holidays started...

She lay beside him, and as cheesy as it sounded, He couldn't help but thinking that she was an angel sent down from the heavens.

They were sprawled on the grass, and he was facing her, inhaling the earthly scent of the soil and the soft fragrance of her hair. smiling softly, he turned his face away from her to look up at the sky. Tiny blinking lights were dotted across the night, their light flickering as the clouds passed over them. She loved to come out to the grounds on clear nights to gaze at the stars. He came along to stare at her.

His hand moved over the grass till it found her's, and he slowly interlaced their fingers together. He took a glance at her face -- she had turned her head towards him and smiled a smile that melted his heart.

â€�“It’s lovely today,” she said.

â€�“It is,” he agreed, looking into her eyes, noticing for the first time that her brown irises were flecked with hazel.

She scowled. â€�“James, you’re not even looking at the sky.”

â€�“I was,” he said defensively, trying to look affronted.

She laughed, and it rang melodiously in his ears. â€�“Nice try, but I’m not buying that.”

He smirked. â€�“What’s so beautiful about the stars anyway?” he asked. â€�“They’re just… dots.”

â€�“You have no sense of imagination,” she huffed, shaking her head. â€�“Don’t you see all those patterns they form?” she asked, pointing up to the stars. â€�“That is Cygnus--” she traced imaginary lines between two stars with her fingers --â€�“And that there is Capricorn, your zodiac sign!”

â€�“Boring,” he said, shrugging. â€�“ And I see something prettier than that.”

She let her hand drop to her side and turned her neck to look at him sideways. â€�“What?”

Pulling her to him, he kissed her lips softly. â€�“You.”

She leaned into him, deepening the kiss. It was sweet and slow, reminding him of their first kiss as her smooth lips moved easily against his. He could taste strawberries on her lips -- she had used his favourite lip gloss. His fingers trace patterns onto her back as she shivered against him, clenching the fabric of his shirt in her hands.

She pulled away, looking away from him, and he immediately felt the loss of her warm lips. â€�“We should go back now,” she whispered. â€�“If Roxy finds us... It’s her turn to patrol the grounds--”

He sighed, getting to his feet and pulling her up. â€�“Okay,” he mumbled, pulling out the Invisibility cloak from his bag. He had managed to nick it from Albus, and the goody-two-shoes hadn't even noticed it missing for the past year. She noticed his expression and frowned at him, but said nothing. He averted his eyes from her, hoping she wouldn’t see that he was upset. Unfurling the cloak, he tossed it over her and himself, walking slowly back to the castle.

As they walked along the seventh floor corridor, she came to a stop, grabbing his hand.

â€�“Lucy, what’s wrong?” he asked, puzzled.

She took his hand and looked into his eyes. â€�“You know I love you.”

He could sense the sincerity in her voice, and immediately felt the anger ebb away. Cupping her cheeks, he couldn’t help but reply, â€�“I know. And I love you.”

She smiled weakly at him.

Dropping his hands from her cheeks, he took her hand and tried to grin. â€�“Come on now, we don’t want Roxy to find us do we?”

She bit her lower lip to refrain from laughing out loud. It was so easy for her to change from one mood to another. â€�“No, we don’t!” she whispered.

Smiling genuinely this time, he pulled her along the corridor towards the portrait of the Fat Lady.

His heart clenched. It was the last time he’d kissed her properly. After coming back from Hogwarts, they’d rarely got any chance to spend any time together. Remembering the date of the day Lucy died, he realised that it was the day they were supposed to have a gathering at the Burrow. He was eagerly waiting for the day to sneak off with Lucy. He had mastered Apparition -- they could have gone away to a date in Muggle London without anyone knowing. They could’ve spent the day together like a normal couple, and no one would even know. They could’ve gone to the cinema -- something his Muggle-born friends said they loved doing. Or they could’ve gone to one of the malls Lucy loved so that he could buy her stuff and spoil her, and finish the day with an ice-cream from the vendor outside the mall.

Could’ve... they could’ve done so much. And now, all those plans for the futures were shattered and destroyed. Just like he was.

His father had promised he’d catch the person who had killed her. And when he did, James would be there to kill the bastard, to rip him apart limb from limb.

Even if it landed him in Azkaban for life.

---

Teddy found himself striding down the familiar seventh floor corridor as he made his way towards Gryffindor tower. His travelling cloak billowed behind him as he walked. He hadn’t really expected to be back so soon. Hadn’t it been just yesterday he’d left the tower for the last time? It easily could’ve been. Not a single thing had changed, starting from the Fat Lady herself to the stone corridors. Every nook and cranny was as he remembered it.

Professor Longbottom had given him the password to Gryffindor tower, so he gave it to the Fat Lady (after, of course, she’d expressed her surprise at seeing him there after so many years). She swung open to reveal the hole in the wall, and Teddy clambered in.

Gryffindors lazily hung around the common room, some catching up after the holidays while others compared homework at the last minute on the table. He could see some of his cousins sitting together in front of the crackling fireplace, the fire bathing them with a soft, golden light. He could spot Rose’s shoulder length hair, her back turned towards him, speaking in hushed tones with Molly. Dominique and Louis were sneaking looks at some of the other Gryffindors, their eyes narrowed and their wands out. Only Al, Hugo and Roxanne were missing, Al and Hugo being a Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff respectively, and Roxy having graduated the previous year. Fred Weasley spotted Teddy, and, as he whispered the news of his arrival to the others, they all looked up at him. Lily waved.

Trying to ignore the curious glances of their housemates, Teddy walked over to them, his hair turning a shade of red to match his Weasley cousins.

â€�“Wotcher, you lot,” he greeted them as he crouched to their level. â€�“How are things?”

â€�“The next time anyone asks me about Lucy, I’m gonna punch them,” Molly said, glaring at a group of burly fifth years boys sitting together with a blonde girl through her big glasses. The corners of her ears were red. â€�“They think Lucy’s death is something to gossip about, you know. My sister died for Merlin’s sake, they don’t expect me to be their columnist, do they?”

â€�“Calm down, Molly,” Dominique said, twirling her wand. Her eyes, which were heavily lined with kohl, were sparkling with mischief. â€�“It’s okay. We’re gonna give them their answers if they come again. They’ll be buzzing the news around.”

She and Louis shared a hi-five.

â€�“Not that I should be endorsing this, but you go get them,” Teddy said. â€�“But before that, do you guys know where I can find Clara Stettin?”

It was Lily who nodded. â€�“She’s the head of my study group. I’ll go get her, shall I?”

â€�“That’d be great, Lily, thanks.”

The read-head stood up and headed for the girls’ dormitories. As she left, Rose rounded on Teddy. â€�“You found anything yet?”

Teddy shook his head. â€�“Not yet. But I’m damn sure it wasn’t James.”

â€�“Yeah, what’s the deal, carting away James like that?” Louis hissed indignantly, his ears as red as his hair. â€�“You really think he’d do anything like that? Il est impossible!”

â€�“Yeah, Mum thinks Uncle Harry was barking mad for even considering it,” Fred said darkly.

â€�“We have to follow some rules,” Teddy explained. â€�“Evidence pointed towards James, and we had to follow up. If they find him innocent --”

â€�“-- which he is,” Rose interrupted.

â€�“-- then the Aurors will let him go, without any further questions,” Teddy finished.

Lily at that moment came up to the group, followed by a petite, black-haired girl of around James and Lucy’s age.

â€�“Teddy, this is Clara,” Lily introduced. Clara smiled hesitantly, glancing from the Weasley cousins to Teddy. â€�“Clara, this is Teddy Lupin, one of the Aurors investigating what happened to Lucy.”

â€�“Clara, hi,” Teddy greeted, standing up and stretching his hand towards her. The girl shook his hand.

â€�“Lily said you wanted to talk to me?” she asked in a soft voice.

Teddy nodded once. â€�“Yeah. If you don’t mind, could we step out for a moment?”

â€�“Yeah, sure,” Clara agreed.

â€�“I’ll see you guys later,” Teddy told his cousins.

â€�“See you, Teddy.”

â€�“Yeah, bye.”

Looking at Clara, Teddy asked her to go first. Clara crossed her arms over her chest and rubbed her upper arms with the palms of her hands, walking towards the entrance Hall. With one last look towards his cousins, who had resumed their conspiratory whispering and were throwing dark looks towards some Gryffindors watching them curiously, Teddy followed Clara out of the common room.

Once the portrait of the Fat Lady had swung shut and the chattering noise had been muffled out, Clara stopped walking and looked at Teddy, her eyebrows raised. She was an average looking girl with her hair tied up in a loose ponytail, wisps of hair sticking out. Her eyes had dark circles under them.

â€�“Thanks for coming out here, Miss Stettin,” Teddy said.

â€�“That’s all right,” she said in a Manchester accent, leaning against the stone wall. â€�“Mind doing it a bit quickly, though? I’ve got a lot of unpacking to do.”

â€�“It won’t take long,” Teddy promised. â€�“You were friends with Lucy, right?” he asked, getting straight to the point.

Clara nodded. â€�“Yeah, we were close,” she said, her voice sounding pained. â€�“We used to do everything together, Lucy and I. She was my best mate.”

Poor girl, Teddy thought. Losing a best friend was a lot like losing family, sometimes worse. â€�“How long have you known her?”

â€�“Four years,” Clara said, biting her lip. â€�“Was it too terrible? Did she die in a lot of pain?”

Teddy hesitated. â€�“Yes,” he admitted. â€�“I’m sorry.”

Clara sniffled, her eyes welling with tears.

â€�“It hurts, I know,” Teddy said, putting a hand on her shoulder. â€�“But right now, the best thing we can do for her is find out whoever did this, yeah? You want that, right?”

Clara nodded, wiping her eyes on the back of her sleeve. â€�“Yeah,” she agreed, her voice heavy. â€�“You can go on.”

â€�“Did you know anyone who didn’t like her, or who had threatened her? Did she ever say anything to you?”

Clara frowned, her eyes looking calculating. Finally she said, â€�“not really. I mean, she wasn’t the most popular girl around, nor was she a loner or anything, so she didn’t have those snotty Slytherins after her. She never told me about threats or anything. I mean, her dad is the Minister and all, but personally she never got any hate stuff.”

â€�“What about her relationship with James?”

â€�“Wait,” Clara said suddenly. â€�“James, yeah. There were this couple of girls who were crushing on James, and I think they realised that he used to be with Lu a lot, so one day I caught them ambushing her in the girl’s toilet. They were asking her if James had a girlfriend or not.”

Teddy wasn’t surprised. â€�“You knew she was dating him, didn’t you?”

â€�“Course I did, she told me everything,” Clara answered, standing up straight. â€�“But Lu never let anyone else know. She didn’t want anyone else to know about her and James, so she said he was single. Poor girl was so shaken up, she was crying when she came out.” She paused. â€�“She was really hurt, having to lie like that about her own boyfriend.”

â€�“You were with her the day she learned about her pregnancy?” Teddy asked.

â€�“Yeah, I was. She asked me if I’d go along, and I said I would. She was afraid, really afraid. I -- this was the only thing she never told me, that she and James were sleeping together. I think it was a one-time thing, cause Lu’s not the type to have sex with her boyfriend in school all the time, unlike that skanky little bitch Fan--”

â€�“Okay,” Teddy cut across her, not wanting the details of what went down inside Hogwarts’ walls. That was the problem of the Heads of Houses, not the Auror Office. â€�“And how did Lucy take the news?”

â€�“She was upset,” Clara replied, a little pink around the cheeks. â€�“But I told her she didn’t have to worry, that James would understand. He was a really good boyfriend and I could tell he adored her a lot. He wouldn’t abandon her or their kid. I’d have his ar -- his hindside if he left her, even if he was my friend.”

â€�“You were friends with James, too?”

Clara smiled. â€�“Yeah, I was James’s friend first. I became friends with Lu much later. I met her through the big oaf.”

Teddy raised his eyebrows. He didn’t know that. â€�“Clara, tell me, did James know that Lucy was pregnant?”

She shook her head. â€�“Nah. Lucy didn’t tell him. She was going to, I think, when you were gonna have that big Weasley get-together. I remember that ’cause she was begging me to be there while she broke the news. I would’ve liked to, to be honest, just to see James’s reaction. I told her I was betting two Galleons that James would start crying in happiness. He’s such a big sod, I tell you.”

â€�“But as for who tried to kill Lucy, you’ve got no idea?” Teddy asked. Clara was probably the only lead he had. â€�“She was poisoned, you know, right? With Croton oil, an abortifacient. No one else knew about the baby? No one who’d try to, say, kill the child but ended up poisoning her instead?”

â€�“No, I don’t think so,” she shook her head sadly, her eyes apologising for not being able to help. â€�“I’m pretty sure no one else knew. I have no idea who put the oil into her potion. No one came up to our dorm, as far as I know. I’ll ask the other girls in our dorm, though, just to be sure. If I find anything, I’ll ask Dom or Lily to let you know, okay?”

â€�“Thanks, Clara,” Teddy said earnestly. â€�“We’ll be really glad if you could do that for us.”

â€�“Lu was my best mate,” Clara said, her jaws hard. â€�“You better find that son of a bitch and make them pay.”

Teddy nodded. â€�“We will.” He and Harry were going to do exactly that. No one messed with their family and got away with it.

---

Teddy returned home from Hogwarts at around ten that night. It was too late to go to the Ministry, and frankly, he was really tired himself. All he wanted to do was turn on the shower and step under the gush of warm water, something that always calmed him down. Fumbling with the knot of his travelling cloak, he managed to untie it and sloppily threw it on the couch, deciding to tidy up the following day when he was less beaten down. He didn’t even notice that his living room was already clean; when Victoire had left a couple of days before, he hadn’t bothered to tidy the mess of parchment and quills he had made under the coffee table -- but somehow they had all magically disappeared while he was not at home.

Kicking off his shoes, Teddy padded up to his room in his socks. When he reached the door, he turned the cold bronze door-knob and stepped in. The room was dark; he flicked his wand once, performing a silent Lumos, and the room lit up. That’s when he noticed that his usually messy room was squeaky clean. The garbage that usually covered the floor was now inside the bin (which looked like it was about to overflow), and his robes and Muggle clothes from the previous day were folded and suspended by a hanger from the handle of his wardrobe. The books he had been reading the previous night, Curses For Fun And Profit and Mystical Weapons Of The Mediterranean, had been neatly stacked on his bedside table. Even the bed sheets had been changed and looked pretty non-wrinkly.

Teddy was now confused. He had not left his room so clean that morning. Putting his hands on his hips, he frowned; how on earth had his room become so neat?

A second later, when the bathroom door opened with a creak, he got his answer.

Teddy turned around. â€�“I should’ve known it was you,” he said, grinning, as he spotted the culprit.

Victoire walked forwards, wiping her hands on a wad of tissue paper. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail at the top of her head, the hair falling in graceful curls along the side of her face. â€�“And I should’ve known how untidy you are,” she chastised, looking at him in disapproval, which would’ve been pretty believable had it not been for the hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. â€�“I came over and I saw the house was filthy, so I decided to clean up for you.”

â€�“Clean freak,” Teddy muttered, before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. Victoire gasped at the sudden movement, but a second later she giggled, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. Teddy’s hair turned a brilliant shade of turquoise as he felt her warm breath on his skin.

â€�“Really, you are one,” he said, kissing her head. â€�“You’re gonna have a hell of a lot of trouble if you ever decide to live with me. You’d be cleaning all day.”

â€�“That’s sad,” she said, looking up at him with her big blue eyes, a small pout on her lips. Teddy resisted the urge to kiss them. â€�“I guess I won’t be moving in with you then, if I have to act like a House-elf.”

â€�“Suit yourself,” Teddy teased. â€�“Your nights wouldn’t be boring anymore if you lived with me.”

Victoire blushed, and Teddy kissed her cheeks. â€�“Don’t worry; you don’t have to move in if you don’t want to. Besides, I don’t want to die at your father’s hands.”

â€�“I don’t have to tell him I’m moving in for that,” she said, her eyes twinkling. â€�“If he knew what we got up to, he’d kill you anyway.”

â€�“Oh, really? What is that?” Teddy asked, his voice turning low and husky. He couldn’t resist her anymore. He captured her lips in a kiss, feeling her soft, warm lips on his. Closing his eyes, he ran his fingers through her soft, blonde hair. He felt her kiss him back deeply, her soft tongue licking his lower lip, demanding entrance. He obliged.

For a minute, they stood like that, tongues exploring each other’s mouths. Victoire caressed his face with one hand, her soft palm against his scraggy cheek. Her thumb stroked his skin lightly, while her other hand drew lazy circles on his back. Teddy hugged her as close to him as he could, trying to remove every bit of distance between them. Their bodies fitted together perfectly. He wanted to hold her to him forever, to love her as much as he could. She was his life.

â€�“I love you,” Victoire murmured against his lips.

Teddy smiled. â€�“Me too,” he whispered into the kiss.

Victoire closed her eyes and softly bit his lower lip. Teddy immediately felt all his fatigue being washed away, replaced by a wave of passion, love and lust. His mind started to get foggy, and all he could focus on was her. In a flash, he lifted her off the ground and threw her onto the bed, climbing on top of her, pinning her down against the mattress. Victoire moaned against his lips, her fingers tugging at his white shirt.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered what they had been talking about. â€�“Show me,” he murmured, accentuating each word with a kiss on her lips. â€�“What. We. Get. Up. To.”

And she did exactly that.

---

Later that night, they cuddled together on Teddy’s bed, the fresh covers completely messed up and decidedly wrinklier than before. Teddy didn’t mind, though. In fact, he had thoroughly enjoyed doing the very thing that had wrinkled up the sheets.

He looked down at Victoire. He loved the way her blonde hair was splayed across his bare chest as she rested her head there. His arms were wrapped protectively around her fragile form, and hers were tucked in under the sides of his waist. She breathed slowly and deeply, and he could feel her warm breath on his sweaty skin.

He loved every bit of it, and he thanked the heavens for giving him such an angel. She was beautiful.

â€�“What time is it?” Victoire mumbled slowly, her eyes fluttering.

Teddy craned his neck to look up at the wall clock. â€�“It’s a little past midnight. Do you want to go home?”

Victoire shook her head, and his heart soared. â€�“No, I think I might stay for the night,” she replied softly. â€�“I told Maman I was coming here. She promised she wouldn’t tell Dad.”

â€�“That was really nice of her,” Teddy replied. He was grateful towards Fleur for allowing Victoire to stay with him. Such nights were rare.

â€�“Hmm, it was. I’ve really missed you, you know?” Victoire said, and Teddy could imagine her lower lip sticking out in a pout. â€�“It’s been a while since we’ve sat down and talked properly. I don’t even know what you’re doing nowadays.”

Teddy sighed, removing one arm from around her and using his hand to run his fingers through her hair. He knew this would come up soon. â€�“I’ve been busy, with Lucy’s case and everything. I leave early and come back late. I’m sorry I haven’t been giving you much time.”

Victoire smiled and nuzzled closer to him. â€�“It’s okay. I’ve just hadn’t had you to myself for a while, but I know you’re wrapped up in work. How is everything going?”

”It’s pretty much a mess. Harry’s off the case, and he’s furious. He’s quite upset about James as well. I would’ve gone to him tonight, but I’m sure he’s gone home by now. It’s better if I go early tomorrow morning and catch him before people start flooding in.”

â€�“Did you get any new leads?” asked Victoire, her voice a little less sleepy. Her eyes were open.

Teddy nodded. â€�“I went to Hogwarts today.”

Victoire rolled over onto the empty side of the bed and pulled up the blanket to cover herself properly. Once she was satisfied, she sat up in a way so that her elbows supported her body weight and looked up at Teddy. â€�“And? You found anything?”

â€�“I talked to Professor Longbottom and Madam Patil,” Teddy replied, bringing himself to a sitting position with his arms and resting his back against the headboard. It creaked under his weight. â€�“They both believe James didn’t do it. Madam Patil even said that Lucy didn’t tell James about the baby.”

He paused, trying to gather his thoughts. Victoire looked at him anxiously. â€�“I did talk to Lucy’s best mate as well,” Teddy went on, â€�“who was there with Lucy when she got the news of her pregnancy. She confirmed that James wasn’t with her. She also told me that Lucy was going to tell James about it on the day of the party at your Grandma Molly’s -- that is, the day Lucy died. She’s pretty sure Lucy hadn’t told him before that, because she thinks Lucy would have told her if she had.”

â€�“So that means...”

â€�“James was telling the truth when he said he had no idea,” Teddy affirmed.

Victoire blew out a sigh of relief. â€�“Teddy, that means James couldn't have killed Lu! If he had no idea about the baby, then he couldn't have poisoned her with specifically an abortifacient. The poison was in her system before the holidays started, wasn’t it?”

Teddy smiled. â€�“Yep,” he said, popping the P. â€�“If all goes well, James will be out by tomorrow.”

â€�“Thank Merlin,” Victoire said. Then, however, she frowned. â€�“But you don’t really have any leads on who actually did it yet?”

Teddy shook his head, and Victoire looked a little dejected. â€�“But we will. I promise.”

â€�“I believe you.” She grabbed the pillow from above her head and rested her head on it. â€�“We should get to sleep now. I have to in to St Mungo’s early tomorrow, or Healer Gifford will have my hide. He hates it if the trainees arrive after he does.”

â€�“You’re right. I need to sleep too.”Teddy kissed the top of her head. â€�“Goodnight, love.”

â€�“Goodnight, Teddy Bear.”

Turning off the light with a flick of his wand, Teddy wrapped an arm around Victoire and slowly fell asleep to the sound of her slow breathing.

---

Breakfast the following morning had been quite smooth, with no burnt toasts of half-cooked bacon. Victoire, or rather Fleur, had managed everything. The two of them had come down to find warm pancakes and bread-and-jam already served on the table. Teddy had this sneaking feeling Fleur had sent their House-elf over with the meal. After breakfast was over and the dishes done (without any water fights, Teddy thanked -- Victoire had a habit of starting those), they kissed goodbye and Victoire Flooed to St Mungo’s, while Teddy went off to the Ministry.

As he stepped out of one of the fireplaces that lined the walls of the Atrium, Teddy almost stumbled into a wizard who looked like he’d just stepped out of the fireplace right before him. The man, who was wearing a stylish forest-green robe with dark-brown trim and an earring on one ear, glared at him. Mumbling a hurried apology, Teddy strode off towards the gold-grilled elevators as quickly as he could.

Teddy was almost squashed at the back as the elevator slowly filled up. He winced as a rather large man stepped on his toe. The wizard, who was wearing a pinstriped Muggle suit and a red-and-white polka dot bowtie, mumbled a hurried apology. Above Teddy, a dozen pink paper airplanes zoomed into the lift and hovered on top of his head. Beside him, a dumpy old witch in bright-yellow robes was carrying a large, reeking box labelled Vomiting-Violets: They Smell Nasty!. Violets were Victoire’s favourite. Teddy, however, didn’t think Victoire would appreciate these too much.

The lift clattered to a halt at Level Two and a cool female voice announcing their arrival at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Teddy had to push his way past all the occupants and stepped out of the elevator just a second before the grills clanked shut again. Breathing a sigh of relief, he rounded the corner from the lift and walked past a set of heavy oak doors that marked the entrance to the Auror Headquarters. As he greeted a couple of his fellow Junior Aurors, he made his way towards Harry’s office, which was all the way towards the end.

He knocked twice.

â€�“Enter,” Harry’s muffled voice came from behind the door.

Teddy turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

â€�“Harry, I--”

â€�“Teddy! Thank Merlin you’re here,” Harry interrupted. His usually messy hair was even more ruffled up than before, as if he’d been running his hands through them all this time. His navy blue robes were wrinkly and in a pretty bad shape. Harry’s desk, which was often stacked up in paperwork, looked like it was about to overflow. Around fifty extra files sat on the table, which looked like it was about to give way any minute, and a few others had already fallen over the sides, their contents strewn across the floor. One stack of documents looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, about topple over any minute (unlike the actual tower, which was of course, held up by the strong magic cast by a number of old Italian Warlocks in the Middle Ages). It looked like Harry had been poring through the files for a very long time.

â€�“Harry, I have to tell you something,” Teddy said.

â€�“It can wait,” Harry said with a wave of his hand. â€�“First, you need to get me some old case files.”

â€�“Er, Harry --”

â€�“You know, the ones from last year. Bring me all the files of the cases I’ve handled between April and September last year. Right now, Teddy. I have this feeling that I’m forgetting something.”

â€�“Harry --”

â€�“Now, Teddy.”

Teddy sighed. Harry really needed to know what he’d learned in Hogwarts. He didn’t argue with him, however -- Harry seemed to be in a very dangerous mood. Nodding, Teddy closed the door and hurried towards the Filing Room.

Ten minutes later, he returned with two huge boxes, one on top of the other, in his arms, followed by Trainee Auror Alastair Brunt, who had kindly carried another box for him. Teddy wouldn’t have been able to make it back to Harry’s office in one piece had he carried all three boxes.

Teddy thanked Brunt, who seemed pretty satisfied to have done something for the Head of the Auror Office. Teddy, however, had a feeling Harry hadn’t noticed the man at all.

Once Brunt left and Teddy had closed the door, Teddy asked, â€�“What’s this all about, Harry?”

Harry opened the box with his wand and levitated the files on to the desk. â€�“I think I might have a hunch.” He then looked up at Teddy. â€�“You said you had to tell me something important? You can tell me as I go through these files.”

As the older Auror scanned through the old documents, Teddy told him everything that he had learned from Hogwarts, and whatever he and Victoire had discussed the previous night. The more he spoke, the more hopeful Harry’s expression became. When he was done, Harry looked up at him. â€�“So basically, James had no idea about the child. So he couldn’t have known to give her the abortifacient before leaving Hogwarts.”

Teddy nodded. â€�“Exactly.”

â€�“Well, that’s excellent, then.” Harry beamed. â€�“However, I’m pretty sure Williamson and the jury will find some other excuses. That’s why I have to find this thing that I’m looking for.”

â€�“Which is what?”

â€�“No idea.”

Teddy’s lips thinned. Harry was kidding, right?

â€�“I just had a feeling that it was something to do with my other case files,” Harry continued, his eyes moving so fast he looked a bit cross-eyed. â€�“I was up since three in the morning looking at these.” He motioned to the mess on his table.

â€�“And Ginny didn’t tell you anything?” Teddy asked sceptically.

Harry shook his head. â€�“I sleep on the couch in the living room, remember? She doesn’t know I was here. The sooner I get hold of this thing, the sooner we get our son back. And the sooner I can go back to sleeping in my own room.”

â€�“Can I help?” Teddy asked.

â€�“Hmm?” Harry asked absentmindedly. â€�“Yeah, sure, grab a file and start looking. I think you might spot it, t--” Harry suddenly stopped, growing a bit pale.

As he reached out for a file, Teddy noticed the sudden change and froze in his tracks. â€�“Did you find anything?”

Harry nodded, not moving his eyes of the file. â€�“Damn, I am so thick!” he swore loudly, running a hand through his already dishevelled hair. â€�“How on Earth could I miss this? For the life of me, I couldn’t think of what it was. All I knew was that I missing something. And then, seeing this, I remembered -- this is what I had forgotten. I’m becoming so stupid.”

Teddy put the file down and leaned forward. â€�“What is it?”

He looked up, his eyes shining. â€�“This is what I was looking for. Look at this!” He shoved the file into Teddy’s hand.

Teddy frowned and took the file, turning in the right side up and scanned through it. It was an old case file. The name of the offender was --

â€�“Zachary Williamson,” Harry stated, standing up. â€�“Auror Williamson’s son. He was accused of killing his girlfriend, Alison MacDougal. Later found guilty by the Wizengamot and, since he was of age when it happened, he was sent to Azkaban for life for the murder of his girlfriend and their unborn child.”

Teddy was still looking at the file. â€�“And the potion used for the murder was--”

â€�“Croton oil,” Harry finished.

â€�“But Harry, isn’t he in Azkaban?” Teddy objected. He was very, very confused. The two cases had the same modus operandi, the same murder weapon and the suspects had the same relation to the victim. But the perpetrator of the first crime was imprisoned, so how in the name of Merlin had this happened? Teddy’s head hurt.

Harry stopped in his tracks, looking calm. Too calm, for Teddy’s liking. â€�“Yes, he is. And that makes this all the more dangerous.”

A chill ran up his spine. â€�“Harry?”

â€�“Now there is a very good chance Wiliamson’s son didn’t do it, after all,” Harry went on, his face dead serious. â€�“He’s innocent. This looks like the work of a serial killer. The boys were both framed for the murder of their girlfriends.”

For a second, Teddy remembered what the matron had said. â€�“The potion had been taken from Madam Patil a year before,” he told Harry, who was looking at the fake window on the wall. Outside, it looked like a storm was going on. â€�“She had said, ’Whether it was to stolen to kill Lucy, or whether the person decided to use it because they had it already... I don’t know.’ Harry, now that I think of it, this definitely has to be the work of a serial killer.”

â€�“And a year ago, I put an innocent boy behind bars,” Harry said, sounding distressed. â€�“Williamson came to me, begged me to consider that his son was framed. He used to follow me around just to make me go through the case again, but I didn’t.”

Teddy understood what Harry was going through. When James was arrested, Harry had immediately reached the conclusion that James was being set up. He had done everything in his power to prove James was innocent. Williamson had been doing the same when it concerned his son, and Harry hadn’t listened to him. He was deeply regretting it now. Teddy could see it in his eyes.

â€�“I just looked at the facts, not bothering to take Williamson’s advice. I even benched him from the case because I thought he was favouring his son. I just considered it like another case, forgetting what I’d taught every single Auror till date -- to sometimes overlook the facts and look at new angles, because things are never truly black and white. Sometimes, we make mistakes. Sometimes the evidence points at the wrong direction.” Harry’s eyes were unfocused, staring off into space. Teddy had a feeling he was talking more to himself than to Teddy. â€�“I was so mad at Williamson and his orthodox thoughts that I thought he was pulling one of his usual stunts. Now it’s my fault his son suffered in Azkaban for a year.”

â€�“Harry, it’s not too late,” Teddy tried to comfort him. He stood up and strode over to Harry, putting a hand on his shoulder. â€�“Zachary’s still young and has his whole life ahead of him. You’ll get him released and he’ll be a free man.”

Harry looked deep in thought, and Teddy could swear he could hear the cogs in his head turning. After a while, he sighed. â€�“You’re right,” Harry muttered, taking off his glasses and rubbing them. Putting them back on, he said, â€�“I have to tell this to Williamson.”

Teddy grimaced. That was not a conversation he wanted to sit in on. â€�“Yeah, good luck with that.”

Standing up, Harry grabbed his cloak from behind his chair. â€�“I guess I better get ready for an earful. That old man isn’t gonna take it well. If I were him, I’d want to kill me for being such a lousy Auror. I don’t deserve to be one, much less the Head of this place. First things first, though; I have to Floo up Azkaban and request for Zachary’s release right now. Sending a letter will take too long. I’m not letting the boy stay there a moment longer.

Teddy stood by and watched as Harry threw a pinch of Floo powder into his fireplace. The blazing yellow fire immediately tuned a bright emerald green, casting a ghostly glow around the room. Harry stooped down and stated, â€�“Azkaban Prison!” before sticking his head into the fire.

Harry was looking pretty odd with his backside sticking out of the fireplace, so Teddy tried not to look. He diverted his attention to more mundane things like the photos on Harry’s shelves. He went over to them and picked up a photo frame. It was a picture of James and Al when they were ten and nine respectively. It looked like the beach near Shell Cottage; tiny pebbles were scattered all over the beach and he could see the sea washing up against the sand in the background. As he looked on, little Al opened his palm to reveal a seashell, which he showed to James. It was a very adorable moment, and if Teddy remembered right, it was one of those rare moments in their childhood when Al and James weren’t at each others' throats.

A sudden whooshing noise made him look back towards the fireplace. Harry had his head back on his shoulders; however, his face looked pale. He looked as though he’d seen a ghost.

â€�“Harry, is everything okay?” Teddy asked, walking up to him slowly. His question was rhetoric -- everything certainly was not okay.

â€�“Az-Azkaban had a... had a breakout two months ago,” Harry stuttered, putting his hand on his table to support his weight. â€�“Zachary Williamson is gone. He escaped from Azkaban without anyone noticing and without trace.”

â€�“What?” Teddy exclaimed. That was impossible. Azkaban could not have had a break out. It was an unbreakable fortress surrounded by anti-Apparition wards, protective enchantments and other barriers. It was guarded round the clock by more than three dozen Aurors and Hit Wizards. â€�“How come we were not told about this?”

â€�“We were,” Harry said. â€�“Azkaban said that they had informed the Auror office immediately.”

â€�“No they didn’t!” Teddy protested. â€�“No one said anything! Someone breaking out of Azkaban, that would have garnered a countrywide manhunt if this had reached the Ministry. Who are they claiming to have told about this?”

Harry looked straight at him. â€�“Azkaban said they informed Senior Auror Demetrius Williamson. They had told him about his son’s escape. Williamson knew.”

---

Silence.

Harry’s words rang inside Teddy’s head. A hundred different things went through his mind as he considered the seriousness of the situation. There must have been a mistake, he thought. Auror Williamson, the always-by-the-book Williamson who lived for nothing but justice and truth, had withheld such essential information about a case, and that too such a high profile case, breaking around twenty laws in the process. He had been aware of his son’s breakout. There was a possibility that he had figured out his son was the one who had murdered the Minister’s daughter, and he hadn't said a word.

â€�“Williamson... Williamson knew?” Teddy finally blurted out. Why would he do something like this?

Harry slammed his fist against the table, the resounding echoing loudly around the room. His was livid, his face contorted with such fury that Teddy had never seen before, and certainly not on his godfather’s face. â€�“That lying, conniving piece of trash,” he swore loudly. â€�“That man knew his son had escaped and he said nothing! Bloody nothing at all!”

â€�“Harry, do you know what this means?” Teddy said, standing up. â€�“There's a possibility that Williamson was involved in this whole thing.”

â€�“I am gonna rip him apart,” Harry promised, his eyes burning with hatred. â€�“He knew who killed the Minister’s daughter and he tried to blame it on my son even though he knew his boy escaped Azkaban. This puts him down as an accessory to murder, Teddy, he can’t get away this time.”

Everything made so much more sense now. â€�“He got you off the case because of this,” Teddy said. â€�“He wanted the case himself so you didn’t snoop around and find out about his son’s escape. He planned the whole thing right from the start, Harry.” Teddy had never really liked Williamson, but this disgusted him. How could the man stoop to such a level?

â€�“When Zachary got out, he probably figured this was his chance," Harry theorised. "I don't know if you knew this, Teddy, but he was against Percy becoming the Minister -- he was one of Roy Glockenspieler’s supporter’s.”

â€�“Glockenspieler was the other candidate, right?” Teddy asked, briefly remembering a large man with a cropped moustache and tiny, beady eyes. It had been back when Teddy had just joined the Auror office fresh out of Hogwarts. â€�“The one with the idea to reinstate the Anti-Werewolf Legislation and retract the ban on keeping Dementors in Azkaban?”

â€�“Yes, him,” Harry said, scrunching up his nose. â€�“Thank Merlin the Wizarding population still had their heads in the right place. They saw how brilliant Kingsley had been as Minister and they felt that Percy, Kingsley’s Undersecretary and one of his most trusted friends, would be a better leader than Glockenspieler. And you were a kid during the Second War, so you probably don’t know this, But When Voldemort returned, Williamson sided with Cornelius Fudge. He was one of the Aurors loyal to the man, but when Fudge fell, he tried to jump ship. Kingsley hated him for his ways and the two of them never got along. And that’s why Williamson never liked that Kingsley was Minister, too. He was very vocal about his displeasure with Percy’s appointment because he knew he wouldn’t get his way here, either.”

â€�“So you think he did this to get Percy removed?” Teddy asked, disgusted by what Harry's implications meant.

Harry nodded. â€�“If Percy’s daughter died, he could tell people that Percy was unhinged and his daughter’s death was affecting his ability to run the country. Many people would agree in spite of of everything he’s done, and soon the Wizarding populace would be demanding Percy’s resignation. In all the chaos, Glockenspieler would get the top seat as the next most likely candidate and no one would give a damn about his bullshit principles.”

â€�“And by proving that James was linked with this, he could have you removed, too,” Teddy put in. It was an ingenious ploy. Terribly twisted and sickening, yes, but bloody brilliant. â€�“Like how things turned out with the Crouches -- he would say that you didn’t give your children time, so one of them turned out to be a killer. He’d show that if you’re not a good enough father --”

â€�“--I’m not a good enough Head for the Auror office, either,” Harry finished darkly. â€�“And as the second-most-senior Auror, he would get my post. He could kill two birds with one curse.”

A silence followed Harry’s statement. Teddy could sense, though, that Harry was thinking of something. He had that look on his face he usually had when something didn’t add up.

â€�“One thing I don’t get, though,” he started, confirming Teddy’s suspicions. â€�“Did he really think I wouldn’t notice the thing with the Croton oil?” Harry asked, crossing his arms across his chest. â€�“Zachary killed Alison with Croton oil. It was pretty much enough to connect the two murders, wasn’t it?”

â€�“It was a while back, I don’t think he expected you to figure it out. And to be honest,” Teddy pointed out, â€�“you had forgotten about it till now, hadn’t you?”

â€�“True. I guess I just expected more from him. He should have taken this into account while plotting to get rid of Percy and me by killing Lucy and framing James,” Harry said bitterly.

â€�“But you caught him!” Teddy said encouragingly. â€�“Thanks to your snooping, you figured it all out and now you can turn the tables around, right?”

â€�“Oh, you better believe I will,” Harry said firmly, heading for door. His eyes had a hard look in them. â€�“That man has it coming. I don’t care that he tried to do this to me, but he killed Lucy and tried to ruin James’s life. He’s not getting away.”

---

There was no way Williamson was getting out of this, Teddy thought.

After leaving his office, Harry had made his way up straight to the Minister’s office with Teddy in tow, barking orders to a couple of terrified young Aurors on the way to send Williamson up there as soon as possible. Teddy and Harry had just spoken to Percy’s secretary to request an emergency meeting when Williamson strode up to them, a furious expression on his face.

â€�“Fletcher just told me you asked me to meet you here,” he said, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. â€�“What do you want?”

Before Harry could reply, the door leading to Percy’s office opened with a slight creak. His secretary, a slender blonde witch in classy red robes named Evaine Pickering, came out with a practiced smile on her face. â€�“The Minister is free to see Mr Potter, Mr Williamson and Mr Lupin now,” she informed them.

â€�“Thank you,” Harry said briskly, and walked towards Percy’s door. Teddy followed him in quickly, and after a second, Williamson did too.

Teddy had never been in the Minister’s room before, and he had to agree it was one of the most opulent rooms in the Ministry. It was by far the largest office he’d seen, with beautiful white walls with golden trim and rosewood floors. The walls were adorned with various moving portraits of previous Ministers and paintings of landscapes and sceneries. Curtains of blue velvet were draped over the fake windows, which currently showed sunlight streaming in from a meadow outside. A few brown leather sofas were arranged around a coffee table in front of a roaring fireplace, which was lined on three sides by a giant bookshelf that took up one whole wall. It spanned from the floor to the ceiling, filled with more than a hundred books on Wizarding government, politics, political science and Wizarding Law. At the far end of the room was an ornately decorated black desk, behind which sat the Minister for Magic himself.

Percy looked up when the three of them entered and gave them a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He looked worse for wear; his eyes had dark circles under them, and his cheeks seemed slightly sunken. His greying hair appeared messy and unkempt, and the intricately designed robes he wore had lost their glamour due to the many creases and folds on them. Teddy felt sorry for him; the once proud and polished minister had been reduced to a worn-down and despondent man.

"Hello, Harry, Demetrius, Teddy," he said, his voice hoarse. "Evaine told me you needed to meet me. Please sit," he said, motioning Harry and Williamson to be seated.

"No thanks, Percy," Harry declined. "There's something really important that you have to know."

"I'm listening," he said, leaning forwards. He looked a bit curious, Teddy thought.

"I know you told me to stay off Lucy's case, but --"

"-- let me guess, you didn't," Percy interrupted. Teddy wasn't sure whether he was exasperated at Harry's disobedience or amused at Harry's disregard for rules.

Williamson, though, looked definitely uncomfortable. "Potter, what is this?" he said furiously, looking slightly pale. "The Minister specifically told you to stay off the case!"

"Well, that would have been pretty darn lovely for you, wouldn't it, Demetrius?" Harry shot back, glaring at the man. "Rather splendid for you and your boy, right?"

Whatever colour was left in his face drained out.

Harry turned to Percy. "There was something oddly familiar about Lucy's case, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it," he said. "So I did some looking around, and imagine my surprise when I found out that the murder of Alison MacDougal had been carried out the exact same way. Naturally, someone would assume both murders were done by the same person," Harry mentioned calmly. Too calmly for Teddy's liking. "Isn't that right, Williamson?"

Williamson's jaws clenched. "That proves nothing."

Percy frowned, looking from Harry to Williamson in uncertainty. "What is going on? What on Earth are you two on about?"

"The person convicted for Alison's murder was Zachary Williamson," Harry answered, his voice increasing with every word he said. "And he escaped Azkaban some time before Lucy was poisoned, and Williamson knew about this!

Percy's head swivelled towards Williamson so fast that Teddy swore he heard his neck crick. "Demetrius, is this true?"

â€�“Minister, this is absurd! You cannot possibly believe these baseless allegations!” Williamson snarled. "Potter's lying. What proof does he have?"

Seriously? Teddy though. Williamson was asking his boss for proof?

Harry snorted in disbelieve, a lopsided, humourless grin on his face. "So I am lying again, am I? The Boy Who Lied all over again, isn't it? Well, tough luck, Williamson. Dealing with your old friend Fudge has taught me a few things." Turning towards Teddy, he said, "The files, please, Teddy."

Teddy fumbled forwards, handing the stack of papers to Harry. Harry nodded in appreciation. "Here you are, Minister," he said, slamming down a file on Percy's desk. "All the case details against Zachary Williamson, along with the testimony of the Azkaban guards. I have it in written, his statement that Azkaban had sent an owl to Auror Williamson the day the discovered the break out." He placed another parchment in front of Percy, who straightened his wire-rimmed glasses and swiftly picked it up. "Might I inform you, Minister, Harry continued, defiantly staring at Williamson, "that Auror Williamson had neither logged a report, nor had he followed the appropriate chain of command for the situation."

Williamson's nostrils flared. "Fine," he growled, looking straight at Harry, who didn't even flinch. "I hadn't informed anyone about Zach's prison-break. He is not guilty of anything! He shouldn't have been there in the first place!" His whole demeanour changed. The tough and unyielding Auror Teddy knew was replaced by a father who was ready to throw away everything to save his son. Despite of what he had done, Williamson still believed his son was right.

Percy's mouth fell open. "Demetrius... you knew this?"

"Of course I knew, Minister! Zach owled me after he escaped. He made it out of there alive, through all the protective barriers you put up. He was always brilliant, my boy," he stated proudly, a gleam in his eyes.

"Then you even knew that he broke into Hogwarts to poison Lucy too, isn't it?" Harry charged. "He did the exact same thing with Lucy, and you sat there and watched as your son took another life!"

Williamson shook his head. "He did no such thing, Potter! I told him to run away and hide! He wouldn't throw away his newfound freedom by attempting to kill someone."

"Oh yeah?" Harry challenged. "Then how did Lucy die the same way that Alison MacDougal died, eh? And let's not forget, Lucy's the Minister's daughter. The same Minister who you campaigned against. "

Williamson stared at Harry coldly. "First thing first, Zach never killed Alison. Try finding who killed that poor girl, for Merlin's sake, and you'll find out who killed Miss Weasley."

Harry shook his head. "I think we don't have anything else to find anymore. It's pretty clear to me. You and Zach planned to kill Lucy and to blame it on James to get rid of both my and Percy. You'd come up with some cock-and-bull story that Percy is unstable due to his daughter's death, and people will demand for his resignation once they believed he was no longer fit to run the Ministry. And by showing that my son's a murderer, you'd show that if I couldn't manage my son, I wouldn't be able to handle the Auror office. Two birds with one curse, Williamson. And it all simmers down to politics, doesn't it?" he said, curling his lips in disgust.

"I'll admit that I wanted to get your son imprisoned Potter," Williamson replied after a pause, his eyes calculating. Teddy could feel that he was hiding something, thinking each and every word carefully. "But I did not try to oust Percy as the Minister, nor do I care for your post anymore. Political gain had nothing to do with this. I wanted you to feel the same thing I felt when you put my innocent boy behind bars. Your son actually did it. He deserved to be jailed!"

"James was innocent, and we have proof!"

"Oh shut up, Potter!" Williamson barked. "You don't know a thing!"

"I think Harry is right, Mr Williamson," Teddy said, stepping up. "You --"

"Shut up, Werewolf scum," Williamson hissed, rounding on Teddy. "No one asked for your opinion!"

Harry started forwards. "To hell with --"

"That is enough!"

A loud thud resonated around the room, making Teddy jump. Williamson and Harry shut up immediately. Harry stared at Percy, his mouth open.

"Minister," Williamson implored. "I --"

"I said that's enough, Williamson," Percy cut across him, holding up a hand, his eyes hard. "I think it's time you took a break, Williamson. I'm suspending you."

Williamson looked like he'd been slapped across the face. "Minister, I must object!"

"No, you must not," Percy deadpanned. "You chose not to report a break out from Azkaban, and you did not disclose this information even after you knew it might pertain to another case. This is reason enough to suspend you from your duties. You are first and foremost an Auror and a member of the Ministry. No relation should come between you and your duties."

Teddy remembered stories from before the war, about how Percy had forsaken his family in the name of his duty and his career. He always put his work first. Even now, though his daughter was dead, he was still coming to the office and managing the Ministry. Teddy admired his ability to stay dedicated towards the greater good even in times of such crisis.

"Percy, he is my son! What would you do?"

"And Lucy was my daughter," Percy shot back, his eyes full of a fire Teddy had never seen before. "Be glad I'm not doing things as a father would. Or else you would be dead by now."

Williamson opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He stood there, staring defiantly at Percy.

"I, Percy Weasley, Minister for Magic, henceforth relieve you, Auror Williamson, of your duty as an Auror till further notice, on account of withholding information and obstruction of justice," Percy stated. A quill on his desk suddenly came to life and started writing down whatever he dictated. "I also place you under house-arrest with no method of communication authorized. You shall not leave the premises unless to appear at court when the time arises. An Auror will be stationed outside your house at all times."

Williamson looked ready to kill. "Percy, you cannot do this!"

Percy cocked his head. "I think I just did." Turning to Harry, he said, "You're back in, Harry."

---

An hour later, Harry and Teddy were sitting inside Harry's office when a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in," Harry called.

The door opened and Stephen Fletcher stepped in. "Sir," he said, clearing his throat. "Auror Williamson has been escorted out of the Ministry premises and to his home. Two Aurors had gone with him. Bracken remained with him, and Jordan came back. He's writing up the report as we speak, Sir."

Harry nodded. "Thank you, Fletcher."

Fletcher saluted and left the room.

"Harry?" Teddy asked hesitantly.

"Hmm?" Harry grunted, picking up a quill and put the tip to the parchment, frowning as he wondered how to start.

"We should arrange for a manhunt for Zachary, I think," Teddy proposed. "Search everywhere for him. He shouldn't be able to get away this time."

Harry sighed and set his quill down. "I was planning on doing the same," Harry admitted, taking off his glasses and polishing them. Putting them back on, he continued, "I think I will ask for Percy's permission to send a team of Hit-wizards on a country-wide manhunt. In fact, I'll write a letter to Oldridge -- the Squad Leader of the Hit-Wizards -- and ask him if they can spare someone."

As Harry looked back down on the paper and picked up his quill again, Teddy asked, "And James? He will be released, right?"

Harry looked up and smiled. "With all the evidence we have, there's no reason to keep him there anymore, is there? I've sent someone to take him home a while ago. I think he's home by now."

Teddy found himself grinning at that. "I think Ginny will be happy."

"Oh, she definitely will be," Harry said, a twinkle in his eye.

Teddy leaned backwards, the grin never leaving his face. Just a few more days, and they'd catch Zachary. They had enough evidence to convince the Wizengamot already, and they'd get a confession out of Zachary, too. Lucy's killer would be behind bars and all would be well. And I'd ask Victoire to marry me, Teddy thought, his grin widening as he thought about the love of his life.

Yes, all was going to be well, he was sure of it.

He just didn't know how terribly wrong he was.

---

When work was over that, night, Teddy decided to go over to the Potter household to meet James. He wanted to apologise for a number of things -- mainly for lying to him that day when he had gone to snoop his room. Teddy really hoped James would forgive him. It wasn't like he had a choice, after all; Harry had told him to try get some evidence in favour of James. Besides, Teddy had learned that day just how hard being an Auror was. sometimes, you had to close your eyes to your family and do what was right instead of what you wanted to. Wearing the veil of ignorance was his first and foremost duty as an Auror, and if he wanted to do his job right, he had to do it that way. He had to get used to it, Merlin forbid, in case anything like this ever happened.

At around nine o clock, he closed the final case file he was summarising (something about a cursed flower vase that fell on top of anyone's head when they crossed under the shelf it was displayed on) and placed it in the filing cabinet. He stretched, feeling his back and neck bones crick, flexing his arms to get rid of the stiffness. He took his jacket off the back of his chair and put his arms though the sleeves, squaring his shoulders and tugging the front flaps to adjust them on top of the Muggle clothes he was wearing as he headed out of the door.

Within five minutes he'd reached the Atrium. The cavernous room was full of the lazy hum of footsteps as most of the people were heading towards the fireplaces on their way home. Teddy didn't have to make much of an effort; he was carried along with the flow of the people as they robotically, as one, moved though the room.

As Teddy reached the middle of the Atrium, however, he came to a halt. People behind him brushed past him, but he stood there, fixed to the spot, looking up at the giant fountain in front of him. It was a plain gold basin, the clear water in it frothing up as thin spurts of water streamed down from above, However, unlike most fountains, there was no decoration on top. Instead, there was a large obelisk-like pillar, on which was engraved thousands of tiny names. At the top of the pillar was emblazoned the words, ‘Martyrs of the War’.

By now, Teddy had many of the names memorised, especially those of particular significance to his family. There were Fred Weasley and Alastor Mad-Eye Moody, Colin Creevey and Ted Tonks... and there were Nymphadora Lupin and Remus Lupin.

When he had first seen this pillar, he was nine years old. Harry had brought him to his office one day on what he'd described as an educational trip. While passing through the Atrium, he had noticed the giant obelisk above the fountain, and as curious as he was, he had asked his godfather what the scribbles were.

These are the names of the people who died in the war, Harry had told him quietly, a sad smile on his face.

Teddy looked back at the pillar, his eyes widening as he took in the huge number of names. "Were there so many people who died?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Harry nodded, staring at the pillar with a faraway look on his eyes. He jaws were clenched tightly.

Are... are my mum and dad on there?" Teddy asked after a while. his Gran, Harry and everyone had told him that his parents couldn't be with him because they were in a better place, and he'd always wondered why they couldn't take him along if that place was so good. One day, after he had asked that to them, Gran had ran out of the room and Harry had followed her out. When Teddy had gone to ask her why she'd left, he'd overheard them talking about how his parents had died in the war and how they couldn't bear it when he asked such questions. Teddy had never asked them about his parents again after seeing his grandmother cry like that.

Harry's head snapped towards him. "You... know?" he asked, surprised.

Teddy nodded. "Are they?" he asked again.

"Yes," Harry said quietly. "They are."

Teddy tried to put on a brave smile. "You go along, Harry. I'll stay here till I find them."

Harry patted him on the shoulder. "Okay," he said. "If you need me, just tell the guard over there to call me, okay?"

"Okay."

As Harry walked away, Teddy started to move around the fountain, weaving around all the people heading into the Ministry, taking in the huge number of tiny scribbles. He started with the face facing the entrance, and, one by one, read the names from top to bottom with the speed of a nine-year-old. His parents weren't there. It took him a while to realise that the names were all organised alphabetically, and when he did, he skimmed through most of the names on the next face until he reached the names starting with L. Thankfully, it was last-names-first, so his parents would side by side.

His parents were at the end of the L section. Four tiny etchings on the bottom of the pillar. Two names: Lupin, Nymphadora and Lupin, Remus.

Teddy stared at them, a mixture of pride and grief brewing in his chest. It hurt, staring at their names on the pillar, knowing that they had died for him, so that he would live in a good world. And he felt extremely proud, as he saw them as martyrs, fighting for what they believed in. He was just a nine year old, but he was still old enough to appreciate what they had done.

Teddy jerked out of his reverie. Whenever he came to work or left at the end of the day, he'd stop in front of the fountain and look at their names. It was a personal ritual. Even if it was for a few seconds, he's stand there, close his eyes, and say a silent prayer for them.

Thank you, Mum and Dad. I hope you are happy, wherever you are. I love you both, he thought.

Opening his eyes, he smiled. Tearing his eyes away from their names, he squared his shoulders and followed all the other people out of the Ministry.

---

Around five minutes later, the Potters' fireplace burst into green flames, and Teddy Lupin stepped out onto the rug in front of it, rubbing soot out of his eyes. He blinked and looked around the room, locating Ginny Potter in one of the chairs, her feet tucked up beside her and an open magazine in her hands. Her head was turned sideways, looking at him with pursed lips as he carefully stepped into the room.

"Hullo, Ginny," he greeted her, wiping his shoes on the rug.

"Hello, Teddy," she said curtly, frowning at him. "What brings you here?"

Teddy didn't miss the slight hostility in her tone, and it took a bit of effort on his part not to feel hurt. She did have every right to be mad at him, after what he'd done. She had been expecting him to put James out of his misery when he'd called in that day, not implicate him as Teddy had done instead. Ginny Potter was as good as his mother; after his Gran and Harry, she was the one who'd played the most part in raising him. And he didn't want her to hate him. So he did the smartest thing that came to his head at that time.

"Ginny, I'm sorry," Teddy apologised, looking down. "I'm sorry for lying to you. I shouldn't have -- I should have told you what I was going to do, I--"

"It's okay, Teddy," she cut across him. Teddy looked up, avoiding looking into her eyes. Her lips did seem a bit less thin, though.

Teddy shook his head. "No, it's not. I was the one who found the so-called evidence in James's trunk. I was the reason he was in custody for that long, but believe me, Ginny," he said earnestly, daring to look into her eyes, willing her to see that he had no other choice. "I was just doing my job as an Auror. I was following orders from Harry. He was so worried about this and he'd told me to come here and look for everything just so that we wouldn't find any evidence and Harry could be sure that it wasn't James and --"

"Teddy," Ginny said softly, interrupting him mid-ramble. she stepped forwards and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I don't blame you, Teddy. I'm just... I'm just so mad at this whole incident, you know? I just can't stop thinking what James had to go through because of this whole thing. I know it's not your fault," she assured him as he tried to speak again, the skin around her brown eyes crinkling as she smiled weakly. "Give me a while, okay? I'll forget about this soon. I won't hold it against you; you're as good as my son. I'm more ticked off at Harry." She scowled as she mentioned her husband. "Stupid man. Doesn't even know whom to trust and whom to share things with. You'd think that after being married to me for more than twenty five years he'd understand that he can share these things with me."

Teddy rubbed the back of his neck. "Please go easy on him, Ginny." he requested. "Harry hasn't had a moment of peace since this happened. You should have seen him; he was going mad with worry as he tried to prove James didn't do it."

Ginny sighed, an unreadable expression on her face.

Teddy decided to change the topic. "Where's James, though? He's home, right? Harry told me he had James brought home as soon as Williamson was placed under house arrest."

Ginny nodded. "He's upstairs. He didn't say a single thing after the Aurors dropped him off. He just ran up to his room and closed the door behind him." She looked worried. "I went up to talk to him, but he said not to disturb him. He said he'd come down for dinner and that he just needed to get a few things straight in his head."

Teddy looked upwards in the general direction of James's room. "Should I go up there?"

Ginny shook her head quickly. "No, Teddy. After what happened last time, I really doubt he'd open up to you again."

Teddy looked down guiltily, mumbling under his breath about how he was sorry.

Ginny sighed in exasperation. "You sound so much like Harry, it's bizarre. Both of you have a habit of blaming yourselves for everything, don't you? Like godfather, like godson. Get it in your head that it's not your fault, okay? Next time you apologise, I'll send a mean Bat Bogey your way," she threatened, poking him in the chest.

Teddy was about to say sorry again, but he caught himself, flushing a deep shade of red. "Okay. But Ginny, I wanted to talk to him. What should I do?"

"You can wait here," the redhead replied. "It's your house too, isn't it? Make yourself at home. I'll bring James down at dinner, when Harry comes home, and you can meet him then."

"Harry's not home yet?" Teddy asked, surprised.

Ginny shook her head. "No, he said he'd come home by ten. I think he wants to wait awhile and give James the time to open up, too. I told him not to stay longer than ten, though. If James isn't downstairs by then, I'll go bring him myself. The poor boy needs proper food. He looks like he hasn't eaten a morsel while he was there." Her brows knitting into a worried frown.

"Anyway," Ginny said, looking at Teddy and forcing a smile on her face. "I'll be in the kitchen making dinner if you need me. You can go in to Al's room, if you like. It's empty now that he's at Hogwarts. I cleaned up yesterday to get my mind off of things, so you can wait there if you like."

Teddy thanked her, excusing himself as he went to use the loo. He decided to come back downstairs while he waited in the drawing room, taking a book out of the Potters' shelf and reading it to while away time.

At exactly five minutes to ten, the fire in the hearth turned green and Harry stepped out of the swirling flames. For a second, he was surprised to see Teddy on his sofa, but then he grinned. "Hello, Teddy."

"Wotcher, Harry," Teddy said, standing up.

Harry motioned for him to remain seated. He untied the knot on his travelling cloak and walked towards the main door to hang it on the coat rack. Coming back in, he sat down across Teddy and asked, "What brings you here? I was expecting you to go home and meet Victoire, perhaps."

"I have plans to do that," he admitted. "But first wanted to meet James."

"Did you talk to him?" Harry asked, slightly tense.

Teddy shook his head. " No he didn't come down yet. Ginny says he's been in his room all morning."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, I expected something like that."

Teddy was about to reply when Ginny walked in, bringing in a nice smell of herbs and cooked beef along with her. Noticing Harry, she scowled, her eyes blazing slightly. "You're home, are you?"

Harry looked down, not saying anything, a pained look on his face.

"I've laid the table for dinner," Ginny said. "Anyone interested can make their way to the kitchen. I'll be up in James's room, trying to convince him to come down."

"That's okay, Mum," a voice croaked from behind her. She turned around as James came into view, his hair ruffled up and his clothes dishevelled. He looked terrible, Teddy realised, Feeling a pang of guilt once again, which he tried to ignore. "I'm here. What's for dinner?"

Relief flooded Ginny's face as she went over and hugged her son. James awkwardly wrapped an arm around his mother, his face neutral.

Ginny let go of him and answered, "Pot roast, love. It's your favourite. Come along now." She took him by the hand and led him into the kitchen, while Teddy followed, Harry lagging along behind him. There was a slight scraping of wood on tiles as they sat down on their chairs. Ginny brought the roast to the table. It smelled wonderful, Teddy thought. "I thought I'd make some for you," Ginny said, cutting a piece and putting it on James's plate. "Now that you're home."

James laughed humourlessly as he picked up his fork, scrutinising it from every angle. "Yeah, in honour of me coming home from jail, right?" he asked bitterly.

Ginny bit her lip and looked down. Teddy had a sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach. He had a feeling this was not going to end too well. He looked cautiously towards his godfather, who was looking at his son with a pained expression.

"James, please don't say that," he said. "I know it's my fault son. I shouldn't have, not in the first place. If I had any idea there would be false evidence, then --

"Dad, you --" he said, breaking off as he gave a frustrated sigh. "I don't give a -- I don't care about that, okay? It's fine, I get it, you had to do your bloody job. I don't even give a damn about you," he looked pointedly at Teddy, "coming into my room and snooping about my stuff to find evidence against me, while I thought you were trying to help me get over my girlfriend's death."

Teddy looked down at his food, ashamed at James's words. It was absolutely true, and it stung him to hear James put it so bluntly.

"James," Ginny chastised.

He gave her a dark look. "Really, Mum?"

Harry waved Ginny down. "No, you have every right. I'm sorry, James. I know it won't make it up to you, but please, think from my point of view," he pleaded, his voice sounding rather weak. "I'm an Auror, son. If I didn't arrest you first, Williamson would have done it himself, he reasoned. "And if he'd done that, I couldn't have done anything at all. He'd have accused me of favouritism -- well, he did that anyway -- but nonetheless. Me arresting you myself gave me the upper hand so that I could look into it further in order to get you out. That way, no one could charge me of favouring you and I could get you out quicker." He glanced at Teddy. "It wasn't even Teddy's fault. I asked him to look around and get me evidence you didn't commit the crime. Please, James, you've got to understand."

When James didn't say anything, Teddy came in Harry's support. "James, you have no idea about the internal politics that goes on inside the Auror office. Do you know what Williamson did in order to take revenge on Harry?"

James was pointedly ignoring him, playing with a bit of broccoli on his plate.

Harry told him and Ginny about the detailed plan Williamson had made up to get him sacked.

That got James' attention. "Zach Williamson?" he blurted out, a confused look on his face. Beside him, Ginny was fuming, muttering obscenities against Williamson under her breath.

Harry nodded. "We don't know how, but Zach was the one who had poisoned Lucy. The same way he killed his own girlfriend, Alison."

James shook his head. " Zachary Williamson didn't even know Lucy," he said. "They'd never met anywhere. I knew everyone Lucy knew, and she'd never told me anything about the bloke."

Harry frowned. "They must have known each other somehow. Maybe before you and Lucy..." he trailed off. it was still a sore subject about James dating his cousin, and Teddy could feel the awkwardness grow at the table.

"There's a chance Lucy knew him before you two got together," Teddy completed Harry's question.

James shrugged. "Maybe. but as far as I know Zachary never knew her. He was a Ravenclaw, and a year senior."

This was new information, Teddy thought. They had to find a link between Lucy and Zachary. Of course, unless it was just a coincidence that Zachary would choose her, based on just that she was pregnant, like Alison was, there had to be some other link.

"Did she know Alison?" Teddy asked.

"Zachary's girlfriend? Nope, she never mentioned her to me."

Harry was looking pointedly at Teddy, and when Teddy finally noticed, Harry shook his head. He got the hint. No interrogating on that matter today. Dinner that night was supposed to be about making up to James, not questioning him further.

James seemed to have caught on to their silent exchange, because he said, "It's okay, you can go ahead and ask me stuff you know. It's not like you care about what I'm feeling after all."

Harry sighed. "James, if it's not us arresting you that has you bothered, what is it?"

James looked at him as if he were crazy. "Dad, you really don't know?"

"This is between you three," Ginny said, standing up. "I'll be in the kitchen, getting you more food. I can't believe you haven't understood yet." grabbing the plate from the table, she strode off towards the kitchen, red hair flying behind her.

It hit Teddy like an oncoming train. Oh, shit. he thought, mentally slapping himself. How... how could they have forgotten about that?

Harry's eyes widened as he finally realized. A look of guilt spread over his face. "Oh, James, I'm... I'm so --"

"Just stop it, Dad," James snapped, standing up. "Don't give me all that again! How could you have forgotten, Dad?" he asked, his eyes red. "You didn't even remember me, once! How could you do that? You made me miss her bloody funeral! I never got to say goodbye!" he yelled, throwing aside the chair, which landed on the floor on its side with a loud noise. Slamming his hand on the table, James stomped out of the kitchen, slamming his hand against the kitchen door as he went.

They heard him close his bedroom door with a loud bang. his mouth wide open, Harry looked at Teddy.

"I know," Teddy said before Harry could open his mouth. "It's going to be hell explaining this to him."

---

"Ginny, please," Harry said, pacing the living room. "You know well enough that he wouldn't talk to me or Teddy at all. You're the only one he'll listen to right now, so why can't you just --"

"Harry, you know what he's like at the moment," Ginny snapped, her eyes hard as she glared at her husband. "Anything I say is going to make him even more upset, and I don't want to put him under any more stress than he is already in. That boy has had enough."

Harry heaved out a frustrated sigh. Teddy looked from one godparent to another as their bickering match went on, as though watching Chasers pass the Quaffle to each other during a Quidditch match. Teddy had to admit, though, he was on Harry's side. James wasn't willing to listen to him or Harry, and if Ginny would just agree to talk to him for a minute, he was sure she'd be able to convince him. James was very close to his mother, and Ginny was the one person who could ever get him to agree to something. Although, there was a slight chance it was only because Ginny would threaten him with a Bat Bogey Hex whenever he would be too stubborn.

"He hates us," Harry said, clearly distressed. "Percy was a daft idiot and James blames us for it."

"You did arrest him," Ginny pointed out.

Harry gave her a look. She was not helping in appeasing his state of mind at all. "To make sure the blame was off of him!" he objected. "To help him!"

"Well, a fat load of help that did!"

"It should be the intention that counts," Harry mumbled. "But really, Ginny, please. You know he will listen to you. Help us out, here."

Ginny sighed. "Fine," she said. "I'll try to talk to him. But I'm telling you, I won't be able to help you if he clams up and asks me to leave. I will not push him to do something he clearly doesn't feel comfortable doing."

"He won't say no to you," Teddy assured her. "He tells you everything."

Ginny's eyes darkened. "If he did, we probably wouldn't be in this mess." She stood up and made her way to the staircase.

As he heard her footsteps thump up the stairs, Teddy had to admit, Ginny had a point. If James had told Ginny -- or Harry, or anyone for that matter -- about his and Lucy's relationship, then maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have been accused of the crime he hadn't committed.

"You think he'll come down?" Harry asked Teddy.

Frankly, he wasn't very optimistic about the odds. "I have a bad feeling he won't."

Sure enough, they could hear muffled yelling coming from upstairs. Ginny, it seemed, was having a bad time.

"Mum, I had to miss Lu's funeral!" they heard him yell, loud and clear. "I was in jail when they buried her! I was stuck in a damn holding cell! I couldn't even see her for one last time before she was gone!

"James, I know you're upset --" Ginny started to say, but she was immediately cut off by James.

"Upset? Mum you have no idea what is going through me right now!" There was a loud crash, followed by a frightened scream by Ginny. In a flash, Harry had stood up and dashed up the stairs. Teddy, afraid of what they'd see, followed Harry up the stairs quickly.

As they reached James's room, they found the door ajar. It looked like James had just thrown a flower vase against the wall; a pile of flowers and broken china and lots of water were strewn all over the foot of the wall opposite to James.

"Sweetheart, listen to me --" Ginny was saying, trying to touch James's arm. It had been a mistake.

"No!" he shouted, yanking his arm away from her touch as if he'd been burned. He hadn't noticed his father or Teddy standing at the door. "I'm done listening to you guys! How could you have let this happen, Mum!" He grabbed an Omnicular off his table and hurled it at the wall in frustration. This time, however, Ginny was ready for it. Before the Omnicular hit the wall, Ginny had her wand out and had muttered a silent shield charm. The Omnicular bounced against it and clattered to the floor, mostly undamaged.

"James," she said quietly, pocketing her wand. She looked at her son with tired eyes. "You need to understand. We had no choice on the matter. Harry and I tried, we really tried, but Percy just wouldn't listen to us. He wasn't willing to wait for anything."

It had been the day before Teddy and the younger Weasley and Potter children had gone to Hogwarts. Lucy was scheduled to be buried that afternoon. Early in the morning, Harry and Ginny had gone to Percy's house along with Teddy, trying to convince him not to let the funeral take place without James. Percy had been furious with their suggestion.

"Percy, James was her boyfriend," Ginny pleaded. "He has a right to be there."

"Absolutely not!" her brother huffed. "I will not let my daughter's murderer be at the funeral."

"It hasn't been proven yet," Harry tried to say, but Percy had silenced him with one look.

"I've had enough of this," he answered coldly. He glared at Harry and Ginny. "He's the reason my daughter's dead and my wife's become barely responsive in shock. I'm saying this the last time. That boy will not be there. And unless you want to be struck off the guest list too, I'd suggest you leave right now. You are invited there as my daughter's aunt and uncle. I do not want Lucy's killer's parents to be there."

Ginny stared at her brother, her eyes hard. "You'll regret this someday, you know."

"Are you threatening me?" Percy asked loudly.

Ginny shook her head. "No. Just telling you as your sister."

That afternoon, Lucy Weasley had been buried in the graveyard in the village near the Burrow, her entire family present for her funeral, except for James.

James sat down on his bed, bending over so that his face was in his hands and his elbow resting on his knee. "You couldn't even stop them from burying her..."

Ginny went and sat beside him, putting an arm around her eldest son. "James, you don't know what you're saying. How could we? She's their daughter."

James looked up at his mother. "And she was my girlfriend! I had a right to be there. To see her face once for the last time."

"How do you suggest we should have stopped them?"

"I don't know!" he said, his voice cracking as he spoke. "I don't care. I just want to see Lucy again." he simply leaned against Ginny, shuddering slightly.

Harry decided to enter the room, going up and sitting on the other side of his son. "You... you still can, you know," he told his son.

James and Ginny both looked at him, curious. "How," James asked dully. "In case you forgot, she's six feet under."

Harry wasn't fazed by his derision. "You can visit her grave."

James's eyes widened. "I - I can?" he stuttered. He looked up at his father, his eyes looking a bit hopeful.

"Of course. No one can stop you now. Percy can't; after all, you're innocent, and he knows that."

James nodded, and Teddy swore he could no longer see the haunted look in his eyes that was present just a while back. "I'll go tomorrow morning."

"Take Teddy with you," Harry told him. Teddy tensed. He wasn't sure that it was the best idea, considering what had happened. There was still quite a bit of tension between them. After all, he was the one who had got him in this situation in the first place... He looked over at James, who was frowning at him, his lips pursed together. No, it definitely wasn't a good idea.

"Why?" James finally asked, his eyes to moving away from Teddy. The Metamorphmagus could see a vindictiveness in his god-brother's eyes that made him slightly weary. "I can manage myself, Dad."

Harry's face was impassive. "You can, I know," he said. "But I'd be happier if you took an Auror with you. We still haven't caught Zachary. What if he tries something?"

Teddy could sense the lie behind Harry's words. He was sure that Harry only wanted him to go so that they could talk to each other for some time. Teddy appreciated it, he really did -- he was just worried whether James would be okay with it or not.

"I think you should take Teddy along too," Ginny spoke up, glancing at Harry. A silent communication passed between them, and Harry gave her the tiniest of nods. He was thanking her.

James sighed, brushing a hand through his hair. "Fine," he agreed. "I'll take him with me."

---

By the time Teddy reached home, he was exhausted. He kicked off his shoes the moment he walked in through the door, nudged them out of the way with his foot, and pulled off the jacket he was wearing. He threw it on the sofa in the living room, where it landed in a crumpled mess. He would simply pick it up later. Still in his socks, he padded up the stairs while opening the buttons on his shirt one by one. He finally reached his room and, turning the door knob, he opened the door and entered.

The room was dark. Pulling out his wand from his back pocket, he waved it. The lights turned on. Sighing in exhaustion, he made his way to his bed and collapsed on top of it, closing his eyes.

It was a very eventful day, to say the least. They had proven James's innocence, got Williamson off the case, figured out who the culprit was, and had hopefully made some headway with James's emotional turmoil. James was suffering. He just hoped that by the next morning, after seeing Lucy's grave, he'd get some sort of closure.

He knew it would be difficult for him to get over it. Dealing with the pain of losing someone was not easy. Losing Lucy was still a raw pain even for Teddy -- he could only imagine how painful it would be for James, who had been in love with her. He couldn't even think about that happening to Victoire.

Victoire. Just thinking about her made him feel elated. He opened his eyes. Now that they were almost done with the case, he thought that he could write to her, let her know everything that had transpired that day. She'd be so happy to know they'd found out who had killed Lucy. Just a few more days, Teddy thought. A few more days at the most before the team of Hit Wizards would have Zachary Williamson in position. The best of the best were out there scouring the entire British Isles looking for him. He couldn't get away. His lips curled into a grimace. When they caught him, he would have hell to pay.

Teddy pulled himself off of the bed and shuffled over to his desk. He pulled out the drawers, rummaging through them until he found what he was looking for: writing stationery. He dipped the quill into the ink bottle, and spread out the parchment. Putting the quill tip to the paper, he wrote:

Dear Victoire,

I hope this owl will reach you by morning, so first things first: good morning, love. Hope you slept well and dreamt about your dashing boyfriend.

Anyway, I have some good news for you. We have found out who killed Lucy. You'll never guess who it was. Williamson's son, Zachary Williamson. I couldn't believe it -- Auror Williamson's son! Harry is a genius, I must say. He remembered that Zach Williamson had killed his girlfriend with Croton Oil. Do you remember Alison MacDougal? The girl killed in Hogwarts around a year back? The public was never given the full case details, so I guess you don't know how she died. It was the same as Lucy: Croton Oil poisoning. Zach killed her after he found out about her pregnancy.

At first we thought he was framed. He was supposed to be in Azkaban when Lucy was poisoned, so he couldn't have been the one to kill Lucy, right? And if Lucy and Alison's killer had the same Modus Operandi, we assumed that they were the same killer, which would mean that Zachary had been framed for killing his girlfriend.

Harry went to Azkaban to free him, where he found out Zachary had escaped, and Williamson had known. Turns out, it was a big plot from the beginning. Williamson has been placed under house arrest, Hit Wizards are searching the whole country for his son, and, best of all, James has been released and is finally back home.

I feel terrible for him, though. He missed Lu's funeral while he was in lockup. He is grieving and I can't help but feel it's my fault that he's in this mess. He hates me. I went to their house today and he won't even look at me. Harry said he could go to her grave, and he wants me to go along with him. I hope to try talk to him about it tomorrow. I just hope he understands. We will go to the cemetery tomorrow morning.

Speaking of which, I should go sleep now if I want to be up early. I haven't even changed yet. Goodnight, Vic. I love you.

-- Teddy.

Teddy set the quill down and stretched. He looked at the watch; it was past midnight. He folded the letter and put it in an envelope, scribbling Victoire Weasley, Shell Cottage. on top of it. Hurriedly, he went down to the living room where he kept his owl.

Apollo was a tiny little Scops owl, not much bigger than Teddy's fist. He cocked his head to the side as he saw Teddy come up to him. He hadn't really used Apollo for much delivery the last few days, Teddy realised. As he neared the cage, the owl ruffled his feathers angrily and hopped to the opposite side of the cage, his back towards Teddy.

"Aww, don't be like that," Teddy mumbled, opening the cage door, which creaked a little.

Apollo hooted loudly, clearly annoyed at him.

"I'm sorry, mate," Teddy said, putting his hand inside and gently wrapping his fingers around the owl. "I've been very busy lately and haven't had to write any letters." Apollo nipped his fingers as Teddy picked him up, but not hard enough to actually cut him, just hard enough to make Teddy wince. He took the owl out and turned it towards him. "I promise I'll let you out more often." he said. He placed the letter on the table the cage sat on and, with his now free hand, fed some owl treats to Apollo. The bird hooted softly this time, his tiny head bobbing as he ate the treat.

Once he was done, he held out his left leg expectantly, waiting for Teddy to tie a letter to his leg. He looked at Teddy with his tiny yellow eyes, the feathers on his head sticking up cutely, like tiny ears. Teddy smiled. He loved the little owl.

Once he was done tying the letter, he carried Apollo to the windowsill, where he hopped onto the ledge. "Go take it to Victoire, okay?" Teddy instructed.

Apollo hooted and stretched his wings, flying out of the window and into the night. Teddy watched him go until it was nothing but a tiny speck in the sky. Sighing, he closed the window and locked it, and then made his way up the stairs, desperate to catch some much needed sleep after the long day he'd had.

---

It took Teddy a minute to realise why he was feeling so tense when he woke up the following morning. When he did remember, though, he sat bolt upright; he was supposed to go to visit Lucy's grave with James. Memories came flooding back to him: James's anger towards him, his stress, and his anguished face as he talked about Lucy being buried before he got to see her.

Teddy rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times, trying to get rid of the grogginess. He needed to go over to the Potters', and fast. He looked at his watch; he was running late. James wouldn't be happy at all, and Teddy didn't watch another showdown like last night. Swinging legs off the bed, he stood up and quickly headed to the loo.

Once he had brushed his teeth, he put on Muggle clothes and grabbed his wand from his bedside table before heading down the stairs. From the fridge, he pulled out a bottle of milk and grabbed some cereal from the kitchen cabinet. He poured the milk into a clean bowl, and then proceeded to add the cereal. Dipping his spoon in, he raised the cereal to his mouth.

He ate in silence, contemplating on what he'd say to his god-brother. He had already apologised. What else was there to say? To be honest, he wasn't sure what exactly James was mad at. He had said that he wasn't upset over the fact that they had arrested him. But he also didn't hesitate to send some very cruel jibes towards him for that very reason. Chewing on his breakfast, Teddy thought that maybe, if it hadn't resulted in him missing the funeral, James probably wouldn't have been as mad as he was.

Merlin, this whole thing was, in one word, fucked up.

Well, two words to be precise.

He drank the last dregs of milk from the bowl directly, and placed the bowl and spoon in the sink. Waving his wand, he put a cleaning charm on the sink. Immediately, the sponge and soap came to life and started to wash the utensils.

Teddy managed a weak smile. Well, at least he was good for something.

With that happy thought (or sad, depending on the perspective), he grabbed his jacket from where he had discarded it the previous night and Flooed over to the Potters'.

When he finally emerged through the fireplace, he dusted the soot off his shoulders and headed towards the kitchen. The sweet aroma of pancakes was wafting out of it, filling Teddy's nostrils. Ginny truly was a fabulous cook, he thought. Pushing open the door, he found that James was already there waiting for him, a plate of unfinished pancakes in front of him. Beside him was Ginny, who was sitting at the table beside her son, a cup of tea in her hands.

"There you are," James grumbled, standing up the moment he saw James. "I was wondering whether or not to go over to your place and drag you out."

Teddy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It was just his anger talking, after all. He couldn't blame James for anything he was saying. "Are you ready?"

James, however, did roll his eyes. "Obviously," he said, before brusquely pushing past him as he walked out of the kitchen door.

Teddy tried not to let James' behaviour hurt too much. He sighed. Things weren't really going as he'd planned.

"Take care of him, Ted," Ginny said from the table, looking apologetic. "I know he's behaving very rudely, but please excuse his behaviour. He's been like this all night, and I just don't know how to snap him out of it."

Teddy shook his head. "It's okay," he said to his godmother. "And I will." With that, he turned and went through the kitchen door himself, walking into the crisp September morning.

The entire house had anti-Apparition wards around it; Apparition from within was not possible. He met James outside the boundary of the Potter's house, where he was leaning against the fence and tapping his foot. He looked impatient. "Well, hurry up then," he snapped.

Teddy took James's hand, and he felt him stiffen under his touch. "On three," Teddy said. "One... two... three." He spun on the spot.

The uncomfortable sensation of being squeezed through a tooth-paste tube had passed as soon as it had started, leaving Teddy slightly gasping for breath. Beside him, James was the same way. He shook his head slightly to get rid of the horrid sensation. Apparition, it seemed, was one thing that did not get better with practice.

He looked around. They were in the graveyard in Ottery St Catchpole, around a kilometre away from the Weasleys' childhood home. In the distance, he could see the Burrow stand tall, it's chimney puffing out smoke happily. Grandma Weasley was probably up cooking breakfast, Teddy mused. He could also see a few other buildings here and there, and a small neighbourhood comprising of Muggle homes were seen right outside the cemetery gates. In front of him, the ground was full of gravestones of various shapes and sizes arranged in neat rows. They were standing at the beginning of the rows, right in front of the wrought-iron gates. Lucy's grave, he knew, was somewhere near the end.

"Where is she?" James asked. He looked nervous, eyeing the gravestones with apprehension.

"She's towards this way. Come along," Teddy said in response. Following the cobbled path, he made his way towards the later rows, with James trailing slowly behind him.

A strong wind was blowing, and the sky was dark and cloudy, as though the heavens themselves knew of their loss. The trek was quiet, with neither speaking a word, though the silence screamed enough on its own. Once in a while, Teddy would turn back to see whether James was all right. James gave fleeting looks towards each of the graves he passed, his jaws set, yet his eyes seemed to be reflecting the anguish he must have been feeling on the inside. Teddy didn't say anything to him. What could he even say to make it easier? This was not the sort of thing where one could simply comfort the other to make it better.

At last, after what seemed like hours, Teddy turned left, following a side road that branched off from the main path. He didn't have to look too far; Lucy's grave was the third one he came across and, by far, held the newest-looking gravestone. Someone was already there.

The woman was thin and rather unkempt, her long blond hair in a tangled bun on her head. Though she wore nice clothes, her posture was that of a woman who had lost everything. As she heard footsteps moving closer, she looked up.

It was Audrey.

Teddy stopped in his tracks. Lucy's mother, the woman he called his aunt... he barely recognised her. Her cheeks were sunken, her eyes dead and her lips dry. She looked like living hell.

"Hello," she said quietly, looking at the two of them with vacant eyes. She raised her hands and wiped her eyes on the sleeve. They were red and puffy. How long had she cried since her daughter's death? Had she even stopped? Slowly, she stood up and walked towards them. "Are you two here to meet Lucy? She's sleeping. I hope you won't disturb her."

Teddy was at a loss of words. He couldn't think of anything that could form a coherent sentence. He had seen her during Lucy's funeral, sitting on a chair like a statue. She hadn't moved once, not even to give a speech. She simply looked on straight ahead, her hand clutching Molly's tightly, not letting go even once. Teddy didn't know how to react. Should he be relieved that she had finally snapped out of her shock, or worried for her mental situation?

Audrey smiled; it was a phantom smile, one that didn't reach her eyes. "Lucy doesn't like it when she's disturbed, you know?"

"We- we won't," Teddy stammered.

Audrey looked at James, who was gaping at her, stunned by her appearance. He hadn't seen her since that day at Percy's house when Percy had attacked him. He had had no idea she was in such a bad shape.

"James," she whispered, reaching out her hand and caressing his cheek. "I haven't seen you in so long. You weren't even at her funeral!"

"Aunt Audrey... I--" James couldn't go on. What would he even say?

"I was just talking to Lucy," Audrey continued as if he hadn't spoken. "She said she was upset with you for not saying goodbye. Are you here to talk to her too?"

James just nodded.

"Oh, good. She said she'd forgive you if you just asked her."

James inhaled deeply, trying to look at anywhere except his aunt.

"You two stay with her, okay?" Audrey said, oblivious to their discomfort. "I have to go home now. Percy will be needing me soon. Take care, you two."

"B-bye, Aunt Audrey," James said.

"Goodbye." Teddy bit his lip.

Audrey smiled at them; once again, it was nowhere near real. Slowly, she walked past them, heading towards the opposite direction. They stared after her, not sure whether she would be all right or not. As she reached the gate, they saw her turn on the spot, and with a small crack, she Disapparated.

"I hope she'll be okay," James said quietly, staring at the spot she had disappeared.

Teddy turned to the gravestone. It was not very different from the others around it, just much newer. a few flowers lay scattered over her, no doubt placed there by their family. The dark grey stone was etched with writing that read:

In loving Memory,

Here lies Lucy Weasley,

16th August 2006 - 27th August 2022

loving sister, mother and daughter.

The past is history. The future, a mystery.
But we will hold dear our memories of her,
her smile, the sound of her laughter... forever.

The wind blew relentlessly, whistling in their ears. James came up beside him, looking at the freshly turned ground in front of him. He was absolutely still, his hands clenched into fists at his side. Teddy moved back to give him some privacy. James crouched low, getting on his knees in front of the gravestone and slowly touched the ground.

He sat there like that for a long time, just looking at the grave, frozen solid. Around him, the wind raged on, whipping at his clothes and hair. James took no notice.

Finally, a tear fell to the ground, and the earth immediately soaked it up. Another tear fell. And then came another.

"I'm sorry, Lu," James managed to whisper. Terrible sobs wracked his body as he caressed the ground softly, as though he was afraid of hurting it. "It-it's all my fault. My fault you're here right now."

Teddy pursed his lips, blinking as tears stung in his own eyes. He looked down, feeling like he was intruding in a very personal moment. He felt like he needed to get away. Where would he go, though? James needed him there.

"Forgive me, Lucy, please," James was saying, gently brushing his hand on the mound of earth. "I'm responsible for this... for your death. For our b-baby's dea..." He couldn't even go on. He simply crumpled to a heap at the foot of her grave, where Lucy's feet would have been, taking deep, shuddering breaths as tears streamed down his cheeks uncontrollably. He covered his face with a hand, scrunching his eyes shut as he let out a silent scream.

Teddy couldn't take it anymore. "James," he croaked, crouching down beside his god-brother and wrapping an arm around him. "Calm down, please."

James didn't even push him away, and this only added to Teddy's worries. James detested hugs, and if he was not reacting to this, he could just imagine how terrible James's condition was at that moment. Teddy's heart clenched.

James looked at the grave again, staring straight at the headstone. "Happy... happy anniversary, Lu," he breathed.

"Oh sweet Merlin, no," Teddy moaned to himself. It took Teddy all his willpower to not break down himself.

Slowly, with fumbling hands, James took out a package from his pocket. It was a small square box, wrapped with blue wrapping paper and a thin purple ribbon. Pulling himself out of Teddy's arms, he knelt towards Lucy again, and placed it on her grave. Then, with his wand, he conjured a bouquet of blue orchids out of the tip of his wand. He placed them beside the box.

"I've been saving money," he told her quietly. For a while, Teddy thought James had forgotten that he was there with him. For James, nothing else seemed to exist at that moment except for him and Lucy. "For those earrings you saw in Hogsmeade. I got them in our last Hogsmeade weekend, to give you on our third anniversary." He sniffled, rubbing his nose on the back of his hand. "Now I wish I had given them to you sooner."

He stood quietly, not saying anything, just lost in thought. Teddy, too, got to his feet. His legs felt like lead. "The day she died, Teddy," James said after a while, looking directly at him. "Was the day we had started dating three years ago. She died on that very day." Teddy felt like someone was stabbing his heart with a pin repeatedly. How was his brother bearing all of this? "For three years, it had been the most favourite day of my life. From now on, it marks the day I lost everything."

"I'm... I had no idea," Why did this have to happen? he asked the heavens. Why did it have to hurt his god-brother in such cruel ways? "I'm so sorry, James."

James shook his head. "You have nothing to be sorry for," he replied. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have stopped it. Anyway," he said. "Let's go home. I think I'm ready to leave now." His eyes looked considerably less anguished, though it hadn't gained back the life it used to hold. Teddy doubted it would return in a very long time. Something inside his god-brother was broken completely.

James took one last look at Lucy, whispering something to her, and from the way his lips moved Teddy understood he was saying "I love you."

Around him the wind picked up speed again, whistling as it passed through the leaves of the trees around them. For a brief second, Teddy could have sworn he could hear Lucy's voice whispering with the wind.

He looked at James, who seemed to have felt something similar, for the transformation in him was apparent. As though a dark cloud hovering over him had just disappeared. He opened his eyes and looked towards Teddy, jerking his head towards the gate as if to say let's go.

They walked back slowly, quietly, though this time the silence was not as painful. When they finally reached the gates, James stopped Teddy. "I know, you were just doing your job," he said. "I just need some time to get over this. I promise things will be back to normal between us. Just... give me some time."

Teddy nodded, a small smile on his lips. He felt like a great weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Things weren't all right just yet, but they would be. It was a start.

He touched James' hand again, and closed his eyes. He thought of his home... the Potters' home. As the wind blew around them, they turned on the spot and Disapparated.

---

A week had passed since the visit to the graveyard. James was slowly turning back to normal, or as normal as one could be when their girlfriend and child had died, but at least his relationship with Teddy was slowly mending. The same could be said for Teddy's relationship with Ginny. When James had come home after visiting Lucy's grave, Ginny had been relieved to see that he was in a better condition than when he had left. She had pulled Teddy into a hug once James had gone up to his room, and to Teddy's immense relief, she had let him know that she had forgiven him completely. For the first time in a long while, Teddy had truly smiled; his family was mending, little by little.

However, their good luck hadn't been included in their hunt for Zachary Williamson. The boy, it seemed, was rather like a ghost. It was like he had disappeared off the face of the planet. There was no sign of him, and not even the joint forces of the Aurors and Hit Wizards could find out any clue about his whereabouts, despite their extensive search all across the country. Not a single person had heard from him or even seen him.

Eventually, Harry had decided to involve the Muggle police in their search as well (this had, however, raised a fair bit of objection in the Auror Office, though the Minister had shot them down immediately), and their reports had been slightly more promising. A Muggle truant in Bath had claimed to have seen someone looking like Zachary, but that had been two months ago, fifteen days after his escape in June. Their only lead was two months cold -- and that was only if that Muggle had been correct in his assumption. One's memory was bound to get a little fuzzy after a month and a half. Nevertheless, extra reinforcements had been deployed to try and find more leads near the general vicinity of the area he had indicated.

Their big break came after they had searched through Williamson's house. Though Williamson had raised hell while they had turned up at his doorstep (and Teddy was a reliable source, having been there to witness it personally), he eventually had to back off after Harry had shown him the official warrant. He had, however, grumbled and muttered the whole time the Aurors had been inside his house, and it sufficed to say that he had not been cooperative at all.

While searching through his library, one of the trainee Aurors had found a piece of parchment tucked away in one of the books.

"Auror Potter!" he called. Harry, who had been rummaging around the living room, quickly abandoned his search and went through the narrow connecting door into the library. Curious, Teddy followed him.

"Yes, Dawson?" Harry asked, walking up to the scarlet-clad Auror. "You find anything?"

The Auror in question nodded. "I think so, Sir," he said, handing Harry a parchment.

"Where did you get this?" Harry asked.

"In this book right here, Sir," he answered, holding up a ragged copy of Tips and Secrets of Magizoology: How To Raise Your Own Krups for Harry to see. "I was looking through some of the books, and it fell to the ground when I was flipping through the pages. Do you think it might be important, Sir?"

Harry scanned through the paper, his brows rising further upwards with each line he read. By the time he was done, he was grinning. "Macfarlane, I think this is exactly what we were looking for." He beamed at the man, who looked quite pleased with himself. "Good work," he said, patting him on the shoulder.

"What does it say, Harry?" Teddy asked curiously, trying to read the parchment over Harry's shoulder.

"Hmm? Oh, here you go." Harry handed him the paper. It was a letter that looked like it had been hastily scribbled down. Teddy read:

Dad,

You might know by now, but I've kind of run away from the prison. Yes, yes, I know it was stupid and no, I won't tell you how I did it cause you'll probably strangle me if I did. I'll tell you, though, that it was hard, but the help I had was rather smart. Anyway, I haven't got much time. I'm heading towards our old home in Newquay. I'll let you know when I'm there, okay? You've got to come and get me. It's difficult to run around the country without any magic like a common Muggle. I wanna come home. I miss my bed. And you too, kind of.

Zach.

Teddy's stomach did a somersault as he finished. We know where he is! He's in Newquay!

Harry was barking out orders to the Aurors. "O'Neill, tell all forces to converge on Newquay. Cauldwell, get out Williamson's file. I want to know where their Newquay home is. Lupin," he said, turning to Teddy as the other two Aurors dashed off. "Send an owl to the Minister. Let him know we will have our culprit in custody by tomorrow."

"Yes boss," Teddy grinned. Just one more day, he thought as he headed to the fireplace. One more day and Lucy's killer would be behind bars.

---

By the time Teddy had drafted the letter to Percy and had send it through the appropriate channels, he saw Harry returning to his office, looking rather frazzled and, judging by the way he was snapping at his secretary, in a very grumpy mood. Teddy, who was returning to his own cubicle, changed course and headed for Harry's office instead.

He knocked on the door twice, waiting for Harry to respond.

"Come in!" Harry's voice called.

Teddy pushed the door open and peeked in. "Is it safe to come in?"

"Teddy, yes, come in. Close the door behind you," Harry instructed as he unfastened his travelling cloak and draped it over his chair with more force than necessary.

Teddy obliged, entering the office and snapping the door shut.

"Sit," Harry ordered.

Teddy lowered himself onto a chair as Harry sat on his own. "What did Williamson say?" Harry had supposedly been in interrogation five, where Williamson had been brought in after the raid.

Harry scowled. "Yelled at me for a while, swore it was nothing like that, demanded his son's freedom... the usual nonsense he spews. Says Zachary hasn't reached Newquay yet, or the house-elves would've let him know. That's not important, though. This is." Harry slapped the paper down in front of him. "Notice what's funny?"

"He is headed for Newquay, and was found in Bath two months before."

Harry shook his head. "Well, that's important, too, but that's not what I meant." He paused, his eyes calculating. "Anyway, elaborate on your theory."

"Well..." Teddy hesitated. He had to read through the letter again to comprehend what Harry was trying to point out. "I'm just not sure whether he would take so long to reach Newquay."

"Go on," Harry encouraged.

"The math's all wrong, isn't it?" Teddy tried to explain. He had been wondering about it while penning the letter to Percy, and had actually been waiting for an opportunity to talk to Harry about it. "If you think about it, really; I mean, he goes from the middle of the North Sea to Bath in about fifteen days, but he still hasn't been able to reach Newquay? Newquay is closer to Bath than Azkaban. It's been two months and he still hasn't reached there yet. Counting the distances and everything, he should've already been there."

Harry pursed his lips, his brows furrowed. "You do have a point there," he agreed. "But I think we may have our answer in this letter. Read it."

Teddy picked up the letter and read it again, slower this time. He had to read it again before it clicked. "'...but the help I had was rather smart.' That phrase right there, it's a bit odd, isn't it?"

Harry's eyes twinkled. "Exactly. That makes it sound like the help he had..."

"Was more of a person than an object!" Teddy said loudly, waving around the paper for emphasis. Merlin! he thought. "They had help on this! There's someone else involved in all this!"

Harry slammed his fist on the table. "Good job, Teddy," he said, smiling proudly. The smile was replaced immediately, however, by a frustrated look. "And that means we have more work to do. We can't sit around and just wait for them to find Zachary."

Teddy slumped. "And here I thought we were done with the hard part."

"Welcome to my life," Harry muttered. Teddy grimaced; of course, his godfather had it much harder than everyone else. He had heard the story of how he got into trouble every school year. Well, that was exactly what happened when you had the world's greatest dark wizard trying to do you in every school year.

Harry grabbed a light pink parchment from his table, and started to scribble on it furiously with a quill. Teddy wondered what Harry was doing. Once he was done writing, he folded it up into a paper plane and released it. The memo went zooming through the air and out of the door.

"Whoever that help is must have contacted Zachary in Azkaban," Harry said, rubbing his scar. It was more out of habit, Teddy knew; Harry had mentioned once that his scar hadn't truly pained him in years. "I want the names of all the people who had ever visited him there."

"So that memo was --"

"Yeah," Harry answered his unasked question. "I sent it to Auror Corner, the Head of the Azkaban guards. I asked him to send me the log files of Zachary's tenure in Azkaban. Who came to see him, his behaviour reports, every single detail."

"That would take a couple of days, right?" Teddy asked. They didn't have days. The longer it took, the farther they would be from Zachary.

Harry made an affirmative grunt. "It's the best option we have."

"How on Earth could he have broken out of Azkaban, though?" Teddy mused. "It's so well secured, and all those enchantments -- anti-Apparition wards, anti-thievery spells, all sorts of blood wards to keep the prisoners in... it's impossible to get around all of them."

"Breaking out of Azkaban isn't impossible," Harry said. He leaned backwards in his chair, reaching out towards a small Sneakoscope on his desk and fiddling with it. "Back in the day, when it was guarded by dementors, there had been two massive breakouts. One, when Sirius got away, and the other followed soon after Voldemort's return, when ten of his most trusted followers had managed to escape. Both of those were from the most highly secured cells. Compared to the protection around those, Williamson's cell isn't that strongly guarded."

"But Harry, dementors can be fooled by Animagi, or bought by the dark side," Teddy pointed out. "Azkaban is guarded by Aurors. Wouldn't it be harder to hoodwink them long enough to escape?."

Harry absentmindedly rolled the Sneakoscope between his palm and the tabletop. "It's possible that Williamson had lowered some of the wards for his son the last time he'd gone on an inspection." He cursed. "Damn that man. I shouldn't have let him go for the rounds. He had family in there, he was bound to try and help his son. How could I have overlooked that?"

"You had no way of knowing, Harry," Teddy said.

"It was my damn job to know!" Harry snapped. Then he sighed, taking off his glasses with one and rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger of the other. "I shouldn't have yelled at you, I'm sorry."

Teddy shook his head. "No, it's okay, Harry. I know how frustrating this case is."

Harry looked up at him wearily. "We will find Zachary, won't we?"

Teddy tried to smile in what he hoped was an encouraging manner. "Definitely," he replied.

---

Damn and blast, Teddy thought as he looked at himself in the mirror. He'd worn his shirt inside-out. Cursing his bloody luck, he unbuttoned the shirt completely and shrugged it off, turning it over and pulling the sleeves through the circular hole for the arm to pass through, so that the correct side was outside, before wearing it all over again. He looked at himself in the mirror again. The blue shirt looked good with his hair, which he'd decided to turn a less-eye-catching dark brown for the occasion. Pulling on khaki slacks over his boxers, he buttoned it and did the fly before tucking in his shirt and put on a belt. Finally, once he'd rolled his sleeves up, he decided that he looked quite presentable.

He looked at the clock, cursing again when he realised he was due at Shell Cottage in five minutes. Fleur and Bill had invited him over for dinner, and while he was looking forward to spending the time with Victoire, he was also dreading it. He knew that Victoire's parents approved of him and his relationship with their daughter, but the prospect of meeting one's girlfriend's parents was bound to be a little frazzling, no matter how much they liked him. Not to mention, Victoire's dad frightened him. Just a little bit. Sort of. A lot.

Teddy quickly went downstairs to the living room and picked up his jacket and the bouquet of flowers from the table. He'd especially bought it for Fleur from a Muggle vendor that afternoon while coming home from work; simply conjuring up flowers felt rather cheap to him, and besides, he wasn't really good at that particular branch of Transfiguration, either.

He waved his wand around to check whether the wards were properly in place or not, and once he was satisfied, he stowed his wand back into his jacket pocket and took up a fistful of Floo powder from the jar in the mantelpiece. He threw it into the blazing fire, which turned bright green immediately. Teddy stepped into the fire and said loudly, "Shell Cottage!"

---

As the green flames around him died down, Teddy saw the Shell Cottage living room come into view. He realised that he had landed on his feet and wasn't sprawled over the landing rug, for which he was grateful. He didn't need to make a fool out of himself in front of his girlfriend's parents. Rubbing soot off of himself and clearing his throat, he quickly checked if the flowers had survived their trip through the fireplace; once he was sure they were not bent and were basically unharmed, he hid them behind him. He stood with his hands hidden from view, his fingers clasped around the stems behind his back.

The living room was warm and cozy, with the predominant colour being blue. The curtains and rugs were a light powdery blue, and the walls were painted a sweet periwinkle. The sofas and armchairs were gray and silver, however, and Teddy thought it accented the blue quite well. There were lots of moving pictures on the wall, most of them of Victoire and her siblings, but there a few of Bill and Fleur together and a couple of them had the entire Potter-Weasley clan moving around in them.

"Maman, I think I heard the Floo bells chime! I'll be back in a mo'. Teddy, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me!" Teddy called back, craning his neck to catch a glimpse of Victoire through the arch that separated the living and dining room. Victoire appeared in a second and Teddy felt a grin spread across his face. She was wearing a pink apron over a light purple dress, her hair tied in a messy bun and her hands coated with flour. She's beautiful, he thought giddily.

"Hey, you," she said, coming closer to him, her arms lifted upwards and bent at the elbows as she kissed him on the cheeks to avoid getting her flour-coated hands on him. "You're a bit early. Maman and I were helping Orange with the pie."

"Is zat Teddy I hear?" Fleur called as she walked into the room, wiping her hands on a wad of tissue. "Teddy," she said fondly when she spotted him, coming over to give him a hug, which Teddy returned warmly. "I 'aven't seen you in a while. 'Ow have you been?"

"Slightly overwhelmed with work," Teddy admitted, before pulling out the flowers from behind him. "These are for you," he said, his cheeks tingeing slightly, as he held them towards Fleur.

"These are absolutely lovely, Teddy, merci," Fleur said happily, accepting the flowers with a smile. "I have the perfect vase for zem zat will go well with ze colours." She turned around, heading for the door. "I'll put zem in the water and get back to ze kitchen. Victoire, mon cheri, I trust you can look after 'im for a while?"

"Yes, Maman," Victoire said, rolling her eyes good-naturedly.

"Don't roll your eyes at your mother, sweetheart," came Bill's voice. A second later, the man himself walked into the room, kissing his wife on the cheek as she walked out, shaking her head at her daughter. "Teddy, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Sir," Teddy said, standing up and offering his hand, which Bill shook.

"Victoire, dear, why don't you go and help your Maman out?" Bill asked.

Teddy bit his lower lip. He didn't really want Victoire to go. It was not that he didn't like Bill. He liked him a lot. He just didn't trust himself to not make a fool out of himself in front of the man.

Victoire seemed to sense Teddy's apprehension too, for she answered, "It's okay, Daddy, Maman and Orange can handle themselves in there."

Bill chuckled, and the light threw into relief his scars as they stretched with his facial movements. "I'm not going to torture him, in case you're worried," he assured.

Victoire's cheeks reddened, as did Teddy's. "Teddy, I'll be right back, yeah?"

Teddy nodded mutely, watching as Victoire pranced away, her loose curls bouncing.

Teddy turned to look at Bill, who was looking at him expectantly. Teddy felt slightly nervous. He really didn't know what was wrong with him -- he never felt awkward around Bill before he started dating Victoire. Bill was always Uncle Bill, part of his family, one of his father figures and occasional Quidditch teammate. It was after he started dating Victoire that he started to feel a bit anxious around him. He had a feeling it was because of that very reason -- boys always tended to be nervous around their girlfriends' fathers.

Teddy realised he should really say something to dispel the awkward silence. "Er, how's your work at Gringotts going, Sir?"

Bill must have noticed Teddy's nervousness, for he gave a reassuring smile. "The goblins have been a bit restless the past few days. They've recently recovered one of their older vaults that was on long term lease, but the owners seem to have placed a bunch of curses without anyone noticing."

"How come they didn't know about it?" Teddy frowned. The goblins were the authority on wizards' vaults. Anything that happened to the vaults happened by their word, only.

"It was on lease to a powerful family that demanded full secrecy," Bill said. "My team and I have been working on it for days. They'd been adding reinforcements on it since before the First War."

Teddy raised his eyebrows. "Must have been a powerful family."

"Oh, they were," Bill agreed. "I'm afraid I can't tell you much more, though. Why don't you tell me about you instead? How's work?"

"Things have been quiet. Nothing much has happened over the days." Teddy answered. He was a bit more comfortable talking about work instead of personal things. "We're trying to trace down a new lead, but we haven't had much to go on. We've got teams out on a manhunt for the suspect, but it doesn't look promising."

Bill's lips thinned. "I talked to Percy last night, and he doesn't seem to have his hopes high. He told me about Auror Williamson. I wouldn't have trusted that man with anything of mine, to be honest. He and his mates had always made things difficult for us back in the old days."

"Williamson lied about his son breaking out of Azkaban," Teddy said. "We think he's the one who who planned the whole thing, like an extended plot to overthrow Percy as Minister with Lu as collateral damage. Seems like it all simmered down to politics."

Bill nodded. "Frankly I think Percy's doing all he can to not appear vulnerable. He has to be strong, and being fake is hurting him. He can't not express his feelings. He was always an open book. Audrey, on the other hand..."

"James and I met Aunt Audrey that day by the grave," Teddy said. "She didn't seem normal at all. She was..." Teddy had a hard time describing how Audrey had looked that day. "She was talking like Lu was still alive in her grave. Like she could still talk and feel and understand everything that was happening."

"Fleur and Hermione go over to their house every two or three days," Bill said. "Ginny and Angie join them if they can get away from their work, and they try to help keep things running smoothly. Molly isn't home anymore, and when Percy's at work, there's no one takes care of Audrey. She doesn't go into the Ministry anymore."

"Does it help if they go over?"

"Fleur thinks there's a little improvement now, so I guess it does help a bit." Bill shrugged. "She doesn't seem to be in denial anymore, at least, but it will take her a while to get life back on track."

Teddy nodded. Silence took over them once again, and slowly it was turning awkward. Teddy didn't know what to say anymore. The neutral topics were quite over and done with.

The moment Teddy decided to bring up Quidditch, however, Bill spoke up.

"Teddy, how long have you known me?"

Teddy started, not expecting the question. "Ever since I remember, Sir," he replied.

"Then why do I feel that you're worried I'm gonna take a bite out of you any moment?" Bill asked, the corner of his lips pulled up slightly.

Teddy flushed. He had hoped it was not that obvious. "It's... kind of the principle of it, Sir. I'm dating your daughter --"

"And I trust that you won't do anything that might jeopardise her honour. You don't have any such plans, do you?" he added as an afterthought, one eyebrow raised.

"No," Teddy said quickly. "I really respect Victoire, I would never --"

"Relax," Bill chuckled. "I'm pulling your leg. You're a nice kid, Teddy. I've known you for years, and frankly, Teddy, I'm glad Victoire chose you over any of the other dunderheads that graduated out of Hogwarts with her."

Teddy blushed. He'd hoped he'd hear Bill say that someday, and actually hearing it put his nerves at ease. "Thank you, Sir."

At that moment, Victoire popped her head into the living room. "Dinner's ready," she announced. "Anyone up for some shepherd's pie?"

---

When dinner was over, Victoire decided it would be nice for Teddy and her to go for a walk on the beach. Making sure that Fleur and Bill had no objections, the two of them left Orange to do the dishes, who was more than eager to do it by herself. ("Missy and Master Teddy need not to worry about little Orange! Orange can take care of the dishes herself!") As the pebbles crunched beneath their feet, the sound of waves crashing into the rocks could be heard over the whistling of the air. The two walked on, hand in hand. They talked about their day, Victoire's face glowing in the light of the moon as she recounted her experience in the Emergency ward that morning.

As Victoire finished her tale, Teddy looked up at the sky. The moon was not completely full yet, but it was nearing. He felt weak; he usually did around those times.

"I spoke to your dad today," Teddy spoke up after a while.

"What did he say?" Victoire asked, kicking a stray pebble, which landed a few feet away with a soft clatter.

"That he approves of me," Teddy said, a smile appearing on his face.

Victoire giggled, squeezing his hand. "Obviously he does, silly. Do you think I'd be here otherwise?"

"I was always worried, you know?" Teddy revealed. "That your dad wouldn't like me."

"Teddy, he's known you forever. He likes you. Why wouldn't he like you?"

"I don't know," he said quietly. "I've just... you know I get a bit insecure about --"

Victoire stopped and looked at him a bit incredulously. "Insecure? Teddy, you are naturally good looking even without you morphing, you had top grades in your O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, you were Hufflepuff prefect and Head Boy, and you even scored top in your Auror entrance exams! You could even put Aunt Hermione to shame! What possibly do you have to be insecure about?"

Teddy sighed. "It's not about my qualifications, Vic. You know how I worry about people's perception of me. Some people either like me because my parents were war heroes and they treat me as my parents' son. I'm always Remus and Nymphadora Lupin's son. The reason I've always tried to be top at anything was so that I'd make an impression on people by my own merits. As much as I like being compared to Mum and Dad... I really wished people liked me as Edward Lupin, as my own person."

Victoire linked her arm through Teddy's and leaned her head against his shoulders. "People do like you for who you are, Teddy Bear."

Teddy turned his head towards her and kissed the top of her head. "I know, love. It's just... that's why I'm so worried about what your parents think. Cause I'm already so conscious about people liking me for who I am, that it makes me nervous about what your parents, whose opinions actually matter, would think."

Victoire smiled, shaking her head at her boyfriend. "They like you, Teddy. I'd go as far as to say they love you. Anyway," she said. "I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Ask away, love."

Looking back to make sure that they were far enough from the cottage to not be overheard, but not too far away to not be seen, Victoire sat down on a large boulder, scooting to the side to make room for Teddy. Teddy followed her lead, and soon the two of them were sitting side by side, their bodies very close together so as not to fall off the sides. "How are you, Teddy?" she asked suddenly, her voice rather wistful.

"Er, I'm good, I guess. Happy to be with you," Teddy replied, not sure what she was getting at.

"No, I mean... how are you in general? With the case, everything?"

Teddy let out a deep breath, contemplating on his thoughts before replying, choosing his words carefully. "I'm... tired. Worried, too. We're following our best lead, but something doesn't feel right. I'm sorry I can't tell you the details of it --"

"No pressure," Victoire assured.

"Thanks. I can't tell you the details," he continued, "but it feels like the maths of it is just wrong. Nothing is adding up. That, and I'm worried about James and Audrey. James might have gone back to Hogwarts, but I'm worried he's gonna try something stupid. He broke down at Lu's grave, and I don't think he's ever going to return to normal. Neither will Audrey. Lucy was her oldest daughter; how can she ever get over her murder?"

Victoire didn't say anything, but her face grew more sombre by the minute.

"What about Percy?" Teddy continued. "Not only is he distraught over losing his daughter, he's still not over the fact that she died while they were still cross at each other. And people have started to talk, Vic. They are saying that he's traumatised. That he's not fit for office any longer. I'm worried that he'll be off the job if he can't pull himself together. He's doing a wonderful job trying to act like he's in control --nthat's in his nature -- but I'm worried that deep down, he really is not. Even your dad agrees he's not."

Victoire took his hand in hers. "You know, Dad often talks about Uncle Fred's death," she told him, giving his hand a squeeze. "About how the entire family fell apart. How Uncle George sank into depression, how he tried to off himself twice, and nearly succeeded the second time."

"He -- what?" Teddy exclaimed, looking bewildered. "He really tried to --?"

Victoire nodded. "He tried jumping off the Burrow roof the first time, but he couldn't. The Burrow has always had these enchantments that prevented anyone from falling or jumping off. The second time, he slit his throat, cause he thought that way, he couldn't possibly back out when he was nearing death. If Uncle Ron hadn't found him that day... I think that's one of the reasons he quit as an Auror and joined the shop. To look after Uncle George. And Grandmum went ballistic when she found out, about how she was nearly about to lose another son. Cried enough to fill an ocean. I think that's when Uncle George finally started to see reason.

"See Teddy," Victoire said after a pause, "my point is that, I think that's when Uncle George realised that a death in the family might be a deep blow to the morale of everyone in the family, especially to the people close to the one who died, but the important thing to realise is that there are still many people alive who care for you. Who you need to be alive for. Yes, it hurts. It kills you, knowing you can never see them again. But you have to live on, for everyone else around you. To love them and to be loved in return. That's how people cope with grief, and I'm sure as time passes, the wounds will heal. The scars may remain, but all of us will come back stronger than before."

Teddy looked at Victoire, marvelling over how easily she had put those feelings into words. Concepts that took him so long to understand, Victoire had so easily explained them to him. His Victoire was an amazing, amazing woman.

"Thank you," Teddy said, taking lifting her hand that was still clutched in his and kissing where their fingers intertwined. "I needed to hear that. You always know what to say when I'm down."

Victoire leaned into him and placed her head in the crook of his neck. "I love you."

Teddy smiled, shifting his head so their faces were inches apart. He reached forward and kissed her lip softly, savouring the feeling of his lips on hers. "And I you."

They stayed a while longer in comfortable silence, revelling in each other's closeness and reassurance, until they heard Fleur's voice calling out to them. Teddy looked up to see Fleur waving to them from the kitchen's door.

"Dessert eez ready!" she said loudly. "Come in, you two!"

Victoire stood up, stretching her arms above her head. "I don't know about you," she said, "but I'm in the mood for dessert. All that sad stuff makes me want to eat some chocolate. And Maman's Mocha Pots de Crème is exactly the thing I need. Come on!"

Teddy grinned. Fleur's dessert was exactly the thing he needed at that moment, too.

---

The first thing that Teddy saw when he stepped into Harry's office next morning was a large tower of parchments on Harry's desk. The man himself was nowhere to be seen, but Teddy was sure he'd heard Harry saying "Enter" when he had knocked.

"Harry?" Teddy called out.

Harry poked his head out from behind the stack. "Ah, there you are. What took you so long?"

"Sorry," Teddy muttered, taking a seat in one of the comfy chairs in front of Harry's desk. "Auror Boot asked me to file --"

"It's okay, no harm done," Harry interrupted, waving away his apology. "Have you got any idea what this is?" he asked, motioning to all the papers between them. "You get three guesses."

Teddy raised an eyebrow. "Not your electricity bills, surely."

The sides of Harry's lips curled up slightly. "Nope. Try again."

"Something to do with Zachary, I'm assuming."

Harry nodded, handing Teddy the parchment he had been holding, which Teddy started to flip through. "Yeah. Michael sent me his log files from Azkaban. I've been going through them for a while, and guess what? I've got absolutely nothing suspicious."

Teddy frowned, looking down at the parchment. All of the letters and visits were from Williamson Senior. Surely, that couldn't be right? He must have had some help in escaping. The help I had was rather smart... He had help in escaping.

"These are the logs for the past six months, though," Harry admitted. "I'm sure we'll find something when we see the latest logs."

"But why hasn't he sent the latest logs yet?" Teddy questioned. Surely, they were more valuable.

Harry took off his glasses and rubbed them. "They're sending them in batches. Earlier first. Williamson has been in to see his son a lot, sometimes twice, even. There's a lot more files compared to other prisoners." That much was obvious from the sheer amount of papers on Harry's desk.

"Let's divide the pile and get to work," Teddy suggested. Harry nodded, letting Teddy separate the papers into two smaller piles before picking one up and getting to work.

Around ten minutes in, Teddy voiced out, "Harry, I was wondering something."

Not looking up from his list, Harry replied, "What is it, Teddy?"

"Remember the girl who would have had to help put the poison into Lucy's vial? The one who'd actually have to go into her dormitory to change the potion?

Harry nodded, asking him to go on.

"And Zachary saying 'The help I had was rather smart'. Harry, what if they are the same person? What if that Gryffindor girl was the one who helped Zach out?"

"That's a brilliant idea, Teddy," Harry applauded, giving Teddy a quick look of admiration before ruffling through the papers again. "We need a girl. Any girl who might be mentioned in his logs. Read them thoroughly, any mention of a girl --"

There was a loud rap on the door. "Not now, I'm busy!" Harry shouted.

"Auror Potter, this is urgent," a voice called back fervently. "You need to hear this!"

"This better be good," Harry muttered, before dropping the papers and pointing his wand at the door to fling it open. "What?" he growled.

One of the Aurors, Dawson his name was, Teddy remembered, stepped in hesitantly. Slightly ashen faced. "We found him, Sir. We found Zachary Williamson."

Sweet Merlin, Teddy thought, his heart beating wildly as a grin fought its way across his face. It was over. They had found Lucy's killer. They could --

Harry shot up, already making his way towards the door. "Where is he? I want him in Interrogation Three right now. Get him in there."

The Auror shook his head, trying to stop Harry from walking out of his office, but shrank back as he sent him a withering look. "Sir, wait! I'm afraid it's not what you think."

Harry stopped and glared at the junior Auror. "I'm giving you thirty seconds to explain why you are trying to impede my investigation."

The Auror took a deep breath. "Sir, we found Zachary Williamson in a cottage off the southern coast, a few miles from Plymouth. Sir," he paused, his voice slightly shaky, "we found his body. He's been dead for more than two months."

And just like that, everything came crumbling apart.

---

"What!?"

But that was not possible, Teddy thought, not really paying attention to Harry's outburst. It really wasn't possible. Just the thought of that being true was terrifying. They had banked so much on Zachary being the perpetrator. The implications of his death and what they meant for the case was too debilitating to consider.

The Auror, to his credit, maintained his official demeanour despite Harry's outburst. "Yes, Sir. Zachary Williamson is dead, and he's been dead for the past two months."

"Have you checked his magical signature?" Harry demanded, grabbing his wand from the table, standing up. Teddy got to his feet too, ready to follow Harry out.

"Yes, Sir, his core signature is a hundred percent match," Dawson replied, stepping aside hastily as Harry charged towards the door. The door was flung open, and Teddy had a feeling Harry had done wandless magic without meaning to. While Harry needed to use his wand for all of his conscious spellwork, sometimes he displayed the occasional wandless magic when he was under too much stress or extremely furious. In this case, Teddy thought it was a bit of both those emotions that caused this bout of accidental wandless magic.

"What about Muggle forensics?" Harry asked, striding out into the Auror office. Some of the Aurors curiously looked on, wondering what had their Head so agitated. Harry ignored them. "His magical signature might have been tampered with. Have you done the Muggle DNA tests?"

"We did, Sir," Dawson replied. "I'm sorry, Auror Potter. It's a match too."

Harry swore. "How is he dead? He can't be dead! He's our prime suspect!"

"With all due respect, Harry, I think he might just lose that status in light of recent events," Teddy said as he tried to keep up with Harry's gait.

Harry shot Teddy a dirty look, effectively shutting him up. Not the time for wise cracks, Lupin, Teddy reprimanded himself.

"Where's the body?" Harry asked.

"On this floor, Auror Potter," Dawson replied. "We've kept him in the mortuary. We didn't think you'd want him in St. Mungo's before our own mediwizards got to check him out."

"Yeah, you guessed right," Harry said as they turned the corner and came to the Magiforensics Office. The mediwitches and wizards milling about the corridors didn't spare them much thought; Teddy figured Harry had been there often enough to not warrant much of fuss. When they finally arrived at the door marked 'Morgue', Harry turned to the junior Auror. "Thanks, Dawson," he said, giving the Auror a small nod. "Lupin and I will take it from here. You may return to your duties".

"Yes, Sir," Dawson replied, giving Harry a salute. He nodded at Teddy before turning on his heels and walking back towards the Auror offices.

Turning back towards the morgue door, Harry pushed it open without bothering to knock and walked in. Teddy followed Harry.

The morgue was a cool and rather sterile-looking room full of white walls and metallic tables, not unlike the morgues Teddy had seen on Muggle telly. The only difference was the torches along the walls and balls of floating light that illuminated the room, and instead of doctors in white coats there were mediwizards and witches milling about wearing light blue robes. A couple of them surrounded a body draped in white, waving their wands around different limbs. Puffs of different coloured smoke appeared at regular intervals, and one of the mediwitches must have understood the significance of the colours, for she tutted and scribbled something down on the piece of parchment on her clipboard.

A blonde woman looked up from her work and frowned when she saw them enter. "Gloves," she said.

Harry stopped short. "But —"

The woman glared. "Gloves."

Harry sighed in irritation, pointing his wands at random and muttering "Accio gloves." A drawer from the table beside them shot open, nearly falling out, and a pair of gloves flew out and landed on Harry's outstretched hand. He pulled them on quickly.

"Happy, Astoria?" Harry asked, rolling his eyes. Teddy finally realised who the woman was: Astoria Malfoy, Head of the Magiforensics Office.

Madam Malfoy looked unfazed. "I would be if I didn't have to remind you to put these on every single time, Potter. I don't want the hassle of extra paperwork on my hands if you die from an infection you caught in my morgue."

Harry waved her off. "Yes, your husband would be pleased at that. Anyway I'm here about something important."

"Indeed." Madam Malfoy raised her eyebrows.

"I need to see Zachary Williamson's body," Harry said, ignoring her less than friendly attitude. "I've heard he's here."

Madam Malfoy smirked. "Good to see your hearing hasn't failed you. He's this way," she said, getting up from her chair. "Lisa," she said to the mediwitch she was working with. "Could you please check the injury on the back of the head? I have a feeling that the head trauma might be the possible cause of death."

The woman named Lisa nodded. "Right away, ma'am."

Madam Malfoy looked over at Harry and Teddy. "Is that one of your trainees?" she asked, nodding towards Teddy.

"Junior Auror Edward Lupin, ma'am," Teddy answered hesitantly. The woman did seen a bit cool with Harry, and Teddy wondered if he'd receive the same treatment Harry was getting.

She nodded, and Teddy thought he saw a slight hint of recognition in her eyes at his name. Teddy had seen her husband, who happened to be one of his cousins, so he assumed Mr Malfoy might have mentioned him to her. "Astoria Malfoy, Head of the Magiforensics Office, though you probably already know who I am," she replied, holding out her hand, which Teddy shook.

"Yes, ma'am," Teddy replied.

After a brief but firm handshake, she dropped her hand and looked at Harry. "Let's go see your man before your hair turns greyer, Potter. This way. We kept him in a separate room considering the sensitive nature of the case." Without looking at Harry's indignant face or waiting for a response, she headed towards a door near the back of the room.

Once they were all inside, Madam Malfoy closed the door and headed towards the table in the center of the room, which had a body covered with a white sheet. The room smelled strongly of cleaning solutions, which slightly masked the smell of the dead body, and for this Teddy was glad. After one and a half months, the body was bound to be badly decomposed and, frankly, smelly. His sense of smell, which was rather strong compared to other people's, probably wouldn't be able to bear the foul stench of decaying flesh alone. He turned to Harry, who had a slight crinkle around his nose but otherwise looked untroubled. Malfoy, on the other hand, looked perfectly at ease as she carefully but expertly uncovered the body.

Teddy had only one word to describe the body: revolting. Barely anything of Zachary's once handsome face could be recognised. The skin was stretched tightly over the bones, the jaws hollowed. The skin was cracked in places and in other places, rather liquidy. The most shocking thing, though, was that in the middle of his body, where his organs would have been, there was a sizeable chunk missing. Not blown apart or ripped off like an animal attack, though; it was just... not there. Teddy hung back, not wanting to see any more of the disfigured body than he had to.

Harry, however, went closer until he was right beside Madam Malfoy. "How long has he been dead?" he asked.

"More than two months, probably 2 months and a week," she replied. "We made the estimate based on the humidity and temperature of the area in the last two months, and the cellular degeneration of the body."

"And it definitely is him? No Polyjuice?" Harry asked. Teddy thought that Harry was in denial. Any Auror would be in this case. Zachary was the only lead they had, and he was dead. They didn't have a suspect anymore. Naturally, Harry would be grasping at straws, trying to confirm whether it really was Zachary lying there on the table, long dead.

Madam Malfoy nodded. "No doubt about it, we checked and cross-checked and checked again. Even Polyjuice can't change the magical core of a person, and besides, it would wear off in an hour even if the person is dead."

"What about... I don't know, body changing charms?" Harry said wildly.

The blonde woman sighed in exasperation. "Potter, I know how to do my job. There is no doubt at all that this is Zachary Williamson, escaped Azkaban Prisoner, son of Demetrius Williamson. Core signatures can't lie, and they cannot match in even identical twins, and this man's core signature is a hundred percent match with Zachary Williamson. I'm sorry."

Harry let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his hair. "Okay, fine, it's him. Can you give me anything else? How did he die?"

The corner of Madam Malfoy's mouth turned upwards. "Now you're asking the right questions, Potter."

Harry looked up. "Please tell me you have something I can work with, Astoria."

Madal Malfoy shrugged. "It's not good, but it definitely is interesting, to say the least. See the missing pieces from his body?"

Harry nodded. "Was it an animal attack, or...?"

"No, that wound is magical," she replied. "That, Potter, is what happens when a wizard with an Apparition ban and no proper licence to begin with tries to Apparate."

Harry stared. "He died by... Splinching?"

To say Teddy was surprised was an understatement. So far, Teddy had heard about people leaving behind body parts while Splinching. Hell, he had once left behind his little toe and a large chunk of his hair during Apparition lessons in his sixth year. But he had never heard of someone dying due to Splinching.

"Ten points to Gryffindor," Madam Malfoy said in response to Harry's question. "Zachary either didn't realise he had an Apparition ban, or he didn't take it too seriously."

"It is nearly impossible to Apparate if you have a magical ban set on you by the Ministry," he said.

"Yes," she agreed. "But he tried, nonetheless. Some highly experienced Wizards might still manage to move a few feet with minor Splinches, but Zachary didn't even pass his test. The poor boy left behind half his heart and a multitude of other internal organs and a leg. He died on the spot, with his organs heaped up around two feet away from him."

Teddy shuddered. That was, indeed, a terrible way to die. Nobody deserved an ending like that.

He saw Harry shake his head, although he didn't know whether it was at the boy's awful death or at his plain stupidity.

"What about his belongings, ma'am?" Teddy asked.

"Nothing except his clothes" she replied.

"Well," said Harry. "I guess that's that, then. We know how he died and that it is, in fact, Zachary. Now we have to basically set up a new timeline. Again," he added with a scowl.

Teddy sighed. Indeed, they had to establish a timeline of events if they wanted to make heads or heels of this case.

Harry turned to Madam Malfoy and nodded. "Thanks for your help, Astoria. Let us know if you find anything else."

"Was just doing my job," she replied, shrugging. "But you're welcome, anyway." Madam Malfoy covered the body with the cloth again before leading them out of the room. Teddy was glad to be finally out of there. He doubted he could have stayed in there much longer, and was thankful for the breath of fresh air.

"I trust you can find your way out, Potter?" she asked once they were out of the morgue. "You've been here enough times to not need a map anymore."

"Thanks, but I think I know my way around here, Astoria."

She grinned. "You think you know your way around here? How thick is that?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Your husband has rubbed off on you too much."

"You set yourself up for that one, Potter."

Harry shrugged. "Someday, Malfoy. Someday, I'll have one up over you."

"Until that day, Potter."

---

Once they were back in Harry's office, Harry plopped down on his chair and leaned back. "What have we got, Teddy?" he asked tiredly.

Teddy took his usual seat and took out his trusty notebook and a Muggle pencil. "We need to establish a timeline of events, Harry. I really think the math is all off and unless we have a proper timeline, it's becoming harder and harder to match everything."

"Okay," said Harry. "Let's start all the way from Alison Macdougal's case."

Teddy nodded and put his pencil to the paper.

"According to Madam Patil, a vial of Croton oil was stolen from her in May last year." He scribbled down, 'May 2021: Croton oil stolen'.

"And Alison died in June 2021, which gives a one month window for her to be poisoned," Harry stated. "Zachary was imprisoned the week after she was found." Teddy nodded and wrote '17th June 2021: Alison Macdougal found dead in her dormitory' and '24th June 2021: Zachary Williamson incarcerated in Azkaban' below his previous entry.

"When did he escape?" Teddy asked, looking up at Harry.

"Three months ago from now, two and a half months before Lucy died," Harry replied. "Tenth of June this year."

Teddy wrote '10th June 2022: Williamson escapes Azkaban.' "So that's nearly a year, then."

"Yes. When did Lucy find out about her pregnancy?"

"Sometime in June," Teddy answered. "So whoever killed her must have put the poison in her potion after that. Otherwise it beats the whole purpose of using an abortifacient."

"Term ended twentieth June, so we'll assume that poison consumption started sometime there," Harry said. "Write that down."

Teddy obliged, noting down 'Approx 20th June, 2022: Poison consumption started.' "And then when we asked that Muggle man during the search a few days ago, he said he saw Zachary two months prior."

Harry grunted in assent. "Two months before that date equates to around fifteen days after the escape, which is —"

"Twenty-fifth June," Teddy finished for him, writing down '25th June, 2022: spotted in Bath.' "North Sea to Bath took him fifteen days, Harry. No way he could have gone to Hogwarts himself to spike the potion."

"Only if he was in regular correspondence with the girl in Hogwarts, he could ask her to put it in."

"Back to square one, Harry. We have to find the girl. Find the girl and the case is solved." Teddy had to go back to Hogwarts again.

"That's our next step. Right now, let's get this over with. Zachary died two months ago. Today's the eleventh of September, making that... around the last few days of June, or early July at most. Twenty-ninth June to third July, I'd say," calculated Harry.

Teddy wrote '29th June-2nd July: Died in Plymouth.' in his notebook. "So Azkaban to Bath took him fifteen days, and Bath to Plymouth would have been another week or so," he said.

Harry shrugged. "Does the maths match up now?" he asked Teddy.

Teddy nodded. "Yes, it does. And at least now we know why he hadn't reached Newquay yet."

"He tried Apparating in Plymouth," Harry said. "I think he must have got tired, on the run for so long. He probably tried to take the shorter path the rest of the way, and that's what killed him."

Teddy closed his notebook, sensing that Zarchary's timeline was completed. "Has anyone told Williamson yet."

Harry took a deep breath. "I'm sure someone has gone to tell him about it. I don't want to think about his reaction, Teddy."

Teddy didn't want to, either. Hearing your son died was bound to be hard, but the circumstances of this death? Not only was it horrific, but the fact that he might have been innocent in the end... that didn't bode well.

No, he still could have killed Alison in the first place, and done this one with an accomplice, Teddy thought. They needed to find the girl. Teddy was going to go back to Hogwarts.

---

An hour later, Harry and Teddy found themselves at Auror Williamson's doorsteps. The beautiful estate was surrounded by a team of Aurors every hour of the day, with a few protective enchantments around the perimeter to prevent the suspended Auror from escaping. The only person allowed in and out of the house was his Ministry appointed house-elf; even Williamson's own elf had been relieved of his duties and taken under the Ministry's Liberated Elf Relocation Programme (Teddy's Aunt Hermione had been one of the founders).

As Teddy saw the Aurors on duty perform the counter-charms to unlock the doors for them, he wondered what they would say to the man who lost his son. Would Williamson blame them for Zachary's death? Teddy wouldn't be surprised. After all, Williamson seemed to think his son was innocent, and he would definitely think his son's death could have been prevented if they hadn't locked him up in the first place.

The door opened to reveal a little house-elf, who wore a blue toga of sorts and a hat fashioned out of a napkin which had the Ministry's crest on it. "Good evening, Mister Aurors Sirs," he squeaked, letting them inside the house. Behind them, the doors closed and Teddy heard a faint whooshing noise, indicating the enchantments had been reapplied on the doors. Once they were led into the living room, the house-elf piped up, "Should Tickle inform the Mister Williamson of your arrival, Sir?"

"Er, yes, that would be nice, thanks," Teddy said.

The elf nodded and scuttled away, leaving Harry and Teddy alone in the large living room.

A minute later, the house-elf came back, accompanied by Williamson.

"What do you want from me now, Potter?" he croaked when he saw them, his voice breaking. His eyes were red and puffy, though his face was an unreadable mask. "At least you could have the decency to let me mourn my son in peace before barging into my house like you own it."

"Demetrius, I'm sorry for your loss —" Harry began mechanically, but Williamson held up a hand.

"We both know you're not, so please, spare me," he said. "Just get on with whatever you're here for."

Harry nodded, clearly uncomfortable with the events. Frankly, Teddy was rather apprehensive, too. But whatever they had to ask, they had to ask quickly. They really had no time to lose. The more time they wasted, the further away they got from solving the case.

"Demetrius, did Zachary ever mention who was the person who helped him out of Azkaban? Did you talk to him after that last letter he sent you?"

"No," he grunted. "I haven't talked to him after his last letter. He was supposed to owl again when he reached Newquay."

"What about when he was still in prison?" Harry asked. "Did he tell you if was talking to anyone somehow?

Williamson scoffed. "I barely talked to him once when he was in prison, and that was to tell him about his mother's passing. I don't think he was in the mental state to think about his own freedom at the moment."

"Only — only once?" Harry sputtered. That can't be right, Teddy realized. There was no way that was true. He'd seen the logs. There were countless letters exchanged between Williamson and his son, and many visits over the year. There were pages upon pages of logs.

"Was I supposed to keep corresponding with my son so that you could accuse me of something else? Trying to break him out of prison, perhaps? Do I look stupid to you, Potter?" he snarked.

"Demetrius, we've seen the Azkaban records," Harry deadpanned. "Don't bother lie to us. There was a letter from you almost every single day, sometimes even twice in the same day. I have the list of logs sitting on my table —"

"What are you on about?" Williamson hissed, clearly lost on the allegations. "My only son just died, Potter. I haven't stooped that low that I'd put that grief aside and make up cock and bull stories to save my own hide. The only reason I'm still bothering to talk to you is so that you can get on with your case and find the person who actually killed those girls — at least that way I can clear my son's name even though he'd dead. The last thing I'd do right now is lie to you."

Teddy looked at Harry, who was equally as gobsmacked as him. "And — and would you agree to testify the same under influence of the truth potion, Veritaserum, if deemed necessary by the Ministry?" Harry tried, trying to regain control.

Wiiliamson looked straight into Harry's eyes. "Twice, if needed," he said. "I'm not lying, I have nothing to be afraid of."

Harry nodded, clearly disturbed. "Thank you for your cooperation, Williamson. We'll leave you to your business."

Williamson didn't reply. Turning on the spot, he made to leave.

"And, Demetrius?" Harry called, stopping him in his tracks. He didn't turn around; the former Auror stood still, waiting for Harry to speak.

"I really am sorry for your loss," Harry said quietly.

Williamson sighed. "Just get out of my house, Potter," he spat, before walking out of the arched door and out of sight.

"Harry," Teddy said in an undertone, turning towards his boss and godfather. "You know what this means, don't you?"

Without looking away from where Williamson disappeared, Harry replied, "I do. Someone else used his guise to break Zachary out of prison."

---