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Kings Cross was packed full of people. Businesspeople in sharp suits with heavy briefcases, families with sour faced children and harassed looking parents, groups of tourists with eyes full of wonderment, all passed them as they strolled towards the barrier.
Well, Harry was strolling at least. The blue haired boy beside him appeared to be twitching with every step, craning his head around him, speeding up and slowing down on a whim as though he had half a mind to ask them to turn around once more.
Not that such a reaction would have surprised Harry. Only 2 months ago Teddy had turned to Harry, wide eyed and scared, and told him that he didn’t think he wanted to go to Hogwarts at all.
“Why not?” Harry had asked, shocked. It was, after all, his home, the idea that his godson wouldn’t want to share in that was unimaginable.
Teddy had been quiet for a moment, his battered trainers scuffing the ground. “I just don’t.” He had shrugged.
“You’ll love it Teddy, I promise.” Teddy hadn’t looked convinced, so Harry pressed on. “It might be a little scary at first, but everyone’s scared. I know I was. Hermione was so scared she memorised all our textbooks before we even started! She kept doing that of course, but she’s a special case. By the end of the first week, it’s not so scary anymore. And you’ll make lots of friends… Is that what you’re worried about? That you won’t make friends?”
Teddy had shaken his head. The sigh he let out then seemed to reverberate through Harry too. “It’s where they died.”
“Oh.” He supposed he hadn’t thought of that really. The realities of what had happened at Godrics Hollow had been far removed from Hogwarts, even when he had finally learnt the truth. What did you do when those things were one and the same? “I know Teddy, but… well…” Harry had floundered. “Your dad loved Hogwarts so much. I know that much. It was a place he had friends and laughed and had fun; you know all the stories of what they got up to. And he might have died there… but he lived there too. And your mum, my parents, Sirius. And your grandad. They all lived at Hogwarts.”
It had taken a good few days of persuasion on Harry’s part to convince Teddy that Hogwarts was the place for him. The Durmstrang and Beauxbaton brochures still sat on Andromeda’s kitchen table when Harry had come to collect them this morning. In fact, Harry was sure it was only the reminder that Teddy didn’t speak French, and that he was unlikely going to be able to learn it in a few weeks, that got him to agree to it at all. Yet last night when Molly had gathered the entire family and thrown a farewell party for Teddy, he had been positively buzzing with excitement.
Harry was jolted out of his reverie as Teddy narrowly avoided taking out the ankles of the station guard in front of them and he was forced to yank the heavy trolley he was pushing roughly to the side.
“Oops.”
“Watch where you’re going Edward.” Andromeda chastised, though Harry distinctly saw the corners of her mouth twitch as they came to a halt in front of the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. “You should take the first one at a run.” She hinted, nudging Teddy forward.
“You want me to run at a brick wall?” Teddy asked, uncertainly.
“Straight at the barrier.” Harry nodded.
“Aren’t you two coming too?”
“Of course, we are.” Andromeda said. “We’re right behind you. Off you go.”
Teddy took a slow deep breath, like a soldier might take before running into battle. With one last look to them both, he sprinted towards the wall and disappeared from sight.
The platform was just as it always had been, Harry was rather shocked to notice. It felt like a lifetime ago that he himself was stood on the platform for the final time. Yet there was the same scarlet steam engine billowing out steam that covered the waiting passengers, its paint still bright and shiny, the screeches of owls were still shrill against the backdrop of excited children the way it had 13 years before. The faces may have changed, but the magic that permeated the air hadn’t.
Teddy was looking around the platform wide eyed as they came to stand beside him. The light in his eyes made him look much younger, until Harry could see the trace of the little boy who had sat on his lap for every one of Ginny’s quidditch matches and raced around the garden playing ‘Dragon’ with Charlie Weasley.
On the days where the weight of the war had seemed insurmountable, Harry would find himself heading over to Andromeda’s house to sit with a gurgling Teddy. She had never seemed to mind, had seemed grateful of the company, though they had rarely spoke in that first year. And Teddy would look up at him with those dark twinkling eyes and smile, and then Harry was calm again. The reminder of all they had been fighting for, who the loss was for, wrapped up in a hippogriff baby grow his parents had bought for him before they died.
But he was not that little boy anymore, Harry reminded himself. Somehow between the healing, and the trials, and the rebuilding, time had passed, and with it Teddy had grown. Now he was seeing his godson off on the train to Hogwarts. It was an experience he wouldn’t trade for the world.
Several faces turned to watch Harry, Teddy, and Andromeda’s progress up the platform with thinly veiled curiosity.
“It’s Harry Potter!” A small boy squealed, hanging off his father’s arm.
“Who’s the kid?”
“It’s the Lupin boy.”
“The Werewolf's son.”
“Poor boy.”
“Don’t talk to him Kevin.”
To his credit, Teddy didn’t seem to notice. He cut through the crowd beside Harry with his head held high, looking like he hadn’t heard them, but Harry saw the knuckles on the hands pushing the trolley turn white and the tips of his hair tinge red. He put a hand on Teddy’s shoulder, whether to comfort him or protect him he didn’t know.
“Here will do.” Andromeda said softly.
Between them they hoisted Teddy’s trunk on to the train and stepped back onto the platform to say goodbye. Andromeda had pulled a white lace handkerchief from her bag and was dabbing delicately at the corner of her eyes.
“Don’t cry Gran.” Teddy said weakly. “I’ll be coming back.”
Andromeda gave a rather weak chuckle and pulled Teddy in for a hug.
“You’ll write to me, won’t you?” Teddy asked as they pulled back.
“Of course, I will.”
“Everyday?”
“If you would like me to.” She brushed a strand of blue hair out of his eyes, watching as it turned bubble-gum pink beneath her fingers. “And behave yourself!”
“I always behave myself!” Teddy said indignantly.
“So, Arthur’s gnomes dressed themselves in those tutus, did they?” Andromeda raised a strict eyebrow.
“Obviously not Gran.” Teddy shook his head exasperatedly. “That was George.”
“And I’ve taken your Weasley Wizard Wheezes things out of your trunk.”
“Gran!” Harry didn’t know why she bothered. Teddy had a mischievous streak that ran right down to his core, and his father’s ability to talk himself out of anything. Harry bit his lip against a laugh, knowing full well that Teddy’s dormitory would be stock full of every wild and wonderful thing George could think of in a matter of days.
“And I’ll be having words with George and Ron the next time I see them. Perhaps you’ll learn to behave yourself whilst you’re away.”
“Unlikely.” Teddy grinned. “Kingsley says I have faulty genes.”
“Minister Shacklebolt whilst you’re at school Teddy.” Harry reminded him with a grin of his own. It was bad enough that the whole school would know Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, was his godfather, without them learning that Teddy had been read bedtime stories by the Minister of Magic too.
“Minster Shacklebolt says I have faulty genes.” Teddy corrected, then he wrapped his arms around Andromeda once more. “I’ll miss you.”
“And I you.” Andromeda replied. With one final kiss to the forehead, they extracted their arms from around each other.
“Harry… Can I talk to you?” The uncertainty was back in Teddy’s eyes as he stared up at Harry, the perfect mix of both his parents.
Harry slipped his arm around the boy’s shoulder and led him a few steps away.
“Are they always going to be like that?” Teddy asked, when Andromeda had consented to pretending like she couldn’t hear them. “The whispers.”
“Maybe.” Harry replied honestly. “But probably not. Give it a week and they’ll get bored of it.”
“And if they don’t?”
“Then you find some good friends who know not to believe stupid rumours. Like I did.” Harry smiled. He was still awed by the certainty of Ron and Hermione’s resolve as they stood beside him, year after year. He hoped Teddy would find friendships even half as strong. “Listen, Teddy. You are the son of two war heroes. Their names and faces have been in every newspaper, there was a big scandal when they awarded Remus his Order of Merlin, they’re on chocolate frog cards! People are going to know who they are and who you are.” Teddy nodded slowly. “And the laws aren’t changing werewolf rights fast enough, people will have opinions on it. Just remember Remus and Tonks died so that you can go to school, so that you can live a free and happy life.”
“I know.”
“Be proud of them!” Harry said. “Be proud to be their son, as they were proud to be your parents. Then nothing anyone says will matter. If you don’t believe the whispers, then I promise you they will get bored and move on. They might know your parents’ names but they don’t know who they were, or the amazing things they did. You do.”
“I am proud of them.” Teddy whispered with a small sniff. “Would they…”
“They would be so proud of you Teddy.” Harry said earnestly. “So proud.” Teddy’s hair became such a bright shade of blue it was nearly blinding, and he beamed up at Harry as though he had never heard such good news. Harry reached into his pocket, his thumb stroking the outline of an old, worn piece of parchment. Harry had lost count of the hours he must have spent pouring over it, talking to the 15-year-old incarnations of his father, his godfather, and Remus. He had thought about keeping it forever. But it was time. It didn’t make it easier.
“Here.” He said around the lump in his throat, handing the parchment out to Teddy. “This is yours now.”
“I have parchment already.”
“This isn’t any old parchment, Teddy. When you get to Hogwarts, or even if you get on the train if you’re eager, tap your wand at it and say I solemnly swear I’m up to no good. When you’re done with it tap it again and say Mischief Managed.”
“Why, what is it?” Teddy turned the blank Marauders Map over in his hands as though he could reveal its secrets by staring hard enough.
“A family heirloom.”
“But we’re not really family.” Teddy said sadly. “How can we have a family heirloom?”
“We are.” Harry corrected gently. “Family is more than just blood. You’ll see what I mean when you look at it. Just take good care of it, don’t lose it, and don’t let any teachers see you with it.”
Teddy nodded and pocketed the parchment looking no less confused. Harry sighed as the parchment slipped out of sight. He had said goodbye to Prongs, Padfoot, and Moony the previous night as he lay in bed… they had told him to get a grip. He was sure Ginny, kept awake by his nervous rambling, had silently agreed.
“Will you write to me too?” Teddy asked.
“So much you’ll be sick of me, I promise.”
“You are unemployed now.” Teddy pointed out with a smirk.
“Exactly.” The whistle blew, loud and shrill, across the platform. “Come on, on the train with you.”
The doors were magically closing as the last few students piled on to the train. Teddy ran to give Andromeda, who was patting at her eyes once more, one final goodbye hug before barrelling onto the train himself.
“I’ll miss you!” He called as he hung out the door. With a hiss the train began to move, and Teddy leant further out the door to wave to him. Harry had the sudden memory of Sirius as a dog bounding along the platform as Harry himself waved goodbye from the train oh so many years ago.
Before he had registered what he was doing, or how many people would inevitably turn to stare at him, Harry was following beside the train, grinning and waving, until he was running along the platform desperate to keep Teddy in his sights.
“Write to me!” Teddy called for a final time.
“I will!” Harry promised. Then he stopped running, and the train sped out of sight, taking Teddy with it.
It had been a difficult 11 years to get to this point, he thought, as he walked back to Andromeda. Weeks and months and years full of funerals, and Ministry honours, and nights spent waking in cold sweats with Voldemort’s high pitched laugh ringing in his ears. Yet he had carved out a life for himself, they all had. Slowly but surely the things at the Ministry had begun to improve, the laws Kingsley had put in place taking effect. The Wizarding World had rebuilt itself. And though the members of the Order of the Phoenix, and Dumbledore’s Army, had taken massive strides to make this happen, Harry couldn’t help but feel their greatest collective achievement had just left on the train behind him.
Harry wished Teddy had known his parents, just as sharply as he wished he had known his own, just as he wished Sirius was still around. But things had a way of working out in the end.
“Do you think I should have told him?” Harry asked as they passed back through the barrier, Harry pushing the empty trolley with one lazy hand.
“No.” Andromeda said certainly. “He’ll love the surprise. Shouldn’t you be heading to the castle?”
“I probably should, I told Minerva I’d be there at 11.” He checked the battered face of Fabian Prewett’s watch on his wrist. “He’ll be okay Andromeda.”
“Of course, he will.” She replied stoically. “You’ll be there. It was good to see you, Harry.”
And with a quick hug goodbye, Hogwarts’ new Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher headed off for his own first year.
Yes, things had a way of working out in the end.