Just One Memory: A One-Shot

Something I wrote a few years back that still makes me want to continue it someday. But today is not that day



I wish I had a memory of my parents. Just one. One memory and I would be set for the rest of my life. Only, they died when I was a baby. Too small to even crawl, and they went off to save the entire Wizarding World. How I wish to have a memory to know if they fought for me, too. Why would they though? I was only a baby. They hardly knew me at all.

Eleven years have gone by since the unfortunate killing of Teddy Lupin’s parents, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin. He knew everything about them, but nothing at all. His Grandmother Andromeda would tell him story after story of his mother while she was growing up and what a fine young woman she turned out to be. His Uncle Harry would tell him stories of his father, but he too only knew so much. That was one thing he could really appreciate about his uncle. Neither of them could recall any memories about their parents, and the only thing they had to go off was what others told them.

Teddy, who lived off of the questions he had about his parents, was now stepping through Platform Nine and Three-quarters with his grandmother at toe. He was excited for his first year at Hogwarts because there, the only magical place he had left, he could find answers of his parents. Teachers were bound to know something, and if he was sorted into Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, so much the better!

The scarlet steam engine was making exasperated sounds as the engine was readying for the long trip ahead, and Teddy’s eyes were as wide as supper plates. This was the first time he had ever seen the Hogwarts Express and he was sure that one step away from his grandmother would be dangerous in the fact he’d be lost in a heartbeat.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Andromeda whispered into his ear, placing one hand on his shoulder to help with her balance. Teddy didn’t answer. His attention was set on the other kids all around him. All of them were quickly talking to their parents as they passed and each of them seemed either over excited or groping at the hem of their parent’s robes in hopes of staying. What really hit Teddy, was the ages everyone seemed to be. A girl wearing a silver badge on her chest was talking to her mum and dad. A tear ran down her face as she was telling them goodbye.

Teddy loved his grandmother more than anyone or anything in the world, but he would always feel that need for his parents. He turned and looked up with a small smile to his grandmother and he hugged her. “I’m going to miss you,” he said. Andromeda patted his back and kissed the top of his head, burying her face in his turquoise tresses.

“I’ll miss you too, my love,” Andromeda cried and then looked down at her grandson. He was sure she was having memories of dropping her late daughter off at the Hogwarts Express. Sure enough, he was right. “I see so much of your mother in you, when you’re not transformed into some ungodly creature that is,” she added with a twinkle in her eye. “Your father, too. You have his charm, wit and the same pensive quietness.”

“You lie,” Teddy said but he wasn’t rude about it. “I’m a Metamorphmagus, I can change my appearance to look like them if I want. I’ve seen enough pictures, who knows what I really look like.” He sulked, but Andromeda lifted his chin and looked straight into his eyes with a knowing smile on her face.

“No,” she said. “I can still see them in you. Both of them. No matter what your appearance may be, they will always be there,” she tapped his nose and winked. Teddy couldn’t help but grin and the thought of him looking like his parents. It was true that he had seen many pictures of them, but he never saw any resemblance unless he tried. He was told his father was a werewolf, but he never inherited that trait, thankfully, but it was one more thing he always looked at as separating him from his father. Obviously, he inherited his mother’s trait, which came in handy a time or two.

“Thanks, Grandma,” he said, watching as a boy around his size pointed him out to his mother and father.

“Look, mummy! That boy has blue hair!” he exclaimed.

Andromeda and Teddy shared a knowing look and smiled. If Teddy had more training he would have made a snout for a nose in an instant to scare the kid, but that would take him nearly an hour. Soon, however, the thought of the boy and his parents reminded Teddy of what they were talking about and he looked seriously at his grandmother for a second before asking, “Grandma? Can you tell me a memory? Not one of yours, but one that I should remember about them. Something that I can think about while I’m away at Hogwarts.”

She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment and then settled down on a bench nearby the train. Teddy sat next to her as she looked up at the ceiling for a moment as she thought. Finally, she looked right at him with loving eyes and patted his knee.

“Do you remember what your Uncle Harry told you about your father for your eighth birthday?” she asked, patiently waiting as he thought about what exactly his uncle told him.

“Yea,” he answered finally. “He said that dad and mum were resurrected or something like that, and when he spoke to them, dad said, ‘"Sorry I will never know him... but he will know why I died and I hope he will understand I was trying to make a world in which he could live a happier life."’ Or something like that. Why?”

“Well,” she pushed, “that’s exactly why your mother and father sacrificed themselves in that war. You may think that to them the Wizarding world was all they knew. As that may be, they also knew that with their sacrifices, this world would be a safer and better place for you to live. So it has been. You see, the day you were born, your mum and dad dedicated the entire day to you. I’ll admit that for a while your father was unsure about your birth. Though, you must understand it was out of love, for he didn’t want you to inherit his curse. Either way, toward the end he couldn’t wait for your arrival.

“Tonks— Your mum, gave birth to you in the safety of their home, considering St. Mungos would be filled with Death Eaters the moment any Order of the Phoenix member stepped inside. Your father couldn’t wait, and a few of the Weasley’s were there to witness your birth. Molly was hustling and bustling with joy that you would be born soon, while Bill and Fleur were there to announce they were working on having a baby as well. They, however, wanted to wait until they were sure that the world would be safe. I was in a right state of worry. You know how I am. You are my first, and last grandson after all.”

She stopped for a moment as she reminisced in the past. Teddy was taking in all of the information he could, picturing every little detail. He was sure his memory of the house was a bit off, but he wasn’t too particular about that. He could see his dad hovering over his clumsy mother, and they were sharing a smile. It was the same loving smile that he saw his Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny share whenever they saw one another. He had seen his fair share of children being born with the Potters and Weasley’s combined, so the memory was coming to him much easier than he expected.

“Anyway,” she continued, wiping gentle tears from her eyes with a handkerchief initialed A.B. “I remember the very moment you were born. Your mother wasn’t exactly excited to give birth with a room full of people, but it was the happiest event any of had witnessed in a long time. Now, naturally on your birth certificate it says you were born with pitch black hair and brown eyes, but within the hour your hair went vivid ginger and both eyes continuously changed color. Luckily, you remained normal with all twenty digits and a normal nose long enough we all thought you were absolutely adorable,” she nudged him in the ribs and smiled with a choke of laughter.

“So is that what I look like?” he asked, “I mean, what I really look like?” he asked close to desperation.

Andromeda laughed and sat back with her red purse now clenched by both hands in her lap. “I suppose so,” she answered honestly. “Exactly how your mother looked the day she was born. Only, I wasn’t expecting a Metamorphmagus for a daughter, so you can imagine my fright then. Oh, how everyone wanted to hold you, but your mum and dad wouldn’t let anyone until they had some time alone with you. Tonks asked for everyone to leave and your father shut the doors behind us. I don’t know what happened after that, but I suppose they just held you and let you know how much they loved you.” She finished up.

Teddy was staring at his feet that didn’t quite reach the ground. He was swinging them back and forth, and his old sneakers were untied. The aglets were tapping against the old cobbled floor. Then he looked up at his grandmother and a single tear ran down his cheek.

“They did,” he said suddenly.

“Did what, dear?” she asked, grasping onto the side of the bench to stand up.

“They held me and smiled down at me,” he remembered. The image of his mother and father staring down at them with loving smiles were flashing at him. His father kissed his mother on the sweaty forehead and stroked her bubblegum pink hair.

“You did well,” he said, and then took a hold of his son. Though Remus never had a child before, his practice with Harry when he was younger helped him in knowing how to handle Teddy.

“My son,” he said as he rocked him gently around the room. “My healthy, normal, wonderful son.”

“Remus, he’s beautiful isn’t he?” his mum asked from the giant bed she was laying in.

“Yes,” his father chocked. “Perfect in every single way. Just like his mum.”

“Well, we all know I’m not perfect,” she chuckled and held her arms out for the return of her son. Remus sat next to her and passed Teddy carefully to the woman he loved more than any other in his world.

“To me you are,” he said as his attention was drawn to the tired Metamorphmagus. “And you’re the perfect mum according to Teddy.” He added smugly.

Tonks snorted. “Ha! Just wait until he’s a teenager. We won’t be so perfect then.”

“Well that’s later isn’t it?” Remus asked. “As for now, we are the perfect family. I am the luckiest man alive right now. I have the most beautiful woman, who birthed the most beautiful son in the world. And I love you both more than anything in this world combined.”

Tonks kissed her husband and then looked deep into Teddy’s eyes. “Did you hear that, little guy? Daddy’s really a big softie, no matter what face he puts on,” she laughed and then kissed him on the forehead. Remus wrapped his arm around Tonks and put one hand underneath Teddy’s head. There was a moment of silence as the family enjoyed what would possibly the last happiest memory of their lives.

“I love you.” His parents whispered to one another and then shared the last kiss Teddy could remember them having. “And we love you too, little one. More than you could ever know.”

“I love you, too.” Teddy said as he snapped out of his memory.

“Oh! Well, I love you too, Teddy,” his grandmother answered. He hadn’t realized, but they were still on the bench next to the Hogwarts Express. Andromeda never once interrupted him while he was in thought, and nearly everyone was boarded onto the train already. “Come on now, love. It’s time for you to go!”

Teddy boarded onto the train after a kiss on the cheek from his grandmother, and stuck his head out a window to wave goodbye. She kissed the tips of her fingers and then blew him the kiss. He pretended to catch it and placed it on his own lips, blowing it back to her. At last, when his grandmother was no longer in sight he took a seat in a compartment that was occupied with two other first years and smiled to himself. His need for answers at Hogwarts lessened, and he felt as though he were ready to take Hogwarts on for his first year and make his parents proud.

“Hi. I’m Theodore Remus Lupin,” he introduced himself to the two first years sitting with him. “But you can call me Teddy.”

[url=https://thepotterforum.rpg-board.net/t35-feedback-maelody-s-one-shots[/url]