Teddy Lupin at Hogwarts

The Confrontation

Remus P.O.V

Remus placed his case, with the boggart inside it, on his desk. He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, giving himself a brief moment of rest in his empty classroom. Or so he thought it was empty. 

"Professor?" Came a voice behind him. 

Remus knew that voice. Although he hadn't officially known Teddy for long, he could pick him out of a crowd anywhere. Teddy was a perfect mix of him and Sirius. He was tall and lanky like Remus, with Sirius's eyes and thick messy hair, he was smart and mischievous, and so so kind. Remus had been getting letters from Minerva for the past three years about Teddy. He had saved every letter. Remus was so eager to be in his son's life, but he knew he had to play it cool, after all he didn't want to scare Teddy away or give him too much information all at once. 

Besides, how was one supposed to reunite with their long lost son? He couldn't just walk over to Teddy and be like "Hi I'm your father, I'm sorry I wasn't around your whole life but I'm a werewolf. And by the way, your other father is a mad man who escaped prison and might be looking for us and he also is the reason your best friend doesn't have parents."

That was ridiculous. 

Instead, he pulled himself out of his thoughts, racing way too fast, and turned to greet his son. 

"Mr Lupin, how can I help you?" Remus internally kicked himself for putting himself and Teddy in this mess of a situation. He was sure Teddy was going to ask him why he didn't let him approach the boggart. 

"Well, Professor, I was wondering why you didn't let Harry and I fight the boggart." Teddy shuffled his feet, swaying side to side awkwardly. He reminded Remus so much of himself it hurt.

"I know," Remus responded calmly, mind racing. Teddy looked up at him, eyes bright and grey. Remus felt like he was looking at Sirius. He didn't want to be thinking about his estranged husband with their son standing right there, expecting a response that Remus hadn't quite thought of just yet. "I know you and Harry are disappointed about not facing the boggart, and I'm sorry for that. It's nothing against either of you, I assure you. It's about the other students, you see, I was worried that you or Harry would conjour a dementor or Voldemort. And I thought that might be a bit too frightening for the class, especially our first lesson." Remus silently praised himself for this quick thinking.

Teddy scrunched his eyebrows, thinking, then said, "Oh, I guess that makes sense then,"

Remus smiled tightly. He wanted to hug his son, but that would be too much.

"One more question, if that's alright Professor?" Teddy looked nervous, which made Remus nervous.

"Of course, ask away, Teddy"

"Lupin is a common last name, right? I mean, I can't help but notice we have the same name." Teddy looked Remus in the eyes. 

Remus could see he was desperate, grabbing for straws of connections, and Remus wanted nothing more than to tell the truth and sit Teddy down to tell him the whole crazy complex story of their lives.

Instead, he said, "I suppose it is a common name" A little bit of his heart broke. He hated this. He needed to speak to Dumbledore or Minerva, he didn't know if he could continue this without the truth making its way out. He saw the pity in the eyes of his colleagues, how they looked at him, knew his story, he felt so helpless. 

"Oh yeah okay, thanks Professor, I'll see you around then." Teddy mumbled, making his way out of the room.

"Stop by any time, Teddy, I'm happy to answer questions or just talk." Remus knew this was a long shot, he was grasping at threads here. But he needed this.