Opened At The Close...

2:Teddy Remus Lupin

*Notice, the following chapter is really long. In fact, probably the one of the longest ones I'll write. But what can I say? I take my fanfiction...siriusly. Luna Page, out. :P

Harry thought he did, after all, owe a large favor to the school at which he had felt at home for so many years. The least he could do, he thought, having inflicted so much damage upon the anciet castle himself, was to walk up and down it's corridors, waving his newly repaired wand and muttering the incantation, "Maximus Reparo," with a number of others who had fought in the battle. The pieces of crumbling brick would fly back to their original places, sealing cracks in ways that seemed magical. That is because Harry could perform magic exceedingly well, especially for a wizard of the age that normally would be starting their final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry, however, would not be coming back here after the repairs were through. Not as a student, at least.
Harry had already taken the offer presented to him by Kingsley Shackbolt, the new Minister of Magic. The offer was to become an Auror, the one and only occupation Harry had ever set his eyes upon while in Hogwarts. Aurors were Dark wizard catchers, and Harry had always somewhat thought that this was the job for him, ever since it was first recommended for him; he thought this a little ironic, since it was a Dark wizard in disguise that had mentioned it first. But somehow, the idea had stuck to his brain like a fly to a flytrap, and Ron, Hermione, and Ginny thought that he would make an excellent Auror. Harry was not the only one Kingsley had made the offer to; in fact, every Hogwarts student that had fought in the Battle of Hogwarts was now permitted to be an Auror without completing the otherwise necessary training.
Ron would be working with George at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes instead of returning to Hogwarts. Ginny would be returning for her last year of schooling, along with Hermione (unsurprisingly, thought Harry.) Hermione and Ginny,who were to be taking the same classes, had begun to spend a lot of time together, which must have had its many reasons. Harry suspectected Hermione and Ginny understood each other's hardships over the past year, because unlike most other girls at Hogwarts, they both knew what it was like to have been pressured, tortured, and put into mortal danger where your entire life seemed to be teetering on a toothpick. In other words, they had some one who felt for them at their immediate disposal . Though they both had other people who new what it was like, those other people were in either not going to be in Hogwarts that year, or else they were in different houses and not able to talk to any minute of the day. And so, they became as generally close as two sisters would.
Harry and Ron, likewise, became laughing and joking again, which was hard to do in the present time. The fact that they had lost so many people, people that were so close to them, had hurt Harry very deeply, though he did not care much to admit it. He thought that maybe if he had gone into the Forbidden Forest sooner, he would have saved at least a couple of people. This was wrong of course, as Harry kept telling himself in an effort of self-consolation, but he could not help feeling a little survivor's guilt. Yet, he and Ron tried to joke about things, little things, and that made all the difference. Even George, who Harry sympathized the most, would let a grin break his miserable features now and then.
Now that both Lupin and Tonks were gone, there was the matter of caring for Theodore Remus Lupin, or Teddy, as everyone called him. Before the repairs were started, Harry sent Andromeda Tonks an urgent owl, asking if she would care for Teddy for a week or two; she obliged most willingly. Now that the repairs were finished, and Harry had moved his things to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, however, Harry decided the time was ripe to pay her a visit and retreive Teddy. He did not particularly look forward to caring for a baby, but having someone around that had ties with Lupin and Tonks reminded him of them, and Harry somewhat felt it was his job to take care of Teddy; he had, after all, consented to be godfather.
As Harry walked into Hogsmeade with Ginny, Ron and Hermione, Hermione was suggesting that he simply let Andromeda keep Teddy for a while longer.
"I mean, he is her grandson. She probably wants to keep him a little while longer," Hermione said reasonably.
"I know," Harry said grudgingly. He was afraid that, if he showed up, Andromeda might refuse to hand over her beloved grandson, whether Harry was godfather or not.
"But, Harry, aren't you just an on-call Auror? You aren't full time?" Asked Ginny from Harry's left side, her robes brushing the stone path to Hogsmeade in the warm, still summer air. There was no breeze at all, and the freshly cut grass looked almost unnaturally green. It was a most beautiful summer's day.*
"Well, no," Harry said. "I just figured I would have other things to do."
"And now you do, so it's a good thing you told Kingsley you only wanted it part-time,"said Ron"taking care of a baby isn't really something you want to do while you're hunting Dark wizards, mate." Everyone laughed.
"Really? I had no idea," Harry said sarcastically.
"Anyway, Harry, when you're on duty, you can just drop Ted off with Andromeda,"Ginny said.
"That's a good idea!" Hermione agreed."That way she gets to see Teddy on a regular basis, and Harry can work whenever he needs to."
"Brilliant. I'll tell her when I get there," Harry said as they walked into the Hog's Head. They had been going to this pub a lot more than they normally would, because they knew Aberforth, the bar keeper, needed the money more than Madame Rosmerta did. Indeed, the whole D.A. seemed to be pitying Aberforth, and was choosing the Hog's Head over The Three Broomsticks, for as they walked in, even now, they saw some of the old familiars: Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Terry Boot, Michael Corner, and Ernie McMillan all sitting around the bar, drinking butterbeer and chatting animatedly. Neville, who was talking to Luna and Ernie, looked up and noticed them all.
"Hey! Guys! Come sit over here! Want a butterbeer?" Neville said over the shoulder of Luna, who turned at his words. Her face illuminated at the sight of them all.
"Hello, everyone. I haven't gotten the chance to talk to you all that much since the Battle. It's great to see you...feels almost like the D.A. again..." Luna said in her usual dreamy voice, tossing her long, dirty blonde hair behind her shoulder.
"A pleasure, as always," said Ernie, guesturing to a few rickety barstools. Harry sat, glancing behind the counter, where Aberforth Dumbledore stood, filling glasses with amber-colored liquid, and looking much more cheerful than Harry had ever seen him. Harry guessed that this was due to the fact he had so much more business nowadays, but everyone was looking more cheerful since Voldemort had been killed.
"What do you lot want to drink?" Asked Aberforth.
"Butterbeer," they all said together. Harry had been looking forward to this trip, it was the trip that all the students would all be taking before returning home for the summer holidays, when he, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny would be goong to the Burrow. Harry was only going to spend a week there, then he planned on moving into Number Twelve. He liked it much more now that he had found Sirius's room and Kreacher was pleasantly obediant, whereas before he was a nasty little thing, muttering mutinous things about mudbloods and blood traitors and creatures of scum in his mistriss's home. Aberforth handed them each a bottle, freshly opened, froth forming on the top of the fizzy beverage inside. Everyone drank from their bottle immeadiately except for Hermione, who looked deeply troubled.
"Hermione? What's wrong?" asked Ron, looking concerned.
"Are you thinking about them?Your parents?" Ginny said sympathetically. Hermione nodded, taking a swig of butterbeer.
"When are you thinking of going to see them?" Harry asked, in what he thought was a very gentle and comforting tone.
"I was...actually, I think I'll do it today," Hermione said confidently, drawing herself up and setting down her bottle. Harry and Ginny smiled, and Ron looked at her for a moment, then grinned as well.
"I know you can restore their memory," said Harry bracingly.
"And you'll do great, because you're Hermione," said Ron, slinging an arm around her shoulders.
"Yes, you really can do some extraordinary magic sometimes," chimed in Luna.
"Don't worry," said Ginny, grasping her hand briefly. Hermione smiled at them all for a second, looking reassured, then grabbed her butterbeer, pecked Ron on the cheek and said,"Well, I expect I'll be a few days. Pack my things for me, will you, Ginny?"
"Sure thing," Ginny said. Ron looked aghast.
"You're leaving now?" He said incredulously.
"Yes," she said simply."It was good to see you, Luna. Neville. Ernie." She waved at them over her shoulder as she walked outside, took a deep breath, turned on the spot, and was gone. Neville turned to the others with a curious look.
"What's happened to her parents?" He asked, taking a sip of his gillywater.
"Oh, well..."began Harry a bit uncomfortably."Before we left to go looking for horcruxes, she erased their memories of her and changed their names, so that if Voldemort came looking for them, they wouldn't be able to tell him anything about her or me or Ron."
"That's terrible!" Said Neville, his eyes wide."They won't even know who Hermione is!"
"I cannot begin imagine how that must feel," said Ernie sadly.
"Oh, yes, it must be horrible. But, it was a smart idea, if you think about it. Because she changed their identities, You-Know-Who wouldn't have known who to look for, even if he was just hunting them for information on Harry," Luna said thoughtfully."But, really, it will be worth all the trouble in the end, because if Hermione hadn't done that, they would probably be dead."
Harry couldn't help but smile. There was Luna, he thought, once again being umcomfortably honest.
"How is your dad, Luna?" Ginny asked, setting down her drink and taking Luna's hand to examine a ring she was wearing that seemed to be made if bronze and set with a bright blue stone. Harry thought it was very nice, especially compared to her necklace of butterbeer corks.
"Oh, he's doing very well. Now that the house is all fixed up, he's been working on the next issue of the Quibbler, you know," she looked down at the hand Ginny held as though just noticing she was holding it."I made it myseelf oit of a twig that I found earlier on the street. A pretty simple Transfiguring spell, really, it just wrapped around my finger and tied itself in a knot."
"Yes, it looked interesting," said Ernie."I did the Color-Changing Charm on it, you see?"
And surely enough, Harry realized that what was upon Luna's finger was indeed a twig, wrapped around her index finger and tied in an intricate knot, and charmed to look blue and bronze.
"Ravenclaw colors, you know," Ernie said conversationally.
"What spell did you use, Luna?" Asked Ginny.
"Circulumus," said Luna, taking her wand from her robes."It works with anything, really. As long as it's thin and long enough to go around your finger. See...." And she took a bar napkin, tore off a thin strip, placed it neatly under Ginny's finger, and said very clearly,"Circulumus." Everyone standing around watched with deep interest as the strip of paper wound itself around Ginny's slender finger and tied itself in a beautiful knot. Harry touched his wand to the ring.
"Colovaria," he muttered, and the ring turned gold and scarlet.
"Ooo...you could make a lot of rings like that, and just sell them for a Galleon apeice," said Aberforth, who had been listening to their conversation becasue he had nothing better to do. "Boost house pride," he added hastily.
"Or you could just show people the incantation," said Neville. Ron laughed merrily.
"You'll be a trendsetter, Luna!" He said, finishing off his drink. Harry sniggered, too, at the thought that the girl with the most strange style at Hogwarts could be a trendsetter.
"Well, Luna, they are beautiful," said Ginny, scrutinizing her finger.
"Yes," Luna responded. Assuming that she was going to continue, no one said anything for a moment, but appearantly that was all she had to say. Harry glanced at his watch, which showed ten minutes till one; he was supposed to apparate right outside her property and walk the rest ofthe way to her house. Not entirely looking forward to this, because last time he had gone to Andromeda Tonks' house he had crashed Sirius's motorcycle in their pond with Hagrid, was fixed by Teddy Tonks Sr., then drew his wand on Andromeda because she resembled the sister that Harry hated, Bellatrix Lestrange. It was not an altogether comfortable experience.
But this time will be different, he told himself reassuringly, because Voldemort's gone and no one is in danger anymore. Yeah, because there's no one left of hers to be in danger, said a little voice inside his head. He felt his heart sag. But, on the bright side, you know she isn't Bellatrix, becasue Bellatrix is dead.
Cheered slightly by this thought, he annouced that he must be going and drained his butterbeer.
"Good luck,"said Ginny and Ron together. Harry smiled.
"Thanks. I have a feeling I'll need it, as the first time I met her I thought she was Bellatrix Lestrange and drew my wand," he said, sniggering at the furtive looks on their faces."I'll see you later...hopefully so will Teddy," and with that, he kissed Ginny, walked outside, turned on the spot, and was gone.
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