The Secrets of the Map

The Gift

         Teddy was in the middle of getting ready for his birthday party when he paused and stared at his reflection. Uncle Ron always teased him about "smarting up for the ladies", but that wasn't the reason. He had a habit of always doing this on his birthday, because every year at least one person remarked how he resembled his parents. The hair was the easiest to see-today it was cotton candy blue and swept to one side, and his face was narrow, which was sort of similar to his parents. But as for the rest, he couldn't see any resemblance of his father, and only hints of his mother. Usually it didn't bother him, but today he turned 16. And at 16, you were supposed to know your who you are. But he still felt uncertain. How could he know who he was if he never knew the people he came from?
      Suddenly he caught his godfather, Harry's, gaze in the mirror's reflection, and quickly asked, "what do you think-blue or purple?"
      He changed his hair accordingly, and Harry watched, looking mildly interested. Teddy always thought it uncanny how similar he looked to his old photographs, with the same glasses, messy hair and everything. For some reason, an ache grew within him. Harry must have been sure of who he was from a long time ago. Why couldn't he?
       "Blue," Harry finally decided, and Teddy refocused on the conversation. "Purple's too dark. But it's your day, you should pick."
       "I'll stick with blue." He decided, smoothing his hair self consciously.
       "Have you ever tried pink?" Harry asked curiously.
         Teddy snorted, trying not to feel annoyed. "Yeah, and Molly cried her eyes out, blubbering how much I look like my Mum."
         "I used to hate it when that happened, too," Harry remarked, grinning. "Not all the time, but sometime's it got annoying when I walked into a store and everyone turned around and started whispering."
       Teddy laughed dryly. "Yeah. I never know what to say either-I mean, who cares who you look like? Isn't it who you are that's supposed to matter, or has everyone forgotten that too?"
He didn't mean to sound bitter at the end, but it came out that way.
      Harry pretended not to notice, and instead said thoughtfully, "It's a funny combination for you, though. Tonks was super clumsy and fun, like you, but then you also have Remus' quiet, kind of thoughtful side-and his smile."
      Teddy turned, surprised. "Clumsy?" He hadn't expected that one.
       Harry chuckled. "Oh yeah, Tonks knocked over everything in the kitchen-Mrs. Weasley hated it when she tried to help. She nearly failed her Stealth exam for being an Auror, too, but thankfully she was so good in everything else they had to take her."
     Teddy laughed a little. He himself had been banned from Mrs. Weasley's kitchen, since every time he tried to help he tripped or dropped something. He had always thought it came from his big feet, not his mother. "You think she would've been a control freak?"
"No, she would've been cool. She didn't really care about strict rules, or following them. Honestly, she probably would have been all for you getting that piercing," Harry said as an afterthought, gesturing to Teddy's ear, where a black dragon stud was curling around in his ear.
Teddy touched it, still thinking. "Sounds like you knew her pretty well."
      "I knew Remus better, but that might have been because of my dad," he admitted.
       "Oh right, my dad and your dad were best buds, huh?"
         "Yeah. Them and Sirius." Harry looked like he was going to say something else, but changed his mind. "Did I ever tell you about when I first met him?"
       "He taught at Hogwarts, right?" Teddy asked, leaning against the wall.
        "Well, yeah, but we met him on the Hogwarts train. There was a dementor on the train looking for a criminal-"
        "-Sirius-" Teddy recalled, and Harry nodded, smiling in a sad way while still continuing his conversation. Teddy knew better than to clarify the rest.
        "-and it was really focused on me, cause of my parents dying and all, and it almost got me. That freaked Hermione and Ron out, since they had no clue what to do, but then thankfully your dad was in the car and cast it off. I don't remember much of it because I passed out, but they told me about it afterwords."
       "Cool," Teddy replied, but really his heart sank. Once again, it was another tale of his father's heroic actions, making him seem more like a character in a story than a person he could connect to.
       Harry seemed to pick up on this, and added, "He wasn't always fearless, though. I mean, he was super stressed about having you."
      Teddy raised an eyebrow. "He was afraid of me? Jeez, they had me for what, a month?"
       "No, you git," Harry countered, chuckling. "I meant having you in general. A kid. He was scared that his werewolf genes would get passed on to you and you'd become one."
        This news startled Teddy more than he cared to admit. Even though it was a reasonable fear, he couldn't help feeling slightly hurt that his own father feared him. "Seriously?"
         "Yeah. He just didn't want you to have the same problems as him growing up." A weight lifted from Teddy's chest as he realized his father was only scared of the problems he'd face, not of him.
    "But he never regretted having you." Harry continued, almost lost in memories as he said, "When Tonks finally had you, Hermione, Ron and I were hiding at Bill's House, and all of a sudden he burst through the door and starts yelling, 'IT'S A BOY'. He was usually such a quiet, chill guy...that was one of the rare moments he yelled." He smiled as if he could see Teddy's dad now, "Now that I think about it, I think that was the most excited I'd ever seen him."
He paused, smiling at memories, as Teddy tried to digest this information, picturing his father's photograph. He did have a quiet, kind look about him-he seemed like the kind of guy you could tell anything to, and he'd listen and understand. Teddy had plenty of people like that in his life, but it would have been nice to talk to someone related to him, since he would have probably understood him the most. It was strange how someone with shabby robes and such a tired look could have died a soldier fighting for his family.
"Did I ever tell you he stuck gum up Peeve's nose once?" Harry asked, jerking Teddy out of his thoughts.
       It took a second for him to register the random comment. "No way," Teddy said. "When he was a student?"
        "No, when he was teaching," Harry corrected, and Teddy laughed. "That's awesome. What spell was that?"
       "Not sure, you'll have to ask George-it was a long time ago."
       "You think Peeves would realize I'm his kid if I did that?" He asked, grinning.
        "Probably, but I don't think he'll need to. You're a walking memory of him."
         Teddy looked down, embarrassed and grateful at the same time. "Thanks."
     Harry patted him on the back. "I have a present for you, too," he added, reaching into his back pocket.
     Teddy raised an eyebrow at the piece of blank parchment. Usually they opened presents at the very end. "How come you're giving me this now?"
      "If your grandma saw this, she'd definitely confiscate it," Harry assured him. When Teddy still looked skeptical, he added, "It doesn't look like much, but it's very valuable. Here, take out your wand, I'll show you."
      "I can't do magic yet, remember?"
       "Oh, right-I'll show you then,"Harry said fishing out his own and tapping it against the paper. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
     Suddenly a map formed, along with some curious names, which Teddy read aloud. "Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud to present...the Marauders Map?"
     Harry offered it to him, and he took it, squinting at the curious lines forming. "Hang on...this is Hogwarts. Is that...McGonagall?" He exclaimed in disbelief.
      "Yup. And Flitwick, and Neville-I mean Longbottom. It shows where everyone in Hogwarts is and what they're doing, and where all secret entrances are."
       "Wicked," he whispered in awe. "That's the great hall, and the moving staircases...that's crazy. Where'd you get this?"
      "Fred and George nicked it from Filch's office first year and gave it to me, but the original Marauders were my dad, Sirius, and yours."
      Teddy laughed. "Moony, I get it. Clever. What about the others?"
      "They were illegal animaguses so they could still be with your dad on full moons. My dad was a stag, and Sirius was a dog."
       Teddy tilted the map to the side, reading the last name. "Who's Wormtail?"
        Harry paused, seeming reluctant to answer. "He was their friend," he said finally. "How he got to be in Gryffindor I have no idea."
      Harry's voice took on a strange tone at the end, and Teddy glanced at him in surprise. "Did you know him?"
      "You could say that," he said after another pause. "It's a long story, but he became a Death Eater-a rat if I ever saw one." He noticed Teddy's questioning look and swung his arm around his shoulders, adding, "You don't need to worry about that. Anyway, Happy Birthday, kid. Oh, and we should go now, we're going to be late," he added, looking at the clock.
"Right," said Teddy, looking eager. "Can I show this to James?"
"God no. Can you imagine what he'd do with it?"
"It's kind of sad that you think I'm the responsible one compared to him," Teddy remarked, grinning.
"Yeah, well you've got your dad's instincts. Just be smart about using it, and don't let Filch see it."
"Wouldn't dream of it," he assured. "Wait...how'd you make it blank?"
"Oh! Just tap it and say 'Mischief Managed'. Blimey, can't believe I almost forgot that, it was the most important rule."
"Did you ever use these entrances?"
Harry hid a smile. "This one leads to Honeydukes, but you probably won't need to use it. If anyone asks you where you got it, blame it on George."
"You got it." Teddy fingered the map once again. "Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
Harry smiled again and gave him a one-armed hug. "If anyone should have it, it's you. Now let's go before we're late to your own party."