It was quiet in the Ministry. Teddy didn't notice this, nor did he notice that the Ministry was actually almost completely dark and that everyone had gone home. Well, everyone but Teddy and the cleaner on level five, but Teddy didn't know the cleaner was there, much less where he was. Teddy was on the ninth level, poring over old scrolls with ancient runes that had turned up in Colchester the previous week and trying to determine whether they were of malicious intent or not. The documents weren't very clear, and a few specific words kept cropping up throughout the text that Teddy was having a hard time deciphering.

The cleaner didn't know that Teddy was still in the building, but he wasn't surprised when he reached the Atrium and found James Potter flooing in and looking very put out. The cleaner looked at his watch, shook his head and sent mops sweeping over the floor as James stormed towards the lifts.

Teddy looked up when he heard hasty steps outside his office, just in time to see the door fly open and James' thunderous face glare at him. He winced.

"For fuck's sake, Teddy, when are you going to learn to just leave and you know, come home from work?" he yelled. "Do you even have any idea what bloody time it is?"

James' fury was a thing of its own and something Teddy had very much respect for.

"No," he answered truthfully, hoping it wasn't too late, though he knew very well that if James was here yelling at him, it was more than just too late.

"It's half past fucking eleven!" James roared and Teddy would've been scared for his life if it hadn't been for the fact he knew that James would never hold a wand against anyone that didn't deserve it. He figured he probably was in the did-very-much-deserve-it category, but this was different, or he hoped so. "And in case you've forgotten, you invited me out for dinner tonight, AT NINE O'CLOCK, and I waited for you in the bloody restaurant for an hour and a half! AN HOUR AND A HALF. By then the waiter was giving me pitiful looks and I'd eaten my fill in bread and butter, and so god help me, Teddy Lupin, if you have nothing to say to your defense, I will –"

Teddy cowered, he really did, he felt himself grow smaller and smaller in his chair until it felt like the whole world would just swallow him up and it'd be all the same. This is it, he thought, now it's over. One time too many, one mistake too many, and he's fed up with me.

But when James didn't finish the sentence and just stood there looking deflated and hurt, Teddy leapt up from his chair, ancient runes and mysterious scrolls be damned, and pulled James close.

James pushed him away. "Goddammit, Teddy," he said and his voice was thick. "It's every day. If –" James sucked in a breath. "I don't know if I can do this anymore."

"James –" Teddy felt his chest sting. He wanted to touch him but was afraid he'd just be pushed away again. "I'm terribly sorry, I...I never wanted to hurt you," he said, pleading, hoping against hope that James wouldn't leave him. "I love you, Jamie. I love you so much –"

"Yeah?" James wiped his eyes on his sleeve. He snorted. "You love your job a fair deal more than you love me. Simply can't tear yourself away to come home to me, can you? It's not even that. It's – you forget that I exist!"

"I'm so sorry...It's just, I get caught up and then..." Teddy trailed off. "I never wanted to hurt you, Jamie. I'm so sorry...please don't leave me? I don't...."

"I don't want to do this," James said thickly. "But, Teddy...you give me no choice. I waited one and a half hours! You're supposed to be my boyfriend but you never come home!"

"I do come home!" Teddy protested.

"Yes, at midnight and then you sneak into bed as if you're hoping I haven't noticed you've been gone all day and that's only if I didn't come here to get you myself! And in the mornings I barely get to see you for half an hour before you're gone again! What sort of life is that? What sort of relationship is that? I deserve more than a two-minute morning blowjob and a hasty kiss!"

"It's not every day," Teddy said and immediately knew it'd been the wrong thing to say when he saw the hard look on James' face. "Last week I came home early –"

"If you call half past eight in the evening early," James snapped. "And that was just the once!"

"I don't work weekends," Teddy then said. "We have weekends together. Please don't do this Jamie! I don't want to lose you – I love you – I'll, I'll install an alarm or something, get home on time, whatever you want –"

"The thing is," James said quietly, "that I don't want to have to force you to come home to me. You're supposed to come home because you want to spend time with me, not because you have to. And if you can't do that, then obviously your job means more to you than I do."

Teddy flushed with shame.

"I'll sleep in the spare room tonight. I packed my stuff already, so I can leave first thing in the morning. I'll go stay with Nick until I find something better."

"Please don't do this," Teddy pleaded, heart thumping wildly in his chest. "Look, it's Friday, we've got all weekend – can we please talk about it? I don't want to lose you. Please don't leave me, I really mean it, I love you, James, I love you so much..."

"I'm still sleeping in the spare room."

"Okay. As long as you don't leave?"

James didn't reply and Teddy found that he didn't know what to say or do. Eventually James sighed. "Let's go home."

"Yeah, let's..."

The cleaner had left the Atrium and presumably gone home. In his place, however, were two teenage boys, talking to each other loudly, seemingly arguing. The taller one of the two was pacing, muttering to himself and every once in a while sending scathing remarks at the other one, who seemed to be alternating between panicking and thinking they were on a big adventure.

Teddy and James walked in on them just as they were sulking, each refusing to acknowledge what the other one was saying. Teddy's wand came out instantly.

"What're you doing here?" he asked sharply. James drew up next to him, slowly raising his wand.

"You tell him, Sirius," the taller one said. "It's your fault we're here in the first place!"

"Was not! And you weren't complaining when we did it!"

"Sirius?" James asked, narrowing his eyes. Suddenly they flew open in recognition.

Teddy was a little slower on the uptake. "Boys? You're trespassing on Ministry property –"

"Trespassing on Ministry property," the boy called Sirius snorted. "We're in the bloody Ministry of Magic, of course we're trespassing 'Ministry property'...honestly..."

"What year is it?" the tall one asked suddenly.

"Two-thousand and twenty-eight," Teddy answered, perplexed. He was met with shocked silence.

"...We did it! Moony – we did it! We're in the future!" the Sirius boy whooped, but the tall kid – the one called Moony – glared at him.

"Teddy," James whispered urgently, pulling at his sleeve and leaning in close. "I know who they are – can't you see it? Look at them!"

"Well congratulations!" the tall kid said sarcastically. "Now how are you going to get back? Hm? Did you think about that?"

"Who cares? Remus, we're in the future! Isn't it brilliant?"

Remus. With a shock, Teddy realised who exactly the teenager in front of him was and he chided himself for not having realised, for not having noticed – hadn't he stared at his photographs often enough? Shouldn't he have been able to recognise his own father? Merlin's hairy balls, he thought, my father and Sirius Black.

Alive. Teenagers. In the future.

His mind reeled.

"Teddy!" James was nudging him. The boys were still arguing and paid them no attention."They're – they –"

"I know," Teddy cut him off.

"We have to do something about them –"

"What?" Teddy finally turned his attention to James properly. "We – what – shit."

"Exactly," James said. Teddy rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand.

"Right. Guys!" he called out, shutting up the teenagers. "Can I have your names please?"

"Oh – of course!" The tall kid held out his hand. "Remus Lupin. And this is Sirius Black. We're, eh..."

"From the past!" Sirius Black said with a grin. "Didn't think we'd be slung this far, though. Fifty-one years! Eh, Moony, bet there are sixty-eight years old versions of the two of us hobbling around somewhere. Bet you I haven't lost my hair yet, us Blacks have good genes in that regard, at least –"

"Do shut up, Sirius," Remus Lupin snapped. "We still don't know how to get back!"

"Moony! You're no fun at all. Why waste time finding a way back when we can poke around in the future? Worry about it later –"

"No," Teddy said, surprising himself. "Uh, Mr. Lupin is right. You have to go back –"

"You're no fun either," Sirius said crossly.

"If you don't go back," James cut in, "you'll inevitably change the future –"

"Changing the future would be pretty cool," Sirius said carelessly. Remus snorted and shook his head, earning a glare from his friend.

Teddy and James looked at each other. "Contact the authorities?" James mouthed. Teddy shook his head and James nodded. Good, he thought. At least they agreed about this.

"Boys – we need to sort this out, all right? In the meantime you're coming with us." Teddy pointed at the floos. "This way, if you please."

"Where are we going?" Sirius asked apprehensively.

"To our flat."

"Your flat?"

"Yes." Teddy did some quick thinking. "You can sleep in the spare room. You'll have to share the bed unless one of you wants to sleep on the sofa and trust me, it's not comfortable," Teddy said firmly. James was glaring at him, but Teddy ignored him.

"Why to your place?"

"Why, would you rather I called the authorities to have you taken into custody, questioned and locked away until someone found a way to send you back?" Teddy countered, picking up a handful of floo powder. Both boys shook their heads. "Good. So you're coming with us. Nineteen Mangrove Close! Off you go." He shoved them into the flames and turned to face James and his rage.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Where else are they supposed to sleep?"

"We could transfigured the sofa or something! I don't know!"

"We've slept together for the past two and a half years, surely you can spend a few more nights in my company?"

James glared at him and stepped into the flames. Teddy drew in a deep breath, then followed him.

When Teddy stepped out of the fireplace, James was nowhere to be seen and the two teenagers were looking around the flat awkwardly. They looked slightly bewildered. On the floor were a pair of packed trunks that Teddy recognised as James' and he chose to ignore them for the time being.

"The other one stormed in there," Sirius said helpfully, pointing at their bedroom door, "and slammed the door after him. He was in a bit of a strop."

"Yeah," Teddy said wearily. "I know. I'll show you where to sleep...right, in here. The bathroom's down the hall, the kitchen's right over there and me and James – I'm Teddy, by the way – will be in there. Alert the MLE if I turn out to be dead in the morning."

Teddy found both pairs of eyes trained on him in astonishment.

"You...sleep together?" Remus asked tentatively.

"Uh, yeah...James and I have been seeing each other for the better part of three years now." Teddy shrugged, then made a face. "Though he's not very happy with me at the moment...or well, lately. At all...never mind that..."

"You can do that?" Sirius asked curiously. "I mean..." He flushed.

"Oh." Teddy blinked. "Well, I suppose the world's changed a lot in fifty years. No one's ever cared about me and Jamie, or anyone else for that matter."

Sirius glanced furtively at Remus, who was resolutely not looking at him. Or Teddy. Or anything else, for that matter.

"Right..." Teddy turned on the lights. "James made the bed up...saves us the trouble then..."

"Why was he pissed off?" Sirius asked and threw himself onto the bed. Teddy grit his teeth.

"None of your business," he said sharply. "Would you like to borrow a pair of pyjamas?"

"A t-shirt would be fine," Remus said politely. "Same for this pillock. Ignore him; he never knows when to keep his mouth shut."

"Oi!"

Remus sent Sirius a dirty look and Sirius scowled. Teddy left them to get something for them to wear and deciding to avoid James for a few more minutes, he pulled two t-shirts out of the pile of clean laundry that had been upended on the sofa.

"Here you go." He threw the t-shirts onto the bed. "Do you have your wands? Good. Don't leave the flat. See you in the morning."

He saluted them and turned to leave.

"Oh, uhm...Teddy?"

"Mh?"

"What are you going to do?"

"I've no idea," Teddy replied honestly. "No clue at all and I'd rather not think of it right now." He sighed. "Good night."

To Teddy's surprise, James was awake and not pretending to be asleep. He was also hacked off.

"James," Teddy started, but James glared at him.

"If I didn't know better, I'd have thought you'd have orchestrated the whole thing just to prevent me from sleeping in the spare room," he said. "Or did you? I've no clue what you get up to at work."

"I didn't orchestrate this," Teddy snapped. "But fine. We can find somewhere else for them to stay tomorrow so you can get away from me if that's what you want."

James didn't reply, only crossed his arms and stared at the wall.

"Have you come to hate me that much?" Teddy asked. "You can't even stand the sight of me anymore? Bloody hell, James, I know I'm an utter arse for, for not having paid attention and for, you know, being late every day and all, but aren't you taking it a bit far?"

"Am I really?" James said bitterly. "Forget it, Ted. Go to bed." He turned his back.

"Jamie –"

"I'll speak to you in the morning."

Teddy's heart sank into his stomach, where it turned into a heavy stone. He undressed quietly and James slipped out of the room. He came back a few minutes later, having changed into pyjamas and smelling faintly of mint and Teddy didn't know whether he should resent him for not wanting to change in the bedroom with him or resent himself for allowing it to happen.

James was already curled up in bed when Teddy returned from the bathroom.

"James?"

No answer.

Teddy sighed and turned the lights off. A low murmur of voices carried through the walls and he wondered what Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were talking about.

At least they were talking.

"James?" Teddy turned his head. James wasn't sleeping, he could tell by the way he was too still. "We can't tell them who we are."

"I know."

"They might seriously screw up something in the past if they find out, and –"

"I know, Ted. Go to sleep."

Shunned again, Teddy turned around. The heavy stone in his stomach had turned into a little ball of iron. He stared into the darkness, unable to find sleep at all. Behind him, James was just as sleepless.

*

The morning was warm. A square of sunlight brightened the wall behind Teddy, slowly moving across the room. A few dust motes hung in the air. Sometime during the night, James had wound up in the middle of the bed with Teddy pressed close to him.

Teddy woke up like that, finding he had an arm firmly secured around James, who was still sleeping soundly. He tentatively tilted his head so he could breathe in James' scent, then carefully touched his lips to James' neck.

He should've seen it coming, and perhaps he had, but it didn't make it hurt less. He knew he was at fault too, though he could hardly remember how it'd started. The first time it'd been an accident, he'd come home at eight o'clock with a sheepish smile and a bottle of wine, apologised profusely and excitedly told James about his research.

Then it happened more and more frequently. Teddy thought that the that key factor in staying in was James' disappointment in Teddy and resentment towards his job. At some point down the road, when it had only got worse, he'd started staying behind deliberately, not wanting to face James' wrath and hurt when he did come home, usually after James had picked him up like a wife picking up her drunkard husband from the local pub.

Bloody hell, but how had that all happened? How had it come to this?

James stirred and Teddy held him tighter. "Please don't leave me, Jamie."

"Teddy?" James asked groggily.

"Mmh."

They were quiet, unmoving, for what felt like half an eternity.

"We can't go on like this," James eventually said.

"No," Teddy agreed. "But we can change things. We can make this work. It worked before, didn't it? It can work again."

"I suppose..."

"Do you still love me?"

James didn't reply for so long that Teddy was starting to feel awkward and afraid, as if he didn't fit into the bed, their flat, or their life anymore.

"Yes," he eventually said, with a little sigh. "That's why we can't bloody go on like this. You've no idea how much it hurts when –" he stopped, before he could work himself into a tirade or rage, and the continued, in a more controlled voice: "We should check on the boys."

"Yeah." Teddy sighed. "I love you, Jamie," he added and pressed a swift kiss to his neck before getting out of bed.

He pulled on a pair of worn jeans and was rummaging about in his side of the closet, when he realised James hadn't moved out of bed yet.

"Will you unpack your trunks?" Teddy asked quietly, without turning around. He looked at the t-shirt in his hands. It was one that actually belonged to James, but that Teddy had somehow taken over.

"Yeah," James answered softly. Teddy put the t-shirt on and turned to face James, who was sitting up, hair mussed and looking every bit as lovely as always, even with the hurt shining in his eyes.

"I'll go check on the boys. And make breakfast or something..." Teddy said awkwardly. James nodded.

The boys seemed to be still asleep, as the door was still closed and no sounds were coming from within. James' trunks stood on the living room floor, sticking out like a sore thumb, and Teddy grimaced. Then he noticed something else that made his blood freeze.

Picture frames. Everywhere. Pictures of his parents and gran, of James' parents and family – photographs that would cause uncomfortable questions if the boys were to find them. He summoned them all and carried them in a pile into the bedroom, dumping them on the bed. James looked up from the drawer he was rummaging through, opened his mouth to say something, then promptly closed it when he saw the frames on the bed.

"Shit," he said.

"Mh," Teddy replied. "I took them all. Harry's supposed to look like his dad, right? And those two were – are – you know. And my parents..." Teddy scratched his head.

"Did they see them?"

"No. Still sleeping."

"Right. What about last night?"

"Maybe. Doubt they had a good look, though."

James sighed. "What are we going to do about the boys?"

"You mean after questioning the life out of them? I don't know." Teddy swallowed hard. "If they get stuck here...everything will change. You and me might not exist. Well, I certainly won't. And there's all the rest..."

"Yeah." James shook his head, then picked up a t-shirt from the drawer and put it on. "Best we get on with it, then." He shoved the contents of the drawer aside and with a flick of his wand the pile of picture frames stacked themselves neatly into it.

"Right. Breakfast." Teddy went into the kitchen and got the frying pan out. James followed, putting the coffee maker on before sitting down and watching Teddy cook, effortlessly falling into the weekend rhythm the two of them had long established.

Teddy didn't really know what to do, now that he was at a serious risk of losing James. Make small-talk? Would that be weird, would it seem too desperate? Or would it show James that he cared? He felt the silence stretch. Usually it wasn't heavy, usually it was amicable, warm, something they shared, and Teddy was wondering whether he was the only one thinking about this now, wondering whether he should pretend nothing was different and go on like usual, cook breakfast with only the sizzling of the pan, the gurgle of the coffee machine and their soft breaths as accompanying melody. Soundtrack, even, if one could call it that.

James had just poured coffee into their mugs when the door to the spare room opened and two dishevelled and tired looking boys emerged.

"Good morning," James said. "Coffee?"

Sirius nodded, rubbing his face, while Remus looked torn between speaking and staying silent and Teddy realised that he was being too polite to ask for something else.

"I think we've got tea in one of the cupboards if you'd rather have that. I take no blame if it's out of date and undrinkable," he said, pointing with the spatula at the cupboard above James' head. Sirius slid into a chair and yawned, albeit he was looking very fondly at the mug James had set before him.

"Oh...tea would be lovely," Remus said and then blinked. "Wasn't your hair brown last night?"

"Probably was." Teddy shrugged, handing James' the kettle when he saw he was looking for it. The move was so automatic, so second nature, that his chest tightened for a second.

"It's...erh, it's blue now."

"Mh, I usually wake up with blue hair." Teddy shook his head and his hair swiftly changed to the deep brown he preferred at work.

At these words Sirius looked up and then grinned. "You a Metamorphmagus?" he asked as Teddy shook his head once more and his hair turned back to turquoise.

"Yeah." Teddy turned the cooker off, piled eggs and bacon onto a plate and put it on the table.

"Cool." Sirius looked with interest at Teddy. "I've got a cousin like that, though she seems to prefer pink."

Teddy and James shared a look. James eyes' held a warning, but then he shrugged. "I know," Teddy then said. "She's my mum."

The boys gaped. James' eyes twinkled and Teddy couldn't help a smile.

"Your eggs are getting cold," he said and slid into the chair opposite Remus.

"Dora is only three years old!" Sirius said, staring at Teddy in astonishment.

"And I'm thirty. This is not your time, remember."

Sirius looked into his mug and Remus bit his lip. Teddy shared another look with James, as he set a pot full of freshly brewed tea down in front of Remus.

"I suppose that means we're related," Sirius then said and looked up with a wry grin. "Hello, cousin."

*

"Our friend James is our anchor," Sirius explained, his fingers drawing little circles on the tabletop. "Or at least that's how it's supposed to work according to the formula."

"Supposed to work?" James asked. "Do you mean that you've already tried to go back?"

"Well, no. Not exactly," Remus answered. He was fidgety and kept touching his watch, twirling it around his wrist. "But we weren't supposed to turn up in the Ministry of Magic. We were supposed to be in the same place we were in, but in a different time."

"What went wrong?"

"I know what went wrong," Teddy interrupted. "You were redirected to the ministry. There was a nasty incident of collateral damage by time travel in the seventeenth century and since then all time travellers have been redirected to us. There used to be a chamber down in the Department of Mysteries specifically to contain time travellers until the officials could send them back to their own time. The chamber was destroyed in the war...I guess the redirecting charm now encompasses the entire ministry, since no one's fixed the chamber."

Three faces stared at him and he cleared his throat.

"Well, I am an Unspeakable." He shrugged. "As a matter of fact, I'm working on time related documents right now."

"Anything that could help us?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know. Whoever wrote them has terrible handwriting." Teddy made a face. "I've been bent over them for ages. Or what feels like ages anyway."

"You know, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Sirius' terrible handwriting that got us here," Remus muttered.

"Oi! My handwriting isn't terrible!"

Remus rolled his eyes. The corner of James' mouth twitched.

"Boys," he said.

"Right." Sirius shrugged. "Suppose we just have to try it out and see what happens?"

"And what if we don't go back to the right time?" Remus pointed out to him. "What if we end up in the seventeenth century?"

"We won't," Sirius said confidently.

"We overshot the future by a few years."

"Oh. Yeah. That."

Remus trailed his hand through his hair. He looked harried and Teddy thought he was maybe trying to suppress something, maybe anxiety or panic. "Yes, that," he snapped, then regretted it. "Sorry. I'm just..."

Suddenly, Teddy understood. "The full moon is in two weeks," he said, ignoring the elbow James was furiously stabbing into his side. "We should manage to get you back home before then."

"How...?" Remus blinked, looking very small and awkward. Sirius was glaring at Teddy, making him wince inwardly.

"Teddy, for fuck's sake!" James was now pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry," Teddy offered. "It's just. I knew. Not because of anything you did or anything," he added hastily. "It's just. I knew. It's...well. Not a secret, not at this point in time."

Remus looked like he was going to faint. "This is strange," he said weakly. "And you're..." he trailed off, shrugging, at a complete loss for words.

"Okay with it?" Teddy asked. "Well, yeah." He glanced at James, who was...not quite glaring, but Teddy chose to ignore the warning. "My dad was a werewolf."

"A word, Ted?" James' voice cut through him, cold and angry.

Teddy knew without looking at James that his eyes were hard. James had soft, brown eyes. He wasn't a type of person to get angry a lot, except lately, and Teddy was, if he was completely honest with himself, scared of James' anger. So he got up, wordlessly, and followed James out to the balcony.

"What are you doing?" James hissed as soon as the door slid closed and Teddy squared himself.

"Just trying to...help," he mumbled.

"Don't you know any tact? Merlin's saggy balls, Ted! You can't just say something like that to a stranger!" James was...flailing. He did that when he was agitated; couldn't make up his mind whether to make a mess of his hair or rub his face - mostly his mouth - or the back of his neck or kick things. There was nothing here to kick.

"He's my dad," Teddy said in a low voice. He turned to look back at the boys, who were doing a poor job of pretending they weren't trying to listen in on their conversation. "I don't expect you to understand. He's my dad." He chanced a look at James, who had softened a little, just enough for his eyes to lose the edge. "I'm sorry I'm not perfect, Jamie. I'm sorry I screw up so much."

"Ted -"

"Teddy." He wanted to touch James, but he didn't know if he was allowed, didn't know where their boundaries were now. Didn't know if James was still leaving. "I," he swallowed. "I want to do this right. I want to -" He blinked a few times, the weight of everything settling in the pit of his stomach and forcing a lump to form in his throat. "I know he's just a kid. But it's all I can get."

"This is all a right mess, isn't it?" James said dryly. "What with us breaking up and this on top of everything."

"Are we really breaking up?" Teddy looked up now, panic flooding his heart.

James sighed. "I don't know. I don't want to think about it."

"Can we..." Teddy touched him now, cupped his face gently. Teddy had big hands and James used to like when he touched him, like this. "We'll sort out the boys first, and then...we can talk? I'll take the time off work. One of those days you don't have classes. I'll get us all the time we need -"

"Teddy," James whispered, "please don't make any promises."

That shut him right up.

"I'll give you a minute?" James asked and Teddy nodded numbly. "I'll go in and talk to them. Please try to...you know."

"Yeah," Teddy croaked and then James was gone and his hand was empty.

He rejoined James and the boys after a few minutes. James had laid out a piece of parchment and was taking notes, looking up briefly when Teddy sat next to him.

"This is all you remember?" James asked and Sirius shrugged. Remus sighed in exasperation.

"Without our notes at hand, yeah," he said. "But the books we used should still be available, right? I can't imagine Bridget Wenlock having been taken off the Hogwarts curricula. And we also used Advanced Arithmancy, Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms, Ancient Runes, Earth Magic and How To Harness It and, uhm, a book we got from the restricted section at Hogwarts... Travelling in Time: A Comprehensive Guide by Dorothy Knypersley." Remus smiled ruefully. "That one wasn't hard to get."

Teddy leaned over to read James' scribbles. "So, do I understand this right," he began, "you used Earth Magic to fuel your trip and to anchor you? With your friend James acting as the superficial anchor and on-off switch back at home?"

"Pretty much," Sirius said and Remus nodded.

"We went to Lewis. Lewisian Gneiss is particularly powerful, but also easy to work with," Remus explained. "My parents have a cottage near Stornoway...they don't know we're there. They think we're all at James' parents' in Colchester."

"Colchester?" Teddy asked, alert. He narrowed his eyes. "Say, your plan was to meet up at James' parents', feed them some story or other and then skip up to Lewis for some timetravelling, and then pretend you hadn't just broken a couple of wizarding laws?"

Remus and Sirius exchanged looks.

"I see," Teddy said, sitting up straight. "I have some documents at work that turned up in Colchester last week. They landed on my desk because the secretary thought they had something to do with time. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that?"

"Maybe," Remus answered. "Can we see them?"

*

Remus instantly recognised the parchment scrolls Teddy brought back from the Ministry. They'd aged and some of the writing had faded, but hethose scrolls.

"Those are ours," he said, feeling his gut turn. One thing was to objectively know they'd travelled to 2028, another thing was to have visual proof right in front of him. "Those are the...notes. The plans we made." He drew in a deep breath. "Prongs - James - wrote most of it down. All the raw calculations are elsewhere. This is the clean copy."

"Can we use this to get you back?" James asked.

"I don't know. James was supposed to get us back. We were only supposed to be in the future for a few minutes and then," Remus snapped his fingers, "zap back. Well, we didn't zap back after a few minutes and we're not back now, so..."

An uncomfortable silence fell over them.

"Can you help me read these?" Teddy asked eventually. "I might be able to figure something out, but some of this writing isn't easy to decipher."

"Told you it wasn't my writing," Sirius muttered, elbowing Remus. Remus elbowed him back.

"Sure. I suppose I could write it all clean for you. I'm used to James' writing. And Sirius', coming to think of it."

"Moony!" Sirius whined and Remus elbowed him again.

It was strange, it really was. And awkward as all hell, what with being in Teddy and James' apartment while the two were obviously having some sort of crisis. The tension between them was palpable; they might be sitting next to each other, but there was a very clear distance between them.

And just who were they? Teddy had known about his being a werewolf and had said it wasn't a secret - what did that mean? Were werewolf records public? Was it everyman's knowledge who was a werewolf? Did Teddy know his adult self, was that why?

Remus didn't like the future, not one bit, and for all Sirius tried to pretend nonchalance, he knew he was nervous too.

The floo activated and two people stumbled out. One was a young woman with fiery red hair and a superficial resemblance to Lily, the other - the other could've been Prongs. There were immediately apparent differences that made it clear that this was not the James they knew, but the resemblance was uncanny.

"Did you forget?" the man who looked like Prongs said. He was clearly irritated, but stopped short when he noticed that Teddy and James seemingly had guests. The woman frowned.

"James?" She asked, eyes darting to James and then back at Sirius and Remus.

The guy stared and James stood up quickly, striding across to the fireplace. "Shit, I'm sorry. I should've sent an owl - I'm sorry, it's not a good time -"

"Are they some of your students?" The guy asked. "I didn't know you made a habit of inviting students to your home."

"Look," James sighed. "It doesn't matter. I'm sorry, can we reschedule for next weekend? I can't really go now -"

The woman gave James a disapproving look and went over to Teddy, who'd stood up at the commotion. "Teddy, good to see you. How're you doing?" She gave him a hug and a kiss on each cheek.

"Fine," Teddy answered, trying to nudge her back to James. "Why don't you -"

"Hello, I'm Lily," she said brightly and extended her hand to Remus, who sat closest. Remus nearly got a heartattack when he heard her name. "Are you James' students?"

"Er..." Remus accepted her hand, hesitantly, and shook it. "No, we're not, really..."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow in apparent confusion. "What are you doing here then?"

"We're, uhm, staying here. It's an emergency situation, sort of..." he trailed off, then realised he was still holding on to Lily's hand. "Oh, sorry." He dropped it hastily.

"Smooth, Moony," Sirius said and held out his hand for Lily to shake. "Hello. My name is Sirius and I do have manners, especially when beautiful girls are around."

"Sirius!" Remus hissed. Teddy looked like he was going to have a coronary any second.

"Did you say -" Lily paled, making her freckles stand out more. "How?" She looked between them as if she couldn't quite comprehend what she was seeing.

"Timetravellers," Teddy said quietly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We're dealing with it. Don't tell anyone, all right?"

"Al!" Lily shrieked. "Come over here right now!"

Teddy groaned.

"What?" Al, for that seemed to be his name, stopped arguing with James and looked over. He was across the room in seconds. "What is it?"

"It's Sirius and Remus," Lily said, sounding all out of breath. "Oh, Al, they're from the past!"

Al fixed his eyes Sirius and Remus in turn, then on James as he stepped up next to him. Remus' felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. Who were these people? And why did they seem to not only know who he and Sirius were, but also who they were?

"Does Dad know they're here?" Al asked sharply.

"No," James said. "And I don't think he should. Shit Al, you and Lily weren't supposed to know either -"

Suddenly, Remus felt nauseous. Sirius was tugging at his sleeve and whispering something urgently at him, but Remus didn't hear it. The man who looked so much like Prongs - Al - must be - his son? And the girl - Lily - Merlin, was she his daughter? Was that it?

"Hey," Teddy said sharply, but in a low voice. He'd sat down again. Remus looked at him, swallowing hard. "It's not what you think - well, I think I know what you're thinking, and it's not it."

Remus looked away, then at James and the two, who were now arguing.

"Look, Al, I'm sorry I forgot our catch-up lunch! And whatever you think is going on it's none of your business and we're dealing with it and you can't tell Dad!"

"He'd want to know they're here!" Al yelled, and Lily grabbed his sleeve.

"Al, please -"

"Are you sure about that?" Remus asked faintly, looking at Teddy again. "Because to me it looks like - looks like -"

"Looks like Prongs spawned three kids and named two of them after himself and Lily," Sirius finished for him, and that was it, wasn't it? Now that Remus really looked, he could see that Al and James resembled each other; they had the same jawline and same nose, and all three had the same set of eyes. Only, Al's eyes seemed to be lighter, possibly green? And all three had the same thick, unruly hair that Prongs made a sport out of maintaining. Lily had it more under control than the two others, but only because she'd put it into a loose braid, it seemed. "They sure look like him. And Lily," he added. "And there's the names."

Teddy sighed.

James had managed to shut his brother and sister up for the time being, although Al was looking furious. Lily seemed worried. "Ted," James said, then faltered. "I'm sorry, but..." he gestured helplessly towards his siblings.

"Just go," Teddy answered. He sounded more resigned than anything.

They looked at each other and there was that uncomfortable tension again. Remus looked down. He heard the floo activate and the bickering of the three siblings as they stepped into it and away.

"Well?" Sirius demanded. Teddy rubbed his face.

"James, Al and Lily are James Potter's grandchildren," he eventually said, drawing each word out. "We didn't tell you because...the less you know about the future, the better. I'm sorry."

Remus felt lightheaded. Grandchildren. "I don't understand," he blurted. "What does it mean? They - why would their dad want to - James' son? Why - ohgod," Remus breathed, realisation hitting him. He felt like all air had been punched out of him. "Is James dead?"

"I can't answer your questions," Teddy answered, sounding like the words were causing him pain. "You can't know about your future, the consequences -"

"But they said," Remus cut in, licking his lips. His mouth felt dry. "They said their dad would want to know - why not James? He - he must not be around anymore, or they'd say their granddad would want to know, right?" There was a pleading tone in his voice, but Remus didn't care, couldn't let himself feel embarrassed.

Sirius' fingers were digging into his arm so hard it hurt.

"Is he?" he asked, his voice nearly a whisper.

Remus found he didn't want to hear the answer, whatever the answer would be - didn't want to have to face their mortality and the cruel fact that one of their best friends was dead, even if this was the future and he could've died from old age, from an accident, from anything - he would still be dead and Remus didn't want to know.

Teddy took a deep breath, but he looked them in the eyes. He opened his mouth, but closed it again. Remus noticed he was holding on to the sofa so hard that his knuckles were aching. Teddy nodded minutely, and everything Remus had been holding on to, collapsed.

"No," Sirius said, loud and harsh, and Remus grabbed his arm, kept him in place when it looked like he was going to bolt.

"It - it doesn't matter, Sirius. We can't...."

Sirius only shook his head fiercely, swallowing hard and trying to push Remus away. "When?" he croaked, but Teddy shook his head.

"I can't tell you. You already know too much. It...it doesn't matter, anyway. When, I mean. Or how. It's best you don't know. You can't...prevent it. And if you tried..." Teddy trailed off. "You could change history irrevocably."

Remus tore his eyes away from Sirius and looked at Teddy, trying to find a clue in his face. There was none. There was just sadness.

"So." Remus cleared his throat. "Were we going to look at this?" He pointed at the aged scrolls, feeling a lump form in his throat. He swallowed, trying to suppress it. Sirius was silent beside him, but he was pressed tightly up against Remus' side.

"Let's." Teddy summoned a muggle notebook and a pencil. "Let's start from the beginning? This one appears to be page one, am I right?" He spread out the papers on the coffee table.

*

Teddy's head was pounding. He and Remus, with a word thrown in by Sirius every now and then, had gone over the old papers meticulously, copying over every word until they had a clean, readable version. James hadn't returned yet and it was getting dark and they were hungry; Teddy had been listening to not only his own stomach growl, but also the boys' for a while now.

"I say we get some food and stick a movie on the TV," he said. "I need a break from runes and equations. How about you?"

The boys nodded, but didn't say anything. Sirius was looking rather glum and Remus looked exhausted.

Working with him had been exciting, in a way. It'd been hard to believe that the teenager with the soft voice and faint scars would grow into the man who became his father, and that he was sitting right there, wearing a worn jumper and jeans with holes in them. He was smart and his handwriting was neat, but firm and slightly loopier than it'd been in his later years. Teddy knew his handwriting, had studied it closely in the letters exchanged between him and Sirius. They hadn't started writing them yet, or maybe those just hadn't been preserved - he didn't know.

Looking at them now, he couldn't quite tell what their status was. They were very close, that much was obvious, and he thought he'd caught a fond look or two pass between them, but... he didn't know. And they were from a different time, a time where one couldn't be as open about that sort of thing as he and James could...

"What's a TV?" Sirius asked and Teddy caught one of those looks that he'd seen Remus give him.

"You know what a TV is. My mum has one. It's got moving pictures in it, sort of." He smiled and suddenly it was as if Teddy's anxiety drained away.

Teddy had no memories of his father, having been so young when he'd died, but in that very moment he was sure that his father had smiled at him like that when he'd been a baby.

"Yep," Teddy said and turned it on with a flick of his wand. "The movies are in the cabinet over there. Pick one while I call for take away. There's all sorts of stuff."

The boys got up and went to explore the cabinet. Teddy watched them for a few seconds, but then went to find the phone.

Half an hour later, he'd put the papers away, the food had arrived and the movie had just started. They ate in tired silence. The boys were fascinated - Sirius more so than Remus - but despite that, they fell asleep in the sofa before the movie ended.

Teddy left them and just quietly tidied up and put the leftovers into the fridge. He was throwing away the empty containers when he heard the front door slowly open and close.

"James?" he called out softly. There was no reply, but shortly after James appeared in the doorway. He looked tired. "You're late," Teddy said, not knowing what else to say to him.

"Yeah," James admitted, raking his hand through his hair. "I went to Nick's after dealing with Al and Lily. We had a few beers."

"What did he say?"

James let his hand drop, looking at Teddy. "He didn't tell me to dump you, if that's what you're asking," he answered eventually.

"No?" Teddy tried to sound light, but he just sounded strained and exhausted. He was wide awake now that James was back, his anxiety thrumming through his body, but he was also weary.

"No," James confirmed. "But we need to talk, Teddy. We can't..." he drew in a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly. "He said something, and I think he's right." He looked into Teddy's eyes. "He said you're pushing me away. I...I saw you do the same thing to your exes. Why...why are you pushing me away?" He ran his hand through his hair again, then rubbed his face, giving Teddy a scared and frustrated look. "I thought. I thought I was different. From the others."

"You are." Teddy swallowed, suddenly scared to the core of his bones. It was true, and it stung, because he had been pushing James away, but he couldn't explain why. He wasn't sure he understood it himself.

"Then why are you pushing me away? Teddy?"

The physical distance between them couldn't have been more than a metre, maybe one and a half, but the gap between them was so large, that Teddy didn't think he could jump over it. He hated this distance, hated that they'd come to this, and he wanted to touch him, to hug him, to feel him in his arms and close the gap, but he didn't think he could. He wanted James to come closer, prove that the gap wasn't there, that it was only there in his head, but James didn't move.

And when Teddy didn't answer, James' face closed and he turned away. Teddy took the step then, but it was of no use - James was gone, had closed him off.

There was a light on in the bathroom, but no sounds from within. Teddy waited for what seemed like half an eternity, but James didn't emerge. He woke the boys, who got up groggily, almost stumbling into the guestroom. Teddy saw to it that they got into bed and when he closed the door behind him, the lights in the bathroom were off.

James had curled up into a small ball on the side of the bed, as close to the edge as he possibly could. Teddy looked at him for a long while, then slowly undressed and crawled into bed, rolling onto his side and watching James' back in the dark. He was very, very still, and Teddy knew he wasn't asleep.

*

The bed was empty when he woke up. He'd harbored no hopes of Sunday snuggles or sex, but he was nonetheless disappointed. It was cold and he felt faintly hungover, as if the stress from the previous few days hadn't quite left his body.

No one was in the bathroom so he had a quick shower before he ventured into the kitchen. James was there, back to the door, frying up sausages. Teddy could feel a stray drop of water trickle down his neck, chilling him.

"I'm afraid," he admitted, his voice ringing out in the kitchen as clearly as if he'd shouted it. He cleared his throat. "I'm afraid, Jamie. I've got no other explanation for you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

James' didn't show any indication he'd heard him and just continued his cooking. "What are you afraid of?" he asked softly. There was an odd quality to his voice and Teddy knew without a doubt that he'd been crying.

"I don't know -"

"Bullshit." James turned around and Teddy nearly took a step back, so wild and angry did he look. His eyes were red-rimmed and his jaw was set. He was also wielding a spatula. "That's bullshit, Ted, and you know it. You can't keep making these vague excuses and expecting me to accept them. So you've manned up enough to admit you're afraid. Now find your goddamn balls and tell me what the fuck you're afraid of. Want to fix this?" James waved the spatula between them. "Then help me fix it!"

Teddy gulped. James was staring straight at him, red-rimmed eyes blazing. "I'm afraid," he said, the words just tumbling out, "of happiness." He clenched his fists by his sides, trying to ignore the weight in his stomach, on his shoulders, the weight of James' stare on him. "I'm afraid that if I don't push you away, then you'll push me away, I'm afraid that you'll see me for who I am, that you'll stop loving me, afraid that I'm not enough for you, or good enough, afraid that I can't love you enough, afraid that you love me too much, I'm afraid - I'm afraid." He stopped, having run out of breath and words.

"Is this in any way related to your daddy issues?" James asked. "Because if it is, I'm going in there," he pointed the spatula towards the guest bedroom, "and I'm going to kick him. Tell me this stems from your daddy issues, your whole feelings of abandonment thing, and I swear to Merlin and his fucking balls I'll do it."

"I..." Teddy glanced at the spatula. It was oily and the sausages were starting to smell burnt. "Will you kick me if I say I don't know?" he asked tentatively.

James let out a strangled laugh. It was more like a sob than anything else. "For fuck's sake, Teddy, you can't - you can't keep doing this. I can't deal with this, you - you have to figure out what the hell's wrong with you. Why are you running away? Why do you keep pushing people away? You don't even have any friends! They're all gone!" James drew in a shaky breath, steadying himself. "And what about us? Me? Al and Lily? Dad? The rest of your goddamn family? Is your goal in life to die alone?"

Teddy didn't know what to say, what to do. James' words stung, they hurt, but they hurt the more for the truth in them. "No," he eventually said, the word hardly more than a whisper. "I don't want to die alone. I don't want to be alone at all, I..." he looked up. James was trembling; his jaw was clenched so fiercely the veins in his neck stood out. "I don't fit in," Teddy eventually said. "I don't have a family of my own."

"Bullshit," James started but Teddy cut him off.

"My family died in the war. My grandmother died fifteen years ago. I don't have a family, James, I have relatives, and I'm not even related to your family -"

"That doesn't make us any less your family!" James shouted. "Bloody hell, Teddy, how -"

"Maybe I'd have had a sister or brother of my own if my parents hadn't decided to leave me behind and go die in the fucking war!" Teddy shouted. "Or hell, I don't know, maybe we could've just been us! But we're not and I'm just me and I don't have anyone and I don't fit in anywhere and I'm not going to, going to keep forcing myself onto others because no matter how much I try, I never belong anyway!"

They were both breathing hard, staring each other down.

"Well, that was enlightening," James eventually said, then turned around and picked up his wand. He vanished the burnt sausages, but the smell still hung in the air. "So, this is how you really feel, is it?" His tone was humourless. "You don't have anyone?" He shrugged and put a fresh batch of sausages onto the frying pan. "What does that make me? The past three years? Nothing?"

"I understand if you don't want to...if you still want to leave me," Teddy started, feeling like absolute shit. James rounded on him once more, this time actually poking the spatula at his chest.

"Don't you fucking dare give up on me, Theodore Remus Lupin," he snapped. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm fighting for you, though the heavens only know why because you're sure as fucking hell not making me want to, right now."

"What do you want me to do?" Teddy burst out. "I don't know what you want, James! You say you can't do this, you say you can't handle this, and now you say you're fighting for me? I don't understand you, are you leaving me or are you not leaving me? What do you want?"

"Right now I want you to sit the fuck down and think about what you just told me," James said icily. "I want you to think about it and I want you to consider what, exactly, I am to you -"

"You're my everything," Teddy said desperately.

"You've a fucking funny way of showing it." James glared at him. "Shut up. You are going to think about what your fucking problem is and then you're going to find a way to solve it. And if you can't do it yourself I'm going to drag you to a Mind Healer and leave you there until you've managed to sort out your fucking head."

"Okay," Teddy said and sat down. James transferred the sausages to a plate and then cracked eggs onto the pan, perhaps a little more fiercely than he had to.

Everything about James' posture said he was furious. His shoulders were stiff and his movements were jerky and rushed, as if he had a lot of pent up energy which he couldn't quite control.

And he had every right to be furious. Teddy could see the tension in James' back and knew that he'd be sore and probably get a headache, and he wanted to get up and massage his shoulders and his neck and his temples. He'd done it often enough, when James had been stressed over his dissertation or his lectures or the piles of papers he had to mark, but he didn't know if James wanted him to.

He didn't know if James even wanted to be touched right now.

"Ahem. Is it safe for us to enter the kitchen now?"

Teddy looked up to see Sirius and Remus stand in the doorway, looking rather uncertain.

"Only, we heard arguing, and...well..." Remus said, trailing off. He glanced between Teddy and James.

"Come on in," James said, not turning around. He didn't sound as snappish as he'd done a few minutes earlier. "If one of you can get the coffee maker going it would be nice."

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," Teddy said and stood up. He cast a glance towards James, but his back was still turned. The sausage plate was now also piled high with eggs and there were tomatoes and mushrooms on the pan. Teddy opened a cupboard and took out a can of beans and set down silently next to him. "We...well. Not fantastic timing for house guests, I admit..."

"I've heard worse. My family is crazy." Sirius shrugged and poked the coffee maker. Remus gave him an exasperated look and took to showing him how it was done.

"Did you...hear everything?" Teddy asked, pausing halfway to the mugs cupboard.

"Not really," Remus answered evasively. "Just the really loud bits. Uhm. About you not having a family. Sorry about that...it was difficult to shut out."

"Oh." Teddy sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"The food's ready," James said brusquely, transferring the sausage-and-egg plate, the tomatoes-and-mushrooms plate and the frying pan with the beans still in it, onto the table. "Eat up. I'm going out."

"Aren't you eating with us?" Teddy asked, setting down a stack of plates. James didn't reply, only gave Teddy a look and left the kitchen. "James!" He cursed and followed him out into the entrance hall, leaving the bewildered boys in the kitchen.

"Please leave me alone, Teddy." James' fists were clenched tight and the tension radiated off him.

"You have to eat something," Teddy reasoned. "You've got that lecture tomorrow to prepare for and you need to eat and..."

"I'm not exactly feeling hungry," James replied, turning his face a little. James had a beautiful profile.

Teddy reached out and touched him. To his surprise, James didn't flinch but rather moved a little closer, so Teddy did the only thing he could think of and wrapped his arms around James from behind. He buried his nose in his hair. He'd been craving the touch, but there was nothing blissful about it now. James was still tense and Teddy was afraid.

"I want you to know," Teddy whispered, "that I love you so much it hurts. I'm scared because it hurts, it's a strange ache deep inside and when I look at you I feel it, and I'm scared if you leave me, it'll hurt even more."

"Teddy." James spoke softly, tiredly. Teddy could hear the tears in his voice. "I love you too, you know. But you can't fix this with just words."

"I know." Teddy swallowed the lump in his throat. "I know I can't. But it's a start, right?"

"I suppose." James let out a long sigh, moving his arms to put them over Teddy's. "But you know, sometimes love isn't enough. Sometimes two people just don't..."

"Don't say that." Teddy's heart seized and he squeezed James closer. "I'll...I'll try. I don't want to push you away, I don't... all those things I said. I don't know how to feel differently. I don't have a family."

"I know," James said, sounding hollow. "And I'm not enough, is that it?"

"No." Teddy turned him around, needing to see his eyes. He held his face, thumbs stroking away the moisture on James' cheeks. "Don't say that. Don't even think that. You're...hell, Jamie, you're more than I ever asked for. No one ever measured up to you."

James' blinked rapidly and his lip quivered, but Teddy kept looking straight into his eyes. It was dim, but he could see them clearly, even the light freckles on his cheeks.

"What I want," Teddy said, trying to speak through the lump in his throat, without crying, but James was crying silently and it just - he couldn't help it. "Goddammit, Jamie. I want you. I want a family with you. If it's just you and me, then so be it. But I want...us. and maybe someday, one or two little sproglets of our own, okay? I want that. I want you to understand that, that's what I want, but the problem is, Jamie, the problem isn't you." He choked, hastily wiping his cheeks with the back of his hand. "It's me, okay? I don't feel that I can do that, that I'll ever be adequate, ever be what you want or need me to...be a proper father or anything, because..." He swallowed hard. "Because I'm afraid I'll die. I'm afraid I'll leave you behind and the sproglets and be no better than -" He cut himself off. "I'm so sorry, Jamie. I never wanted you to think it was you. You're, you're everything to me. I just don't believe I can be that, too."

For a long time, James didn't reply, only sniffed and let the tears roll and Teddy watched him, swiped his thumbs over his cheeks and then his own. "Sometimes," James eventually said, voice thick, "you can be so incredibly stupid."

Teddy blinked. Then he smiled, albeit ruefully. "I gathered that much."

"Took you long enough."

"I...are we okay? For now?"

James hesitated, then nodded ever so slightly. "Yeah. For now. You still have a bucketload of issues to sort out."

"Yeah," Teddy agreed and then brought James' face closer for a kiss. It was wet and slightly salty, but also warm and somehow promising. They'd be all right in the end. "Come on then. Let's get some breakfast."

*

When Teddy and James returned to the kitchen, it was obvious they'd both been crying. Remus looked at his plate, trying not to blush or in any other way reveal how uncomfortable the whole situation was. Sirius was quiet next to him, which was either a miracle or proof that even Sirius knew tact, sometimes.

"Apologies," James said, taking the seat opposite Sirius. Teddy slid into the chair next to him.

"No need to apologise," Remus murmured, spearing a tomato on his fork. "This is your home."

"Still." James poured himself coffee.

The silence stretched between the four of them. Teddy kept shooting sideways looks at James and James barely ate anything. Even then, some of the tension had leaked away. James looked tired and Teddy looked hopeful, yet somewhat anxious still.

Remus tried not to stare at him. He had heard what James had called him earlier. It couldn't be a coincidence, not with James being Prongs' grandson and not with how readily they'd both recognised him and Sirius. If Teddy really was what Remus thought he might be, it was no wonder...and the more he looked at him, the more he recognised himself in him. They shared a similar face structure, though Teddy's cheekbones seemed to be a lot higher than his own and he thought Teddy's eye colour and his own was the same shade of blue. The hair he couldn't pass judgement on; it changed too much for that. Just this morning it'd already been two shades of blue and it looked like it was heading into purple territory now.

It was unsettling. This whole thing was unsettling.

"Can we ask you some questions?" Sirius asked, a tad louder than necessary. James startled and Teddy merely moved his gaze from James to Sirius. "I mean," he coughed, "it's just. This is just weird." He gestured between them. "I for one would like to know why you seem to know an awful lot about us." He crossed his arms over his chest.

Remus kicked him under the table. "Sirius!" he hissed.

"I want to know," Sirius reiterated.

"Well," James started, sighing. "My granddad is your friend James, so...we grew up with stories..."

"Just how much do you know about us?" Sirius demanded and Remus kicked him again. "I'm just sayin', I think it's suspicious."

"We know you're an animagus," Teddy suddenly said. Remus' heart plummeted to his stomach and by the look on Sirius' face, so had his. "We know who married whom and who didn't and who had kids and what their names are and we know how the first war ended and how the second war began and ended. It's all in the history books." Teddy gave Sirius a firm look. "But we can't tell you what we know about your future."

Sirius shifted in his chair. "You...know I'm an animagus?" He asked, uncertainly. "That's - no one knows. No one."

"No one knew until after the war ended," James explained. "When the history books were written and rewritten."

"Oh."

"Look, I don't know what you're thinking about this all, but it doesn't matter. What we need to focus on right now is how we get you back to your own time. This isn't your time. You can't stay here."

"But what happens if we do?" Remus asked, unable to keep quiet. It'd been nagging at him and logically, he knew the answer. The future could simply cease to exist - with them in it - if it was really bad, but it could also get contorted and twisted and plain damaged.

The apprehensive look on Teddy's face was answer enough. Them being here, in the wrong time - it was the bad sort.

"If only we could get a message to James," Remus began, knowing it was futile. "Then maybe he could yank us back."

"Maybe we can get a message to him," Teddy said. "Or maybe we can use your method to send you back. There are many different ways to travel in time. We only have to make sure we do it right, okay? And if it turns out your calculations are...let's say, a little off, I should be able to fix them. Or, if all else fails, use a ministry approved method of timetravelling."

"Why didn't we just do that to begin with?" Sirius interjected. "We were in the ministry, you know. You could've just put us on the next scheduled trip back in time right away."

James actually smiled and Teddy shook his head. "No, not without letting them know about you."

"And that'd be bad why? Apart from the excuses you fed us then? Testing and blah?"

Teddy glanced at James, who gave him a small nod. "The two of you are important historical figures," Teddy said slowly. "If the ministry got wind of you, then the public would too, and...well. I'm not sure that'd be a good thing."

Remus looked him in the eye and understood what it was Teddy was trying to say without saying it. "We're dead," he stated. Sirius jerked in his seat but Remus didn't take his eyes off Teddy, who looked resigned and sad.

"Yes," he said. "Had your adult selves still been around, perhaps it wouldn't have been as big a deal. I don't know. I can't predict what would've happened."

"Dead?" Sirius' eyes were large and there was something stubborn in the set of his jaw. "So it's not just James who's dead, huh? We're dead too?"

"I'm sorry," Teddy said. "I really am."

The tone in Teddy's voice was what made Remus believe him.

"When?" Sirius demanded but Remus put his hand on his shoulder to hold him back.

"Don't," he said. "It'll make no difference."

"Fuck this shit." Sirius stood up forcefully, but Remus followed him.

"Sirius!" he tried to hold on to Sirius' arm, but he jerked away. "Sirius," Remus tried again, more firmly. "Don't -"

"Don't what?" Sirius snorted, crossing his arms again. He was scared more than he was pissed off, the tell-tale signs being the way his eyes flicked back and forth, never settling on one point. "There's nothing I can do!"

"We'll get back. Listen to me, we will get back."

Sirius quieted, but he didn't calm. A nerve in his jaw jumped. Remus kept his eyes on him, trying to convey - what? He didn't feel very confident himself, but he knew that to keep Sirius from hysteria, he had to be calm. He had to.

"All right," Sirius said, looking at Remus. There was something truly unhappy about him and Remus wanted to take it away. "All right then."

"What I think you need," Remus said carefully, "is a good run with Padfoot. Get some fresh air, roll around in some mud or something, try not to kill any cats, that sort of thing."

There was a tiny smile on Sirius' lips. "And then what? You going to give me a bath, Moony?" He raised an eyebrow, the smile stretching into a wide grin.

"If you want to." Remus smiled back fondly, if somewhat exasperatedly. "If you absolutely must, that is."

"Well, can we?" Sirius asked, turning to face Teddy and James, who looked wholly unprepared for Sirius' sudden turn on them.

"Uhm..." James looked out the window. It was sunny out. "Well, I've got a lecture to prepare for, but...we can all go to the park? I can bring my stuff and you can bring the time notes?"

Sirius shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

"I'll pack a picnic basket," Teddy said and vanished into the kitchen. "James, do we have a picnic basket?" he called out a few minutes later.

"Just transfigure one!" James called back, picking up a stack of books from a desk near the balcony door and putting them in a messenger bag.

"Where are we?" Remus asked, realising that he had no clue where in all of the British Isles they were.

James looked up from his messenger bag, hands full of parchment scrolls. "Oh. Newcastle. Sorry. We're on the outskirts. There's a magical department at the university, which is why we live here. I'm a PhD student in the Charms Department," he explained. "I'm scheduled to hand in my final dissertation in November."

"Really?" Remus lit up.

"No," Sirius said. "No, Moony. I don't allow it. You can talk science later, I want to go out. Now."

*

The sun had started descending and the shadows had grown long. James was still writing notes and reading books, but he seemed to have finished his notes for the lecture long ago, and had been working on something else. Sirius, as Padfoot, had tired of running and chasing leaves and had spent the last two hours lying on the blanket, head in Remus' lap.

And Teddy had been pulling calculations and runes apart all day, pausing only to look up every now and then and grab a bite of food or to ask Remus a question.

"So," he began, eyeing his notes critically. Several parts were underlined in red and other parts were circled in black. "I found out what went wrong. See here, this bit?"

Remus scooted closer to have a look. Padfoot whined, but shuffled along.

"You harnessed the earth magic of the Lewisian Gneiss to power your projection into the future," he said, drawing a circle around a series of runes. "The problem here is that, one, you weren't specific enough in regards to the earth magic and two, as a result, your numbers were too high. See, Lewisian Gneiss as a whole is too unstable for this sort of thing. What you did was effectively creating a fishing net with large netting and casting it out, letting the small fish slip through and catching the sharks, which are all too powerful for you to handle. It's...it's a miracle you made it here in the first place..."

"What could've happened?" Remus asked, his hand finding Padfoot's head and scratching him behind the ears.

"You could've been lost in time and space. Or shot so far into the future that there mightn't have been anything at all. I don't know." Teddy shrugged awkwardly. "You're pretty lucky you're here. You didn't even account for your own body mass in the spell. I have no idea how you're not -well."

"Oh."

Padfoot whined and Remus' fingers tightened in his fur.

"Anyway," Teddy continued, briskly. James paused his scribbles to listen in. "We have two options to fix this. Our first option is to tie the spell to a more specific type of Gneiss. I'm not hundred per cent sure which type we want, but I think our best bet would be bronzite. It's not overly powerful but it's stable and has a steady power output. The other option is to adjust the spell to use only a specific amount of power, regardless of the power input."

"Okay..." Hope sprang up in Remus' chest. "So...does that mean we can...go home now?"

"Not right away," Teddy admitted, looking up from his papers. "I'm sorry. I'm taking this stuff into work tomorrow to run some simulations, see if it's safe. If it looks good, we'll do it. You'll get to go home." He looked between Remus and Padfoot and then gave them a small smile.

"Let's pack up and go home," James said, standing up and stretching his legs. "And let's find out what to do about tomorrow while we walk, yeah?"

"What do you mean?" Teddy asked and James gave him a look. Remus thought it looked affectionate - despite the fact they'd not spoken to each other all day since breakfast.

"I've got to be at uni half the day tomorrow. How long are you going to be at work for?"

Teddy paused for thinking, gathering his papers in the meantime. "I'm not sure," he said slowly. "That depends...if I go in at nine, I think I can run the simulations and be done with them around five...maybe before, if they turn out simple enough. I can't say for sure yet."

"Mhh," James shoved a book into his messenger bag. "All right." He looked at Remus, who'd stood up, and at Padfoot. "You boys, would be all right with being alone in the flat from one to five?"

"I suppose." Remus shrugged. Padfoot yapped. "We don't really have any other options?"

"I'm afraid I can't take you into work," Teddy said. "I'd tell you to go listen in on James' lectures, but that goes strictly against the laws of timetravelling. You know, advanced research, that sort of thing..."

"All right." Remus put his hand on Padfoot's head, petting him absentmindedly. "We'll...try not to get too bored."

They walked back to the flat in silence. Padfoot ran ahead of them, jumping every which way, occasionally darting into alleys. Remus didn't bother running after him or calling him back, but instead walked with his own thoughts.

A few steps behind him walked Teddy and James, this strange couple whose life they'd fallen into. Perhaps not so strange, but bad timing - yeah, there was that. The really strange thing was how much they reminded him of himself and Sirius.

They were all four vastly different people, but the way Teddy was dancing around James, hesitant, desperate, hurt - it could've been him. Remus thought he was less obvious about his feelings for Sirius, mainly in part because there was no relationship between them. They were friends. Very good friends, but friends all the same, and as much as Remus would've liked to take it further, he was...scared.

He saw that same fear in Teddy's eyes when he looked at James.

The soft murmur of their voices drifted past him, carried in the light evening breeze. Ahead of him, Padfoot came racing back, tongue lolling out of his mouth. Remus smiled.

"You are going straight into the bathtub when we come back," he said, taking in his muddied paws and fur and the leaves clinging to his belly. Padfoot yapped. "Mhh."

It was easy to forget that he wasn't just a dog. Sometimes Remus chose to forget on purpose.

James let them into the flat and Remus sent Padfoot towards the bathroom, then turned to James. "Uhm, not to be a bother, but... Er. Could we borrow some clothes? These ones are getting a bit...well..."

"Oh! Of course. It's no fun wearing the same clothes several days in a row, is it. I'll find something clean for you to wear."

Remus nodded and followed Padfoot into the bathroom. He was sitting in the bathtub, grinning from ear to ear. Remus turned on the water and Padfoot dove under the spray, delighted. A little later, he jumped up and caught Remus' shirt between his teeth and pulled.

"Oi!" Remus resisted, but Padfoot pulled harder and suddenly Remus lost his footing and flew headfirst into the tub, ending up in a tangle of dog and limbs. "Sirius, what the hell?" he cried.

There was a loud knock on the door. "Everything okay in there?" James opened the door and stuck his head through the opening carefully. Upon seeing the two of them in the tub, Sirius still in Padfoot form and grinning in the way only dogs can grin, and Remus glaring at him, he burst out laughing. "All right then." He held out a pile of clothes. "I'll just leave this here, yeah?" He dropped the pile onto the counter. "Teddy's cooking. Come eat when you're finished."

The door closed with a low click.

"Bloody hell," Remus muttered.

"Blushing suits you," Sirius said and Remus yelped. Sirius was still grinning, but it was now a very human grin.

"Merlin's fucking balls, Sirius!" Remus pushed him and Sirius fell over with a laugh. "You scared me, you fuckwit!"

Sirius chuckled. "Was worth it." He didn't move but to put his hands behind his head. His t-shirt rode up ever so slightly. The tub was crammed as it was, but it was just large enough that he could lie down flat, his legs threaded between Remus'.

"Idiot," Remus muttered, but he couldn't take his eye off the pale stretch of skin. Sirius was soaked through, his t-shirt and jeans clinging to his body. There were patches of mud on them still, and a few stray leaves were either floating in the shallow pool of water or sticking to the sides of the tub. "Are you just going to lie there?"

"You could join me," Sirius suggested. "The water's warm. It's quite cosy down here." He winked.

"I'm getting out." Remus pushed Sirius' left leg off him and attempted to get onto his feet. Sirius poked his foot at Remus and succeeded in sending him flying again, this time halfway on top of Sirius. "Twat," Remus muttered.

"No thanks," Sirius countered. "I meant it, you know. It's cosy down here."

Remus raised his head to look at him, brow furrowed. The spray from the shower was now directed at his head and upper back - the trying not to get more soaked than he already was thing, wasn't really working. "What?" He shook his head, not waiting for an answer, and pushed himself off Sirius.

"Oof," Sirius said and Remus moved his hand off his stomach. "Remus -"

"What?" Remus sighed, looking at him. Sirius was staring right at him and there was something in his eyes. It was fear, and it wasn't just fear, it was the same kind of fear that Teddy had in his eyes when he looked at James.

He swallowed hard, looking down, but that was a bad idea, because that meant looking at Sirius' chest and the wet t-shirt, oh look at that, it'd ridden up some more. He flicked his eyes up again and Sirius was still looking at him. He was awfully still and awfully quiet.

Remus cleared his throat. "I'll just..."

"You can if you want," Sirius said, tentatively. His eyes were large and frightened. "I mean, we don't have to, it was just, a thought, really and I don't know, maybe you don't want...? I thought, I don't know what I thought, I just thought that maybe..."

Sirius lips were moving, but Remus wasn't sure he was understanding a single word he was saying. He looked at the strip of stomach and how the t-shirt clung to his skin. He touched him. He put his hand flat on Sirius' stomach and pushed the t-shirt up further. He felt one of Sirius' hands curling around his neck and when he looked at him, he saw his pupils were blown wide.

"Forgive me if I'm wrong," Sirius said and brought their mouths together.

The kiss was messy and strange and Remus thought maybe there wasn't enough tongue or maybe too much? He was getting breathless and he'd never been this scared in his life.

"Air," he said, when they broke apart, panting. "I..." He gulped. Sirius was staring at him, lips moist and eyes wide.

"Boys! Dinner's ready in ten minutes!" It was Teddy's voice, muffled through the wall, and Remus startled.

"I'll just - I'll get changed," he said, but didn't move. "You. Uhm. Mud in your hair."

"Right."

"Okay, changing now, I -" Remus scrambled up and out of the tub, dripping water everywhere. He turned his back to Sirius as he stripped and found a towel quick to rub most of the water off. He tied it around his waist and glanced over his shoulder at Sirius.

Sirius had stripped out of his clothes as well and had appropriated someone's shampoo in order to wash his hair. Remus blushed and turned away again, even if the temptation to watch Sirius was pretty big. Instead he looked through the pile of clothes James had left for them picking out a pair of jeans and t-shirt for Sirius and a pair of jeans and a jumper for himself. There was underwear too and it looked clean enough, so he put it on.

"Sirius?" Remus resolutely did not look.

"Yeah?"

He could hear the shower being turned off. "I'm dressed and...well. I'll just go? So you can dress in peace and...uhm. Your clothes are by the sink."

"...sure."

"All right, then." Remus bolted. He knew his cheeks were as red as they were hot.

He took a few deep breaths on the other side of the door before he went into the kitchen. Teddy had his back to the door and the stiffness of it lead Remus to think he wasn't quite happy. A quick glance at James confirmed his suspicion; he was rubbing his temples, looking for everything in the world as if he wanted to break something.

They'd apparently had another argument.

He couldn't wait to get back home.

*

Remus was curled up in the window, forehead resting on the cold glass. It had been raining outside, but now the first rays of sun were just breaching the cloud cover, occasionally lighting up everything. Teddy stopped in the doorway but it seemed that Remus had heard him arrive.

"I'm going to lose everything. Everyone," he said tonelessly. On the sill next to him was a copy of Teddy's old history book and Teddy cursed inwardly for not having had the forethought to remove it from the bookshelf.

"Not everything," he said carefully, stepping into the room. Remus only shrugged.

He looked so small, then, as if his height had folded in on itself; a little broken and very helpless.

"You weren't supposed to read that," Teddy then said and picked up the book. He leaned against the wall. "How much did you read?"

"Up to the part where Sirius," he swallowed, "betrayed us all. Killed all our friends and, and -" He drew in a deep, shaky breath. "I can't believe it."

Teddy sighed. The damage had already been done, he thought, and James would be furious with him, and he would be breaking about seven laws, but he couldn't just - he had to say something. "He didn't betray you," Teddy said in a low voice. "Skip the chapter about Harry and read the one about the Second Order of the Phoenix. He didn't betray you."

Remus shook his head. "If he didn't, who then? Someone did, and this book says he was the secret-keeper -"

"Peter Pettigrew was the secret-keeper," Teddy interrupted. He opened the book on the chapter in question and flicked a few pages. "Here." He handed the book to Remus, who took the book with a raised eyebrow and a glimmer of hope in his eyes. He read.

"Peter betrayed us," he said slowly. "Peter. Not Sirius..." He shook his head. "And it says here Sirius escaped Azkaban..."

"Look, this is your future and the potential damage you could cause to it by knowing it..." Teddy trailed off, unable to find the words.

"I reckoned you'd obliviate us before sending us back anyway." Remus shrugged. "Can I read the rest of this?"

"How about I tell you how it went?"

"All right." Remus closed the book and put it on the sill, then looked up, features drawn in worry.

Teddy shook his head, running his hand through this hair. It was currently an off-shade of green and he turned it slowly into a nice shade of brown while thinking. "First thing you should know, maybe, is that Sirius broke out of Azkaban to avenge James and Lily Potter. He wanted to kill Peter. Proving his innocence only came second, from what Harry has told me - Harry is James Potter' son." He paused here, looking at Remus. "You know how my James is your James' grandson? Harry is his father, your James' son. Harry is also my godfather."

Remus nodded. "I know that much. Well, not the part about him being your godfather, but...the book said about Harry...I'm assuming James named him after his dad."

"Yeah," Teddy confirmed. "My James' full name is James Sirius Potter." Teddy smiled wryly. "Harry named him after his father and Sirius because Sirius...I don't remember if the book says, but he's Harry's godfather."

"Yeah." Remus nodded. Then he shrugged. "This is so weird." Remus rubbed his eyes. "It's one thing to read in the books that James married Lily and had a son, it's...wow. I'm not even used to thinking that James is his grandson, I mean...they don't look alike and it's easy to...forget."

"I understand." Teddy smiled ruefully. "This is a bit weird for us too, you know."

They were silent for a short minute.

"Anyway," Teddy continued briskly, snapping them out of it. "Sirius entire family was dead and gone at that point, except for the Black sisters. They'd all married, so Sirius was sole heir to Grimmauld Place and the Black fortunes. The Order set up headquarters there eventually. You lived there with him when you weren't on missions for the Order -"

"I lived with him?" Remus interrupted. A slight blush crept up his cheeks. "Like - like you and James live together?"

Teddy opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Well..." he cleared his throat. "Not according to the history books, but...er..."

"But?" Remus prompted. Teddy bit his lip.

"I have an old box of letters. Correspondences between Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Look, I have seen the way you two look at each other, so... You were lovers, for many years, and... your love was legendary." Teddy smiled softly. "At least in the family. We never published the letters."

"I don't know what to say..." Remus shook his head. He was very pale.

"You don't have to say anything. It's a lot to take in, yeah?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah." he shook his head. "Me and Sirius?"

"You and Sirius," Teddy agreed. "You already knew that, didn't you?"

"Well..." His cheeks coloured and he shrugged.

"You're already together." It wasn't a question, but Remus blushed up to his roots and Teddy had to hold back laughter.

It was strange, really. It was his father, sitting here, but it was also a teenager. The age difference between them was nearly enough that Remus could've been his son, and right now it felt like it. Or maybe more like he was a younger cousin.

"Look, James and Sirius are bound to be back soon, wherever they went. Want to help me make dinner?"

"Groceries," Remus replied. Then: "Sure." He slid off the window sill and Teddy put the book back into the bookshelf, but when he turned, Remus was looking at him. There was something determined about him, a look in his eyes that made Teddy's heart jump momentarily. "There's something that makes me wonder. How come you have the letters?"

Teddy faltered. "Maybe I'll tell you later. I think you've had enough for today."

Remus raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything and followed Teddy into the kitchen. They worked together in silence for a while.

"What did you mean when you said I didn't lose everything?" Remus finally asked. "As I see it, no matter which way I turn it around, Sirius is still going to Azkaban and James and Lily are still going to die and I'll still be alone."

"I meant, uhm..." Teddy frowned at the mincemeat. "Sirius came back from Azkaban, didn't he?"

"I suppose...after how long?"

"Twelve years."

Remus drew in a hissy breath. "Fuck this," he said angrily, whacking at the carrots. "Fuck this stupid life. So I get what, five years of bliss and then nothing? For twelve years?"

"It's not that simple," Teddy said but Remus' lips had gone thin and there were red blotches on his cheeks. The carrots were turning into uneven, mutilated bits.

"I hate the war. I hate this stupid war and-"

"The war ended thirty years ago," Teddy reminded him. "You helped end it. You're a war hero."

"I'm no sodding war hero!" Remus cried, flinging the knife into the sink. "I'm not even out of Hogwarts! I don't want to fight in this war, I don't want it, I don't want my fucking future, I don't - I should never have come here!" His eyes were wild with something that looked like desperation and Teddy did the only thing he could think of, and clamped a hand down firmly on Remus' shoulder.

"No, you shouldn't have," he said firmly, his heart aching. "But perhaps you'll learn something from it. All right?"

"You'll obliviate us, won't you?" Remus asked and Teddy didn't know whether it was a plea or not. He was trembling.

"We'll talk about that later. Okay? I know this can't be easy for you, but you need to calm down."

"I'm trying!" Remus' fists were clenched into tight balls, and his eyes were shut. "I can't tell Sirius about any of it, can I?"

"It would do him no favours," Teddy answered. "And I'm not sure I've done you one by indulging you."

Remus breathed deeply and opened his eyes. "Can I see the letters?"

"I really don't think that's a good idea. I'm very sorry, but no."

"Why not? I wrote them, didn't I? And they're addressed to me, right? Why can't I see them?"

Teddy looked him straight into the eye. "Trust me when I say you don't want to see them. You don't know half the story and I don't think this is the way to break it to you."

Remus stared back at him, his jaw set in righteous anger. Then, suddenly, he crumpled. "I know who you are," he said, and his voice was barely a whisper.

"What?"

"You're - you're my son, aren't you?" That fierce, determined look was back in his eyes, even if he stumbled around the words. As if they were difficult to say.

Teddy didn't know what to answer.

"Your name is Theodore Remus Lupin, isn't it?" Remus asked and Teddy found himself nodding. "Fuck. Shit." Remus blinked, his lip trembled and Teddy guided him into a chair before his knees gave way. "Shit," he repeated.

"You weren't supposed to know," Teddy said, frightened and somehow elated. "It's...look, it's weird for me too, and -"

"I thought I wanted to know," Remus said and then laughed. He sounded hollow. "But now that I know, I think I was wrong. I don't want to know."

Teddy didn't know what to say. If he felt shaken, it was likely nothing to what Remus was feeling right now. What exactly did one do when faced with your adult son from the future?

He was spared trying to do something, and probably screwing up the situation more, by the arrival of James and Sirius. Sirius was in Padfoot form as he bounded into the kitchen and into Remus' lap.

"How was work?" James asked, right on his heels. "Did you run those simulations?"

"Oh. Yeah." Teddy shook his head. He'd forgotten all about the simulations. "I've a fix for us. I'll tell you about it after dinner, is that all right?" He glanced at Remus, who'd been distracted by a lapful of dog. He was making a good job of pretending to be all right, but Teddy saw right through him.

*

"I modified your formula a little," Teddy explained, spreading his notes over the kitchen table. "The simulations showed the best results from combining bronzite and norite. Norite is considerably more powerful than bronzite but also more unstable. If we put it with bronzite, this power gets...harnessed, so to speak. The bronzite consumes it and what we get is a strong and stable power source." He circled the parts in the equation with a pen.

"Sounds good," Remus said. Sirius only nodded.

"Yeah, I thought so. And here, this bit is where I added in the equations for your body mass. All we need to do, now, is to plug in your numbers, measure the power output of the norite and bronzite we've got at the ministry, plug in those numbers, and run a simulation. The simulation will help me determine the last variables - the numbers we need to get you back to your exact time. Does this make sense?"

"Yeah." Sirius nodded again. "So...we can get to go home when? Tomorrow?"

"Yes. As soon as the simulation is run. It'll be only a few minutes, now that we now exactly what we're looking for. You could be back as soon as seven in the morning."

"There's one thing," James said, suddenly. "I've been thinking about it, and...would you be interested in meeting my dad? Harry?"

"Jamie -" Teddy started, but a look from James shut him up.

"Al was right. My dad would've liked to know. He would've liked the opportunity to talk to you. And I suppose if you want, you can even meet Al and Lily properly, now that you've already...well." James shrugged, now fumbling. Remus and Sirius shot each other confused looks. "It's just. You two meant a lot to him. And I think... Well, it's up to you really. Whether you want to meet him or not."

"Harry's Prong's kid, right?" Sirius asked, looking between the three of them. Remus nodded, glancing at Teddy. There was something undefinable in his eyes and Teddy looked away. "We'll see him anyway, won't we? I mean, in our future. Later."

"Yes," Teddy confirmed.

"But he's not...seen us for a while?" Remus asked.

Teddy shook his head. "No, he hasn't. James is right. I think he would appreciate the opportunity to talk to you, even if it is for just a few minutes. Even if you're... not yet the Sirius and Remus he knew."

"I think it'd be cool," Sirius said, grinning. "We can tell Prongs after. Tell him he named his kid Harry."

"We can't do that," Remus interjected.

"But what if he only names him Harry because we told him he would?" Sirius pointed out. "What if we don't tell him and he names him Harold instead? Harold is a horrible name."

"James isn't going to name his son Harold," Remus said, exasperated.

"But what if he does -"

"Well, we'll be obliviated anyway," Remus said, which shut Sirius up. He stared darkly at the edge of the table, all cheer gone out of him.

Teddy and James exchanged looks. They hadn't discussed the obliviating part and Teddy wasn't sure he wanted to, but with everything Remus had learned it would be cruel to send him back with his memory intact.

"You don't have to decide yet whether you want to see Harry or not," James said gently. "There's time yet. You can even decide in the morning. I know Dad'll cancel all his plans in a heartbeat soon as I tell him."

"Okay, so...now what? We...wait?" Remus glanced at the clock on the wall. It was only just past eight. "Till morning? And then...we go home?"

"Yeah..."

"Can't we go now?" Sirius asked brusquely. "What are we waiting for?"

"Well..." Teddy started, then looked at James. James didn't say anything or indicate in any way that he had a say in the matter. "I suppose I wanted more time. We can go now if that's what you want. Sneak you in, set up the thing and then..."

"No," Remus said, glancing briefly at Teddy and then at his thumb. He was picking at it. "I don't want to go right now."

"What? Why?" Sirius stared at him. "You were the one who wanted to go home!"

Remus shrugged. "What's a few more hours? I..." He looked up at Sirius. "Maybe I'd like a few more hours before...you know." Something passed between them, Teddy wasn't sure what, but something in Sirius' attitude changed.

"Yes. Okay," he said. "Tomorrow, then...and...I guess I think I'd like to see Prongs' kid before we go, then. If we're not going to remember it anyway. It can't hurt, can it?" He looked between Teddy and James. "You are going to obliviate us, aren't you? We know too much, isn't that how it is?"

James nodded. Teddy didn't answer.

Silence fell heavily over the four of them.

"Let's stick on a movie," James said abruptly and stood up. "I've had it up to here with gloom and doom."

"Popcorn?" Teddy asked and the boys nodded. "Right. Then."

They got up, shuffling chairs back at the table. Teddy dug the popcorn out from the cabinets and put heat on the stove.

"Teddy?"

"Mh?" He looked up, seeing that Remus was standing by the fridge, hovering awkwardly.

"Can I talk to you? Like...not right now. Just...sometime. In the morning maybe?"

Teddy paused. He looked like there was something he was just bursting to say, something important - there was an odd shine in his eyes and his fingers were fidgeting with the hem of the jumper he'd borrowed. "Sure," he said. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know...us, I guess." He shrugged. "I...well. I don't want to do it now, I mean, Sirius would ask questions and I guess I don't want him to...it's sort of private, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand." Teddy nodded slowly. "We'll talk in the morning."

Remus nodded. "Yeah, all right."

They looked at each other, both not quite knowing what to do or say, until Teddy couldn't take it anymore and just turned his back on him, pouring the popcorn into the pot before he realised he'd forgotten the butter. When he turned back around to dash for the fridge, Remus had vanished.

*

The morning was dark and grey and it was raining heavily. Occasionally there was a flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder, and Teddy wanted to just roll over and sleep on. Instead he climbed out of bed groggily and got dressed as quietly as he could.

As quietly as he could apparently meant stubbing his toe against the bedframe and cursing.

"Teddy?" James mumbled, stirring. "Time'sit?"

"Early," Teddy answered. "Just go back to sleep." He pulled on a jumper and raked a hand through his hair, which he knew to be a rather alarming shade of pink.

He was too tired to think about changing it, so he didn't. James burrowed deeper into the covers and fell back asleep, so Teddy padded into the kitchen and put the kettle on.

Teddy stared at the kettle while waiting for it to boil, yawning and nearly dozing off. He almost didn't manage to take it off the heat before it started screeching and woke up the whole building, but he did, miraculously.

"Good morning." Remus looked, if possible, more tired than Teddy felt. He'd brought a blanket from the sofa and wrapped himself in it. Good call.

"Morning." Teddy dumped a teabag into the teapot and poured the steaming water in. "Tea?"

"Thank you."

"So..." Teddy said, bringing the pot and two mugs over to the table. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah." Remus was looking at the table. Teddy filled both mugs with tea and pushed one across to him. "I guess there was one thing I wanted to know."

"Okay." Teddy blew on the surface of his tea. It wasn't his preferred drink at all, but he'd learned that Remus liked it and he did think the strong smell of coffee would wake the other two. It would definitely wake James. Tea would have to do.

Remus cradled his mug in his hands for a few seconds, then loosened his grip and put his palms against his face. Teddy recognised the gesture from himself; when he was feeling particularly cold, he'd warm his hands on his coffee and then warm his cheeks. His heart tightened.

"Do you mind if I ask you something first?" he said, when it didn't look like Remus was going to say anything just yet. He shook his head in reply. "Why did you fight in the war?"

"I didn't fight in the war," Remus answered. "It's only the summer before my seventh year. I only turned seventeen a few months ago. I'm not fighting in the war yet."

"But you're going to."

"I suppose." He shrugged. "It'd be wrong not to."

"That the only reason?"

"I don't know. I've been trying not to think about it." He took a small sip of his tea. "Sirius says he's going to fight in the war. James too. I don't want to fight, but...you said I fought in...both the wars?"

"You helped end the second war."

"I suppose I was just trying to make the world a better place," he said quietly and Teddy's heart stung.

He'd heard those words before.

"It's why we fight, isn't it?" Remus continued. "Because the thought of the Death Eaters and You-Know-Who's ideas of the world aren't exactly fair? Because we can't let them treat people like..." he trailed off. "You know."

"Yeah," Teddy croaked, then swallowed hard.

"Suppose we just want to protect our loved ones, you know? It's why people go to war, isn't it?" Remus shrugged. "Because we have to. Because the alternative isn't good enough."

Teddy was struggling with his throat, swallowing several times to rid himself of the lump in his throat."Thank you," he said eventually. His voice was thick.

"Why?" Remus looked up now, surprised.

"I guess I just needed to hear this from you." Teddy said. "Gran told me. Harry told me, numerous times. But it's not the same, you know? Hearing it from you instead of...secondhand."

"Oh." Remus swallowed, eyes darting to his mug, then back up. "Is it..." He shook his head. "That's not what I wanted to ask."

"Go on."

He drew in a deep breath. "I suppose I just wanted to know...was I a good father?"

Teddy stared at him and didn't know whether he wanted to laugh or cry or both. He didn't know whether he could believe that Remus had just asked him that, of all things. "I don't know," he answered.

Remus inhaled sharply. "Does that mean...?"

"I was one month old when..." he trailed off. "I have no memories of my parents. They..." He drew in a steadying breath, glancing up at Remus. "Gran told me my dad left to fight. Left me and Mum with her. Mum then went after him, to fight alongside him - she was an Auror, you know. They both died that night."

He didn't know what else to say, so he sipped his tea, looking away. His gaze fell on Remus' hands. They were nice hands, big and delicate and smooth. They'd looked so worn in the photographs.

"I'm sorry," Remus eventually said, "That's...that's why you wanted to know? Why I fought in the war?"

"Why you left me alone," Teddy said and then wished he could take it right back when he saw Remus' face crumple.

"Is that how you feel?" Remus asked, the unspoken 'about me?' hanging in the air between them.

"I did wonder," Teddy said slowly, "why my parents thought it was more important to die in the war than to stay alive for me." He gave a little awkward shrug. "I...I've been thinking about it a lot. You could say I've been thinking about it for the past thirty years, even."

"I suppose sorry doesn't even begin to cover it?" Remus asked, fiddling with his mug awkwardly.

"You're not that man," Teddy said. "You're...just a kid."

"But I will be that man. I'll make that decision in the end. To leave."

"To fight."

Remus cradled his cup again. "Do you blame me?"

"Not you. Him." Teddy sighed. "I used to. I don't think I can anymore."

"Why not?" Remus looked up. "Nothing's changed."

"Everything's changed." Teddy met his gaze. "I met you. And you might not be the man who was my father yet, but you will grow up to be him. And this guy, right in front of me? I like him. I didn't know my father, but I know you."

"I don't think you know me that well," Remus protested.

"Maybe not. But you gave me a piece of my dad. And that's more than I've ever had."

They drank their tea in silence. The sky brightened minutely outside, but the rain didn't cease. Teddy poured them more tea.

"For what it's worth," Remus began, "I can't imagine ever leaving a child of mine behind." He looked up. "I can't even imagine ever producing one. I'm... But it happened. And for what it's worth...I'm pretty proud that my future son grew up to be the man he is today."

Teddy's throat constricted and he could feel hot tears press against his eyes. "You don't know me," he said, trying to speak around the lump in his throat.

"I don't know you anymore than you know me," Remus conceded. "But I've always believed myself to be a good judge of character."

"I'm not..." Teddy shook his head, blinking rapidly. "I'm not a good man. If I were a good man, I'd not have treated Jamie the way I've been treating him for the past couple of months. I...I've not been a good man."

Remus looked at him levelly. "We all make mistakes," he said eventually. "I believe my biggest mistake may have been...will be. Going to war."

"You don't know that."

"I don't know about that. But not living to see my son grow up? That's...that's something I'll always regret."

"You and me both." Teddy wiped his eyes hastily.

"You love him, don't you?" Remus then asked. "James."

"Yeah. I'm...trying to be better. Going to try to be better. For him....and for us." Teddy swallowed hard. "It's...probably not going to be easy."

"No, I suppose not," Remus agreed. "The good things never are."

"Yeah." Teddy sighed. "You and Sirius have hard times yet?"

"Actually..." Remus blushed. "We only just...the day before yesterday..."

"Oh." Teddy looked up in surprise. "I thought...oh. Okay." Then he narrowed his eyes at him. "I'm not going to have to give you the birds and the bees talk, am I?"

"Please don't." Remus held up his hands in defense. The blush spread down to his neck. "That'd just be awkward."

"Oh, good."

They finished their second bout of tea. The teapot was empty when Teddy had refilled their mugs for the third time. He felt, if possible, even more exhausted now than he did when he woke up.

"Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?" He eventually asked. "Now that we're here and our respective halves are still asleep."

Remus shook his head slowly. "I thought it was strange, that night - when you and James whisked us off to here. You hadn't even told us your names yet." He smiled ruefully. "I guess I understand now."

"I imagine it would've been."

"Yeah." Remus rotated the mug in his hands. "There's one thing I'd like to ask, if I can?"

"Shoot."

"Were you...growing up, were you happy?"

The question was so unexpected that Teddy had to think about the answer.

"Yes," he said e