The 'I' in Family

Chapter 24: The Anniversary

May 2, 2010

It was funny, how time flew. The months passed by pretty fast, with learning different spells, potions, and doing homework.

Teddy was relived when, on February and March's full moons, he didn't get too sick. Alec didn't feel too bad, either, which Teddy took to be a sign that the moon patterns did affect how bad it got.

When Teddy brought this up, Alec suggested running an experiment, but Teddy pointed out that they probably needed more than two people. Besides, Teddy was probably not the best source of information; when it came to him, everything was unpredictable. When Teddy didn't transform on the first full moon after his birth, his parents had made sure they'd be careful the second one, because what if there was a pattern-- like he transformed every other month, or every three months, or once a year?

But by the time he turned five, Andromeda had decided (with some opinions from some doctors at St. Mungo's) that he was perfectly healthy and could only become a werewolf if he was bitten. And that theory was proven throughout the next seven years.

Teddy's twelfth birthday consisted of cake from the house-elves in the kitchen along with a party. One of the house-elves gave Teddy a small trinket made of wood, and Teddy thought the gesture was sweet.

Before he knew it, May had already arrived and Teddy was stressing about end-of-year exams.

On the second, the school allowed students and staff who'd lost family members to go home for a day. It was a Saturday, so classes didn't need to be cancelled. Portkeys were set up for some, others' parents came to Hogsmeade to pick them up and apparate or take the floo from there.

Andromeda did the latter for Teddy. Once they were home, they stopped at Shell Cottage to wish Victoire a happy birthday, and Teddy gave her a fidget type of thing. He'd made it out of muggle paper, and El had taught him how. Apparently she and her brother made these types of fidgets all the time. Victoire was the type of person who focused better when she fidgeted with something, a trait she'd apparently inherited from her father, so she loved the gift.

In other years, the day wouldn't be a sad day-- as a matter of fact, it was often a happy day. Victoire often had two birthday parties: one on the first, for the adults, and then one on the second, for the kids. Victoire loved the attention, and Louis and Dominique would often have two-day birthday parties as well to make it fair.

But this year, some of the kids who were normally at the second birthday party were busy, so there was only one birthday party this year, which Teddy ended up missing.

Andromeda was usually in her room by herself that afternoon, leaving Teddy to do what he wanted. He decided to go on a walk to the nearby playground.

But when he got there, he saw Victoire and her younger siblings on the playground, to his surprise. Teddy walked over to them, and Victoire looked up and grinned.

"Hey!" Victoire said.

"What... exactly are you doing here?" Teddy asked.

"Babysitting," Victoire said, rolling her eyes. "On my birthday. But it's too sad to stay in the house. Mum kicked us out."

Teddy frowned. "She did?"

Victoire shrugged. "She's used to the kids being at the party rather than in her face. So when she told us we should get out of the house, she apparated the three of us over there." Victoire pointed to the forest lining the edge of the park. "Just in case someone saw us. Then she left me in charge."

Teddy frowned. "What if something were to happen?"

"Mum gave me dittany, so if they fall and scrape something, it'll be easy to heal," she explained. "And yes, I know how to apply it. It's actually really easy."