The Truth

Dreams

After his exciting second day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Teddy heads to the Hufflepuff First-year Boys' Dormitories. Teddy flops on to the bed, still in his plain robes, and as soon as his head hits the pillow, he enters the world of dreams.

*in his dreams*

Teddy is on a brand-new broom, dodging bludgers, swerving around the stands and zooming past chasers, beaters, keepers and a seeker alike. Suddenly, a high-pitched buzzing sound comes from his right - the Golden Snitch, and he darts after it like his life depends on it, but the small golden ball is always just out of reach, never close enough to snatch out of the air but never far enough to be out of sight.

Then the scene changes. He can hear a male voice, repeating five words, that he somehow knows is his belated father's - saying "You must seek the truth. You must seek the truth."

He can make out his father and mother holding hands, their heads bent at unnatural angles and their eyes like glass orbs, crystal clear, emotionless, shining. Choking back a sob, Teddy realises that they are dead in the battlefield of Hogwarts.
Next, the dream shifts, until he can see none other than the Dark Lord, as he casts Avada Kedavra, the killing curse, onto a blonde woman, whose back is turned, and she falls, screaming at the top of her lungs, until she is a lifeless corpse on the floor.
The Dark Lord sneers - "Serves her right. This is the true punishment for her betrayal – every crime must have a certain sanction (Voldemort's gaze moves until he is looking directly at Teddy, who stifles a gasp and clasps a hand over his mouth to stop himself from screaming). After all, loyalty is very important, especially to those in Hufflepuff, am I right, Edward Remus Lupin, son of Nymphadora Tonks?"

*Teddy wakes up*

His breathing is shallow and sweat trickles down his forehead. A million thoughts race through his mind and a myriad of questions pop up. How could the Dark Lord know? After all, Teddy was born only a month before the demise of the darkest sorcerer of all time. Needing space to think, he saunters into the Hufflepuff common room and his eyes take a moment to catch every single detail, simple things that add to the sheer natural beauty that he never noticed before.

The low-ceilinged, welcoming and warm feel of the room is almost enough to make him forget about what he was thinking before. Almost. And with that thought, everything in this room reminds him of whatever that was – too realistic to be a nightmare, too disconnected to be a dream and too personal to be a vision. The yellow hangings and burnished copper remind him of the Golden Snitch and how it was so close yet so far away. Those circular windows that provide a vista of rippling grass and dandelions remind him of the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts, how nature was oblivious to the horrors of war caused by power-hungry men, the sun shining brightly with colourful flowers blooming from above the lush green grass while hundreds of people lay down their lives. The overstuffed sofas and armchairs upholstered in yellow and black remind him of the blonde woman who was killed, and how her limp blonde hair hung from her lifeless corpse.

The sound of footsteps breaks the tense silence, and Teddy turns to see someone who he knows that he will daydream about, a beautiful blonde first year.

"Hi, I'm Victoire Weasley. I'm a first-year" She says in a thick French accent, outstretching her hand, which Teddy shakes firmly, cherishing absolutely any form of contact. His irises turn to the soft shade of baby pink, matching the emotions that he feels.

"I'm E-ed-dward L-l-lupin, you can c-call me T-teddy. " Teddy stutters, barely able to speak let alone string eight words together, "Hang on, if you're a W-Weasley, sh-shouldn't you be a r-redhead?"

"Nice to meet you, Teddy," Victoire says, smiling slightly as she notices Teddy staring at her, and ignores the comment about being a redhead, "Did I mention that I'm part-Veela? Anyhow, what are you doing here at this hour?"

"I might ask you the same thing"

"I couldn't sleep - this is my first time away from home. Not like it matters. What about you?"

"Same."

After their awkward exchange, Teddy ponders for a while. With a start, he realises that he knows absolutely nothing about his parents' background - he only knows what happened after they met, as Grandmother Andromeda has told him about a thousand times.

You must seek the truth - which truth? Teddy keeps on replaying these words in his head, thinking, thinking and - you guessed it, thinking.