epilogue 1/5
seventeen years later
"Georgia, get the door, will you?"
"Aye aye, captain."
Bill's mouth twitched into a smile as he watched his daughter slide off of her chair and disappear to the dining room to open the door, then turned to Eleanora. "Why's she keep saying that?"
"Because Teddy keeps saying it."
"Ahhhh." They shared a knowing smile as Georgia reappeared in the doorway of the living room, Teddy Lupin at her side.
Teddy looked so much like his parents, it was a bit hard for Eleanora to look at him sometimes. He was tall like Remus, and had passed up Eleanora by the time he was sixteen. She could remember the day he'd walked into her house for his weekly dinners with her, Bill, and Georgia, and she'd realized that he was no longer the little blue-haired baby they hadn't been able to keep still. Much like Remus, too, were the shadows under Teddy's eyes from lack of sleep and the way he never seemed to gain weight no matter how much you fed him. Eleanora was always on him for it, never fully believing his promises that he was eating and sleeping enough. "Teddy!" she said, standing up and pulling him into a hug.
He had to lean down to hug her back, but he did so with a tired smile on his face. "Hey, El." Bill got up too and he and Teddy did a half-handshake, half-one-armed-hug. "Sorry I'm late, I was helping George out with the store and got sidetracked."
"Oooo, are you going to work there?" Georgia asked, her face lighting up. The argument as to whether she looked more like Eleanora or Bill had persisted for all seventeen years of her life, with nobody coming to any sort of conclusion. Her hair was a soft auburn and fell in the same soft waves as Eleanora's, but when she smiled, Eleanora swore she looked exactly like Bill.
Teddy grinned down at Georgia. "At Weasley's Wizard Wheezes? Could you see me doing that?"
"You can do whatever you put your mind to," Georgia said as though quoting a motivational pamphlet. "And anyways, you could get me free stuff."
"Doesn't George already do that?" said Bill.
"Hmmm, that's right." Georgia shrugged and then looked back up at Teddy. "You could work at the magical creature shop. I keep asking Dad for a dog, but..." She tossed Bill a pointed look and he laughed.
"I told you, Georgie, you can get whatever pets you want once you've moved out," he said, ruffling his daughter's hair and slipping past her and Teddy to get to the kitchen. Everybody followed him, sliding into their usual chairs around the dining room table. "How's your grandma, Teddy?" Bill asked, handing him a bowl of mashed potatoes.
"She's alright," said Teddy, "I went to see her yesterday. She keeps yelling at me to move again."
Eleanora pursed her lips and spooned carrots onto Teddy's plate. "It is a bit of a dodgy place, you know."
"You could always stay here while you're looking for another place," Georgia said, looking hopefully to her parents.
Bill raised his eyebrows at her, but Eleanora only laughed softly. "Of course you can, Teddy. You know you can stay here anytime."
"I know, I know," Teddy said, taking the dish of carrots from Eleanora's hands and setting it at the other end of the table so she'd stop scooping them onto his plate. "I might take you up on it one of these days, but I really like my apartment. And anyways, I've been thinking of getting a job at that new chocolate shop on Diagon Alley." He winked at Georgia. "There, I could get you free stuff from."
Bill and Eleanora had to look down at their plates to keep from laughing out loud as Georgia blushed deeply. When Eleanora recovered, she looked back up at Teddy. "You'd make your dad proud with that one, you know."
Teddy grinned. He'd heard all about Remus's obsession with chocolate as well as every other minute detail he could've learned about his parents from Harry and Eleanora and everybody else who had been close with Remus and Tonks. The longing feeling Eleanora got every time she thought of the people she'd lost in the war never really got better, but she was able to get past it now. She could treasure the memories she had, and make the most of her time with the people still in her life. "Teddy, you've got to eat more than that," she said, picking up their usual argument. "I swear you get thinner every time I see you."
"I could probably-" Teddy froze, screwing up his face, and then his stomach grew to about twice its usual size by will. "There," he said, shooting Eleanora a satisfied smile. "Better?"
Eleanora shook her head, catching Bill's eye with a defeated look as Georgia dissolved into giggles. Teddy grinned and shrunk back to his usual size as the front door opened and Daisy let herself into the house. "Hey all," she said, leaning over Eleanora's shoulder and plucking a carrot off of her place.
"Aunt Daisy!" Georgia got out of her chair to hug her aunt.
"Daisy!" Daisy said, never failing to use Georgia's middle name. Daisy had always been Georgia's favorite relative, and Daisy took a special liking to Georgia. She hugged her, and then turned back to the table. "Ahhh, and Teddy." She shot him a stern look and Teddy's face softened into a smile.
"Look, I'm sorry!" he said, as though continuing a previous argument. "I got busy!"
"Too busy to even tell me you had to cancel?"
"I never agreed to doing it in the first place!"
"It was implied!" Daisy pulled a chair up to the table and sat down between Georgia and Bill, laughing and shaking her blonde curls. She turned to Bill to explain, "I told Teddy I was moving into my new apartment right next to his yesterday, and he didn't even show up."
"Teddy!" Eleanora scolded.
Teddy raised his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You shouldn't have moved into that building anyways, Daisy, it's sketchy."
Daisy raised an eyebrow at him and for a split second looked almost identical to Eleanora. "I happen to be a fully trained auror, Lupin. I'm pretty sure I can handle myself anywhere an eighteen year old kid can."
"How's that going, by the way?" Eleanora asked, handing Daisy a plate. "Your first week of being a real auror."
Daisy's face lit up. "Oh, it's incredible. Harry says I'm doing really well. I want to get promoted in the next year or so, especially because not as many people are going into the career anymore. Oh, and you know that picture you gave me last Christmas of me and Moody back when I was, like, eleven?" Eleanora nodded, her stomach dropping slightly at the thought of Mad-Eye Moody, but Daisy's smile never faltered. "I framed it and put it on my desk so I can always either feel like he's proud of me or he's about to yell at me."
"And does that work?" Bill asked, looking mildly bewildered.
"Like a charm," said Daisy. "How's the apothecary?"
The corner of Eleanora's mouth twitched up at the thought of her apothecary. She'd worked tirelessly for years after the war to finish her apprenticeship and make her own practice, but now it was the place everybody went for different medicines and potions. "It's great, Dais. We were super busy today and actually..."
"No, Mum, you're not going back to work tonight," Georgia said, shooting an exasperated look at her father. "You're overworking yourself."
Eleanora smiled lovingly at her daughter. Georgia was one of those people who always thought about everyone else, always eager to help. "Fine, fine then. I'll take care of it in the morning."
Teddy caught Georgia's eye and his mouth twitched into a smile identical to Remus's. The two kids had grown up together, spending nearly every weekend, holiday, and family gathering with each other, but recently everybody around them had noticed some sort of seismic shift. It wasn't a bad thing, exactly, there was just a sort of tension around them. Georgia had always had a bit of a crush on Teddy, but recently it seemed like more than that. It felt almost familiar to everyone, but only Eleanora and Bill were able to place it. It was the way they'd been, way back when Eleanora was Georgia's age and she and Bill had both started seriously thinking of the possibility of a relationship. She watched as Georgia's smile grew and she bit down on her lower lip and looked away from Teddy, who kept his eyes trained adoringly on her face.
When they were done with lunch, Eleanora got up to do the dishes while Bill cleared the table and Daisy took Georgia out to the beach to practice deflecting spells. Now that Georgia was seventeen, Daisy had been coming over to have fake duels with her every chance she got. Eleanora wondered if her sister would ever really grow up, but she liked how close she was with Georgia. Once the table was cleared, Bill offered to help Eleanora with the dishes and then went out to the beach to join Georgia and Daisy when Eleanora declined.
Teddy accompanied her in the kitchen, not really helping, but keeping her company. He sat on top of the counter next to the sink and told her all of the latest wizarding world news, occasionally drying a dish and setting it on the stack on his other side. "I was talking to Harry the other day, and he said I might be able to get a job in the Ministry," he said after a long winded rant about wanting a job but not being able to find the right one.
"What department?" Eleanora asked, intrigued.
"Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," Teddy said resolutely. Eleanora looked up in surprise, but Teddy explained before she could ask questions. "It's because of my dad. Grandma's always telling me about how he couldn't get or hold a real job because he was a werewolf, but at the same time, everyone keeps talking about what a great guy he was. It's just- it doesn't seem fair. I want to try and change that."
Eleanora had set the plate she was washing down as Teddy spoke and turned to him with a look of pleasant surprise, and then threw her arms around him. Teddy almost toppled off of the counter in shock, but he hugged her back. "Your dad-" Eleanora said, wiping at her eyes, "Your dad would've been so proud."
Teddy gave her a rueful smile and patted her awkwardly on the arm once she'd let him go. "Thanks, El."
"You remind me so much of him," she murmured, going back to washing dishes. "And believe me, that's one of the best compliments you can get." After that, the conversation strayed back to the usual subjects. "Are you seeing anyone?" Eleanora asked out of the blue. It wasn't an uncommon question; she was always asking Teddy about his love life because he had a history of dating some pretty sketchy characters, but it seemed to catch him off guard nonetheless. "Oh, you're not still with-"
"No, no, I broke it off with Daniel," Teddy said quickly. "You were right about him anyways."
"I always am," she murmured in a pointed voice. "You really should let me set you up with someone. There's a nice boy who's always coming into the apothecary-"
"I'm fine, Eleanora, really," Teddy laughed, glancing out the window to where Georgia was disarming Bill with one flick of her wand. "I actually think I'm going to date a girl next."
Eleanora followed his gaze and immediately wished she'd had Bill stay in the kitchen, just so she could gloat. They'd had a bet going for months now as to whether or not Teddy would ask Georgia out, and Eleanora figured that this pretty much meant she'd won. "I think that's a great idea," she said softly, handing him a dish to dry and smiling to herself. If she had to choose anyone to date her daughter, she couldn't think of anyone better than Remus Lupin's son.