Puppy!

Harry was cleaning up the broken glass in the drawing room. Andromeda was going to kill him if she found out Teddy had broken into a cabinet filled with dark artifacts. Luckily, he had only pulled out the harmless locket, not something more dangerous like the Resurrection Stone. The Stone had been found in the Forbidden Forest by a second year serving detention. Thankfully, the boy hadn’t known what he'd found, but Neville, who had been supervising the herb scavenging they were doing, had recognized it for what it was and returned it to Harry for safe-keeping. Harry’s eyes traveled the cabinet shelf. The Stone wasn’t there. He frantically searched the cabinet and the area around it. No sign of it. This was not good.

He had to tell Hermione.

Taking the steps three and four at a time, Harry bounded up to the top floor landing. Sounds of a ruckus guided him to Sirius’ bedroom where he saw the last thing he ever expected to see there: Sirius. He was holding a giggling Teddy and talking full speed with Regulus who was holding up an unconscious Hermione.

“Sirius?”

“Harry!” Tears sparkled at the corners of his eyes as he stepped forward to embrace his godson, taking care not to squash Teddy in the process. Harry was beside himself. Sirius was back. There was no way to explain it.

“How… how is this happening?”

“I don’t know. I remember being at the Ministry. I remember the veil, but that’s it. Regulus said the same thing.”

Regulus wasn’t paying attention since his charge was beginning to stir. He propped her up so she could gain her bearings. Hermione blinked a few times, and looked into Sirius’ smiling face. She scowled a bit.

“Is it really you?”

He grinned even wider, set down Teddy, and transformed into Padfoot.

“Puppy!” Teddy waved a small arm at Sirius, now back in human form.

“Hermione,” Harry’s voice was low, “the Stone is missing.”

“The Stone? Oh…” Her eyes darted from Regulus to Sirius. “You don’t think…”

“Puppy!”

All eyes were on Teddy. Hermione picked him up and placed a hand on his forehead. “What did you do?” He only smiled and grabbed her shirt. Regulus was starting to like the boy.

“Do you think he might have swallowed it?”

“He may have. He was about to swallow Regulus’ locket.” Hermione stiffened. “The locket!” Both Black brothers watched the conversation, neither had a clue about what stone they were discussing. She started anxiously pacing the room, muttering to herself. “The locket that belonged to Regulus… Sirius’ room… The locket… Oof!” She tripped over the discarded shirt. She nudged it with her foot. “He was holding the shirt. Sirius, is this yours?”

“Yes.”

“So, Teddy was holding your shirt, and you magically return from the dead.”

“I guess so.” He shrugged.

“Regulus,” and she turned to the younger man, “you were returned when Teddy was playing with your locket.”

He raised a brow, not wanting to interrupt her thought process. Sirius was not so patient.

“Are you saying this boy can bring people back to life?”

“I… I don’t know. There is something fishy about it. I think we should take him to St. Mungo’s.”

Harry was silent all the while, his eyes unfocused. He snapped to attention suddenly and ran from the room, mumbling, “I’ll be right back.”

The three adults stood in awkward silence. “So Regulus tells me this is our cousin.” Hermione smiled and passed the boy to him.

“Yes. His name is Teddy Lupin.” Sirius froze, then looked at the boy with renewed awe.

“Remus Lupin, you old dog.” He grinned at Teddy who latched on to a lock of hair. “Where is Moony?” Hermione’s face fell, and Sirius realized the answer to his own question. He squeezed his eyes shut. “No, no, no.”

Regulus then did something that surprised Hermione. He walked over to his brother and put a comforting hand on his back. Seeing such a simple gesture between the estranged brothers brought a tear to her eye. Maybe death had knocked a little sense into both of them.

Harry burst into the room clutching his Invisibility Cloak.

“You are not going to try what I think you are.”

“I just have to see, Hermione. I need to know.” He laid the cloak out on the bed and reached for Teddy. Sirius narrowed his eyes and did not give up the kid.

“What are you going to do to him?”

“Nothing. I just want to see if he can do it again.” Sirius hesitated a moment before setting Teddy on the bed. All eyes fell on the toddler. Hermione wanted to get him to St. Mungo’s as soon as possible. She felt what Harry was doing was wrong, and unnatural, but at the same time she was too fascinated to look away.

Teddy noticed all the adults staring at him. It was making him nervous. His lower lip started to wobble. Hermione reached out for him, but Harry stopped her.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!” Hermione pushed Harry aside and picked up Teddy who was now wailing at full volume. She bounced him up and down, whispering soothing words in his ear. After a few more deafening roars, he settled down into sniffles and hiccups.

“I’m sorry, Hermione, you’re right.” He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his godson’s face. “I’ll take him to St. Mungo’s; they won’t ask me as many questions. You stay here, and keep an eye on these two.” Regulus rolled his eyes. He didn’t need a babysitter; on the other hand, a little time alone with this girl may not be such a bad idea.