The Marauders and the Fetch of Hogwarts

Teffie was her usual synchopantic self during Remus' first summer home from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Phineas Lupin, Remus' father, startled the house elf by including her in decisions regarding Remus' monthly transformations. Despite Remus' pleadings Phineas refused to take off the safety wards designed to protect Remus from himself. Remus subsided his protests when Phineas stated that they gave him peace of mind. The older Lupin seemed to get little enough peace that Remus couldn't begrudge him that much.

Teffie, for her part, was flabbergasted to be asked her opinion of further wards and helping Remus. More and more she was included in the nightly intellectual discussions over tea. Often Remus would ask her help with his summer studies as well. The house elf was quickly realizing she was more a part of the family than she'd ever imagined. Guilt began to weigh on her as a result.

"Master Remus?" Teffie asked one mid-July morning as he worked in the library.

Remus looked up from his Charms essay and smiled his slow smile. "Morning, Teffie! Breakfast was excellent. I love your waffles."

Teffie returned the smile tremulously. According to Remus' father, Teffie had been living on her nerves since giving them the photos from Mrs. Lupin. "Teffie is worried, sir," she stated, eyes larger than normal.

Remus' brow furrowed. "About what, Teffie?"

"About sir's health. You seem..." Teffie paused, as if deciding how to proceed. "Master Remus isn't eating like he should, sir."

Remus' brow knit. Wasn't eating enough? He ate more this summer than he probably had in his entire life it seemed like. "I feel fine, Teffie," assured Remus. "Honest. I eat until I'm stuffed."

Teffie favored him with a forlorn look, nodded and shuffled off. A flash of inspiration struck Remus and he called her back. "Hey, Teffie?" She turned to look at him over her shoulder. "What's really wrong?"

His sympathetic tone was Teffie's undoing and she burst into noisy tears. "Oh, Master Remus, sir!" she sobbed. "Teffie is sorry!"

Remus frowned deeper and drew his childhood friend and helpmate into a hug. "What's wrong?" he asked puzzledly.

Teffie sniffled as she pulled out a letter from deep within her slightly askew tunic that had formerly been a damask curtain in the front sitting room. Remus recognized Sirius Black's handwriting. He took the letter and noticed it'd been opened. "When did this arrive?"

The house elf cringed. "Last Tuesday, Master Remus," Teffie said in a very small voice.

Remus gaped at her a moment. "That was over a week ago!" he exclaimed. "Why are you reading my mail and why didn't you give me this?"

Remus expected the house elf to cringe again but instead she drew herself up proudly, though with a tremble all the same. "Mistress told Teffie before she left to protect the master and his son in her place, to take care of their health and safety." A blaze of righteousness settled in Teffie's large yellow eyes.

"So?" Remus was confounded.

"The Blacks are bad wizards, Master Remus," Teffie explained to him as if he were a simpleton. "Very, very bad peoples. Teffie was trying to protect her family from such bad peoples." Teffie's demeanor changed to guilty again.

"But?" prompted Remus.

"But when Teffie read the letter, she was torn, sir, confused," the house elf confessed. "The Blacks are bad but the boy didn't sound like one of them. She was so confused, Teffie was!" Teffie tugged painfully on her ears in self-punishment as if to punctuate her emotional distress. "Finally Teffie decided that Master Remus would choose good wizards for friends and brought the letter to him anyway."

Remus opened the smudged letter and read it through quickly. He frowned, which caused Teffie to start crying. "Teffie!" he shouted over her wretched bawling. "Have you kept any letters from Papa?"

Teffie went a pale, pasty green shade and raised one trembling finger, unable to speak.

"Go and get it and meet me in the basement," ordered Remus sternly. He wasn't angry with Teffie, not really but he was distressed at how far she took her methods.

Phineas Lupin had buried himself in the library for an hour after breakfast and then disappeared downstairs to his basement laboratory, muttering about wolf's bane properties. As usual Remus didn't want to know and didn't ask. He was always loathe to interrupt his father's work but this fell under the "disturb Papa, it can't wait" category.

"Papa?" Remus called hesitantly as he walked down the steps. "Papa?"

"Yes, Remus?" his father responded absently, totally absorbed in a manner that made Remus sigh. Getting his father to pay attention was going to be difficult to say the least.

"We have a problem," Remus began but stopped when a goblet was thrust into his hand.

"Drink that and tell me how you feel." Remus sighed again, having heard this many times before, usually resulting in him following orders and a three day belly ache afterwardss. He sat the goblet down, not drinking it.

"Not right now, Papa. I have to tell you what Teffie's done." Remus' tone was so serious that he got his father's attention. Remus showed the letter to his father and explained what Teffie had done.

Phineas' face went red and he bellowed, "TEFFIE!"

"Here, sir," squeaked the elf right behind Remus a half a heartbeat later. In her hand was a yellowed parchment envelope. She held it out, the paper shaking more than she was.

Phineas snatched it from and read the letter quickly. "What do you think you're doing? he rumbled angrily. "Keeping letters from us? Why, it's outrageous!"

Teffie shot Remus a fearful look. "Master isn't going to give Teffie clothes, is he? Even though she deserves it?" The mere thought of such actions made the little creature shudder in terror, eyes bigger than her face and her nose dripping.

Phineas' anger disappated as quickly as it had erupted. "Of course not, silly girl," he stated calmly. The elder Lupin's amber eyes twinkled for a moment. "I have no intention of starving."

Teffie hiccupped in response.

"Let's see your letter, Remus." Remus handed over Sirius' letter and the older man frowned at the contents as he read. "Is this all right with you?"

"Its only a couple more weeks, Papa." Remus glanced at the calendar hanging over his father's work table. "The moon won't be full for some time, as its waning now."

"Very well, send him an owl." Phineas nodded his approval. "Teffie, you disappoint me and I hope this will not happen again?"

No, Master Phineas!" hiccupped Teffie, her head shaking back and forth so hard it looked as if it would possibly fall right off her neck.

"Resume your chores then, oh and Remus?" Remus looked up to find the goblet under his nose again. "Drink this."