Chapter Text
In twenty-seven years of life, Teddy had never once been to the UK. He knew he'd been born there, that his family had been born there, but for as long as he could remember his home had been the little cottage in the tiny French village where his grandmother had raised him. He never knew his parents. His nan said they'd died when he was just a baby, but always seemed hesitant to say more than that, and until very recently he hadn't even known their names.
Teddy figured it must have been a very painful topic for her to talk about, but he deserved to know, didn't he? All the nights as a child when he would sneak into her bedroom and pull the wooden box from under his nan's bed, opening it to stare at all the photos of his parents; his mum with brilliant multicolored hair, his father with scars and a soft smile.
His nan couldn't keep it from him forever, lying sick in bed and clinging to Teddy's hand with tired eyes locked on his face.
"You get your metamorphmagus abilities from your mother. My daughter, Nymphadora. She hated that name. Her friends just called her Tonks. Your father… your father, Remus, called her Dora. They loved each other," her eyes watered. "They loved you, Teddy Lupin."
She died, leaving an empty home and a bunch of boxes that took Teddy ages to look through, having to stop periodically to cry into his hands. He’d already known he was an orphan, and now he’d lost the woman who raised him from infancy on her own. Teddy searched tirelessly through the files, letters, and photographs that Andromeda Tonks left behind, trying desperately to find someone he was connected to, some family, some living relative, proof that he wasn’t as alone as he feared. In his search, he found letters, stacked and tied with worn twine and hidden in a rat chewed shoe box tucked onto the upper shelf of the hallway closet, hidden behind old hats and folded coats. It had probably been sitting there rotting and gathering dust for years.
The letters were all addressed to his nan, written in a male hand with some letters blotched, not quite elegant but neat enough to be legible. Each letter was signed simply “Harry”. Teddy didn’t know who that was, but by the volume of letters, he imagined it was someone his grandmother had known well. Each letter was dated, and Teddy was astounded to find this man had been writing to Andromeda since June of 1998. That was only a month or two after he’d been born. After flipping to the last letter in the pile he checked the date there. May of 2004. That was the last letter. Harry had written to Andromeda for six years, abruptly stopping after May. Teddy was hesitant to read the letters, as if he was worried his nan would pop up like she used to and nag him about rummaging through junk, but Andromeda Tonks was dead now. There was nothing stopping him, and the more he read, the more unhinged Teddy felt.
“Everyone’s worried about the way you up and left. Mrs. Malfoy said you left the country. I know how painful this war was, I do, but please don’t keep Teddy from me. Remus and Tonks made me his godfather for a reason. I want to be there for him. Please let me be there for him. I know how much it hurts to grow up not knowing your parents, wondering what happened to them, why it had to happen. I know the pain of loving and missing people you’ve never met and never will meet. Let me empathize with him and support him. That’s all I want. I promised Remus. Let me do this much.”
A godfather. This man was his godfather, but Teddy had never even heard of him before. Why had his nan kept it from him? Teddy kept reading through the letters, his mouth drying the further he went.
“I know you blame me for Tonks and Remus dying. I blame myself too. I will never forgive myself, Andromeda, but please don’t make Teddy suffer for my mistakes.”
“I’ve just gone through a few of the old boxes left over from Remus’ old cottage in Edinburgh. I found a few things I thought Teddy might like; some old cardigans and books, pictures and old Gryffindor memorabilia from when Remus was in school. The sweaters still smell a bit like Remus, maybe he still remembers? Tonks did mention Teddy loved when Remus held him the most. Maybe because of the texture of the cardigan? I hope he finds use or comfort from it all.”
“The Ministry wouldn’t allow me to take Remus’ medal, said I had no right though I wanted to send it to Teddy, a memento to remember what a brave and wonderful man his father was. They gave it to Remus’ father, Lyall Lupin. I don’t think he cares much for me, he wouldn’t look at me or speak to me. Tell me you at least let him see Teddy. It’s his grandson, Andromeda. Teddy is his only living family. He’s his last blood from Remus, from his son. Teddy is as precious to Lyall as he is to you. Don’t keep them apart. Teddy deserves a grandfather. He deserves to know people who could tell him stories of his father.”
“Bill’s daughter gets migraines during full moon. Dominique, the second born. The Healers think it may have something to do with Bill being attacked by Greyback and the werewolf genes passing to her. There’s nothing more than the occasional headache, thank Merlin, but I can’t keep myself from worrying. Is Teddy alright? Does he get migraines during the full moon? Have you taken him to a Healer? I know maybe it’s none of my business, but you must remember that Teddy’s father was in fact a werewolf. There’s never been a case of someone like Remus having children like Teddy, no one knows if there are side effects or lingering damage from the lycanthrope disease. Please keep an eye on him, and bring him to a Healer if he starts getting migraines. We already know he isn’t a werewolf, but it could still hurt him. Just keep an eye out for complications.”
“I know you never answer these letters, sometimes I wonder why I still send them. Sometimes I want to follow the owl after it’s gone, to find you. It’s been years, Andromeda. Let me see him, please. He’s my godson, I promised Remus and Tonks both that I would be there for him. Please just consider it.”
“Gin and I got married. Wish you and Teddy could have been there. How is he?”
When he got to the last letter he was pained to realize the way it ended seemed open, as if Harry had intended to write again, but it seemed he never did. Something must have happened to draw him away from the one sided correspondence. Maybe after six years, he’d given up hope of reaching Andromeda and convincing her to let he and Teddy meet. A godfather he never knew he had, a grandfather he never knew he had. His father had been a werewolf, Teddy knew that much, his nan had never hidden it from him, even seemed proud of the man, but the rest of it? Why had she never told Teddy?
It took a little more digging, but finally Teddy managed to find out the location of both his godfather and grandfather. Most of the stuff in his childhood home he packed away into storage at the French bank for wizards and witches, and it nearly tore his heart out to sell the cottage itself, even if it added a decent coin into his vault, to be transferred to his vault in London. Honestly he didn’t even know he had a vault in London, but when he sat down with the witch at the Paris bank she explained it to him.
“You are the only living member of the Lupin family left alive,” she said, speaking to him in French as she looked through her files.
“No, I have a grandfather, Lyall Lupin,” Teddy had argued, but the painful look she gave him made his heart sink into his stomach.
“The date of death is marked a year and a half ago,” her voice was soft, and Teddy clung to the edges of his seat. “I am sorry.” She shuffled her papers, clearing her throat. “There was only one name in his will. Everything he owned, property and fortune, was left to one Edward Remus “Teddy” Lupin, born at the end of April 1998, the only child of his son, Remus John Lupin, deceased May 2nd of 1998, and his daughter-in-law, Nymphadora Tonks Lupin, deceased May 2nd of 1998.” Her eyes flicked up to him. “That’s you?” Teddy nodded, feeling numb.
It was simple after that, signing papers to transfer all of Andromeda’s fortune left to him into his vault in London. He stopped before he left the room, turning to look back at the witch as she sorted away her things.
“Can I ask one thing?”
“Please do, Monsieur Lupin.”
“Did my father, anyone in my family, know a man named Harry?”
Her eyes grew wide as saucers, and when Teddy left the bank it was with a simple newspaper clipping taken from the Daily Prophet published in London. It was a photograph of a man, maybe in his early thirties, with black hair and round glasses. He was handsome, the smile was humble and full of ease, and on his forehead was a lightning shaped scar that cut towards his eyebrow. The article read simply: “Harry James Potter, Gryffindor of Hogwarts known by many names and successes: The Boy Who Lived, Champion of the Triwizard Tournament, The Chosen One, Senior Auror, Head Auror, and now newly appointed Head of Magical Law Enforcement. Rest assured the wizarding world will be safe in the capable hands of the man who won the Great Wizarding War for good.”
The great Harry Potter, Teddy remembered now, how Andromeda sometimes muttered under her breath in curses. “Great Potter, wonderful Potter, alive while my baby isn’t. How great he is, Harry Potter, savior of the wizarding world.” That’s who Harry was. That’s who Teddy’s godfather was. The man who defeated Voldemort and saved the wizarding world.
He was still alive. Living somewhere in London and working at the Ministry as the Head of Magical Law Enforcement. Teddy had living family, in a sense, though he shared no blood with Harry. Remus and Tonks made this man his godfather, had wanted Harry to be there for Teddy while he grew up. Thanks to Andromeda uprooting them from England and moving to France, Harry was never able to be in his life, and Teddy grew up not knowing he even existed.
There was no blood waiting for him in London, Teddy made certain he understood that as he packed his things and boarded a plane to take him to London the slow, legal, Muggle way. It was strangling, but he was there in no time at all, shouldering his way through the crowd with one bag over his shoulder and the other carried at his side.
It was beautiful in its own way, the bustling of Muggles and the cheerful noise of chatter, Teddy saw tourists taking pictures and teenagers taking selfies. He saw no one immediately out of the ordinary, no elegant robes or anything that might suggest there were wizards or witches in the crowd mixed with the Muggles. If anything, Teddy was probably the one who stood out the most, with his worn and faded black boots tied with bright yellow laces, jeans ripped at the knees and badly patched up, t-shirt with a faded “Weird Sisters” logo on the chest, black leather jacket faded and wrinkled from age and use, topped off with his blue hair and sunglasses. He didn’t think he looked like a tourist, but he certainly looked out of place.
The first thing he did was track down a hotel near The Leaky Cauldron, run by a Squib who accepted both Muggle and Magical. When Teddy wrote down his name in the Hotel Guest Book, the receptionist just stared at him looking equal shades of shocked and confused, handing him a key and staring openly as Teddy wandered towards the stairs.
He unpacked when he reached his suit on the top floor, taking stock of the room, which included a sitting room that he walked into that broke off into an open kitchen to the right, and double doors to the left that lead into the suit bedroom and an adjoined bathroom, with additional glass double doors that lead onto a balcony overlooking a view of the London Eye just across from where he stood. It was a nice room, big enough, and Teddy intended to stay there for a while, at least until he found Harry.
First things first, though, Teddy needed a drink. The past few months had been a mess, and he was too emotionally exhausted and burnt out to hop right into seeking out the famous Harry Potter. Teddy prided himself on his ability to find the good in every situation, even if it upset him he could still manage to smile and laugh and move forward. He was stubborn and cheeky and reckless, steadfast and level headed and kind, but it was too much for him to handle, to lose his only family and realize that he really was entirely alone. An orphan who never knew his parents, who watched his grandmother pass away in her sleep and learned through a bloody bank teller that his grandfather had died nearly two years before. It was too much. Teddy needed to not think any more.
He didn’t have to think hard to decide he wasn’t going to go to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink. He didn’t know of any other bars or clubs in London that catered exclusively to magical kind, but at this point it didn’t matter. Teddy knew enough about his family now to know if he wasn’t careful, there was a chance someone could recognize him as Remus and Nymphadora’s son who’d been missing for the past twenty-seven years, and he wasn’t ready to have a conversation about that yet. He didn’t want to attract the attention of the press or the people who would be curious about his metamorph abilities, werewolf blood, and First Class Order of Merlin father.
That being said, it wasn’t all that difficult to find a club once he’d stepped outside into the crisp night air. The one he chose was a few blocks away from his hotel, and didn’t look remarkable at all really. Just a dive bar club that was too hot and humid, the dance floor so crowded that no one seemed to have any personal space left as hands groped bodies they weren’t familiar with and balanced cocktails and schooners that spilt despite the attempt to keep the drink inside.
Teddy immediately noted that more than one person had drastically colored hair, and internally thanked the Muggles for inventing hair dye so he didn’t look like some sort of otherworldly being with his blue hair. In reality he probably could have just changed it to something more normal, like brown or black, so no one would notice him, but the blue was comforting to him. It was something familiar, and with so much happening at once, he clung to any sort of normality in his life he could. He could see a dozen shades of pink, red, blue, green, purple, and everything else coloring people’s hair in the crowd, but Teddy decided not to bother himself with the dancefloor as he went straight for the bar.
The bartender couldn’t have been older than 21 with dark skin that seemed to be dusted with gold powder, eyes dark under the lighting with equally black hair that was braided into plait cornrows at both sides of his head, the rest of it held back with ties and hairpins. He had a pleasant smile on his face as he bounced on his heels to the music booming in the club, drying a glass before setting it down and picking up another, eyes finding Teddy the moment he took a seat at the stool in front of him.
“Evening,” he greeted, a slight frown taking to his lips as his eyes swept over Teddy. “Not looking too good there, are you mate? Bad day?”
“You could say that,” Teddy sighed, shoulders sinking as he pulled off his leather jacket and laid it on the stool beside him. “Can I just get a beer? I don’t care what kind.”
“Sure thing.” The bartender stepped back for the mini fridge behind him, reaching in to grab a bottle before straightening up and picking a glass tankard from a rack. “Got an interesting accent.”
“I grew up in France,” Teddy explained as the young man set the tankard down and cracked open a beer to pour it out. “My nan raised me, she was from here, so mostly I picked up speech patterns from her. The accent came from the rest of my exposure to the French language.”
“Fluent?”
“Yeah.”
“Impressive. My aunt’s French, speaks it fluently. You should hear my bloody cousins, too.” He slid the glass over to Teddy, who gratefully held it between his hands, staring into the amber liquid. “So what’s brought you to London?”
Teddy considered it a moment before answering. “Family business.” The bartender hummed as Teddy lifted the tankard, barely noticing the man’s eyes suddenly locked onto his shirt, glittering with intrigue and mischief.
“I see you’re a fan of the classics?”
Teddy pulled the glass away and arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean you probably need something stronger than that,” the bartender waved a hand at the tankard like the beer inside was an insult to beers everywhere. He then looked back and forth suspiciously, reaching under the bar and dragging Teddy’s glass away, much to Teddy’s annoyance, though it turned to interest when the man dumped the beer before refilling the glass with a deep red liquor from an unmarked bottle. “Try this instead.”
Teddy held the glass again, eyeing the man suspiciously as he propped both hands on the bar and leaned into it, nodding at the alcohol with a proud grin and watching intently as Teddy brought it to his lips. He smelt it before he tasted it, burning malt washing over his tongue as his eyes widened. He looked down at the glass when he pulled it away.
“Firewhiskey.”
“Most Muggles don’t go around sporting Weird Sister’s merchandise from the 1980’s.” The bartender stood straighter again and stowed the bottle back under the bar. “That’s on the house.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely!” He leaned closer, holding a hand up to his mouth and whispering. “Between you and me, I’m not exactly supposed to have that here. Give it to Muggles accidentally and it could be the death of them. Magical alcohol is a bit too strong for them.”
“Am I doing something illegal by drinking this?” Teddy asked, and the bartender grinned even wider.
“Course not, but I certainly am by giving it to you.”
Teddy just shrugged, lifting the glass back up. “Cheers then.”
The young man laughed. “Name’s Fred.”
Teddy folded his left arm across the bar, his right elbow propped up and holding the glass as he slouched forward. “Ted,” he introduced himself simply.
Surely a kid like this one wouldn’t be able to put together that Ted was actually Teddy who was actually Edward Remus Lupin, son of Order of Merlin winner Remus Lupin and godson to the great Harry Potter, right? All of that was before his time, after all.
“Ted like Theodore? How very appropriate.”
“So’s Fred,” Teddy said into his glass as he took another drink, and Fred laughed loudly.
“You’re not wrong! Dad calls me Junior most the time. I was named for my uncle,” something wistful softened his smile. “He died in the war.”
Teddy eyed him a moment before looking down into the red of the whiskey, giving a nod. “It’s a good name, and a worthy honor.”
Fred looked a bit taken aback at the comment, but seemed pleased after a moment as he smiled. “Thanks, mate.”
Fred continued to talk, though Teddy was only half listening, and felt ashamed at how relieved he was when the younger man sidestepped to Teddy’s right to help another customer. It wasn’t that Teddy didn’t like the kid, he seemed nice, and under different circumstances Teddy would have loved to have a deeper conversation with him, maybe about the war, because Teddy only knew bits and pieces of it since he wasn’t exposed to its history growing up in France. Right now, though, Teddy just wanted to drink in silence and figure out what he was going to do next.
He didn’t know much of anything about Harry Potter, really. He knew the name, and he knew the man’s reputation as it spread from the UK and into France, probably because of what happened to he and the other Champions during the Triwizard Tournament that Beauxbatons was part of back in 1994. Everyone at school had whispered gossip about Harry Potter at least once, so Teddy knew a bit, but he didn’t know Harry personally. Though he should have. It was his given right. Harry was his godfather after all.
Would Harry believe him, though? When Teddy showed up stumbling over his own name, would Harry believe him or turn him away? If that happened, what was Teddy supposed to do? He had no one left…
His eyes were wandering as he lost himself to his thoughts and drank his firewhiskey sip by sip, too distracted to take a real drink. He felt a tingle at the back of his neck, not comprehending the sensation at first until he realized someone was watching him from across the room. He shifted his eyes as inconspicuously as he could, catching sight of the man who’d taken an interest in him. He was young like Fred, but certainly old enough to drink. Twenty-one at the very least or he wouldn’t be allowed in the club. Teddy could only see so much of him from the distance and only peeking from the corners of his eyes, much of his vision obstructed by the glowing strobe lights and the fog that was curling along the floor from the Muggle machine in the corner of the room.
Teddy could see the unique shade of auburn hair that reminded him of the red and brown copper color the leaves in the park near his home changed during autumn, and his eyes were an amber color a million times better than the Muggle beer Teddy had been given before it was replaced by firewhiskey. His hair was tied half up none too elegantly, so Teddy imagined he just shoved his bangs out of his face and pinned it to keep it out of his eyes, but it looked good. In fact, damn, even from a distance and with the additional obstructions to his view, the young man was beautiful. Damn.
Teddy quickly tore his eyes away to glare at the bar and throw his head back to take a good mouthful of liquor, letting the burn go straight down his throat into his chest and stomach as he curled the hand on the bar into a tight fist. It was probably because he was a little buzzed, that sudden attraction to a stranger in a club in a different country he’d never set foot in before. The alcohol mixed with the grief of his grandparents' death and the preceding pitfall of loneliness. He didn’t need a one-night shag with someone he’d never met before, he needed another glass of whiskey, a full night’s sleep, and a therapy session.
“Need a top off, mate?” Fred asked, coming back over to Teddy and wiping his hands on a rag that he threw over his shoulder as Teddy nodded, pushing the glass towards Fred.
“Wouldn’t say no to it.”
“Looks like you need it,” Fred said as he pulled the firewhiskey bottle back up and poured it fluidly into the glass, filling it back up. “Sure you don’t wanna talk, Theodore?”
“Just Ted is fine,” Teddy mumbled into his glass, and he felt the new presence to his left before the new voice spoke up, sounding a little too silky and enticing.
“Get me a shot of that, too, would you Freddie?”
“Hey, mate! I thought that was you slinking around in the corner!” Fred set the bottle down and shuffled further down the bar before reaching over it, and Teddy quirked his head in time to see he was grabbing the shoulder of the young man that had been staring at Teddy, dragging him into a familiar hug that the other man returned before grabbing the firewhiskey and a shot glass. “I’ll treat you, my man. Ted, this is my cousin!”
Teddy turned his head enough to look at the man, who was smiling down at him as he took the shot from Fred. “Jamie.”
Teddy could have cursed himself for almost shivering, as if the guy’s name was enchanted or something. Honestly, what the hell was happening? Was the whiskey laced with something?
“Jamie, this guy grew up in France!” Fred exclaimed in excitement, pointing at Teddy while hugging the firewhiskey bottle to his chest. “How wicked is that?!”
“Very wicked,” Jamie agreed with a grin that wasn’t overly sweet or tender, instead holding this honest sort of genuine interest, one corner of his lips higher than the other to show off a shallow dimple in his cheek, a glitter in his eyes that held more curiosity than anything malicious.
Teddy didn’t make any arguments as Jamie took the stool next to Teddy, sitting towards the bar itself but turned slightly to prop his elbow on the counter and hold his chin in his hand so he could watch Teddy.
“So you went to Beauxbatons Academy?” Teddy felt himself tense, but the laugh Jamie gave seemed to make his anxiety melt away. “Easy there, I know a fellow wizard when I see one. Drinking Freddie’s stash of firewhiskey and sporting a wizard band shirt? You’re a bit too obvious.” He reached out, and for some reason Teddy didn’t jerk away when Jamie pinched a section of blue hair hanging in his eyes, twisting it. “How’d you get it like this? Muggle dye? Or did you transfigure it? Charm it?”
“If you guess right, I’ll reward you,” Teddy said, blushing internally and swearing at the fact he actually said that out loud, but Jamie didn’t look too deterred as he grinned bigger. Teddy wasn’t normally one to flirt, but that mess of a sentence he just threw up was definitely a crappy attempt at flirting, and while it was beyond him, Jamie seemed fully invested in it, downing his shot of firewhiskey without so much as a wince, though his eyes remained glued to Teddy’s.
“Are you old enough to be drinking that?” Teddy asked, less reprimanding and more flirty, which wasn’t his intention, really, but the flirtatious tone just came out without his control.
James gave a smirk in response, turning towards Teddy to show off the plaid button up he was wearing, the first two buttons undone that Teddy did his best not to look at as James reached out to take the glass of firewhiskey from him, fingers brushing the back of his hand before pulling the glass closer to his lips. “I’m legal, yes. Bit curious, aren’t we?”
Teddy felt both irritated and impressed by this kid’s gall, just taking his drink out of his hand like that, watching the red liquor spill into his mouth. He had nice lips…
“Are you planning to drink all of that?” Teddy asked, wondering when his voice got so rough as Jamie smiled against the lip of the glass, staring directly at Teddy.
“Why? Gonna punish me if I do?”
“Might make you pay me back for it.”
“Firewhiskey’s on the house for people like us.”
“Wasn’t talking galleons,” Teddy said, his entire body burning for what seemed like no reason.
There was just something about this man, though they’d never met before, never seen or spoken to each other before tonight. Maybe it was the bass of the music vibrating down to his bone marrow, the buzz from the whiskey or the crushing loneliness of having no one left. He was cold, and even after twenty-seven years of living, dating, breaking up, Teddy had never seen anything that could rival the honest warmth in Jamie’s eyes.
He was smart at least, eyes going wide at Teddy’s statement and cheeks going red. He stood up from the stool and stepped impossibly closer to Teddy, who had to tilt his head to keep eye contact as Jamie put the glass back to his lips and threw his head back, exposing his throat as it bobbed with each swallow he took of the whiskey. Teddy felt the inexplicable desire to seize forward and sink his teeth into his throat, feel it vibrate as Jamie moaned. Before he could, thank Merlin, Jamie slammed the empty glass onto the bar, cleaning the remnants of whiskey from his mouth with a thumb, face so flushed Teddy could make out the splattering of freckles across his cheeks and nose.
“How much do I owe you?” Jamie asked in a honeyed voice, and Teddy reached back to grab his leather jacket before standing up with him. His brown eyes got a bit wider as his head tilted back to keep his focus on Teddy’s face.
He was taller than Jamie by quite a bit. If he leaned forward he could probably set his chin perfectly on Teddy’s shoulder without getting on his toes or crouching down. His cheek was just at the height of Teddy’s chin, and he seemed to like it, sucking his bottom lip between his teeth and making a noise. Or maybe he didn’t; the club was loud after all. The warmth in his eyes was suddenly searing.
“Freddie, I’m leaving now,” Jamie said, reaching out to fist the front of Teddy’s shirt as Fred made a hum from down the hall.
“Sure mate. Oh boy- hey, just don’t disapparate, it took me ages to cover up for you last time!”
Teddy lifted a hand to hover it at his waist, twisting his wrist and sending a wordless spell across the room, the fog machine sputtering and spitting more mist and fog that had the club patrons shrieking in delight and shock as it hid both of them from view. Jamie’s eyes glowed and he tugged Teddy’s shirt, pulling him closer before a crack echoed in Teddy’s ears.
Then they were outside, and Jamie was dragging Teddy forward as he backed up into the wall behind the club. “Sorry, we can’t go to my place,” Jamie apologized as Teddy’s self control broke a little, caging Jamie against the cinderblock wall with his arms braced on either side of him, ducking his head to breath hot at the side of his neck, shutting his own eyes when the younger man shuddered. “Mm, I share a flat with my little brother. Best to not disturb him.”
“I have a suite,” Teddy said against Jamie’s ear. “You’ll love it.”
“You buy me a drink then take me to a fancy hotel?” Jamie teased, hands gripping the sides of Teddy’s shirt as Teddy pulled back to look into his excited eyes. “Does that mean I have to cook you breakfast tomorrow?”
“Depends on if you can walk or not,” Teddy cooed, and Jamie’s eyes unfocused as his breath hitched, hips rolling against nothing.
“How do you know I’m not expecting to top?” Jamie asked breathlessly, and Teddy licked his lips, which were suddenly too dry.
“Maybe I can smell it on you,” he growled a little, half angry at how constricting his jeans were already. “A bloke like you… how do you want it?”
“Fuck, I…” Jamie looked wrecked, and they hadn’t even touched yet.
Teddy hadn’t touched him. He’d breathed against his neck and let Jamie cling to his shirt, but he hadn’t touched the man yet. If he was this vocal just from sexual tension, what would he sound like in bed?
“Merlin just get me on a bed and fuck me,” Jamie was shaking as he reached up and stretched his fingers across Teddy’s cheeks, leaning up to pant against his lips but not kissing him. “You’re right, I am that kinda bloke. Take me home, Ted.”
Teddy finally touched Jamie, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and the other around the small of his back, one hand pressing into his back and dipping him as he mouthed the dimple in Jamie’s cheek but still didn’t kiss him. He did the apparation spell that time, landing in the walk in of his suite with the door still locked and throwing his leather jacket on the couch as he grabbed Jamie by the waist.
His brown eyes swept the room as fast as he could before his concentration broke. “I recognize this place. Aren’t the rooms here a bit price- ohhhhh.”
Teddy had a hand up the front of Jamie’s button up shirt, lips finally at his neck to suck at his pulse point as it beat beneath his lips.
“Your hand, fuck,” Jamie croaked, one hand clinging to Teddy’s wrist through his shirt as he found one of his nipples and tweaked it between his fingers, drawing a mewl from him.
“What is it, never been touched?” Teddy asked into his neck, and Jamie panted.
“Not like this, shit. You know what you’re doing, don't you?” Teddy pulled away to meet Jamie’s eye, and the younger man froze as if the expression was frightening. “What? What is it?”
Teddy lifted a hand to caress Jamie’s face tenderly. “Have you done this kind of thing before?”
Jamie looked startled. “I don’t have any diseases-”
“I trust that,” Teddy interrupted. “I just mean I need you to tell me if this is your first time.”
“What for?”
“Because I don’t want to hurt you.”
Jamie looked gobsmacked, lips parted as if he’d never heard something so ridiculous, staring at Teddy like he had three heads before closing his mouth, something curiously vulnerable in his eyes as he lidded them halfway and leaned his cheek further into Teddy’s hand.
“I’m not a virgin.”
Teddy didn’t know why that fact put such a sour taste in his mouth, but he swallowed it down to speak again. “Were you… the first time…”
Jamie looked puzzled before he again looked dumbstruck. “You mean was I forced?” Teddy winced, Jamie gave a gentle smile. “No, never. It hurt a bit, but I said yes and I wanted it.” Teddy felt relieved at that, while wondering why he even cared, and Jamie laughed softly, relaxing as he lifted a hand to Teddy’s face. “You’re a remarkably kind person, to care so much for a stranger you just met at a bar.”
“It’s human to care for people, especially if you’re going to be sharing a bed.”
“It’s just a one-night stand,” Jamie said, and Teddy probably would have felt offended if Jamie hadn’t been looking at him like that.
No more words were exchanged as Teddy pulled Jamie closer and kissed him finally on the lips. Jamie sighed into his mouth, jaw slacking and kneading his lips against Teddy’s as Teddy went back to working at his shirt, unbuttoning it as he backed Jamie towards the double doors to his bedroom, flicking his wrist to open the doors and pushing the shirt off Jamie’s shoulders, still kissing as he flung it off to the side, hands reaching up to hold Jamie’s face and tilting his own so he could deepen the kiss, forcing his tongue into the younger man’s mouth and carving a path as Jamie moaned, trembling.
Jamie was as hot as Teddy expected, his skin was burning, and there was still too much clothes separating them. Teddy continued to wave his hand with wordless spells, untying his boots and kicking them off without having to disengage from the kiss. Jamie’s lips tasted like chocolate and cinnamon, his moans went straight down Teddy’s spine to pool into his gut.
He picked Jamie up by his waist, forcing a muffled squeak out of him as they toppled onto the bed together, Teddy on top of him as he reached down to undo his belt, leaving it so he could flick his wrist down to remove Jamie’s shoes without touching them. Jamie pushed himself onto his elbows to lift into the kiss, leaving several short ones on Teddy’s lips like he didn’t want to stop but eventually pulling himself away so he could scoot himself higher onto the bed, leaning into the pillows before reaching for his own jeans and rubbing himself through them as he loosened the belt and undid the button, pulling the zipper down as Teddy copied his shaky movements.
“Have I mentioned yet how insanely hot it is when you use wandless magic?” Jamie breathed. “How are you so good at it?”
“Practice,” Teddy said, lowering himself down to the bed and licking a stripe from the elastic band of Jamie’s boxers peeking from his open fly and up to his naval as Jamie tossed back his head, hips jerking.
“Ohhh fuck.”
“Want me to suck you off?” Teddy asked, biting the elastic of Jamie’s boxers as he cursed.
“Fuck, yes.” He quickly reached out before Teddy could get his pants off. “But no, don’t do that,” he was panting, fisting the shirt at Teddy’s shoulders. “It’s already too much, I’m not normally like this, I swear, I just… oh Merlin just put it in, please, I’m begging you.”
Teddy couldn’t find it in him to feel smug, when he felt far too relieved he wasn’t the only one of them losing themselves to this. It was just so hot. This man he didn’t even know was reaching places in Teddy he didn’t know were there, deep into his soul, his entire body shook, wanting to absorb Jamie’s heat.
He sat back on his heels and tore the shirt over his head as Jamie sucked in a breath, dragging his hands over Teddy’s chest and stomach, palming at his nipples as he shuffled around to get both their jeans off, stopping abruptly to simply stare at Jamie for a moment. His entire body seemed to be the same light tan, freckles decorating him like stars. They were at his shoulders, at his hips, even his inner thighs, and Teddy felt his mouth water from the desire to bite bruises into those freckles in particular.
That thought was what made Teddy resolve the fact this probably wasn’t going to be a one-night stand. Jamie was too delectable to have once and move on. Teddy was going to fall apart if they didn’t fuck right then, but later, when they weren’t in such a rush, he would worship every inch of Jamie’s beautiful body. Would he run if Teddy said that out loud?
He decided not to, waving a hand to conjure lube directly into his hand as he squeezed Jamie’s thigh. “Spread out for me, beautiful. Let me see where you want me.”
Jamie blushed down to his chest as he held his thighs and spread his legs, turning his face into the pillows and watching Teddy with carnal fog in his eyes, which rolled almost violently, body jerking as Teddy spread the lube over his hole, opening him with his left thumb as he circled the ring of pink muscle with his right index, testing for a moment before pushing against it, thrusting slow and shallow until he’d worked it all the way into Jamie’s body. His hole clenched around his single finger as Teddy worked it, pushing it in before sliding it out and repeating the process until Jamie had relaxed a bit. Then he added a second finger, and Jamie’s body seemed to protest as he tightened, before he made a broken groan into the pillows, thighs trembling as his hips rolled and Teddy took it as a sign to thrust his fingers and scissor them apart.
“Like that?”
“God, yes, more.”
“More fingers?”
“Just fuck me, I’m gonna come like this and I don’t want to.”
Teddy held Jamie’s hip gently and slid his fingers out, conjuring another palm of lube which he used to slick his cock. Jamie watched him with trembling, parted lips, body shaking in desire.
“You’re hung,” Jamie said dizzily, and Teddy smiled wickedly.
“Sure am, and it’s all going in.”
“Oh my god…”
Teddy was already hard, throbbing, worried that if he stroked himself too much he would come, and he wanted to fuck Jamie before then. So he stopped, holding his cock in one hand as he scuffled forward, taking one of the pillows to put under Jamie’s hips. The other man looked touched at the action, eyes rolling as Teddy rubbed the flared head of his cock over Jamie’s slick entrance.
“Ready for me?”
“Yeah, Ted, Merlin, get it in me.” Jamie gasped, hands holding the back of his knees and holding his legs as Teddy braced himself and lead his cock to press against Jamie’s hole, which spread and stretched as Jamie flinched from the sensation, moaning immediately as Teddy breached his body.
He set about thrusting shallowly and gently, eyes shut against the debauched noise of lube easing his cock in and out, the moans coming from Jamie even more candied and sinful as he dug his head into the pillows, gasping and whimpering as Teddy eased deeper and deeper with each thrust.
“Fuck, fuck, Ted, oh my god, your fucking cock.”
“You like my cock?”
“Fuck I love your cock,” Jamie moaned. “Fuck me into the mattress with that gorgeous fucking cock of yours.”
“If you insist,” Teddy teased, reaching out to grab the back of Jamie’s knees, knocking his hands away so he could instead fist the sheets, his back arching with a scream of ecstasy as Teddy started to fuck him true to his word, right into the mattress.
Jamie moaned and cried incomprehensible words that almost sounded like poetry the way he sobbed them, clinging to the sheets before wrapping his arms into the pillows at his head, finally slotting them into the bars of the headboard, using the grip as leverage to lift his hips, slamming them into Teddy’s as he thrust his cock in deep, stunned for all of three seconds that Jamie actually managed to take him all in before his mind became a fog of lust.
It felt too good, Jamie was absolutely melting around his cock, his channel hot and tight and just right. He’d never had anyone this good before, Teddy realized, comparing every lover he’d ever had to Jamie in a matter of seconds and shaking his head, digging his nails into Jamie’s thighs. None of the men or women he’d been with, virgin or not, had been this tight, this hot, this perfect. It was like they already knew each others bodies, like they’d fucked and made love a million times before in a past life, memorized every bend and curve and G-spot that had Jamie sobbing and shaking.
Teddy leaned forward, hooking Jamie’s legs over his arms as he encompassed his body, sinking deep and thrusting shallowly against where he thought his prostate was. Judging by the way Jamie’s eyes rolled beautifully, Teddy had been right, and he thrust harder.
“This hard enough, baby? Fuck, Jamie. You fit so well around me, so hot, so tight.” Jamie moaned loudly and Teddy braced himself when he clenched around him. “You’re coming , aren’t you? I can feel you twitching, it’s so good. Feels good when you’re about to come. Fuck, Jamie, come for me, come with my prick right here.” He slammed his hips into Jamie, whose voice picked up, the headboard slamming into the wall as he pinched his eyes closed. “That’s right, sweetheart, right where you love it, come for me.”
Jamie arched his back hard, screaming, Teddy’s eyes rolled and pinched closed as he gave a broken moan, his hips numbing and his cock burying deep as he came hard with Jamie’s hole clenching, gripping his cock as if to keep it in place until Teddy had been spent. His shoulders shook as he opened his eyes to see white stripes on Jamie’s stomach, dripping from his twitching cock, a few more drops spilling as Jamie whimpered, one arm over his eyes, his other hand still holding the headboard.
“Ted.” His voice was a whimper, and Teddy took his hips with both hands, hushing Jamie softly as he pulled his flaccid cock from his body, watching entranced as his come began dripping out.
He felt panicked for a moment and ashamed that he hadn’t been in his right mind enough to wear a condom, grabbing his wand to clean Jamie inside and out until he was certain nothing was left, then sighed and tossed it to the bed, crawling up to press a sweet kiss onto Jamie’s red, kiss swollen lips.
“How was that?” Teddy hummed against his mouth, and Jamie dragged his arm away, one hand burying into his hair, smiling at Teddy with a blissful, sated expression.
“Never had a shag that good in my entire life.”
Teddy snorted, holding Jamie’s face with a hand and rubbing it over his cheek, for a moment neither said anything, just stared at each other, and Teddy wondered if he was wearing the same curious, dreamy expression that Jamie was. He was the one who moved first, flopping onto the bed beside Jamie so their shoulders were touching, though Jamie squirmed around and rolled onto his side once he’d gotten his breath back, one arm tucked under the pillow at his head as he smiled at Teddy.
“How about me, then? Though I kind of just laid there and let you do all the work.”
“Maybe this time,” Teddy hummed, smirking. “I’ll have you ride me next.”
Jamie looked puzzled. “You want to go again already?”
“Nah, too tired.” Teddy rolled his head and shut his eyes. “Been travelling all day, and I haven’t been sleeping much. Just next time.” He opened his eyes when there was no response, rolling his head back to see Jamie was staring off to the side, chewing his bottom lip. “Stay the night,” Teddy blurted, and Jamie gaped at him before something uneasy filtered onto his face.
“I shouldn’t,” he said, shifting around to push himself onto his right hand. “My brother will wonder where I’ve gone.”
“How old is he?”
“Nineteen.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine then.” Teddy pushed himself up with Jamie, both of them leaning against one hand, faces inches apart. “I was joking earlier by the way, I can make breakfast. I need to go to the store first though.”
Jamie looked torn, staring at Teddy like he wanted nothing more than to curl up with him and spend the night. Teddy wanted to ask what he was so worried about, and insist he would never hurt him, but after a moment Jamie looked off to the side.
“Can I wear your shirt?”
Teddy heard a buzz in his ears from a blend of confusion and appeal, reaching a hand to the side to accio his shirt into his hand without casting the spell vocally. Jamie’s eyes glittered in delight as he took the shirt, quickly yanking it over his head and shoving his arms through the sleeves, taking a moment to check the shirt collar and test how big it was. It actually fit him pretty well, though it was a bit big at the shoulders.
After a moment Jamie hummed, satisfied, then threw himself back onto the bed and curled into the pillows. “Alright I’ll stay.”
Teddy felt something warm flutter in his chest. “Just curious.” He leaned over Jamie, hovering over him. “You didn’t shag me just for my shirt, did you?”
Jamie gave him an innocent look. “Of course I did, Ted, what do you take me for?”
Teddy snorted hard, dropping his face against Jamie’s chest. He was going to lean up and lie next to him, but his entire body melted against Jamie and into the mattress so he was lying with his head on Jamie’s chest when a tender hand decided to card through his hair, fingers working out the sweat matted tangles and massaging his scalp. Teddy suddenly felt heavy and tired, one arm slung over Jamie, waving his wrist lazily to shut the lights off and sending them into darkness.
Streaks of lights from the neon of the stores, streetlamps, and passing cars came in from between the window curtains, casting over the bedspread and duvet that Teddy drew up to cover both himself and Jamie.
“I really can cook breakfast, by the way,” Teddy said, and Jamie hummed.
“I said I would, right?”
“Only if you can walk, Jamie.”
Jamie laughed, his fingers still working out Teddy’s hair. “I think I’ll be okay. I’m tougher than I look.”
“Yeah? How do you figure?”
“Well I am an Auror.”
Teddy’s eyes snapped open in shock, shoving himself up to hover over Jamie again, leaving him looking shocked. “Auror? You work at the Ministry?”
“What? I mean, yeah. I don’t work tomorrow though.”
“Then do you know-” Teddy immediately cut himself off, snapping his mouth shut and staring down at Jamie, who suddenly looked confused and worried.
“Do I know who?”
Teddy felt like he’d choked himself. What was he doing bringing up Harry Potter after sex? That was weird on so many levels. You don’t just shag a bloke then have a casual conversation about the godfather you never knew you had. This wasn’t about him, this was about Jamie. It wasn’t fair to change the subject when Teddy was learning something new about him.
“... do you know, I mean, anyone from the Department of Mysteries?” Jamie looked at him with a blank expression. “What I mean, back in school, people… talked, gossiped about Unspeakables, and I did a bit of research for the French Ministry in my spare time… so… curious…”
“Oh. Well, I mean the Unspeakables are a really private Department. I don’t think anyone really knows them. They keep their work classified and secret. I do know people who are Unspeakables, but I don’t talk to them.”
Teddy nodded, lowering himself back down to hug Jamie around the waist, head returning to his chest, and Jamie went back to petting his hair.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, just… got excited.”
Jamie laughed softly. “It’s not that glamorous, no need to be so starstruck.” Teddy just curled his fingers into the shirt Jamie was wearing, pressing his lips tightly together and staring at the curtains as Jamie stroked the hair at the base of Teddy’s skull. “You’re sure you’re alright, Ted?”
“Just tired. Oh, you can call me Teddy if you want.”
“Hm, Teddy?”
“Yeah, most people do. You can keep calling me Ted too if you want, though.”
“Can I call you Theodore?”
“No.”
Jamie laughed. “Not a fan of your full name?”
“It’s not that.” Teddy decided not to tell him it wasn’t actually his name. “I just prefer Ted or Teddy.”
“I like that too,” Jamie hummed. “You can call me James if you want. That’s my given name. People call me Jamie though.”
“I see.”
“Evans,” Jamie- James said quickly, and Teddy made a noise of confusion. “I mean, my name. James Evans.”
“Oh, okay,” Teddy thought for a moment. “Howell.”
“Theodore Howell?”
“Teddy,” was Teddy’s grumbled response, and James laughed.
“Teddy Howell.”
“Yeah…”
“Cute.”
“Thanks, I got it from my grandparents.”
James laughed, but Teddy was being entirely serious. He’d gotten his name from his maternal grandfather Ted Tonks. His fraternal grandmother, Hope Lupin, had been a Welsh Muggle whose maiden name had been Howell. What better alias to use with the cute Auror he just shagged senseless?
Teddy actually felt the desire to tell the truth, tell James who he was, but if he worked at the Ministry he probably knew about Remus Lupin and Harry Potter, and Teddy wasn’t sure he was ready to reveal just how pathetically alone he was yet. What if the revelation chased James away? Teddy didn’t want to scare him by telling him he was an orphan with no blood family left alive. That could end up putting too much pressure on James to stay, and Teddy didn’t want to manipulate his emotions like that.
No, he didn’t need to know or worry about that. It was Teddy’s business, Teddy’s life. He’d only just met James, telling him his life story was too much to take in at once. Besides, if he revealed he had werewolf blood in him, would James hate him? Teddy knew that prejudice against werewolves wasn’t as bad as it had been when Remus was alive, and he wasn’t even a full werewolf, but there was still a stigma. There were still classmates during school who demonized him and secluded him like he was an untouchable lepar. Teddy spent most of his time at Beauxbatons not having friends to talk to, because they learned who his father had been and became disgusted. They weren’t all like that, but the majority… Teddy didn’t even want to entertain the idea that James Evans with his warm brown eyes would be the same as them.
><><><><><><><><><><><
The pillow Teddy’s face was buried in smelled heavily of cinnamon, sweat, liquor and chocolate, and he groaned as he turned his head in order to shove his face deeper, taking a slow breath in to linger on the intoxicating scent and wondering why it was so familiar. The slight ache behind his eyes was what reminded him of the night before, how he went to a bar for a drink and ended up bringing home a man he’d never seen before to shag before falling asleep on his chest. Teddy’s jaw locked as he kept his face hidden, hoping his hair wasn’t as dramatically pink as he felt it might be from the embarrassment and humiliation.
Teddy wasn’t the kind of person who just took blokes or dames home for a one-night-stand. It wasn’t something he was into, fucking and forgetting. He didn’t have the stomach for it. His nan said it was because he had such a big heart, that he couldn’t be intimate with someone without becoming dangerously attached to them. For Teddy, sleeping with someone meant long term commitment and love, and he’d gotten his heart broken more times than he could count because of his weakness.
He rolled his head again, opening his eyes and trying not to feel disappointed and sad when he found he was alone in bed. The sheets beside him were cold to the touch, and Teddy sighed, shutting his eyes again. Maybe there was just something wrong with him. Maybe it was because he was raised in a secluded village by his single grandmother with no one else around to help. He had no other parental figures, no friends outside of school, and he didn’t even know his parents names until recently. He’d been cut off from everyone and everything, not allowed to socialize or grow like a normal person, so now whenever someone showed even the tiniest bit of tenderness or affection towards him, he crumbled.
He had a big heart, fine, but Merlin was it fragile.
Teddy had a feeling he wouldn’t forget James Evans very easily. There was just something about him, the warmth in his eyes, the confident smile and the freckles on his cheeks, the way his hands felt in Teddy’s hair and the sound of his laughter, the way he jabbed and teased and joked with Teddy after the fact, not embarrassed in the least that they were both stark naked. It had been so different and refreshing. Teddy had never slept with anyone or dated anyone who made him feel so at ease. He was more himself with James than he ever had been with previous lovers, and they’d only just met.
His head ached from a slight hangover, but he ignored it as he slipped off the bed, running his hands over his face and into his hair before shuffling over to his suitcase and pulling out clean boxers and sweatpants. His stomach felt hollow, breakfast was first on his list, followed by a shower, then he could go out into Diagon Alley and pick up a few books. He needed to learn more about the Great Wizarding Wars and Harry Potter. There was so much he didn’t know, and not knowing about something like this made him irritated. He could stop at Gringotts later, get into his vault and drop off some paperwork before getting the deed to Lyall Lupin’s property down in Wales.
Teddy didn’t want to leave London just yet, but he imagined he’d end up in Wales eventually, in his grandfather’s house. In the house his father grew up in.
He was running a hand through his hair as he stepped out of the bedroom and into the sitting room, digging the heel of his palm into his eyes as the sound of sizzling reached his ears. He paused abruptly, hand still in his hair, noting that the door to the balcony was open, letting in the crisp air. Standing in the little kitchen, separated from the sitting room by a small island counter and stools was James, still wearing Teddy’s shirt from the night before, boxers, and nothing else. His hair was a mess, a hard to perfect style that old schoolmates would call “sex hair” that James had absolutely perfected. It looked entirely too natural on him.
Teddy didn’t know what to say, good morning or what the hell are you doing, so he just stood there like an idiot watching James sway on his feet, a little radio providing music that Teddy was sure he’d heard before but didn’t know the name of. Finally James seemed to realize someone was standing there, lifting his head and smiling brightly.
“Morning, Teddy! You looked so cute sleeping I didn’t want to wake you up.” He waved at what he was doing. “Breakfast is about done.”
“You went to the store?” Teddy asked, and James shrugged.
“Yeah, why?”
“Dressed like that?”
James snorted. “I wore pants, don’t worry, but there’s a convenience store just across the street so it didn’t take long.” He turned, looking far too comfortable and far too good with the collar of Teddy’s shirt slipping off his shoulder. “Why? Worried about other people seeing me like this?”
Teddy didn’t know if he should blush or argue, and ended up doing neither as he opened his mouth. “I didn’t think you’d still be here.”
James tilted his head, looking confused. “I told you I didn’t work today, right?”
“No, I meant…” Teddy trailed off, shaking his head. “Uh, never mind.”
“You thought I would just up and leave after sleeping with you,” James finished for Teddy, and Teddy winced a little as James smiled, setting down the spatula he was holding and shutting off the stove top before walking over to Teddy, reaching up to wrap his arms around his neck. “I’m not that kind of person. Normally I’m the shag that stays until I’m kicked out. Do you mind? This is a nice suite after all.”
Teddy laughed softly, moving his hands to James’ waist. “I don’t mind. I’m just used to people leaving the morning after, so this was unexpected.”
“The people you slept with and dated before sound like twats, no offense,” James said, looking completely serious, and Teddy laughed louder.
“You’re not wrong.”
“For the record I didn’t single you out last night because I wanted to sleep with you and leave the next morning. I did want to shag you though, I won’t lie. You are insanely hot.”
Teddy chewed the inside of his cheek. “Why did you then?”
James hummed, playing with Teddy’s hair. “You looked lonely is all.” Teddy felt frozen as James pulled away and turned back towards the little kitchen. “Sit down on the couch, I’ll bring you a plate.”
Teddy did as he was told, shuffling over and dropping onto the couch, staring blankly at where the flatscreen television was mounted on the wall. He looked lonely? That was why? Was he really that obvious?
“Here you are, a traditional British breakfast with all the works for my French friend,” James said, walking up carrying two plates of food, two mugs floating in the air beside him.
Teddy didn’t know what to comment on first, the fact James could cook, or how impressed he was with the floating cups. “You know I’m not actually French.”
“No?”
“I just grew up there. I was born here though.”
James looked intrigued at that, setting the plates down before standing to take the cups out of the air.
“Wow,” Teddy noted, gaping at the breakfast and memorizing how good it smelt. “Are you feeding a village?”
“Oh sod off, I thought it would be nice to do for you after last night.”
“I wasn’t the one taking it last night,” Teddy couldn’t help teasing, and James’ lips curled into a pout as he blushed and set the cups down. “So you can cook?”
“Yup, learned from my dad and my gran. I do all the cooking at the flat, too. My little brother will be eating cold cereal for breakfast today, I’m afraid.”
“I do not envy him,” Teddy decided, reaching out for his cup as James sat down next to him.
“So back up, you were born here?”
“Not London, I don’t think, but in England yes. I have French genes too though, and my gran on my dad’s side was full Welsh.”
“That’s awesome, I love Wales. It’s beautiful there.”
“Never been,” Teddy admitted, poking at the eggs on his plate and keeping his head down. “This is the first time I’ve been in the UK since I was a baby.”
“You moved pretty early, huh?”
“Yeah. Some stuff happened and my nan wanted to move me, raise me somewhere… quieter, I guess.”
“What about your parents?” Teddy didn’t answer at first, and the silence must have been pretty telling, because James’ voice became soft. “Oh… Teddy, I’m… I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” Teddy quickly reassured, turning his head to smile at James, who looked heartbroken. “Hey, really. I’m okay.”
“You moved because they… died?”
Teddy swallowed and looked away. “I think so.”
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t know a lot.” Teddy tapped his fork against the plate before shrugging. “It’s fine though. I’m fine.”
“You keep saying that,” James muttered, and Teddy decided not to look at him as he shoved a forkful of eggs and beans into his mouth to avoid the responsibility of speaking.
He muttered around his fork, “This is really good,” but said nothing more about his parents, and James didn’t push him as he reached for the remote on the coffee table, turning on the television and picking a channel before sitting back with his own plate.
“Oh, you don’t have any allergies, right? Before you eat any more I mean.”
Teddy shook his head. “No allergies.”
“Cool, no cooking restrictions then. Just had to make sure before I fed you something bad and had to drag you to St. Mungo’s.”
“That would be a shame,” Teddy said against his cup of tea, which he had to note was perfectly brewed and precisely the way he liked it.
A baking show was appropriately playing on the television as the two of them finished breakfast, and Teddy really didn’t know how it had happened, but James ended up curled against him, an arm slung over his waist as Teddy curled an arm around James’ shoulders. Teddy didn’t notice at first since he was distracted by the sad attempt at making a fruit tart on the television, but James had become fascinated with his arm, leaning against his chest and holding Teddy’s left hand with his right, tracing the lightly faded ink set deep in Teddy’s skin.
“These are really beautiful,” he said suddenly, and Teddy looked down to see James was tracing the edges of the tattoo under his wrist.
It was a yin-yang of his own design, the silhouette of a woman’s head interlocking a wolf’s head mid howl. A memorial for his parents, to remember them by. Teddy had gotten it long before he knew what their names were, and he still didn’t even know how they’d actually died, but he’d always known what they looked like, always knew his father was a werewolf and his mother loved him in spite of the tragedy that was his life.
Teddy turned his hand to hook his fingers loosely with James’ as he continued to trace the tattoos. “For my parents.”
“Pretty. What about the rest?”
Teddy shrugged his shoulders, eyeing the roses, ivy vines, lotus, chrysanthemum, lilac, peony, rhododendron, camellia, and twists and knots of celtic knotwork surrounding the yin-yang and covering his entire forearm, a little past his elbow. They were mostly black and white but shaded with color, made with magic infused ink so it looked like the garden of flowers was waving softly against a gentle breeze.
“I just… wanted something beautiful,” Teddy admitted as James laid his head under his chin and traced the flowers.
“You don’t think it’s too feminine?”
“I don’t at all,” Teddy pressed his lips into James’ hair, “and I don’t care if other people think it is either. I didn’t get it for the lot of the world, I got it for myself.”
“I really like it,” James hummed. “I didn’t even notice last night, I guess I was too busy, but you’ve got a lot of these, don’t you?” James leaned back, pulling his legs up onto the couch and facing Teddy, reaching out to the simple crescent moon tattooed on the side of Teddy’s neck, tracing it. “Makes you even hotter, if I’m being honest.” There was a glittering sort of mischief in his eyes. “You were probably busy too, the whole time you were looking at my face, but did you see mine?”
Teddy felt confused for a moment, before it hit him what James meant, his eyes widening. “You have tattoos?”
“Just one, don’t tell my dad.” James winked. “He’d go mad.”
“What for?” Teddy asked, and James hummed, head tilting and looking off to the side.
“Well remember I’m an Auror, I can’t go traipsing around inked up. Me especially. You can only be so absurd when you’re an Auror.”
“How bad could it be?” Teddy asked. “If any career would allow tattoos, I would imagine an Auror would be one of them.”
“It’s mostly the Head Auror who doesn’t like it, thinks we should all be proper and professional.”
“He’d really hate me, then,” Teddy hummed, feeling oddly irritated and protective of James. “Show me what it is.”
James looked excited at the request, rolling onto his knees and slipping closer, throwing one leg over Teddy’s lap, hands on his shoulders. “You really want to see?”
“I like tattoos,” Teddy assured, hands on James’ hips, rubbing down to his thighs. “That’s probably hard to believe, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely, I never would have guessed,” James teased right back, moving his hands from Teddy’s shoulders and turning sideways, lifting the bottom of the shirt up before hooking a thumb into the elastic of his boxers and pulling it down just enough to show off the elaborate tattoo on his left hip and thigh.
It was a black and colored tattoo of two distinct animals, a lion and a wolf, twisted together and remarkably realistic. The positioning of it was almost erotic, Teddy had no idea why he hadn’t noticed it the night before, honestly. He really must have been a little drunk and a little too hard. Though if Teddy had seen this tattoo, he doubted he would have lasted as long as he did.
“What do you think?” James asked, and Teddy slid a thumb over the tattoo, taking an additional moment to trace the wolf, then looked up at James.
“Hot,” he said, and James threw his had back in a laugh. “I like my lovers with a bit of ink. Shows they’re adventurous, not afraid of a bit of discomfort in life, and not afraid of commitment, which I think is the most important thing in a relationship.”
James looked smug as he fixed his clothes, stretching his arms across Teddy’s shoulders. “So we’re in a relationship? We’ve barely even met.”
“Yeah, I know,” Teddy agreed, hands on James’ back, rubbing his right side with his left hand. “You can run if you want, but I’ll need my shirt back.” James laughed again, his forehead against Teddy’s. “There’s just something about you, I don’t know what it is.”
“Familiarity,” James tested, his thumb on Teddy’s jaw. “Like I’ve known you my whole life.”
“Yeah,” Teddy tried not to melt when James smiled. “So what’s the tattoo mean?”
“You can’t tell immediately by my confidence and dashing good looks?” James asked. “I’m a Gryffindor.”
“Ah, that explains the lion, but the statement that all Gryffindor’s are good looking?”
“How many Gryffindors have you met exactly?”
“Not many, I’ll admit.”
“Then you can’t argue, can you?” James teased. “Think you might’ve been a Gryffindor, had you stayed in England and gone to school at Hogwarts?”
Teddy considered it, staring past James. His father had been a Gryffindor. His mum, on the other hand, had been a Hufflepuff. So had Ted Tonks, and his gran had been a Slytherin. His grandfather Lyall had been a Gryffindor, but Hope Howell had been a muggle.
“Either a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. Not sure which.”
“Why those two?”
“My mum and dad were,” Teddy explained, and James’ smile faded to a look of empathy before he patched it back, though it was sadder.
He tipped forward to kiss Teddy’s forehead, humming against his skin but not speaking. It was tender and affectionate and Teddy could feel his heart swelling as he wrapped his arms around James’ waist, pulling him flush and tilting his head back to capture his lips in a kiss as James moved his hands to hold his cheeks.
They both jerked out of the kiss at the sound of a loud screech, looking at the open balcony doors as a large owl flew in, dropping a letter onto the couch before flying back out and landing on the railing, then swiveling its head and shrieking again, as if calling for someone. James snatched the letter up before Teddy could read it, climbing off his lap and walking a few steps away as he cursed and tore it open.
“What is it?”
“For me, from the Head Auror.” James turned to face Teddy once he’d gotten the letter open, and Teddy stood from the couch, watching brown eyes sweep over the letter, brow drawn and growing more distressed before he groaned, folding the letter none too gently and shoving it back into the envelope. “I have to go.”
“I thought it was your day off?”
“It is, but Merlin forbid something happen to ruin it,” James muttered as he strode into the bedroom, grabbing his jeans off the floor and stumbling into them, letter held in his mouth as he used both hands to secure the zipper and button before grabbing his belt off the ground, shoving the letter into his back pocket and looking at Teddy as he walked back out into the sitting room. “I really need to hurry, do you mind if I wear the shirt out?”
Teddy eyed the bit of skin on James’ shoulder that was exposed from the neck of the shirt being just a bit too big. “Is that okay? It’s a bit big on you.”
“It’ll be fine, I won’t get it dirty. Probably. I’ll clean it and bring it back, promise.”
Teddy nodded slowly. That wasn’t really what he was worried about, he could just imagine the nagging the Head Auror would give if he saw James so sloppy. He didn’t even brush his hair out, just smoothed it before yanking it out of his eyes and tying it in place with an elastic.
“I don’t mind,” he decided, watching James stumble into his shoes and hop on one foot as he tried to lace them, then scrambled back into the bedroom to retrieve his wand, shoving it into his back pocket as he came back once more, walking directly up to Teddy.
He reached up to hold his face, dragging him down far enough to kiss him hard, and Teddy felt breathless as he pulled away, that confident, reckless smile back on James’ mouth. “I’ll see you as soon as I’m done with this. You’ll be here, yeah?”
“I’ll be in London for a while yet.”
“Try not to be too bored without me.” James released him and started walking towards the open balcony. “Go out, sightsee, buy some souvenirs.” He stopped at the railing, turning to look back at Teddy and grinning. “London’s a beautiful city.”
Then he reached out to the owl, and they apparated away as if the bird had been a portkey. Teddy let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, standing in the doorway and staring over the city numbly. Yeah, it really was beautiful, but Teddy had already seen what he wanted to in the form of a London boy with a secret tattoo.
“Ah, Merlin.” Teddy lifted a hand to his head. “Didn’t ask about the wolf.”
><><><><><><><><><><><
Diagon Alley was bustling with activity when Teddy stepped through the stone archway, looking back and forth as he secured his jacket and lifted his scarf over his chin, trying not to look too conspicuous as he meandered forward. He’d changed his hair before leaving his hotel suite, opting for a bland brown that didn’t make him stand out too much. The wizarding community in London wasn’t like that in France. People here knew about his parents, they knew about Nymphadora Tonks being a metamorphmagus, so if he walked around with his hair its usual blue, there was going to be at least one person who picked up on who he was, and while a part of him wanted that to happen, to be recognized, he didn’t think he was ready yet.
The bank was going to know, that was inevitable, he had to show them his ID to prove who he was, the Goblins would probably do some weird magic based test to ensure he was who he said, before they let him down into the vault and gave him the deed to Lyall’s property. First things first, though, Teddy had a bit of shopping to do.
He hadn’t had any time to do so before leaving France, but there were a few things he needed to pick up. Potion ingredients, tea, ink, quill, and new parchment. He didn’t want to load up on too much stuff since he would probably be moving to his grandfather’s home in the next couple of weeks, but he did need the bare necessities to survive in the little hotel suite for a while. He even took the time to rummage through the bookstore, picking out a number of history books as he riffled through upstairs and down. There were a few general books, one fat hardcover that detailed every part of the first and second Great Wizarding Wars, but there were a few more interesting books he managed to find. An Anthology of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, Marauders and Mischief: The Tale of a Powerful Friendship That Ended the War, Tomb of the Lionheart: The Unsung Hero of the Great Wizarding War, and White Moon, which had a photograph of Remus Lupin on the front. If someone wrote a biography of his father, Teddy wanted to read it.
The Flourish and Blotts teller seemed excited to ring him up, an elderly man who kept pointing at the books as he was wrapping them up and complimenting them. “Oh, this is a good one, real tear jerker it was” and “Lovely choice, absolutely wonderful” or “Now this was a good author, have you read their biography on Albus Dumbledore?”
When he reached Remus’ biography he patted the cover. “Another excellent book, about time if you ask me, what a good man. I liked him, I did. Quiet man, quiet boy, loved books, always treated my shop respectfully. I’ve been working here for years, you know, I was here when he came in for school books. Never knew he was a werewolf, but I don’t mind, I really don’t. Not since he sacrificed himself like he did. What a man. What a Gryffindor.”
Teddy felt uncomfortable as he paid the teller and carried the books out, shrinking them with a wave of his hand so they were small enough to tuck into the bag over his shoulder. After which he headed for Gringotts.
He certainly felt uneasy as he stepped through the doors, holding one side open for a small group of wizards and witches who didn’t thank him as they left, though a tiny witch did turn to wave at him with a little hand. Teddy kept his head down as he stepped further into the building, finally lifting his head to take everything in as he turned in a slow circle, one corner of his lips lifting before falling when he remembered why he was there, sighing and pulling the French bank’s transcript and transfer confirmation from his pocket before locating the teller desk and walking up to it.
The Goblin there wasn’t remarkable really, and didn’t seem to care about Teddy as he grunted for the papers he was holding.
“I’m here to collect a deed left in my name and look over a will my grandfather left,” Teddy explained in a somewhat shaky voice, looking around to see if anyone was watching him, then lowering his voice and retrieving his French ID. “I’m Edward-”
“I know who you are, I’m not blind,” the Goblin grunted as he stamped both papers, then waved his arm clumsily towards a large yellow door behind him. “Go in.”
Teddy stared at the door before nodding and smiling at the Goblin. “Thank you for your help.”
The Goblin stared at him with beady eyes, appearing startled, watching Teddy pass the desk and head for the door, which opened for him as he got closer. Inside was a small sitting room of velvet, gold filigree, silver, and ruby, with a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
There was a row of chairs on the right that didn’t look particularly comfortable, and to the left was a desk where a witch was at a typewriter. She was very beautiful, Teddy noted, with age in her face that didn’t seem to really affect her beauty. Her hair was silver-blonde and her skin flawless, her eyes dark blue, a beautiful wedding band on her left hand.
She heard the door shut behind Teddy, who jumped at the unexpected sound, lifting her head up to smile at him. “Hello, Monsieur. What are you here for?”
“Oh, you’re French,” Teddy breathed, walking closer as she smiled more, addressing Teddy in French next.
“That’s right. You are too?”
“I grew up there.”
“I see, how lovely. My husband is from here, so I moved when we married. I miss my home sometimes, though. What are you here for today?”
“To pick up a deed and review a will.”
The witch gave him an empathetic look. “I understand. Someone will be along if you’d like to take a seat.”
Teddy had barely sat down when another Goblin appeared, hobbling forward and grunted in Teddy’s direction, making him shoot back to his feet and scramble after him as the witch laughed lightly. It was quick work once he’d gotten into the Goblin’s office, signing papers and accepting Lyall Lupin’s will once it was handed to him, hands shaking as he read over it, his eyes watering. It was short and sharp and simple, and maybe that was why it hurt so much to read.
“I leave everything in my name, property, fortune, and legacy, to my only grandson Edward Remus Lupin.”
Teddy was all Lyall had, the man had left everything he owned to him, yet they’d never even spoken. This felt demented, signing the will to accept everything in it and taking the key that the Goblin handed him, sniffing and cleaning the tears off his face as he followed the creature back out. He was still wiping at his cheeks when they got back to the reception room where a new man was standing with the blonde witch.
His hair was red and somewhat faded, silver streaked through it and face pale, lightly freckled, and covered in scars. Teddy felt jolted, because only one creature could cause scars like that, but he had to look away to angrily rub another tear off his cheek as the Goblin lead him out of the room. He could feel two sets of eyes on him as he finished wiping his eyes on his sleeve just as he left the room.
After that he was lead down to the vaults, grateful for the painfully icy wind that whipped into his face as they creaked and shot down the tracks leading deep into the earth below the bank. The door to the Lupin family vault was bigger than he’d expected, and opening revealed why as his heart surged up into his throat. He hadn’t expected what he walked into. The fortune left to him by his parents and grandparents.
Stacks of more gold than he’d ever seen, but not just that. There was old furniture, books, shelving and clocks, tapestries and paintings and photographs. It wasn’t all that he was drawn to, though. Not the Galleons or jewels, but the two little boxes sitting atop an old dresser just in front of him. They didn’t look all that important at first glance, but Teddy was drawn to them, picking up the smaller of the two and blowing of the dust, wiping the rest off with his sleeve and tracing the gold insignia on the top. He knew what it was before he opened it, but it still took his breath away.
A circle of gold hanging on a deep emerald green ribbon, the medallion stamped with the insignia of the Order of Merlin: First Class. Stitched into the top of the case was the name “Remus John Lupin”. Teddy shut his eyes and shut the box at the same time. It had been so caked in dust it left a deep imprint on the dresser. How long had it been sitting here, untouched? Had Lyall stowed it away without looking at it? Finding it too painful? Teddy didn’t know, he couldn’t even begin to understand how horrible it must have been to have lost his only son. Andromeda had lost her daughter, true, but she’d had Teddy.
Lyall Lupin had no one and died alone.
The second case was made of wood, long, not as caked in dust. When Teddy flipped open the latches and lifted the case lid up, he found two wands sitting in a perfect cushion of blue velvet, and though Teddy had never seen them before, somehow he knew these had belonged to his parents. He shut the lid and took a step back, taking a shaky breath in and clearing his throat, turning and pausing when his eyes caught something else, what looked like a photo album. Teddy picked it up, not dusting the cover as he opened it and feeling emotion lodge straight into his throat.
It was an old family portrait, he could recognize his father by his scars, young and tucked between his parents, both Hope and Lyall were smiling proudly, hugging Remus, who couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen, swaying back and forth as the camera flashed and Remus grinned. Teddy slammed it shut, staring at the wall before clearing his throat again and turning to the door, rubbing his eyes.
“Sorry. Dust.” The Goblin grunted as Teddy held the book and Order of Merlin medal out. “Can I take these?”
“They’re yours, take what you want, I don’t care.”
They’re mine, Teddy repeated internally, putting both items into his bag before following the Goblin.
“Why is there so much, if I may ask? I don’t remember my gran being very wealthy, and I’m certain my parents weren’t either?”
“It’s not just from them. A wealthy families fortune must be split evenly between living blood after a witch or wizards death. Most of what’s in your name was left to you by the Black family.”
Teddy heard white noise as he slowly eased himself to sit in the little cart that would bring them back up. “I don’t understand. What’s the Black family got to do with me?”
“You’re their blood, one of the only one’s left,” the Goblin grunted. “Half the entire fortune of the Black family was left to you, it’s legally yours.”
Teddy’s head pounded, he had so many questions, but he was only able to get one out. “Who has the other half?”
The Goblin didn’t hear him as he started the cart and they shot back down the tracks.
It seemed Teddy still wasn't done crying, a few stray tears managed to wet his cheeks as he made for the door, keeping his head down and his hand raised to his face as he opened the door rather roughly, hiking halfway down the steps and rubbing his eyes dry as someone called out to him.
"Hey, kid, hold on a second."
Teddy paused, looking back up the steps, startled to see the red haired, heavily scarred man following slowly down the stairs, hands in his pockets. He was watching Teddy, looking a little too intrigued, and Teddy felt his heart race in panic until he finally spoke.
"You okay?"
Teddy gaped at him, then turned his head to clean off his cheek. "The dust. That's all."
"Sure. Hey, I don't know what your plans for the day are, but you need a pick me up."
"Too early to drink," Teddy said with a shake of his head, and the man chuckled as he pointed down the alley.
"Go that way, there's a joke shop. Well, that's what it is in Layman's Terms. My younger brothers run it. It'll boost your spirits." He clapped a hand on Teddy's shoulder as he turned away. "Dealing with wills and leftover fortune can be taxing on your emotions. I don't know who you lost, but it'll be okay. Go find something that makes you laugh and hold onto it, alright?"
Teddy felt touched enough to start crying again, but he managed to keep it together and just nodded, spinning on his heel before the man could reach the door. "Excuse me, I just- are you-"
The man eyed him curiously. "Am I what?"
Teddy just shut his mouth. He definitely couldn't just ask if the man was a werewolf, that would have been so rude. So he shrugged, then turned. "Sorry, it's nothing. Thank you for your advice, have a good day."
"Wait. What's your name? Who are you?"
Teddy shook his head, hiking down the steps. "Nothing. I'm no one. Just… just a stranger."
The man didn't follow him, thankfully, and Teddy considered just going home, he felt crappy enough and just wanted to lie down, but his curiosity drew him towards the joke shop that had been pointed out to him. It was certainly something, extravagant and overt, there was no way Teddy could mistake what it was. The name of the shop was printed above the window in bold yellow and gold: Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. Why did that name sound so familiar?
It was exciting the minute Teddy stepped inside, ducking as some flying contraption shot overhead, followed by a trio of screaming six year olds all scrambling to catch whatever was flying. Teddy laughed softly as he watched them before turning to take in the store. It was several floors high inside, with winding staircases leading up to each landing, each wall painted a pastel or neon color, lights blinking in each window, the shelves filled up with original merchandise as well as already licensed product like chocolate frogs.
It was certainly an exciting shop, but it had been years since Teddy was interested in things like pranks or making mayhem. Back when he was in school he pulled a few pranks off, caused a few problems, never once getting caught by the Headmaster or teachers at the Academy, he liked to think he was too clever to be caught, but there wasn’t much point in it when he had graduated years ago. He did hope all the funny things would lift his spirits like that man had said they would, he seemed so proud and confident about it, but Teddy just ended up standing blankly in front of the chocolate frogs.
“Alright, mate!” Teddy nearly dropped the frog he was holding when someone came up to greet him, turning to a man who looked remarkably similar to the scarred bloke at the bank, nix the scars and with shorter trimmed hair and more freckles. “Can I help you find anything today?”
“Sorry, I’ve never been here before,” Teddy admitted. “I’m just looking around.” He looked down at the chocolate frog. “Might buy this though. It’s been ages since I had one.”
“Looking a bit under the weather, chocolate will fix you right up,” the man hummed, reaching out to rummage through the chocolate frogs before picking a few more out and handing them to Teddy. “Chocolate fixes everything! My professor said that once, so it has to be true.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Teddy managed a weak smile, and the man wandered off to help another customer as Teddy picked a few more goofy looking items out, including a few candies he’d never seen before, something called a Chinese Fortune Stick, and as a final purchase he picked up a small breakable stick that would extend into a full bouquet of genuine flowers which had been charmed to flash different colors.
“Apologizing to your sweetheart or did you forget an anniversary present?” The redhead asked as he rung Teddy up.
“What, oh, no, it's not that. I just thought… you know, he’ll like them,” Teddy mumbled the last bit and the man beamed at him.
“Getting him flowers just because. That’s the way to go. Romance isn’t dead just yet, thank Merlin! I should get my wife some, now I think about it,” he hummed, passing over a bag as Teddy paid for everything, smiling weakly.
“Thank you.”
“Have a good rest of your day, come back any time!”
“Sure.”
The trip felt a little pointless as he left the shop, adding the bag of chocolate and trinkets to the bag at his side and turning to walk down an alley that had less traffic, flinching when he bumped into someone who had their head down, holding a Muggle smartphone and cursing as she looked up with piercing blue eyes. Her hair was silver-white and there was a dust of pale freckles on her otherwise blemish free complexion. She was about James’ height, a bit taller in fact, and when her eyes met Teddy’s they widened.
Teddy physically winced in shock, memories resurfacing of the summer of his nineteenth year back in France.
“Y-” she pointed into his face. “You!”
Teddy hesitated. “Victoire, right?”
She looked shocked. “You remember me?”
“I’m not an idiot.”
They stared at each other, and Teddy felt almost ill. Back when he was nineteen this girl had shown up, spending the summer in France to visit her mother’s family. It was just a fling, a few months of them messing around, it had never been serious, but it still hurt when she up and left to return home without so much as saying goodbye. She hadn’t even written him, so Teddy had moved on. It wasn’t weird to him, the usual fuck and forget he was normally exposed to. He slept with her a few times, she played with him, at one point he even caught sight of her flirting with some other wizards in town, but swallowed the pain and just forgot it. She was only there for the summer after all, he couldn’t have expected her to care about him outside snogging and quick shags.
Spending a good few months with her got him attached, and it had taken a long while to get over it, but he’d managed to pull himself back up; alone, like he always did. Still, seeing her now made him feel as if he was swallowing glass. Until dark amber eyes flashed in his memory, her face blocked out by messy bedhead and a face with ten times the amount of freckles this woman could hope to have.
It hurt less, and he smiled politely. “So this is where you live? It’s nice. London, I mean.”
Victoire looked speechless, before her cheeks darkened red and she parted her lips. “You…”
“Ted, remember?”
“Of course I remember!” she snapped, bristling. “Wa-wasn’t your hair a different color?”
“I dyed it,” Teddy said a little too quickly. “Muggle’s are inventive, you know?”
Victoire just nodded slowly, staring at Teddy as if entranced, her eyes sweeping over him in such a way that he felt exposed, chewing on her lip as she met his eyes again. “So… what are you in London for?”
“Just some personal business.”
He could have sworn he saw something like hope in her eyes, nearly cringing. “How long will you be in town?”
“Haven’t decided yet. It’s open ended right now. I just needed to get a few things from here before going back to my hotel.”
“I see. Where are you staying?”
Teddy walked past her. “In a hotel,” he repeated, and Victoire spun on her heel to watch him.
“Um, if you want I can give you a room or a couch. You could save your money. Maybe my parents would let you crash at their place?”
“No thank you, I’m fine where I am.”
“Listen I didn’t want to just up and leave without saying anything!” Teddy paused again and looked back at her, feeling genuinely surprised she’d even brought it up. “I was going to write to you, I got busy!”
Teddy arched an eyebrow. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I just-”
“It was a summer fling from eight years ago. I’m over it.”
Victoire shut her mouth, but she couldn’t seem to look away from him. “Yeah… you look good, by the way.”
“Thanks."
“Look, um, since you’re in town… if you don’t have plans, would you like to meet up? Maybe we could talk. My cousin works at a nice night club near here, he could give us a discount.”
“I do have plans actually,” Teddy admitted, “but hey, don’t let me stop you from having a good time.”
“What about another day?”
“I probably won’t have time.”
“Are you seeing anyone right now?”
“Down to the root, I see.” Teddy turned to look back at her again. “I am, actually.”
Victoire looked frantic, like she was terrified of him walking away. “Prove it.”
“Prove it?” Teddy repeated. “I don’t know what business this is of yours. We were together but not together for three months almost a decade ago. We shagged and moved on, I’m sure you shagged with other men in France aside from me, as well.” Victoire looked like she’d been burned.
“I was eighteen, I was just having-”
“Fun. Right. Like I said, don’t let me stop you.”
“Who are you seeing right now? She can’t be prettier than me.” It was absolutely an attempt at making a joke, she definitely wasn’t trying to be cruel or mean, and it was funny enough that Teddy actually laughed.
“It’s a bloke, actually,” Teddy hummed, smiling at the shocked expression she wore, “and in fact yes, he is much prettier than you.” He turned his back again, lifting a hand in a wave. “Au revoir mon cher.”
><><><><><><><><><><><
Teddy had migraines. He never understood why when he was younger, but after reading Harry’s letter about his niece getting sick because her father was a Partial werewolf and his disease had shown up in her, it made more sense. They only affected him close to the full moon, and if he took medicine early on then they wouldn’t bother him, but the healing tonic he needed was tedious to make, and the fumes from the potion made his head ache more as he brewed and bottled it. Part of him figured that maybe he should get checked over by a professional, in case there was something seriously wrong with his health, but there was too much to do otherwise and couldn’t be bothered.
He’d survived twenty-seven years with just a vile tasting medicine to help him along when he felt unwell and he’d done just fine, he didn’t need a Healer jabbing at him and taking invasive blood tests only for the others at the hospital to give him sideways glances, hiding their bias and prejudice against werewolves and disguising it as concern. Teddy didn’t know how bad it was there in London, but some smaller places in France were still brutal in their opinions of Lycanthropy.
Teddy drank a vial of potion before stowing the rest away, waiting for it to take effect before getting himself a cup of tea and taking a seat in one of the arm chairs across the coffee table from the couch, unpacking the books he’d picked up and feeling mildly embarrassed at how many he’d actually purchased. The table was covered with stacks of books while the rest of what he’d picked up, like the candy and parchment, took up the other armchair.
They were interesting books, but Teddy decided to focus on the large history text of the Wizarding Wars. It must have taken a lot of time and energy to write, a lot of research and travelling. It was detailed, maybe a little too detailed, Teddy couldn’t help wincing a few times when he got to a retelling of a particularly morbid murder. It described Tom Riddle’s family and early life, his time at Hogwarts and his first murder while still at school, leading to his graduation and his formation of the Death Eaters. Teddy felt like he’d been given whiplash when he read his father’s name, wondering dizzily if he was really important enough to all of history as to be added to such a prolific text.
Considering he’d been awarded the First Class Order of Merlin? Probably.
He’d just reached the end of the first war, where the prophecy was foretold, Severus Snape warned Voldemort of its existence, the search for the Chosen One, Harry Potter’s birth, Peter Pettigrew’s betrayal and the double murder of Lily and James Potter. His thumb traced over James’ name, brow furrowing as he read a direct quote from Rubeus Hagrid, who had evidently been a blubbering, sobbing mess when he’d given his statement to the author about what he’d found in the house when he got there, the couple’s bodies and little Harry still in his crib with a cut on his head.
Teddy was finishing up the last few pages detailing Sirius Black’s trial and conviction, Peter Pettigrew’s cowardly attempt to run away, murdering Muggles in the process of it. The entire thing put a terrible taste in Teddy’s mouth. These people had been his father’s friends, and their lives had gone so sideways. Remus had lost everything in one single night, and according to a very short and undetailed paragraph, he hadn’t even been around when it happened. He’d been doing his own mission for the Order, putting his very life on the line, pretending to be a supporter of Voldemort to infiltrate Greyback’s pack on Dumbledore’s orders. Teddy decided he really didn’t like Dumbledore.
He nearly fell out of the chair in shock when the crack echoed in the suite, flinging the book up in fright and clinging to the arms of the chair, gaping at where James had apparated into the room by the balcony door. He looked haggard and exhausted, bags under his eyes, looking washed out, and Teddy felt frantic when he saw the scratches and bruises on his face, the busted lip and the damaged skin of his knuckles. He looked like he’d been through the wars, wearing an open coat that was colored deep blue with buttons and pockets down each side, and would have looked elegant and professional if he’d looked a little more awake. There was a bag hanging on his shoulder, weighed down with whatever he was carrying in it, and he barely looked at Teddy as a weak smile took to his lips.
“Hey.”
“What the fuck?” Teddy blurted, standing and striding towards James. “What happened to you?”
“Ah, raid went a little south. I’m okay.” He lifted a hand to rub at his eyes. “Didn’t have time to wash your shirt, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about that, you look awful.” Teddy put a hand on James’ back. “Take a shower and get into something cleaner, I’ll make you something to eat and patch you up.”
“Thanks. I feel like I need to make some kind of witty suggestion that you shower with me, but I’m too tired.”
“We can do that another time, just try not to fall asleep when you’re in there.”
Teddy waited until he could hear the water running before turning and rushing into the kitchen to make a light supper and some tea. His eyes went to the wall clock, stunned to find it was close to one in the morning. Had he been reading for that long? He hadn’t even noticed it had gotten dark.
He had a bowl of soup and a mug of tea on the coffee table, after pushing books onto the floor of course, and was sitting on the couch looking through a first aid kit when James shuffled back into the room. He was wearing plaid pajama pants and a plain short sleeved white shirt, a towel around his neck that he was using to sleepily dry his hair. Teddy was almost surprised that James made it to the couch, flopping onto it with a sigh as Teddy turned to him to give him medical aid.
“I can’t believe you just apparated here immediately.”
“I didn’t. I stopped at my flat first.” James picked up the tea, smiling against the aroma as Teddy started to patch up the bruises and scratches. “My brother was asleep on the couch, he was probably waiting up for me. I just left him a note, grabbed a few things, and came back here.”
“What for?” Teddy hovered his hand over a shallow scratch on James’ chin, healing it with a spell tingling the tip of his tongue, then moved to spread ointment on a small gash on his forehead so it would heal without a scar. “You should have waited with your brother, told your family you were alright.”
“They know I’m tough. I can send a letter later or something. I missed you is all.” Teddy felt his cheeks heat up, unable to respond as James picked up the soup. “I see you went out. Did you purchase the entire Hogwarts Library?”
"I just figured if I'm going to be here for a while I need to entertain myself."
James turned a dramatic frown to him. "Am I not entertaining enough for you?"
"You're not gonna be here all the time though, are you?" Teddy teased back, healing a cut on his lip. "You work. A pretty dangerous job it seems."
James rolled his eyes with no emotion in them, turning to drink the soup without even bothering with the spoon. “It’s like this sometimes is all. I can’t give details of course, but there were a few people from a known terrorist group trying to cause problems up in Scotland, hexing Muggles like they were baiting the Ministry.”
“What happened?”
“Well, the Muggles are fine. They’ve been treated and their memories altered.” James mumbled into the edge of his bowl. “When we went in there were more than anticipated, so a few of us were caught off guard. My partner on the field, I don’t like saying bad things about people, but he isn’t exactly competent. Maybe he was distracted by something, I don’t know, but he left me for some shit and my blindside got hit. Hence all the bruising and such. I’m fine though.”
“Merlin. Has he done that before? Left your side during missions? Auror’s aren’t supposed to do that. They have partners for a reason.”
James laughed weakly, setting the bowl down so Teddy could bandage his knuckles. “Once or twice, but there’s no one else to replace him. The situation with him has been going down for years now, I just have to deal with it. Normally when I bring it up my dad tells me to keep it together, it’ll be fine, he’s young so he’s learning and needs my help.”
“You need help too,” Teddy argued, and James sighed, listing sideways to lie his head against Teddy’s shoulder.
“It’s fine. I’ll be less annoyed in the morning.”
“Finish eating first,” Teddy chided, reaching out to the bowl when he’d finished fixing up the bruises and busted skin. “Are there any other injuries?”
“Nah,” James smiled sleepily. “You got ‘em all.”
“None on your ribs? No bruises?”
James turned a sly grin on Teddy. “Trying to get me out of my clothes, are you?”
Teddy just smiled, shaking his head. “Maybe tomorrow, you need to sleep soon.”
“Bummer,” James pouted into his soup, and Teddy snorted as the other man finished eating before taking the tea. “Thank you, by the way.” He rubbed the sides of his cup, staring into it. “Part of me was worried about coming here looking like this, but…”
“I won’t judge you for getting hurt. I know being an Auror is going to be dangerous. I’m just happy you’re not hurt worse.” Teddy brushed aside a piece of damp hair in James’ face. “I don’t have much connection with you, we’ve known each other for a day at best, so if you’d been cursed or hurt worse than this and sent to St Mungo’s, I’d never have known it. I’m glad you came here.”
Teddy couldn’t tell exactly what James was thinking through his expression, but he looked like he was thinking hard, seeming to come to a good conclusion before smiling and setting his cup of tea down, then leaned into Teddy again, who wrapped an arm around him and buried a hand into his damp hair, whispering a charm to dry it so James wouldn’t end up getting sick on top of everything else.
“You should sleep now,” he chided, and James hummed, head on Teddy’s shoulder. “Do you have work again tomorrow?”
“I have to go in to give my report, but after that my dad said I should go home.”
“You should probably show up at your flat to make sure your brother doesn’t worry either.”
“Ah he’s alright, he won’t worry too badly.”
“Maybe stop by anyway. He’s your family you know.”
James was silent for a moment, rubbing his cheek against Teddy’s shoulder. “Do you have siblings?”
Teddy almost winced, leaning back against the couch. “No. It’s just me.”
“Oh,” James was quiet again before following up. “I have two younger siblings.”
“You live with your brother?”
“Yeah, my sister is still in school. This is her last year.”
“Wow.”
“My parents said they didn’t want my brother on his own right out of Hogwarts, so I offered to share my place until he got on his feet. He’s… unique. Doesn’t quite know what he’s doing yet, though he’s got some ideas. I just want to support him until he’s confident enough to support himself.”
Teddy had to smile at that. “That’s sweet of you.”
“I mean I’ve gotta take care of him, right?”
“Yeah, definitely.” Teddy wrapped both of his arms around James, setting his chin into the freshly washed and dried hair. “Did you use my shampoo?”
“Yeah, I like it.”
“Brought it from France.”
“How exotic,” James laughed softly, his voice quiet, and Teddy stopped talking after.
He could hear the Auror nodding off, snoring softly after a moment, so he leaned back to check that James was really asleep before picking him up to carry him into the bedroom, turning the lights off as he went and tucking James under the sheets and duvet before climbing in after him. For a moment he debated if it would be alright to sleep close to him, and eventually found himself giving in and rolling closer, wrapping his arms around James and pulling him so his face was against Teddy’s chest.
His bandaged hands curled unconsciously into Teddy’s shirt, face buried against his chest beneath his chin, and Teddy shut his eyes, a soft smile on his lips as he ran his fingers through James’ hair to detangle it manually. His brown hair was soft, the shampoo made James smell like Teddy, and though he greatly preferred the original spicy scent that James gave off, it gave him an entirely new sensation of pride to know the Auror smelt like him.
This was something Teddy had never experienced before, something he was quickly growing used to. Even if it was a fling, even if it wasn’t meant to last, they’d met half drunk in a club after all, Teddy wanted to enjoy it. Every single moment. No doubt letting himself fall like this would only hurt him in the end, it always did, but what was the harm? He literally had nothing left to lose; and when there’s nothing left, that’s the best time to recklessly fall for a stranger.
><><><><><><><><><><><
There was clearly so much that Teddy still didn't know about James. No surprise, as they'd only known each other for a day and a half at most. He did hope that time and trust would unravel all of James, but clearly it would take some time. Teddy could only guess there was something mentally and emotionally crooked about himself, maybe due to his seclusion growing up, the fact he’d only ever had his grandmother, and the fact that all of his romantic endeavors till that point ended in agonizing breakups that sometimes came about from infidelity on the part of his lover, to care for a man he knew so little about after one night with him.
Maybe it was the way James ran his fingers through Teddy’s hair, so tenderly and affectionately as if Teddy really mattered. No other lover had gone beyond pulling his hair in the throes of intimacy. James had been the first to hold Teddy after the fact. Did that make James different, or did it make Teddy a fool for folding in on the affection like a touch starved animal?
It made him feel connected to the Auror, he wanted to look after him, especially after the night before, showing up bruised and bloody from a sideways Ministry mission that he was called out to on his day off. Teddy figured the protective instinct was some sort of genetic imprint passed to him from his father, some wolfish instinct to protect and defend his lover for whatever reason.
That instinct nearly suffocated him the next morning, at first not picking up on James shifting around beside him, or the incomprehensible muttering. Not until he arched off the mattress with a scream that ripped Teddy out of his half conscious sleep, eyes snapping open and fumbling onto his hands to watch James curl into the fetal position, clearly still asleep and face as white as a sheet of paper, moaning and crying in the throes of a bad dream
“Jamie?” Teddy was only half awake as he curled over James to brush back his hair.
He could recognize a night terror when he saw one, far worse than just a bad dream or a nightmare. His nan used to get them, terrible night terrors that had her waking up screaming before crying over a framed photo of her long deceased husband and daughter. It was his concern for his nan that had him studying Legilimency and Healing back when he was twenty, finding himself in China studying with a wizard over a hundred years old.
Teddy developed a technique of blended spells and charms, Legilimency and Healing, that he perfected originally to help his nan sleep better. She never knew Teddy did this, because Teddy would cast the charm over her when she was still asleep. Now he was casting it again, one hand on James’ chest and his other hand on his head, whispering the spell and watching the Auror’s distressed features fade into an expression of confusion, then peace.
The technique had a full success rate whenever Teddy used it, but there were still issues with the spell. As Teddy cast it, reached into James’ mind and weaved Healing charms into it, he couldn’t avoid the backlash of images that struck him from James’ memories. You couldn’t cast a Legilimency spell without reading someone’s mind, after all, unless you were absolutely shoddy at Legilimency.
As he temporarily healed the bits of James’ mind he could to allow him to rest, Teddy was assaulted with images of a darkening sky streaked with orange and purple. Through James’ eyes Teddy could tell he was lying on his side, his left hand beside his face, fingers curling into the damp ground, and horrifically enough, covered in blood. It was trickling down the back of his hand, staining the grass beneath his arm, the ground looked marshy and wet. There was someone standing near James, who seemed to be struggling to look up. He wore dirty, ancient boots, frayed jeans torn at the knees and stained with mud and blood, his shirt must have been white once, now yellow and faded from sun damage, and a jean jacket with the end of the sleeves dripping with blood. His nails were overgrown, some of them chipped, yellow and bloodied. It was his face that had Teddy panicking, heart racing, or perhaps it was James whose heart was racing. His face was leathery and drawn, wrinkled and heavily scarred with the darkest, coldest, most calculated eyes Teddy had ever seen. Only one creature in their world could make those scars.
Teddy jerked his hand away, sitting back on his knees and struggling to get his breath back as he watched James sleep peacefully. A werewolf was haunting James’ sleep. Why? Being an Auror would definitely imply he’d have contact with werewolves for whatever reason, but these days, in London especially, why would a werewolf look at an Auror with so much hatred? When Aurors were dedicated to helping people like werewolves? Especially after the war, thanks in large part to Remus Lupin, whose influence is what brought about the need to actually help and care about Lycanthrope victims.
Teddy had helped his nan through dozens of night terrors, he knew what she saw at night. Memories of watching her husband get murdered, people in eerie silver masks torturing her. James saw a nameless werewolf standing over him with bloody claws and bloodlust in otherwise emotionless eyes.
Teddy eased closer to James, setting a hand on the Auror’s head and combing his fingers through his hair, ensuring that he was sleeping peacefully. After which he carefully slipped off of the bed. He took an extra moment to pull the sheets, blankets, and duvet over James, tucking the blankets around him and carefully adding a few extra pillows beneath the Auror’s head to give him more cushion. Teddy then took a hand to pull James’ hair back away from his face, leaning down to place a kiss over one of the bandages and whispering another healing spell he hoped would ease the tension and get rid of some of the less severe bruising.
Then he wandered out into the sitting room, shutting the door only part way in case James had another night terror. It was odd to call it a night terror, though, considering the clock on the wall said it was past seven in the morning.
Teddy went over to the kitchen area and started preparing breakfast. He wasn’t familiar with any of the British food James had made the previous morning, so he focused on what he did know: eggs and bacon with yogurt and fruit, silently hoping James would be fine with it. It wasn’t extravagant after all, and Teddy wasn’t the best cook, awkwardly giving himself the more burned slices of bacon so James could eat the pieces that weren’t as charred, then overcooking the eggs because he didn’t want to accidentally undercook them. At least he couldn’t mess up the yogurt and fruit.
He sat on the couch and opened the book he’d been reading the night before, eating as he read and waited for James, who slept another hour before opening the door and stepping into the sitting area. He looked better than he had previously, the bags had disappeared from under his eyes and there was more color to his cheeks, smiling sleepily at Teddy when he noticed him on the couch.
“Morning.”
“Hey.” Teddy closed the book and set it aside as James shuffled closer. “How did you sleep?”
“Good,” James seemed surprised when he admitted it, sitting down next to Teddy and accepting the light breakfast that was pushed in front of him. “Normally after a raid like that I wake up more exhausted than I was when I went to sleep.” He turned his head to smile at Teddy. “Maybe because you slept next to me? Though you were gone when I woke up.” He pouted at that and Teddy snorted, leaning back and pulling his book back onto his lap.
“You made breakfast yesterday, I decided to make breakfast today. You were exhausted, and you had a tough night. It was the least I could do.”
“It’s very fancy, thank you,” James was clearly teasing Teddy, who fought a smile as he opened the book back up.
“I’m not a gourmet chef. At least it’s edible, right?”
“Considering you grew up in France, I’m shocked.”
“That’s very amusing, very funny.”
“Thank you, it’s a gift.”
They sat in silence for a moment, the television turned off, as James ate breakfast and Teddy read his book. It was peaceful and different, being able to sit quietly with someone he’d taken in as his lover, for however long it lasted, and to just exist next to them. It was remarkable, truly. Even though the book Teddy was reading documented such horrific history, it wasn’t that bad.
“What book are you reading? Didn’t get to ask yesterday. You got a lot of them.”
“Oh, just…” Teddy closed the book again to show the cover. “Growing up in France, I didn’t learn much of the history regarding the war, you know? I think my nan mostly tried to protect me from it, but being entirely ignorant of these things for twenty-seven years is ridiculous. You need to acknowledge and understand your history so you don’t repeat it.”
“You’re twenty-seven?” James asked around a forkful of fruit, eyes wide and cheeks red. “Fuck you look way younger.”
“I’m not an old man, you know! How old are you, then?”
“I’m twenty-one,” James said with a grin.
“At least you really are legal,” Teddy mumbled, and James laughed, leaning sideways and setting his plate down to pick up the cup of juice.
“I hope you got a few less depressing books at least.” James reached out to lift a few books from the pile, setting them aside after looking at the cover. “Most of these are pretty dark, you know that, right?”
“I don’t, that’s kind of why I got them,” Teddy snorted. “I want to learn about these things.”
“Okay, let me get this straight.” James set down the book and his cup of juice, pressing his hands together and looking back at Teddy. “You’re researching for pretty much no reason, just because you want to?”
Teddy felt like James was making fun of him, but had to answer. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
James pointed at him with both hands still folded. “So you’re a geek then.”
“I mean calling me that-”
“You do not look it, Teddy.”
“Hey.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I still think you’re super hot. You being an absolute geek makes you even cuter.”
“I’m so glad you’re not turned off by all the books,” Teddy teased back, and James snickered into his juice.
“Well we may have to move them off the coffee table, if you know what I mean.”
“I think my books need to take precedence before shagging.”
“Books before hook ups, I respect that.”
Teddy laughed, shaking his head. “What time did you have to go into work to give your report?”
“My dad said whenever I wake up, so I guess I’ll just finish eating and head over.”
“Hm,” Teddy eyed James for a moment. “Your dad’s not the Head Auror, right?”
“No, no, no!” James waved his hands frantically. “He works in a different division entirely!”
“Oh, good, because the way you talked about the Head Auror, he sounded like a bit of a cunt. Would have sucked if it was your dad.”
“No kidding. He’s still kind of a tosser though, my dad I mean. Nice of him to give me extra time off considering yesterday.”
“Yeah.” Teddy tossed his book onto the coffee table. “You should probably get some more sleep after you’re off, and go tell your brother you’re okay.”
“Alright, alright, but only because I know he’s going to be a pain if I don’t.” James held his hands out in front of him. “He’s the kind of person who doesn’t say outright what’s bothering him but you still know he’s mad if he gives you the silent treatment. He’ll definitely give me the silent treatment.”
“That’s because he loves you,” Teddy said, reaching out to run a hand through James’ hair. “Families are like that, aren’t they?”
James stared at Teddy for a moment, a contemplative look on his face before he smiled and leaned closer, wrapping his arms around Teddy. “Yeah, you’re right.” He stayed there hugging Teddy until the other man raised his arms around James, feeling fully confused but not unhappy with the embrace. When James pulled away he felt disappointed, but his heart raced from the emotion that filled his chest seeing James smiling. “I’ll be back later tonight. That’s cool, right?”
“Absolutely,” Teddy quickly remarked. “I’d honestly be sad if you didn’t come back.”
“Awe, you really are a geek.” James pressed his hands into Teddy’s cheeks, standing up and jogging into the bedroom, coming back out wearing black skinny jeans, boots, and a black tshirt, pulling on the same rather elegant blue Auror’s coat that fell down to his ankles, securing the buttons up to his chest before pulling his hair back and tying it into a short ponytail.
“Auror looks good on you,” Teddy said, and James winked at him.
“I bet it looks even better off of me, right?”
“I can attest to that, yes.”
James laughed loudly, securing the last few long buttons on his coat before turning towards the balcony. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Yeah.” Teddy stood up when James stepped outside, hands in his pockets. “Hey, just curious. What do you say about going out to eat tonight?”
James swiveled around on his heels, walking backwards with one eyebrow raised. “Out? Like to a restaurant?”
“Yeah. I can’t imagine the food I made last night was very good, and the breakfast likely wasn’t that great either.”
“It was palatable.”
“Thanks, appreciate that,” Teddy said on a laugh. “Really though, what do you say?”
“Are you asking me out on a date?” James tilted his head to the side and Teddy shrugged.
“I think so, yeah.”
James looked ecstatic, a huge grin on his face as he bumped into the railing. “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds awesome. You better dress up nice for me.”
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing now?”
James hummed. “Sweatpants and a shirt with egg stain on it,” he said, and Teddy looked down at his clothes as the other man laughed. “Well, I don’t mind what you wear really. You could wear nothing and I’d be into it.”
“Of course you would be.”
“See you tonight.”
“Don’t get beat up today.”
“Hey, no promises.” James held his arms out, looking far too proud. “I’m what the Head Auror calls impertinent and deviant, whatever that means.”
He disapparated with a crack and Teddy snorted. “I can imagine.”
><><><><><><><><><><><
It was eight by the time James returned. He’d replaced the Auror’s uniform with a Hollyhead Harpies Quidditch letter jacket and a red V-neck, and for a moment Teddy couldn’t breathe as he stood there gawking at him.
James merely arched an eyebrow. “What? Suddenly speechless?” He smirked, hands in his pockets. “So you wanna skip dinner and go right for desert, instead?”
Teddy blushed, coughing into his fist. “I already made reservations,” he said, and James gaped at him.
“You made reservations? You’re really going all out, aren’t you? You know you don’t have to impress me.” He stepped forward, tugging on the collar of the leather jacket Teddy was wearing. “I’m already thoroughly impressed with the tight black shirt and faded jeans.”
“You’re really something, you know that?”
“I get that a lot. So where’s this restaurant?”
Teddy took James by the hand and apparated to an alley just outside before answering with a grin. “It’s seaside,” was all he said, before shoving both hands into his jacket pockets and nodding towards the road. “Follow me. I chose a Muggle spot just in case someone recognizes you. Or me. Or whatever. I just figured it would be more private this way.”
“No that’s great! There are plenty of nice wizard only places, but a Muggle restaurant would definitely be best. If someone recognized me on a date with a hot bloke I’d never hear the end of it.”
“Awe, you don’t want to be seen out with me?”
“Someone might get jealous and try to steal you from me,” James sighed dramatically.
Teddy snorted. “Don’t worry too much, alright? There’s no one else I’m interested in. Just you.”
“Well I feel even more special now.” James hummed, stopping in his tracks when the gold lights of the restaurant overlooking the beach came into view. “Whoa, hang on, you got reservations here?”
Teddy looked down at him. “Yeah, why? Is that weird?”
James threw an arm out, waving towards the restaurant. “This place is harder to get into than the Department of Mysteries!” He held both index fingers up. “You know what, those two have an equal level of entrance difficulty, but still.”
“I just… called and asked for a table,” Teddy said, rubbing his neck anxiously and looking off to the side, deciding not to tell James he paid upfront. He didn’t need to know that.
Compared to Muggle money, Teddy had barely spent anything. He didn’t even need to visit Gringotts for extra Galleons or to convert any of it.
“Come on, it’ll be fun.”
“This place is so fancy though, I’ve never even seen inside,” James sounded and looked uncomfortable, pulling at his jacket. “I’m so underdressed, I should have worn a suit.”
“You look fine, Jamie. Took my breath away, remember?”
“Do you know who eats here? The Malfoy’s. The Malfoy’s eat here. Well, I don’t think they have since Mrs. Malfoy died, but they used to eat here.”
Teddy just shrugged. “I don’t know who the Malfoy’s are.”
James was quiet before looking at Teddy. “You’re serious.” Teddy shrugged again and James huffed a breath of air. “They’re like the richest wizarding family I think ever. I mean, there’s only two of them left, which is sad, and they’re not that bad, they’re pretty nice actually, but they used to have an insanely long line of influence.”
“Huh.”
“The point is, people like me don’t usually eat at places like this.”
“Sorry.” Teddy winced. “I just… wanted to treat you to something special.”
James looked touched, reaching out to take Teddy’s arm. “I’ll stop complaining. I’m just shocked is all.” He looked away, fiddling with the buttons of his jacket. “No one’s ever taken me out to such a nice place before.”
“You’re going to tell me your exes all took you to Five Guys and Burger King?”
“Nah, they never took me out at all,” James admitted, and Teddy felt somewhat taken aback as James held a hand up. “My mum treated me to Chipotle the other week, though.”
“Bloody hell, fuck all your exes.”
“No thanks, I’m over them.”
Teddy snorted, ignoring the look of disdain the maitre d’ gave them when they stepped inside the restaurant. “I have a reservation under Howell?”
The man looked like Teddy had just offered him sour milk, looking down at his tablet and growing even more distressed as he nodded and mumbled, “This way,” before leading Teddy and James to a table at the back.
Teddy sat down easier than James, who sank slowly into his chair, eyes sweeping around the room as the maitre d’ set down menus a little too aggressively before striding away quickly. There were only a few other tables occupied by fancy looking men and women dressed to the nines, throwing dirty looks in their direction every so often. Compared to them, Teddy and James were definitely underdressed, and the classic music from the loudspeakers sounded like overdone elevator tunes.
“Is it just me or is everyone giving us pretentious glares?” James whispered over the table, and Teddy leaned towards him to answer.
“They definitely are. I think they’re jealous. All of them look like they’re constipated.”
James snorted hard in an attempt to not laugh. “What’s with this music, too?”
“Yeah, I like piano music but this is horrid.”
“You like the piano? Do you play?”
“That and guitar.” Teddy leaned back. “Started when I was pretty young since there wasn’t much else to do. I think I prefer the guitar, but I still like piano. This, though.” He waved his hand up to gesture at the music. “I feel like my brain is being soaked in lyme.”
“Oh, ouch,” James snickered. “That’s so hot you play guitar though.”
“The menus in French, what kind of place is this,” Teddy whispered under his breath, though James heard him and laughed, turning the double sided menu a few times.
“Prices are a bit-”
“Don’t worry about the price, okay? I’ll buy tonight.”
James gaped at him. “How liquid are you exactly?”
“The human body is about sixty percent water.”
“Oh fuck you, Ted.”
Teddy was the one who snickered then, hiding behind the menu. “If you need help translating just let me know.”
“Nah, I can read it, sort of,” James muttered, putting the menu on the table. “I mean, I know what it says, for the most part. I just can’t read it or speak it. My aunt is from France, went to Beauxbatons, so I grew up hearing it.”
“Very impressive,” Teddy praised, and James shook his head with a crooked grin.
“Not really. I'm an amateur at best.”
“You can understand the words though, that’s a start. Maybe I could teach you a bit sometime.”
James puffed out a breath he’d been holding in, rolling his eyes. “I wasn’t the best student for my aunt, why do you think I’d listen to you?”
“Because I’m a really good shag?”
James pointed at him. “That’s very true.”
A waiter cleared their throat to get their attention, and Teddy set his menu down without bothering to apologize despite the scowl on the woman’s face, speaking to James. “Figure something out?”
“Yeah I’ll have this.” James pointed to something on the menu. “Just to be clear that is pasta, right?”
“That is pasta, yes.”
“Great then, I’ll have that.”
Teddy turned to the waiter, holding out both menus and giving their order in perfect French, but the woman just gave him a glare and snatched the menus from him. “We speak English here.”
Teddy’s hand was still raised as she walked away, feeling sheepish, and James leaned over the table towards him. “Well I thought you sounded very sophisticated.”
“I’m starting to think this place is trash,” Teddy muttered, facing James but eyeing the three waiters conversing near the maitre d’.
“I’m starting to think this place thinks we’re trash, honestly.” James held his hands up. “I mean we definitely are, but still.”
Teddy smiled at him. “It’ll be fine. So how was work?”
James flopped back against the back of his chair with a sigh, head tilting back. “Stupid. Took me ages to record my report, because evidently the Head Auror wants a written report as well as the memory of the incident, as if just the memory isn’t good enough.” He waved a hand. “Wildly enough I didn’t see anyone else from the raid going the extra mile of writing a bloody essay of the incident. My aunt, not the French one, popped in around noon asking what I was doing, got pissed when I told her.”
“Good, you shouldn’t have to do extra work just because the Head Auror doesn’t like you. What’s his deal anyway? Are you a bad Auror or something?”
James scratched at a bandaid still on his cheek. “No I think I’m a decent Auror.”
“If you’re good at your job then what’s his deal?”
James sighed. “Maybe I’m too good at my job and he thinks I’ll steal his, I don’t know.”
“Merlin…”
“It’s fine, though. I don’t want his job, I just want to feel more comfortable in mine. I’ve complained about him before, but the Head of Magical Law Enforcement told me it was fine.”
“The Head of Magical Law Enforcement?” Teddy repeated, staring at James blankly. “He said it was just… fine? Your supervisor is clearly singling you out for workplace abuse and that’s fine?”
James looked embarrassed. “Well I mean it is fine, I can handle it, and it’s not really abuse, he’s just picking on me. It’ll make me a better Auror in the end.”
“That’s not acceptable. What kind of supervisor… I expected better of someone in the position of Head of Magical Law Enforcement.”
He expected better of his godfather…
“Hey, seriously.” James reached out to squeeze one of the hands Teddy had on the table, curled into a tight fist. “I’m fine, and the Head of Law Enforcement has got a lot of work to do without me whining about my superior.”
Teddy still felt annoyed. He knew Harry Potter was the Head of Magical Law Enforcement thanks to the article he’d found, but after all the research he’d done so far, all the newspaper articles and books talking about how bloody good and chivalrous Harry was, this was just appalling. Especially after the night before, what Teddy saw in James’ night terror. That incident had definitely happened while he was on a mission, Teddy had recognized the material of his sleeve as being from his uniform. That happened during an Auror mission and his superior was still allowed to bully him in the workplace as if James hadn’t already been through hell? Bullshit. Maybe Teddy didn’t know the whole story of what had happened, but still.
“Ted.” James squeezed his hand again. “Teddy. Hey, it’s fine. Don’t think about it so hard, you look like you’re turning red. Let’s just change the subject.”
Teddy exhaled through his nose, nodding, and James pulled his hand away just as the waiter returned with a bottle of wine for them. James looked pleased at its appearance, and Teddy decided he needed a pick me up as well, enjoying it in silence for a moment before managing to speak without cursing Harry or the Head Auror.
“So did you manage to get back home to talk to your brother?”
“Yeah,” James breathed, watching the wine in his glass swirl around. “He was mad at me, as expected, since I hadn’t been home since before we met at the bar. Hadn’t even sent an owl or answered my phone. He started trying to mom me the minute I stepped through the door. Don’t tell him I said that, though, he thinks he’s not like our mum but he absolutely is. Mostly he yelled at me.”
“Did you tell him where you’d been?”
James arched an eyebrow. “Did I tell my little brother I hadn’t been home because I was busy shagging a bar guy I went home with? Yes Teddy, I absolutely told him that.” He lifted the wine up. “The moron would never let me hear the end of it if I told him that. He would have called my parents, my aunts and uncles, they would’ve sat me down for an intervention and you’d probably be dead.”
The final bit of that had Teddy squinting, but James looked entirely serious, so Teddy felt mildly uncomfortable. “Why would I be dead, if I may ask?”
James shrugged far too nonchalantly, setting the glass down. “I told you I had bad relationships in the past.”
“Yeah.”
“Well they were bad enough that my family doesn’t exactly want me seeing anyone, not for dating or casual friends with benefits.” He waved a hand at himself. “You know, because clearly it’s my fault.”
“It’s not, it’s absolutely not,” Teddy insisted quickly. “That’s ridiculous for your family to not want you to date simply because you had a few shitty relationships.”
“Yeah, double up on the fact all my exes took advantage of me because of my family, one might argue I’d have better luck in love if my partner didn’t even know who I was,” James muttered that bit, sliding his finger along the rim of his wine glass.
Teddy felt mildly frantic as he spoke. “I’m not like that. You know that, right? I mean I know we’ve only known each other for a bit, but I have no intention of taking advantage of you, and technically I don’t know who you are, I definitely don’t know who your family is, so-”
“Teddy I never said you were like that,” James laughed. “It’s okay, I can tell you’re different.” He was smiling at his wine. “You have enough shitty boyfriends you eventually pick up on what a good guy is supposed to look like.” He looked up at Teddy brightly. “Pretty sure you’re a good guy by now. No other date, or fling, or boyfriend, or friend with benefits, ever helped me after a bad mission or patched me up and put me to bed.”
Teddy didn’t want to ask what they’d done instead, he had a pretty good idea, and he really didn’t like it. “Your exes were dirtbags.”
“Yeah I know.”
“If I ever see any of them-”
“The threat is endearing enough without you finishing it, no need to get yourself arrested on the account of my honor.”
Teddy mumbled about it being absolutely worth it, and around that time their food was brought out. It definitely seemed like a fancy restaurant meal, with a big price tag and a small portion. James poked a fork at his food and squinted at Teddy, who squinted back and finished his glass of wine before setting it down.
“Let’s not come here again.”
“Couldn’t agree more.”
“This portion isn’t enough for a bloody housecat.”
“Well on the bright side it won’t take long to eat so we can leave,” James said, giving a thumbs up, and Teddy hummed in agreement.
They ate quickly and Teddy paid the maitre d’ while James was in the bathroom, and they left while laughing at the dirty looks they were still getting. After some shuffling down the sidewalks and bumping into a coffee stand that was still open, they apparated to a beach that was less crowded, maybe because it was closing in on eleven at night, walking down the beach with only the moon for light as they drank burnt coffee and impersonated the snobby Muggles from the restaurant.
“Merlin I never want to go there again,” James sighed heavily. “The wine was good though.”
“I’m really sorry,” Teddy muttered, hands shoved into his jacket pockets and head back to stare at the moon. “That really was a complete disaster of a date. I’m embarrassed, honestly. I thought since it was a nice place then it would be a nice date, but that was awful.”
“Hey,” James laughed, moving to stand in front of Teddy, reaching out to hold his arms and keep him in place. “Look, I said the restaurant sucked, I didn’t say the date sucked. This is the nicest thing anyone has done for me, maybe ever. The restaurant was trash, the food was fine, and the company was fantastic.” His hands slid lower to Teddy’s wrists, smiling up at him. “Considering I just drank a twenty ounce of caffeine, I’ve got plenty of energy to enjoy the company a bit longer.”
Teddy relaxed at the reassurance, sighing and pulling his right hand from his pocket to hold James’ left hand, tugging him along as they continued to walk down the beach as the ocean water rushed up to their shoes before retreating. For a long time they just walked and talked, and it felt so surreal and new, Teddy didn’t want it to end yet.
"I played as a Chaser for Gryffindor, started my second year," James said, holding up two fingers to confirm the number. "The Headmistress said I was almost better than my grandfather, he was a Chaser too. I don't know about being better than him, but I did help Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup four years in a row."
"Wow, did you put that in your resume?"
"You know I actually did!" Teddy threw his head back in a laugh as James grinned at him. "My little sister plays, too. She's the Seeker currently, and she's incredible. I see her taking it further once she graduates, she's mentioned wanting a professional career. I think she can do it."
"Did you ever want to?" Teddy asked, and James exhaled a puff of air.
"I dreamed about it, went as far as trying out, but I guess… you know, they wanted someone different." Teddy frowned and squeezed James' hand, and James leaned his head against Teddy's shoulder. "An ex of mine is a professional player," he said, and Teddy flinched. "I think… the fear of facing him, even in matches, wasn't something I could deal with. It tripped me up and I had a bad try out, so I wallowed in self pity for a bit before throwing everything into joining the Auror's instead."
"I'm sorry."
"Nah, stuff happens, we have to move on. Besides." He leaned away from Teddy, clinging to his hand. "If I'd been part of a team I probably wouldn't have been at the bar that night. Never would have met you. Then where would I be?"
“Not on a botched date, maybe.”
“I’m having a great time, thanks. Did Beauxbatons have Quidditch?”
“Yeah of course, but I didn’t play.”
“No?”
“Well, uh,” Teddy cleared his throat. “I’m kind of…” He mumbled the next part and James leaned closer.
“What was that?”
“I said I’m afraid of heights,” Teddy grumbled, and James gaped at him before keeling forward laughing, still clinging to Teddy’s hand.
“You’re kidding?!”
“I’m not.”
“Oh Teddy.”
“I wanted to play so I tried out, but I threw up when I got too high up and blacked out. Broke my wrist when I hit the ground.”
“Oh my god,” James wheezed a little, squeezing Teddy’s hand again. “Oh hun.”
“Look Quidditch isn’t everything, I’m perfectly happy standing on solid ground and watching other idiots fly around with the possibility of falling.”
“What did you do instead during school?”
“I studied like a normal person,” Teddy said, and James hummed.
“One thing I’m curious about, what is it you do, or did, when you were in France?”
Teddy awkwardly scratched his neck. “Nothing, really. I mean, I don’t have a confirmed job. I did research for the Ministry because that’s what I’m good at, and they paid me for it, but I don’t really have a job.”
“You don’t have any idea what you want to do, either?”
Teddy thought about it, at first feeling uncomfortable, how could he possibly think he was worthy of dating James when he was unemployed, an orphan with no living family, and already twenty-seven?
“I did a lot of traveling and research after graduating, studied different techniques, that’s why I’m so good at wandless magic, because I studied under a wizard in Africa. They don’t normally use wands at Uagadou, so the lot of them are experts at wandless magic. I learned from them.”
“That’s pretty neat.”
“I also studied ancient healing techniques and potioneering in China, Japan, and Tibet.”
“So you’re an expert in these things and still don’t have a job?” James asked, and Teddy shrugged. “You could probably do whatever you wanted.”
“I guess,” Teddy hummed, kicking at the sand. “I do like music, but what are the odds of having a career in music?”
“Well, to be honest you’re more likely to have a career with music in our world rather than the Muggle world.”
“That’s a good point.”
“What do you play?”
“Just the guitar and piano.”
“Can you sing?”
Teddy coughed into his fist. “I think so.”
James turned to walk backwards, tugging on Teddy’s right hand. “Sing for me!” When Teddy’s face twisted up, he quickly tried to reassure him. “No one else is around right now, it’s like one in the morning, I’m the only one here.” Teddy flushed and James smiled warmly at him. “I’m sure you’re better than you think.”
Teddy opened his mouth and James looked excited, but Teddy just cleared his throat. “How about later? I’ll pick my guitar up, I think they sent all my stuff to my vault in Gringotts. It’s easier when there’s a tune to sing to.”
James pouted but agreed, stepping closer to walk beside Teddy again, their shoulders pressed together. “I guess that’s fine. Do you write music?”
“Some of it, not a lot.”
“You’re so talented,” James teased, and Teddy rolled his eyes, laying his head on top of James’.
“So does anyone else in your family play Quidditch?”
“Shit, it’d be easier to tell you who didn’t play,” James laughed loudly. “My mum and dad both played, the only one who doesn’t is my little brother. Most of my cousins play, most of my aunts and uncles. One of my uncles was on the same team as his wife when they were in school. They actually played with my dad. Let me see. There’s only one uncle who didn’t play Quidditch, but he’s just as obsessed with it as the rest of us. Only two of my aunts played, and I think the only two of my cousins who don’t play are the youngest, they haven’t started school yet. Oh, my cousin Louis doesn’t play either, but his sisters do. They did for a little at least. We also have a family Quidditch game we play whenever we all get together, normally in May when the weather is good, so technically everyone plays, but only most of us played in school. My mum was a professional player on top of it, and I’m pretty confident that my sister is going to follow her footsteps.”
“James how big is your family?”
“Uh, shit, let me think. My immediate family is a family of five. There’s me, mum and dad, and my sister and brother. Then I have five uncles, four aunts, my gran and grandpa, and nine cousins.”
“Nine cousins?”
“Those are just people related to me by blood, though. We’ve got family friends too.” James paused before wincing, leaning further into Teddy and reaching out to cling to his arm, slotting their fingers together and squeezing Teddy’s hand. “Sorry. Feels kind of wrong to talk about them.”
“What for?” Teddy asked, and it hit him that James must feel odd about it since Teddy had already expressed being on his own. “Oh.” He stared up at the sky idly, rubbing his thumb over the back of James’ hand. “Look, you don’t have to feel bad, okay? Things happen.”
“I’m… sorry.”
“Don’t be, it’s okay,” Teddy laughed softly. “You know, when I came here, I thought maybe I'd find family somewhere. Cousins I didn't know I had, uncles or aunts or grandparents. I hoped maybe I'd find someone who knew me, even friends of the family, friends of my parents who met me when I was born, people who could tell me stories about them, because my nan never would. She raised me on her own, didn't tell me who my parents were till she was on her deathbed, it was just me and her and now she's gone and turns out I really do have no one. I thought I'd find blood, but that's not what happened."
"What did you find, then?" James asked, and Teddy smiled sheepishly at him.
"You." James blushed a deep red, watching Teddy like he wanted to talk but couldn’t think of what to say, and Teddy quickly released his hand to search his pockets. “Hold on, I forgot I picked something up for you yesterday.”
“For me?”
“Yeah, but since you came back so beat up I forgot. I guess I was more concerned about getting you patched up and healthy, but this is fine.” Teddy pulled out the instant bouquet he’d bought at the joke shop, snapping it like a glow stick and quickly holding it out in his right hand as blossoms and fully bloomed flowers popped up, flashing bright red, royal purple, blue, and pink.
James looked dumbstruck for a moment, gaping at the flowers and holding his hands out to accept them when Teddy urged him to, staring at them as his face darkened a shade more, then snorted and threw his head back, laughing.
“Wh-what?” Teddy gaped at him, feeling self conscious. “Do you not like them? Did I do something stupid?”
“Oh Teddy.” James wiped at his eyes, stepping closer so the flowers were between them. “I know exactly where you got these, and you wanna know a secret? They’re not just flowers.”
Teddy felt uncomfortable, but James was wearing a warm smile, so Teddy nodded, willing to hear more. “They look like flowers to me. The guy who sold them to me said he invented them as a sort of emergency anniversary gift. He was inspired by Muggle magicians pulling bouquets from their sleeves?”
“Yeah, I know that, but they’re charmed to flash colors according to the couples mood.” Teddy felt oddly uneasy at that, looking at the colors and wondering what they could be revealing about how he felt.
“What… else?”
“What else is they can’t lie,” James explained, lifting a hand to hold the side of Teddy’s face, grinning. “If your intentions were impure, or you were just with me as a pointless fling, these would have turned black and gray, completely free of any true emotion.”
Teddy’s cheeks felt hot. “So what do all the colors mean then?”
“Means you’ve known me two days and you want to know me longer,” James said simply, his hand sliding off Teddy’s cheek to hold the back of his neck. “To put it simply.”
“How about the long version?”
“I might embarass you if I tell you,” James admitted, reaching his other arm across Teddy’s shoulder, wrapping both around behind his neck so their foreheads were pressed together, “but, if we make it far enough… I probably won’t have to tell you.”
Teddy had so many questions, dropping his hands to James’ waist and holding him close as they just looked at each other silently. He wanted to kiss James, despite the still healing cut on his bottom lip, and the bandages and light bruises on his face and neck. Teddy wanted to hold James and make him breathless, but he couldn’t stop staring at him long enough. He didn’t want to close his eyes. The ethereal light coming from the moon sent silver streaks across James’ face, causing a ring of glowing white to circle his pupil, making the brown of his eyes seem electric, the freckles on his face ghostly pale. There were so many, Teddy doubted he’d be able to count them all.
“You know, tonight has actually been really great,” James said, breaking Teddy’s concentration, a hand playing with the back of his blue hair. “There’s only one thing that could make it better.”
Teddy’s vision blacked out with a crack before he found himself back in his hotel room. The lights were still on, and the sudden visibility almost killed the mood, but James didn’t seem to pick up on Teddy’s optical irritation as he leaned up to kiss him. They didn’t need to talk or decide anything more for the night. Teddy quickly shrugged off his leather jacket and let it drop before lifting his hands to hold James’ face, eyes shutting to sink into it as James pulled his jacket off next, having enough sense to throw his onto a chair with the bouquet following before wrapping his arms around Teddy.
Before the kiss got too deep, Teddy grabbed James by the shoulders and pushed him back, leaving him looking stunned. “I don’t want to go as fast as last time,” Teddy quickly said, and James snorted. “Sorry, I just-”
“No, I feel the same way,” James reassured, holding the front of Teddy’s shirt in a loose fist, his bandaged knuckles pressing into his sternum and pulling him close again, their lips caressing, barely touching, making Teddy dizzy with sensation. “What’s on for tonight then?” He whispered the words against Teddy’s lips.
Teddy pressed a firmer kiss onto James’ mouth before answering. “Let me drive you crazy.”
“Implying I’m not already?” James hummed, their noses rubbing together, and Teddy grinned.
“Let me tip you over the edge, then.”
James looked curious and excited at the same time, tugging on Teddy’s shirt to pull him towards the bedroom. Teddy waved a hand as they went, turning the lights off using the switch next to the door and shutting them halfway. They kicked off their shoes and loosened their clothes, dropping belts and falling onto the bed, James on his back and Teddy hovering over him, their lips still slotted together as James fisted the back of Teddy’s shirt and yanked it over his head, ruffling his blue hair, as if either cared about that.
James’ hands were on Teddy’s chest, touching him differently than they had before. The first time they’d been too drunk, too turned on to do anything more than quick preparation and a quick shag, but now James’ hands seemed to be exploring, almost hesitantly, tracing Teddy’s sides and down his ribs, over his stomach and down towards his unbuttoned jeans, fingers slipping under the elastic of his boxers before sliding back up to feel his chest and pecks, scratching across them just enough to tickle but not hurting or breaking skin. James seemed obsessed with touching Teddy, their lips kissing deep and his hands sliding around under Teddy’s arms to feel the expanse of his back, his shoulder blades and down his spine to anchor onto his hips, parting his lips to deepen the kiss even more.
Teddy had his jeans off first, easing closer so James could grab onto his thighs, gripping the bottom of his boxers while Teddy worked at getting James’ jeans off. They had to part just long enough to tug off James’ jeans as the Auror pushed himself up and reached back to yank his shirt over his head, throwing it to the side and falling back into the pillows as Teddy dropped his jeans off the bed and pressed a kiss onto James’ knee, kissing up his thigh until he’d reached the freckles he’d been so interested in before, sinking his teeth into a cluster of them and grinning at the gasp James let out, his leg twitching under Teddy’s bite as Teddy moved his hand up James’ other thigh, slipping under the material of his boxers and over the lion and wolf tattoo on his left thigh and hip.
“Are you still hungry or something?” James asked out of nowhere when Teddy sank his teeth into another cluster of freckles above the first.
“I guess freckles just turn me on,” Teddy said against James’ skin, looking up as James snorted, arms folded over his eyes.
“Well I have a lot of them.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” Teddy squeezed James’ thigh, lifting up to press a kiss above the band of James’ boxers, biting at the skin there and making James gasp again, hips jerking up once, then a second time as Teddy opened his mouth to suck and bite a mark into the skin there.
“Oh Merlin, Teddy.”
“Let me just get these off for you,” Teddy offered, squeezing James’ hips to urge him into lifting them off the mattress so he could tug the boxers down his thighs and flinging them over his shoulder once they were off, pressing another kiss against his inner thigh and biting the soft flesh there. “That’s much better.”
“Shit,” James gasped.
“Where do you want me next? Should I bite a few more hickeys into your thighs?” He shifted to James’ left side to kiss at the tattoo there, worshipping it like he should have done before. “Or am I allowed to suck you off this time?”
James seemed to consider it, his hands holding the bars of the headboard and staring dizzily at the ceiling. “Can I have both?”
“Of course you can,” Teddy assured, biting harder at James’ thigh, next to the tattoo, sucking and licking at the skin until he’d left a bruise, then kissed his way to James’ half hard erection, taking it directly into his mouth, trying not to smile as James jerked, groaning.
Teddy lifted off of James to drag his tongue over the underside of his cock to the tip, taking it back into his mouth and bobbing his head gently, keeping his tongue pressed against the underside of James’ cock as he took him to the back of his throat, moving in accordance to the soft moans and blissful hums of pleasure until James’ entire body was twitching, hips jerking, cock hard and hot, the skin soft and enticing. He then released his hold, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth and smiling up at the foggy, barely lucid expression on James’ face.
“Good thing I stopped when I did, huh?” Teddy asked, one hand stroking James’ cock. “What’s next?”
“Gimme a minute,” James sighed, rubbing his hands over his face and into his hair. “I don’t want this to end too soon.” He pulled his hands off his face, grinning up at Teddy. “You’re pretty good at that.”
“Thanks, appreciate it.”
“I guess it’s my turn, huh?” James asked, one hand rubbing up and down Teddy’s side. “You wanna come up here for a minute? Let me get you ready, taste as much as I can, cuz I don’t think it’s all gonna fit in my mouth.”
“You want me to come up there?” Teddy asked, and James smirked.
“Well I’m not moving,” he hummed, and Teddy snorted.
“Brat.” He crawled up the bed, hovering over James and bracing his hands against the headboard, staring down as James grabbed the elastic band of his boxers, grinning up at Teddy. “Better not use teeth.”
“But you look so tasty, and that dinner was pathetic.” Teddy arched an eyebrow and James laughed. “I’m kidding. I like to think I’m good at this, I won’t bite you.”
James actually looked a little anxious, so Teddy reached down to stroke his jaw. “I trust you, I’m not really that worried.”
James smiled, releasing Teddy’s cock from his boxers and holding it in his hand, keeping eye contact with Teddy as he arched his head closer and parted his lips, sliding his tongue along the underside of it before taking it into his mouth completely. Teddy groaned and pressed his forehead against the wall, clinging to the headboard with both hands and shutting his eyes as he let himself feel. The sensation of James’ tongue rubbing roughly at his cock, wetting it with a blend of spit and his own precum, warmth pooling in his gut and cock throbbing in James’ mouth.
He groaned, reaching down to card his fingers into James’ hair, heart racing and hips jerking. James choked a bit and Teddy cursed, shifting James’ bangs away from his eyes. “Sorry.”
James just hummed, and seemed to open his throat, breathing in through his nose before taking Teddy deeper. Teddy cursed again, fisting the hand in James’ hair and struggling not to thrust in deeper and choke James. He pressed his palm against James’ forehead, grunting and shaking his head.
“That’s good, don’t make me come yet.”
James laughed around him, opening his mouth and letting Teddy pull out, shuffling back down the bed to capture his mouth in a kiss.
“Do I taste like you?” James asked on a hum, and Teddy snorted.
“Gross.”
“It’s your dick, not mine.”
Teddy kissed him again, then trailed kisses down his chin and underneath it, biting the skin until James had tilted his head back, kissing further down to his chest. “Want me to get you ready?”
“Yeah,” James answered softly, spreading his legs when Teddy reached between them. “You don’t have to spend too much time on me though, I like how it feels to be opened up by you, not just your fingers.”
“I’ll get you lubed, then. Tell me if it hurts too much and I’ll stop.”
“Teddy, honestly, I already know you would never hurt me,” James laughed, running his fingers through Teddy’s hair and tilting his head back as Teddy latched onto a nipple with his teeth.
He conjured lube into his hand, spreading it over his fingers and reaching between James’ legs to prod at his entrance, circling the rim and spreading the lube until it was dripping down his skin, before pushing his index further, breaching his entrance and sliding it in slowly, down to his last knuckle. Teddy ran the flat of his tongue over James’ chest as he conjured lube directly into James’ channel, causing him to jerk and whimper.
“Oh god, that’s really good.”
“Yeah?” Teddy bit James’ nipple gently, and his hips jerked again.
“Shit, it is.”
Teddy slid his index from James’ hole, stroking his hand over his cock. “You got harder.”
“Cuz it felt good,” James mumbled, and Teddy leaned up to smile at the carnal expression on James’ face.
“What do you want now? Do you want me to prep you more?”
“Teddy if you don’t hurry up and put your dick in me I’m gonna feel obligated to smack you.”
“Okay, impatient. What happened to going slow?”
“Teddy.”
“I’m coming, Jamie,” Teddy promised, situating himself between James’ legs and shuffling them both until James’ legs were hooked over his arms, lubing his cock and leading it to James’ entrance, biting James’ thigh till it stung and stroking James’ cock with his free hand as he pushed into him with careful thrusts.
He watched what he was doing until he was halfway in before moving his eyes to James’ face, searching for discomfort or any sign he was in pain. All he saw was pleasure, eyes rolled back and biting his own wrist as his free hand twisted into the sheets, moaning and shaking, sweat beading along his entire body.
“Tell me,” Teddy hummed against the bruise he’d kissed into James’ thigh, and James inhaled sharply.
“Yeah. Fuck. Good.”
“Not hurting?”
“Don’t move immediately.”
“So I am hurt-”
“No I’m gonna come!” James squeaked, and Teddy gaped at him before grinning, pausing when he’d bottomed out inside James and kissing the bruise on his inner thigh.
“I got you, Jamie. You’re okay.” Teddy reached back to rub James’ knee, pressing his cheek into his thigh, concentrating on James’ face to keep himself from paying too much attention to the absolute pleasure he was feeling from being inside his lover. “I’ll give you a minute. Just breathe.” He watched James’ chest move with his deep breaths, whining each exhale, arms folded over his eyes. “Hey, do you have work tomorrow?”
James swallowed. “No. My dad told me to take an extra day because of the bad raid.”
“Good, cuz it’s almost two in the morning, and something tells me we’re going to be here for a while.”
James laughed. “I hope so.” He moved his arms away from his face, reaching up to Teddy. “Hey, come closer, I wanna kiss you.”
“Yeah?” Teddy smiled warmly, adjusting James’ legs so James could wrap them around his waist, leaning over James and pressing their foreheads together, watching James’ eyes close with a hum as Teddy’s cock moved inside him. “Still wanna kiss me or should I move?”
“Both.”
Teddy complied, staying true to his desire to make this last and thrusting slow and shallow, kissing James tenderly as the Auror hummed and wound his arms around Teddy and Teddy fisted the covers beneath James, keeping their lips in a passionate kiss. Whether they were simply brushing their lips together, pressing them firmly into one another, or parting them to taste each other deeper, they kept their lips together. Teddy rutted against and inside James for a long time, drinking in the taste of red wine and black coffee as James huffed into his mouth, one hand buried in Teddy’s hair and the other clinging to his back.
Their lips parted so they could look at each other, Teddy didn’t stop his hips rhythm into James, who’d managed to move his hand deeper into Teddy’s hair, staring at it with unfocused, foggy eyes and panting.
“Your hair…”
“My hair?” Teddy whispered back, rolling his hips and pushing his cock in deeper just to see the reaction of James’ eyes rolling and his mouth parting in lust, his chest heaving until he managed to get a hold of himself again.
“It’s. Different,” James panted, and Teddy was almost shocked enough to lose his hard on, though he couldn’t just stop feeling pleasure when he was pelvic deep inside James.
“Different how?” Teddy asked, and James moaned, turning his head in the pillow and jerking his hips to force Teddy deeper. Teddy hissed against the pleasure and dug his nails into the duvet, cock throbbing almost painfully; he was close to tipping over the edge now, it felt too good.
“Your roots are purple,” James somehow managed to explain himself, fisting the hand in Teddy’s hair. “The rest is still blue. How did you do that?”
“I think you’re seeing things because of the bad light,” Teddy huffed, watching James closely as he slowly pulled his cock back, halfway down his channel before bracing himself and thrusting in hard and deep. “Or because of this.”
James nearly screamed, hands splaying, releasing his hold on Teddy’s hair and reaching to cling to his sweaty back with both hands, fingers pressing into Teddy’s skin. “Oh my god, oh Merlin, oh fuck.”
“You’re twitching again,” Teddy whispered into James’ ear, thrusting hard against the sweet spot inside him, groaning at the way James clenched around him. “You want to come?”
“I don’t- I don’t-” James couldn’t finish the sentence, cut off with each fierce thrust inside.
“You don’t want to come?” Teddy slowed his thrusts and James cursed loudly, fingers pressing deeper into Teddy’s back.
“I do! I don’t know! Fuck, it’s so good.”
“Yeah, baby, I’m gonna come too. Fuck, you feel incredible. It’s so hot inside you. I can tell you want to come, I can feel you’re getting close.” He slowed down and moved his hands to hold James’ face, watching him pant, eyes wild. “Ready?” James whimpered, shaking. “I’m gonna fuck you through it, honey. Hold onto me and don’t let go. Okay?”
James nodded and Teddy wrapped his arms under James’ shoulders to hold onto him and keep him from moving too much, shutting his eyes and pressing his face into the side of James’ neck as James squeezed his legs around his hips and clung to his back, whimpering again and gasping when Teddy started to move. His thrusts were soft and slow at first, concentrating on his breathing as he pulled his cock down James’ slick hole before thrusting back in all the way, bumping his prostate before repeating the process, pulling out until only the head of his cock stayed inside before pushing it back in place.
He picked up speed and his thrusts grew shallower and rougher, until he was all the way inside James and pounding into his prostate with barely a second of recovery before he was pushing against it again. James was cursing and crying a stream of gasps and incomprehensible words, his arse clenching around Teddy and his entire body quivering as he clung to Teddy, hands scrabbling to find purchase on the sweaty skin. Teddy felt it when he came, heard the sob of pleasure as his nails scratched down his back and James’ arched up, his entire body shaking furiously as his sobs choked off into gasps.
Teddy kept his hips going, biting the side of James’ neck as he let the tightening around him and the heat urge him to his own orgasm, groaning as he came hard and pressed his pelvis into James’ thighs, mouthing at the side of his neck as he panted and ground his cock into James, twitching a few times as he spilt everything inside. The pleasure began to fade and his eyes shut with a sigh, his forehead against James’ neck as he waited for his breathing to regulate before pulling out of James.
He didn’t react, so Teddy pushed himself onto his hands, hovering over James and watching him closely. His eyes were unfocused, like he still hadn’t come down from the high of orgasm, and Teddy looked down between them to see the mess of white between them. Teddy held a hand out to the side to summon his wand, cleaning them both up and holding James’ face to kiss him. After a moment, a hand was in his hair again, and Teddy smiled, pressing his forehead against James’.
“Can you breathe?”
James looked more aware of himself now, blissed out and tired with a smile. “Yeah, I can breathe. I’m okay.”
“Not hurting?”
“I feel awesome.” Teddy grinned, but the smile faded when James squirmed around, still appearing content as his hand slipped down his stomach, a smirk on his lips. “Gonna help me get this out, or?”
“Oh, oh fuck.” Teddy fell over James, face against his shoulder as he cursed. “I did it again, fuck, I can’t believe I’m so stupid.”
“What? What happened?”
Teddy pushed himself up again, pushing a hand through his hair to get it out of his face. “I forgot to wear a condom again,” he explained sheepishly, and James’ face twisted up before he snorted hard, shaking his head.
“Teddy it’s fine.”
“It’s definitely not!”
“Look, you’re the only one I’ve slept with without a condom. You’re the first and only one. I don’t have any disease, and-"
“I’ve never forgotten before though, but now I’ve forgotten twice.”
“So you don’t have any diseases either, that’s good.” James reached up to hold Teddy’s face between his hands. “Isn’t it kind of poetic? You weren’t my first time, but you were my first time without a condom.”
Teddy wanted to argue, but he did mumble, “You were mine too. Without a condom I mean.” He quickly moved his wand to clean the rest of James, inside and out. “I’m still angry at myself for forgetting!”
“Even if there was a possibility of complications, Muggle diseases don’t really affect us the same way.”
“Not the point, it’s important to practice safe sex.”
James put both hands over his stomach, looking at Teddy with dramatically widened eyes. “Teddy are you perhaps afraid of getting me pregnant?” Teddy rolled his eyes with a sigh as James forced himself to pout, struggling not to smile. “You better take responsibility if you did get me pregnant.”
“You’re hilarious.”
“No I mean it.” He pointed at his stomach. “This is your kid too.”
“Alright, I get you’re teasing me,” Teddy said with a sigh, and James snickered, reaching up to hold Teddy’s face and pull him down to a kiss.
“You know worrying too much makes you age faster?”
“Me? You thought I was younger than twenty-seven.”
“Being a father is making you age before my eyes.”
“Okay, I think it’s time for you to sleep,” Teddy decided, sitting back and picking up his shirt so he could drop it over James’ face as the Auror laughed.
He sat up when Teddy swung his legs off the bed, yanking the black shirt over his head as if more than happy to wear Teddy’s clothes to bed again. Teddy had his back to James as he pulled on his boxers, not understanding the strange choking sound before a hand was on his back.
“Did I scratch you?” James asked frantically, and Teddy turned to look back at James, confused at the panic on his face.
“What? I don’t know, I wasn’t paying attention to that.”
“Let me see.” James pushed at Teddy’s shoulder to make him turn his back again, staring blankly at the wall, not seeing the issue as James traced his fingers gently across his back. “Fuck, I did, I broke the skin. Teddy I’m so sorry.”
“They’re just scratches,” Teddy tried to reassure James, turning and reaching out to one of his hands. “They don’t hurt.”
“You don’t get it, I broke the skin,” James said softly, his face white in shock and fear in his eyes; the hand Teddy was holding was trembling.
“Jamie.” Teddy reached out to take the Auror by his shoulders as James covered his mouth with both hands. “Hey, hun, it’s okay. I’m serious, it doesn’t hurt, and I’m not mad. Why would I be mad? I’m kind of amused, and maybe I shouldn’t be, but it just means you felt so good you couldn’t control yourself. I consider it a compliment.”
“But I scratched you,” James insisted frantically, pulling his hands away and looking at his fingers, then at Teddy. “Let me see again.”
“Yeah, okay,” Teddy didn’t protest, turning his back again so James could trace the scratches.
“There’s no blood, I didn’t make you bleed, but I still broke the skin. You’re sure it doesn’t hurt?”
“Honestly I can’t actually feel it.”
“Can I put medicine on them?”
“What? Jamie you don’t have to do that.”
“Please?” He sounded desperate, so Teddy sighed and nodded.
“If it makes you feel better. I’ll get my first aid kit.”
“No I have something.”
Teddy looked over his shoulder to watch James lean off the other side of the bed to grab his jeans from the floor, pulling a small metal tin from his back pocket and sitting back on the bed, unscrewing it to reveal a thick, strange smelling, dark purple ointment with flecks of white in it. It was almost floral, but bitter and somewhat vile. Teddy screwed his nose up.
“What is that?”
“Medicine,” James explained as he turned towards Teddy. “It’s special, you don’t need to use a lot.”
“What kind of medicine?”
“Special medicine.” James looked up at him. “You can’t find it in a store, even one of our stores. It’s kind of… an Auror only medicine, I guess?” He looked uneasy when he said it, and Teddy shook his head.
“You don’t need to waste something like that on a few scratches.”
“You already said I could,” James reminded, and Teddy rolled his eyes, turning away and deciding not to argue.
He didn’t understand why James was so upset about it, but if putting medicine on his back would make him feel better, then Teddy didn’t see the harm in it. He didn’t even feel the scratches when James spread a thin layer of ointment over them, but the Auror wouldn’t be acting so frantic if nothing was there.
“Okay, I’m done.”
Teddy turned around to watch James close the tin, his face still drawn and pale. “Am I cured, doctor?” He tried to tease, but James just winced, not responding with a quip of his own like Teddy had gotten used to. Something was really wrong, and it was starting to freak him out. “Jamie-”
“Are you tired?” James asked, pushing the jeans and ointment onto the floor before pulling himself to the head of the bed, folding the covers back and slipping beneath them. “I’m tired.”
Teddy wanted answers, but before anything else, Teddy wanted James to smile again. He slipped under the covers and pulled the duvet up, rolling closer to James and wrapping his arms around his waist, lying his head on James’ chest so he wasn’t sleeping on his back. James brushed his fingers across Teddy’s back tenderly, a kiss pressing to Teddy’s forehead and staying there.
“You need to tell me if you start feeling sick, okay?” James said, sounding weak, and Teddy furrowed his brow.
“Why would I start feeling sick?”
“I don’t know, just… please tell me.”
“I promise I’ll tell you.”
James sighed, and their conversation stopped after that. James wasn’t asleep, Teddy knew that because he was still rubbing his back gently, moving his hand to Teddy’s head after a moment to stroke through his hair instead. In the end, Teddy fell asleep first, and woke up the next morning with a hand still in his hair, sluggishly stroking through it. When Teddy shifted around and pushed himself onto his elbow, James was staring at the ceiling, looking exhausted, blinking when he seemed to realize that Teddy was awake.
“Hey.”
“Did you sleep at all?”
“Oh, yeah, of course,” James replied, but there was no emotion in his voice, and Teddy felt panicked.
“You definitely didn’t, you look exhausted.”
James sat up, rubbing his eyes. “No, I’m okay.”
“Jamie-”
“How’s your back?”
“My back? Oh, the scratches? I don’t feel them.”
James dropped his hand, looking frustrated. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, I still don’t feel anything.”
“Let me see.”
Teddy was as baffled as he was before, letting James look at his back. Despite the situation, the sensation of James running a hand down his back was comforting.
“They… faded a lot during the night. They’re almost completely gone.”
“Most scratches are like that. I told you I was fine.”
James put a hand on Teddy’s forehead, which only seemed to confuse him more, but James looked just as shocked, his brows drawn and shaking his head a little. “I don’t understand.”
“You’re not the only one,” Teddy laughed weakly, watching as James pulled his hand away and sat back, staring down. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”
James opened his mouth before shutting it, jaw setting and body tensing up. “It’s nothing,” he said, slipping towards the other side of the bed and grabbing his underwear, pulling them on as he stood up.
He was eerily silent. The pleasant, friendly, romantic atmosphere from the night before seemed to have faded into a tense and deeply uncomfortable atmosphere. Teddy could almost visibly see how ashamed James was feeling, his insecurity and frustration. All because he lost control during sex and scratched him a little?
“Hey, Jamie-”
“Um,” James interrupted Teddy before he could speak, clearing his throat. “Look, I’m sorry, last night-”
“Don’t apologize, I said I wasn’t mad,” Teddy insisted, standing and grabbing a pair of sweatpants hanging on the chair beside his bed, pulling them on as James unscrewed the tin of ointment to smell it, like he was desperately trying to distract himself.
“I know you weren’t mad,” James assured, closing the tin and putting it back into his jean pocket. “You… really feel okay?”
“Yeah, I do, I promise.”
James nodded slowly, still holding his jeans. “I’m glad I didn’t make you bleed. It might have been a lot worse.”
“I heal fast as it is, so it wouldn’t have mattered.”
“It would have,” James sighed, looking at his hands. “I’m… is it okay if I take a shower?”
“Yeah of course it is. You can use my shampoo and stuff again if you need to.”
“Right.”
“I’ll make breakfast.”
“You don’t have to. I should probably go after.” Teddy felt like he’d just been punched, watching James pick up his clothes methodically, not looking at Teddy.
“You don’t have to work, right?”
“I don’t have work.”
“You know you could always stay.”
“Look, Ted, I… I don’t think I should. I should just go.”
“What?” Teddy tried not to sound scared as he watched James, who looked at his hand again before leaning down to pick his red shirt up. “Wait, hold on a minute, did I do something?” Teddy hurried to stand in front of James so he couldn’t reach the bathroom door. “Look, if I did something-”
“You didn’t do anything, Teddy,” James quickly assured. “This isn’t because of you, I just… need to think.”
“Can you talk to me? Please?” Teddy held his arms out. “Listen I don’t understand why you’re so upset about scratching me. Would it make you feel better if I scratched you back? I mean I did bite you last night. A lot, actually. There’s a pretty bad bruise on your neck from it.” Teddy blushed and cleared his throat. “Sorry about that, by the way. Got a little lost in the moment; and for the record so did you, there’s nothing shameful about it.”
“It’s not that simple,” James said, keeping his head down and his eyes on their feet.
“Then explain it to me.”
“You wouldn’t understand and I wouldn’t expect you to.”
“But I want to. I want to understand and I want to help.”
James shut his eyes and shook his head. “Ted-”
“After everything we’ve shared, all of that, the night after the bar and last night- I know we barely know each other but don’t I know enough to care about you?”
“I know, I know, but that’s the problem!” James snapped, clearly frustrated, throwing his clothes onto the bed. “I should know better!”
“Better than what?! James-”
“I’m not normal, okay?!” James yelled. “You don’t understand, I’m not normal!”
“We’re wizards, normal isn’t in our vocabulary,” Teddy soothed gently. “I understand if this makes you uncomfortable, but I know you know by now you can trust me. You said yourself that I was different, right?”
James looked frightened, hands in fists at his sides. “I want you to be different,” he said softly, and Teddy felt his heart break, “but I don’t want to hurt you, either.”
“You won’t. You didn’t. You said yourself that my back is fine. That ointment you used fixed the scratches, and I swear I don’t even feel them.” Teddy held his hands out for James, who stared at them silently, brown eyes watering.
There was fear and panic in his eyes, desperation on his face as he lifted his hands and ran them through his hair, shutting his eyes and huffing out a breath before stepping forward, grabbing Teddy by his wrist and dragging him towards the bathroom, flipping the lights on once they were inside.
Teddy looked around as if the bathroom would be able to explain what James was doing. “What is it, then? Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
“Just… look.” James paced a few steps away from Teddy before turning to face him, holding the hem of the black shirt he was wearing and pulling it up, lifting it over his head and off before dropping it to the tiled floor.
“Look at you shirtless in just your underwear?” Teddy asked jokingly, and James stared at him blankly, which made him feel even worse. James acting serious wasn’t right. He should be joking and laughing and always smiling. “Alright, I’m looking. What am I seeing?”
“Why I’m not normal,” James mumbled, turning his back to Teddy, whose eyes widened when his back was in full view, revealing four parallel scars that cut across from his left shoulder blade diagonally to his right side above his hip.
Teddy stepped closer, lifting a hand but not touching James. The scars were jagged and grotesque, deformed and invasive, parts of it still bruised and lifted from the skin like hypertrophic scars. They were horrific and took up a large majority of James’ back, and there was only one creature in their world that made scars like that.
“Werewolf…”
“I’m a Partial,” James said, head down and right hand holding his left shoulder, stepping away from Teddy and turning away from him, leaning against the sink so Teddy could still see the reflection of the scars in the mirror behind him. “A few years ago I went on a mission in Wales. We didn’t know there was a pack in that area, and we definitely didn’t know they were hostile. My Auror partner saw them coming, I didn’t, and he dodged the attack. I couldn’t. Then this happened.” He lifted his left arm to stare down at it. “I was infected partly from the disease getting into my system through my blood, through the wolf who clawed me. It wasn’t the full moon and he wasn’t transformed, so I wasn’t fully infected and I don’t transform under the moon, I’m… half, I guess. There are still side effects and repercussions from the disease though. Like if I scratch other people, I could infect them too,” he said this in a whisper and Teddy’s throat closed up, more from empathy than fear.
“What else?” Teddy asked, and James looked up at him, his brow furrowed, cheeks wet.
“What?”
“What other side effects are there? I mean I’ve researched full werewolves, everything to do with them, but I’ve barely touched on Partials. I only know a little.”
James still looked confused, shaking his head, so Teddy walked forward, pausing only once when James flinched and leaned back, before moving forward again, slower than before, stopping in front of James and pinning him in place, reaching around him to lean his hands against the counter on either side of the Auror, then laid his forehead against James’.
“Jamie, this changes nothing,” Teddy said. “I’m not afraid of you and I’m not angry, I don’t think of you or see you any differently than I did before.”
James looked broken. “I could end up hurting you. We got lucky last night, I didn’t draw blood, but-"
“It wouldn’t affect me even if you had,” Teddy interrupted. “I’m not normal either.”
James looked irritated. “You’re going to tell me you’re immune to Lycanthropy?”
Teddy shrugged. “If you want to call it immunity, that’s fine.”
“Are you an animagus or something?”
“No but that would be cool.”
“Then you’re not immune.”
Teddy sighed. “Fine, I’m not immune, but that still doesn’t change anything. Partial or not, that doesn’t matter to me, okay? I understand you don’t want to hurt me, but look.” He took hold of James’ hands and lifted them. “You clearly don’t want to hurt people. You keep your nails cut short, that’s probably why you didn’t break the skin deeper than you did.”
“I try to cut them once a week, but I also have a nail file to keep them dull.”
“You’re not a bad person, Jamie.”
James looked suddenly exhausted, like staying up all night was finally catching up to him. “You really don’t mind what I am?”
“What are you? A talented Auror, the first person I’ve ever been with in any sort of romantic or sexual way who didn’t just fuck me and leave the next morning, or cheat on me, or use me for your own gain, or hurt me. You make me laugh, Jamie, and the other day someone told me to find something that makes me laugh and hold onto it.”
James stared at Teddy, lifting a hand to wipe at the tears that were on his face. “And that’s me?” he sounded uncertain, and Teddy reached out to hold James’ face, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
“That’s you.”
James set his forehead against Teddy’s chest, one hand covering his mouth, and Teddy wrapped his arms around him, rubbing his back, taking extra care to trace the scars and kissing the top of his head.
“I’m as nervous as you are. Maybe not about the exact same things, but I’m still worried this might end in fire. We haven’t even known each other for a week, but I already feel like I’ve known you for my whole life.”
James shook his head. “The Ministry tried to hide my… sickness, from the rest of the community. People keep saying werewolves aren’t as discriminated as they used to be, but what else am I supposed to think when the entire Ministry wants me to keep it to myself? As it is only a few people within the Ministry know. They say if it got out then people might get upset or lose trust in the Aurors, insist they fire me or something as equally absurd. I had an ex, I got together with them shortly after they let me out of the hospital, but I didn’t want to sleep with them because I didn’t want them to see the scars or find out what I was… but they did find out.”
“How?” Teddy asked, and James laughed.
“How does anything happen? Convinced me to sleep with him, but when I didn’t want to take my shirt off…”
Teddy’s eyes widened and he wrapped his arms tighter around James, pushing his mouth and chin into his messy hair.
“He figured it out when he saw the scars. They actually had to obliviate him.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
“Jamie I’m so sorry that happened to you.” Teddy pulled back, holding James by his shoulders. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise. I like to think I’m good at keeping secrets, especially when it’s this important.”
James snorted, looking down. “This could go absolutely nowhere,” he said. “Us trying this, getting to know each other, dating, it could all end horribly and go straight into the ground. Most of my relationships ended like that anyway.”
Teddy winced. “Mine too.”
James met his eye, one corner of his mouth lifting into a crooked grin that showed off the dimple in his cheek, the same awkward but intrigued smile he gave Teddy in the bar. “I probably wouldn’t still be an Auror if I ran from challenging situations, though. Even if I’m scared of something, it’s never been in my nature to turn away from it.” He lifted a hand to touch Teddy’s left arm. “I want to try this.”
Teddy felt almost too hopeful, squeezing James’ shoulders. “You’re really sure?”
“Yeah. I mean, we’re both in the same boat, aren’t we? We’ve both had shitty relationships that ended horribly and left us at least mildly traumatized. Maybe we can make it.”
Teddy laughed, moving his hands to hold James’ face, feeling more at home than he had since his nan took her last breath. “Yeah, maybe we can. First, though.” Teddy stroked a hand through James’ hair. “You stayed awake all night to keep an eye on me, to make sure I didn’t develop a fever from the scratches. You need to actually sleep.”
“Can I take a shower first?” James asked, and Teddy smiled with a hum.
“Only if I can take it with you,” he teased, and James grinned, gripping at the elastic of Teddy’s sweatpants and pulling him closer.
“Wanna wash my hair for me?”
“I’ll wash everything for you.”
“Such a gentleman.”
“Well I have to take care of the mother of my child, right?”
James burst out laughing, his head falling back, and Teddy grinned, chuckling and reaching out to hold the side of James’ face. He pulled him into a kiss that James smiled into, reaching up to run his fingers through Teddy’s hair and rubbing their noses together after pulling apart.
“This might actually be really fun,” he hummed, and Teddy hummed back.
“It definitely will be.”