Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Lily loves Teddy. She truly does, but she can't escape the suspicion that creeps upon her when she's a little bit too tired and a little bit too worried and it's a little bit too dark outside. Only when she's around him she can easily let it go and pretend everything is fine.
In the beginning she found it sweet and flattering. He always gave her so much attention, much more than she craved and she loved it. When she started at Hogwarts she would brag about it to anyone who would listen, that she had boy with blue hair, who was ten years older and just hers. Of course they didn't really believe her, so when he came to meet her at the platform that Christmas, she made sure everyone saw it when he lifted her in his arms and held her tight.
The next years he always stood waiting for her, always outside the right door so she could throw herself right into his waiting arms. He would hold her just as tight every year, until her parents came and tapped him awkwardly on the shoulder with a discreet cough. When he let go he would sniff her hair one last time and not let go of her waist until her mother's arms were safe around her. After the happy and often teary family-reunion, he would place an arm protectively around her shoulders and smile down at her and she would grin happily back. She never questioned or wondered how he never failed to know exactly where she would go off the train.
The first time he kissed her she had been feeling these curious and wonderful feelings whenever she thought of him. There were even some times, she always giggled when thinking of it, when it was his blue hair and the feeling of his arms around her she thought of when she still experimented with those good feelings down there. All the hours of fantasising and experimenting had never prepared her the kiss though. It wasn't her first kiss, but none of those childish, chaste kisses was no way near as powerful as Teddy's.
Pretty early on she had to give up playing hide and seek with him, when her younger cousins wanted them to play along. First it seemed like a coincidence how he found her first and always in less than a half minute. She suspected he cheated, so after a while she started to hide in places where he never could have seen her go. It didn't work and she watched him walk straight over to where she was hiding without hesitation. When she had to count, he always decided to team up with her, and those few times the younger kids made him hide, he normally chose the spot closest and most visible for Lily.
He had this gift for knowing exactly where Lily was. Whenever she came into a room, his eyes were already waiting restlessly upon the door. She also learnt that she could never sneak upon him, because as soon as he was within eyesight, he would turn around with open arms and that gleam in his eyes, that made her legs refuse to cooperate and within seconds his arms would be around her. That was another thing she adored about him, how his arms were strong and tender and soft and hard all at the same time.
It was so easy to pretend it all was normal, but she knew it wasn't. It really wasn't normal how he always was there for her, not just when she really needed someone to rely on, but also how he woke up exactly at the same time as her in the middle of the night and was out of the bed to fetch her glass of water before she even said she was thirsty.
There were also these times when he never left her, when he insisted on coming with her when she was going out with friends. He would never say anything, he didn't even need to touch her, he just stood silently by her side like a loyal, faithful… dog. During those intense periods, it was awful coming home from work. When she stepped in the front door, he was there only seconds later, his arms desperately around her as he sobbed into her hair. He always looked much paler, with dark circles around his panicked eyes. She has noticed a pattern, when he gets like that, but she shoves it away, because if she doesn't think it, maybe it will just disappear.
It's like he's the wolf and she's the moon.
