Prompt: Reunion

Pairing: Teddy/James II

James' POV:

"James! We have guests!" I groaned from my bedroom, hearing my mother's voice ringing up the stairs. I hoisted myself out of my bed, throwing my Quidditch book down on the blanket. I walked down the stairs tiredly, putting on a fake smile as I saw my grandmother.

"Oh, James, you look like you've had two more growth spurts since last month." Grandma Weasley said, instantly messing my clothes and trying to get my hair to lay down flat (good luck with that). I smiled politely at her as she dusted me off carefully. "Honestly, when will you boys quit growing. I swear Teddy is a metre taller than he was when he left."

I reeled back suddenly. "Teddy? Teddy Lupin?" I said quickly, trying to act as casual as possible. Molly looked at me a bit oddly.

"Well, yes, of course, dear, how many other Teddy's do we know?" She asked, chuckling slightly.

"But…he's in Bulgaria!" I stammered.

"He got back yesterday, dear. Didn't you know that? He's on his way over to the house now." Grandma said, causing my heart to miss a beat. I stood there gob-smacked, letting her mess with me a bit more, until she finally spotted Albus, and ran after him.

Two years ago, my "cousin", Teddy Lupin had started working for the Ministry of Magic, more specifically, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Beast Division. He'd been working his arse off fighting for werewolf rights, for obvious reasons, and everyone in the family was extremely proud. Then, one year ago, even though he was only 24, he'd been asked by a werewolf supporter to travel through Europe for several conferences, rallies, lectures, and all sorts of things. After a lot of input from the relatives, he'd finally said yes. He'd been gone for a year, and even though he kept in touch through owl, it hadn't been the same. It's not like I wasn't proud of him- if anyone could make a difference in this world, it's Teddy- but, well, I missed him.

Despite the obvious age difference, he's my best friend. And I hope I'm his best friend too. That may sound incredibly selfish, but it's true. When he tells me he's going to go hang out with some other guys, or, Merlin forbid, a girl, I get strangely jealous. I'm sure that's normal.

And I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm practically in love with the guy.

I mean, it doesn't mean anything that I've had a crush on him since fourth year. And yes, he may be the reason I even realized I'm gay, hell, he might be the reason I am gay, but, in all honesty, nothing's going to happen between us. Ever. He's Teddy, and I'm James… it just wouldn't work. It was just wrong. We're friends.

I tried to focus on these thoughts, and not the thought of how amazing we'd be together as I tried to get my act together and more relatives came in.

"Just friends, James." I muttered to myself. I leaned against the wall, and, despite my will, started to grin wildly. Teddy's back, I thought, trying not to be too excited. I turned my head and caught a glimpse of my reflection in the wall mirror. The grin instantly went away. Shit, I look like hell. My shirt was wrinkled carelessly, and my hair looked more unruly than usual. I had bags under my eyes that made it seem like I hadn't slept in a week. I really needed to start caring about my appearance more, even if it was during the summer.

I spun around and started climbing the stairs quickly, hoping to get changed before Teddy arrived, when I heard the front door open with a bang. Only one person opened our door like that. I froze immediately.

"Already trying to run away from me, James?" I gulped, recognizing that handsome voice right away. I planted a smile on my face and turned around.

Teddy Lupin stood in the kitchen, arms crossed, leaning against the counter with way more grace than a 25-year-old bloke should ever possess. His hair was light brown, a bit longer than I was used to, and his eyes bright amber. It was his dad's look, and I knew for a fact that he only looked this way around his family. In public, he usually chose to wear his hair bright turquoise, and have bright green eyes, ones that mirrored my dad's. I allowed myself a quick glance at the rest of his ensemble before returning my eyes to his face. He wore a pair of dark black jeans and black converse, with a white button-up shirt underneath a black leather jacket. He'd owned that jacket forever, even when it was too big for him. It had used to belong to Sirius Black, one of my namesakes. When Sirius had died, it had been placed in Remus Lupin's possession, and, from there, passed down to his son. As I looked at him, I realized that Grandma Weasley hadn't been lying- it did look like Teddy had grown a metre. From where I was standing, he looked like he could've been six and a half feet tall.

All in all, Teddy Lupin looked way too amazing for his own good. After a second, I realized that I didn't have to fake a smile anymore. A second after that, I realized that I was still staring at him like an idiot.

"Teddy!" I exclaimed happily, moving from my position on the stairs to meet him. I didn't hold back at all, just embracing him tightly, like I was five years old, not nineteen. I worried for a second that I was acting like a girl, but then he hugged back just as tightly, and I wasn't so worried anymore.

I pulled back, grinning like crazy, glad to see that he was grinning back. "Merlin, why didn't you tell me you were back?" I asked, punching him on the shoulder lightly.

Teddy laughed, making his eyes light up. "I wanted to surprise you."

"Well it worked. Or it would have, if Gran hadn't let it slip a minute before you got here." I laughed, leaning against the counter. Teddy rolled his eyes.

"I knew it was a bad idea, letting that woman know." I opened my mouth to reply when someone entered the kitchen.

"I heard someone shout! Is everything okay?" Mum ran into the room frantically, looking around, when she spotted Teddy, and shouted herself. "Teddy!" She ran over and engulfed him in a hug. Even though she was ridiculously shorter than him, Teddy still looked a bit overwhelmed before laughing a pulling back.

Ginny pulled back and whacked him on the arm. "Teddy Remus Lupin, why didn't you warn me you were coming home?" Teddy laughed and rubbed his arm.

"You sound exactly like your son, you know that?" He asked, looking over at me and winking, which did not cause my breath to catch like a lovesick teenager, thank you very much.

Just then, the rest of the family burst in. There were loud exclamations of "TEDDY!", the loudest being Lily, who practically blasted everyone's eardrums when she jumped on him. After five minutes of chaos, we were ushered into the dining room, and my mom struggled to squeeze in another place setting for Teddy.

When we were all settled in (after several exclamations of "But I want to sit next to Teddy!"), the adults ran back into the kitchen to find the food. Teddy was seated at the head of the table, across from Dad. I sat to his right, and Lily to his left. Tonight, only Aunt Hermione's family was over, along with Grandma and Grandpa, so it wasn't nearly as crowded as it was with all the Weasleys over.

"So, Teddy," Mum said after we had all been served, "you have to tell us everything. How was it?"

"Oh, it was amazing." He said, taking a bite of the spaghetti. "I mean, I was working a lot of the time, but I still got to sight-see a bit."

"How did it go, then?" Dad cut in. "The work bit? I heard the Czech government gave you a bit of trouble."

Teddy sighed and nodded. "Yeah, we got kicked out of there by the second day. The wizarding population there is incredibly old-fashioned, and they are definitely not open to new ideas. Bulgaria was also pretty hard to get to, but I think we left it a fair bit better than it was."

Dad grinned at him. "How'd your lecture at Durmstrang go?"

Teddy smirked. "Well, the Professors weren't very pleased when they found out that the son of a werewolf was invited into their school. But I think the school visits went pretty good. I mean, they're a vital part of this whole rights campaign. If kids grow up thinking these prejudice thoughts about creatures, werewolves included, it's incredibly hard to change their minds. When you get to kids when they're still figuring everything out, you have a better chance at making a difference."

I watched Teddy with confusion. The way he talked about politics… it was almost scary how mature he seemed.

"I still can't believe you were in the Prophet!" Rose Weasley cut in happily. "That picture of you shaking the French Minster's hand was so hilarious! Hw looked like he was scared you were going to murder him!"

Teddy laughed. "Yes, well, at least we got them to consider the idea. I mean, werewolf marriage is still completely illegal there, which is strange, seeing as their prejudice there is very low. They were one of the first countries to allow muggle-borns into their school, and they're known for being one of the more modern wizarding societies across the world. They're all about moving forward, and yet they're still banning things like marriage rights? It's counterproductive."

Rose nodded eagerly and began to talk about the house-elf rights in Germany, and Teddy listened intently. Everyone seemed interested, except for Hugo, that is, who was more interested in his meal, and I swallowed. I'd never felt sillier in my whole life. Even Lily, who was four years younger than me, had some input in their conversation. Me? I didn't half the things they were saying. All this talk of statistics, and laws being passed, and the recent werewolf census….it went right over my head.

I glanced at Rose and Albus. They had just graduated from Hogwarts two months ago, and Rose already had an internship at the Ministry, and Albus was working on applications for the Daily Prophet. Lily had just finished her 5th year, acing every single one of her OWLS, except History of Magic, which, she claimed, didn't count. Teddy was practically famous by now, and then there's me. I still lived with my parents, and worked as a bartender at the Three Broomsticks. Mum and Dad knew I just hadn't caught my big break yet, and nobody in the family was disappointed in me, but now, surrounded by all the brilliant people, I felt smaller than ever.

Twenty minutes passed, and Teddy was now recounting his trip to Switzerland- something about illegal processes during full moons- and still I sat, twirling the spaghetti around on my fork, appetite long gone by now. He said something about the Prime Minister that made everyone laugh, except me. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Mum, may I be excused?" I blurted out hastily. All eyes turned to me, and I gulped. "It's just, I have plans." That was a lie. I hadn't spoken to any of my old school friends in over a year, and the only people I made plans with, other than my cousins, were coworkers, and they were all on vacation.

Mum set down her fork. "James, we have guests over." She said quietly, glancing around at the table. I could feel Teddy staring at me intently, but I didn't dare look at him.

"Last week you said it was okay." I said. Another lie. Mum glanced at Teddy.

"Well, Teddy just got back dear, maybe you should stay…" She faded off. I clenched my teeth.

"Fine. Well, I have to go owl my friends, because they're expecting me to come with them." I said, and without another word, I dropped my napkin on my chair and did my best not to storm from the room. As I walked up the stairs, I caught Teddy watching me from the corner of my eye, and I kept myself from meeting his gaze.