A/N: So this was supposed to be written for the 'One Character Only' Challenge but I didn't make deadline so I just switched it up a bit and changed it into Teddy/Lily instead because I absolutely love that pairing so. Enjoy.
chasing dragons
The fourth time Lorcan breaks up with her in a span of two weeks, Lily Luna decides she's had enough. She packs everything she can into a small bag, leaving quietly through the front door in the middle of the night, nothing but a letter addressed to her parents left in the middle of her bed, asking them explicitly not to go looking for her, she's alright, promise.
It's not dramatic, by any means.
Romania is mostly Al's idea.
"Man, I remember dating was tough back in my day," he says in between bites of dry Potter Puffs after Lily had Floo'ed into his and Scorpius' flat in London at three in the morning and announced that Lorcan Scamander was a massive twat. "But that's just brutal."
He snorts, throwing back another handful of cereal; she doesn't know who she wants to punch more: Albus or the stupid, totally unrealistic cartoon figure of her dad staring at her from the box.
"I remember I used to envy Teddy; bloody bastard doesn't know how good he's had it. Just him and his dragons in Romania."
And well, she loves Teddy and she's always wanted to visit Romania. It's like a done deal, right?
Teddy is already there when she lands, casually leaning against his door as if he's been waiting for her and she supposes he has; leave it to Albus and his big, fat mouth to ruin her totally brash and impulsive impromptu visit.
He grins when he sees her and there are two steaming mugs in his hand and he presses one into Lily's hand, giving his eyebrows a little wiggle.
"You've made the right decision, Little Red," he says and anyone else calling her that nickname would have already ended on the floor before the words had left their mouth but it's Teddy and he's always been her favourite, so Lily lets it slide. "Charlie always had it right. Dragons are so much better than people."
She has to fight really hard not to roll her eyes.
"It's okay, I've got you alright? I know she may seem scary, with her angry face and wild hair but I've got you, love, there's nothing to be afraid of."
"Teddy, I'm standing right here."
"Shh, Lily, this is between me and Norberta."
She ends up back at Teddy's, sweaty and tired with a glass of Dragonfyre in her hands and there's an ache in her bones but she's never felt more alive.
"So, how'd you like your first day?" Teddy asks as he tops off her glass.
She's liked it more than she thought, more than she'd care to admit; she's not about to let Teddy know that.
She just grunts as she throws back her glass in one go. Teddy grins like he understands.
She spends long hours working beside Teddy, and it's nice, it's more than nice.
Dragons are magnificent creatures, terrifyingly beautiful, and surprisingly gentle, once you're able to get past the fangs and the claws and the fire-breathing. She can see why people would think of them as dangerous, aggressive, by the way the younger ones will stand defensive sometimes, ready to pounce if anyone gets too close and she can't really blame them for that, not when she knows the history, knows they've been conditioned to see humans as a threat.
She understands now why Uncle Charlie had left his family and life in England for Romania's open skies and endless rolling hills, why Teddy had followed in his footsteps after things with Victoire had gone sour.
She tells Teddy this once and she'll blame the baby dragon in the palm of her hand for it, for making her emotional.
Teddy just grins at her, gives her a thoughtful look that makes her blush, makes something inside her stir as she stares away.
"All I ever wanted was to be normal," Lily muses, glass of red wine in her hand; it's been another long, hard day in a series of long, hard days and Teddy had brought out the wine, as a celebration for her two months of working at the reserve.
It's the same fine wine Percy always sends everyone around Christmas and it's expensive enough that it gets stored away for a special occasion. Today was such an occasion, Teddy had announced as he took out a bottle and gave her a wink; she blames him for this, for her mouth running freely without her consent.
"All my life I've had people watching my every move, y'know? I've always been Lily Potter, daughter of the wizarding world's saviour. I just wanted normal. The husband, the children, the white picket fence. That's normal, right?"
Teddy snorts derisively as he reaches for the bottle of wine at the same time she does; he pulls a little too hard and she topples over into his lap and he ends up with an armful of Lily instead. He just shrugs and takes it in stride like he does everything else; Lily tries very hard not to breathe and forces herself to think about something other than the way she can feel Teddy's muscles clenching beneath her every time he breathes, moves.
"Normal is overrated; you were always too good for Salamander anyway." Teddy grins at his own little joke and Lily manages a feeble smile in return; she can see the specks of gold in Teddy's warm brown eyes from this close up and that's the only thing she can manage to concentrate on. "Besides, you never really wanted any of those things. Just thought you did."
"How do you know?" she asks, murmurs and she can see the way Teddy's eyelashes flutter as her breath ghosts over his face.
"Because me and you, we're so much alike," he says and gives her a little smirk and even from this angle she can tell it's a little sad. "And I never wanted any of those things."
She doesn't know who makes the first move but suddenly he's kissing her-later, she'll blame him for it and he'll just grin and kiss her again-and he tastes bitter, like the wine. But the way he holds her, the way she can feel him harden from where she's pressed against him, that's sweet and she drinks him in, can feel him burn down her throat; she welcomes the feeling.
She kisses him because it's the only thing that makes sense, because he's like a breath of fresh air after feeling like drowning for so long. She kisses him because this is what they've been building up for, because now she can see no other outcome had been possible the moment she had landed on his doorstep and he had given her a crooked grin, turquoise hair a little mussed from the wind. She kisses him because he's right, they are so much alike that it should be wrong even though it feels so right.
She kisses him because it's easier than admitting out loud that she knows he's lying about the other thing.
After, they end up sprawled out on his living room floor.
Conversation flows easily between them because that's the way it's always been with Teddy. He never pushes, never presses her because to him she's just Lily Luna, the girl with the wild hair who likes to dance barefoot and maybe likes to recite poetry to the dragons sometimes or maybe she doesn't (she'll never admit).
Instead he talks about his dragons, the universe, and everything in between, fills in the gaps easily.
She doesn't say anything, just listens to him talk, to the sound of his heartbeat under her ear as she lays against his chest, the rise and fall of his breathing lulling her to a sense of comfort.
"How's Romania?"
Her father's face in the fire and it's the first time in months that she talks to him, talks to anyone in her family in anything that isn't the occasional owl.
This new thing with Teddy, it's tentative and new and maybe the tiniest bit fragile, and they're taking it slow, taking it carefully as they go. But she's happy, the happiest she can remember ever being and she maybe wants to thank Al and his big mouth and she maybe wants to tell everyone she knows that she's in love with a boy with turquoise hair and scars in his arms.
She doesn't because she knows that's not what her father is asking anyway, knows he's not ready-even though she also knows he'd never judge her or turn her away-so she just gives him an answer that's closest to the truth.
"It's going great. I think I'm falling in love."
Dad grins like he understands and she knows he thinks she's talking about Romania and the dragons and he's not that far from the truth.
"I'm glad everything's working out for you, princess," he says and Lily grins and lets him believe.
This thing between her and Teddy is still fragile and she knows that nothing is certain and there are still talks to be had and fights to be had because he's still Teddy, loyal to a fault and insecure about his age and she's still Lily, impulsive and brash and a little selfish.
But it's okay, she thinks, they'll be okay and they'll find a way to work it out because at the end of the day, Teddy is the only one she sees herself coming home to every day, the only one she can see herself growing old with and when he looks at her, she knows he feels the same way.
So they'll keep things just between the two of them as they work it out and for now, that's enough.