for Aiiimy --- happy birthday!! (: This is my first attempt at LilyTeddy, and I don't usually read them, so I apologize if it's horrible. Italicized titles belong to Taylor Swift (i) and Making April (ii & iii).

princesses & dragon slayers

i. you'll be the prince and I'll be the princess

Lily's six and a princess, Teddy's seventeen and her prince. She lies on her bed, alternating between giggling and squealing with appropriate horror, as she watches Teddy dramatically fight with her stuffed dragon.

The door swings open, and Victoire steps in, and Lily immediately stops feeling like the princess. She watches in dislike as Victoire laughs (a clear, tinkling laugh as pretty as a bell; nothing like Lily's gulping belly laughs) at the scene before her. "What is going on in here?"

"Teddy's slaying a dragon for me," Lily informs her coolly.

Teddy grins sheepishly at Victoire and gestures at the dragon, lying defeated on the ground. "Turns out I have a talent as a dragon slayer."

Victoire laughs again. "That's adorable! Lily, you're a lucky girl to have a dragon slain for you. Teddy's never done that for me." She sticks out her perfect tongue at Teddy and he laughs, winking at Lily.

Lily smiles, satisfied. "Teddy slays dragons for me all the time."

Victoire smiles at Teddy. "It's so sweet. Well, I didn't mean to interrupt, Teddy, but a bunch of us were going to go sit by the bonfire."

Teddy glances at Lily. "I'll be out in a minute."

"Okay," Victoire says easily. "Bye, Lily."

As soon as she leaves, Lily glares at Teddy. "I don't like her."

Teddy gives her a look. "She's my girlfriend." He picks up the dragon and lays it by her feet. "But you'll always be my princess."

"Victoire looks more like a princess than I do," Lily says quietly, picking up the dragon and twisting it in her hands.

"That's stupid," Teddy says bluntly, ruffling her hair. "You're both beautiful. I can't believe you girls put up with a dud like me."

Lily grins up at him. His hair is a vibrant orange today, and it clashes beautifully with her hair, but at least the colors are on the same side of the color spectrum- unlike orange and white-blonde. "Victoire will probably dump you when she realizes it."

"Thanks Lil," Teddy sighs, making a face, and kisses the top of her head. "See you later, princess."

He bounds out of her room and Lily hugs the dragon to her chest. She wishes she really was a princess and Teddy really was her prince, and nobody else's.

ii. but don't you run too far away, I'm racing time for you

Lily's eleven and can't stop reading her letter from Hogwarts, Teddy's twenty-two and can't stop reading his own Hogwarts letter. They sit in Lily's tree house under the warm rays of the sun, and exchange grins from time to time.

"Do I have to call you Professor Lupin?" Lily asks suddenly, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah, you're actually going to have to show me respect," Teddy teases, grinning at her.

"You'll have to earn my respect, Professor," Lily says, smirking.

Teddy makes a face. "What if I can't?"

"Don't be a prat, Teddy, you're going to be an amazing professor," Lily says empathetically. "You taught me how to use a wand when I was eight, didn't you?"

Teddy winces. "Under duress. That's an example of my fine teaching skills that you will not share with anyone as it is highly inappropriate. Talk about the time I taught you about the history of vampires instead."

"Boring," Lily moans, and slides into the crook of his arm. She lays her head on his chest, thinking. "Teddy."

"Lily."

"Are you ever embarrassed to be friends with me?" The last part comes out a little squeaky, and Lily blushes into Teddy's chest.

"No," Teddy says immediately. "Why would you say that?"

"Because I'm only 11," Lily says miserably.

"People say age is just a number," Teddy says thoughtfully. "Dunno if that's true, but you don't act like a snotty little kid. You're my favorite person to talk to, Lily. You know I tell you everything."

Lily shakes her head.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Teddy says irritably. "I do. Look, I'll tell you a secret right now. Victoire likes that we're friends. She says it shows what a wonderful father I'll be in a few years."

Lily sits up and stares at him. "In a few years? You're having kids in a few years? With Victoire?"

Teddy shrugs. "It's not on my agenda, really. I don't know. But that was the first time Victoire ever mentioned a future together."

"You're going to marry Victoire?" Lily asks, disgusted.

Teddy shrugs again, but smiles. "Ask me again in a few years."

"I'd rather not," Lily snaps, and throws herself on the ground again. A minute ago, she was so happy to be eleven and going to Hogwarts, and now all she wants is to be older so Teddy will realize he's supposed to marry her, not stupid Victoire.

Teddy shakes her shoulder gently. "Come on. We got our letters today. Be happy. We're going to rule Hogwarts, me and you."

Lily smiles slightly. "Promise?"

Teddy tugs a strand of her hair. "Yeah."

iii. was I wrong to take this bound, 'cause I'm in love with what I found

Lily's seventeen and graduating from Hogwarts, Teddy's twenty-eight and can't take his eyes off her.

"Teddy," she squeals when she sees him. The emerald green of her robe makes her eyes stand out even more until Teddy sees them when he closes his eyes. "I can call you that now without feeling guilty because I am no longer a student here!"

"You never felt guilty," Teddy snorts, straightening her silver cap.

Lily laughs. "True. Did you get me a graduation present?"

Teddy slaps his forehead. "Oh. I knew there was something I forgot."

Lily rolls her eyes. "That might have fooled me when I was five, but now…" She plunges her hand into the pocket of his robes and Teddy closes his eyes. His heart is beating wildly, she is sososo close and ohMerlin, does she know what she's doing to him?

Lily removes her hand from his pocket, her face slightly flushed, and holds up a small box. "Is this for me?"

Teddy nods, not trusting his voice.

"It looks like a jewelry box," Lily says dubiously. "Did Victoire pick this out?"

"No," Teddy snaps. "Give me some credit."

"Sorry," Lily offers. She flashes him a quick smile and slowly opens the box. Instead of a necklace or anything else a normal girl would love, Teddy thinks wryly, two tickets sit in the box. Lily sucks in her breath. "Romania?"

"I'm sure Charlie could get you these tickets anytime you asked," Teddy says apologetically. "But I just…I don't know. You like dragons."

"I love dragons," Lily whispers, blinking rapidly. "Oh, Teddy, thank you!" She throws herself into his arms and Teddy inhales the sweet scent of her hair and never wants to let go. But she pulls away and grins at him. "Who's the second ticket for?"

"Whoever you want," Teddy says quickly. "But I kind of thought that maybe you'd want to go together…I mean, we don't have to, I'm just throwing that option out there." He stops, blushing, and wonders when it got to this point where he can't even speak to Lily without stammering and turning red.

Lily smiles, a little uncertainly. "I'd love that. If you don't slay them all, that is." She laughs, remembering, and then sobers. "But what about Victoire?"

"We broke up last night," Teddy says softly. "She wanted to know why I wouldn't ask her to marry me."

Lily closes her eyes. "And what did you say?"

"I told her that I didn't think we were the right people for each other," Teddy says carefully. "But that's not the real reason."

"What's the real reason?" Lily breathes.

"There's somebody else. Somebody I can't get out of my mind," Teddy says, his heart threatening to explode out of his chest.

Lily stares at him, her green eyes practically glowing. "Who?"

Teddy shakes his head. "It's wrong."

"Who?" Lily asks insistently.

"She doesn't like me back. She shouldn't like me back."

"Damn it, Teddy, tell me who it is," Lily growls.

"It's you, Lily, it's always been you," Teddy explodes.

Lily's eyes are saucers, Teddy could drown in them, and then she's kissing him, clinging to his shirt, whispering, "I love you, I've loved you since I was five, I love you, I love you, I love you."

And Teddy forgets about the age difference, forgets that he's a professor snogging a just-graduated student on the Hogwarts Quidditch field, forgets that Harry is probably assembling his Auror squad at that moment, forgets the million reasons why they shouldn't be together, and focuses on the one reason why they should: he is in love with Lily Luna Potter, and for some crazy reason, she loves him too.