A/N: Hello!

These are short little Teddy-centric drabbles about what family is really about. Blood is thicker than water, true, but family is much more than blood. And Teddy really is a member of the Potter-Weasley clan, whether he likes it or not!

Hope you enjoy!

23rd May 2021 – The Fail-Safe

"Ted?"

Halfway through reading the report that Ron had sent out to everyone at the Auror department, Teddy glanced up. He had been expecting to see Al standing in the doorway to what was his designated 'room' at Grimmauld Place, but instead, he found James.

It might've been his imagination, but the sixteen year old looked more than a little sheepish.

Teddy rolled up the parchment and set it on the bedspread beside him. "What's up, Jamie?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

"I mean another one."

"Course you can. Come and sit down, if you want." James dithered in the doorway for a moment before deciding to take him up on that offer. Teddy waited until he had firmly plonked himself on the end of his bed before asking, "So, what's the question?"

"It's kind of embarrassing."

Now, Teddy was definitely intrigued. "Okay. I promise I won't judge."

"Or tell? Or laugh?" James warned.

"Or tell, or laugh."

"Okay, well…" James blew out a breath, and then said in one mega-fast splurge, "IwanttoaskoutAlicebutIthinkshe'llsaynobecauseshethinksI'manidiot."

Teddy blinked. "I didn't catch a word of that."

James's cheeks, already fairly pink, turned magenta. "I-I said that I want to… ask Alice out."

"Neville's Alice?" Teddy checked. James nodded, looking mortified. "Well, why don't you?"

"Because she thinks I'm an idiot," James shrugged. "And she'll say no."

"You don't know that for sure," Teddy reasoned. He'd often thought the same thing about Victoire, back in the day, but that had all turned out for the best. He thought of the way her face had lit up when he asked her to move in with him two years ago. Then, without meaning to, his mind wandered to the ring in the box in the back of his sock drawer. He wondered how her face would change if he ever got up the courage to actually give her it.

"She called me an arrogant prat the other day."

"So?" Teddy smirked. "Vicky says that to me on a weekly basis. Doesn't mean she doesn't fancy you."

"Oh," James muttered, eyes fixed firmly on the square of bedspread in front of him. "But how can I ask her? I'm not good at this sort of thing, and if I screw it up, Neville would kill me."

"Jamie…" Teddy lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I think that it's high time I introduced you to the book."

He wrinkled his nose. "A book?"

"Not a book. The book. It's pure gold." Teddy twisted on the bed, pulling out the little drawer underneath his bedside table and fishing around until his hand closed around a thin leather volume. He pulled it out and handed it to James with a flourish.

James squinted at the title doubtfully. "Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches?" He turned it over in his hands. "How is this supposed to help me?"

"It'll let you know how to go about asking her. Trust me. How do you think I got Vicky? Or Ron got Hermione? Or George got Angie? It wasn't luck, you know."

"Oh…" James breathed. There was a slight reverence in his eyes when he looked down at the book this time. "Oh, okay. So, I read this, and then what?"

"And then you ask her out. And she says yes."

James stared down at the book for a few long moments before he met Teddy's gaze again. "You won't tell anyone?"

"I promised, didn't I?"

He smiled. It was shaky at first, but Teddy returned it in earnest and it grew stronger. "Thanks, Ted. You're… well, you're a good brother."

And even though Teddy knew that he wasn't really a Potter, it didn't seem to matter at that moment in time. Because his little brother had come to ask for his advice about girls, and that was a milestone that he couldn't help but treasure.