Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Imposition

Roxanne Weasley couldn't find it in herself to feel alarmed when she arrived home to find Teddy Lupin in her living room.
Really, it was an occurrence that happened far too often, and honestly, Roxanne didn't care much anymore.
They were close friends, and once, he decided to apparate over to her apartment for some comfort when Victoire Weasley, her cousin, broke up with him. On the same night, she had gone on a bad date. You know what they say, misery loves company. So they got out the fire whiskey, and got so wildly drunk that they had a tiny bit of a snogging session, and spent the next morning bent over the one toilet inhabiting the small bathroom.
After that, he began to visit more frequently, and though it got a little annoying sometimes, she usually didn't mind. Especially when there was some food in the bargain (which there usually was), because Teddy's cooking skills were pretty good.

"Teddy, what's for dinner?" she asked as she dropped her satchel onto the floor. She toed off her flats and joined Teddy at the kitchen bench, sliding onto a tall stool next to him. She could spy dirty pots and pans in the sink, and ingredients were spread out everywhere, and she frowned with annoyance. She couldn't stand clutter, and he knew that very well, but he couldn't help himself. It was like he thrived in the mess.

Teddy followed her gaze and crinkled his nose sheepishly. He nudged his plate to her, and smiled innocently. "Spaghetti?" he offered, changing the subject quickly.

Her frown deepened. "Lupin, don't try to bribe me. If you're going to impose, then please do it in a clean way. You know what I'm like. Tidy up after yourself, mate."

"I'm not imposing! I've just cooked you dinner! You could even call this romantic," he said, leaning over the bench to awkwardly slide open the drawer on the other side to get out a fork, stool tipping back precariously. He ended up getting tomato sauce that had spilled onto the bench onto his T-shirt, and gave Roxanne a nice look at the tanned skin of his back when said T-shirt slid up a little. She grinned (for an entirely different reason than what he thought), and took the proffered fork after he had sat back down, a proud smile on his face.

She twirled a piece of pasta around her fork, and asked how his day had been, trying to fill the silence. She had always hated silence. It wasn't very frequent, considering the huge family she had, and when there was silence, it felt stifling to her.

"Alright, but this little shit of a teenager tried to swipe a few of the love potions. You'd think that they would've learnt by now, but obviously they haven't gotten any smarter. That kid was quaking in his boots when George was through with him. I think that the DMLE is dealing with him now," Teddy said. "We weren't like that when we were younger, were we?"

"Nah, 'course not. We were better at stealing Dad's products. Weren't caught once. God, we had some good times."

Teddy murmured in agreement, before glancing down at the bowl of pasta which looked untouched. "Have you tried the pasta yet?" At his expectant look, Roxanne quickly shoved the forkful of spaghetti into her mouth, nodding quickly to show her appreciation. "Please, don't be afraid to sing my praises. I know it's delicious."

"Shut up, git," she replied after swallowing. "It's alright, I s'pose. Truthfully, it lacks flavour, and you overcooked the pasta, but it's better than I would usually expect from you." Her voice had a joking lilt to tell that she was just kidding around.

"Oh, hark who's talking," he laughed. "Didn't you poison Freddie with your soup, once?"

"Did not. It wasn't my fault that Dad labelled the pepper as salt. You know how much I love salt with my food."

"More like food with your salt," he said, and she snorted. "How ladylike." She made a face, shovelled some food into her mouth, chewed for a bit and then opened her mouth again, showing half-eaten bits of pasta and a lot of red sauce. At his look of disgust, she gave a triumphant grin.

"That's horrible. Don't do that."

"You started it," she said, mouth still full. His face scrunched up.

"I'm going to move away now."

"Nope, no you're not, not before you've tidied up," Roxanne said. "Put on some music and get cleaning. Seriously, my kitchen looks horrible right now. I want it fixed before I go to bed."

"Urgh, fine. Whaddya want? Celestina Warbeck?" he mocked. "The Beatles? I chose last time."

They took it in turns to choose the music, thinking that it was only fair, considering that it was Roxanne's home and Teddy made dinner most nights. Their tastes were pretty similar, so that made it easier. A particular favourite for the pair were The Weird Sisters, meaning that that was usually the pick.

"Are you kidding? Celestina Warbeck? Christ, Ted, how long have you known me, again?" she said, raising an eyebrow, a joking lilt to her voice.

"What, you don't want 'A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love'?"

"You've found my weakness," she deadpanned, poking him in the side, which made Teddy jump back to avoid another prod.

"Aww, I'm just teasing you, love," he said, barely containing a cheeky smile as he managed to put the bench in between them, as a shield. "Weird Sisters?"

"Of course," she replied. "I've gone a bit off The Lazy Hippogriffs. Ever since their lead singer went and got caught getting high last week, their music isn't holding the same appeal."

Teddy hummed his agreement, and flicked his wand in an unnecessarily showy display of magic, making the music player jump on with a tired sounding bang, as if exhausted by its owner's constant need for it to do its job.

"Oh, how I love vintage music," he sighed, as the opening chords to 'This Is the Night' began.

"When all is dark and there's no light
Lost in the deepest star of night
I see you," Myron Wagtail shouted out through the speakers to the fast tune of the song.

Roxanne and Teddy both sang along, though Roxanne's singing voice could've used a bit of work, occasionally breaking on the high notes and going way lower than the singer in some parts.

"Rox, has anyone told you that you've got a terrible voice?"

"Oi! My voice is as beautiful as a chorus of angels sneezing," she said huffily, flicking her wand at the dirty dishes piled up on the sink for them to start soaking in the half-filled sink of soapy water. "And it's not like you're perfect, Mr I-Sound-Like-A-Drowning-Cat-When-I-Hit-The-High-No tes."

He winked at her, pulling a funny face (which was always interesting, considering that he was fond of trying on the features of different animals to freak people out) to make her laugh while getting out a tea towel to dry the dishes. She giggled, and flicked a bit of water at him.

"Miss Weasley, behave yourself," Teddy said as he pursed his lips, mimicking Professor McGonagall's accent perfectly. The dear professor always said the same thing whenever Roxanne got that mischievous twinkle in her eye, which tended to signal trouble.

Roxanne gasped theatrically, and with a swipe of her hand, the tea towel was in her clutches. He barely had time to prepare himself before she swatted him with it, leaving a sharp sting in its wake.

"Bloody – My God, Weasley, you're really asking for it now," he said, rubbing his thigh. He quickly rifled through a drawer, finding a towel almost immediately, and rolled it up, before attempting to get a hit in. She squealed, and tried to block the hit with her own towel, but her efforts were futile, so the towel make impact with a loud thwack.

"Merlin's bloody arse, that hurt," she groaned, getting her own tea towel ready for offense. But as she pulled her arm back to build up power, the song changed to 'Magic Works', a special favourite of theirs with a slow, kinda romantic tune.

Teddy's grin was contagious. "Care to dance, Rox?" He offered his hand after flipping his towel onto his shoulder, and she took it, a slight blush gracing her face as she allowed him to twirl her around before drawing her into his arms. Neither of them were the best dancers, so they swayed together, and soon enough, Roxanne felt comfortable enough to rest her head on his chest. She listened to his heartbeat, feeling safe and warm in his arms, because he was like a human heater. He had always been like her personal blanket, as he had a tendency to sprawl along a couch and radiate his heat around, which never failed to leave her feeling drowsy. This wasn't any exception. She couldn't even count how many times he had rested his head on her lap while she read, or leant on her while she practiced wand-work.

"You smell nice," she mumbled, taking the smell of washing liquid and lime. Teddy's eyebrows rose, and he pulled her a bit tighter into his embrace, ignoring her rather conspicuous sniff.

"Thanks. You comfortable there?" His hair unconsciously paled to a soft pink at the compliment, while his cheeks remained pale. The sweet melody echoed around the small flat, almost too loud in the silence.

Roxanne gave a sleepy hum of agreement, stumbling over her own feet, and he chuckled a bit.

"You tired?"

She shook her head, and poked him half-heartedly when he pulled back and gave her a doubtful look.

"I'm not!" she said, a hint of a whine creeping into her voice.

Teddy rolled his eyes, and took her hand. "C'mon love, time for you to go to bed. You've got work tomorrow."

She let out a groan, but allowed him to drag her into the bedroom without too much difficulty. And if there were a few slips and gropes along the way… Well, who was to know? It wasn't her fault that Teddy Lupin had a nice arse.

Soon enough, he had her lying on the bed, all tucked in, but when he prepared to leave, she grabbed onto his wrist.

"Wait, wait," she said drowsily. "I've got a question, real quick. Sit." She pulled him onto the bed. "Why d'you keep coming back?"

"Because your kitchen's bigger than mine," he said, and though that wasn't the answer she wanted, she allowed him to joke.

"C'mon into bed and snuggle with me, Teddy. I'm cold." She pulled back her covers and moved over, patting the spot next to her.

"Rox, you're literally covered with about ten blankets. Get a grip, would you?"

"Shut it, you spoilsport, and get into the bed."

So he took off his shoes and crawled into her bed, letting her snuggle into his chest (not that he minded too much), before he flipped off the light, cringing only a little bit when she pushed her cold feet against his.

And the dishes remained unwashed.

I really enjoyed writing this one, though the end was a bitch to get out. I saw Catching Fire the other day, and it was totally amazing, so please, tell me what you thought if you've seen it! Hope you all enjoyed the story, and please, don't hesitate to leave your thoughts!

Love,

Silvs

Written for:

All-Sorts-Of-Love Competition – Mystery Box – Pairing: Teddy/Roxanne - Prompts: impose and 'misery loves company'.