A/N i recently got hooked on the Teddy/Lily pairing so this is what my half-exhausted brain popped. Out. I don't own anything. But i so wish i did.
She's one and you're eleven
Everyone was so bloody tired of that girl screaming. You had come over for dinner with Grams and didn't expect to be forced to listen to a screeching baby all night. Poor three year old Albus was put to bed already and five year old James was playing in the other room. You were sitting between your Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry and falling asleep at the table because you were tired and cranky but Grams wanted to stay and help Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny with the baby.
"But maybe if you walk around and carry her?" Grams suggested anxiously.
Harry eagerly took her suggestion but it didn't help. Baby Lily kept screaming and screaming and screaming. Aunt Ginny was fussing with a bottle and everyone was so tired and worried.
"Do you think she's sick?" Ginny said with a frown.
Grams shook her head, "I don't think so. Just overtired."
As the night dragged on and it seemed like Lily would never stop crying, Ginny burst into tears and ran from the room.
"I'm a hopeless mother, I can't even get my baby girl to stop crying!" She wailed. Harry chased after her and then it was just Grams, you and Lily in the room.
"Can you please hold her, Teddy? I'm going to get her another bottle." Grams said and handed him the squirming, shrieking bundle and you tried to be gentle but you had never held a baby before.
You glance down at the mass of blankets in your arms and she looks up. Immediately, she stops crying. She giggles a little and grins a toothless grin at your ketchup red hair and black as night eyes. Grams and Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny come out and stare in shock at the scrawny eleven year old boy who had made a severely unhappy baby suddenly cheerful. As her chubby baby fingers clutched your thumb gleefully, you kiss her head gently.
She's four and you're fourteen
"Hey, Miss Lily. What's wrong?" You ask as you drop into the grass beside her.
"No one will play with me." She pouted angrily.
"Really? No one? Not even Dom or Roxy?" You say, half-surprised. Even though Dominique was five years older and Roxanne was four years older, all three girls were very close.
"No!" She wailed. "Roxy isn't feeling good and Dom has to practice piano!"
"Well then I'll play with you!" You exclaim loudly.
You love the hope in her blue eyes, "Really Teddy-Bear?"
"Really Miss Lily." You said seriously. "Now what should we play?"
"Let's play pretend!" She shrieked excitedly.
"Alright I'll be the big dragon and I'm gonna get you!" You roar and she screams and you chase her around her grandparent's lawn as the afternoon sun shines on both of you.
You're flailing your arms in the air and roaring like a dragon and she's laughing her head off and screaming at the same time and you wonder if she lives for these moments because you know that you do.
Suddenly, she collapses on the ground. She's still and staring up at the blue, blue sky that's the same shade as her eyes and you lay beside her and feel her little hand take hold of your own.
"Teddy, I don't ever want to grow up." She says seriously.
"Why not, Lils?" You ask her quietly.
"Because then we won't play together anymore." She said so softly you can barely hear her.
Your heart breaks a little bit when she says that. She's too young to be having such thoughts.
"I'm always going to play with you. You're my favourite person in the whole wide world!" You tell her.
"Pinky swear?" She says cautiously.
"Pink swear." You say firmly and wrap your pinky finger around hers.
You hear the back door open and Victoire shout to you, "Hey Ted do you want to play Exploding Snap with me?"
You grin a crazy grin and say, "Sorry, I'm playing dragons with Lily!" and scoop Lily up in your arms and race around barefoot in the grass with her red hair tickling your face.
She's six and you're sixteen
"I'm proud of you, Teddy." Uncle Harry says to you as you stand outside his little house with Grams and Aunt Ginny smiling at you. You had just managed to get your muggle driving licence and Grams had given you a new car as a gift.
"Do you want to take the car for a spin?" Harry asks you and you see Lily's face light up because she remembers what you promised her the other day.
"Take me with you Teddy!" James shouts.
"No I wanna ride with Teddy in the car!" Al shouts back.
"No me!" James yells and the two brothers get into a play wrestle fight on the fright lawn.
"Sorry guys, but I already promised Lily that she could be the first one to ride in the car with me." You say with a smirk.
You hold the door open for Lily as she hops into the front seat. Her tiny face can barely see over the dashboard. She's squirming with excitement and you laugh as you get in beside her and the first thing she does is grab your hand and whisper, "Can we go fast, Teddy-Bear?"
Uncle Harry makes sure you're both buckled in before you zoom off down the road with the windows rolled down and your turquoise hair flying in your face. Lily is laughing with sheer joy and starts to fiddle with the radio.
"Whatcha doing, Lil?" You say to her.
"We need really loud music to make this even more fun!" And she cranks up a CD of the new band Dragon's Breath and sings along to all your favourite songs.
She's bouncing in her seat and waving out the window as you pass by Arthur Weasley in his front garden tending to his begonias. He waves back and shouts, "Nice car, Ted!"
"Thanks!" You shout as you pass.
Lily's blue eyes are shimmering with excitement and a wild grin lights up her face. You suddenly put the gas pedal to the floor just to hear her squeal of surprise and joy. The music is loud and pumping and Lily's red hair is flapping in the wind and you can't remember a time when you were happier.
She's nine and you're nineteen
She's miserable on the way home and you can't blame her. Both of her brothers were off to Hogwarts and you know how badly she wants to go. She scowls out the window of Uncle Harry's car and you remember how alone she will be in that house now that she has no siblings there with her. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny are talking quietly in the front of the car and you're sitting in the back with Lily. She sighs again and your heart thumps painfully. It reminds you that you're alone as well; Victoire's off to Hogwarts too. You pull into the Potter's driveway and get out.
"Do you want me to drive you home, Teddy?" Uncle Harry asks you.
You shake your head slowly, "Do you mind if I stick around here for a bit longer?"
The adults share a knowing look and then Harry says, "She just ran upstairs."
You swear that Harry Potter is a mind reader as you run up the Potter's creaky stairs to the door at the end of the hall. You can hear a radio playing softly, something gentle and sad and not at all the type of music you know Lily Potter is in to. She likes loud music with catchy lyrics and a slammin' guitar solo.
"Lils." You say quietly, knocking on her door.
"Go away!" She calls from inside and you can hear her sniffling.
"C'mon, Lily!" You shout through her door. "Open up!"
"No!"
"If you don't open up then I'm coming in!" You warn.
You hear a smash as if she has thrown a shoe against the door.
You try her door but it's locked and you bring out your wand and Alohamora that stupid door to find your best friend in the entire world sitting on her bed wrapped up in her pale pink blanket she's had since she was four. Tears are running down her face and her neat braid that Aunt Ginny had down was now loose and made her hair wild and wavy.
"Oh, Lily." You say softly and sit next to her and pull her onto your lap.
She clutches your collar presses her face into your chest but doesn't cry.
"I want to go to Hogwarts too." She whispers. "I want to be a grown up."
"Why would you want to be a grown up? Personally, I want to be a kid again." You say, trying to make her smile. It doesn't work.
"Nevermind." She mutters and slides off your lap over to the window and you can see her shoulders shaking and her knuckles turning white as she grips her desk chair as hard as she can and you don't understand why you feel that she knows more than you do.
"Lily... what's wrong?" You ask her slowly because you don't want to scare her off.
"Do you love Victoire?" She blurts out and you know somehow that this is a dreadfully important question but you're not sure why.
"I – well, I like her a lot and – why do you ask?" You stutter nervously.
Her eyes turn downcast and he lower lip quivers, "It doesn't matter."
"No, no it does! Tell me what's bothering you, Lily!" You beg because you hate seeing her so miserable, especially because you don't know why.
"Because... because Victoire is stupid and if I was older you'd love me and not her!" She cries and your heart stops for a second in shock.
"Oh! Lily... I-I do care about you, it's –it's just... Victoire..." You trail off. You have no idea what to say because you had no idea she felt that way about you.
"It's fine. Just go." She says miserably and holds her door open for you and you leave very confused and somehow feeling like you did a very, very bad thing.
She's thirteen and you're twenty-three
You come over to her house when you hear she gets back from Hogwarts for Christmas break. Her brothers are joking around and excitedly running around the house even though they are fifteen and seventeen and too old to act like ten year olds. But she's sitting by the fire alone. Uncle Harry is shouting at the boys to calm down and Aunt Ginny is there to greet you at the door.
"Something's wrong with Lily." She whispers after she's given you a quick hug. "Go fix her."
Because that's what you're good at. Fixing Lily when she's broken. But she fixes you too, so it's even.
"Hey, Lils." You say as you sit next to her on the loveseat. She hurriedly wipes her face, but you had already seen the tears.
"Oh hey Teddy!" She says, trying to be cheerful, but you can see her lower lip trembling. "What's up?"
"I should be asking you the same thing." You murmur. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"Oh, um, I-I-I... stubbed my toe..." She says quickly but she's always been a bad liar so you know it's something deeper.
"Tell me the truth, Lily." You say to her seriously and she takes a breath.
"I told Thomas Wood that I liked him but he told everyone and now everyone is laughing at me and I have no friends!" She blurted out tearfully.
You feel a sliver of hatred for that boy creep into her heart. How dare he do that to your Lily? Her lips are trembling and her blue eyes are filled with tears and her whole body is shaking and you want to help her and get her out of this house before anyone sees. You know that Harry and James would go on a rampage and Ginny and Albus would want to talk it out and you knew that Lily would just want quiet right now.
You grab her hand and run over to the fireplace.
"Diagon Alley, be back later!" Is all you say to a stunned Ginny before you toss the Floo powder into the fireplace and get sucked into the emerald green flames.
You're still clutching Lily's little hand and she's just staring at you in shock.
"Teddy." She says calmly, "What the bloody hell are we doing in Diagon Alley?"
"Hey, watch your language, missy!" You cry because you didn't know your sweet and innocent Lily use those kinds of words.
She waves that off and asks again what they were doing in Diagon Alley.
"You need cheering up. So I brought you to the one place where you can test try new brooms, eat ice cream 'til you explode and check out all the latest joke supplies!" You exclaim loudly.
Lily laughs and you proceed down the snowy street to Quality Quiditch Supplies where you tell the owner, Mr. Tatenham, that you were interested in buying a new broom. He shows you to the back of the store where you could try some brooms and see which one you like the best. You try every single broom in the shop and play around for an hour before Mr. Tatanham realized that you had no intention of buying a broom and kicks you out.
You invade Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and laughed a bit with Uncle George and Uncle Ron and they let you have a free sample of every new product after you whisper to them about Lily's humiliation. Afterwards, you buy her an ice cream even though she said it was crazy to eat ice cream in December.
"But crazy things are so much fun!" You say with a wink and she laughs and you know that she has completely forgotten about Thomas Wood.
She's sixteen and you're twenty-six
You're standing at the platform, waiting for the train to come and waiting for her to step off of it and into your arms. You've missed her like crazy and you're standing beside her father, mother, brothers and cousins to see her again. In the distance, you can see the steam from the train coming and you eagerly get up from the bench you were sitting on with Aunt Ginny and rush to the edge of the platform.
Hugo gets off the train first. He's half turned around, talking and laughing with someone behind him. Then you see her. She's already in her muggle clothes – skinny jeans, a dark blue tank top and black flip flops – and tying her long red hair up in a ponytail. She looks older, somehow, and maybe a bit thinner. Your jaw hits the floor. When did she get so mature looking? When did she get so old? You can't seem to catch your breath and your heart is jumping up and down in your chest.
"Teddy!" She cries when she sees you and hugs you tight and she's laughing and kissing your cheek and chattering about her fifth year at Hogwarts but you still can't breathe properly.
"Teddy? Teddy, are you okay?" She said, furrowing her brow and biting her lip in concern and confusion.
You realize that you haven't answered any of her questions, just stared at her for the past twenty minutes.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine." You say quickly, too quickly. For a second you see her falter, but then after a hesitation, her grin is back in place and she's joking around with Hugo and Rose is reprimanding both of them for the racket their making in the train station and James is telling Rose to loosen up a bit and everyone is being so loud, they don't notice you're silent.
The car ride back is awkward, at least for you it is. Uncle Harry is asking about her OWLs and Aunt Ginny is asking her if she has seen any cute boys and your heart is beating madly until you can't take it anymore. They all get out at the Potter house.
"Teddy, you staying for dinner?" Ginny calls to him, but she already knows what the answer is. Uncle Ron and Aunt 'Mione and Hugo and Rose are here and the boys and Rose run off somewhere. Harry, Ron , Ginny and Hermione are laughing and going into the little house. You see Lily walk away, towards the back of the house; she turns around and beckons you with her eyes. You can't help but follow.
She drops to the ground and starts to pick the wild flowers that grow on Uncle Harry's property. You can tell she's making a crown.
"So how've you been, Teddy-Bear?" She asks teasingly, her red lips tugging upwards at the corners in a smile.
"Oh – fine." Her bright eyes distract you.
"Uh-huh." She says, her eyes twinkling even more and she throws her head back and laughs and you drink in the sound because it sounds like nothing you've ever heard before.
"Here." She says, placing the flower crown she made on your head and the other one on her own. "You look great!"
Your hair flashes the colour of her eyes – sky blue – and your normally hazel eyes go bright, vivid purple. Sometimes your eyes could act as a mood ring. You refuse to think about what purple means.
"You look so beautiful!" You exclaim loudly, much to her delight. "Just one more thing..."
And you pull her elastic band from her hair so it falls down her back like a fiery waterfall. Her hair is down to her hips and in the simple tank top and flower crown, she looks like a fairy. Especially in the sunset.
"Lily..." You say because you're not sure what else to say. You lean in closer to her and she's leaning towards you and you can feel her breath on your cheek and you almost think she's going to kiss you... When Rose interrupts.
"Guys! Dinner's ready!" She calls out to the pair sprawled across the grassy hill. Lily sits up so suddenly, her crown falls from her red hair and Rose gives you a look that makes you blush.
Lily is already headed towards the house when she turns back and says, "Come on, Teddy!"
She laughs and starts to run towards the house, her long red hair sparkling in the evening sunlight and your head gets woozy and your hearts drops to your toes and that's when you knew you loved her with your whole heart.
She's eighteen and you're twenty-eight
"I think I'm pregnant." She says as she steps out of your fireplace into your flat and for a second you don't take in what she said, only that she's here and she's Lily.
"W-what?" You choke out.
She's standing in front of you in ratty old flip flops, cut off jean shorts and an old Weird Sisters band t-shirt.
"I said, I think I might be pregnant." She fingers her loose red hair that looks a little messy, as if she hadn't brushed it that morning. She isn't wearing makeup but her eyes are a little glassy as if she hasn't been sleeping well.
"H-how?" You are obviously only capable of one word sentences at the moment.
She takes a deep breath and you see for the first time, how much strength it is taking her to hold her tears in.
"It was the last night before we went home on the train and a couple of kids suggested celebrating graduating by going down by the lake and having a couple bottles of Firewhiskey." She took another shuddering breath and blurted out quickly, "Greg Finnigan... was being so kind... and then – and then..."
But she didn't have to say anymore, because you could guess the rest. You pull her against you and feel her clutch onto your shirt and press her face into your chest. You pick her up and carry her over to your second-hand couch and you hold her so tight. She finally breaks down and sobs and sobs and sobs and you can't do anything but rub her back and whisper, "It'll be okay. You'll be okay." Over and over.
Hours later, she's cried herself dry and is just curled up in your lap because she's always been too short and skinny and can still fit there. Her head is leaning against your shoulder and you kiss her forehead gently. She closes her eyes at the contact.
"Have you taken a... pregnancy test?" You grimace at the word 'pregnancy'.
"No... not yet. Can you come with me to get it?" She asks, looking up at you with her big blue puppy dog eyes, tears still swimming in them.
You nod and she goes to wash her face and you stare at yourself in the mirror in the hall, wondering when you got in so deep that you were madly in love with a girl ten years younger than you. She nods to tell you that she's ready to go.
They go to a muggle drug store because everyone in the wizarding world would recognize them, and how bad would it look to see Teddy Lupin, the son of the brave Aurors and pretty little Lily Potter out buying a pregnancy test together?
They pay for the stupid thing then Apparate back to Teddy's flat. She's in the bathroom for a while and you don't do anything but stare at the wall.
"I have to wait five minutes while it processes things." She says quietly, coming out of the bathroom.
"Oh." Is all you can say.
"I'm scared, Teddy-Bear." She admits and curls up beside you on the couch.
"I'll always be here for you." You promise.
"What am I going to do?" She wails. "I just graduated a month and a half ago! I'm starting my new job in three weeks! My dad will kill me! Oh Teddy, Teddy!"
You hug her so tight that you can feel her heartbeat. She holds onto you for dear life like she's drowning and you're a life raft. You check your watch.
"Times up." You say and she clambers off your lap and into the bathroom and you follow to see her sitting cross-legged on the tile floor holding the pregnancy test with the air of someone who almost stepped in front of a car by accident but was pulled back just in time.
"It's negative." She breathes and you sigh with relief.
She stays over that night. She falls asleep on the couch beside you as a muggle movie is playing on the TV you got from Arthur Weasley when you bought your own place. Her hair is tickling your chin and her breath is hot against your neck. You love every second of it.
She's twenty and you're thirty
"I now pronounce you man and wife." The priest said at the wedding of Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy. They kissed and everyone sighs and wipes a stray tear from their face. Except for Ron and Draco. They look like they could kill someone.
You see Lily standing at the front of the old church beside Rose as the maid of honour. Her long hair is twisted up in an artsy bun and her dress is the exact shade of the summer sky. The new couple walk back down the aisle together and everyone tosses confetti and shouts congratulations and Lily is walking right behind them with Albus, the best man, and winks at you as she passes.
There is a reception hall a few blocks away from the church and the wedding party piles into a unicorn-drawn carriage (with a Muggle-Only-Disillusiment Charm on it) and heads towards it. You Apparate and wave at Lily as she's sitting beside Rose and giggling a little, a glass of elderflower wine in her hand. The food is magnificent and then it's time for the happy couple to have their first dance. Roses, with enchantments on them to make them glow, light up the room and make a cozy glow around everything.
"Wanna dance with me?" Lily asks you with a smile.
You nod and grab her hand and take her onto the dance floor. She fits perfectly in your arms and she's humming along to the song that's playing and you guiltily catch Victoire's eye. She never fully forgave you for breaking up with her when you were twenty-seven and she was twenty-five.
A slower song comes on and Lily makes no move to move away from you so you keep swaying to beat and pretending that you aren't in love with her. You look down at her in wonder and you can pretend if you want to but, you know that you love her. She looks back at you and then before you know it, her lips are inching towards your own and your screaming inside with joy and fear.
But then she rips away from you, and runs from the room. You stare after her in confusion until Dominique sidles up to you and whispers, "I saw what happened. But don't worry, no one else did. But if you do not get out there right now and talk with her, Teddy Lupin, then you will be in big trouble!" She warns over-dramatically as usual.
He hurries out the door and down a side hallway in the half-darkness until her sees her with her knees drawn up to her chest and her red hair loose and wavy and thick tears rolling down her face.
"Oh, Lily, Lily, Lily..." You murmur and pull her close, but surprisingly, she pushes away.
"No." She says firmly. "Don't do this."
"Do what?" You ask in confusion because you just want to help.
"Don't pretend." She says.
"Pretend what?" Your confusion getting stronger.
"Pretend that you want me!" She explodes. "Don't pretend that you love me or like me or whatever because you don't! Don't hold me and kiss my cheeks but never my lips and don't listen to me and cheer me up and make me laugh! Don't make me love you!"
"Lily..." You say in shock. But she's too far gone.
"I've been in love with you almost my whole life, Teddy, and I've come to ignore those feelings but then you slow dance with me and almost kiss me and I can't take it anymore because I know that you will never feel the same way because you're so much older and even if you don't have Victoire, why would you want someone like me?" She shouts quickly with tears still running down her face and her blue eyes flashing.
You can't find a way to get her to stop talking so you just act on impulse and do the thing you most want to do. You yank her by her waist and smash your lips against hers and kiss her furiously. She grabs at your shoulders kisses you just as angrily. You can feel her tears on your face and her heartbeat against your chest. You run your hands down the length of her spine and feel her shiver but then she kisses your collarbone and makes you moan.
By the time you return to the wedding party, her hair is back in order and your jacket is back on. Rose, Dom and Albus are giving you looks like they knew exactly where you both disappeared off to.
She's twenty-one and you're thirty-one
"We're going to tell him today." Lily says firmly.
"How about tomorrow?" You say with a grimace.
"God, Ted, I know you were a Hufflepuff but can you please buck up enough courage to tell my father we're dating?" She exclaims.
"He's gonna kill me, Lil. How can you date a dead man?"
"No, we're doing this today. When we go for dinner. It's best just to get the whole family out of the way at once so we don't have to keep repeating it." She says.
"Wait – your father and your brothers will be there? Not a chance!"
"Teddy please!" She begged, "I love you and I want to be with you but I don't want to have to lie to my family anymore! It was okay when we were just casual but you were talking about moving in together, and I just can't without the blessing of my parents!" She cried.
"You should've been in Gryffindor instead of Hufflepuff, Lil." You grumble as you grab your travelling cloak. "You have the guts for it."
She smiles and grabs your hand and drags you into the fireplace with floo powder in her hand. You arrive at her parent house and you immediately drop her hand. No one questions why you arrived together. After a round of greetings and hugs, Uncle Harry invites everyone to sit down.
James is there with his girlfriend, Jenna MacMillan and Albus is standing with his mother.
"I have something to say first." Lily says. Everyone stops to stare at her. "Teddy and I are... going out."
A moment of silence then utter chaos.
"YOU'RE WHAT?" Harry screams and turns a nasty shade of burgundy.
"Teddy, you're ten years older than her!" Ginny says furiously.
James rises, wand in hand and Jenna gasps. James shouts, "Teddy, we trusted you and you prey on our sister?"
"No, no it wasn't like that!" You try to plead with the angry family.
A loud band goes off and all of a sudden, your toenails are shooting threw your shoes. You, in a very manly way, scream in pain and Lily becomes angry.
"I can't believe you!" She screams in rage. "I love him and you do to, so cut it out! I've loved Teddy since I was a little girl and now we're finally together! Can't you just be happy for me?"
Finally her mother says, "I'm sorry, baby. We were just surprised, that's all. I really am... happy for you."
Lily runs to embrace her mother and you watch as her father stomps up the stairs and slams his bedroom door.
"He'll come around!" Lily says cheerfully.
"Well, come to the table, the food's getting cold." Ginny says to you and Lily.
You sit next to Albus who is the calmest about your relationship, even saying at one point, "I've known all along." James isn't quite so accepting yet.
Lily holds your hand and you drape your arm around your shoulders and no one even blinks at this new turn of events and you feel an overwhelming sense of love for these people.
She's twenty-three and you're thirty-three
"Come on, baby, you can do it!" You shout to her as she's lying in a hospital bed, screaming at the top of her voice.
"DON'T TALK TO ME! YOU DID THIS TO ME!" Lily screams and the Healer is right there by her bottom and you're holding her hand, but she's squeezing it so tight, you've lost feeling a long time ago.
After another ear-piercing scream, the Healer holds up the squirming, crying mess that is your new baby son. Your heart jumps into your throat and Lily is finally silent. The Healer washes him and wraps him in a pale blue blanket and hands him to Lily. You can't speak, can't even breathe because that thing that your wife is holding is so wonderful, you've never seen anything like it. You sit next to her on a chair and the Healer leaves the room for a minute to give you some alone time with your new baby.
"Let's call him Henry." Lily says fondly. "Henry Theodore Lupin."
"I like it, it's simple but strong." You say then laugh when Henry's fuzzy light brown hair suddenly turns jet black.
Lily kisses his head and takes your hand. You slide onto the bed next to her and even though there's barely any room, she snuggles into you and Henry looks up at you with bright blue eyes and all you can feel is love.
A/N so the last one is kinda short but i felt like it didn't need anything else. Please please review and tell me what you think! im new to this pairing so i need all the help i can get!