AN: All recognisable characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
...(1)...
Twelve-year-old Lily Luna Potter looked up from her homework. An angry voice was coming up the stairs. Not wanting to lower the volume of the music she was listening to and convey her eavesdropping intentions, she tiptoed to the door and pressed an ear against the wood.
"What do you mean you're not coming home for Christmas?" the irritated voice of Teddy Lupin asked. "You said you would, Victoire!"
Lily closed her eyes. So he was talking to her.
"No, I don't think you understand," he argued. "I haven't seen you since you left for France, so you can't bloody well blame me for wanting to see you!"
He stopped right outside Lily's room, and she heard him sigh loudly. Not wanting to be caught, she hurriedly returned to her homework. Just as she picked up the quill, she heard a knock on her door. Heart hammering, she yelled out, "Yeah?"
The door opened, and Teddy walked in. His hair was jet-black today; it reminded Lily of her father. His brown eyes were masked, but she could see sadness flickering in its depths. Her heart skipped a beat.
Teddy was the best friend she'd ever had. He never spoke to her harshly, never said anything against her, never raised his voice at her. He was the one who protected her from the pranks of her oldest brother, and saved her from her often lecturing older brother. He helped her with everything. He was the one she ran crying to.
Teddy Lupin had her twelve-year-old heart.
There were two tiny problems: One, he had Victoire, and two, he was nineteen.
...(2)...
He headed straight for her CD player, and lowered the volume. He sat next to her on her bed.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that listening to music lowers your concentration?" he asked, half-joking.
Lily shook her head, and offered him a small smile. He returned it. He hummed a little of the Nickelback song playing. Lily smirked a little. It was something they had in common, and something that was different between him and Victoire: music. He liked rock, Victoire liked pop.
He was singing the chorus as he pulled Lily's homework towards him. "What homework are you doing?" His mouth turned when he saw the cover of the textbook. "Charms? Possibly my worst subject."
Lily laughed. "The music is there so that I don't get bored of doing homework."
Teddy rolled his eyes, but pointed his wand at the player anyway. "That's my Lily—always thinking backwards."
She frowned jokingly at him, and stole her book back, trying her best not to blush at my Lily. Daughtry's Life After You filled the room. Lily peered at Teddy under her lashes, then decided to breach a particular subject while pretending to be focused on her Charms.
"So what happened?" she asked nonchalantly, writing the wand movement for Wingardium Leviosa. "I heard you sounding pretty angry."
In her peripheral vision, she saw Teddy close his eyes. He let out a small breath.
"Victoire didn't want to come home for Christmas," he replied, still not opening his eyes. "She got... upset. She said she needed to stay at Yvellines, but..."
Lily dotted an 'i' a little too hard as she prompted, "But..."
"She's coming home and blaming me for failing her course," he finished.
The quill dug into the parchment. He sighed, and opened his eyes, not looking at her.
"I don't think she understands," he ranted fervently. "Me being who I am... I don't think she understands why I don't even want to out to somewhere like Diagon Alley. It makes me feel like a parasite, the way people look at me."
Lily furrowed her eyebrows. "But I thought people got over your... furry little problem?"
He laughed loudly at that, and Lily basked her in her ability to make him laugh even in a serious discussion like that.
"Oh, I know," he said, half-joking, half-bitter. "I'm Harry Potter's godson, I'm a hero's son, I'm an Auror's son." He sneered at himself. "But I can see in people's eyes that disgust that I'm... I'm a freak."
Lily threw her quill down in shock. "You're not a freak, Teddy Lupin. Never ever tell yourself that. Never ever believe them. Do you hear me?"
Teddy smiled at her. She seemed to be the only one besides his godparents who welcomed him whole-heartedly, not caring about him being part werewolf. Amongst his few friends, Lily was the only one who fully understood him, despite her being seven years younger than him.
She was the only one Teddy trusted fully.
...(3)...
Lily scowled, pulling her scarf tighter around her as she trudged up the path towards the Burrow. No, if she was being honest, she didn't want to be here. Not even one mile of this place.
Not because of its cluttered state, or the boisterous family waiting inside it. It was because of one particular sullen half-Veela.
She sighed a little as she rid her boots of snow. The only reason she hadn't wanted to Floo was that she didn't want to look sooty when she arrived, and she'd always had a negative response to Apparition. It was a bit far to walk, so she'd asked her father for a Portkey.
What she conveniently forgot was that the Portkey literally dropped her in front of the Burrow.
She knocked twice briefly, before opening the door, not waiting for an answer. A complete cacophony of voices reached her, and she winced a little.
When she entered the living room, she was greeted with a very loud, "Merry Christmas!" She tried to smile back, but her mood had dampened when she saw one particular cousin.
Victoire was wearing her Yvellines powder blue uniform, but had shortened her skirt considerably. Accentuating her long legs were powder blue heels.
Lily looked down at her Green Day t-shirt and black sneakers, feeling like a slab of concrete beside her marble cousin.
"Lily!" Victoire called out joyously, spying her cousin. "It is wonderful to see you again, little cousin. Here, I brought you a chocolate bunny, made by the wizarding chocolatiers of France!"
The blonde presented the redhead with a live chocolate bunny, before giving her a small kiss on the cheek, and moving on to Ron and Hermione who had just come in.
Now Lily felt more horrible. There she was, being petty and jealous of her cousin, who loved her like a little sister. She and Victoire used to play games when they were younger. Even when she was eight and Victoire fifteen, and they had different ideas of fun, Victoire would always play with her.
It was only when Teddy moved into Lily's house, while Victoire was in her last year of Hogwarts and Lily was spending her last year before going off to Hogwarts herself, that Lily began to distance herself from Victoire. She'd found someone else who became her new best friend.
...(4)...
"Teddy!" she called. She ran towards the hunched figure walking away from the house. "Teddy, what happened?"
Teddy had arrived after Ron and Hermione, had taken one look at his girlfriend, before hauling her outside. Lily had waited anxiously, and Victoire had come in ten minutes later, her eyes pinkish and her lips down in a frown. Lily had heard her excuse herself from the rest of Christmas celebrations on account of studies, and had walked out of the house with a Portkey after hugging Lily goodbye.
Teddy hadn't returned, and Lily had opened the door to find him walking away.
He didn't answer her question, and she knew by the hunch of his shoulders that he didn't want to talk. They walked side-by-side in the snow, not saying a word.
They passed by a snow-covered park, and Teddy led the way to a bench. Lily followed. She waited out his silence, knowing he'd want to talk about it soon enough.
She knew him.
...(5)...
A little flick of snow landed on the side of her face, and she looked up. Teddy had another handful of snow sitting on his palm. As she turned to him, he flicked the snow, and it landed on her nose.
Her mouth dropped open in mock anger as he laughed. Inside, though, she wasn't wholly shocked. She knew Teddy always tried to loosen up serious situations. His motto had always been: "Live life as though there's no tomorrow."
There was no space for sadness in his life, especially with the kind of life he had—he was sick of sadness. It burdened him and prevented him from living life to the fullest. He'd had enough of it.
So, again, Lily wasn't surprised when he said, "I'm fine, Lily. Really, I am."
It was so like Teddy to push his feelings aside. He was always fine, sunny. Occasional clouds were pushed away forcefully.
She marveled at his easy smile—lately, it had been replaced with a slightly more forced smile—before her eyes were obscured by snow, and Teddy was laughing again beside her.
...(6)...
After their little spate of manic snow-flicking, Lily tried again.
"What happened, Teddy?" she asked softly, "between you and Victoire."
He sighed, before flicking snow off his shoulders. "Well, I dunno, really. I guess I just got jealous... but I mean, come on! What she was wearing... and that was her uniform! And she lives in another country, and its not like Yvellines is a university for girls only!"
He bowed his head a little, continuing, "She said I wasn't being fair and she had a life there. It reminded me of my life here, how cold and drafty it was."
He sighed again. "I just... lost it, I guess. She said I was being narrow-minded, and I made her choose. France, or me. She gave me up. My life just became completely and utterly empty."
Lily couldn't stand seeing him in pain. Teddy had had more than his fair share of pain in his life—his parents dying in the war, being half-werewolf and all the marginalisation he had because of it, and now, left by the one person who was most important to him.
The little redhead scooted closer and embraced him fiercely. She didn't care if he saw it just as a friendly hug; to her, it was because she loved him, in more ways than one.
He chuckled a little as he wrapped his arms around her. "Actually, my life isn't completely empty. I have you, Lily."
...
Can't you see that I'm the one
Who understands you
Been here all along
So why can't you see
...
You belong with me~
...
.
.
.
AN:
Written for Persephone Flower's Taylor Swift Challenge, and xXKissingSinXx's birthday (late, late, I know, but she's the Slytherin deputy, and I just had to write it for her).
HAPPY (incredibly belated) BIRTHDAY, BEKI. =]
Personally, I didn't want Lily to end up with Teddy in this story, because she's far too young for him. He's nineteen, and she's twelve. I wanted to make this as believable and as close to canon as possible. This happened pretty much a year after the epilogue in DH. Having him realise that he loved her (in a way,) and him breaking up with Victoire was enough.
Factual Error: In DH, Lily is actually 10 years younger than Teddy. For the purposes of this story, Lily is only 7 years younger than Teddy. Thanks for pointing that out!
I might possibly make this a two-shot, with Lily and Teddy after some years. It's a very small possibility. I wouldn't mind someone else continuing it, but please please ask me first.
Life After You by Daughtry.
You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift.
PS To any Slytherins reading this: Yes, I've had some references from Ellie's post and Kate's favourite song. I love my new house! Ahem... I mean, yes, Slytherins are the best.
=P
Review your thoughts and opinions.