Business Partnership by Luvscharlie
Warnings: Language, necessary violence
A/N: Originally written for the 2012 teddy_fest prompt fest on Live Journal where my prompt was Teddy/Lavender—he smells the wolf in her and it smells divine. The requirements were more than 1000 words and to feature Teddy as a prominent character.
"Benny" is named after the cat who changed Jackson Galaxy's life. If you don't know who Jackson Galaxy is, LOOK HIM UP. He's a cat lover's hero. Also, as she always does when I write her, Lavender Brown stole the show, making Teddy a bit more of a minor player than I'd have liked. Also, the prompt, while in there, did get a bit lost along the way.
Most people would not have pegged Lavender Brown as a girl with a plan. Most people would have been wrong. Lavender had known what she wanted to do with her life from the time she was eleven years old and had made her first trip into Diagon Alley with her mum. She, like most first years, had gone into Eeylops with eyes wide at the selection of magical pets. There were owls and kneazles and toads, to name a few, each more fascinating than the last.
Lavender had taken her time perusing every cage and corner of the store to pick her perfect pet... and that was her downfall. She'd wandered too far; in the back were the cast-offs, those pets too old or too frail, too sick or too ugly to be considered "sellable". There were four kneazles in tiny cages looking back at the child.
"What's going to happen to these?" asked Lavender, of the sales lady.
"Oh, that's nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about, lamb. These are just the ones nobody wants. We'll take care of them later. Now, let's go pick you out a pretty little kneazle and buy it a sparkly collar- pink, maybe?"
Lavender's attention was not to be diverted. One sad looking, flea ridden little kneazle in a tiny cage looked out at Lavender with longing eyes. "What about him?" she asked. "What's going to happen to him?"
"Um, well, dear. You see- Um, someone comes to get these at the end of the month. Now, about that sparkly collar." She attempted to turn Lavender back into the main part of the shop.
"And where do they go when they get picked up?" She had always been a questioning child, and there was something about this woman's attempt to avoid her question that made Lavender all the more determined to get a straight answer.
"Well, child," the lady answered with ever-shortening patience, "they are disposed of. No one wants them. I cannot sell pets like these."
"So you- you kill them?"
"Well." The saleslady chose her words carefully. "They are disposed of."
"That's another word for killing. I'm eleven, not two. I know what 'disposed of' means." She pulled back her foot and kicked the lady hard in the shin, her blonde curls bouncing. "And you should be ashamed of yourself."
And with her short little arms, wearing her best robes, Lavender began to open the cages and free the doomed kneazles.
The saleslady, still rubbing her shin, was outraged. "You're not allowed to do that!"
Lavender pulled back her foot and put her hands on her tiny hips. "Don't make me kick you again. I'm taking these home."
And down Diagon Alley that day, strolled one little girl in her best dress robes with four ugly, sick and no-longer-doomed felines trotting faithfully behind her, each wearing a sparkly pink collar.
That was how it all began...
There were a few bumps and detours down the road of Lavender's career. But ultimately, she'd always known where she belonged. It just took her a while to get there. The attack by Greyback had left it hard for her to find a job for a while. Lavender didn't turn at the change of the moon, but there were definitely some tendencies that were hard to hide for long. She'd had unprovoked howling for several years before she'd learned to get that under control. Boy, talk about embarrassing.
Then Hermione Granger-Weasley had gone and introduced the Remus Lupin Act, and the tolerance for her sort-of-kind had begun to grow. It always had to be Granger. Couldn't be enough that she'd saved Lavender during the attack by Greyback. No, now she had to go and not only introduce legislation to help Lavender out, but she'd also got her a legal assistant position at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Hello, bitter pill. Nice to swallow you.
That job had lasted for far too many years, until Lavender simply couldn't go back there another day. She'd swallowed down her pride and asked her parents for a loan to follow her dream. They had relented and Lavender took her loan and purchased what had once been Eeylops. She renamed it the Bunny Adoption Centre, which people, for some reason, seemed to believe meant that she only had bunnies in her shop. People didn't see a tribute when it was right in front of them. She'd named her shop after the bunny, aptly named "Bunny", that she'd lost in her third year at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, what her shop was in reality (not a bunny haven) was a place for cast-off, unwanted pets. Lavender didn't mind. She understood what it felt to be alone in the world. Since the attack on her during the war, she'd avoided most humans, other than the brief contact she had with them in the shop. The fact was, she far preferred to be with the animals, especially her fourteen year old, solid black kneazle, Benny.
Unfortunately, despite her love for the animals in her care, she wasn't a very good business woman, and she quickly found herself in dire straights. Her pet shop was a bit of a failure and she could no longer afford to keep it operational. It was hard to admit that her bubble of a dream was growing so thin that there was no way it wasn't soon to pop.
She looked around at the old Kneazles roaming the shop and sighed. These were her friends, her family, and she had failed them. She felt the tears coming, but dried them quickly when the bell rang signalling the entry of a customer.
Lavender pasted on her saleslady smile and decided that she just had to make a sale. Not of one of her beloved babies, of course. That was part of the problem. She was very picky about who was allowed to take one of her babies. She'd be willing to sell them some pet food though, or a nice bird. She didn't like birds all that much, so they were fair game. Lavender approached a young man with turquoise hair and a slender build. "You look like a man who's interested in purchasing a pet. A bird, maybe? I have some nice parrots. Well, nice is a strong word. Praline will take your finger off and Scotty would rather poop on you than anything." She realised these may not exactly be selling points, no matter how true, and stopped talking.
"Do I, now?" The young man smirked in a way that made Lavender want to thump him a good one. She wasn't sure why, but the smirk was definitely thump-inspiring. "In that case, you look like a woman who wouldn't recognise a customer if they bit her in the arse. You should look into getting yourself some glasses, madam."
Little twit! This wasn't the first difficult individual to enter her shop. Lavender did her best and bit her lip to keep a retort from slipping out. She put on her pleasant and very much fake smile that she used when she was playing business woman. "How might I assist you, sir." Every pleasant word was as painful as pulling teeth.
"You can get out of my shop."
What the hell? Her mouth fell open. "I think you must be lost… or delusional. This shop is mine."
"It was yours. Then you stopped paying your rent and now—" the young man held up a piece of parchment—"now it belongs to me."
"I just got a few months behind. I'm going to pay it back when I get caught up. So that's not wilful non-payment. And, therefore, you can't take my shop!" Lavender crossed her arms and planted herself behind the counter.
"You're about seven months more than a few months behind." The young man gave the shop a once over. His eyes landed firmly on a heap of fur passed out by a window in the sunshine. "If that's what you're selling, it's no wonder you can't make your bills." He gave another look around. "And where are all the bunnies? This is supposed to be a bunny shop. Says so right on the sign."
Okay, no more Miss Nice Girl. He'd gone too far! No one insulted her babies. Lavender made her way over to the young man, pulled back her knee and hit him where it hurt. Poor boy never saw it coming. One minute he was standing upright, and the next he was rolling about and clutching his boy bits as he moaned and wailed.
"You think you can just come into my shop and take over. Well, maybe I'm a little bit behind, and I can't stop you. But under no circumstances will you talk badly about Benny." Lavender walked over the cat and scooped him up gingerly into her arms. "Benny's the best friend I've ever had. He's been with me through everything. Benny's loyal." She looked down at the rolling, wailing piece of shite man. "Unlike some people, Benny's got class." She placed the cat down gently on the counter, bent down and began to roll the young man out the door as he moaned. Once out on the sidewalk, she wiped her hands, gave the bloke another kick for good measure and locked him out.
Lavender looked over at Benny and smacked her hands together as though wiping them clean. "There. We've taken care of that problem."
Benny meowed his agreement. Benny was loyal. He didn't try to come in and take over people's shops. It was one of his best qualities. People could learn a lot from Benny.
The next day…
Lavender arrived at her shop late. She hadn't slept well the night before, worried about finances and how she was going to buy enough food to feed animals for the week. Her late night led to a late morning. And she was just beginning to turn the key in the lock of the shop when she noticed him. "You again? Did you not get the message that you aren't wanted here, yesterday?"
The young man held out his hand and smiled in a way that Lavender felt with a jolt. Damn, he's pretty cute when he's not talking... you know, or trying to steal my shop. Benny must have seen her look of betrayal because she heard his outraged meow from inside. She'd have to apologise with tuna later.
"I'm Teddy Lupin. I think we got off to the wrong start yesterday. I'd like to start again."
He should really just stand about and look pretty. It was hard to hate him when he did that; talking made him far easier to dislike. "Whatever gave you that idea? Boy, you're a sharp one." She gave a nod at his crotch. "Guess you haven't got much willy there for me to hurt, then, if you're already up and about."
"Oh. My. God!" Teddy exclaimed. "I certainly do. You just look." And with that, he dropped his trousers and pants right there on the sidewalk. Unfortunately for Teddy, a member of Magical Law Enforcement had chosen that particular moment to walk by, and an outraged Teddy Lupin was carted away with his pants around his ankles and his willy bouncing and giving a nice wave at passers-by.
Lavender turned the key in the lock and looked down at Benny, who mewled at her disapprovingly. "Oh, you've got to admit, it was a rather impressive willy."
Benny mewled again and turned his back and walked away. "Boy, you're a hard one to impress," Lavender chided.
The next day…
Lavender arrived at the shop to find that the door was already unlocked and Teddy Lupin was inside arranging things on the shelves.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing? I thought you were somewhere lamenting upon the many virtues of your tiny willy."
There was a twitch of annoyance at the corner of his mouth, but Teddy never looked up from his new arranging of the rat food, which was one of Lavender's best sellers. Apparently, rats had become far more fashionable pets to take to Hogwarts than when Lavender had attended the magical school. "I'm fixing the shelves in my new shop. I've been in here cleaning for hours. Damn, you're messy. I'm not sure how this is going to work, us being partners and all. I own the shop, you own the inventory… and the stupid name."
Lavender was having trouble controlling her rage. "We are not partners. This is my shop. You are a trespasser." It was hard to argue the ridiculousness of her shop's name, but the intent had been a good one.
Benny hissed at Teddy to show that he agreed with Lavender.
"You know," Teddy said, "we might get more business if your guard cat there would be a bit more accommodating to customers."
"You're not a customer. Benny doesn't like you. Benny knows you're a piece of shite who is annoying his mum."
Teddy tsked. "Boy, Benny's got a bad attitude… just like his mum."
Lavender glared. "Benny's mum is a very nice person when people aren't pissing her off by trying to steal her shop."
"You know, you never did give me much chance to explain why I'm here."
"Because I don't care," Lavender retorted. "I just want you to leave. You're really bad at taking hints."
"And if I said I was here to help you, because I know you and I have a connection?"
Lavender narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Indeed. My knee connected very nicely to your bullocks. Should we test that connection again? My knee is game for a replay." Benny began to purr. "Benny thinks that's a great idea. Benny likes violent sports, and he thinks this would be better than watching American wrestling on the telly. Which is saying something, because Benny really likes his wrestling."
"I smelled it on you weeks ago, when I first came in here. I know my own kind. The scent is divine, intoxicating, irresistible."
Shite. He was one of those. After all these years of being bitten by a werewolf, and this was still happening to her. Teddy took a step closer and Lavender held up a hand. "I swear if you attempt to sniff me, like some kind of dog, the Healer's going to have remove your testicles from your nose, I'll knee you so hard. You fucking pervert."
Benny gave her an encouraging meow. He was very much in favour of violence, when violence was necessary.
Teddy wasn't convinced she meant business, apparently. He leaned in and brushed her hair back over her shoulder and inhaled deeply. At that exact moment, Benny sprang from the floor and wrapped himself around Teddy's thigh, digging all four sets of claws in as Teddy yowled in pain. Lavender took advantage of the distraction, grabbed a dog bone from the shelf and wielded it as a bat, beating Teddy about the head and shoulders, as Benny took him down. "I warned you."
Teddy lay on the floor and conceded defeat by begging for mercy and then passing out at the sight of a little blood spurting from his nose. The wimp. Lavender grabbed him by the arms and pulled him out the door again, dropping his limp body on the sidewalk, where a passing witch stepped on him, and he grunted in his unconscious state.
Lavender looked over at Benny. "So what do you think?" she asked.
She would have sworn Benny rolled his eyes like they'd had this conversation a million times before. "Don't give me that look, Mister. You have to admit, he's pretty cute—you know, when he's unconscious and not staying stupid stuff."
Benny ambled off with a swish of his tail. He was a hard judge of character, that Benny.
Lavender smiled down at the idiot on her doorstep. "This is going to be a very interesting partnership, I think." She put a 'For Sale' sign on Teddy and went back into her shop.