Alt. Title: Teddy Lupin and the Deathly Hallows (it's so unoriginal!)
I think I'm a week late but here's the next story in the series! If you're new I strongly suggest you read "A Year to be Remembered" first otherwise you'll have no clue what I'm talking about!
And am I the only one having huge problems accessing ? o.0 Every time it says "done with errors on page" and all I get is a blank page with the ads. It took like 15 tries just to get this up!
As usual, all character names are just names. This is NOT meant to be a crossover.
On with the story!
The store was hot and humid, the summer sun was still pretty high in the sky given that it was already 5pm and the store owner looked outside to see several children running and laughing carrying large ice cream cones from the store across the street.
He wouldn't mind grabbing one now really…
But then the man snapped back into reality and sighed. It was almost closing time. Most people went home at 5 signaling the end of the long workday so it was rare for people to be in the store during this time. They wanted to get home to their families on such a nice summer day and hopefully avoid getting stuck in rush hour.
Therefore, as he peered over the counter top he couldn't quite help but stare and the rather unusual sight before him.
Three boys, all about twelve years old, stood in the middle of his store. The smallest one was carrying a laptop while another one was busy arguing that some other one would be better.
And quite loudly too.
Yet, that wasn't the head turner for the group.
That was credited to the boy who stood a in the middle of the two. The boy with almost blinding blue hair. There was no way that hair could be natural. What were his parents thinking?
"Can I help you boys?" the shopkeeper asked and three heads turned to look at the intruder.
"Yeah. We're looking for a computer," the larger boy said enthusiastically holding up a store flyer.
"You guys have a sale right?"
The shopkeeper tried not to narrow his eyes.
Discreetly he checked around the store. Where were the parents? Surely no twelve year old could afford a computer and if they could would he get in trouble for it? Maybe they were really here for some other purpose….but he did have security cameras in his store…
Teddy noticed the shopkeeper's pause at the sentence, face closing in as his eyes darted quickly around before resting on his face out of all the others.
"Great. I should have changed my hair," Teddy thought, trying to refrain from rolling his eyes. Why did all muggles look at him like he was some street punk when his hair was a different color? He'd asked Vic why people kept staring at him through their trips around the city and Vic had shrugged and told him not to worry about it.
"They're just not used to things that they don't consider 'normal'," Vic had said, "Hey. That's maybe why the wizarding world and the muggle worlds are so separated from each other. They can't stand change. We deal with it all the time."
"Yes. We have a sale this weekend only," the shopkeeper suddenly said, realizing he'd stalled long enough for an answer and jolting Teddy out of his thoughts.
"You get a free game with selected discounted models," he went on, "what did you have in mind?"
"Well we wanted a laptop that can act as a desktop," Roy said matter of factly, "I was thinking of this model but my brother wants that one," he continued with a scowl at said brother.
"Well. Do you boys have a price range?" the man asked ad all the boys looked at each other.
"Not really. Just not too expensive," Teddy said with a shrug causing the shopkeeper to frown. Would it be too rude to ask them if they even had money at all?
Probably.
"Well I personally would go with this one. The faster processor and more internal memory weighs out the larger screen for the other one," the man said, raising an eyebrow when Roy muttered "I told you so," to his brother.
Did these boys really know what they were doing or were they just playing it by ear?
"We'll take it," Teddy said with a nod.
"Where are your parents?" the man asked suddenly only for all three boys to shrug and say "busy."
"Yeah so about the game. Do you still have Day of Sagittarius III?" Vic asked, moving the conversation back on topic.
"….Yes…. we do….," the shopkeeper said, carefully taking the laptop and walking to the register.
"But that game is for 18 years and older," he said with a frown and he watched as all the boys' faces fell.
Teddy in particular sighed. He knew there was going to be something wrong with all this.
The boys' summer had started out wonderfully. Vic and Roy took Teddy to all sorts of places. Buckingham Palace, the Natural History Museum, summer festivals, amusement parks, theaters, everything with free entry, the boys went. Teddy had been fascinated. He'd even let Roy show him around the Science Museum and the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. Even though Muggle paintings didn't move they sure looked pretty realistic.
Sometimes the boys went out for hours on end visiting attraction after attraction, they played in parks, hung out around convenience stores, rode in trains and ate in Internet cafes. As long as the sun was shinning, they went out, sometimes alone, others with Teddy's parents. It was amazing what you could do in London and quite frankly Teddy couldn't believe that all this stuff was practically located right in his backyard.
But eventually things died down and a new issue had popped up.
Teddy needed a computer.
Internet cafes were fun but Teddy sill wanted his own computer so he could play in the comfort of his home. And finally, a few weeks into the break, Teddy and his friends convinced Teddy's parents to get a computer. But of course, they had reached this decision during Auror initiation week where the new recruits were being shown the ropes. Which just so happened to mean that Tonks would be at work more often than usual. And it just so happened that this sale had landed right on a full moon weekend.
Remus had accompanied the boys to get the much-needed internet which Roy and Vic had insisted was first priority. That, to Teddy, had been the most boring four hours of his life. The grown ups along with Roy and Vic talked numbers and weird technological terms that Teddy hadn't even heard of.
Eventually, thanks to unlimited patience from customer support and input from the more muggle accustomed brothers, they had managed to gain some sort of internet package and the group had gone home to meet installers who would hook them up.
Throughout it all Teddy had no clue what was going on but as long as he had it, he stayed out of the way.
Then came the next step: Getting the computer.
Vic had found the ad in the paper and insisted on the game, "It's the coolest game in the world Ted. It's totally worth it," Vic had said happily. They'd spent the rest of the evening reading up on the game and seeing how amazing it really was. By the time it came to actually get the package Teddy was just as ecstatic about the game as he was about the new computer.
Nevertheless, Teddy had insisted that he and his friends would be able to handle it on their own and Remus had relented, handing them his wallet and practically passing out on the couch. Teddy had been confident that by the time he woke up his father would be looking at a shiny new computer just waiting to be used.
The majority of it was true. Teddy had been confident. He wasn't anymore thought. Not with some man giving him accusing stares behind his back.
"But. But-" Vic complained at the man's refusal to sell his prized game.
"I'm sorry but unless you boys come back with your parents then I can not sell you that game. There are lots of other games to choose from," the shopkeeper said but Vic shook his head, "We just want that game."
The shopkeeper shrugged in indifference. He had had a feeling these boys weren't going to buy anything from him anyways so why should he really cater to their desires? He'd been in the business long enough to know when kids would dupe him out of a sale and these three boys seemed to be the top of the list.
"Do we still get a discount on the laptop?" Roy asked with a frown and the shopkeeper shook his head.
"It comes in a package. Can't have one without the other."
"What? That's bullshit!" Vic shouted and Teddy yanked on his collar to get him to shut up.
"It doesn't matter. We'll pay for the laptop and the game and pick up the game later. How's that?" Teddy said, turning to the surprised shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper turned this idea around in his head before finally nodding, "The sale ends tomorrow. You boys better be back by then and only if you can afford it," he said, eyes narrowing.
Teddy heard Vic mutter something obscene under his breath but ignored it.
"Roy. Give him the money," Teddy said and the shopkeeper watched in amazement as the boy pulled out a large handful of bills from his pants pocket.
He accepted the money suspiciously, doing several checks to make sure it wasn't fake or if there evidence that it had been stolen.
After what felt like hours he finally put the money in the register and packaged the laptop complete with mouse and webcam into its box.
"Pleasure doing business with you sir," Roy muttered as he accepted the box and he and Teddy dragged Vic outside.
"But we didn't get the game!" Vic hissed once they had started walking back to the Lupin house.
"It's a total rip off without the game. We could have gone somewhere else and gotten an even better laptop for just a few bucks more!"
"No," Teddy said with a surprising air of authority, "We'll get the game. Trust me. I've got a plan."
Vic put two and two together in the blink of an eye, "You're going to steal it? Are you crazy? That store had security camera and everything!"
Teddy waved a hand dismissively, "Technically it's not stealing since we've already paid for it. I call it getting out due. And besides, security cameras don't matter if no one can see us."
Roy raised an eyebrow, "Wasn't magic illegal wh-"
"I know it's illegal Roy," Teddy cut in with an exasperated sigh, "But who says I was going to use magic?"
"You sure about this Ted?" Vic mumbled as they knocked on the door.
Teddy rolled his eyes at Vic's uncertainty, "Didn't you use to do this all the time? Mr. Street Punk?"
Now it was Vic's turn to raise an eyebrow, "Yeah but I never stole from my godfather," Vic accused and, as if right on cue, the door swung open revealing none one other than Harry Potter.
"Ted? What're you guys doing here?" Harry asked a little confused but stepping aside to let the boys enter anyways.
"Hi Harry!" Teddy said enthusiastically, hugging his godfather and shooting Vic a dirty look.
"We're not gonna steal from him," Ted whispered with a roll of his eyes as Harry turned and made off for the kitchen, the three boys lagging slightly behind.
"Suit yourself," Vic mumbled back.
"So. How's trumpet practice?" Harry said with a grin and Roy blushed. For the first few weeks of summer Roy had been practicing the trumpet his brother and Ted had given him for Christmas the year before.
He liked to practice outside and Harry had just happened to stop by when he'd been in his early stages and Teddy's next door neighbor had been screaming for him to shut up. Teddy and Vic had laughed about it but Roy had felt downright embarrassed so Harry had charmed the instrument to help mute the noise a bit.
"Roy's awesome now!" Teddy said with a laugh as Roy's face got redder.
"I only know two songs…" Roy mumbled, "and one of them is Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star…."
Harry laughed, "Well. I can't wait to hear them someday. Now enough of that, what're you boys here for?" he asked, turning to Teddy and effectively changing the topic.
Teddy put on an innocent expression as all heads turned to face him.
"Well…" he started before his face broke out into a grin.
"Can we borrow your invisibility cloak?"
Well? Think I could continue?