"Honey, the students are here!" Neville called to his wife, Hannah, as she put the finishing touches on tonight's dinner. Every year just before graduation Neville would invite his NEWT-level students to their home for an evening of non-academic company. He enjoyed socializing with his students outside of the greenhouses, and it made the kids feel a little more like the adults they were about to become.
Hannah usually enjoyed these evenings, seeing as she was something of a Herbology enthusiast herself. Occasionally one of the students would share a humorous anecdote about something that went wrong during one of Neville's classes, and Hannah always loved these glimpses into his professional life. She was frequently busy at The Leaky Cauldron or at home with their five children, so she didn't make it over to Hogwarts as often as she used to. Truth be told, she didn't do much of anything she enjoyed as often as she used to, thanks to a career and family that demanded nearly all of her attention.
But, she loved them—her job and her family—dearly. Shaking away her maudlin thoughts, she quickly checked her reflection in the oven door before removing her apron and joining the growing crowd in her living room. Most of the students were unfamiliar to her, but a few stood out as being the children of people she'd gone to school with. As she greeted the newest batch of arrivals, one student in particular immediately caught her attention with his verdant green hair.
"Teddy Lupin, look at you!" she exclaimed, crushing him in a hug before holding him at arm's length to look at him. "I can't believe you're graduating soon—it seems like just yesterday you were scampering around the yard with Peggy and Trevor."
The tips of Teddy's hair briefly flamed red, but he grinned back at her. "Thank you for having us over, Mrs. Longbottom," he said politely, mindful of the other students nearby.
"Oh, it's Hannah, please." She waved a hand dismissively. "You're all graduating soon, you can all call me Hannah." She smiled around the room and many of the students nodded back.
"Well then...thank you, Hannah." Teddy's voice, deeper now than the last time she'd spoken to him well over a year ago, rolled her name out with an intimacy she had no idea how to respond to. Snapping her eyes back to the boy—man, now, she supposed—she felt her smile falter the slightest bit. He was still standing close to her from when she'd hugged him, and was she imagining it, or was he looking at her in a way that was entirely...improper?
Hannah cleared her throat nervously. She must be reading too much into his use of her name, that was all. Seeing things that weren't there. Bolstering her smile once more, she turned and counted the people filling her home. Noting that everyone had arrived, she excused herself back to the kitchen to check on dinner. As she turned back to look for Neville, her gaze caught with Teddy's, and Hannah felt heat suffuse her as she couldn't help but recognize the admiring way he was watching her.
She rushed into the kitchen and leaned against the countertop, pressing her hands to her burning face. What on earth was going on? She was nearly eighteen years his senior. She was the wife of his Herbology professor and honorary godfather. She had five children and the soft jiggliness that accompanied motherhood. She was no one, absolutely no one, that he should be paying any sort of—of sexual attention to.
And yet he had.
Hannah shivered as she recalled the predatory look on his face just now. Teddy Lupin was interested...in her. There was no denying the thrill of feminine pleasure that curled through her as she realized that a young, virile male (other than her husband) was looking at her with desire. It was a heady feeling, even more so because her life had been so utterly devoid of heady feelings lately.
But she couldn't afford to indulge. Teddy was about to start his career with the Aurors, and she was happily married. She was. She just needed to take a breath and remember that. As the adult in this situation, she needed to take the high road and pretend that she had not recognized the primal look in his eyes as his gaze had roamed over her body. Hoping that the unsettled feelings Teddy had provoked in her would disappear during dinner, she turned her attention to the roast.
The door to the kitchen opened, and without sparing a glance for the person entering, she called out, "Oh, Neville, good; I need help with-"
"Professor Longbottom's out back." The deep voice issued from right behind her, and Hannah let out a small shriek of surprise as she spun around.
Teddy was standing directly behind her, and now he moved a step closer. Hannah immediately backed up, the jut of the countertop digging into her spine. Her eyes darted around the kitchen frantically, hoping that no one else was witnessing this, especially not Neville.
"He sent me in to assist you. He's showing them the Naked Buckwheat." Teddy smiled and reached out to stroke his hands down her arms soothingly, but Hannah's brain was still frozen around the way he'd murmured the word naked. "I didn't mean to startle you."
Goosebumps broke out all over Hannah's skin as they watched each other, her mind racing with all manner of inappropriate responses. Suddenly, she was aware of every detail about him: he was two inches taller than she was, he was lightly muscled from playing Quidditch, his hair had turned a seductive shade of crimson, and he had the same kindness in his eyes as his father always had.
Scratch that. Now that she was looking into his eyes, she noticed he had a hunger there that she'd never seen in his father.
Her knees felt a bit weak and she scrambled for something to break the tension. "It's Naked-stem Buckwheat...Eriogonum nudum," she murmured, forcing her wayward mind back to the safe topic of plants. Unfortunately, saying the word 'naked' herself only served to reignite her imagination again, and the way Teddy's lips twitched upwards drew her attention down to them. She licked her lips unconsciously.
No! This was madness. She was a business owner, a mother, a wife. Neville's wife. Right—remember Neville. NevilleNevilleNevilleNeville.
It was no good. Teddy's hands continued to slide up and down her arms in a slow caress, and he stood before her, smiling with a self-confidence that Neville had never possessed. And she was helplessly drawn to it, to the promise of being adored, worshipped, by a young man who knew what he wanted and wasn't afraid to pursue it.
Hannah was saved from the unruly impulses of her body by the ding of her timer. Teddy dropped his hands and stepped back just enough that she was able to draw air into her lungs again, and she turned to pull the pan of potatoes from the oven. She'd just placed two charmed hands on the hot pan when Teddy's arms came around her to rest on top of hers.
"Allow me to help you with that," he breathed into her ear, his entire torso now pressed against her back. Hannah's fingers spasmed and she almost dropped the pan. Teddy neatly turned with her and helped her place the pan on the counter to cool. Quickly stepping away, Hannah clasped her hands together to try to control their quivering.
"Th-thank you, Teddy, but I-I think that's all I need," she told him, praying the quaver in her voice wasn't as obvious to him as it was to her. She froze as he moved towards her again, stopping inches away from her face.
"For now," he whispered. "But after dinner, perhaps we can go out to the garden and you can tell me what else you...need." He stroked one finger down her cheek and Hannah's mouth went dry. Teddy winked at her and headed back out into the living area just as Neville and the others came clomping in through the mudroom. She nodded numbly as Neville inquired whether dinner was ready yet, and she served the gathered students mechanically, somehow managing not to spill the cranberry sauce all over the table when Teddy slipped a hand over her behind as she leaned past him to set the sauce container down.
Sinking into her seat, Hannah barely paid attention to the conversations flowing around her. She felt as though she was in some kind of bizarre dream: could it really be possible that the handsome 17-year-old at the end of the table thought she was attractive? And perhaps even more flattering, he thought her attractive enough to actively pursue her. He seemed to think dallying with her would be worth the repercussions should his professor—her husband—find out.
Looking up, Hannah was unsurprised to find Teddy staring at her. He finished chewing his bite of roast beef before swiping up a bit of the juice on his plate. He stuck his finger into his mouth and slowly sucked all the juices off while Hannah watched, reluctantly becoming aroused as he did so. When he pulled his finger out of his mouth with a quiet pop! she jerked in her seat and turned her attention determinedly back to the story Neville was telling about a renegade bowtruckle.
Dinner seemed to drag on forever, even as it seemed to fly by. At first, Hannah resolutely decided she would not venture into the garden with Teddy—or anywhere else alone with him, for that matter. But she couldn't seem to prevent her eyes from straying to his end of the table every few seconds, and each time their gazes connected, she felt a stirring of longing. It was immoral, what she was considering; and it was poor payback of Neville's steadfast devotion to her for nearly the past two decades.
But oh, she wanted to disappear into the garden with him for a while. She wanted to forget that she was closing in on forty years old; wanted to forget that no one had admired her womanly charms in too long to recall in any detail; wanted to forget that she was a tired, run-down caricature of her former self. She wanted to feel young again, alive; she wanted to feel wanted. And there could be no doubt that Teddy wanted her.
All too soon, they'd reached the dessert course, a wide array of ice creams that Hannah had made herself using various flowers and herbs from their gardens. Her heart was beating triple-speed as she struggled with her conscience: to accompany Teddy into the garden, or not? Not, of course not, your answer should always be 'not'! her voice of reason yelled at her. No one would know, another voice whispered to her. She liked this voice—it was calm and seductive, and it was telling her what she wanted to hear. Everyone would think the Professor's wife was showing a student around...no one would suspect a thing.
Yes, that voice was dangerous indeed.
Practically leaping up to clear the plates when everyone had finished, Hannah waved off all offers of assistance and hid in the kitchen. She busied herself with packing away the extra ice creams as her thoughts churned around and around. She couldn't possibly even consider doing this—and yet, she was considering it. Considering it quite thoroughly, in fact. Her mind's eye conjured all manner of enticing details...the way the Reddening Roses would release their fragrance if he crushed her on top of them, the way the bark of their Barking Willow would abrade her skin if he pressed her against it, the way the Gallivanting Grass would tickle her bare skin if he laid her down in it.
"A Knut for your thoughts," a voice sounded from nearby. Hannah started and blushed when she saw Teddy leaning against their pantry door, his arms crossed nonchalantly. "Actually, let me rephrase that. I'd happily pay a Galleon to know what put that dreamy look on your face." He straightened and moved towards her. Hannah bit down on her tongue to keep from blurting out that she was thinking about him.
"Just...trying to decide which of these flavors turned out to be my favorite," she chirped, plastering a fake smile on her face.
Teddy raised one eyebrow at her words but did not question her further. "Mine was the jasmine," he said, coming to stand next to her at the countertop and scooping out a spoonful of the pale pink concoction, holding up to eye level and examining it closely.
"Really?" Hannah was surprised. She loved the jasmine treat, but she knew it was a little eccentric for most peoples' tastes. She'd expected him to prefer the much more traditional mint ice cream, or perhaps even the strawberry basil.
"Mm hm," Teddy responded, sliding the spoonful into his mouth and sighing contentedly. "It tastes like you," he explained, slanting a glance at her.
Hannah felt the bloom of desire spread through her again. She didn't try quite as hard to fight it this time. "You've no idea what I taste like," she laughed nervously.
Teddy turned to face her fully, cocking his head to the side contemplatively. "You know, you're right," he said slowly. His gaze sharpened on hers and Hannah was incapable of looking away. He inched towards her, giving her ample opportunity to step back or stop him, but she did neither. She watched him, disbelieving, as he lowered his mouth to hers. His lips barely touched hers, but a shock wave of fire and arousal burned through her at the contact. Before she knew it, he had pulled back.
"I was right," he boasted. "It tastes like you."
And with that declaration, he clamped one hand around the back of her neck and yanked her forward, wrapping his arms around her as he crushed her mouth in a fierce kiss. As Hannah closed her eyes, she saw that Teddy's hair was the precise pale pink of jasmine.
A/N: Written for the "Mew&Mor Weird Pairing" competition on HPFC! My pairing was Hannah Abbott and Teddy Lupin, which was dreamed up by M&M. I have to admit that when I was assigned this pairing, I thought, "Ugh! What am I going to do with THAT?" Because I totally see Hannah as a loving, devoted mother, and it took me a while to think of a situation in which she might look at someone else. But, as I was writing this, I just...totally fell in love with this pairing. It's awkward and uncomfortable and a little forbidden and yet I enjoy the heck out of it! I can totally see Teddy as an extremely confident teenager with a bit of swagger-in other words, the perfect opposite to Hannah's hesitant domesticity. I sincerely hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.
The details of Hannah's children comes from "Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness" (and associated other oneshots and stories) by thanfiction. I'm not him OR JK Rowling.