Chapter 3

June 19th, 2020

Teddy knew from the second he saw him that Tommy McNabb was bad news.

Everything about Tommy McNabb rubbed Teddy the wrong way. His hair was too carelessly perfect. He had an annoying swagger to his walk. His smile was a little too charming. And his hand was way too low on Rose's waist.

"So," Teddy said, glaring at Tommy's hand, "how long have you two been seeing each other?"

"About four months," Tommy answered, smiling down at Rose affectionately.

Teddy scowled. "Four months? I'm surprised I didn't hear about it sooner."

Rose sent Teddy a warning glare before smiling sweetly up at Tommy. "Tommy, why don't you go say hello to your parents? You haven't even been to see them yet."

"Okay, Rosie," Tommy replied, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. He smiled at Teddy. "Nice you meet you, mate."

Teddy grunted noncommittally. Rose hated when most people called her Rosie, even though practically everyone insisted on it, so why the hell was this kid allowed to call her that? She only let Ron, Hugo, Harry, Al, and Teddy call her that and if anyone else did, she usually bit their head off. Rose turned on Teddy the second Tommy was out of hearing range.

"Way to be nice, Teddy," Rose said sarcastically.

Teddy rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't make me out to be the bad guy," he shot back. "You had a bloody boyfriend for four bloody months and you didn't even bother to send an owl? And now that we're talking about it, you are much too young for a boyfriend."

"I'm fifteen, Teddy Lupin," Rose retorted, her eyes narrowing. "And as I happen to remember, you got your first girlfriend at fourteen. That seems a bit hypocritical, don't you think?"

Teddy chose to ignore this statement. Their situations couldn't have been more different. He had been a stupid fourth year whose friends dared him to ask out a girl in his year, but they ended up rarely speaking to each other and only ever had one awkward snog. Rose, on the other hand, was a vulnerable fourth year who was obviously ripe pickings for this sixth year bloke.

"Still, you should have told me," Teddy said, perfectly fine with the fact that he sounded like a stroppy teenage girl.

"Yeah," Rose snorted. "I can imagine how that owl would've sounded. 'Rose, break up with this bloke immediately. I already don't like him.' On second thought, it wouldn't be an owl; it'd be a Howler."

Teddy rolled his eyes and made to turn around, but Rose stood in front of him and looked at him seriously.

"I really like him, Teddy," she said quietly. "I know you have to be protective of me because you're practically family, but I know what I'm doing. Everybody else doesn't like this already; Dad and Hugo have already thrown fits and James and Freddie keep pranking Tommy. I need you on my side, Teddy."

Teddy sighed, unsure of what to do. On the one hand, he really did want to trust Rose's judgment because Rose was a bright girl who really wanted his support. On the other hand, Rose could be a little too trusting of others for her own good and Tommy McNabb seemed like the type of bloke who would use that weakness to get into her knickers. Rose was way too young to shag Tommy McNabb, or any other bloke for that matter.

Maybe there's a way to have both, Teddy thought.

"I do trust you," Teddy said slowly, trying to figure out how to say it best. "I just don't know Tommy McNabb well enough to trust him just yet. I'll be supportive for now, but I reserve the right to curse him if he hurts you."

Rose grinned and threw her arms around his neck. "Thanks, Teddy! Now I just need to convince Dad of the same thing."

Teddy looked over at Ron, who was steadily glaring at Tommy McNabb with his arms crossed threateningly. Nope, Teddy didn't think that Ron would ever be convinced to like Tommy McNabb.

"So now I need to hear more about you, Teddy," Rose said as they walked over to the rest of the Weasley family. "How are things with Victoire?"

Teddy grimaced. This was the one question he was rather keen on avoiding. How were things with Vic? On the one hand, Teddy was rather happy. He loved Victoire and he was one lucky bastard to have a girl that gorgeous love him back. However, lately Vic was acting a little…barmy. It had just started suddenly one day, but Vic acted jealous all the bloody time. If he said hello to a waitress, she'd fume for hours. Once he had the gall (or stupidity) to hug one of his old friends from Hogwarts and Vic had accused him of having an affair with the girl. He still loved Victoire but if she got any more mental he wasn't sure he would keep his sanity.

But he couldn't let Rose know that. She'd get that knowing look on her face and demand that he made a decision immediately; Teddy just wasn't ready for that.

"Things are just peachy," Teddy lied, grinning as widely as he could. "Come on, love. I haven't seen the Potters in ages."


August 17th, 2020

It should've been just him and Rose in Diagon Alley today, Teddy thought bitterly. He wasn't sure how it turned from a "Rose and Teddy get ice cream" day to an "all the bloody Weasleys and friends get ice cream" day. He glanced around at the large group of people around him and sighed.

First to hop on board had been Victoire, even though neither Teddy nor Rose invited her. Then Tommy bloody McNabb declared he already needed to go to Diagon Alley, so that he should tag along too; Teddy knew he was lying but it convinced Rose well enough. Then the rest of the Weasley cousins heard about it and invited themselves along and then they in turn invited their friends. Now instead of just Teddy and Rose, there were twenty freaking people with them.

And things were just getting worse and worse as they day went on.

"Isn't that dress just lovely, Teddy?" Vic said, hanging off Teddy's arm.

Teddy glanced over at the store window and felt his blood run cold. That wasn't just any old dress. It was a bloody wedding dress. Teddy glanced over at Rose in a panic, but she was too busy laughing at something that Tommy bloody McNabb had said. Teddy scowled.

"Yeah. It's…er—nice, I guess," Teddy said grudgingly, praying that she'd drop it.

"I'd like to go inside that store," Victoire declared, stopping in the middle of the street. She turned to face Dominique, who was walking with her best friend Miranda Thomas and her boyfriend Sean Wood. "Dom, let's go look at wedding dresses."

Teddy watched as Sean's facial expression morphed into one of horror, which he was sure was the same look he had right now. They looked at each other in panic as Vic, Miranda, and Dom giggled.

"Teddy, you stay out here," Vic said, giving him a suggestive look. "You can't see me in a wedding dress."

With that, she flounced off into the store with Dom and Miranda on her heels. Roxy and Teagan Finnigan followed them in also, leaving Rose and all the guys outside. Teddy's mind started racing a mile a minute.

Did Vic really think they were going to get married? He hadn't even thought about it before. The idea really wasn't as appealing as he thought it might have been; thinking about it actually made him slightly nauseous.

Rose gave him a significant look before turning to the rest of the group. "How about we go check out Quality Quidditch Supplies?" she suggested. "I'm sure you blokes are dying to see the new Thunderbolt broom."

"You sure you don't want to go with the other girls, Rosie?" Tommy asked hesitantly as the rest of the group agreed heartily with Rose.

Teddy snorted, barely containing his disgust. Every second Teddy spent around Tommy McNabb made Teddy like him less and less. Sure, Rose seemed to like the kid a lot, but that didn't mean Teddy had to like him.

"I'm good," Rose said, smiling. "As much as I like shopping and pretty dresses, I really don't need a wedding dress anytime soon. And I'd really like to go see the Thunderbolt too."

Tommy grinned at Rose. "Merlin, I have the best girlfriend ever," he said, smiling like an idiot and resting his hands on Rose's hips.

Teddy and all of the Weasley boys sneered at Tommy, which made Teddy smirk; at least he wasn't alone in disliking Tommy. However the moment passed and everyone started towards Quality Quidditch Supplies.

"Tommy, you go on," Rose told him, removing herself from his grip. "Teddy and I will catch up with you guys later."

Teddy raised his eyebrows as Rose walked over to him with a determined look in her eye. She grabbed onto his arm and dragged him away from the group and toward Fortescue's. Rose found a table and Teddy ordered the ice cream for them, as per their usual routine. When Teddy sat down at the table, Rose gave him a meaningful look.

"Teddy Lupin, what the hell was that about?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.

"What was what about, Rosie?" he countered evasively.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Ted Remus Lupin!" she said, scowling. "I saw your face when Vic mentioned marrying you and don't pretend that you didn't look horrified."

Teddy let out a big sigh, running a hand through his hair in frustration. Rose knew him too well.

"Okay, fine," he said grudgingly after a moment. "Vic's been hinting marriage and moving in together for the past couple months and it's freaking me the hell out! I don't want to marry her!"

Rose raised her eyebrows at his outburst but remained silent. Teddy flushed under her scrutinizing gaze.

"I don't know what to tell you, Teddy," she said quietly after a complete minute of silence. "I don't want to interfere with your relationship. I just know that you really don't seem happy right now and you deserve to be happy."

Teddy reached over and squeezed Rose's hand. "Thanks, Rosie."

"Anytime, Teddy," she replied, helping herself to her ice cream.

"Now, can we discuss something else?" Teddy asked warily. "While we're on the subject of relationships, that is."

Rose's expression immediately morphed into one of suspicion. "Sure."

"Well," Teddy began, not sure how to phrase what he was about to say to make sure Rose didn't start hexing him into the next century. "It's about Tommy."

"What about him?" Rose asked, a scowl starting to form on her face. "I thought you said you liked him."

"Well…I lied," Teddy said hesitantly, watching as Rose's glare turned even colder. "Well, I couldn't very well tell you I thought he was a prat, could I?"

"You don't even know him," Rose said defensively, her eyes flashing.

"I know he's much too handsy with you," Teddy retorted, feeling his temper rising. "I know that you're a child and too young to have some bloke running his hands all over you in front of your family. I know that McNabb's a bloody prat and that no one in the family likes him! I—"

Rose laughed cruelly. "I knew you couldn't like him. You hate everyone who makes me happy who isn't in our family," she sneered, standing up. "I like Tommy and I want him running his hands all over me, Teddy Lupin. If you were really my friend, you would support me and my decisions but apparently I don't know you as well as I thought I did. Please don't try to follow me out or talk to me after this."

Her voice had raised enough to attract the attention from everyone in the shop. She gave him one last glare before storming out into the street. Teddy groaned putting his face in his hands. He really mucked it up. Rose hated being told what to do and having people question her decisions. That, along with the fact that she so highly valued loyalty and could hold a grudge longer than anyone he knew, meant she probably wouldn't be forgiving him anytime soon and that it was useless to go running after her.

Teddy threw some money on the table angrily and walked out of Fortesques. With Vic's bizarre obsession with making things more serious and Rose mad at him, he doubted he'd last a week.