Elsi: Hey. Sorry this is late...but it's Labor Day. Happy Labor Day! Heh heh.
Trek: Have this Teddy/Lily one-shot as a present.
Elsi: Oh, as a warning: this is in no way religious-ist. You know, like racist, but...whatever. I just know Christianity better than any other religion. I don't even know if there's any religion in Harry Potter. Which I DON'T OWN. Yup.
Heaven
Being an atheist, Teddy didn't really know what was right and what was wrong. He'd always been an atheist, so doing things that were definitely wrong wouldn't get him any farther away from where he wanted to go, because he didn't want to go anywhere. The only consequences of lying and cheating and doing wrong were those that were dished out from the people that found out. And if no one found out, well, that was okay.
Lily, on the other hand, was a highly religious young woman. She'd been highly religious all her life, and stayed away from everything that was considered wrong. Never had she lied to keep herself out of trouble, or stolen something from someone else. All she wanted was to go to Heaven when she died, to live an endless life where there was nothing but happiness and forgiveness.
The only other thing Lily wanted was Teddy. And, since it was wrong to cheat on a husband or wife, she couldn't have him. Why did Teddy have to marry Victoire? They didn't even have a pretty little ceremony: they'd both been drunk, they'd ran off to some Muggle chapel; they were married the next morning.
But they were still married. As Lily gazed down at Teddy's sleeping form in the bed beside her, she felt a pang of guilt, and rightfully so. She had broken a crucial. She had slept with a man that was not her husband. A married man that was not her husband, no less. Great.
Lily closed her eyes for a moment, remembering the wonderful night they had shared. It would stay in her mind forever: the color of his hair, the fierce passion of his kiss, the loving gentleness of his touch. She bit her lip. No, she thought. It was wrong.
Victoire had been out. She was at Dominique's, enjoying her bachelorette party, promising that she would stay the night with her sister. Lily's guilt grew. She should have been there, too, not here with Teddy. Not in Victoire's spot in his bed, while Victoire herself congratulated her sister on getting married.
It was then that it hit Lily. I'm not going to Heaven, she realized. I've messed up. I'm not going to Heaven. Kicking out of the bed, Lily found her pile of clothes on the floor and pulled then on. Tears filled her eyes as she wondered how she would ever go on after this.
"Lils?" Lily froze, her hand on the doorknob. "Is that you?" Slowly, Lily turned on the spot to face Teddy. His messed up hair, its usual turquoise, caught her eye.
"Yeah," she whispered, thought she wasn't sure why she didn't get the heck out of there. Oh, yeah, because she still loved him.
"Where are you going?"
"I've got to get ready for the wedding," answered Lily quietly. Teddy stared at her for a long time.
"It is you," he said. "I wasn't sure." Lily blinked, stung. Was she not special or something? How many girls had he shagged before her?
"What do you mean?" breathed Lily. Teddy chuckled lightly.
"You're good," he replied. Lily's felt the heat rise to her face. "It's weird…but I like it. No…I love it. I love you."
"No, you don't," sighed Lily. "You love Victoire. You married her."
"Lily." Teddy stared at her in exasperation. "We were drunk and staggering. Both of us."
"But you stayed with her…" Teddy shrugged. "And plus…you were drunk last night." Lily turned back to open the door, ready to run out and avoid him and this conversation altogether. She would go to Dominique's wedding. She would pray until she was sure that she would go to Heaven. She would forget about Teddy.
"No I wasn't."
Lily stopped.
"Wh…what?" she gasped, whipping around so fast that her auburn hair flapped around her face, leaving her scrambling to smooth it down. Teddy beckoned for her to sit next to him, and she reluctantly did, glad that the sheets were covering him. She didn't want to be reminded of her sin.
"I wasn't drunk, Lily. I was drunk when I married Victoire. We're filing a divorce as soon as we can, I swear."
"Really?" The word seemed childish when Lily said it, but she knew that it was something she had to say. Teddy took her hand, smoothing his fingers ever so gently over hers.
"Really," he whispered, and pulled her in to kiss her, hard. Lily gasped against his lips before she could respond, but when she did, she forced upon him all the pain and jealousy he had put on her over the past years. In that kiss, she let go of all her doubts, of all her insecurities…even about making it to Heaven. Because when Lily thought about it, she didn't need Heaven.
Teddy Remus Lupin was her heaven.
Elsi: Sorry if you didn't like it. I wrote it on the way to and from a friend's house.
Trek: Well, we hope you like it, but if you didn't, there's no need to tell us that.
Elsi: You CAN tell us what advice you can give me! You CAN tell me what you liked about it! You CANNOT flame me!
Trek: Yeah. So. Anyways. Sorry if there's no second chapter this week. That's Elsi, unprepared as usual. Blame her.
Elsi: Thank you, Trek. Annoying imaginary friend.
