Slowly, Louis drifted awake, the fuzziness of sleep leaving him as he blinked at the face in front of him. The man was asleep. The images of the day before drifted to the forefront of Louis' mind.
Teddy Lupin.
The sleeping person in front of his face was Teddy Lupin. His long time crush and friend.
Louis froze, gaze flitting from one area of the man's face to the other, remembering, memorizing, and acknowledging the changes that his long time crush had gone through. There were more worry lines, a few more scars...
As his eyes traveled from scar to scar, Louis wondered how Teddy had come upon them. Was it some wizard that he'd been chasing in his Auror-ly duties, or maybe a tumble from a broom? Why would he keep the scars if he could easily make them go away?
Just then, Teddy's hazel eyes locked onto Louis' startled blue one.
"Morning." Teddy said, the corner of his lip twitching up in amusement as Louis's face colored slightly.
Louis cleared his throat and pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Morning, Teddy..." Since he didn't know what else to say, Louis got up off the bed and headed into the bathroom to get ready. When he came out, Teddy was slightly less disheveled, and smiling slightly at Louis.
"What do you want to do first? Go get something to eat, or go see your family? Your dad knows you were at St. Mungo's, but I don't think your mum knows."
Louis paused just outside the bathroom door, his thoughts going round and round as he contemplated what to do. On the one hand, he was nervous and wanted to put off the meeting for a bit longer. He wanted to brace himself or prepare to face his parents. What if they really didn't want to see him?
But... at the same time... He was nervous and Louis doubted that he would be able to keep anything down.
Louis squared his shoulder. He was a Gryffindor, damn it! He needed to act like it! "Let's go see my parents. Do they still live at Shell Cottage?"
OoOoOoOoOoOo
"Oh, Merlin." Louis took a deep breath as he stood outside the apparition wards of his parents home. He couldn't go in yet, Louis needed a moment. "Oh, damn..."
Scratch that. He should have chosen the breakfast first. That way he could order a firewhiskey. He needed it, Gryffindor bravery be damned.
But the alcohol would more than likely wreck his recovery time. Damn it all.
"Louis, it's going to be fine." Teddy's soft voice brought Louis out of his negative thoughts. Looking up, Louis caught Teddy's warm, honey gold eyes. He couldn't look away, he felt like all those long years faded away, and he was back as a teenager. Back when he'd first gotten his crush on Teddy. "They're waiting for you, and I'll be right next to you."
Slowly, Louis nodded, took a deep breath and stepped onto the path leading up to the door. Louis felt one of Teddy's hands settle on his lower back, keeping him from bolting away. It also helped steady Louis a bit. As they got closer to the door, Louis swallowed hard, his steps getting smaller and smaller as they neared. The pressure from Teddy's hand grew as Louis steps slowed, keeping Louis on track.
Suddenly, the door was wrenched open, and his mother flew out the door, and towards Louis who had frozen mid step at the sudden movement. Fleur Weasley threw her arms around her only son, tears were streaming down her pretty face. It seemed like she hadn't aged a bit from what Louis had seen before she had burrowed her face into his chest. He could smell honey and jasmine, and it was the same perfume she used to wear when he was a teenager.
A bit hesitantly, Louis brought his arms up and around her slender frame. He could feel her body shake as the sobs escaped. A pang of regret went through Louis as he listened to his mother's cries. Now, more than ever, he regretted not staying. And he was glad that Teddy made sure he didn't run away again.
After a few moments, Louis could head mumbled words coming from his mother. He couldn't understand them at first but when he could, his arms tightened around his mother.
"My baby, my Louis. You're back, you're back!"
Fleur kept repeating the words, and Louis could feel his eyes watering, tears falling down his face. He gently kissed the top of his mother's head.
That was when his father, Bill, came into view. Louis looked up at him and saw that he too had tears in his eyes as he was smiled at Louis.
"It's good to see you, son. I'm glad you came." Bill said, before wrapping his arms around both Louis and Fleur.
"I'm sorry." Louis whispered, feeling sad but also feeling happy.
Vaguely, Louis noticed that Teddy had gone into the cottage when his mother had first hugged him, leaving him alone with his parents. And he found that he didn't mind.
"We will never reject you, Louis. Never. As your parents, we will always love you. Always, no matter what." Bill said quietly, his voice cracking a little from the emotion. "I'm sorry our lack of reaction made you think that we didn't love you. We do, it doesn't matter to us who you like as long as they treat you with love and respect."
Louis nodded, not able to respond. He had to clear his throat, but other than that, Louis didn't say anything else. He was content a happy just being with his parents again. Even though he had told himself he didn't miss them... he had.
"W'ere 'ave you been?" Fleur murmured, finally breaking away from the hug, though she still left her hands on his arms, seemingly to reassure herself that he was there and that he was real. That he wasn't a dream. "We've missed you and 'ave been so worried about you..." Gently, she reached up to his face and traced the darkened areas that stood out on his pale skin. "Are you alright? 'ho did this to you?"
At the soft touch, Louis dropped his gaze. At her questions, the feelings of embarrassment and shame crept up on him. He didn't want to talk about his mistakes. About Roy. About what an idiot he was, and how badly he'd messed up his life.
But looking at his mother and father, Louis knew that he would have to. Especially with Roy still out there looking for him.
That was something Louis had learned. No matter how much Louis had wanted him to, Roy never left him alone. He'd proved that a couple of day's ago, after all.
His mother seemed to sense Louis' hesitation, because he took his hand and led him towards the house. "We'll talk later then. Come inside. 'ave you and Teddy eaten? Are you 'ungry?"
Louis let his mother pull him towards the door, his father not even a step behind her. "We didn't eat yet. I decided to come here first... Are Victoire and Dominique here?"
Bill was the one that answered after a few seconds. "No, we thought it would be better to just be your mother and I for now. We didn't think you'd want to be overwhelmed." Bill patted Louis on the back just before going through the door.
Louis felt his shoulders loosen slightly. He'd thought the whole family would be gathered to see him. He knew he would see them all, and he didn't mind that. He was just glad that he wouldn't have to answer their questions just yet. Even then, Louis didn't feel the need to tell everyone everything. Eventually, he would.
"I made a little bit of everything." Fleur smiled as they entered the kitchen and she greeted Teddy, whom she had semi-ignored in favor of hugging Louis. " 'elp yourselves."
Teddy already had a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast in front of him. Louis followed his lead, grabbing a bowl and putting some porridge in it. His stomach wouldn't be able handle much else for a few days.
After sitting next to Teddy, Louis ate a few spoonfuls of porridge and watched as his parents and Teddy talked to each other.
Louis didn't really participate, though he noticed the way Teddy would look at him when he thought Louis wasn't looking. His parents would do the same thing. They had a harder time hiding their worry and concern.
After that, Louis didn't really feel like eating so he took just a few more spoonfuls before pushing the rest of his porridge away. The others seemed to take that as a sign because they all turned towards him and Louis knew that the interrogation would begin.
Maybe he should have kept eating, or at least pretended to.
"Before anything else..." Bill spoke first, keeping his eyes locked on Louis. "What we said outside is how we will always feel. Never think otherwise."
Again, the only thing Louis could do was nod. His mother sat next to him, and took one of his hands in hers. "Where did you go? What were you doing?" The rest of her questions weren't asked out loud, but Louis could still see them in her eyes.
Louis swallowed and glanced over at Teddy who gave him an encouraging smile. He turned back towards his parents and began. "At first, I just kept moving. I stayed in the muggle world for most of the time. Eventually, I came across this small town. It was peaceful and quiet. I found a job in one of the pubs. I tried to keep busy."
This was where Louis dropped his gaze, keeping it lock on the hand his mother held gently. "I met a muggle one night. It was late, and since it was the middle of the week, the pub was pretty empty." Louis' voice drifted as he thought back to when he'd first met Roy. "He was charming, and he made me feel... wanted. Special. For a while, we were happy. I was happy. But he started to change... It was little things here and there. I used to brush them away, think I was over reacting or over thinking them... And eventually, things escalated."
Here, all three pairs of eyes that had been watching him widened in shock. Louis' mother looked like she was ready to find Roy and hex him.
"I left him. I was never planning on seeing him again. I didn't tell him I was leaving, I just left. I... I thought I would never see him ever again. But he always found me. Sometimes it took weeks, months even, but he always found me." Louis took another deep breath, his jaw clenching. He was lost in the memories of the past week. "This time was the longest I'd been able to loose him. He only found me a few days ago while I was working. I don't know how, but he did. I ignored him, though. I didn't think he would do anything. But I was wrong... I'm guessing you found me, Teddy?" Louis looked up at the horrified Auror. There was more things that Roy had done, but in no way was Louis going to talk about those to his mother or father. "Thank you... I don't know what else Roy would have done."
Teddy reached over and placed his hand on Louis' shoulder. "I'm sorry..."
Louis blinking at him, not understanding the apology, nor the reason for it. "You're sorry...? What for..?"
"I... I had been looking for you, and I found you... I didn't tell you who I was though..." Teddy closed his eyes, before his face started morphing into someone else's. Someone that Louis recognized as the man he had been flirting with at the pub and his run. The one that had Teddy's eyes.
Louis couldn't help but gap in surprise at the face that was before him. But the sadness on it clicked in his mind and Louis shook his head. "You don't need to be, Teddy. You didn't know that that would happen. If had known it was you, I'd probably had run again... So you have nothing to apologise for."
Teddy's face went back to normal, but a look of doubt was still on it. "Maybe it would have been better... Roy wouldn't have found you if you'd run..."
"No." Louis cut off that train of thinking. "Roy will keep on following after me, not matter what. I thought he was a muggle, but he isn't. I never knew that before. I always wondered how and why I could have stayed with him for so long... When I found out he was a wizard, it all made sense. Roy is obsessed, and he won't ever stop."
"This… Roy is the one that attacked you...?" Louis' mother cut in, looking angry. "What happened to him? There's something you're not telling me?"
Bill and Teddy flushed, looking away from her. Louis wrapped his other hand around both of hers and brought them up to his lips, kissing them softly. "Roy... did some pretty bad things, mother. He got away, but I'm positive that the Aurors are already looking for him."
Fleur wilted, and then she wrapped her arms around Louis again. Louis returned the hug, glad that she had dropped the subject again.
Louis saw the look that Teddy sent him and he closed his eyes slightly before nodding. He would tell Teddy everything he knew in order to catch Roy.
But that could wait.
OoOoOoOoOo
"There he is!" A voice broke through the kitchen. A head of raven hair, and another of platinum blond rushed through the doorway, and (gently)tackled Louis. "You look like shit, why'd you leave St. Mungo's against the Healers orders, huh?"
The clatter of a tea cup hitting the table made Louis want to groan.
"Against the Healer's orders?!" Fleur cried in outrage, eyes narrowing at her only son.
"Umm..." Albus stuttered, face flushing slightly in panic.
"Yes, that is to say... We were just kidding..?" Scorpius tried to rescue the situation that was rapidly going downhill.
A song began to play just then, making everyone turn to stared at Louis. It was coming from him, or more specifically, his pocket. Louis raised an eyebrow, face a bit red from his choice of song. He would have thought muggle signals would have been blocked there.
Quickly, he reached into his pocket and fished out his cell phone.
"Shit! I completely forgot!" Louis cursed when he saw his boss' number. "She's going to slaughter me!"
A bit fearfully, Louis answered the phone. "Hello..?"
"Where in the world are you?! Three days,Louis! Three! I was getting ready to call the police!"
"I'm sorry!" Louis cringed. "I was in the hospital and my battery was dead. I'm so sorry!"
"The hospital?! Oh my God! Are you okay?! I'm so sorry I yelled at you!"
A/N: Thank you for reading! It took me a while to get it right, but I hope you like it! I was rereading my first few chapters and I was cringing so bad. I'm going to go through it and edit/add things. Not sure when, but I'm gonna do it. It's a wonder that you guys even read it lol.
Thank you Rainbow dash for kicking me into writing it sooner! Your reviews made me cheer and feel bad at the same time xD.
Again, thank you HP1990! Very happy to see your review!
