For PhoenixPixie, who's "forever bitchface" comment made us both laugh XD
And for IsabelEmyrs (sp?) whose 'albus needs to go back through the wardrobe now' review- You two are amazing. XD
Also, to the anon Croweh - Yeah, I know Hugo was born after Rose. But James, in canon, is much younger than Teddy. We bumped up their ages a little to suit us and, other than that, try to keep with the canon. Our next gen is just a little wild with ages XD
And WOW, loves. Honestly, I just... I have to say something really quick.
Me and Syl honestly, would not be here right now without you all. This story never would have happened, and our original work Wingardium Leviosa would have most likely ended before chapter five if we hadn't decided to post it to FF.
When I asked Syl, I was so happy she said yes, and that was the catalyst from there. I've found an amazing writing partner, and we've created something that... Well, that's amazing in general, and has helped me better my writing, and get my kick-arse-start in my new novel, and maybe even helped Syl a little~ Who knows.
Wingardium Leviosa has been up since Harry Potter's birthday; July 31, and to this date (Oct, 10) it has received almost as many views as it has words. We have now reached 138,000 views and 540 reviews, a sequel, a oneshot, and so many amazing followers, so I just really want to take this moment to say thank you for all that you guys do for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
And enjoy Aresto Momentum chapter 10, Jelly Slugs.
Teddy was late for work. He knew, could sense it in that inexplicable way that always told him where to turn next, but he really didn't care. He felt rested, though he and Alexander couldn't have gotten more than a handful of hours and not all in a row either. Again and again they'd turned to one another in the night, unable to settle, unable to resist. Even when hands had become restless and the kisses demanding, there had been something new, something different.
Damned if he didn't want to lose that yet, that peace. He could afford to be late a day. He couldn't afford to not have Alexander for himself in the warm glow of morning.
He reached out a hand, didn't have to go far as the bloke was curled against him. Their legs were entangled, bodies close. As Teddy rolled Alex over, warm breath blew over his shoulder. Darling. He was absolutely darling.
So, smiling, Teddy lowered his mouth to kiss-swollen lips and busied his hands, brushing them down the long, lean torso, enticing and coaxing Alexander out of his dreams and into a pleasurable reality.
A small whine escaped through Alex's lips as the painter rolled over to press his body flush against the length of Teddy's side. His eyes stayed firmly closed, lips pursed in a small, tired pout.
"Once more," Teddy murmured, a laugh in his voice. He couldn't remember ever feeling so silly, so carefree with a lover before. It was Alexander. Everything was. He rubbed his body against the younger man's sinuously, his kiss becoming nipping teases. "Just once more, love, and I'll let you sleep."
The painter groaned quietly, his body slowly awakening from the catacombs of exhausted sleep, his brain dragging behind as lights slowly appearing behind his eyelids. "T-Ted...?"
"Alexander," Teddy breathed, mouth trailing lower. Along the column of his throat, the curve of his shoulder, teasingly over his chest. He had a wiry build, but there was a strength that surprised and enticed.
Alex moaned shakily, body arching against Teddy's, his cock jumping between his legs. "W-What're you...?"
"Tasting you." His tongue lapped warmly, body slipping still lower. "Touching you." Fingers stroked over lean thighs.
"Teddy..." Alex was fully awake, his body jolting up in an almost painful arch.
Teddy let his teeth graze the skin low on his lover's belly, tongue lapping teasingly. His breath ghosted over Alexander's length - long and slender and delightfully straight. Teddy eyed it greedily, only allowing his tongue one, slow glide over the head.
His body jumped, almost violently, a pleading cry escaping his lips as his hands clenched at the seductively smooth satin sheets at his sides. "Teddy! Oh, fuck! S'il vous plaît, s'il vous plaît, s'il vous plaît!"
"Please what?" Teddy asked, though he knew. He settled his lips around the crown, suckled eagerly, tongue dipping into the little slit so he didn't miss a taste.
Breath hitched in Alex's throat, body warming against the onslaught of pleasure that began tingling at his veins, he was hopelessly; so willingly hopeless as he asked for what he wanted, so openly asked. He never had to beg, or plead- Whatever he asked, his lover was more than happy to grant.
And so he granted now, head sinking lower, tongue lapping firmer at that sensitive skin. He took him deep on a moan, eyes fluttering shut as he let himself enjoy the sounds his beautiful Alexander made, the long-fingered hands buried in his hair.
Fingers dug against gorgeous russet-hued locks, a lithe body arched and Alexander's body begged for the words he couldn't utter. "S'il vous plaît, Teddy! Please!" Fuck work, Alexander reminded himself, if he didn't have Teddy in that moment, the painter thought he very well might of started crying. His body was too warm, his heart too fast, his lover too... too... "Fuck!"
Panting, Teddy drew back, slicked his tongue up quickly as spells were muttered, hips were lifted. He crushed his lips down onto Alex's and buried himself to the hilt within that tight, now achingly familiar heat.
Alex let out something near an animalistic howl, body reacting to the blissed intrusion immediately. Snapping his hips up, Alex lifted his hands to claw at Teddy's back, leaving burning red welts in their wake as his lover started quickly on a back-breaking thrust.
He couldn't breathe, so he stopped trying. He couldn't focus on anything but the body beneath his, against his, surrounding his. He didn't want to. He didn't want there to be anything but him and Alex for this desperate mating, so there wasn't. He captured Alex's lips, kissing him until his lungs burned with need for air, and dragged in his lover's scent.
Chanting his lover's name like a mantra, Alex took what he got and demanded more. Clawing at beautifully marred, pale skin, clenching down against the aching length pounding against his insides, lips parted as breaths were dragged greedily into begging lungs, Alexander demanded more, faster, harder- More. All. Teddy. He wanted the Hit Wizard, inside and out- He wanted to own him, make the elder male his own; like a watermark against an expensive painting.
Teddy cried out, teetering on the edge. "Alex!" With a broken sound, he crushed his lips back down, poured himself into the kiss as his hips kicked up their already brutal pacing.
Alex lifted his legs, wrapping them around a deliciously lean waist and dragging Teddy just that much deeper inside him as his torso flopped down listlessly against the sweat-soaked sheets. "Teddy." Something burned in Alex's eyes, something so much deeper than Teddy knew, something that scared him.
Something in him snapped or recoiled - Teddy couldn't be sure - but he did know he was lost. Completely and utterly lost. "All yours." The words were heated, his hands digging into Alex's hips hard enough to bruise. "I'm all yours." His heart may as well have tumbled out of his chest and right into Alex's hand. "Alexander," he groaned.
Lifting his head with a small, aching groan, as if the movement was too much for his pleasure-burning body, Alex sunk his teeth down against Teddy's shoulder. "Mine."
He couldn't take it. The night, the emotional highs, the light in Alex's eyes as he claimed him - Teddy couldn't take it. On a strangled sound, mind reeling and heart trembling, Teddy plunged deep and let himself go.
Alex's body snapped up as warmth pooled inside him, his own orgasm ripping through him like a pulled tooth, white-hot pleasure bursting behind his eyelids and curling at his toes. "F-Fuck! Teddy!"
He choked on air as he came down from it, expression dazed. Never. Absolutely never had he released first. But he had and now felt weak as a newborn kitten. He knew he was quite possibly crushing Alex, but he couldn't drum up the energy to roll over. "Alexander," he whispered and it was all he had.
Alexander was limp against the sheets, body sagged, heart racing with something... Something. "Mm? W'ut, love?" His tongue felt like cotton in his mouth as fingers moved deftly over the sweat-slicked sides above him.
The words nearly spilled then, but couldn't be drummed up. Forget late; he wasn't going in until lunch. He was staying right here with Alexander, staying right beside the gorgeous young painter who owned all that he was and all that he had. He felt a frisson of fear and cuddled closer. What did you do to me, Zabini? What in Merlin's name did you do?
Pushing Teddy off with a small, girl-ish whine, Alex collapsed atop the Hit Wizard's chest with a small breath of bliss, snuggling closer almost instantly, body dragging behind like a contented weight. "Extraordinaire, mon belle amour..."
He lifted heavy arms, settled them around the younger man with a sound of contentment. Whatever he'd done could be thought on, dealt with, when they were further apart and every breath wasn't filled with him. He thought for a moment, searched for the word he wanted. "Précieux."
"Oui, oui," Alex chuckled quietly, body fitting into every curve and crevice of Teddy's as warm, kiss-swollen lips traced lean muscles and a beautifully delicious neck. "Mon petit précieux, Teddy."
He pieced through the words, mind still a haze, and smiled slowly as the kisses warmed him. "Alexander, you're so bloody cute."
"Non, non, non," Alex chuckled, body sagging helplessly against his lover's. "That ees you, my love. I'm just along for ze ride."
Teddy adored the way his accent would thicken when he was tired... or sated. He skimmed his fingertips up and down Alex's back in a mildly possessive move, a pleased hum escaping. "You're adorable then."
"Mm, fine." Alex pressed a warm, loving kiss to the swollen, red mark against his lover's shoulder. "If I am so adorable, zen you are amazing, non?" His words were beginning to slur, his eyes drifting shut. Waking up? Perfect. Alex just hoped the rest of the day would stay that way.
Just until lunch, Teddy promised himself, winding his internal clock even as his eyes closed. "I'll be amazing s'long as you're with me," he mumbled.
Snuggling that much closer, close enough to press his lips against the pulse in Teddy's neck, Alex mumbled quietly, his words holding something in them that sent Teddy's heart into a twist. "I'll never leave. You're mine, Teddy. And I am yours."
-8-8-
He missed his self-imposed deadline. Holding onto the straps of the Ministry elevator loosely, Teddy wondered if he just shouldn't have skipped the entire day and just stayed in bed with Alexander. He'd been sorely tempted, particularly when disappointment had flickered in those golden eyes when Teddy had awakened him, fully-clothed already, with words of parting on his tongue.
Desk duty, he'd reminded his young lover and had promised to be home to him soon. But then, of course, Alex had dragged him down and his attempts at being able to flee were dashed. His shirt was rumpled. The stray observation had Teddy's lips curving. He'd made a deviant of the innocent and damned if he wasn't proud of himself for it even as he was awed by the depths of Alexander's desire for him.
"I'll never leave."
He'd sounded so sure... Half-asleep, thickly accented, and slurred. But so certain. He closed his eyes, let the promise wash over him, and nearly missed the conversation going on ahead of him.
"-Potter threw him in jail for good years ago. Didn't he kill some woman?"
The other witch waved her hand airily. "Her unborn child, I believe. But she was one of them too, so perhaps she deserved it."
"Oh, hush, Romilda. If you speak about them like that around the Head Auror, he'll have your job. He married one of them."
The other woman, dark hair tumbling down her back in waves, sniffed. "If I didn't know that Harry Potter was immune to love potions, I'd believe Draco Malfoy was slipping some in his husband's tea."
The first witch, her hair cut short, the color a vibrant red, chuckled. "Just because he didn't fall head over heels for you at Hogwarts doesn't mean he's immune. Maybe he never ate those chocolates."
"Of course he did. What human resists chocolates?" Romilda tossed her hair; Teddy resisted the childish urge to yank it. "Regardless, that still doesn't change things. He's still married to an old Death Eater and he has those four boys." She shuddered. "One of them was born to a werewolf. Can you imagine? I would never let something like that in my family."
"Oh, Romilda, you're so ghastly!" And both women laughed while Teddy felt his stomach roll. "Anyway, dear, we're almost at my floor. You did say it's Nott who's being released?"
"Theodore," Romilda confirmed. "And even now the Boy-Who-Lived is before the Wizengamot, demanding the sentence not be altered. Why marry a Death Eater if you insist another should be put behind bars? They are all the same, those nasty people."
"Too right," the other agreed and the elevator jerked to a stop. The witch stepped off, leaving Teddy alone with Romilda. He leaned forward from his corner to change the floor he wanted. It looked like he'd be making a stop in the court rooms. Because there was no way in hell he was letting Theodore Nott out of Azkaban if papa's words didn't stop it.
He also got the pleasure of watching the witch's eyes go wide with recognition. How could she not know him, after all? He'd grown up with his face in the papers. He flashed her a dark grin, fangs having sprouted, eyes having gone as dark as night. "What don't you want in your family?" he growled and she slapped the emergency stop so fast, Teddy's little metamorphmagic transformation almost reversed itself. She stole out of the elevator and Teddy rode the rest of the way in silence.
If they let that bastard out, what would he tell Alex?
-8-8-
"Members of the Wizengamot, please listen!" Harry called out quietly, trying to silence the disarray, the outcry from the witches and wizards in the stands.
Teddy slipped in amongst it all, dropped beside a sandy-haired wizard fumbling with an old camera. He looked pretty lost and out of it to be a reporter, Teddy mused, and then it clicked. Oh, right, this was Fin. He'd met the bloke just the other day at his parents' home. He hadn't seemed quite so lost then, though the way he'd looked at Albus...
"Hi," he said quietly as Harry planted his feet and tossed his head arrogantly. His hair settled to his advantage, bangs parting and scar showing. He wouldn't mention it, Teddy knew, what he'd done, who he was. But he'd learned symbols. The Ministry loved their symbols and the Chosen One was their best. His voice boomed out and Teddy couldn't help but smile. If anyone could overturn this, his papa could.
He nodded his head to the wizard in a large chair in the center of the room. Dark hair was just a little too long, teasing the collar of his robes, but it set off a touch of danger that Teddy knew could be irresistible. It didn't help that the man was honestly gorgeous, as old as his damn fathers and imprisoned about half his life, but he carried an arrogance about him...
"So that's Nott," he murmured and anger boiled under his skin.
"Mm? Oh, hello Teddy." Fin nodded towards the oldest Potter-Malfoy child and lifted his camera, took a click and a picture and placed it back down against the straps on his chest. "Yeah, that's Nott. Right bastard 'e is, came in all seductive and arrogant. 'arry took one look at 'em and sneered. Think it made Nott's blood run cold, though 'e didn't show it."
"He wouldn't," Teddy grumbled. He'd seen enough men like this in his work that he knew what to expect. "Think he should stay in or get out?"
"Stay in, obvio'sly. If it wasn't for the fact that I knew your father," Fin blushed, ducking his head, And your brother..."I-I mean, Head Auror, but- W-What I mean is- I-" He cursed silently, choosing to be quiet before he made an even bigger fool of himself.
Teddy shrugged. "Don't tiptoe around it. I'm not big on labels and you've eaten with my family more than once. You're perfectly in your right to call him Harry." He drummed his fingers over his knee, listened quietly as a Wizengamot member attempted to shoot down his papa's arguments, only to have them tossed right back into his face. "But yeah, he needs to stay in."
Fin clicked a few more photos, anger seething, bubbling in his chest. The Wizengamot just didn't listen did they?
"Members, listen!" Harry tried to quiet down the overly loud room, tried to gain order. Being Head Auror was bullshit to them.
Teddy could feel the anger simmering beside him; more, he could smell it. The words of the woman in the elevator had him twitch a little bit. Werewolf blood... He didn't change every full moon, damn it, he just had... senses. That wasn't a bad thing.
Did Alexander understand that he was in a relationship with the child of a werewolf?
His hands curled into tight fists. "Maybe papa'll give you an interview after he wins this," Teddy murmured, gaze burning into the man on trial. He had to believe his father would win. "It'd give you an edge over the rest of them." He didn't notice the looks other nearby reporters shot their way, but he could feel something like jealousy, spite.
"M-maybe," Fin blushed in embarrassment. Shite, Teddy shouldn't have said that... Now I'm going to get even more shite for being away and using my "away" time for pleasure.
He looked over, studying Fin carefully. "You are here to work, aren't you? I thought the Prophet would want Harry Potter's statement."
"I-I... Um..." Fin flinched under the analyzing glance. "I-I'm not allowed t-to do headlining stories... T-They'll just go to..." He swallowed harshly. "T-To someone else."
Teddy tilted his head to the side, considered. "But Al says you're great." He'd been moody, Teddy recalled, over dinner at their parents' the night before. Moody and just a little sharp-tongued and then fidgety and apologetic for every snap. "And if papa won't talk to anyone else - and when has he ever? - then they don't have any choice but to give it to you."
The heterochromic sighed quietly over the loud chatter of reporters and viewers. "They'd let me do it.. But..." He shrugged flippantly, fingers deftly picking at the old, raggedy camera in his worn, calloused hands. "Then they'd just give my work to someone else, let them take a spin a' it, put their name on it and.. B-Bam. Instant headlining story."
Teddy thought of that for a moment, gazing at the Wizengamot officials, gauging their reactions to the great Harry Potter's speech. It was so funny to think of him that way, so odd. He knew what he'd done. What child in the Wizarding world hadn't been told the tale of Harry Potter and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Voldemort ran more easily off their tongues when it needed to and, for papa, the name Tom Riddle was interchangeable with it.
They were slowly leaning towards papa's view of things and, while Teddy took a moment to listen, he heard some of his dad in what he was saying. Teddy's lips twitched. Of course papa would've talked to dad about this, probably the moment he'd heard about the imminent release. By Merlin's beard, they were a solid unit.
He looked back to Fin and spoke quietly under the din. "Al says you're great," he repeated. "If he thinks that, papa would agree to talk to you. Only to you. Only have the story by you. Whether or not you're allowed to have them, no one at the Prophet is going to be stupid enough to turn down my papa's name. Particularly since his interviews are consistently handled by The Quibbler."
Fin blushed at the warm compliment. Did Albus really say that about him? "I-I... I guess..-"
"Mr. Potter, if you- Objection! Silence, please!" A large banging resonated throughout the courtroom, silencing its occupants, the Wizard over-seeing the hearing glaring around with a sneer and an up-turned nose.
Harry folded his arms, eyes glittering behind his lenses. He cast a glance Nott's way, not even bothering to sneer. He thought of Pansy, how Draco was even now with her and Blaise, assuring them that even if Nott was released he wouldn't be able to go anywhere near them. He thought of the extra work if he was released. For himself, for the Aurors he would have to place on his tail. A man like Theodore Nott didn't change his ways. He had learned that from experiences that seemed childish and foolhardy to him now, with over a decade of marriage under his belt.
He flicked his gaze up to the member leading the trial, the snarl twitching at his lips. "There's nothing for you to object to but the release of this Dark Wizard." The label had the whispers rising behind him and Harry listened with a careful ear to make sure they were on his side. They seemed to be. "And it's Auror. Auror Potter-Malfoy. You shouldn't confuse your scribe there with incorrect titles."
Teddy's lips twitched and he leaned back in his seat. He couldn't wait to tell Alex about this.
The Wizengamot official bristled agitatedly. "Mr. Potter- H-How dare-?"
Fin held his camera up at the ready, expression turning to one of pure confidence and concentration. Not his usual dewy, embarrassed eyes and shaky, but warm smiles.
Watching him, Teddy decided that he couldn't wait to tell Albus too. His mentions of Fin had been brief and always accompanied by a guilty sigh. He nodded slightly, deciding that he'd do him a favor and get papa to talk to him.
"If you cannot see fit to get my last name correct, I shall have my husband come in and do it for me," Harry snapped. "I have earned my title of Head Auror and expect to be addressed as such. Just as I expect the respect of having my name spoken correctly."
Teddy's lips twitched, the smile irresistible. "And he'll do it," he mused. "He'll have dad in here all regal and so obviously above all of these goings-on, and they'll fight this together and win in a finger-snap. They're one hell of a team, one perfect unit..." He spoke more to himself than to Fin now. "Together even when they're apart. Incredible, that bond."
Fin's camera click away as other journalists scratched down on fancy notebooks with beautifully plumed quills. Fin... Well, Fin's notebook was done, each page used, front, back, margin line and spiral. "They're something, aren't they?" The photographer knew, he had seen them firsthand. Small glances, secret smiles, Harry- Mr. Potter-Malfoy, he chastised himself- tucking long strands of hair behind his husband's ear, placing a small kiss against his lips, affectionate touches as often as they could fit them in. It was as if the two adults had not had almost two decades of marriage under their belt, but it was so beautiful nonetheless. Fin's camera stilled in front of his face as there was a lull in conversation. What he... What he wouldn't give to have that. Something that... Something so beautiful, so whole... S-So real.
"They are something," Teddy quietly agreed. "An enviable something." His father made a sweeping gesture towards Nott, rattled off something about his inability to reform as had been demonstrated by previous releases. His age would not slow him.
"We have Aurors well into their fifties who still go into the field, still bring in criminals. And oftentimes those criminals are as old or even older. A few years in Azkaban wouldn't have dulled his criminalistic mind."
"Mr..." The wizard paused for a moment, adjusting the collar of his long, black robe. "Mr. Potter-Malfoy, you must also see to the fact that Theodore Nott has not committed any crimes while behind Azkaban's doors, nor has he-"
"Auror," Harry interrupted, eyes flashing. The air around him visibly sizzled; Teddy's grin was all pride. "Head Auror. And Theodore Nott was my arrest, Auror Weasley's arrest, Auror Finnigan's, and I can and will go on if necessary. As for him not committing crimes in Azkaban, I ask you what crime he could have committed. I also ask how you know whether or not he has. Were prisoners he came into contact with interviewed?
"Yes," he continued. "And none would recommend him for leave. I can understand the need for room in our strongest prison, but I do suggest releasing someone without multiple arrests, without a life sentence. Without the murder of his own unborn child on his record." The witches among the Wizengamot reacted to the last, one sitting straighter, two sending horrified, wary looks Nott's way, the fourth bowing her head for a moment. Not enough to sway, but there were some wizards - fathers - who cringed. The combination was enough to sway and Harry let himself feel the bubbles of triumph.
How far he'd come, he thought to himself, from the boy who'd needed Dumbledore's help in a room so much like this one.
"Your dad's amazing, yeah?" Fin mumbled quietly, leaning back away from the railing that separated audience from jury. His camera was almost full for the week, he had to be careful.
"Both of them are, but to watch papa like this..."
"Never happens," a new voice chimed in and James slid snugly into the empty seat on Fin's other side. Brothers communicated silently around Fin, and Teddy angled his head just slightly in acceptance. They weren't letting Fin get out very easily after this.
"No," Teddy agreed. "It does never happen. Papa's always the first to grin, to turn a fight into a joke. It's dad who debates, who'd argue with a post if it offended him somehow."
"Mr. Potter-Malfoy, I understand what you wish to convey, but you also must look at the fact that-"
"The fact nothing." The door to the conference room busted open, thudding against the courtroom wall with a loud, booming bang. "Draco Potter-Malfoy, Potions Masters, representing." The blonde strode in, crisp blue robes that of a seasoned Potions Master, accompanied with a crisp white shirt tucked into dark black trousers held up against lean hips with a tawny leather belt, clean leather loafers shining against his feet. "Alongside my husband, Harry Potter-Malfoy. Head Auror." Striding into the center of the room, Draco nudged his hair off his shoulder and back into line at the nape of his neck with the rest of the tied-back hair, coming to stand in-line with his husband, arms crossing over his chest.
Teddy had to smile, fingers closing around the stone in his pocket. He'd nearly lost it along with his wand on that last mission. "Papa must've called him."
James grinned, thinking of the little stone in his own pocket that reflected the stones all the Potter-Malfoys carried. When the need was there, they'd heat or color. "Yeah."
And down in the center of the room, Harry resisted the urge to reach out and take his husband's hand, ask how Pansy was coping.
Draco flicked a smile in Harry's direction, silver eyes gleaming up at the wizards and witches sitting against their benches. "Witches and wizards of the Wizengamot, I come forth today to accompany my husband in his statement of rejection against the Wizengamot's... proposal," the blonde turned, striding across the courtroom with an... air about him. This wasn't the Draco Malfoy who cowered from the Wizarding World and clung to his sick and dying five year-old son. This was Draco Malfoy-Potter, wealthy and powerful, a wonderful father and a knowledgeable person with enough confidence to boast about. "To release Theodore Nott, whom, if you look at your files and past injunctions, has past transgressions against my husband and myself."
Harry tried not to smile, but he couldn't help it. Godric, his husband was gorgeous when he was fired up. It made his heart stir, knowing that this passionate man was all his. But his smile faded as he looked among the Wizengamot members. They were listening; one seemed to be sweating where he sat, squirming in place. Had this been his idea, then? The reporters and scattering of Ministry workers leaning forward in their seats. He felt the stone in his pocket heat, change shape, and knew James and Teddy were above as well. His spine straightened. He wouldn't let his boys down.
"He is a Dark Wizard and has shown this time and again like his father before him. He will not be stopped by anything but his full sentence." Harry focused his full attention, his full heat on the member who squirmed. "Undermining that sentence is foolish and unjust. And I will not stand idly by and allow this to happen when innocent people will be hurt by him if he is freed."
"Mr. Potter-Malfoy, Mr..." The head wizard flustered awkwardly. "Mr. Potter-Malfoy. If that is all," he looked as if he hoped it was; sweat trickled against his neck and his cheeks were flush with embarrassment, worry Draco supposed. "Then we will delibera-"
"Why're they honestly this... this stupid?" Fin mumbled quietly, camera clicking away for pictures of all the wizards and witches sitting behind the supposed 'Judge.'
James shrugged, amused as Harry again berated the head wizard for neglecting his proper title. He caught sight of the court scribe's smile a moment before it was snuffed and hidden behind a wide quill. "It's politics. There's always stupidity in politics."
Teddy, though, was more suspicious. Why Nott specifically?
Fin nodded, lifting his head up to glance back through his camera. Why was that... No, he just must be fidgeting because he was nervous of the results.
The judges had left the courtroom to go back into some back-room chamber to deliberate, leaving Draco and Harry standing alone, but as one, on the floor, surrounded by tomes of files and yellowing paperwork.
Only now did Harry reach out, take Draco's hand and entwine their fingers. "Is Pansy alright?" he murmured.
Draco's confident smirk did not waver. "She's doing wonderfully, actually. Blaise was good for her. And Alexander is back there as well," he nodded his head to the outside chambers where he had marched through a while before. Lacing their fingers, the taller male tugged Harry forward, pressing their bodies almost flush together. "Give the papers something to talk about, oh great Head Auror?" His Potions Master robes glinted in the dull courtroom light, almost a dark sea-green.
Harry chuckled even as his hand went to the stone. Teddy's own glowed and the mild jerk of his father's head had him rising to see what was outside. He swept out as his parents' lips met, the flashing of cameras instantaneous.
"Alex."
The painter's head jerked up, eyes wide. "O-Oh, Teddy," he glanced back at his mother, entangled in his father's arms, and walked over to his lover.
"I was going to come home and tell you after the verdict." Teddy dragged him close, held on tightly, and ignored the heated stare Blaise Zabini sent his way. "I should've known you'd already be here." He rested his lips over Alexander's, seeking to soothe and to reassure.
"What are you trying to do, love? Reassure moi?" Alexander smirked, fingers drifted down to grab at his lover's hips and drag him that much closer. "No reassurance. Non, non. Everything is perfect." Pansy smiled quietly in her husband's arms. Maybe the Potters weren't so bad. Especially since Draco was now a part of them.
Teddy chuckled, drew him into another kiss, this one warm and amused. "They're deliberating now. Between papa's words and dad's dramatic entrance, I'm betting everything will be perfect."
Alex gave a small chuckle, sighing in something keen to bliss. "You're perfect, did I ever tell you that, mon cher?"
"No, but you don't generally lie to me." Teddy lifted Alexander's hands, brushing his lips over the knuckles. "I have to get back, though. James and I have Fin trapped and we plan to interrogate him. Care to join?" It was a family affair, private amongst the Potter-Malfoys. It was an offer Teddy would've given to no one else and Alexander knew it.
He was really stuck between a... What was it? A rock and a... A... board? Alexander shook his head. "Non, non, amour. I have to stay here with my papa and mama."
Teddy really didn't want to leave him and that was new, painfully so. "I can stay until the verdict. James is wily enough to keep the reporter in place." He brushed his fingertips over the painter's cheek. "If you'd like me to stay."
Pansy and Blaise smiled knowingly. They knew what that look meant.
"I'd love it if you would, Teddy." Alexander sealed their lips with a blissful moan of appreciation as the other's tongue, lips, teeth and taste swept against his mouth.
Teddy pressed him closer, lifting him to his toes. There wasn't much of a height difference, but just that subtle slide had Teddy's stomach tying in knots. He forgot that his parents were there, changed the angle of his head to deepen the kiss further.
Winding his arms tightly around his lover's neck, Alexander lost himself into the kiss with small, encouraging sighs and gentle nudges of his arms to press Teddy closer. His parents watched on with loving amusement. Teddy was something special.
Had it really only been an hour since he'd left Alex, snuggled and sated in bed? It felt like a lifetime. A terrifying lifetime. Was it like this for his parents? Teddy hoped it was, so this could be real. So this could last. It was maddening how much he wanted this to last. "Alexander," he breathed, breaking the kiss only so his lips could glide over his lover's face.
Alex leaned into the touches, breath stuttering, heart pounding. "T-Teddy... I..." I love you. I love you. I love you. His fingers curled tightly into the fabric of his lover's robe.
Teddy breathed it in, could taste the words on his tongue, and shuddered. He was about two seconds from pinning him to the wall and ravaging, so gripped a little tighter, pressed just a little closer and laid his brow on Alex's. "Alexander," he murmured and there was a hint of a whine, a lot of need, and a lot of the love that still got caught in his throat.
Leaning away, Alex dragged a sigh from his own lips, wishing nothing more than to crawl back into his lover's arms and stay. "Teddy, I ca-"
"Alex." Pansy stood quietly, removing herself from Blaise's warm, loving arms and moving slowly over to her son, purple robes flowing gracefully around her. "Alex, dear. Go. We will send word of the verdict as soon as it is made." Unlike her brash, rowdy self from their school days, Pansy Zabini nee' Parkinson was calm, cool and... Well, motherly.
Turning her head to greet Teddy with a calculated smile, Pansy grinned. "You will take care of him, yes?" And oh, so Slytherin.
Teddy looked at her, then back at Alexander, cupped his cheek gently. "No," he murmured, heart quivering. "I think we'll take care of each other."
"Grand." And with a turn of her head, she placed a quick peck against Alex's cheek and leaned up on her toes to place a soft peck against Teddy's chin. "Au revoir." Turning her body completely, Pansy walked back into Blaise's arms, mumbling the only little bits of French she knew; Goodbye and I love you.
Blaise held his wife close and Teddy read the warning message loud and clear before the slight, approving nod came. The metamorphmagus smiled and drew Alexander against him again, content for the moment to just hold on.
And then James sprang out, clueless but grinning. "Back to Azkaban with the bloody bastard!"
Teddy laughed, lifting Alex right off his feet for a delighted, firm kiss.
"Yes! Oui! Really, Jamie?" Alexander chuckled triumphantly, turning his head to see his mother allowing a few tears to slip in joy. They were free! Everything was fine! Oh, maman, papa!
Teddy spun him, grinning widely. "Come on, with papa and dad arguing? Of course he'd stay behind bars!"
James grinned, watching his older brother. Good, he decided. It was a bloody good thing that he and Alexander seemed to be on the right track. Now if Albus would just- "Oh, shite! Fin!" He scrambled back in to make sure the reporter stuck around and Teddy chuckled.
"Forget what I said about James being wily, alright? My little brother is an idiot."
None of them noticed the witch striding out, blonde hair darkening as the Glamour she'd used on it wore off. She walked into the elevator with a huff and retrieved a parchment from her shimmering silver robes. She rolled it up and tied it neatly with a simple purple ribbon.
Abraxas is in homeroom right now, and the show choir just came in with a box to my best friend next to me, said they had a present for him, and one of the show choir girls popped out. XD Thomas screamed and fell on his arse. Best. Homeroom. Ever.
So, dun, dun, duuuuunnnn. What'da ya think? Leave a review!
Anymore CHARACTER QUESTIONS? :D
-Syl and Abraxas.