Disclaimer: I'm running out of ideas for semi-clever disclaimers. So here my final one is:
If I was J.K. Rowling and had spent seventeen years writing incredible stories which are some of the finest tales this century while simultaneously going to press conferences, being interviewed, and getting bombarded with fan mail, all in the name of Harry Potter while being a single Mum, getting married, and having two more children, and was finally done after almost two decades, do you really think I'd spend my days writing Harry Potter fanfiction?
Love and Broomsticks in the Air
Teddy stared blankly at the plate full of scrambled eggs, kippers, and toast Martin had made up for him. "I can't eat anything." It was the morning of Quidditch tryouts, and he was terrified.
"Don't be ridiculous," Martin told him briskly, digging into his own breakfast of fried eggs, sausages, and tomatoes. "You can always eat. Besides, you'll need your strength. How do you think Barry Ryan would have saved anything if he went off food? Besides, you'll need something to do to look interesting," he added slyly. "Fayza's staring at you again."
Teddy shoved a piece of toast in his mouth without further complaint. Ever since their talk in the Three Broomsticks a week ago, they had both been watching each other with a little less discretion. In fact, they had even walked to Transfiguration holding hands once. Victoire, who had seen them, still wasn't talking to him, although he couldn't figure out why. He had been so happy, these last few weeks, that his hair was still its now-customary lime-green, though it was darkening from his nerves today.
Once he'd finished everything on his plate, which took a surprisingly short time considering Martin's liberal portion sizes, Bridget joined the two boys from where she'd been having breakfast with Keeya. The three walked down to the Quidditch pitch in the weak sunlight.
The Gryffindor Captain, a tall seventh-year Chaser named Matthew Bradley, greeted them as they entered the pitch. "Hi. You're Teddy Lupin, trying out for Keeper?" At Teddy's nod, he made a tick mark on the clipboard he was holding. "And you two aren't trying out? Excellent. Teddy, you can wait on the other side of the pitch. Your friends can go up to the stands if they'd like to watch. Your trial will be right after I choose the Chasers."
Teddy bade Bridget and Martin farewell, trying to ignore his nerves. As he scanned the crowd of Gryffindor hopefuls, he spotted Martha Wood, a stocky, cheerful girl in his year. "Mind if I join you?" he asked, slipping into the line beside her.
"Not at all," she answered. "I'm scared stiff, are you?"
He nodded gratefully. It was nice to know he wasn't the only one. "But you shouldn't be scared. I mean, your Dad played for Puddlemere United! He's probably helped you loads!"
"I don't know if it'll be good enough, though," she said nervously. "I mean, he was a Keeper, not a Beater."
"You'll be fine," Teddy told her firmly. He would have comforted her further, as making other feel less anxious seemed to be therapeutic for him too, but the tryouts started without further ado.
After an hour in which Teddy steadily became more panicked, two Chasers were chosen- a sixth year named Brianna Worthington and a fifth year, Joseph Rennings. The two new members, along with their captain, climbed back on their brooms as the aspiring Keepers made their way onto the field. Teddy was shaking as he held his broom, and wondered wildly if people would believe him if he yelled "FIRE!" and ran away.
"The first test," Bradley called, "is simple. Just fly around the pitch."
As the airborne students complied, Bradley flew beside them, going from one person to the next, occasionally asking someone quietly if they would please get down; they wouldn't be the Keeper. About two thirds of them, though, passed the test, Teddy amongst them. Then, one by one, they flew up to try to save six shots; two from each Chaser.
When Teddy's name was called, he heard a cheer. Looking round, he saw Martin, Bridget, Victoire, Lydia and Fayza all sitting together. He smiled in spite of himself, and mounted his broom.
First, Bradley flew for him, feinting to the left, then throwing to the right. Quick as a flash Teddy zoomed from the centre hoop, grabbing the Quaffle with the tips of his fingers. Next, Worthington flew up. Teddy saved that, too.
And slowly, as he saved goal after goal, his nerves faded away. He was even better than last year, this was fun, he could do this…
At the sound of cheering he woke up from his concentration, looking around confusedly. "Ted-dy! Ted-dy!" the crowd was cheering, and it suddenly struck him; he had saved all six goals. He had made it!
No-one else was able to stop all six shots, and Teddy was made Keeper, as the crowd cheered. Feeling ecstatic, he scampered up the stands to sit next to his friends, all of whom were going wild.
"I knew you could do it, Teddy!" yelled Martin, punching the air. Bridget, Victoire, and Lydia hugged him.
Fayza, though, had not said a word. She turned and looked at him, something foreign and exciting in her bright blue eyes.
"Fayza? Are you okay?" he said uncertainly.
For answer, she leaned forward, past Victoire, and kissed Teddy on the mouth.
Her lips felt good- soft and sweet. She smelled like exotic flowers, and he felt dazed when she sat back, blushing a little.
He faintly heard Victoire mutter something about not wanting to disturb anyone and get up. He closed the distance between Fayza and himself, mesmerized in her eyes.
"Want to go to Hogsmeade next trip with me" he asked quietly, taking her hand.
"Yes." She smiled back, and a dimple appeared in her cheek.
He tried to pay attention to the rest of the tryouts, but he was sitting next to an incredibly beautiful girl, holding her hand and feeling her shoulder against his as she leaned into him; it was understandable he wasn't the most attentive.
"Oi! Lovebirds!" Martin's voice bellowed through Teddy's haze of happiness. He looked up to find his friend standing in front of him. "You've got to go down and have a team meeting now! They just said! Blimey, one kiss and you're brainless!"
"Sod off," Teddy muttered, and Fayza giggled.
"You'd better go now," she said softly. "I'll see you later."
Teddy leaned over to give her another light kiss, and was delighted to find out it gave him the same tingles as the first time. She slipped past him, smiling, as he made his way down to where his teammates were standing.
"Well done," said Bradley, beaming round at them. "You all flew amazingly today. Now, training sessions are on Tuesday evenings from five till seven. Bring your Quidditch gear to every one. I'd really like it if you'd all read 'Quidditch through the Ages' soon. You can borrow it from the library."
"Thanks, Bradley," one of the new beaters, a hulking seventh-year with light brown hair and a wide mouth, named Roy Carter, said cheerily. "Is that all?"
Bradley smiled. "Yes, it is. And I'd much prefer it if you call me Matthew instead."
As the new Gryffindor team turned to go, Martha- who was the other Gryffindor Beater- caught Teddy's eye and smirked, jerking her head back at Matthew. Teddy turned round to see the tall, handsome captain gazing longlingly at the receding outline of his new Seeker, Isla Marks, a slight girl with incredibly long fingers and thick, deep red hair. Teddy turned back to Martha and grinned. Love seemed to be in the air.
The next Hogsmeade weekend occurred on Valentine's Day. Teddy was positively giddy about seeing Fayza again- he'd been so busy with schoolwork and Quidditch he hadn't had much of a chance to be with her. It was even hard nowadays to find time to talk with Victoire, who seemed to be so wrapped up in her schoolwork and friends that she didn't speak to him very much.
He missed her.
"Teddy?" Fayza ventured, as they made their way into Hogsmeade. Teddy looked down at her and smiled.
"Yeah?"
"Do you want to go to Madam Puddifoot's? Just because it's Valentine's Day, and, well, I just thought that maybe-" she broke off, blushing. She was even prettier when she blushed.
"I'd love to," Teddy told her, grinning. Everyone knew that Madam Puddifoot's was the place for couples, and the implications of her asking him to go there with her were nothing if not positive.
His happiness faded slightly when he saw the interior of the small teashop; Madam Puddifoot seemed to like pink a little too much. Every table was covered in lacy pink and white doilies, and cherubs that looked as if they'd seen better days were throwing pink confetti everywhere.
They sat down, Teddy trying not to gape in horror at the surroundings for Fayza's sake. Luckily, the scones, raspberry jam, and clotted cream that they ordered were wonderful.
"I know the decorations might be a bit much," said Fayza, spreading jam on her scone, "But the food is lovely and it's so cosy here."
Teddy gave a non-committal noise through his mouthful.
"So," she continued, tossing her shiny, long black hair over her shoulder and looking up at him with those impossibly bright blue eyes, "How are practices going? You did really well against Slytherin before Christmas break."
In his hurry to answer her, Teddy choked on his scone. After coughing into a napkin, trying to clear his windpipe without disgusting Fayza, he looked up, eyes streaming. "They're going really well," he croaked. "Really well."
Fayza seemed to be trying not to smile.
"Hey!" he said jokingly. "I was just trying to answer you! I nearly died!"
She giggled some more. "Sorry," she said. "It's just… it was really cute."
From anyone else, Teddy would have taken being called 'cute' as an insult to his masculinity. But from Fayza, he was overjoyed. She thought he was cute…
"So, who are you playing next?" she asked him. That was another great thing about Fayza; she loved watching Quidditch, even if she wasn't interested in playing.
"Hufflepuff, I think" Teddy said enthusiastically. "In a month. I'm almost positive they'll win- Ravenclaw's captain is banned from the match next week, and I don't think they'll play very well without her."
"Why is she banned? I hadn't heard."
Teddy felt his face flush. He had been hoping to avoid this question. "Um… well… apparently the Slytherin captain thought he could, er, persuade Quinta to make her team lose, and she jinxed him, and they were both banned from their next games."
"She was banned, too?" asked Fayza in a shocked voice. "But if she was just defending herself from being jinxed-"
"It- well, it wasn't that kind of persuading," said Teddy, a loud kissing noise from the next table helpfully assisting her to understand. She blushed again.
"Oh. I'll bet she didn't like that- isn't Quinta a feminist?"
"Yeah," Teddy said, grateful to be back on safe topics. "Anyway, the Slytherin bloke- I forget his name- was in the Hospital Wing for a couple of days."
Fayza laughed. "I agree with her- that's outrageous!"
"It is," Teddy agreed.
They drank their tea in companionable silence for a few minutes, before Fayza suddenly looked up. "Teddy, I'll understand if you don't want to tell me, but why was Martin so scared, last Hogsmeade trip? Why did he seem so panicked?" She looked around, then added in an undertone, "I just don't think that was the whole story."
Teddy felt torn. He didn't want to get his friends into trouble, but he didn't want Fayza thinking that he had secrets from her, either. They had just gotten together. He didn't want to lose her this soon.
"Listen, Fayza," he began uneasily, "I'm not sure if my friends would want me telling you. I really, really want to, though, so… why don't we go on a walk and see if we find some of the people who were with me? I'm sure Bridget's at the Shrieking Shack, and Martin's probably-"
"He's right there, Teddy. Didn't you see him?" Fayza gestured over to the table where the couple was kissing so loudly. Teddy felt his jaw drop. Martin was snogging a mahogany haired, beautiful Ravenclaw who, Teddy was sure, was a year above them. He had always known Martin was popular with the ladies, but he'd never seen him be so… enthusiastic.
"Maybe we should leave him be," said Teddy, feeling disconcerted.
"An excellent idea," Fayza agreed. "Look, let's find some of the others."
Teddy put some money on the table, physically restrained Fayza from paying for herself, and opened the door for her. Immediately they were outside in the crisp February snow. Fayza shivered and walked closer to Teddy, who immediately put his arm around her. Although he had never found frozenness to be a particularly agreeable sensation, he suddenly found it quite appealing- at least, if he was protecting a girl from it.
They finally found Keeya and Warner outside of Gladrags. Keeya seemed to be going into transports of delight over a set of robes in the display window.
"Hi," Teddy said to both of them. "Er, would you two mind having a word with me?"
Looking curious, the couple followed Teddy as he led them away from the front door of the wizarding clothing shop. Fayza tactfully went inside.
"Fayza wants to know what really happened last Hogsmeade trip" he told them quietly. "She doesn't believe Eira's story- she saw Martin when he fetched me, and Martin was scared. I want to tell her. If she didn't tell the teachers we were in trouble Victoire would have been tortured," he added defensively.
"Well…" said Keeya thoughtfully, tugging on a section of her braided hair in thought, "I think it would be all right. She did help us, and she's very nice, I think. It would be good to have her with us."
Warner nodded in agreement, but added to Teddy, "You do realize that, if you tell her, she'll be involved. We don't know when the Aetenitae will come back, but Eira says they will, and if so she'll be in danger."
Teddy hadn't thought of that, and immediately began mentally cursing himself for not being more careful with Fayza. Why couldn't he have just told her Eira's story was the truth?
Because he didn't want to lie to her, that's why.
Warner clapped him on the shoulder. "Never mind," he said. "It's up to her. Besides, you two are going out, aren't you?"
Teddy felt himself blush. "Not officially," he muttered.
"Well, I find honesty is the best thing," said the older boy, his eyes falling affectionately on the beautiful African girl in front of him. Keeya smiled shyly.
"Right, well, I think I'll tell her," said Teddy, making up his mind on the spot.
Keeya nodded. "I think she's trustworthy. You pick them well," she added, and winked.
Teddy found Fayza browsing the sales rack in Gladrags, and put a hand on her shoulder. "I know you want to know," he said seriously. "But if you do, you could be in danger. And I don't want that."
Fayza looked at him. "I can handle danger," she said. "Please tell me."
Teddy took her hand and led her out of the store, finally stopping at a secluded bench under a weeping birch. The birch was beautiful; every long, graceful branch was iced over, giving it an otherworldly look. He sat down next to Fayza, and began.
When his story was finished, Fayza's tiny, delicate mouth had formed into a perfect circle. Her eyes were wide, and she seemed to be looking for cloaked figures as she gazed around the frozen landscape. "And you came to Hogsmeade again?" she whispered finally. "Oh, Teddy, how could you? What if they see you?"
"It's all right," Teddy told her firmly. "Eira said they wouldn't hurt us today."
"Why do you trust her?"
Fayza's blunt question sent Teddy's brain into overdrive. After a long pause, he finally responded. "When that woman- Eira's Mum- was reading my mind, trying to know if I was hiding something, Eira just- she kind of knocked her mum's mind away from mine. And then she… it was like she locked up my memories, and that evening, when she explained everything to us, she let them out again." He looked at Fayza. "And she truly wants her parents to be well, I think. We've had a couple of meetings, where Eira tells us what they're planning, and it really seems like she knows what she's talking about. It's a chance we have to take, otherwise we'd be floundering around, trying to make sense out of it all."
They sat in silence. Fayza finally put her arms around Teddy and murmured, "Can I come with you to the next meeting?"
"Sure," Teddy said, surprised and happy she was taking this risk. "But- I don't want you getting hurt-"
"Teddy," said Fayza exasperatedly, ceasing to hug Teddy at once, "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself, and anyway, Victoire's in this group and she's two years younger than us."
"But she couldn't help it," Teddy argued. "They kidnapped her, she didn't have a choice, you usually don't when you're-"
"But I do and I'm saying yes," Fayza cut across him. "It's all right. I've always wanted an adventure." She smiled coyly and nestled closer to Teddy. "Besides, I'll be with you."
Teddy looked down at Fayza, at her exotic, dusky skin coupled with her sky blue eyes, and he suddenly felt big, awkward, and extremely unattractive- yet, she wanted to be with him. The question came to his lips without conscious thought- "Can I kiss you?"
Fayza looked pleased. "I think you established a while ago that you could," she teased gently, before adding, "And I've no objection to it happening again."
Teddy leaned forward and placed his lips gently on top of Fayza's. Fayza closed her eyes and kissed him back.
After a bit, though, she pulled away and touched his face affectionately. "We'd best be getting back," she said softly.
"Yeah," said Teddy, feeling tongue tied.
As they departed, neither noticed the black figure which silently emerged from out of the birch.
That evening, all seven of them met in the passage behind the hunch-backed witch- Eira, Victoire, Keeya, Warner, Martin, Bridget, and Teddy. But the whole dynamic had changed.
Teddy had brought Fayza.
"I can't believe," Victoire snarled, "that you didn't even ask us before telling her!"
"I asked Keeya and Warner," said Teddy, hurt. "And they said it was all right! You and Eira weren't even at Hogsmeade! You aren't allowed." he added, hoping it would sting her pride.
"You could have waited until you came back!" Victoire shot back. "Just because you're so in love you're stupid doesn't mean that-"
"Oi!" said Teddy indignantly, "I'm not so in love I'm stupid! Without Fayza you probably would have been tortured! She had a right to know!"
Victoire didn't respond, which most likely meant she didn't have a good comeback, and sat back against the passage wall, huffing in frustration.
"Besides," Fayza spoke up, "I'll do anything to help you all. And I have one question for you, Eira."
The girl in question, who was sitting with her back against the wall and looking slightly bored, raised her head.
"Which would be?"
"Why do you and Mara Dodgins look so similar? She's in your year, you know, in Ravenclaw. She's in the Transfiguration Association, so I see her a lot. And you look like her."
You could practically feel the light of curiosity turning on as everyone stared at Eira, who looked interested. "I don't know. I'll try to find out." Still watching Fayza, as though being shown an interesting specimen of some exotic new plant, she continued. "I think we should all make notes about our run-ins with the Aetenitae and such. We can compare them and analyze their weakness. I am told they are planning to interrogate you over the summer, and my parents will probably try to see you again before, as well. So start the notes soon."
"Extra homework," said Bridget idly, tapping on the stone walls with her fingernails. "Just what we need."
Eira ignored this, and turned to Fayza. "You are welcome back here at our next meeting." Her eyes flicked to Victoire, and Teddy could have sworn he saw a glimmer of amusement in the cold grey eyes. "No matter what Victoire says."
"What-" Victoire began to sputter indignantly, but Eira spoke over her.
"I will try to let you all know when we shall next meet- in other words, as soon as I learn anything new. So for now, keep safe."
She gave them a parting, enigmatic smile, before turning and walking out into the corridors.
"We'd better go," Teddy finally said, trying to ignore the unfathomable glares Victoire was burning into the back of his violently neon-green head. "It's after hours."
"Yes," Fayza agreed softly. "Well… good night, everyone." As she got up, Teddy seized her hand on an impulse and grazed his lips against it. She smiled down at him.
"Oh, my chivalrous Gryffindor," she said laughingly.
"Oh, my sweet Hufflepuff," Teddy called after her.
He was still smiling about their exchange as he went to bed.
Meanwhile, in the girl's dormitories, a small, achingly lovely girl cried herself to sleep.
A/N- Wow, Teddy's sure being thoughtless, isn't he? But boys will be boys…
I hope everyone enjoyed their ginger/lemon ice cream sandwiches and cherry cheesecake. This time, due to a request from lobocom, you all get pecan pie if you review! So please do!
Next time up- note passing, journal entries, and we finally get to learn Warner's first name! I know that's the real mystery here. ::sarcasm::