Chpt. 14 Walk the Line

I don't know why I wrote this quite frankly. I haven't written anything in awhile, but alas here we are!

I guess it'd be a little too late to say sorry, though.

I don't own anything but Teddy/plot.

I can't wait till I get past this sad love part though, it's dragging....

As soon as I saw they were out of sight, and as soon as I got my "Closed" sign up on the door, I sprinted up the stairs to my apartment two at a time. I haven't done that since I got the flu from one of the kids I tailored, left the store early and had to make it to my former flat before Mini Wheats would end up being the new complementary color for the hall carpet. It was incredibly loud then, it was incredibly loud now.

Which is why I did not understand how, once I got into my bedroom, Sirius was asleep on my bed. He normally slept on a cot in my room, a thing he insisted upon even though I was more than willing to give up my own bed. He was my guest, right?

My feelings, though, prevented my manners of waking him up gently. Of all the things he could have done last night and not tell me about, he went up to the castle? He went up to the castle and tried to get into the Gryffindor tower?

Either he was the stupidest man I've ever seen or…no; there is no "or". He is the stupidest man I've ever seen to try to sneak into the most guarded place on this Earth.

Out of habit, Sirius jerked awake clenching his fists ready to fight for his freedom.

Sternly I stood above him, arms crossed, as it began to rain outside.

"Wha-"He began to ask, but I interrupted quickly.

"Care to share why the hell you went up to Hogwarts last night?" I asked.

Sirius sat up rapidly, wide awake. "How did you find out?"

"Remus and Severus just came here to ask me if I've seen you! Of course I lied, I'm not stupid" I added to calm his worried expression off his face. I don't know why, I'm supposed to be angry at him…"But it's the principal! Remus was my friend, my friend, and I lied to him! About something that caught me so off guard I was prepared to puke on them right then and there!"

"Since when has Remus not been my friend?" He said with enough anger to match mine. "Since when have you spent 13 years as a prisoner with the knowledge that everyone has turned their back on you?"

I went speechless, trying to find my words.

"That's right, you haven't. And you probably never will, so don't try to get me to feel guilty about you getting caught off guard when I feel guilty enough." Sirius stood up amidst this, my arms still crossed in front of me, this time defensively.

He was right. And I wasn't. But I felt as if I still had a right to be mad. Maybe it was the woman in me.

There was a moment or two where we avoided eye contact before I broke the silence.

"I…I was worried about you." I confessed, finally looking Sirius in the eyes. "If I lost you again…"

He looked back into mine, confusion flooding his. To be frank, we hadn't talked about our relationship since he walked through the door – no love-y dove-y "How I've missed you" sessions under my roof.

And I've already lost him according to my tally three times, how would it be any different now?

But nothing was explained at this moment, no exponential epiphany reached my brain; instead he grasped me into the tightest hug. His head relaxed into my hair, mine on his shoulder.

Teddy no longer avoided Sirius' planning, or the things he thought while she worked in the day. She heard his need to get into the boys dorm, and even suggested some ideas of her own that he normally found holes within.

She never did quite learn why he needed to get into the dorms and how he was innocent, but Teddy was tired of doubting. She was tired of looking back on her life and thinking about what could have been what should have been. She knew she needed to go forward and Sirius was right there in her path.

Not that Teddy didn't doubt her path – the prophecy was still buzzing in the back of her mind. After all she had lost Sirius 3 times before, maybe this was fate. She didn't know, and if it was fate, it would happen accordingly.

Teddy was there when he failed for the second time to get in, when he actually saw his old friends but couldn't see them, when he got fed up, with a hug and some tea.

Not with a kiss, though, never with anything that resembled a loving couple. Sirius was too focused on his plan, he told her. He knew was too one-tracked to give her his best, he said. It tore her heart each time a little, if he knew this than why did he even stay so that she'd see him each day?

Teddy rarely slept anymore, either. Too many curiosities that she was too afraid to speak out loud crowded her brain and her work was the only thing she could do to get away from it all.

At 11 PM one particular night, she was painting a leaf she stiffened with gold paint she found in an old Muggle shop. Her door was unlocked, but had the "Closed" sign up when she heard the door open.

"I'm closed," Teddy began when she drew her eyes up. Remus.

"I'm sorry; I just saw the lights on." He said with the smile he always wore.

"Oh no, its fine, I just thought you were looking to buy," I said laying my paint brush down. "You know, even if you were to buy, I wouldn't mind. Money is money…But why do I have a 'Closed sign'?"

Remus laughed slightly, drawing up a chair like the last instance. They sat in silence for a while. Teddy knew Sirius wouldn't come down, he was asleep; a place he was completely free.

"Why did you come here?" She asked, looking at the wan man before her. They were friends; it was true, but not the best. Not the type to keep on past school.

"Do you ever miss the past?" He riddled back. Teddy altered her eyebrows slightly – when didn't she? "If you had the opportunity to reconnect with it, wouldn't you?"

Is that what she was doing by letting Sirius stay? No she did love him, but couldn't that be a side motive?

"Am I really that much apart of your past? We only knew each other our last year…"She laughed. He matched it.

"The smallest part could be the biggest piece."