AN: one shot written for the QLFC season 9 week 1

Position prompt: Beater 1: Hypocrisy

Additional prompts used:

(word) fleeting

(dialogue) "You think you're so clever, don't you?"

(restriction) no female characters

Thanks to my fellow Puddlemere united team members for beta-ing.

WC: 1171

Titel/Link: at least we're on the same page?

As Teddy's eyes roamed around the ballroom for the umpteenth time, he noticed the massive doors at the entrance opening just a notch before closing again. Almost as if someone was sneaking in. Teddy's thoughts immediately went to his parents, who usually were at the centre of anything happening. Seeing them talking to friends of theirs, Teddy's eyes roamed further, searching for his siblings. While it didn't take long for him to spot the two youngest, James was nowhere to be seen.

Teddy double-checked, and triple-checked the large room, hoping to spot his younger brother but had to admit defeat. What if the door hadn't been someone sneaking in, but someone sneaking out?

"Sorry," Teddy said, getting up and leaving his friends to make his way to the door. Somewhere during the past nine years—he'd moved in with Harry when he was five— Teddy had taken over his adopted father's paranoia, and as he couldn't shake off the feeling of something being wrong, Teddy went to investigate.

Casually making his way towards the doors, Teddy kept looking around, hoping that his instinct was wrong, and that he would spot James standing around laughing with one of the Weasley cousins. Unfortunately, by the time Teddy reached the doors, James hadn't been spotted yet, and with one more fleeting look around the room, Teddy slipped out of the room. As soon as Teddy was out of the ballroom, his wand—which he was supposed to leave at home—made its way into his hand.

Despite his parents saying that everything was safe, Teddy noticed how they would always double-check a room, making sure they knew how to get out. He also noticed how his parents would always make sure they didn't only have their main wands and back-up wands, but they would also check that each member of the family had their portkey on. Each child had received a small portkey pendant that grew with them when they were born. It was a special Potter charm that let the parents activate the portkey in case of danger. If Teddy focused on it, he could feel the pendant sitting on an ankle bracelet around his left foot.

This combined with his tendency to get in trouble, just like his parents—both adopted and birth parents—had him carrying his wand with him.

With his wand out, Teddy rushed forward, knowing that the main way out—the only one for kids—was the floo. Despite hoping to catch up to whoever left the room, Teddy arrived just in time to see a small figure with fiery red hair disappear in the floo. Teddy was sure it was James—after all, one had to know every detail about someone's appearance, to copy them, and Teddy had turned himself into an older version of James often enough.

Hastily, Teddy grabbed some floo powder and threw it in the fireplace.

"Potter manor."

And Teddy was gone; no-one was even aware of the two kids that left the building.

*hphphp*

"James!"

Teddy ran through the manor, hoping to find James quickly and return to the ministry function—preferably before their father realised that they had left. If Harry noticed even just one of them missing, it wouldn't be long before the aurors got involved.

Making his way towards James' room, Teddy arrived just as the younger boy was throwing random clothes into a small bag. Relieved at having found his younger brother, safe and well, Teddy casually leaned against the doorframe; he was fleetingly reminded of himself just six years ago when he had attempted to run away.

"Going somewhere?" Teddy had to hold in a snigger as James jumped.

"Teddy!" James looked at the bag he was holding. "Euhm, I-I—."

Teddy watched as James stopped, unsure of what to do. Teddy could almost see the younger boy trying to think of an excuse.

"Running away isn't going to help you know." Teddy said, not waiting for James to formulate a full answer.

"I wasn't," James said, shaking his head, trying to hide his bag behind him as if Teddy hadn't seen it yet.

Teddy just raised his eyebrows. "Of course you weren't. You just left a ministry function, without telling our parents to do what? Grab a change of clothes?"

The sarcasm seemed to break James out of his thoughts, as with his bag only half filled, James dashed towards the bathroom between his and Albus' room. Despite Teddy moving as soon as James moved, the younger boy was closer, and therefore the door closed and automatically locked before Teddy reached it.

With only Harry being able to override the automatic locking charm, Teddy wondered what to do. Would James hide in the bathroom until Teddy left, and then try and sneak out, or would he try to leave through Albus' room? Before Teddy had made a decision, a soft click was heard, signaling the door being unlocked. Without a second thought, Teddy opened the door, and sprinted through the bathroom, running after James.

It wasn't until Teddy exited through the back door, that he managed to spot James again. A small part of Teddy had hoped that James would try the floo, just like he had done six years previously, but apparently James knew that the floo wouldn't allow a child under twelve to travel out without a parent.

Relying on his enforced stamina—something he got from his birth father—Teddy sped up, unwittingly running the same route as six years ago, only now it was still light outside. Just as the younger boy reached the edge of the Potter property, Teddy caught up, grabbing James before he could escape again.

"Are you stupid!" Teddy yelled, "What do you think you're doing? Haven't you thought about what running away would do to our parents? Did you think about them before running away? Or do you only think about yourself, you git?"

Teddy started to drag James, who seemed to be in shock, back towards the house.

"You think you're so clever don't you?" Teddy continued, not stopping to look at James. "You aren't the first person to run away. If we don't get back before dad notices us missing he'll call the aurors and you'll be in a whole load more trouble than you are now."

It was only upon entering the house that Teddy lost his grip on James

"Dad won't care!" The younger boy screamed, neither boy noticing a door opening behind them.

Teddy opened his mouth, "You think Dad won't care? He'll have the whole auror department searching before you know it. It would break Dad if something happened to one of us."

"And how would you know?" James bit back scathingly, "It's not like you'd know! Every time something happens you just leave! Well why don't you go to your other home and let me be!"

"You are not the only kid that has tried running away you know." Teddy jumped, only fleetingly noticing that James jumped just as much as he did.

Both boys turned around at the same time.

"Dad!"