"I'm not a baby, you know."
Teddy looked up from where he was sitting on the floor. He'd been playing with Lily. James looked upset, though, so he moved over to sit beside him on the couch. "I know that. Why?"
James huffed a sigh, crossing his arms. "'Cause you're babysitting and I'm not a baby."
"Naw, you're not. But you're not quite old enough to be the one responsible for Al and Lily, either. That's why your mum and dad have me come over. I have to be in charge and do all the work, and you just get to play. I'm kinda jealous, actually." Teddy watched as a small grin twisted James's lips.
"Look," Teddy continued, trying to come up with something to keep James occupied. "How about you go find Albus and meet me and Lily over in the kitchen." James nodded, running off upstairs to find his younger brother. Teddy turned to Lily. "Wanna have dessert?"
The kids had already eaten before Teddy got there. Harry and Ginny were determined to make it an easy night for him, though the Potter kids were usually good enough as it was.
Lily followed Teddy over into the kitchen. He lifted her up so she could sit on the countertop and watch him. He kept a close eye on her, making sure she didn't fall. When James and Albus wandered in, Teddy had already gotten out all the ingredients. He helped them measure out flour and sugar and letting them mix together the ingredients. Lily helped spoon out the cookie dough, and within a few minutes, they had chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven.
When they were finished baking, Teddy gathered the three kids around the table, setting out the plate of cookies and a bowl of ice cream for each of them.
"Lily," Teddy said when he noticed she'd been ignoring her ice cream for the cookies. "If you eat the ice cream it'll melt in your mouth and not in the bowl."
Lily glanced up at him, sticking out her tongue. "Can you do your hair like a cookie, Teddy?" Lily asked, distracting him as Albus piled about half the batch of cookies on his own plate. Teddy glanced over, shaking his head as he put most of them back, then turned back to Lily.
He twisted up his face for a moment, and when he opened his eyes again, his hair was a light brown dotted with dark dots. "Like this?"
Albus and James laughed. Lily looked at him, head cocked to one side. "I think I liked it better blue." They all laughed again at that for a moment, almost drowning out the sound of a key turning in the lock.
"We're home!" Harry called from the front door.
"Kitchen!" James said. His parents made their way inside, setting down their things. Harry leaned against the counter.
"Thanks for watching them, Teddy. This is for you," he said, handing Teddy a handful of Sickles.
Teddy shook his head slightly at Harry and Ginny. "You know you don't have to pay me. I'd watch them for free, I mean, we're like family, right?"
"Ah, take it anyway," Ginny said. "It's your third year coming up, that means Hogsmeade weekends. You know you need money for that." Teddy blushed a bit, but held out a hand for Harry to pass him the money.
"Thanks."
"Teddy!" James said just as the other boy was about to head home through the Floo. "Can I come visit you at Hogsmeade this year?"
"If your mum and dad say you can."
James looked up at the two of them, eyes wide and imploring. "Can we?"
"'Course we can."
.
A/N: Written for Writing Club - Disney Challenge C9: Write about Teddy Lupin; Cookie's Cooking Corner 5: (dialogue) "It melts in your mouth"; Book Club – Abanazer Bolger: (trait) Greedy, (food) chocolate chip cookie, (object) key; Showtime 33: (dialogue) "You know you need money."; Amber's Attic R6: Write about someone changing their appearance;
Advent Calendar: Day 9 (platonic) Teddy
Writing Month and Dragons: wc 618