T.P. part 11
Lily was shaking. She was going to have to explain to her best friends, Sarah and Rose, that she was engaged to their teacher. They would probably be disgusted with her or think that she was being taken advantage of or something… They were always so protective. Taking a deep breath, Lily went into the room of requirement where she and the girls were meeting. When she opened the door, she saw that they were already there giggling about something.
"Hey guys," Lily greeted, "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," Rose answered.
"We're just discussing the hottest professor at Hogwarts," finished Sarah before both girls began to giggle again. Lily rolled her eyes. Her friends were always crushing on a new guy every week.
"Who is the poor sap this time?" She asked. She was answered with more peels or laughter.
"Professor Lupin!" The girls exclaimed in unison. Lily swallowed hard. 'Confession time,' she thought.
"Well, you guys… I actually have something to tell you about Ted- Professor Lupin…" She began.
"You've seen him shirtless?" Rose asked eagerly.
"You've seen him naked?" Sara said practically drooling at the mouth. "He's so hot!"
"Actually… "Lily started. "I've seen both." She bit her lip and watched the girls' reactions. They both seemed stunned, clearly not expecting this answer from their friend. Usually when they asked silly questions like that, she would reprimand them for being so immature, but today was entirely different.
"Like you accidently walked in on him showering or changing or something when he was staying at your house when you were younger or something like that?" Sarah asked, clearly trying to explain this logically.
"Ummm… no, not like that exactly… Do you guys remember my secret admirer?" she asked deciding to just jump in and tell them.
"Bloody hell…" Rose murmured, clearly she had picked up some of her fathers traits through the years. "Lily you can't… you didn't…but he's your teacher!" she said in shock.
"He's also the love of my life," Lily retorted, "and he was that way before he was ever my teacher."
"But Lily…" Sarah began, "Are you meaning to tell me that you're sleeping with a teacher?"
"You make it sound so sleazy when you say it like that!" Lily exclaimed.
"It is sleazy, Lily!" Rose chimed in. "He's eleven years older then you! Not only is he your teacher, he's also your god brother! Oh god! Does Uncle Harry know?"
"Yes, the entire family knows… Well, except for you, Rose, but you would have if you had just forgotten about your dad's reaction to Scorpious and you and come home like the rest of us!"
"Don't change the subject! How do you know that your 'boyfriend'" she spat the word out like an insult, "isn't just using you for sex? Or to make Vic jealous?"
"He loves me!" Lily shouted. "He would never ever do anything to hurt me! You've known him just as long as I have, how can you think that Teddy would do something like that to someone he cares about?"
"Maybe he doesn't care about you." Rose said coldly. "He did leave you in first year." Lily felt as though she had been slapped in the face. How could she bring that up after all this time? She saw how much it hurt her!
"You think that he's just playing around and will get bored and dump me right?" Lily said fighting back the urge to slap her cousin.
"Yes," Rose said very matter of factly. "Yes, I do." Lily nodded and looked down at the ring on her finger.
"Well, if he was going to do that, then why did he propose to me last night?" She held up her left hand showing her friends the ring. Both gasped.
"Sarah, what do you think?" Rose spat after a few moments, clearly at a loss of what to say.
"I think," Sarah stated calmly, "Lily has been happier in the past few months then I've seen her in years, and she should know him well enough by now to make the best decision for her, but it is a very tricky situation. What will the school say?"
"Teddy and I are going to find that out this after noon when we go speak to McGonagall about the wedding. You're both going to be my bridesmaids…right?" she asked, uncertain about their answers.
"Of course, Lily!" Sarah exclaimed. "I happy for you, and I would love to be a bridesmaid!" she hugged Lily smiling.
"Rosie?" Lily turned to her cousin to see her reaction. Rose looked at her for a long second before replying.
" I'm not wearing yellow." Lily laughed and hugged her cousin and her best friend, hoping that the meeting with McGonagall would run a little smoother then this one had.
Teddy and Lily stood hand in hand outside Professor McGonagall's door. Teddy looked over at his girl who was biting her lips nervously…and adorably. She looked back at him and he could see in her eyes how terrified she was about finally going public about their relationship.
"It'll be ok, Lils," he said trying to give her some piece of mind, but it backfired.
"What if it isn't?" Lily asked in a panicked tone. "What if they tell us she tells us we can't see each other anymore, or if you lose your job, or what if-"
"Lily, relax," he cut her off. "I'm not going to lie, there is a very good possibility that I may lose my job," He heard Lily suck in air through her teeth, "but that's fine, I can get another job someplace else or worst comes to worst, I'll just work in George's shop, but that's the worst that can happen. The school can't keep us from being married. We'll still be together." He lightly cupped her face in his hands and placed a gentle, reassuring kiss on her forehead. When he pulled away she looked significantly calmer as she looked up at him with those big green eyes of hers.
"Mine," she whispered, as she pulled him into a tight hug, which he gladly returned. He lightly patted her hair and breathed in her scent. Peaches and cream. He almost laughed as he remembered the first night he was had seen Lily and nearly had a heart attack when she hugged him and he discovered that she smelled almost as great as she looked. He had thought that they could never be together; that she would never want him; that he was too old or too boring; or too brotherly for her to ever feel the same way about him… and now she was his.
"Mine," He whispered back, before taking her by the hand and leading her into Professor McGonagall's office.
When they got inside they were surprised to see none other then Harry, standing near the fireplace, smiling at them. He clearly didn't seem too upset about the wedding plans. But McGonagall looked a little different. She had a stern look on her face, but she clearly didn't know why Lily and Teddy had asked for this meeting or why Harry was there.
"Welcome you two," She said in a polite tone. "Please, have a seat." She gestured to the two chairs in front of her desk. "Now, why did you wish to see me?"
"Well, you see Professor," Lily began, but Teddy cut her off.
"Professor McGonagall, Lily and I are, well, engaged." This was clearly not what the Professor had been expecting to hear. Her face went from confusion, to shock, and then back to confusion.
"Engaged?" she repeated after a few minutes of silence.
"Yes," Teddy answered shocked by how calm his voice was, on the inside he was shaking.
"But you can't be," she stuttered, trying to deal with the situation. "To be engaged, would mean that you two are in a relationship, and you couldn't be…" She trailed off looking from Teddy, to Lily whose eyes were glued to the floor.
"It's true Professor," Harry chimed in. "They are together; they announced it at the Christmas party this winter but I doubt you would remember too much about the party besides the fire whisky," he teased and McGonagall clearly tried to rack her brain to think back to that night, and remember. After a few moments of watching her attempt this feat, she gave up, and turned to Lily.
"Miss Potter," she said, as Lily's eye's shot up at being addressed directly. "When did this happen?"
"We went on our first date on Halloween, at the dance," Lily responded quietly. "We were the couple that you scolded out of the broom closet." McGonagall's eyes grew wide.
"That was YOU?" She asked in disbelief.
"Yes," Lily answered but didn't say anything more, so the headmistress turned back to Teddy.
"You took advantage of a STUDENT!" she said in a frightening tone. Teddy opened his mouth to speak, but Lily beat him to it.
"It was never like that, Professor," she began , "I've known Teddy from the day I was born and I he's the one man outside of my brothers and Father that I trust completely and feel perfectly safe around. He never tried to pressure me, or make me feel uncomfortable in any way. And if memory serves, I kissed him first." She winked at Teddy with a small smile, obviously feeling better about the awkward situation.
"And you're fine with this?" The headmistress addressed Harry accusingly.
"Yes," replied Harry plainly. "I trust Teddy to take care of my little girl, and they're happy together so I don't see why they shouldn't get married, but," he turned to the couple, "I do think James will have a fit."
"That's fine," Lily laughed, "we'll just have to tie him up again."
"Professor Lupin," McGonagall said sternly, trying to bring things back to the subject at hand. "Did you ever sleep with Miss Potter?" Teddy swallowed hard before answering.
"Yes," he answered honestly. "I have made love to Lily before," He thought back to the hour before when he had kidnapped her from lunch with her friends for a little 'quality time' in his office.
"But," Lily cut in, "I love him and he loves me and there was never anything seedy or unnatural about our relationship."
"Exactly," Teddy said, turning to his fiancé. "We're just to people that have known each other for a long time and just happened to fall in love." He lightly kissed her hand and heard the Headmistress gasp as she saw the ring on her student's finger.
"You're both serious aren't you?" she asked bewildered.
"Yes, they are," Harry answered for them, "and they will be married before the end of term, but I must ask, should my future son be looking for work before the wedding?" Both Lily's and Teddy's heads snapped back to McGonagall anxiously awaiting her verdict.
"I…very strange…the school laws…but…extenuating circumstances… no precedent…" she continued to babble incoherently for a few more moments before gathering her thoughts. "The school laws state that in the event of an inappropriate student/teacher relationship, the teacher's employment will be terminated and possibly even jailed depending on the age of the student, but I can hardly find anything inappropriate about your relationship," she said with a smile and the couple both sighed in relief "You have known each other since the day of Miss Potter's birth, you're family seems happy with the idea of your relationship, and since you are engaged I doubt that you are simply using Miss Potter, so I must say that I will not be sacking you, as long as this sort of thin never happens again in the length of your employment, here at Hogwarts, understand?" She finished jokingly, knowing full well that after the wedding there would be no chance of that happening.
"Thank you Professor," Teddy said gratefully, he had come here today expecting to be fired and kicked out on his ass and told never to come back, but instead he could continue to work and live at Hogwarts, this was wonderful! As they got up to leave, McGonagall said something that made it even better.
"Miss Potter, if you are at all interested in taking over the position of Potions Mistress once Professor Slughorn retires at the end of this year, I would be very inclined to allow you to schedule an interview over the summer holidays." Teddy looked at Lily who looked about had happy and surprised as a child on Christmas morning.
"Thank you very much Professor, I would be honored to be considered for the position," she said struggling to keep her voice professional, and not child like. McGonagall smiled and waved them off, Harry following the couple out of the door. When it closed behind them, Teddy picked Lily up in a tight embrace and twirled her around in circles.
"Congratulations, Lils!" He exclaimed, so happy for his mate.
"Thank you, now put me down!" she laughed and Teddy complied, but she was only on the ground for a few seconds before her father swooped in and picked her off the ground to swing her around in circles the same way Teddy had done before him.
"I'm so happy for you honey!" He said as he put her down. "Your mother and I were ecstatic when we got your letter; we know you two will be so perfect and happy together!"
"Thank you, Daddy," Lily beamed up at him, "I know I'll be happy too." She turned her head to Teddy and smiled broadly at him. Teddy winked in return.
"Harry," Teddy began, "I promise that I will never hurt your daughter, and that I will love her unconditionally with all my heart for the rest of my life." He didn't realize that he had pulled the girl in question close to him as she had stepped away from her father.
"I know that you will take great care of her, but I wasn't too sure how McGonagall would take the news, so I figured that I'd swing by and help you kids out, but now I have to go home and face the music," he said sounding like of some battle martyr. Seeing the couple's puzzled expressions, he explained, "I may have joked around with your mother and told her that the letter said that you were pregnant and Teddy was leaving you."
"You are so dead," Teddy laughed as Lily rolled her eyes. Harry nodded sadly before he said his goodbyes and turned to walk down the hallway that would lead him out of the castle.
"So," Lily turned to Teddy with a smile, "You wanna go get some dinner?"
"Alright," Teddy smirked, before slinging her over his shoulder and carrying her back towards his room, "After you and I have some more quality time," he said mischievously. Lily's tiny fists beat into his back harmlessly before giving up.
"Why is it anytime I want to eat, you want to have sex?" she asked him annoyed.
"I don't know, why is it anytime I want you, you would rather eat?"That remark earned him a not so harmless punch in the back.
"You're just lucky that it's a Hogsmede weekend and everyone that would help me escape my evil, advantage-taking Professor," she retorted.
"Hey," said Teddy feigning insult, "it's evil, advantage-taking fiancé to you!" Lily laughed and was placed back on her feet. They were at Teddy's door. He looked down at his beautiful mate and still marveled in the fact that she was his. "Mine," he said kissing her lightly on the tip of her nose.
"Yours," Lily affirmed. "Mine?" she said questioningly, kissing him on the cheek.
"Yours," Teddy replied before kissing her hungrily and leading her into his room.
AN: Heeeeeeeeeeeey! Yes, I have not fallen off the face of the earth! I am back! And no, this is not the last chapter, I still have a few things up my sleeve…*insert evil laugh here*I apologize for not posting sooner, but life was crazy, but now that it's the Holidays life stops happening…right? Anywho, please tell me what you think, it helps motivate me to write faster! Thanks guys!
