8 YEARS LATER

Teddy had insisted that for our honeymoon, we travelled the muggle way. He claimed that I had an irrational fear of aeroplanes which I insisted was a natural response when you knew just how adverse the effects of magic and muggle technology mixing were. But, I had lost to the man and found myself travelling to and back from our honeymoon by plane. Teddy had a blast sitting next to me as I sat stock-still in my seat for the duration of both flights.

Godric, I'd never been so pleased to set my feet back on the ground before. Normally when I was flying – on my broom, mind you – I hated having to stop. This wasn't the case at all. I was so relieved to be on the ground again that I made no comment on his decision to drive us back to our home.

As I clambered out of the car, I expected to return to our small empty cottage. What I didn't expect was to see the three Potter children hanging around in the front garden. Teddy saw his god siblings and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Ginny must have gotten her hands on the spare key I gave Harry," he explained, opening the boot to remove our bags with the wave of his wand.

The three Potter children hurried towards their godbrother after calling out to their parents, asking him how he'd been and I was only marginally surprised when Lily hugged me first. Teddy pretended not to be offended that she had come to me first and I didn't even bother to hide my smirk. When Lily pulled away from me, I looked to the cottage door which opened to reveal the Potters who walked towards us.

Ginny reached out to embrace me and I watched over her shoulder as Harry headed towards his godson. The two men shared a look.

"I tried to convince her not to do this," Harry said with a slight exasperated sigh. "But you know what she's like."

"Harry," Ginny protested as she pulled away from me to throw her husband a look. "I just wanted to welcome them home."

"And that's fine, love," he placated as he led his wife inside, "But they've just come back from their honeymoon –"

The older couple walked out of earshot, heading into the house and their children trailed after them. Teddy shook his head, pretending that he wasn't currently smiling at the actions of the Potter family. He pressed a hand to the small of my back, leading me inside the cottage with our bags trailing after us.

"I'm sorry about this," he apologised quietly, "I tried to tell them –"

"Oh please," I muttered, rolling my eyes, "We both know you love having them around."

He didn't bother to deny my words. We walked into the living room and Teddy went to say something when Ginny called out to him, asking him to step into the kitchen to get something from the top cupboard. I told him we should have added the magic-friendly wards before we left for our honeymoon but he hadn't listened to a word I said. Maybe moving into a muggle neighbourhood hadn't been such a good idea?

The moment that Teddy had left my side, Lily approached me to link her arm through mine. I looked at the younger girl in surprise. She cleared her throat, looking awkwardly away from me.

"Lily?"

"Can I talk to you?" she asked quietly, throwing a conscious glance towards her brothers who were flicking through a photo album that they'd recovered from somewhere.

"Of course you can." I saw the way she was fidgeting under my eyes and lowered my voice as I asked, "Is something wrong?"

"It's a bit of a private conversation," she hinted.

"Well, come with me." Taking her hand in mine, I led her up the stairs and towards our bedroom.

When we reached the room, I perched on the edge of the bed and patted the space beside me for her to sit. She shook her head and began to pace around the room. I watched as she walked back and forth, back and forth before stopping as if she was going to speak only to begin pacing again. The younger girl clearly had something on her mind but wasn't certain of how to bring it up. Bringing my legs up under me, I crossed them and waited patiently for her to decide what she wanted to talk to me about.

Of all the Potter/Weasley children, Lily had been the last one to accept me. It was a testament to how close she was with Teddy that she was worried about me hurting him. Teddy had tried to tell her that he was more likely to hurt me and I had hit him when Lily who had been no more than 12 at the time, almost burst into tears because Teddy 'wasn't supposed to be like other boys'. I later found out that Lily had been experiencing her first heartbreak and her words had meant that Teddy wasn't supposed to be the type of boy to upset their girlfriend, or any girl in general. She had built up a prince charming image in her head for him. I think it was that conversation which made her open up to me.

"I really need your advice," Lily finally admitted as she came to a stop in front of me, crossing her arms defensively. I didn't pry, waiting for her to open up like she eventually would. "There's this boy in my year and I really like him."

"Something tells me that's not it," I prompted, making her sigh.

"Well, I told him that I like him but he turned me down." She muttered quietly, sitting down beside me. "And he wasn't very nice about it."

"Little prick," I muttered unable to stop myself. Bringing a hand to cover my mouth, I gave her an apologetic look but she laughed quietly, wiping the upset from her face for a moment.

"He – well to put it nicely – said that I wasn't his type because I'd rather play quidditch than paint my nails."

"And why is that a bad thing?"

"It's not," she assured me, letting out a sigh, "It's just that – are all boys going to think like that? Are they going to claim that I'm one of the guys and undateable."

"Of course not." I reached out to take her hand in mine, "Trust me Lily. You're in your fifth year and boys when they're in fifth year are an absolute waste of time and I can tell you that from personal experience."

"So, you don't think I should change myself then?" she asked uncertainly, giving me a searching look.

"No way! Never change yourself for a boy. Merlin, if a boy isn't willing to like you for the amazing person you really are then frankly there's no point in you giving him any of your attention." With a smile, I nudged her with my shoulder and she smiled hesitantly back. "Besides; I was just like you. I preferred quidditch over painting my nails and look at me now; I've got the career that I've always wanted and hell, I even managed to marry Teddy."

Lily nodded to herself, "I think I get what you're trying to say."

"Good." I reached out to push some of her hair behind her ears, "You're an amazing, beautiful girl Lily so don't allow anyone to make you think otherwise. And just between us, you're much more likeable than I was at your age. You can have anything you want Lily, don't let some little bugger get you down."

"If you give me the name of this little bugger then I can hex him for you?" Teddy offered from the doorway.

Lily gasped, looking up to the now open doorway where Teddy was stood, leaning against it. I glared at my husband when Lily grew embarrassed and burrowed her head in my shoulder.

"Why are you eavesdropping?" I demanded, widening my eyes to silently tell him to leave. He paid no heed to my gesture.

"Well, what's his name?"

Lily came out of her hiding place at his question. She peeked around me to meet Teddy's eyes, her cheeks aflame. Rising quickly to her feet, she hurried around him and rushed away from him. Teddy's eyes followed her as she left the room before he looked back to me.

"You don't happen to know the little twat's name, do you?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you," I said, unimpressed. Standing up, I crossed my arms and watched as he walked towards me. "Merlin Teddy, there was a reason she didn't want to talk to you about this."

I went to walk around him but he caught my arm, halting me. "Where are you going?"

"To Lily, to apologise for her eavesdropping godbrother."

"You can do that later," he said offhandedly, bringing me back towards him.

"Teddy," I protested as his arms went around my waist, pulling me into chest.

"Let's just spend a little time alone before we have to go out and be with everyone," he suggested quietly, lowering his head towards mine.

"We've been away for a week. Alone." I pointed out, my own hands reaching out to clutch at his shirt. He smiled down at me, recognising my surrender. "That's enough time alone."

"It's nowhere near enough," he protested, hands sliding down past my waist to settle on my hips.

Tilting my head up towards his, I waited for his kiss. I didn't have to wait long and rose to my feet to curl my fingers into his hair. He sighed against my lips, pressing closer towards me –

"Teddy!"

He groaned at the call of his name and I drew back from him slightly.

"You need to go and see what they want," I said quietly.

"Ignore it," he insisted just as quietly, leaning down to kiss me again.

"Teddy!" I pushed away from him as he was called for.

Teddy rubbed a hand over his face and groaned. "I can't wait for them to go home"