Chapter 7: Detention

Saturday couldn't come fast enough. The past few days had been so busy with the teachers getting ready for the upcoming Christmas Ball, Lily had barely seen Ted in between classes.

On the evening of her detention, she made her way to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Lily suddenly found herself very nervous. It wasn't as if she hadn't spent time alone with Teddy many times before, but it was always during school hours where teachers and students could show up. Tonight, would be entirely different. Lily would be alone with Teddy during evening hours.

Lily tried to shake her nerves, with no success, and knocked on Teddy's office door. Teddy opened, with a bright smile on his gorgeous face. "So, Potter, I heard you gave that git of an ex-boyfriend of yours a makeover the other day," Ted teased.

Lily laughed. "I was just trying to help improve his chances with the ladies. Merlin knows he wouldn't have gotten very far with the mug he had before." Teddy laughed and closed the door behind him. "I figured we would go for a walk around the lake. Is that alright?"

"Hmm," Lily deliberated, "listening to you talk for hours definitely sounds like punishment to me." Teddy rolled his eyes, but stayed smiling. "Very funny. Let's go." They made their way across the empty corridors, out to the dark, snowy lawn, and towards the lake.

"So, what did Peters do to you to end up with the face of a troll's arse?" Ted asked. Lily laughed. "Oh, you know, just the usual with him. Acting as if I can't live without him and trying to force me to go the Christmas Ball with him."

"Oh, I see. So, naturally, you decided to hex him with what seemed to be a pretty powerful Furnunculus hex. From what I've seen, he's still got pimples popping up in all kinds of places," Ted said, humor still in his voice. "Well, I did warn him and would've walked away if the git hadn't tried to hex me with my back turned," Lily said.

"All I can say is, well done, mate. I'm really impressed," Teddy said, proudly, "Plus, that git deserved it." Lily smiled, proud of herself, as well. "Thanks. I thought McGonagall was going to expel me though."

Teddy laughed. "No way. She was just as impressed as I was. She said it was the best Furnunculus hex she'd ever seen."

Lily felt a sense of pride in herself. Being Harry and Ginny Potter's daughter, she was taught to defend herself at a young age, but her dad also couldn't help himself from teaching her one of his favorite hexes. Just in case you need it one day. Just don't hex your brothers. Well, maybe James, but only if he really deserves it. She remembered him saying to her with a gleam in his eye.

That hex sure did come in handy with James when she was younger, and even more so with Peters the other day. She had to remember to thank her Dad for teaching her that one when she went home for the holidays.

"You know McGonagall is still a bit perplexed as to why the Boil-Cure Potion isn't working effectively on Peters. I've found it best not to mention I diluted the potion with water so his boils take half as long to heal," Teddy said with the same mischievous grin on his face she had seen countless times.

"Have you really?!" Lily exclaimed. Teddy laughed, again. "Well I couldn't let you have all the fun." "But how did you get your hands on the potion before Peters did?" Lily asked, curiously.

Teddy shot her another mischievous, yet attractive, grin. It made Lily feel faint. "Simple. I asked Slughorn if I could assist in brewing the potion. Told him I was thinking about showing the hex in one of my lessons, and needed to know how to brew the correct antidote. When he wasn't looking, I just added the water to Peters' vial."

Lily stared at the man she loved with a mixture of humor and admiration. "Wow, now it's my turn to be impressed," Lily said. Teddy smiled and put his arm around Lily's shoulders. Lily felt herself shiver in response to the electricity shooting through every inch of her body.

"Well I wasn't going to let that git get away with whatever he'd done to you. I'm sure he will be all cleared up before the Christmas holidays start, but not before the Christmas Ball next weekend."

Lily laughed again. "Did you really have to go ruin his face for the dance, Ted?" "Hey, I was doing the bloke a favor. What kind of professor would I be if I didn't assist my student in hiding the hideous mug he had before? Besides, I think the boils suit him, perfectly." Teddy looked at Lily innocently.

"How humble of you, Professor Lupin," Lily joked, nudging him playfully in the side. "I do what I can, especially for bloody twits who try to hex young witches in empty corridors." Teddy's squeezed Lily's shoulder, reassuringly. "Honestly, Lil, the guy is a complete tool. I was waiting for a chance to give him a taste of his own medicine."

"Me, too, if I'm being honest," Lily admitted, thrilled Ted wanted to defend her honor. "So, onto more important news. I've been invited to your family's house for Christmas this year," Teddy said, apprehensively. Lily couldn't contain her excitement. "Really? Oh, that's great news, Ted!" Lily exclaimed.

Teddy used his free hand to run his fingers through his hair, something she always noticed he did when he became uncomfortable.

"Oh, sure, me in a room full of people who would like to hex me. Sounds like it's going to be a hoot," Teddy said, sarcastically. Lily rolled her eyes. "No one is going to hex you. The only people who aren't glad you ended things with Vic is Uncle Bill, Aunt Fleur, and Victoire," Lily said.

"Why would you think that?" Ted asked. Lily blush a little and looked up at the sky. "I may have written to Rose and Mum about it," Lily admitted, sheepishly.

Teddy feigned horror. "The Lily Potter, gossiping about someone's love life? And here I thought you were above all the girls in your class," Ted teased. Lily elbowed him in the ribs, which got a loud, "Ouch, I was only joking," from Teddy.

"I wasn't gossiping, I was just making sure that everyone else wasn't becoming complete nutters like Uncle Bill. In fact, Rose is glad she's no longer forced to wear that god-awful bridesmaid dress Vic picked out for us, but said she won't forgive you for all the fake "sobs of heartbreak" she's been having to endure from Vic."

Teddy laughed a little embarrassingly. "Fake sobs, huh? And here, I thought I left a lasting impression," Teddy snorted. "Oh, I'm sure you did. You know how Vic is, making sure everything is about her. She's keeping up with the heartbreak façade so she gets sympathy from the family. Little does she know, Mum is getting fed up with it."

"Really? I thought they would all back her up since they don't know the real reason," Ted said, shocked. "Look, Ted, my family may not know the whole story, but they don't buy that you just changed your mind and broke Vic's heart," Lily said, seriously.

Teddy looked slightly relieved. "You know how much I admire your family, Lil. Hell, to me, they are my family, too. I've missed them all dearly, but Victoire is their blood. I don't want to show up for Christmas dinner and ruin everyone's time," Teddy said.

Lily rolled her eyes, again. "You'll only ruin it by not being there. Victoire will keep being Victoire. There's nothing we can do to change that, but that also doesn't mean you need to ostracize yourself from our family because she's daft."

Teddy laughed a little. "Oh, alright, I'll go, but if Bill tries to murder me, it's your fault," Teddy teased. "It's not my fault you "broke" his golden child's heart. The blame is all on you, mate," Lily retorted. Teddy laughed again. "I guess you're right there. I just have a feeling this dinner is going to be a disaster," Ted said, running his fingers through his hair again.

"Nah, a disaster would've been seeing me and Rose in those bridesmaid dresses. We all dodge a bullet there. I swear, I think Vic purposely chose pink because it would've looked horrendous on me and Rose," Lily cringed just remembering the pink, poofy mess.

Ted look a little confused. "Why do you say that?" Lily laughed a little. "Red hair and pink dresses don't go well together."

"Well, I know for a fact you would've looked beautiful in anything you wore. Honestly, Lil, you would've stolen the show," Teddy said, smiling and squeezing her shoulder. Lily's heart began to hammer in her chest, while her face turned bright red. That was the first time in her life any man had called her beautiful.

Lily shivered despite the Hot-Air Charm they had been casting on themselves to stay warm. Teddy felt her shake and immediately said, "You must be getting cold. Let's head back up, maybe we can stop at Hagrid's for a cuppa and rock cakes."

Lily remembered her first time trying Hagrid's cooking. She still hadn't forgiven James for making her believe Hagrid could actually cook. "I don't see how you eat those things," Lily said, disgusted. "Easy, after you get past the sounds of broken teeth, they're actually pretty tasty."

"Well you can help yourself. I'd like to keep my teeth perfectly intact, thanks," Lily stated. Teddy shrugged, "Your loss."

Lily laughed as they headed up to the path, and Teddy didn't remove his arm from around her shoulder until they reached Hagrid's hut.

An hour later, as Lily was climbing into her four-poster bed, she concluded that tonight had easily been the best detention she had ever had.