Pansy was gone in the morning. When Teddy awoke, he thought he might have imagined it, except for the lingering scent of her perfume and the imprint of her head on the pillow next to his.

He lay where he was for a long time, replaying the night and wondering how awkward things would be between them. Would she pretend she didn't know him? Would she "boot him" the way she had done Panther-face Connelly?

Teddy sighed and decided not to worry about it while he readied himself for work. At the very least, he had an amazing memory to hold onto. How many people could say they had made love to the girl of their dreams?

He went to work and tried not to think too hard about Pansy. Thankfully, his job was hectic that day and left little time for daydreaming. He was exhausted when he finally got home-quite late-and started to shed his clothing. He had dropped his shirt onto the floor when three sharp raps sounded on his bedroom wall. He stared at the spot in surprise for a moment, wondering if he had dreamed it. Perhaps he was more tired than he'd thought.

Unwilling to take a chance that it hadn't been real, Teddy quickly walked next door and tapped lightly on Pansy's door. The portal swung open immediately to reveal Pansy wearing a diaphanous black bit of lace, high heels, and nothing else. Teddy's jaw fell open as she hooked her fingers into the waistband of his jeans and drew him inside before slamming the door behind him.

She shoved him back against the wood and before he could do more than make a questioning huff, Pansy was on her knees and taking his cock into her mouth. It had been half-hard from the mere sight of her and it only took a moment before he was fully engorged and trying not to thrust into her throat. Her nails dug lightly into his hips the time or two he forgot himself; he could have sworn the head of his cock was hitting the back of her throat without his assistance.

"Oh Merlin," he cried on the verge of orgasm.

Pansy released him and stood. She wrapped one hand around his quivering, wet length and smiled at him. "Not quite yet, Teddy. You can come when you're buried inside of me." With that, she leaned forward, kissed him possessively, and then led him by the cock into her room.

ooOoo

It went on like that for two weeks. For the first three days, Pansy had banged on his wall the moment he arrived home. On the fourth day, Teddy waited for her knock and finally made himself a drink, tried fruitlessly to read a book, and finally banged tentatively on the wall, wondering if she was even home.

To his relief, she came right over. "I thought you'd never get round to asking me," she said in a reproachful tone just before pushing him to the floor and lowering herself onto his cock. He was grateful for his new living room carpet; she later admitted she had seen it delivered and wanted to help him "break it in" properly.

After that, it became a nightly occurrence. One or the other of them would knock on the wall. Once, when Teddy had a day off, he had brazenly left her flat only to walk straight into his room and bang on the wall. She had been laughing when she arrived, lips still swollen from his "goodbye" kisses, and they had spent nearly the entire day in bed, leaving it only for bathroom breaks and twice to open the door for food delivery.

When Teddy wasn't with Pansy, he walked around in a blissful haze of sexual satiation. "What's with you?" Robin asked, giving him a nudge in the ribs. "You look like you could break into song at any moment. And your hair is pink."

Teddy grinned, unable to put his feelings into words.

Robin chuckled and sprinkled fresh parsley over the canapés. "A girl?"

"Yeah," Teddy admitted. "The girl." The girl he had been dreaming of for what seemed forever. She was amazing. He sobered and chastised himself, realising he was falling back into his old mindset. He was falling in love with Pansy Parkinson all over again.

"Well, stop mooning, fix your hair, and get that frosting whipped. We've got to be at Watermeade Park in thirty minutes."

"I know," Teddy said and grinned before tossing a block of butter into a bowl. "You slicing the provolone?"

"I'm on it," said Robin and brandished his wand.

Twenty-seven minutes later, they were at Watermeade Park and Teddy found himself cornered by the mother of the bride-to-be.

"…of the guests are allergic to salmon, so we should definitely not serve-"

"Mrs Riordan," Teddy said gently, ignoring Robin, who was rolling his eyes over the woman's shoulder, "We have prepared salmon, lamb, and beef, as well as curried risotto for the vegetarian-minded. I think we are…" His voice trailed off as a familiar figure caught his attention, derailing his mind from all thoughts of business.

Merlin, what was she doing here? He tracked over the guest list, trying to remember whose wedding it was-there had been three weddings this week and Robin kept the schedules under control, since Teddy was in charge of the menus.

"…and I noticed spots on several of the glasses," Mrs Riordan said disparagingly with a light slap to Teddy's wrist. "Mr Lupin, are you listening to me?"

Teddy dragged his gaze from Pansy Parkinson, who gleamed like a jewel in tight-fitting robes of amethyst, and back to Mrs Riordan and her strident voice. "Yes, madam," he said, "The glasses. I will see to them at once."

With that, he escaped the woman, abandoning her to Robin's pained smile, and hurried away to de-spot the glasses. His path just happened to coincide with Pansy's and he tried to look surprised when he bumped into her.

She actually gasped when she saw him and she quickly took in his professional white catering robes with the tiny golden buttons. Her lips opened and then curved into a smile as she recovered her aplomb. "Why, Teddy! Are you working?"

He nodded. "I didn't know this was a Ministry event."

She wrinkled her pert nose. "It's not. My date is a friend of the groom's father and insisted on making an appearance. I'm only here for the free alcohol."

"Date?" Teddy managed to choke out, hoping his explosive flare of jealousy did not show itself in the single word.

She hummed noncommittally and turned to scan the growing crowd before pointing with her pinkie finger. "See that old goat over there? Wearing the robes that should have been burned thirty years ago?"

Teddy nodded, puzzled.

"He's my boss. I humour him by attending boring functions while pretending to be sleeping with him and he reciprocates by giving me a rise in salary and allowing me to do whatever I like." She turned back and smiled brilliantly at him. "So you are working for the caterer? You never told me what you did for a living."

You never asked, Teddy almost blurted, but he supposed they hadn't spent much time conversing, other than yes, oh yes, and harder, faster. And he certainly could not complain about that.

"Working for the caterer, yes," Teddy replied without bothering to mention he was the caterer. He had started the business two years ago and was just beginning to make a name for himself.

Pansy leaned close to read the logo on his left breast. "Quarter Moon Catering. Are they any good, then?"

Teddy smiled brilliantly. "Try the food and decide for yourself."

She nodded. "I will. The caterer I had lined up for the French Delegation Committee to discuss some sort of International treaty cancelled two days ago. If it's good, I might give the owner a call to take their place. What's his name?"

Teddy tripped on the lie for only a moment. "Robin Borgatti." He wasn't certain why he didn't speak the truth, but her assumption that he was only part of the serving staff stung a bit.

She sighed. "I am being summoned. I will see you later, yes, Teddy?" she asked in a purring tone.

"Definitely," he said and she blew him a kiss before walking back toward the burly man who glowered warningly at him.

"Dream on," Teddy muttered. "I'll be the one in her bed tonight." The thought cheered him as he hurried to polish the glasses to Mrs Riordan's satisfaction.

Teddy was busy most of the afternoon and well into the evening, but he kept an eye on his crush, paying particular attention to the people she spoke to. She was careful to stay close to her boss and touch his arm and lean toward him to whisper into his ear frequently enough to make onlookers believe they were together.

At several points during the evening, however, she mingled with the guests and spent extra time with several male guests. Teddy tried to maintain a firm grip on his jealousy-and his hair colour-and he wondered how long before Pansy tired of him and brought home a new man.

There was a lull after the wedding dinner while the dancing began. Teddy and Robin directed the staff and took care of the cleanup. Teddy convinced Robin to take out the wedding cake on behalf of Quarter Moon, even though it was usually Teddy's pride. Wedding cakes were his joy and he had spent hours decorating this one with silver and gold trees bedecked with fluttering birds in varied colours.

During the dancing and before the presentation of the cake, Teddy ducked into a tent that had been used earlier for the wedding party to prepare. Teddy Transfigured his catering robes into a formal outfit of royal blue. He altered his features into something softer and more ethereally handsome before turning his hair blond and his eyes a paler shade of blue.

With his appearance completely changed and unrecognisable, he walked out and went in search of Pansy, bumping into her near the dance floor in the company of her boss.

"Excuse me," Teddy said. His voice was deeper and completely different from normal, thanks to a handy spell his godfather had taught him. Pansy turned and looked at him and then her gaze turned predatory as she appraised him.

"Well, hello there," she said in a purring tone. "Have we met?"

"I would definitely remember meeting such a jewel," Teddy said smoothly and extended his hand. She immediately placed hers in his and he lifted it to place a kiss near her knuckles.

"I'm Pansy Parkinson," she said.

Teddy felt a moment of panic. "I'm James… Dela… ware," he fumbled, grabbing and discarding names from his varied relatives. "James Delaware."

"Pleased to meet you, James. My champagne glass seems to be empty and I notice you don't have one. Would you care to accompany me to the champagne fountain? Oh, shush, Martin, I'll be right back." She looped her arm through Teddy's.

Teddy escorted her to the large fountain near the tent entrance that spewed champagne into the air from assorted ports. He caught bubbly liquid into a glass and handed it to her.

"So are you with…?" Teddy jerked his head back toward her glowering boss.

She laughed. "For appearances only. He's my boss. Are you here… alone?"

"I arrived alone, but I hope I won't leave alone." Teddy nearly choked at the suave line and wondered when he had decided to channel a Latin lover from a Muggle television show.

Pansy sipped her champagne and her eyes glinted at him. "You're very direct. I appreciate that." She cocked her head and took in his appearance. "You remind me of someone."

Teddy stiffened, but forced himself to relax and raise a brow in question. He had intentionally mimicked the blond man he had seen her with years ago at Hogwarts. Had he made the likeness too close, even through the filter of his imperfect memory?

She smiled and shook her head with a smile. "You could almost be brothers. He would laugh at that, being an only child."

"He is your… lover?"

Pansy laughed, surprising Teddy, who had expected nearly anything but that. "No. Not him, not ever. He is my best friend and nothing more, even though I pursued him mercilessly throughout our school years. His interests lay elsewhere." As she spoke, Pansy's eyes drifted over the crowd, almost as if she were searching for someone. She took a drink of her champagne and then looked back at him brightly. "You are very easy to talk to, James, or perhaps I have simply had too much to drink."

"Perhaps we should go somewhere more private in order to… talk more?" Teddy suggested.

She smiled again, took another drink of champagne, and then sighed. "You are very attractive and seem very nice, but the truth is, I am seeing someone. And I think I will go look for him right now. It was lovely to meet you, James. Goodnight."

Teddy sighed as if crushed, but his heart leaped at her words. "Goodnight, Pansy," he said and watched as she moved away, peering over the heads of the guests, looking for someone.

Looking for him.

Teddy hurried back to the tent and quickly changed back into himself before reversing the spell on his clothing. He walked out just as the cheering erupted from the covered pavilion-Robin had presented the cake. Teddy made a note to buy him something nice the next time he was in Diagon Alley, not that Robin would allow him to forget the favour.

"There you are, Teddy!"

He looked up and smiled at Pansy as she walked toward him. His heart swelled at the sight of her, smug with the knowledge that she had rejected a veritable blond Adonis for him. "Hey!" he called, beaming at her as she approached.

She asked, "Do you think your boss would mind if you left? This party is winding down and…" She stepped closer and drew a finger down the front of his white shirt while peering up at him coquettishly through her lashes, "I thought you might want to escort me home."

"Yeah," Teddy said on a breath. "Yeah, I do. Can you, um… wait right here while I let Robin know?"

She nodded and Teddy rushed away to spew out an apology and a set of instructions to Robin, who rolled his eyes, but nodded and waved him away. "Go on," Robin said. "Hurry home and have sex while pitying those of us for whom there is no hope."

Teddy snorted. "Hey, the bridesmaids are getting pretty tipsy. You might get lucky!"

He dodged a Stinging Hex and hurried back to Pansy, who held out her hand for him to take. As soon as he did so, she Apparated them home.

~TBC~