Teddy Lupin liked not being seen. It felt good, knowing he could slip, unnoticed, out of any room, simply disappearing into the wall.

That was why he couldn't stand Lily Potter.

"Why did you leave like that?" she demanded, appearing suddenly behind him. Her voice was barely audible over the pouring rain, but Teddy hear her loud and clear.

"The storm will ruin your hair," he informed her nonchalantly. He didn't tell her this because he thought she would care, just the opposite actually; he said it simply to make her mad.

To his surprise, the redhead, whom he had come to know as the one with the fiery temper, remained calm. He still didn't turn to face her, but he could picture easily the stone cold expression on her face as she replied, low and deadly, "I'm not Victoire."

Teddy winced as he realized her words had a double meaning. She was, rightfully, implying that Victoire would not have followed Teddy outside in the storm for fear her precious hair would frizz. But it was more than that. Teddy and Lily both knew that Lily would never have thrown the fit Victoire just threw, the reason Teddy had fled from the suddenly claustrophobic Burrow after delivering his rather shocking news.

"But you can't blame her," Lily continued, keeping her tone light and her face set in an unreadable expression. "You've been dating on and off for three years, and you gave her no indication that it was doomed to fail, even though it was obvious to the rest of us."

"Dammit!" Teddy cried out in an unusual display of frustration. He clutched his shaggy and now bright red hair. "You're freaking thirteen!" he yelled, startling her momentarily. "You aren't supposed to be this damn wise! You're supposed to throw fits and yell and scream and care more about clothes than people. You're supposed to tell me not to move to Romania!"

"I already told you!" Lily shot back, screaming to be heard over the storm, which was now picking up and threatening to carry both of their voices away if they didn't speak up. "I'm. Not. Victoire! I won't scream and yell and beg you not to leave. If it'll make you happy, by all means go! You've never been happy!"

"I'm happy!" Teddy yelled at her defiantly, but even as he said it, he knew she wasn't the one he was trying to convince.

"Oh, yeah?" Lily asked. Teddy thought he sensed sarcasm, but he couldn't be sure when she said it with such volume.

"Yeah!" he snapped. "I have family and friends and pretty soon I'll have a job. Why wouldn't I be happy?"

"I don't know," Lily said, and it was clear to Teddy that she was being honest; this question really did stump her. "But you aren't, and you deserve to be. So go, and don't worry about everyone else. Don't worry about my mom and dad, or grandma and grandpa. Don't worry about Victoire. Don't worry about anyone! Just go. Don't worry about me. Not that you would anyway."

Teddy spun around. He had no idea what he planned on saying to Lily. Maybe he was going to yell at her some more. Or maybe he would try and comfort her, assure her he did worry about her, more than he worried about anyone else. As it turns out, what he wanted to say was ni longer an issue, because where Lily Potter had a moment ago been standing, there were now two lime green flip-flops she had stepped out of when she ran from him.

"Dammit," Teddy said again, but quieter this time, under his breath. "Lily?" he called. Muttering curses, he took off after her.

"Lily!" he yelled as he searched the woods near the Burrow. "Lily!"

A half hour later and a good deal wetter, Teddy returned to the Burrow alone.

"Where's Lily?" someone asked Teddy the moment he stepped in the door, shaking raindrops out of his hair. He tried not to take it personally. While Teddy and Lily had both been known to disappear from time to time, Teddy wasn't the one with a reputation for not coming back.

"I can't find her," Teddy admitted, guilt forming a pit in his stomach.

James Potter looked like he wanted to punch Teddy in the face for losing his little sister, but other than him no one was paying much attention to Teddy. They were all already out the door.

Teddy was feeling guiltier by the second. He knew he should never have allowed Lily to run from him. He knew she tended to lose track of time, and when she lost track of time, she forgot where she was. When she forgot where she was, she panicked, and when she panicked she became totally lost. Teddy knew this as well as anyone.

Not stopping to think of anything but his own guilt, Teddy raced ahead of the rest of the makeshift search party, calling Lily's name and silently begging her to come back.

Inwardly cursing himself for losing his temper with her, Teddy searched for Lily for an hour. He knew he should have stayed calm, but…

Well, Lily had always been the only one who could ever trigger a reaction from Teddy. She could push all the wrong buttons that brought on all sorts of emotional outbursts. Even Victoire had never been able to spark any sort of emotion in him, subject only to his usual indifference.

Teddy was jerked from his thoughts by the sudden sight of Lily, lying in the grass unconscious. For a horrible moment a million frightening thoughts jumped into his mind, but he cursed again when he touched her shoulder lightly and discovered that she was simply asleep.

Lily let out a tiny snore and wrapped her arms around herself, clearly uncomfortable. Teddy sighed as he shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around her, then lifted her carefully and carried her back.

When Teddy got to the Burrow Lily still hadn't woken up. Everyone was already back by then, looking anxious and worried, and several dozen people sighed in relief when they saw Teddy with Lily.

"Is she alright?" Ginny demanded as soon as he was inside.

"She's asleep," Teddy grumbled, annoyed that she had everyone, especially him, so worried for nothing. "She fell asleep in the woods."

Molly Weasley laughed nervously and Victoire rolled her eyes, causing Roxanne to smack her. Roxanne was arguably Lily's favorite cousin, and neither of them could stand Victoire, an opinion they voiced regularly.

"I'll take her home," Harry said, biting his lip as he looked at his daughter, drenched from the rain and asleep in Teddy's arms, looking vulnerable. He was the epitome of an overprotective father, a stereotype Teddy had never pictured him fitting until that moment.

"It's alright," Teddy muttered. "I was thinking of heading home anyway. I'll just leave her on the couch or something."

James rolled his eyes but said nothing.

"Number 12 Grimmauld Place," Teddy told the fireplace, speaking clearly but quietly so as not to wake Lily up.

When they got home, Teddy set Lily carefully on the couch in the living room, draping a blanket over her in the hope that it would make up for her sad clothes. Just as Teddy turned to go upstairs, he realized something that made him feel very stupid. Turning back towards Lily, he pulled his wand out of his pocket and used a drying spell to dry her clothes.

Walking upstairs, Teddy made a point of memorizing every picture that lined the staircase. James, Albus, Teddy, and Lily in every year of their lives. Pictures of ever Weasley and Potter he'd ever met, and several he hadn't. One he recognized as Harry's parents. And one of his own parents. Looking around to make sure no one was watching--although this was pointless and unnecessary--Teddy snatched that picture off the wall. He had a feeling he wouldn't be seeing Number 12 Grimmauld Place for a while.

That picture was the last thing he put in his suitcase before he left, unnoticed, for the last time.

*****

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