It had been two years, and still Teddy would never admit what made him stay. During the day he would avoid thinking about it, and no one brought it up, but at night the thought haunted him, anchoring him to his home: if Lily, seventeen-year-old, scatterbrained, fragile Lily was going to take on the task of watching over her entire family, who would take care of her?
That was where Teddy came in.
So even though they had their fights, and even though they were certainly nastier than any normal fight between two friends, and even though Teddy often promised himself that he would pack up and leave, when Lily told, not asked, him to meet her for lunch one day in the summer following her graduation, saying she had news, it was no surprise to Teddy, or anyone else for that matter, that he would be the first one she would share it with.
It was a surprise, however, when Teddy, who had shown up at the agreed meeting place five minutes late and still had to wait ten minutes for her, saw Lily walk in and give a wave that, for some odd reason, seemed to deflect sunlight. Oh, nevermind; it wasn't the wave itself, just the engagement ring on her finger.
Wait...what?
Teddy stood to greet her, a formal gesture that normally would have been too polite for two people who knew each other so well, but it seemed as though once the ring was on her finger, Lily had become an entirely different person. Someone Teddy didn't even know and wasn't entirely sure he wanted to.
This couldn't be happening. Teddy had just seen her last night and, after running a brief mental analysis, was sure that, had the aforementioned ring been on her finger at the time, he would have noticed it.
Without waiting for a greeting, Lily dove right into the subject of her news by wiggling her left hand at Teddy. "We're engaged!" she practically screamed, getting annoyed glances from the other diners which she skillfully ignored.
At first Teddy didn't know who she was talking about. It wasn't that he was "denying the truth" or anything, he was truly stumped. Lily didn't bring guys home. Sure she'd been going out a lot lately, and Teddy remembered hearing her mention a boyfriend in passing, but Teddy felt strangely...exposed by this sudden change of events. As though someone had ripped open the shower curtain without him ever having realized they were in the bathroom. He was sure Lily would have at least told him a name before the relationship got to the point of an engagement!
And that was when it hit him, and it hit him hard. Oh, there was a name alright, and the name in itself explained why Lily had rarely mentioned her boyfriend, much less introduced him to anyone. Oh yes, there was a name.
And that name was Scorpius Malfoy.