A/N: Since today (er, yesterday now since it's after midnight), August 1st, was my birthday I had the day off of work. I spent it mostly with family but managed to type this up this evening. Hope you are all enjoying this new story so far!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
WARNING: language and mild sexual situations in this chapter.
….
Because his body was used to waking up early every day for work, Teddy's internal alarm had him wide awake by half seven the following morning. He did his normal workout routine to keep in shape then left the bedroom to make his way to the kitchen.
He had only been in Scorpius's flat a handful of times and was surprised to find it so well stocked with food. Lots of ingredients for preparing food as well. Huh. He didn't know that his cousin liked to cook.
Feeling a bit lazy (and not knowing much about cooking) he prepared a bowl of cereal for himself and ate it slowly, enjoying the fact that he didn't have to be anywhere by a certain time. Once he was finished he went to take a shower.
The lavatory gave Teddy yet another surprise. All of the hair and body products! And what the bloody hell was that? A woman's razor? He chuckled. Which bird left that here? Better question, why hadn't Scorpius gotten rid of it yet?
With a flick of his wand he conjured a new toothbrush for himself and stepped out of the shower and up to the sink. A green toothbrush and a purple toothbrush were already in the little cup on the edge of the sink. No longer laughing, he rolled his eyes. Godric, how many women had left things here? Did Scorpius keep them as souvenirs?
Once he was back in the bedroom he took a look around for the first time. Last night he'd been just slightly intoxicated and anxious for sleep. Now he had time to inspect his surroundings. When he opened the closet his jaw dropped. More than half of the clothes in there were feminine items. Either Scorpius was secretly cross dressing – a lot! Or there was a girl who practically lived here.
Teddy was inclined to believe that Scorpius kept the clothes to give to girls he slept with so they wouldn't have to take the walk of shame in the same outfit they'd been wearing when they arrived at his flat. However upon further investigation, he noted that the clothes were all the same size and it was highly unlikely that Scorpius only slept with girls with this exact figure.
None of this made any sense. Scorpius was a male slag. He was constantly with different women (very publicly, too) and yet the state of his flat made it obvious to Teddy that he had a very serious girlfriend.
After dressing himself in a pair of Scorpius's black slacks and a plain blue button-up shirt, he went on searching the place. Women's shoes made their appearances, again all in the same size, as well as feminine accessories, and to his horror, feminine products for when it was 'that time of the month.'
Yes, Scorpius Malfoy was without a doubt hiding something very big. Deciding to give up for now he returned to the bedroom to make the bed. It was a habit that had been instilled in him by his perfectionist girlfriend. As he shook out the duvet, a pair of red lacey panties dislodged from the blankets and fell onto the floor.
He grimaced. He'd fucking slept in this bed all night! Merlin's balls, he should have known better! It was common sense to check the bed before just crashing in it! He had nobody to blame for this but himself. With magic he quickly cleaned the bedding, Vanished the panties, and decided it was time for him to show up at work.
…..
"There you are!" he flinched at the booming voice behind him before spinning around to see Draco Malfoy striding toward him with an angry scowl etched on his features. "My office. Now."
Unsure of what he might have done wrong already (he'd only been there for an hour), Teddy hurriedly followed after Draco. He took the seat across the desk from Draco's as the elder wizard closed and locked the office door. "Er – what exactly is this about?"
Still frowning deeply, Draco paced in front of Teddy for several moments before asking, "When, exactly, were you planning on telling your mother and me that you're going to propose to someone? Better yet, who the bloody hell are you even seeing? The last I heard, The Daily Prophet had photographs of you on dates with two different women on the same night and Witch Weekly had you tied for the number one most eligible bachelor with James Potter!"
The former Death Eater looked…hurt. "How did you…where did you hear…" spluttered Teddy, just as shocked by this news as Draco seemed to be.
"Scorpius," Draco pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and middle finger. "The man who owns the jewelry shop where you bought the ring is a bloke who used to go to school with me. He recognized you right away and I received an owl from him this morning asking who the lucky bird was because apparently you were reluctant to say."
"Well I…I…erm…" thinking fast, Teddy proclaimed, "I haven't asked her yet and before I tell anyone about her I want to make sure she says yes."
"She must be absolutely crazy to say yes to a proposal from a bloke who shags a different woman every other night," Draco said not unkindly, but in a challenging way.
"What are you playing at?" asked Teddy.
"Just wondering how serious you really are about this girl if you don't want anyone to know about her and you're still seeing other birds."
"That's between her and me. I'd like to keep it that way for at least a week," yes, that was a good thing to say. At the end of one week they would be back to their own bodies.
"Fine," Draco growled, obviously angry, "You have one week, Scorpius, one week. Then you will tell us exactly what the fuck you're doing and who it is that you want to become our daughter-in-law. Until then, just…go back to work," with a sigh he moved to shuffle some papers on his desk. Recognizing the dismissal, Teddy gave his 'father' a curt nod and left.
Angrily he went to the floo and went from the Malfoy's building to the Ministry. Moving deftly throughout the place he was exceptionally familiar with, he made his way to his office. With a start he saw himself sitting at his desk. It was weird, like looking into a mirror. Until his clone smirked that Malfoy smirk. "Hullo, mate, come to give up already, have you?" Scorpius gloated as he pushed aside the quill and parchment in front of him.
"Why didn't you tell me that you apparently have a serious girlfriend and that you bought a fucking engagement ring for her?" Teddy snarled. How could Scorpius just thrust him into this life without warning him of something so important?
Scorpius's smirk fell so fast it was almost comical. His complexion paled, he cleared his throat, and asked, "How did you…? She didn't stop by, did she?"
"What? No. I don't even know who she is! Your dad just ripped me a new one for not having told him that you were getting ready to propose. Apparently the jeweler you bought the ring from is a mate of his."
"Damn it! Why didn't I think of that?" he mumbled more to himself than to Teddy. "Listen, don't worry about it, okay? I…I'm not ready to tell anyone yet, so just pretend she doesn't exist. What did you tell my father?"
"I told him that I would tell him about her in a week. Also, what do you mean 'don't worry about it'? What if she comes to your flat? And why are you trying so hard to keep her a secret?"
"She won't come to my flat, I sent her a message already telling her that I was away," said Scorpius unconcernedly with a flick of his fingers.
"Is that what you tell her while you're sleeping around with other women?" Teddy growled.
Scorpius leveled his gaze at Teddy. "That's none of your business."
"Oh…Godric…" Teddy began putting the dots together. "Bloody hell, mate, she's a muggle isn't she? You don't want your dad to know about her, and obviously if she's not a witch then she won't see all of the evidence of your sleazy lifestyle on the front page of our newspapers…"
Scorpius said nothing to confirm or deny this. With a shake of his head Teddy scratched at his short blonde hair. "Good luck, Scor. And I really mean that. You'll need all of the luck you can get for a relationship like that."
Without another word, Teddy turned around and left Scorpius behind. When he stepped out into the hall he bumped into Albus Potter, who said quickly, "Whoops, sorry, Malfoy."
Albus and Scorpius were not exactly friends, but they weren't enemies either. They could speak civilly but never sought each other out to speak with. Nor did they go out of their ways to be nice to each other. "It was my fault, Potter, I didn't see you there," said Teddy in the haughtiest voice he could manage.
Albus nodded with a tight lipped smile and they stalked off in opposite directions. Aside from the small altercation with Mr. Malfoy, overall Teddy's day went well. Work was easy and all he had to do was sign a few forms the company was sending to clients and owl the president of a partner company about budgeting issues.
Feeling pretty damn good about being Scorpius Malfoy, Teddy swaggered to the fireplace and went back to his (well, Scorpius's) flat.
….
When the magical alarm went off the morning of his first full day as Teddy Lupin, Scorpius groaned and shot at it with his wand. The spell hit the alarm clock dead-on and it ricocheted off of the walls twice before landing in a silent, but broken, heap on the floor.
With a yawn he sat up, scratched the back of his head and went to the loo to take a piss. Practically living with Rose had made him immune to seeing certain feminine items in a lavatory. However, Victoire was much more frilly and girly than his girlfriend and so he didn't exactly relish the act of relieving himself in a toilet that had a pink fluffy cover over the lid while his bare feet were cushioned by a pink fluffy rug.
Godric, did Teddy have no balls at all? Victoire had obviously decorated the entire flat without asking for his input on anything. There was nothing to suggest that a man lived in the house at all aside from his clothes in the bedroom closet and a few manly toiletries in the medicine cabinet in the loo.
There were pictures of the happy couple all over the place, most of which had obviously been staged and taken by professionals. Now that he thought about it, Scorpius could remember Teddy grumbling about Victoire asking him to go with her to a photographer to have some pictures of them taken on their anniversary last year.
Honestly he didn't know why Teddy stayed with the part-Veela chit, but that really wasn't any of his business. He was just glad that he didn't have to deal with her during this bet. If Victoire had been around then Scorpius was certain that he would have either caved on the first day or used the Killing Curse on himself. And that was just one crazy member of the family he was (hopefully) going to marry into.
If Rose said yes.
Bloody hell he was nervous. Another big reason why he so quickly agreed to Teddy's crazy idea of betting on who had the better life was because he was putting off proposing to Rose. He had bought the ring, of course, and it was perfect, but that didn't make him any less afraid of actually asking the question.
Part of him wondered if she knew he was getting ready to 'pop the question' because he had recently suggested they begin telling people about their relationship. It was supposed to start with him telling Teddy, then if that went well, Rose would tell her best friend Allie Longbottom. So on and so forth until finally telling their families the truth.
Now, however, he had a week to get ready for this. And he was going to use every spare moment to figure out exactly how he would ask her to marry him and exactly when and what exactly he would say.
After the fastest shower of his life, Scorpius dressed in Teddy's work robes, took several big gulps of Polyjuice Potion, and went to work. Harry Potter was known widely to be an affectionate, caring, and generally kind man but Scorpius had only ever met him briefly a few times when they happened to be at the same Ministry function or party.
Now, however, when he caught sight of Scorpius, seeing the face of his godson, Harry Potter smiled a big genuine smile, pulled him into a hug, released him and said, "You've been doing brilliantly, Teddy! Your work on the Keller case was exceptional. I'm really proud of you, and no, I'm not just saying that because you're my godson."
Scorpius wasn't used to such praise. He felt himself blush but willed himself not to. Surely Teddy wouldn't turn crimson at such a compliment? "Thanks, uh, Harry," said Scorpius.
Harry patted him on the shoulder. "I left a folder on your desk that I want you to take a look at first thing. There have been a few minor incidents in the Improper Use of Magic office and it was put under our jurisdiction yesterday evening when a muggle was injured by one of the charmed objects. I think it's the same person, or group of people, charming those muggle objects. See what connections, if any, you can find, okay?"
"Sure," said Scorpius as he did his best to keep up with what Harry was saying. With a wave and another smile Harry turned to speak with someone else and Scorpius glanced around wondering which way to go. Trying to appear confident (which wasn't hard for a Malfoy), he walked up and down the corridors until finding an office with his name on the plaque above the door.
The folder Harry had mentioned was there and Scorpius spent the better part of his morning making notes on it. This was easy work, really. No wonder Teddy did such a good job with it. Sure, it was tedious and a bit boring, but easy enough.
After lunch (which he spent engaged in an awkward conversation with Albus Potter and a witch he hadn't met before) Teddy showed up and demanded to know about the girl. The girl. Because Rose wasn't just any girl, she was the one.
Of course Scorpius couldn't tell him the truth because he knew what would happen if he did. Teddy, as Scorpius, would have sought her out and talked with her and that was the last thing Scorpius wanted to happen. It had been a stroke of luck that Teddy had the misconception he was dating a muggle but hey, whatever worked to keep him away from the truth.
Harry let Scorpius go home early that day, saying that he understood that without Victoire at home he would probably need a bit more personal time for things like cooking and cleaning. Ha. As if. Scorpius Malfoy wasn't about to clean Lupin's house.
The worst part about being Teddy, so far, was that he missed Rose. It bothered him to sleep in a bed without her and after a hard day at work he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms. That was it. Just hold her, smell her delicious hair, nuzzle his face into her neck. Hear her giggle. Taste her. Okay, he needed to stop thinking about her right now.
His plan for the rest of his evening was simple; make himself something to eat and read a good book as Lupin seemed to have a whole case of books that looked interesting. Yes, this was the good life.
…..
There was a loud pounding on the door of the flat and Teddy looked up sharply. He had been looking at the Quidditch magazine Scorpius left on the coffee table of his flat. Who could that possibly be? With just a touch of dread Teddy made his way to the door and pulled it open.
Rose Weasley stood in the hall with her hands on her hips glaring at him viciously. "What the bloody fuck, Malfoy?" she screeched angrily, rage flashing in her blue eyes. "You're a special kind of idiot, aren't you?"
With no idea as to what she was talking about he quirked an eyebrow at her. In response Rose jerked her head to the side and Scorpius peeked his head out the door to look. There were two wizards watching her curiously, obviously wondering what Rose Weasley was doing at Scorpius Malfoy's flat.
"Well? Are you going to stand there and gape at me like the dolt you are or are you going to let me in so I don't have to yell at your stupid arse in public?" Rose snarled nastily.
Instantly warning bells went off in Teddy's head. Scorpius had said that under no circumstances was anyone of the female persuasion to be let into his flat. Although this was Rose. Rose Weasley was the saint of the entire Weasley/Potter clan. It was a well-known fact that she was the only virgin left of all of the grandkids, including Lily Potter (although Lily refused to tell anyone who she had ever slept with).
She was, in one word, a prude, sexually speaking. It was rumored amongst some of the family that she hadn't even had her first kiss yet. And it wasn't because she was unattractive. Although Teddy had never thought of her in any way other than someone who was like a cousin to him, he acknowledged that she was pretty. He was sure blokes weren't repulsed by her looks. No, they were more likely to be driven off by her bossy attitude and blunt personality. Not to mention the fact that she kept herself covered from her neck to her ankles almost all of the time.
Even on the rare occasions that he had gone to the beach with her family, Rose typically wore very conservative one-piece bathing suits. A few of her female cousins had attempted many make-overs over the years but she had fought them off, usually with a variety of curses.
The point was that Scorpius's virtue (Teddy snorted) was in no danger with this witch. It was relatively safe to let her into the flat. The worst that could happen is that she would demolish the place.
Even knowing that she and Scorpius had many (and often times very public) altercations, he was surprised she would go to such extremes to yell at him; showing up at his flat in the evening and demanding entrance just to pick a fight.
Torn between amusement and apprehension, he stood aside and let her in. She swooped into the room and he shut the door behind her. She was still glaring at him. "Well!" she demanded.
"Well what?" Teddy sneered, doing his best to use the tone he knew Scorpius took with Rose. Rose's eyebrows shot up, disappearing into her bangs, as if his words surprised her.
"Explain to me right now what is going on! I received your owl yesterday about you going out of town for the week on business, and I received your owl today about how things are going in Australia with the business deal you're working on, then Albus mentions that he bumped into you today at the Ministry!"
Now nothing made sense whatsoever. Scorpius had sent her an owl? Why? "It's none of your business, Weasley," Scorpius snapped as he folded his arms over his chest.
Rose looked like she was about to pull out her wand and jinx him when her expression turned instantly into one of understanding and she said softly, "Oh, I see. So that's what you're doing, you clever boy." She smirked at him in a way that made Teddy blink in confusion. Was that a flirty smile? "You want to play?" she purred, "Don't move, Malfoy, I'll be right back," after jabbing a finger in his direction she skipped down the hall.
He watched with surprise as she went into the loo and reappeared a moment later with a toothbrush in her mouth. She crossed the hall, went into the bedroom, and closed the door behind her. That was her toothbrush he'd seen in the lavatory? But then that meant…but no…surely not?
Just as it was all clicking together, Rose opened the door of the bedroom, walked down the hallway, stepped into the sitting room where Teddy still stood exactly where she told him to stay, and his jaw dropped.
Rose had pulled her unruly red hair down from the tight bun it had been in and she'd changed her clothes into her old school uniform with a few differences. Her skirt was much too short. So short, in fact, that if she turned around he would be able to see her knickers. Her shirt was so tight around her chest that it was painfully obvious she wasn't wearing a bra and she had it tied up so that her midriff was revealed and – what the hell? When had she pierced her naval?
"You plotted all of that just for me, didn't you?" she asked with a bat of her eyelashes. "Sent those notes to me and then purposefully went to visit Teddy and let Albus see you so that I would show up here mad? Because for some unfathomable reason you find it really hot when I'm angry. One of these days you'll have to explain to me why that is, but for now, let's just get started, shall we?"
While biting her bottom lip in a way that had Teddy barely suppressing a moan, her fingers flicked over the first two buttons of her shirt, revealing the smallest bit of cleavage. Godric! He hadn't realized how fucking sexy Rose Weasley was. Had her thighs always looked so creamy and soft? Had her lips always been so full and red? And, holy Merlin, had she always been such a wildcat in the bedroom?
He came back to reality as she released the final button and the shirt parted. Just before her breasts were revealed to him, he had the sense to slap a hand over his eyes. "Actually," he was appalled to hear the squeak in his own voice, "I sent you those owls because I, uh, erm, I'M SICK! Yes, that's it, I'm ill, and I didn't want you to catch it! I went to the Auror office to drop off an Auror file that Teddy accidentally left here and needed for work. Other than that I've been in bed all day," as he spoke he used his metamorphamagus powers to create proof of the impromptu story.
His temperature rose a few degrees at his will, his face paled, and black circles appeared under his eyes while his face was hidden from her view by his hands. "Oh, Scor," she cooed as she approached him. "Won't this make you feel better?" Damn it, even her voice was sexy as hell when she used that tone. "I bet that if you had that wonderful cock buried deep in my tight pussy you would be all better." Aaaaand now he was hard. She wasn't making this very easy for him to turn down, was she? The erection he was now sporting in his trousers was uncomfortable but he ignored it.
"N-no," he choked out, "I don't want you to catch whatever this is. I feel like shit and –"
"Scor," she put her hands over his and pulled them away from his face. To his surprise she was frowning. She looked at him closely and sighed. "You really do look awful," her fingertips gently touched the bags under his eyes. "Damn. I was really looking forward to you fucking me in this uniform. You haven't done that since we were at Hogwarts."
Although obviously disappointed, she mercifully held her shirt closed and wandered back into the bedroom. As she walked away, Teddy couldn't help but sneak a quick glance. Yes, he had been right, the short skirt allowed you to see her arse which was, to his simultaneous horror and elation, not wearing knickers.
When she came out this time, she was in plain blue cotton pajama bottoms and one of Malfoy's old Quidditch jerseys from his days at school. Her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail. "I'm not worried about catching it, so I'm staying and making you feel better. Bundle up on the couch, love, and I'll make you some soup."
Now that sounded like the Rose he knew! Rose could cook just as well as her grandmother and he would be able to concentrate on something other than how sinfully delicious she looked in that skimpy modified uniform while she wasn't in the same room as him.
Teddy obeyed her command and eagerly curled up on the sofa and continued flicking through the Quidditch magazine while Rose hummed to herself and bustled around the kitchen. When the soup was done she returned with a bowl for each of them and cuddled into his chest as they ate. It was comfortable and Teddy couldn't help but compare her to Victoire.
Victoire wouldn't have made him homemade soup if he was sick. No, she would have shoved a Pepper-Up potion down his throat and steered clear of him while steam billowed out of his ears for the next twenty-four hours. She would not have sat in a comfortable silence and been happy just to be around him.
This was nice. If this is what Scorpius had to come home to every night then being him for the next week would be easy as pumpkin pasty.
After their meal (which was amazing) Rose chatted a bit about her day, inquired as to how his day was, asked if he was getting plenty of fluids and rest, fretted over him a bit, and then they retired to the bedroom. She slept with one leg thrown over his hips and one hand lovingly splayed on his chest. Deciding to not worry much about what had been going on between Scorpius and Rose for the past few years that they'd kept secret, Teddy wanted to just enjoy the moment and let himself drift into a peaceful slumber.
…
A/N: In the next chapter Scorpius will have to deal with Victoire! Also, it should be noted that if you're following my story Who You Are, this one is completely unrelated and the characters in this story are VERY different from how I portray them in Who You Are. Especially Victoire. Love to hear your thoughts!