Gull: to deceive, trick or cheat.
August 31, 2017
"Are you sure?"
No one ever said Harry Potter was above eavesdropping. In fact, he, Ron, and Hermione had held something of a record for it in their youth. He liked to think that he wielded his knack for stumbling upon (or stalking down, some might say) highly secretive, enormously important conversations with honor and skill. He only listened when it was a matter of life and death… in a roundabout way, sometimes, it was true, but still. The point was there was a line between secret and private and he treated it with the utmost respect.
A conversation between your godson and his 'secret' girlfriend was definitely over the line. He should just keep walking. Ginny was waiting downstairs for him and the extra card table that hovered a foot in front of him. He should just. Keep. Going.
But when your godson's using that tone of voice… well, just try walking away. There were certain reflexes, instincts one developed when they became responsible for another human being. You discern hungry cries from scared cries, reach for their hand at a street corner, and have a heart attack at every loud noise if you can't see them right in front of you. It doesn't matter how old they get or if you're a war hero, the impulse to protect is just there, rooted deep inside you. The biggest arachnophobic will smash a spider with his bare palm if it means getting rid of the fear in his daughter's eyes.
And, well, no one ever said Harry Potter got control over his curiosity.
So instead of joining his wife downstairs and pretending he was completely oblivious to the romance that had sprung up between Teddy and Victoire over the past year, he stepped closer to the door they were currently holding a hushed conversation behind.
"Are you really sure?" Teddy was asking.
"Of course I'm bloody sure, Teddy," Victoire snapped. "I checked three times. Look."
There was a pause, then Teddy sighed. "There it is. Can't get much clearer than that, can you?"
"Nope."
There was another sigh and the sound of footsteps, pacing.
"What're we gonna do?" Teddy asked.
"I suppose we'll have to give it up. We can't very well keep it ourselves."
"I could –"
"Teddy, you're training to be an Auror. You're gone almost sixty hours a week. Who do you think's going to look after it? Harry and Ginny? We've got to give it up. "
"Yeah, alright. Guess it's up to you, anyway." Another pause. "How are we gonna tell them?"
"I thought maybe we could just show them these, see how they react."
"D'you think they'll be angry?"
"They'll be upset. There's no getting around that. But eventually they'll just have to accept it."
"Guess we screwed up, didn't we?"
At these words, Harry's hover charm slipped. The table came crashing down, landing painfully on his foot. The door flew open and Teddy stood goggling at him in the doorway.
"Er, hi," Harry said sheepishly.
"I think you dropped something," Teddy said politely, nodding toward the folded card table at Harry's feet.
"Thanks for telling me that, Ted," Harry nodded. He hesitated. "Is there… anything else you'd like to tell me? Or Victoire? Has she got anything that needs to be told?"
Teddy crossed his arms. "I don't think so."
Harry sighed and shoved the table out of his way. "Alright, you caught me, I was listening," he revealed, pushing past Teddy into the room. "But I just want you to know –"
He stopped short when he saw his niece. A small, wriggling ball of fluff was squirming in her arms, licking her face. A stack of posters advertising a picture of the dog and a plea for its return sat beside her.
"Yeah?" Teddy prompted, ducking around Harry to join Victoire on the floor. The puppy rolled into his lap.
"Er – where'd the –"
"Me and Vic found it wondering around the village," Teddy explained. "But it turns out someone's looking for it. We were just talking about how to tell the kids. They've grown rather fond of the little bugger."
"Right," said Harry, feeling as if a buffalo had just been removed from his chest. "Of course, they would be upset, wouldn't they? Maybe even angry. Shouldn't have let them get attached, you're right."
"You look a bit peaky," Teddy smirked. "Why don't you sit down?"
Obediently, Harry sank into a chair, still staring at the dog.
"You look pretty alarmed over a little puppy, Uncle Harry," Vicotoire observed, plopping the fuzz ball into his lap.
"Well, I didn't know it was a dog," he mumbled, scratching the thing behind its ears.
"Oh? What did you think we were talking about?" Teddy asked, raising a sardonic eyebrow.
"Well – I – you made it sound – nothing," Harry spluttered.
"Because what would Vic and I really be talking about?" Teddy pressed. "We're just friends, after all. You know everything between us is completely platonic. Like cousins, like –"
"Alright, alright," Harry interrupted, holding up his hands. "I know you two are together –"
"Aha!" Teddy shouted, leaping up triumphantly.
" – and, well, you made it sound like you – like you were –"
Victoire gasped, clapping a hand to her heart. "Uncle Harry, you didn't really think I was –"
"Well that's what it sounded like!" Harry defended as Victoire shook her head, tutting. Teddy was nearly on the floor laughing. Harry shoved him backward, flushing. "You little smartarse. You planned this, didn't you?"
Teddy straightened up, grinning like a madman. "Well, the dog was convenient. Now, what have we learned?"
"That you're getting stuck with filing for the rest of the month for nearly giving the Head of the Auror Office a stroke," Harry muttered.
"No, I don't think that's it," Teddy contradicted. "More along the lines of don't keep secrets."
"But – you two were the ones keeping it secret!" Harry exclaimed indignantly.
Teddy heaved himself to his feet and scooped the puppy out of Harry's lap. He clapped Harry on the shoulder. "I'm sorry we had to do that, but you'll be better off for it," he said solemnly.
Then, he put his arm around Victoire, and the two of them, still laughing, left the room.
A/N: For Pan's Box, because they asked for something funny and this was the best I could come up with.