Overcast and occasional spits of rain were not ideal Quidditch conditions in Teddy's mind, but it was what they had to deal with today in their game against Mission Hills, their hated Southern California rivals. The day had started partly sunny and he'd held out hopes that it would clear up, but it seemed like as soon as the game began, the clouds rolled in, dark and heavy. There had been a concern that the game would need to be delayed due to lightning, but the local Weather Adept had given the all clear and both teams eagerly kicked off into the sky.

"All right, Mission Hills is on their heels. Sonora held them to a shut out, so you know they're going to be coming hard, but their confidence is low," Coach Parker said as they huddled together for their pre-game strategy. "Sutton, you and Anderson keep the Bludgers going their way. They have a substitute Beater in for their lead who took a fall in that game against Sonora. Keep him busy." Duncan and Nicholas bashed forearms and nodded.

Coach Parker pointed to their Seeker, Jenny Ishikawa. "Their Seeker is new this year, but has made some amazing grabs. One eye on her, one eye out for the Snitch, all right?"

"Yes, Coach," she said, gripping her broom tightly. She was a Junior and had been first-string since her Freshman year, so she knew her job very well.

"Chasers. Your jobs are to score as much as you can. Their Keeper is a Senior and is about the same size as a hippogriff, so you're going to have to be very coordinated with your passes to keep him off balance." Teddy nodded, looking at his fellow Chasers. He caught Kelly's eye and gave her a wink, grinning when she winked back.

"Cruz, their Chasers are fast, but not as coordinated as we are. Don't be afraid for call for help, all right?" Coach Parker clapped his hands together and put them on his hips, looking at them sternly. "Get out there and have fun." He put his hand out toward them and they all put their hands on top, Teddy making sure his was touching Kelly's.

"Mandrakes on three. One, two three, Mandrakes!" they all shouted in unison, Teddy feeling the familiar pre-game thrill running through him. The pace of the game had been blistering with the two teams practically trading scores and possessions with both of the Seekers diligently searching for the Snitch. With no direct sunlight to reflect off of the golden ball, their job was much harder than it usually was and Teddy settled in for a long game.

The game was nearly two hours old when a Bludger whizzed by his head as he sped down the pitch, Quaffle secure under his arm. Duncan streaked past, readying his bat as Teddy bore down on the Mission Hills Keeper, who was indeed about as wide as a hippogriff; Teddy had wondered how he kept airborne when he saw him kick off at the beginning of the game.

"Now!" Teddy shouted and Duncan intercepted the Bludger, sending it straight for the Mission Hills Keeper's head, forcing him to dive down and give Teddy a clear shot at the goal. He shot the Quaffle through the hoop, cheering at the loud gong and the echoing cheer from the stands packed full of family and students.

"Another score for number seven, Teddy Lupin!" the magically-amplified voice of Senior Eric Montrose shouted. "With an assist from number twenty-four, Duncan Sutton!" There was no time to rest on his laurels however because Mission Hills had the Quaffle and they were driving down the pitch in a wedge formation, looking to score quickly.

"Come on, Ishikawa," Teddy muttered, "I'm starving!" Kelly signaled him and he nodded, zipping up to the Mission Hills Chasers, diving and flying to disrupt their movement and force them to pass the Quaffle in the hopes of gaining an interception.

Jordan Armstrong came in from up high, startling the lead Chaser that held the Quaffle, forcing a clumsy pass. Teddy stretched, but came up short, mindful of the prohibition on his use of his Metamorphmagus skills, as much as he would have liked to extend his arms the extra inches he needed to make the catch.

Abandoning the effort, Teddy swooped over to hover by their Keeper, Maria Cruz. "Nice score, Lupin," she said, eyes glued to the opposing Chasers trying to organize themselves while Kelly and Jordan continued to buzz around them.

"Thanks," he said, eyes momentarily distracted by something that flew by almost too fast to see. The Snitch? No, that was way bigger than any Snitch I've seen. Must have been a bird of some sort. Besides, Ishikawa's still up there with their Seeker. He shook his head and focused on the Chasers in front of them, finally taking a shot. Maria blocked it easily and quickly passed it to him and he tucked it under his arm, signaling that he was going high.

"Uh oh, folks, the Seekers are on the move! I do believe Ishikawa's seen it! Look at her go!" Eric shouted and Teddy spun around, watching as Jenny practically flattened herself against her broom, black ponytail whipping in the wind as she sped toward the winged Snitch, hand outstretched.

"Yes!" Teddy shouted when she caught the Snitch and sat up straight, hand held high over her head. The entire team flew straight toward her, nearly ending up in a massive mid-air collision as they all tried to hug her at once.

"There you have it folks! St Ambrose Mandrakes 290, Mission Hills Banshees 80. Top scorer today goes to Teddy Lupin with 70 points! What a game!" The team flew a victory lap in a V formation with Jenny in front holding the Snitch in front of her, blue and gold robes flapping in the wind.

On the ground, they were surrounded by a surging crowd of friends and family and Teddy found himself practically pummeled from all sides. He looked for Harry and Ginny in the crowd, finally catching sight of Ginny's distinctive red hair and he pushed through the throng toward them. Harry had baby James in a carrier on his chest and the baby was bundled up such that he looked like a laughing snowman.

"Top scorer! Well done, love!" Ginny said, pulling him in for a tight hug.

Harry beamed proudly and pounded him on his shoulder, nearly knocking Teddy over. "Excellent game, Teddy." Baby James screeched and waved his arms, reaching out for Teddy. "Go get cleaned up and we'll go out, yeah?"

"That's the best thing I've heard all day! I'm starving!" Teddy chucked James under the chin, grinning at the baby's drooly smile. "Can we go to Fenton's?"

"If you promise to eat more than just ice cream," Ginny said with a knowing smile.

"Come on, Ginny! I'm the top scorer! That's got to be worth a banana split!" He kissed her on the cheek and wormed his way out of the teeming throng, heading to the locker rooms with the rest of the team. After a congratulatory speech from Coach Parker and the requisite horseplay, Teddy quickly showered, hoping to catch Kelly on the way out.

"So, you going to ask her to the dance?" Duncan asked as he pulled his shirt on over his head.

"Yeah, I think so," Teddy said after taking a careful look to see if anyone was listening to their conversation.

"You better hurry up. I heard her talking to Jenny the other day. Her dad is going to let her go to the dance."

"How do you hear all of this gossip?" Teddy asked, completely mystified. It seemed that Duncan always knew everything that was going on at the school.

"A magician never reveals his secrets," Duncan said haughtily.

"Hey, Harry and Ginny are taking me to Fenton's. Want to come?" Teddy carefully arranged his hair in the mirror, deciding to leave it his regular sandy brown. He didn't want Kelly to think he was vain.

"Ooo, Fenton's … I can't, man. Mom and Dad promised my little sister we'd do pizza after. Tell Ginny that I'm sorry I missed her," he said with a lascivious grin.

"Ugh, you're disgusting." Teddy slid on his jacket and shoved his Quidditch kit in his locker, closing it with a crash. "I'm off. Wish me luck."

"Good luck! Tell me everything!"

"As if." Teddy and Duncan executed their ridiculously complicated secret handshake and he left the locker room, catching Jenny Ishikawa on the way out. "Jenny, good catch today!" he said warmly.

She gave him a broad smile and nodded. "Thanks! You weren't so bad yourself out there!"

"Thanks! Hey, uh, did Kelly leave already?"

"No, she's still in there. You want me to get her?"

Teddy felt a surge of butterflies in his gut and he shook his head. "No, that's all right. Thanks."

Jenny gave him a look that only increased the unsettled feeling in his stomach and grinned. "Okay. See you Monday, top scorer!"

"Yeah, Monday." Teddy leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, trying to look nonchalant when he felt anything but. He'd rehearsed exactly how he was going to ask her to the dance all week, but he still thought that everything that came out of his mouth sounded stupid. He'd studied Harry and Ginny surreptitiously, but they were no help; they'd known each other for most of their lives and he was pretty sure they were telepathic.

Maria Cruz came out of the locker room, startling him out of his reverie. "Hey," she said with a raised eyebrow. "Good job today."

"Thanks, you too."

"Listen, our first game after winter break is with Snohomish. I wanted to know what you thought about running a few extra practices after we get back. They're a tough team and—"

"Yeah, sounds good. You know, whatever Coach thinks, all right?" Teddy said, trying to get her to move along before Kelly came out.

"Uh, all right. I'll talk to Coach about it then. See you Monday."

"Yeah, Monday." Maria finally headed off down the hallway and Teddy breathed a sigh of relief. Wait, this is the only way out of the girls' locker room, right? She wouldn't have left out of a back door or something? He'd nearly convinced himself to go hunting for another exit to the girls' locker room when Kelly finally came out, long blonde hair in a tight braid down her back.

"Oh, Teddy! This is unexpected!" she said brightly, eyes wide at the sight of him. Teddy stood momentarily dumbstruck. Why have I never noticed her eyes are the same color as Marella's before?

"Hey," he said, sounding like an idiot to his own ears. "Um, good game today, huh? We really demolished 'em!"

"Yeah we did! Good thing Coach drilled us on formations and passing, right? Their passing was terrible today. Oh, I need to tell Duncan aiming that Bludger at their Keeper was great!" she said, smiling widely.

Her nose does that cute little crinkle thing! Okay, Lupin! Focus! "Yeah, that's something we'd talked about before. Their Keeper is so hard to get around, we thought we'd get him out of the way."

"Well, I think it worked perfectly," she said, putting her hand on his arm. Teddy was sure his heart was going to beat right out of his chest at the contact and he forced himself to take a deep breath.

Kelly was looking at him, her face open and expectant and Teddy knew the moment had come. "So, um, Winter Formal is coming up … and I … was wondering if you'd like to go with me," he said, abandoning his nonchalant lean and standing up straight. He kept his hands still even though he wanted very badly to run his hand through his hair. His pulse was roaring in his ears as he watched her smile widen. Oh God, please say yes, please say yes, please—

"Yes, I'd love to go to the Winter Formal with you," she said quietly, looking down at the cement walkway.

Teddy abruptly had to remind himself to breathe as he looked at her in front of him, her ears turning a delicate shade of pink. She looked up at him from under her brows, sea-green eyes wide and he felt a goofy grin spread across his face. "Okay, cool. Um, yeah. So … I guess …"

"Yeah, I guess … um … I'll let you know what color my dress is, all right? So you can match."

"Of course," Teddy said, nodding his head vigorously, feeling completely daft the entire time. I have to match? I went stag last time!

"Okay, so see you Monday?" Kelly said, still looking quite pink.

"Yeah, Monday. Okay." They stood awkwardly, Teddy's thoughts in a whirl. Do I kiss her? Are we boyfriend and girlfriend now? Does she want me to kiss her?

"Well, my mom and dad are waiting for me. So, um, bye," Kelly said, giving him a little wave.

"Oh, yeah. Um, bye." He returned her wave, a warm flush running through him at her giggle. She turned around and walked slowly down the walkway, turning once to look over her shoulder at him, nose crinkling in that way Teddy already adored. He stood watching her until she turned the corner and was lost to his sight.

All of the adrenaline drained out of him and he sagged against the wall, suddenly exhausted. "I did it. I hope her dress is a good color."

Teddy took a long, noisy slurp of his mint cookie milkshake and relaxed against the back of his chair, surveying the wreckage of what had been a double bacon cheeseburger, a whole basket of french fries and an enormous milkshake. He patted his stomach and sighed happily. "I love this place," he said, looking around the crowded restaurant.

Ginny took a more sedate sip of her own eggnog milkshake, handing James a french fry to gnaw on. "A good decision, love."

"Fenton's is always a good decision," Harry agreed, finishing his coffee milkshake with an even louder slurp, drawing an admonishing glare from his wife.

Teddy picked up one more french fry from the basket and dipped it in ketchup, holding it in front of him. "I have an announcement," he said, chewing slowly.

"You're running away and joining the circus?" Harry asked, inhaling the last onion ring.

"No. I have a date for the Winter Formal."

"Oh, do you? Who?" Ginny asked, leaning forward, her eyes bright with excitement.

"Kelly Taylor," Teddy said, the act of saying her name out loud giving him a feeling in his stomach that made him realize just how much he'd eaten.

"She's that cute blonde Chaser, right? A Junior?" Ginny's expression was speculative as if she were already imagining how well they went together.

"I thought her dad wasn't letting her go to dances until she's a Senior?" Harry asked musingly.

"Duncan said he heard her talking to Jenny, saying that her dad was going to let her start going this year." Teddy shrugged and gave James another fry; the one he currently had in his fist was nearly gnawed into oblivion.

"How does he hear so much? I swear he's using Extendable Ears," Harry muttered.

"Well, we've got a lot of work to do. You've grown since you last wore your dress robes, so we'll have to check the fit. You need a matching waistcoat and tie—do you know what color she's wearing?" Ginny said, launching into an alarming list of tasks.

"Um, she said she'd let me know. I'll ask her Monday?"

"Don't forget! You want to look coordinated for your pictures."

"I won't forget." Teddy took another exploratory slurp of his milkshake and glanced at Harry. "Can I borrow the car?"

"Borrow the car? Hmm," Harry said, sitting back against his chair and putting his hands behind his head. "Have you finished your university applications like we talked about?"

"Well, I've finished an application."

"Essay as well?" Harry was now giving him his teacher look over his glasses and Teddy squirmed in his seat.

"No, not yet. I've thought about it, though. I know what I'm going to say," Teddy said, employing every last shred of charm he possessed.

"Hm. Listen, finish two applications, including essays, and you can borrow the car for the night." Harry held out his hand and Teddy took it, giving it a firm shake.

"Deal." That's not too high of a price to pay. Not too many of the other kids drive. Kelly will definitely be impressed.

James chose that moment to start squawking and grunting, announcing to the table exactly what he was on about. "I'll get the check," Harry said, grabbing the slip of paper on the table.

"Chicken," Ginny snorted, gathering up James from the high chair along with the capacious diaper bag.

"That is never a good sound, Gin. Godspeed," Harry said with a wide grin.

Teddy watched as she stuck her tongue out at her husband and made her way to the toilet, telling James what a good boy he was. He'd been on the receiving end of a few of James' more interesting efforts and he was glad that he wasn't being pressed into duty. "I'm going to wait outside, okay?" he said, eyeballing the long line of people waiting to pay.

Harry nodded distractedly and Teddy left the noisy, crowded restaurant. He loved Fenton's, but sometimes it just got overwhelming. He leaned against the building in the chilly afternoon. The cloud cover hadn't let up at all and it looked like it might actually rain soon. He was looking idly up Piedmont Street when movement up on top of an electrical line caught his eye.

Now that's a big damn bird, he thought, taking a closer look at it. One of the benefits of being a Metamorphmagus was infinite control over his own eyesight. A few minor tweaks here and there and he didn't really need binoculars. That was one of the reasons why he was a Chaser and not a Seeker; using Metamorphmagus skills in a game was strictly forbidden.

Is that an eagle? A hawk? Hmm … definitely too big for a falcon. Must be some sort of eagle then, but with that coloring … The bird was so big and heavy that it bowed the top electrical line almost even with the bottom one. Even in the muted light of the cloud-covered afternoon, it glowed a mellow bronze color and Teddy had the feeling that it was looking straight at him.

Harry came out of the restaurant, rolling a toothpick around in his mouth and handed Teddy one. Teddy was about to ask him about the giant bird, but when he looked, the bird had gone. "What do you think about taking a gap year?" Harry asked, leaning against the bricks.

"What?" Teddy asked, switching gears from wondering about the bird to his godfather's out-of-the-blue question.

"A gap year. Take a year, do some traveling, figure out what you really want to do," Harry said, a note of careful casualness in his voice.

Teddy put the toothpick in his mouth and mimicked Harry's posture, hands in his jacket pockets. "What I really want to do is be an Auror," he said, avoiding looking at him. "Me and Duncan want to go in together. If I take a gap year, he'll be a year ahead of me."

"Did Duncan talk you into this?"

"No," Teddy said, taking a quick glance at Harry. He knew that there was some history between his godfather and Mr Sutton, but he hadn't been able to figure out the whole story yet. "We were talking to Archimedes last time we were over there—"

"Has Archimedes put you up to this?" Harry interrupted sharply. "Has he promised you anything? Said he'd do anything for you?"

Teddy stood up straight and faced his godfather, meeting his green eyes with his own scowl. "No! Harry, jeez! No one put me up to anything, okay? Can't I have my own idea for once?"

"Of course you can have your own ideas, but an Auror is just too dangerous!"

"You did it and it was way more dangerous then."

"I didn't have parents to tell me otherwise!"

Teddy felt an electrical jolt go through him and heard a roaring in his ears at Harry's words. Drawing himself up to his full height, he crossed his arms against his chest. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't have parents, either." He felt a flash of satisfaction at Harry's stricken look and he took a step back when he reached for his arm.

"Teddy, Gin and I—"

"Gin and I what?" Ginny asked, finally done with changing James. The baby burbled happily and held his arms out to Teddy who obliged him, holding his warm body close.

"Nothing," Harry sighed. "Ready?" Ginny looked at them both, a frown creasing her brows and nodded. The car ride back home was quiet, Teddy avoiding Harry's glances at him in the rearview mirror.

Back home, Teddy excused himself to his room. "I have a paper for Ms Okefor I need to finish," he said, practically closing the door in Harry's face. In his room, he lay on his bed, idly tossing a wooden puzzle ball into the air and catching it, trying to sort out the jumble of his thoughts. Resolutely pushing aside the memory of Harry's stunned expression at the end of their short conversation, he focused instead on Kelly and the shy way she'd ducked down her head when she consented to going to the dance with him.

He was in the middle of envisioning the two of them on the dance floor, wondering how her lips would feel, when the phone in his pocket buzzed.

What did she say? the message from Duncan said and Teddy could almost feel his friend's excitement.

She said yes, of course. I told you no one could stand against my charm.

Aw yeah! Did you kiss?

What? No! Teddy responded, wrinkling his nose.

Why not?

Ugh, I asked her to the dance! I'm not going to get all over her in the hall!

Yeah, probably better to wait. Girls like that.

Teddy snorted. Like you would know what girls like.

Hey! Which one of us has actually had a girlfriend? Teddy could almost hear his friend's indignant voice.

One week in eighth grade hardly counts.

Yes it does.

Whatever. Listen, Harry's going to let me borrow the car for the dance.

Fuckin' A! The Audi?

Hell yeah, son!

Can you pick up me and Alison?

Hmm, I dunno, Teddy sent. He had his license, but he knew there was some restrictions as to who he could drive and how late he could be out. I'll ask, but that might be a no go.

Are Harry and Ginny chaperoning?

Um, I think so? Probably.

Awesome. I hope Ginny wears that green dress again.

God, what's wrong with you? Why do I put up with you?

BECAUSE YOU WUV MEEEEEEE!

Teddy snorted and sent the barf emoji, getting a string of red hearts in return. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. Hey, did you see a big bird today during the game?

Was it six feet tall, yellow and called Big Bird?

Eat a bag of dicks, Sutton. I saw this giant-ass bird outside of Fenton's today and I just remembered I saw something fly by during the game.

Nah. I only have eyes for you, Lupin.

Aw, so sweet. I gotta go. That paper on Native American Shamanic Magic is due Monday.

Crap. And I was having such a great weekend ignoring homework. All right, man. Are you going to dream of Kelly tonight?

I'm going to dream of beating the shit out of you with your own bat.

Like every night. Later!

Later.

Setting aside his puzzle ball, Teddy sat down at his desk, opening the lid of his laptop. He'd written a rough outline during class the other day, but now he buckled down to the work of fleshing it out. He'd decided to focus on the Ohlone creation stories and how the Shamans were instrumental in keeping their people grounded and never letting them forget where they came from through their oral history tradition.

Here on the west coast, Ohlohne and Miwok shamans taught their people that they were created by Coyote and that He taught them the ways of Magic and survival, gifting them with fire and the knowledge of how to work obsidian into the necessary tools for survival. The mention of Coyote in his reading made him remember the first river rafting trip on the Colorado River that first summer he'd spent with Harry and Ginny.

Hehewuti said Coyote had hidden her egg and that he was testing her, but she didn't know why he'd want to test her … he thought, taking his wand out and looking at it. He remembered the enormous bird with little jags of lightning running all over her body and how he'd boldly asked for one of her feathers. Ginny had kept the silver feather safe for him until it was time for a wand of his own, giving it to old Ollivander himself.

There hadn't been enough of the cypress the dying dryad had gifted to Harry in return for freeing her from the curse after Ollivander had made the other three wands and Teddy was a little disappointed. Having a wand made from a dryad-tree would have been awesome, but Ollivander said that he felt the cypress wouldn't have been right, anyway.

He looked at Teddy over his half-moon spectacles and smiled kindly. "I remember when your mother got her wand. Rowan, I believe. A good wood, well-suited to protection." Smiling at the memory, he gave his wand a flick, pleased when a cascade of silver sparks shot out of the tip, fading to nothing before reaching the hardwood floor of his bedroom.

Setting his wand aside, he turned his attention back to his writing, wanting to finish this up tonight so he could be lazy on Sunday. He'd just gotten back into his groove when he heard a tapping sound on his window.

"So what happened outside today? With you and Teddy?" Ginny asked, settling down on the sofa next to Harry.

"James down for the night?" Harry asked, closing the lid on his laptop. He'd been trying to focus on lesson plans, but he'd really been brooding on his conversation with his godson.

"Yes. Teddy's in his room doing homework." She reached out and traced the shell of his ear with her finger. "Tell me what happened."

Sighing, Harry took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "I'm a bloody git."

"Well, that's hardly news, is it?"

"No, not really." He settled his glasses back on his nose and rested his head against the back of the sofa, closing his eyes. "I went out to chat to him about a gap year, like we talked about. See how he felt about the idea."

"What did he say?" Harry felt Ginny rest her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her.

"He said that he didn't want to take a gap year because then Duncan would be a year ahead of him in the Academy."

"To which you said?"

Harry grimaced. "That's where things started to go a bit sideways. I asked him if Duncan had put him up to going into the Academy with him and he said no, but then he mentioned Archimedes."

"Oh dear," Ginny sighed, hugging him across his middle. Harry enjoyed a friendship with the head of the San Francisco Regional Auror's office, but he was constantly on the alert for recruitment attempts.

"Yeah. So I asked him if Archimedes had coerced him or promised him anything if he joined. He said no and accused me of thinking that he couldn't come up with his own ideas about his life." Harry really wished he had a beer right about now, but he was far too comfortable on the sofa and didn't want to disturb Ginny next to him.

"I bet that went over well," she said, her voice muffled by his jumper.

"About as well as you'd think. And then I really put my foot in it."

"So accusing him of not having an original thought in his head wasn't the worst of it?"

"Not by a long shot. I reminded him how dangerous a job it is and he pointed out that I went for it, even though I knew how dangerous it was and I …" Harry trailed off, a flood of embarrassment coming over him at the memory of what he'd said. Ginny nudged him and the took a deep breath. "I said that I didn't have any parents around to tell me otherwise."

"Oh, Harry. You didn't."

"I most certainly did."

"Why would you say that?"

Harry shrugged helplessly. "Gin, we're his parents, yeah? Tonks and Lupin hardly spent any time with him at all and we've had him almost as long as Andromeda. I taught him how to ride a bike, you've healed more scrapes and cuts than I can count." He turned to look at her in the low light of the lounge. "I gave him The Talk."

"He knows we love him, but he also knows we're not really his parents. My dad gave you The Talk. Did that make him your dad to you?" Ginny asked softly.

"No, because then you'd be my sister and what we're doing would be illegal in most places," Harry said with a small smile, kissing the tip of her nose.

"Most places? I'm almost afraid to ask." Ginny kissed him, caressing his stubbly cheek with one hand. "You need to make this right, okay? I can't have you two at each other's throats."

"I know. I'll talk to him tomorrow. I don't want him to feel like I'm nagging him or anything." Harry ran his fingers through his hair, suddenly exhausted. "I just wish he'd realize he could do anything he wanted. He doesn't have to do this."

"Oh, love, he knows. This is just what he wants to do." Ginny swept his fringe off of his forehead. "Come on, let's go to bed. We'll figure out how to fix this tomorrow."