Some time later, Teddy leaned over the balcony to watch yet another person that vaguely matched their suspect's description. The person didn't visit any of the shops they were told to be keeping an eye on and disappeared farther along the street.

Teddy leaned back and renewed their Muffliato charm. "Do you think what I did makes me a bad Auror?" he finally asked. "When I break the rules I don't do it for power. I'm just trying to help people within a fucked up system."

Hasan looked away at the empty street. "I guess it depends on your definition of a bad Auror. By the Ministry's definition? Yes. Does it actually make it a bad decision? That's a lot harder to define."

Teddy made an impatient noise. "Okay, but what is your opinion about it?"

"It depends on motivation and impact, mostly."

"Hasan, you know I don't do great with cryptic. What the heck does that mean?"

"One, motivation. Why you are breaking the rules and what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to harm people with whatever you are doing?"

Teddy thought back to asking Kamya for fall guys. "What if whatever choice I make is going to harm someone?"

"Well, is your purpose to harm someone or is this just a matter of picking the one with the least harm?"

"Er... the second one, I think."

"Then there is the matter of how much harm each party will receive, which falls into impact. If you are going to cause a lot of harm to a group you don't like just because it will make you or your friends feel a little better or safer, then that is the bad kind of impact and motivation."

Teddy thought of the recent laws that were trying to get pushed about werewolves and nodded his head emphatically. They would make life hell for people like Kamya. And what did the Wizarding World get? A little peace of mind from a threat that was minimal in the first place.

"So what if I decide to go with the choice that harms the more privileged group who will probably get off easier anyway?" Teddy asked, still thinking of Kamya's pureblood fall guys.

"I think you need to really examine your motivations and desires every time to make sure you aren't falling into revenge or vigilantism," Hasan said tightly.

Teddy looked sharply over at Hasan. Hasan looked like this whole conversation was paining him. "Sorry," Teddy said. "Should I not talk to you about this?"

Hasan finally looked over, his eyes a little sad but determined. "That's not it. Teddy I know you can't help it with..." he made a vague gesture that took in Teddy's figure and didn't clear anything up in Teddy's mind.

"With my what?" Teddy asked, baffled.

"There are a lot of things that you don't think about because your situation never made you think about them," Hasan said vaguely.

Teddy remembered Lilith's conversations about how Teddy had more privileges than most of the other people in his pack. How that changed his ability to move through the Wizarding World and his experiences in the world. He had sort of gotten it and he had a vague idea that that was Hasan was trying to say too.

"You mean how I'm a self-righteous prick sometimes?" Teddy asked, parroting what Lilith had said once.

Hasan choked and his eyes flashed bright when their eyes met. "I didn't realize you were so self-aware," Hasan said with dry humor in his voice.

Teddy rolled his eyes. "Oh, shove it." Then he raised his eyebrows. "You really think I am?"

Hasan shrugged. "A little, at times." His eyes ran down Teddy's face, lingered at his mouth, and then moved away. Hasan licked his lips and said, "Never has stopped me from liking you before."

Teddy briefly considered the sensuousness of Hasan's mouth, freshly gleaming, and then sternly told himself that wasn't the sort of thing you thought about your friends, especially in a serious conversation like this. When he finally caught back up to the conversation, he wasn't sure what else to say except a belated and sarcastic, "Thanks."

Hasan chuffed out a laugh. "I'm just saying that someone in your situation should be even more concerned about making a decision like that even though your situation also makes it the least likely that you will."

"Oh," Teddy said, confused again. "Huh."

Hasan sighed, but it sounded a little fond. When Teddy looked over Hasan's eyes were back on him, regarding him with a warm small smile. "It's okay, Teddy. Next time, just ask me like you did tonight."

Teddy shivered, trying to clear his head of leaning over and kissing Hasan's full mouth. Of mistaking Hasan's fondness for something he wasn't actually offering. "Yeah," Teddy agreed. "You know you can tell me, right? When I'm being a prick."

Hasan's mouth twitched and Teddy gulped. "When are you not a prick?" Hasan asked lightly.

Teddy could feel himself warming at Hasan's fond tone. So he leaned over the balcony so that his head broke their mild warming charm, letting the cool night waft over his face. When he didn't see anyone on the street, he leaned back and gave Hasan a confrontational look. "Fine, when I'm being a self-righteous prick. How about that?"

Hasan's smile only grew wider. "You are telling me I can call you on it whenever you are being a self-righteous prick?"

Teddy narrowed his eyes. "You are acting like this happens a lot."

Hasan raised an eyebrow. "So we are going to ignore the conversation earlier this evening about how you self-righteously made an important decision by yourself about the case we work on together?"

Teddy ducked his head sheepishly. When Hasan put it that way, maybe Teddy really should tell Hasan about their plans for the smuggling ring. Later, he decided. When he had more details from Kamya and could figure out a way of putting it that didn't make it sound like he had planned to keep Hasan out of it at first.

For now, he needed an excuse to check out the shops below so he could get away from this weird atmosphere. The last thing he needed was him doing something stupid because Hasan was kinda pretty and Teddy was lonely enough to be horny about it.