The hallway was empty now that everyone was inside with Hermione. So he just leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath. But the exhaustion caught up with him from that night and the month leading up to it. Slowly, he slid down until he was sitting on the hallway floor.
As a werewolf, there was always that sensation of being apart, like a lone wolf that hadn't found a pack he could claim. It usually wasn't that bad around the Weasley-Potters, but today, watching them, it was strong enough that it physically hurt.
How much of this longing was his own and how much was from his wolf? He knew wolves were pack creatures but the Alpha and his pack had never had a big draw for Teddy. The pack had dynamics no different from his experience in Hogwarts or with the Aurors. Actually, the dynamics were worse in the pack because Teddy was lower in the hierarchy, and he had no desire to fight for a higher spot.
Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he wondered if he would be feeling these things if his parents had been alive. To his parents, his abilities would have seemed normal. His family would have been the one place where he wouldn't have felt strange. Did the wizarding world really need them so badly that Teddy had to be forever deprived of them?
He hadn't felt this way as often once Lilith became his friend. She had always made him feel a little less odd. They had relied on each other for that sense of belonging, especially in the pack. Even after they had broke up, they still had had that connection, to a certain degree. But now she was gone, taking that belonging with her. He couldn't help thinking that he had let her down somehow. If they really had been that close, wouldn't he have realized that something was happening? That she wasn't safe? He slumped his head down onto knees and forced a couple of breaths through his tight chest.
"What are you doing on the floor?"
Teddy shook himself from his thoughts enough to recognize his Uncle Draco's voice. Draco stood over him, his face drawn in a frown. Teddy dragged a hand over his face to try to compose himself a little. "Nothing. What are you doing here?"
In answer Draco lifted his container of vials. "Doing St. Mungo's job for them," he said dryly. He glanced at the door from which, if Teddy listened carefully, he could still hear the joyful reunions. Draco cocked an eyebrow at Teddy. "Did they kick you out?"
Teddy laughed dryly. "No. No, it's just..." he trailed off and shrugged. "It is a little cramped and loud in there. I needed a break."
Draco scrutinized him for a moment before nodding. "Especially after the full moon, I take it."
"Yeah," Teddy said. "I don't get how Hermione can stand it."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Been around Gryffindors too much of her life, I suspect. Come on, I need to get some blood."