FIC: Many Precious Things [chapter 4]
Jan. 2nd, 2009 10:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
leashy_bebesTitle: Many Precious Things [Chapter 4][wip]
Author: Lyds
Rating: This part, soft r
Disclaimer: HP characters etc are not mine. Title is from an Elvis Costello song, When It Sings, and that's not mine either.
Words: ~6800 [this part]
Notes: James is sixteen in this chapter which is legal [in my country anyhow] for the activities he alludes to. James/OMC alert.
In which James has a less than pleasant story to relate (no, really. I'm quite horrible) and I give a two fingered salute to Weasley birth canon.
CLICK HERE to read from the start.
As has become traditional, Teddy floos over to the Potters' on the first weekend of the summer holidays. In the living room all is quiet, so Teddy follows the smell of toast and coffee through to the kitchen where he finds a sleepy looking James demolishing a plate of toast with strawberry jam.
"Morning, sunshine," Teddy says, steadying himself with one hand on James' shoulder as he leans in to drag the coffee pot across the table towards himself. On the way, he steals one of James' slices of toast and receives a slapped hand for his troubles.
"Thief," James yawns.
"Uh-huh," Teddy says around a mouthful of toast. As he splashes coffee into a mug and adds a tiny splash of milk he can't help laughing at James' sleep-rumpled state. He's wearing a truly hideous yellow t-shirt with a rip in one arm and a pair of green shorts. "You look like a tulip," Teddy teases.
"Fuck off," James grumbles.
"Language, short stuff. Where's everyone else?"
"Umm... Mum's in the shower, Dad and Lil are setting up for Quidditch, and I think Al's still in bed."
"Alright," Teddy nods, folding himself into the chair next to James and cradling his coffee cup. "Any plans for today?"
"Just being target practice for Lily's bludgers, I think."
"I take it that means me too?"
"Oh yeah," James nods. "She's determined to make the team this year. In fact it might be easier for me to just hassle Crofts until he lets her on instead of letting her rearrange all my internal bits."
"Is Crofts the captain?"
"Yeah. He's a right idiot, as well. He turned Lily down last year purely because he didn't want people thinking he'd just hand out a place to Ginny and Harry Potter's daughter. She's already better than both the bloody jokers he's got beating."
Teddy can't help smiling at the way James gets irritated on his sister's behalf.
"Right," he says, putting his coffee cup down on the table. "You pour me a refill, I'll go and shake Albus out of his pit."
"Alright, see you in a minute," James nods.
Upstairs, as he half expected, Teddy finds that Albus is actually wide-awake, but is lying on his bed with a muggle book propped open on his pillow.
"Alright, mate?"
"Oh, hey, Ted. Didn't hear you arrive."
"Yeah, I floo'd in. You coming down to play Quidditch?"
"Maybe later," Al says. "I'm waiting to hear from Scorpius, see if his dad'll let him visit this summer."
"Oh, right," Teddy nods. That is the one way in which Harry still lets the war infect their lives. Albus will not go to Malfoy Manor. Harry told Teddy once that in all honesty he didn't expect anything to happen to Al, just didn't trust himself to be able to go back there. "Well, if not I'm sure Draco wouldn't object to Scorpius visiting me," Teddy suggests.
"Cool!" Al grins. "Thanks, Teddy."
"That's alright. You okay?"
"Yeah, just bored," Albus shrugs. "Summer is so completely rubbish."
"Ah, don't be such a misery guts," Teddy laughs. "I'm sure we'll find - "
He is interrupted when an owl arrives outside Al's window. Al jumps up and opens the window straight away, letting the bird swoop in and plucking the letter from its leg.
"Yes!" he cries, looking surprised. "Yes!"
"I'll leave you to it," Teddy grins, patting Al on the shoulder.
"Yeah, be down in a bit," Al smiles.
On his way back to the stairs Teddy passes Ginny who is bundled up in a bathrobe with a towel on her head.
"Hi, sweetheart," she smiles at him. "Have you had breakfast?"
"Stole some of James'," he laughs, and Ginny grins. "See you downstairs, Ginny."
"Yes, just give me ten minutes," she says, and Teddy hears the wireless start playing in her and Harry's bedroom as he heads back downstairs.
As he walks into the kitchen, James holds up his refilled coffee cup and Teddy grins to see that James has added just the right amount of milk.
"Ta," he says, taking it from James' outstretched hand while James takes a swig of his own coffee - no milk but so much sugar even the thought of it sets Teddy's teeth on edge. "Right," Teddy says, heading towards the back door. Before he gets there though, Lily barrels through, followed more sedately by Harry.
"Hi, Teddy!" Lily chirrups, throwing herself at him for a hug. Teddy hurriedly lifts his coffee cup out of the way with one hand and steadies Lily with the other.
"Hey, beautiful," he says, running a hand gently over her hair. "Hi, Harry."
"Alright, Ted," Harry grins. "Boy!" he calls to James. "Pour me a coffee." James flicks his middle finger towards his dad but does as he's told. "Don't let your mother catch you doing that," Harry adds.
"Doing what?" Ginny asks, walking into the kitchen.
"Disrespecting his illustrious father," Harry fills in quickly, leaning over the table to kiss Ginny's forehead.
"Hmm," Ginny says dubiously, narrowing her eyes and looking between her husband and eldest son suspiciously. They fix her with perfectly identical looks of wide-eyed innocence and Teddy hides his laughter in his coffee cup.
"Can we go and play now?" Lily asks impatiently, bouncing on her feet.
"Can I at least get dressed first?" James asks.
"It's almost half past ten," Lily protests. "You should be dressed already."
"It's also the first day of the holidays," James points out. "I should still be in bed. Would be if it wasn't for you freaks - "
"Dad, dad, dad!" Albus calls, positively bouncing into the kitchen. His enthusiasm warrants raised eyebrows from everyone except Teddy.
"Son, son, son?" Harry asks.
"Can Scorpius come to visit in a couple of weeks?"
"If - "
"His dad says it's okay!"
"Really?" Harry blinks and looks over at Teddy. Draco has always been as steadfastly opposed to his son visiting Harry's house as Harry has been opposed to Al visiting the Manor.
"He's really not that bad," Teddy says in an undertone, feeling a bit guilty. He actually gets on very well with his cousin and Scorpius, for all that Draco is terribly well-bred and a little intimidating. There certainly isn't much left in him of that spoilt brat that Ron describes with great enthusiasm when Hermione isn't around to stop him.
"Well, of course he can," Harry says to Al. "Right, Ginny?"
"Of course," Ginny says, although Teddy notices that as she lifts her tea to her mouth her lips purse a little doubtfully.
"Excellent!" Al crows. "I'll go and write to him now, shall he come the same week as Louise?"
"For a week?" Ginny asks abruptly. "I mean, that's fine and everything but I can't imagine Malfoy letting his son spend a whole week with - "
"Gin," Harry says warningly.
"Uh - us," Ginny finishes a bit lamely.
"Well he is," Al says stubbornly. "Letting him. If that's alright with you."
"Of course," Ginny says again, shrugging. She might seem a little reticent, but Teddy isn't too worried. Scorpius has all of his father's wit, but a good deal less of his cool, distant manner. Teddy's confident that Scorpius will be able to charm Ginny immediately and put all thoughts of his parentage from her head.
"Guys," Lily says impatiently. "Quidditch."
"Oh, on and on and on, she goes," James grumbles, pushing himself to his feet.
"I'm going to write to Scorpius," Al says, turning back the way he came.
"And then - " Lily says.
"Yes, yes, and then," Al laughs.
"Back in five minutes," James calls over his shoulder as he and Al head through the house towards the stairs.
"Come on then," Ginny says, setting down her teacup and nudging Lily towards the door. "Let's go before you burst, eh? D'you need a broom out of the shed, Teddy?"
"Please," Teddy nods. "I'll be out in a sec."
"How's work, Teddy?" Harry asks, and Teddy shrugs.
"Alright. A bit in limbo at the moment, they're looking to bring in two new directors so everyone's a bit on edge about what'll happen next and what direction they'll want to take us in."
"How so?"
"Well they seem to be sort of winding down the arithmancy side of things."
"Really?"
"Mmm. There used to be five of us in each area and now there's six of us in charms, four in potions and only two left in arithmancy. They've getting very twitchy."
"I don't blame them," Harry says, frowning. "Think you'll be okay?"
"Yeah, as far as I know. It was all above board and everything," Teddy hurries to assure his godfather. "Everyone was given their standard notice period to work, and Marie said they were fairly laid back about having time off for interviews and everything."
"Hmm..."
"Honestly, I'll be fine. I don't think I'll lose my job, but if I do I've got money enough to tide me over until I find something else."
"Well," Harry says a bit dubiously. "You're to come to me if you need any help, you understand?"
"Don't I always?" Teddy jokes.
"Just you keep it that way," Harry teases. "And what about just in general? You doing alright?"
"Oh, fine," Teddy says. "Still feels a bit weird being home. I'll definitely go travelling again at some point."
"Back to Fiji, eh?" Harry asks with a knowing little smirk.
"What? Er - Erm - "
"Give me some credit, Teddy. I can read between the lines. Don't worry," he laughs. "I've got no intention of making you go into detail. You had a nice time, though?"
"Most satisfactory," Teddy says, unable to help a foolish little grin.
"That's good," Harry nods. "You need some fun, Ted."
"I - I have fun," Teddy protests.
"I know," Harry shrugs. "You just always look so serious."
"That's just my face," Teddy quips, and Harry rolls his eyes.
"Alright, I can take a hint. Subject closed."
"Thanks," Teddy says, relieved. Harry is a great bloke, and a wonderful Godfather but - well, this just isn't the kind of thing Teddy wants to discuss with (anyone, his mind whispers) the closest thing he has to a parent. "Everything alright with you?"
"Oh, you know. Same as ever," Harry shrugs. "Actually, I took one of the stealth training sessions the other day. Richard's doing really well."
"I'll tell him you said that," Teddy laughs. "He'll wet himself."
Harry laughs and waves a hand absently. "Did you hear Angelina's pregnant again? Everyone's going completely mad. I always forget what this family gets like when there's a baby on the way. It's been a few years."
"Yeah, George floo'd me the other day," Teddy nods. "Actually, he - he asked me if I'd stand as Godfather."
"I thought he would," Harry beams, which takes Teddy a bit by surprise. He's always got well on with George, who talks fondly of Teddy's dad, and had worked for George at Wheezes for several summers when he was a teenager, but he'd never expected to be asked such a thing.
"To be fair," Teddy says hurriedly. "They couldn't ask you or Lee again."
"That's got nothing to do with it, and you know it," Harry say firmly.
"Maybe," Teddy shrugs. "You know me, though, Harry. Constantly feel about five years younger than I am. My first thought was but don't they want a proper adult to do that?"
Harry throws his head back and laughs, but Teddy can't bring himself to be offended when Harry adds, "You get that from me, I think. And your mum, I suppose. She always seemed younger than she really was. You better get used to it, because I don't think it ever completely goes away."
"Mmm. It just seems like the last few years have gone by so fast. I can't believe how soon the kids will be finished with school."
"Oh, don't remind me," Harry groans. "For one thing, it makes me feel about a hundred years old, and for another, I don't think James even has a clue what he's going to do with himself when next year's over."
"Oh..."
"Don't get me wrong, he's very clever, when he wants to be. He just never seems to think beyond the next few weeks." Harry shrugs. "I'm sure he'll get himself a good enough job, but Al's worse than Hermione used to be when he's talking about fundamentally altering from within the underlying structure of the ministry of magic, and Lily and her Quidditch... I just hope James finds something he's genuinely passionate about."
"Oh, I'm sure he will," Teddy says.
"Mmm," Harry mutters. "He's just so - I don't know, he's very distant lately. Distracted." Harry looks as if he's going to say more, but Al walks in just then, closely followed by James who has changed into black jeans and a red t-shirt.
"Quidditch?" Harry says, standing.
The four of them head out of the garden and down, away from the planted area and to a plain grass area that they always use for Quidditch practice. Lily and Ginny are already in the air, tossing a quaffle back and forth between them, and Harry had obviously set up the single set of goalposts earlier.
"How're we going to do this, then?" Harry asks, looking up. James, Al and Teddy follow Lily and Ginny into the air.
"I'll keep," Al says promptly, zooming off towards the goal posts.
"James and Teddy can chase," Lily calls, and Teddy transfigures their shirts into padding.
"What about me?" Harry asks.
"You and mum are seeking, obviously," Lily says.
"Oh - "
"Scared, darling?" Ginny calls sweetly.
Ginny tosses the quaffle to James and Harry summons the bludger and bat for Lily. Thus begins the strangest game of Quidditch Teddy has ever been part of. He supposes that technically he and James are one team, and Al and Lily are another. Harry and Ginny largely ignore the game below them, looping around each other while they look for the snitch and shouting out the occasional encouragement. Teddy can usually survive Quidditch matches, but to actually perform well requires more hand-eye co-ordination than he can generally muster. Al is a solid enough goalkeeper, but not spectacular. James is an excellent flier, and probably could have made the team on the strength of that alone in some years. He's never tried out, though, and although he does like the game, he's not as Quidditch-mad as the rest of the family.
Lily is something else, though. She has an excellent sense of balance on the broom, and flies so easily. Only Harry can really out-manoeuvre her these days. Her aim is fantastic, and for a slender-looking kid, she gets some ridiculous power behind her bludgers. Luckily, Teddy thinks as he dodges one a bit clumsily, they are only using one bludger today, and it has been spelled to head back toward Lily. Teddy dodges again and tosses the quaffle to James who zooms off towards the goal, barely outpacing the bludger. He scores, although only just, the quaffle slipping past Al's outstretched fingers.
"Woo-hoo!" James yells as he swoops down after the quaffle, catching it just in time to swerve upwards. He spirals around until he is above Teddy and drops the quaffle before speeding off in the opposite direction. Teddy is so distracted by James' antics that Lily's next attack catches him right in the chest.
"Oops!" Lily cries, whacking the bludger as hard as she can away from everybody. "You alright, Teddy?"
"Fine," Teddy wheezes, waving one hand. "Coming back, kid!" he yells, and Lily turns, hitting the bludger towards James this time who swerves down and around, evading it easily until it catches his leg on the return.
"Ow!"
Lily just ignores him, trailing away, making the bludger follow her for a bit.
"Oh, very nice!" James yells after her. "Don't check if I'm alright. Stupid - " He tosses the quaffle as hard as he can, but it still doesn't reach the goal and Teddy dives down to catch it, dodging around Al a few times and finally tossing the ball towards the left hoop. It starts to fly wide but James pops up out of nowhere and slams it in.
"Nice one!" Teddy yells and James shoots him a grin, dropping down to reclaim the quaffle and tucking it under one arm before popping up again to give Teddy a high five. When James unexpectedly passes Teddy the quaffle he fumbles it and it flies out from his hands. They both dive after it, jostling each other and making a bit of a game out of it.
"Clumsy wanker," James laughs.
"Show off," Teddy grins, reaching out one foot and tapping the handle of James' broom, sending him spinning off with a cry of outrage. Teddy catches the quaffle and shoots up, in time to score a goal while Al is still laughing at his brother's predicament.
Eventually Harry and Ginny both go into a sudden dive and everyone except Lily - consummate player - stops to watch. Ginny comes out victorious, but only just and she flies circles around Harry, crowing with laughter. They all drift back to the ground after that, and start walking back to the house for lunch, brooms over their shoulders.
"You and James play well together," Harry says idly to Teddy, as go through the back door.
"Nah. He'd make anyone look good, the way he flies," Teddy says honestly.
"True enough," Harry admits. "You're not that bad, though."
"Mmm. Just a bit of a butter-fingers."
"A bit," Harry acknowledges.
In the kitchen, Ginny hassles Lily and Albus into helping her make a round of sandwiches while Teddy and James root through the cupboard under the stairs for crisps and chocolate bars. Harry sets a jug of pumpkin juice on the table and starts brewing a pot of tea.
"Hey, Albus," Lily says, smiling mischievously at Al over her glass of juice when they have all sat down. "Why don't you tell everyone about Elodie?"
"You're dead meat, Lil," Al says, but he says it cheerfully, blushing a little bit. It emerges that Elodie is a Ravenclaw in Scorpius' class, and that she has brown hair and blue eyes, and that she is excellent at Transfiguration, and absolutely best of all, she is a muggle-born who'd never heard of Harry Potter (no offence, Dad) before coming to Hogwarts, but that she is not his girlfriend. Harry exchanges a little wink with Teddy at that comment, and Teddy's sure that Elodie won't remain not Albus' girlfriend for long.
Teddy joins in the good-natured teasing, but notices that James doesn't. Pretty soon after lunch, James excuses himself with a vague, mumbled explanation. Teddy watches him go, and half-watches Ginny and Harry's subsequent silent conversation.
"Shut up," Al tells his sister, dragging Teddy back to the present. "All of you. I'm not saying another word."
"That's alright," Teddy grins. "I'll just ask Scorpius."
"He won't tell you anything," Al says confidently.
"I think he will," Teddy shrugs. "I'll tell him it's a family obligation."
"You do realise he isn't an idiot, don't you?" Al asks seriously.
"Debatable," Teddy lies.
"I'll tell him you said that."
"Do it," Teddy laughs. "He doesn't scare me."
"He couldn't scare anyone," Lily giggles. "He's so pretty! He looks like a little doll."
"Oh, god," Al groans.
"No," Ginny says firmly, looking at Lily. "Just no, alright?"
"Mum!" Albus wails.
"What?"
"Just – I really hope you're not all going to treat Scorpius like a zoo exhibit the whole time he's here."
"Of course not, silly," Ginny says lightly and Teddy rubs a hand over his mouth, stifling laughter. He will have to drop in on the Potters when Scorpius is here, as much for entertainment value as anything else.
After they have finished eating and Harry and Teddy have polished off a second pot of tea between them, Lily persuades Ginny to go out into the garden for a bit more Quidditch practice – Teddy gets the distinct feeling that this is how they'll be spending most of the summer if Lily gets her way. Albus begs off and retires to the living room with a book while Harry wanders off towards his study, complaining under his breath about bloody bloody bloody paperwork.
Supposing that now is as good a time as any, Teddy heads up the stairs to James' room and knocks on the door. There is a long silence before Teddy knocks again, this time using the secret knock they'd devised when James was a kid.
"Come in," James calls this time and Teddy's disquiet grows a little.
"Alright, Teddy?" James asks as Teddy steps through the door.
"Fine. Are you, though?"
"What'd you mean?"
"Are you alright? You just seem a bit - off. Is anything bothering you?"
"Oh. Um. Not - Yeah, a bit," James admits.
Teddy shuts the door behind himself and crosses the room to sit on the end of James' bed.
"What's wrong, mate?" he asks.
"Nothing, I think I just – I understand something you said to me before. About – you know. It's not worth the risk of caring about someone."
Teddy gets a sinking feeling in his stomach and crosses his legs, drumming the fingers of one hand on his knee.
"I don't think that's exactly what I said," he says gently, but James doesn't seem to hear him.
"Teddy, did you ever get - hurt?" he asks. "By a boy. Um. Emotionally, and stuff."
"Oh, James," Teddy sighs, recognising the well-hidden look on James' face - it's new to James, but Teddy has worn that look himself, and seen his friends wear it - hurt and shocked, and shocked that you are so hurt. "Did you get burned? It happens to the best of us, mate."
"Not - not like that," James says. "I was really stupid, it was all my fault."
"I doubt that," Teddy says gently, adding hesitantly, "Was - was it Jack?" James' best friend and first crush has grown into a cute, cheeky, irrevocably straight young man. According to James, he has been making eyes at Rosie for the last few months.
"What?" James asks, looking totally perplexed. "Oh - oh, no. I told you, I don't fancy him anymore. I haven't even thought about that in ages..."
"So - " Teddy prompts and James shakes himself slightly, fixing his eyes on a spot behind Teddy's head and reciting his words as though he's been practicing them for weeks. Teddy thinks he hears a note of desperation too, as though James has dearly wanted to say this to someone for a lot longer.
"There was this person, this bloke I had a crush on, someone really - really inappropriate, someone I could never have so I decided I would try to take my mind off it and I met this Hufflepuff in the year above and he seemed really nice so I just - "
Teddy hates to interrupt but he can't help himself, "What did he do to you?" he asks, his voice low and carefully emotionless.
"Nothing! Nothing like what you're thinking, anyway, you overprotective freak," James says, with a laugh that doesn't sound quite right. "No, I just - I wasn't even looking for anything serious that's the stupid part. I just wanted to stop thinking about Mr. Inappropriate and I let myself - I don't know. I really liked him, Teddy. The Hufflepuff, I mean."
"So what happened?" Teddy asks softly.
"I didn't realise what he was like. He - he was just another fucking one of dad's groupies," James blurts out bitterly.
"Oh, no," Teddy breathes, unable to stop himself. "Oh, James, are you sure?"
"Yeah," James laughs bitterly. "Yeah, I'd say pretty fucking sure, Ted."
"Oh, mate. Oh, I'm so sorry."
It's making Teddy's skin crawl, the thought of someone with their hands on James, thinking only Potter. Merlin knows it is not Harry's fault, but his kids have a lot to live up to, and encounter a fair few weirdos. Teddy thinks that's probably the reason that they all have a single best friend, rather than a large group, like he himself had been part of at school. Enough people are openly curious, angling for invitations just so they can meet the famous Harry Potter, and James has had to encounter someone who would probably have dressed that desire up in pretty words and flattery and sweet little whispers.
"He - " James says in a tiny voice. "I was doing - something - and - hecalledmeHarry." Teddy is so angry he doesn't trust himself to speak and James continues in a low voice that Teddy doesn't want to hear, but understands all the same. "He said yeah, take it Potter and then - the dad thing. Fuck. Fuck. It makes me want to just die even thinking about it. I'm such an idiot."
"No you're not," Teddy protests instantly. "That little bastard, I'll – " Teddy stops himself with an effort, but adds, "You couldn't have known - "
"I should have, though. We were all fitted with some sort of weirdo detector at birth, I don't know why it failed me this time," James says, trying to joke.
"Do - do you get a lot of that, then?" Teddy asks, feeling sick all over again.
James shrugs. "Not as bad as Al, cause he looks more like dad I suppose, and you know, isn't gay. But yeah, enough. Enough that I should have seen it coming a mile off. He always used to call me Potter, never James, not even when we were on our own. He said it was cause we were in different years, we shouldn't seem too close or people might start suspecting. He knew I wanted to keep it quiet, you know?"
"Did he hold that over you?" Teddy asks, wondering exactly how much of a prick this Hufflepuff could actually be.
"After I beat the crap out of him? He - "
"You - beat him up?" Teddy asks, knowing he shouldn't encourage that kind of thing, but secretly wanting to cheer.
"Yeah. He's taller but y'know. Pants were down. Gave me an advantage, I suppose. Not letting that wanker think about my dad like that. Fucking bastard."
"Oh, James," Teddy says tenderly and he reaches over to squeeze James' hand. It's probably not a lie, because James wouldn't want someone thinking about his dad in that way, but it also gets him out of having to admit the personal hurt that Teddy can see so plainly in his eyes. "Did you hurt him?"
"I - he - It wasn't just me, we were fighting and - I'm not proud of it Ted. Well, maybe only a little bit proud. But he was unconscious when I left."
"Blimey," Teddy says with another squeeze which James returns this time. "You know - I don't usually approve of violence, but even I'd make an exception for someone like that. Proud of you, kid."
"Yeah, well," James says awkwardly. "I realised he'd probably tell the whole bloody castle I was a poof and that I'd beaten him up for knocking me back or something stupid like that and I was - I didn't know what to do."
And I was probably on a beach somewhere, Teddy thinks, annoyed at himself even though he knows it's stupid. "What happened?"
"Jack," James says, with a genuine smile this time. "I found him and he patched me up, got most of the story out of me. Not the details, obviously but - He was great, said he'd known I was bent for ages and couldn't give a damn. Then he ran off and when he came back he had this massive grin all over his daft face. He's pretty Slytherin for a Gryffindor."
"What'd he do?"
"He got into the hospital wing somehow and woke up Arseface before he spoke to anyone. Jack told him that he could have a whole bunch of girls organised by morning to swear that I have a very colourful, very straight romantic history and that I'd have watertight alibis for every time he claimed to have been with me, then asked whether he thought people would believe some bent little 'Puff, or the all-shagging son of the most famous man in the wizarding world."
"That is brilliant," Teddy grins.
"Yeah, he's a mate," James nods. "I still feel like a prize idiot, though."
"You shouldn't," Teddy says, "It wasn't your fault, James, not at all."
"Hmm," James mutters dubiously.
"Wait a sec," Teddy says. "This bloke, would he be the one Jack was squaring up to in Hogsmeade last time I saw the lot of you?"
"Oh, fucking hell," James groans. "Yeah, it probably was, the stupid bugger."
"About my height, blond hair?" Teddy asks, and James nods. "Should have let Jack beat the crap out of him," he adds and James laughs before heaving a massive sigh and rubbing his hands over his face, then nudging Teddy.
"Thanks. Always feel better after I've told you stuff."
"Well," Teddy says a bit helplessly. "Good, I suppose. I'm sorry there isn't anything more I can do."
"Stop looking like that," James says.
"Like what?"
"So bloody sad."
"James - "
"Don't, okay? It was shit, but it's done. Don't worry yourself about it."
"Alright," Teddy says with a sigh. "And he won't be there next year?"
"No," James says, shaking his head. "No, this was his last year. Come on, then, tell me all the bits of your holiday you couldn't talk about in front of Mum or Dad or Lily," James grins.
"You what? We're good boys, we are," Teddy laughs.
"Oh, please," James says in a disappointed voice. "Tell me you didn't stick to the letter of the law the whole time you were gone?"
"James," Teddy says, grinning at him. "It is possible to have fun within the law, you know."
"Bo-ring," James sing-songs.
"We did nearly get arrested by the muggle police on our last night in Australia. Am I acceptably disreputable company now, Mr. Potter?"
"Shut up, you sound like one of the professors," James laughs. "What happened?"
"Well," Teddy says, leaning back on his hands and stretching his legs out in front of him. "It was our last night, yeah, so we went to this muggle nightclub. We had a great time but we were all a bit the worse for wear when we left - "
"By a bit the worse for wear," James interrupts, "Do you actually mean more completely paralytic than Uncle Charlie at Christmas?"
"Well - yeah," Teddy admits. "Anyway, we decided to go down to the beach for a bit. You know, look at the stars, listen to the sea, nothing illegal there. It was great, quiet and dark with the noise of the waves in the background... Amazing place. You know that, um - that Jake bloke that I wrote to you about? Well he was with us then, and obviously it was our last night so - Anyway, we were sitting a little way off just talking, and as far as I knew, Ian was passed out drunk and Rich and Mark were burying him in the sand."
"Right," James nods.
"Anyway, the next thing I knew, Rich had decided that he simply had to streak along the beach before we left. Apparently he doesn't feel he's really seen a place unless he's been illicitly naked there - "
"Good policy," James jokes.
"Yeah, I thought you'd approve," Teddy laughs. "Anyway there weren't any people immediately around, but we were in a pretty tourist-y area where people are out and about twenty four hours a day, basically. So I thought Richard's bare arse running along the beach probably wouldn't have added to the ambience so I was trying to stop him taking his clothes off. Naturally, Mark and Jake were pissed enough to think it was the best, most sophisticatedly hilarious idea they'd ever heard so they were trying to help him."
"Oh, god!" James laughs, pressing a hand to his mouth to stifle his laughter.
"Oh, it gets better," Teddy laughs. "Next thing, Ian woke up and just took off towards the sea. I've never seen the little git move so fast without a broom. He was yelling about going for a swim, and we'd seen this bloody massive shark a few days earlier. Of course, that was about a hundred miles away, but I forgot that in my - erm, state. So I went tearing off after Ian but it was so dark that by the time I dragged him back up the beach we were both soaking wet, and all we found were Rich's clothes in a pile, and Jake and Mark in hysterics on the ground."
"Your friends are completely insane," James laughs.
"That's been said by better men than you," Teddy acknowledges. "It still gets better, though."
"Oh, god, what else?" James laughs.
"Richard - never going to win any brain of the year contests, bless him - took off in the wrong direction and ended up on the private stretch of beach of some stupidly posh muggle hotel."
"Oh no - "
"Oh, yes," Teddy smirks. "We did find him, but only a few seconds before the hotel security guards came out looking for him, and found all of us. They marched us up to the manager's office; one wet and embarrassed, one wet and confused, one dry but naked, and two dry and clothed but laughing like complete lunatics."
"Sounds like quite a party."
"Oh, it was awful. The muggles have this thing called ceeceeteevee, have you heard of it?"
"Like a film, but just of boring things?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Teddy nods. "They've got these cameras that can see in the dark, and they made us watch the footage or Richard being a bloody idiot - trying to dance on deckchairs and falling all over the place and shaking his pasty arse at the hotel. It was terrible, James, we couldn't stop laughing, and the manager and security guards looked so bloody serious."
"How did you get out of that?"
"To be honest, I have no idea," Teddy laughs. "I think Jake did something because one minute they were talking about calling the police and the next they were giving Rich some spare clothes and waving us off."
"I'd say that was improper use of magic," James jokes.
"If it kept Richard out of an Australian jail and stopped me having to explain it to his mum, I'd say it's a very proper use of magic, actually," Teddy winks.
"Well, maybe," James laughs. He stretches his legs out in front of him until one pokes Teddy in the ribs. "So. Jake, huh?"
"Um – yes," Teddy says a bit cagily.
"Your face!" James laughs. "I'm not going to whip out the veritaserum, you know? I'm just curious."
"Curious how?"
"Well – I don't know... You're not going to bugger off to Fiji and abandon us, are you?"
"What? Of course not!" Teddy laughs. "No, it wasn't like that. I mean – we liked each other a lot, but we both knew that it wouldn't be anything serious."
"Serious enough for him to meet your mates," James points out.
"Yeah, well. It'd only been a few weeks at that point and he was very – "
"Sexy?" James suggests jokingly.
"Well, I thought so, obviously," Teddy laughs. "I was going to say intense, actually. Ever felt like you need to know everything about a person you can possibly learn?"
"Sort of," James says after a pause.
"You will," Teddy says.
"Are you going to keep in touch?"
"Probably," Teddy shrugs. "Maybe. I don't know. I hope so."
"Was he first attracted to your forthright and decisive manner?" James teases.
"When did you turn into such a smart arse?" Teddy asks, reaching out and slapping James' leg.
"It's a mystery," James says. "Oh hey, what were you and dad talking about earlier?" James asks absently.
"When?"
"In the kitchen. You looked all serious when me and Al got there."
"Hmm? Oh... He was saying you've been distracted lately. I'm not surprised anymore."
"Oh, is that all?" James asks, looking unconcerned. "Yeah, I've - I can't stop thinking what an idiot I've been."
"You haven't," Teddy insists and then, still wondering if he should bring it up or not, adds, "James - there was something else. Harry was wondering if you have any plans? Long term, I mean."
"Bloody hell," James says crossly. "They know I do! They just don't – " he makes a noise of frustration and glares off into the corner of the room.
"What d'you mean?" Teddy asks, concerned. James rarely has any complaints about his immediate family, and right now he sounds genuinely pissed off.
"I want to do Potions," James says determinedly. It doesn't come as a complete surprise, because James' Potions marks have been his best since early in his third year. This is obviously a real bone of contention for James, because he says it sulkily and folds his arms, glaring around the room as if daring it to defy him.
"Well that's good, isn't it? At least you know what you want to do. In what way?"
"Medicinal potions," James says, clearly already warming to his subject. "I suppose just brewing at first, but I want to get into modifying them, maybe even developing new ones. Did you know the standard recipe for pepper up potion hasn't changed in over seventy years? There are so many new techniques, there must be a way I could – am I boring you?" he asks suddenly.
"Not at all!" Teddy says quickly. "I think it's great, I really do. I've never seen this side of you before."
"Well – it is a fairly recent development," James admits. "Mum and Dad, they – I don't know. They haven't noticed I've got serious about it, I don't think. They still think Potions is just my best subject, not the career I want."
Teddy side steps the issue of James' parents for a moment. "What made you get serious about it?" he asks instead.
"Oh. Jack gets these mad headaches, really bad ones, they make him throw up and everything. The muggles have a name for it - "
"Migraine?" Teddy suggests.
"Yeah, that's it. He can be layed up for days sometimes, and normal headache potions don't work because of all his other symptoms."
"Let me guess," Teddy interrupts. "You're making him an antidote."
"I'm working on it," James says with a small smile. "We've got it manageable now, but I can't get rid of his nausea and sensitivity to light without the dose of powdered salamander eggs being too high."
"Salamander eggs?"
"I know it sounds strange. It interacts with the daisy roots, but only in the presence of bergamot essence."
"Blimey, James," Teddy says softly.
"What?" he asks, giving Teddy a curious stare. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Just proud of you, kid."
"He's a friend," James shrugs. "It's kind of fun, anyway. A bit like those treasure hunts you used to make up for me when I was a kid, do you remember those?"
"Of course, I do," Teddy laughs. "And I don't mean just for making Jack the potion. You sound different, James. You know your stuff, and you seem really focused."
"Well," James says, giving Teddy another odd look. "I know what I want now."
"Have you got any plans for the summer?" Teddy asks.
"No," James sighs. "It's going to be dead boring, Jack's away the whole time."
"Oh, that's a shame. Where's he gone?"
"Brazil, with his parents."
"Wow!"
"Yeah, they're going on an aeroplane and everything, I'm pretty jealous."
"I bet you are. Well, if you get too bored you can always come to my place for a change of scenery."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, I can dictate my reports to you to write."
"What?"
"Joking, James. We can go out if I'm not working, or you can just have a rummage through all the weird bits and bobs I do for work."
"Sounds good," James smiles.
Just then, Ginny knocks before poking her head around the door. "What are you two doing up here?"
"Just catching up," Teddy says.
"Well, dinner's ready in half an hour if you're staying, Ted?"
"If that's alright," he nods.
"Of course."
"I'll come and give you some help," Teddy offers.
"You could set the table if you don't mind," she suggests and Teddy gets to his feet, hauling James up after him.
"Come on, you," he orders, ignoring James' protesting groan. "You can give me a hand."
chapter 5
Author: Lyds
Rating: This part, soft r
Disclaimer: HP characters etc are not mine. Title is from an Elvis Costello song, When It Sings, and that's not mine either.
Words: ~6800 [this part]
Notes: James is sixteen in this chapter which is legal [in my country anyhow] for the activities he alludes to. James/OMC alert.
In which James has a less than pleasant story to relate (no, really. I'm quite horrible) and I give a two fingered salute to Weasley birth canon.
CLICK HERE to read from the start.
As has become traditional, Teddy floos over to the Potters' on the first weekend of the summer holidays. In the living room all is quiet, so Teddy follows the smell of toast and coffee through to the kitchen where he finds a sleepy looking James demolishing a plate of toast with strawberry jam.
"Morning, sunshine," Teddy says, steadying himself with one hand on James' shoulder as he leans in to drag the coffee pot across the table towards himself. On the way, he steals one of James' slices of toast and receives a slapped hand for his troubles.
"Thief," James yawns.
"Uh-huh," Teddy says around a mouthful of toast. As he splashes coffee into a mug and adds a tiny splash of milk he can't help laughing at James' sleep-rumpled state. He's wearing a truly hideous yellow t-shirt with a rip in one arm and a pair of green shorts. "You look like a tulip," Teddy teases.
"Fuck off," James grumbles.
"Language, short stuff. Where's everyone else?"
"Umm... Mum's in the shower, Dad and Lil are setting up for Quidditch, and I think Al's still in bed."
"Alright," Teddy nods, folding himself into the chair next to James and cradling his coffee cup. "Any plans for today?"
"Just being target practice for Lily's bludgers, I think."
"I take it that means me too?"
"Oh yeah," James nods. "She's determined to make the team this year. In fact it might be easier for me to just hassle Crofts until he lets her on instead of letting her rearrange all my internal bits."
"Is Crofts the captain?"
"Yeah. He's a right idiot, as well. He turned Lily down last year purely because he didn't want people thinking he'd just hand out a place to Ginny and Harry Potter's daughter. She's already better than both the bloody jokers he's got beating."
Teddy can't help smiling at the way James gets irritated on his sister's behalf.
"Right," he says, putting his coffee cup down on the table. "You pour me a refill, I'll go and shake Albus out of his pit."
"Alright, see you in a minute," James nods.
Upstairs, as he half expected, Teddy finds that Albus is actually wide-awake, but is lying on his bed with a muggle book propped open on his pillow.
"Alright, mate?"
"Oh, hey, Ted. Didn't hear you arrive."
"Yeah, I floo'd in. You coming down to play Quidditch?"
"Maybe later," Al says. "I'm waiting to hear from Scorpius, see if his dad'll let him visit this summer."
"Oh, right," Teddy nods. That is the one way in which Harry still lets the war infect their lives. Albus will not go to Malfoy Manor. Harry told Teddy once that in all honesty he didn't expect anything to happen to Al, just didn't trust himself to be able to go back there. "Well, if not I'm sure Draco wouldn't object to Scorpius visiting me," Teddy suggests.
"Cool!" Al grins. "Thanks, Teddy."
"That's alright. You okay?"
"Yeah, just bored," Albus shrugs. "Summer is so completely rubbish."
"Ah, don't be such a misery guts," Teddy laughs. "I'm sure we'll find - "
He is interrupted when an owl arrives outside Al's window. Al jumps up and opens the window straight away, letting the bird swoop in and plucking the letter from its leg.
"Yes!" he cries, looking surprised. "Yes!"
"I'll leave you to it," Teddy grins, patting Al on the shoulder.
"Yeah, be down in a bit," Al smiles.
On his way back to the stairs Teddy passes Ginny who is bundled up in a bathrobe with a towel on her head.
"Hi, sweetheart," she smiles at him. "Have you had breakfast?"
"Stole some of James'," he laughs, and Ginny grins. "See you downstairs, Ginny."
"Yes, just give me ten minutes," she says, and Teddy hears the wireless start playing in her and Harry's bedroom as he heads back downstairs.
As he walks into the kitchen, James holds up his refilled coffee cup and Teddy grins to see that James has added just the right amount of milk.
"Ta," he says, taking it from James' outstretched hand while James takes a swig of his own coffee - no milk but so much sugar even the thought of it sets Teddy's teeth on edge. "Right," Teddy says, heading towards the back door. Before he gets there though, Lily barrels through, followed more sedately by Harry.
"Hi, Teddy!" Lily chirrups, throwing herself at him for a hug. Teddy hurriedly lifts his coffee cup out of the way with one hand and steadies Lily with the other.
"Hey, beautiful," he says, running a hand gently over her hair. "Hi, Harry."
"Alright, Ted," Harry grins. "Boy!" he calls to James. "Pour me a coffee." James flicks his middle finger towards his dad but does as he's told. "Don't let your mother catch you doing that," Harry adds.
"Doing what?" Ginny asks, walking into the kitchen.
"Disrespecting his illustrious father," Harry fills in quickly, leaning over the table to kiss Ginny's forehead.
"Hmm," Ginny says dubiously, narrowing her eyes and looking between her husband and eldest son suspiciously. They fix her with perfectly identical looks of wide-eyed innocence and Teddy hides his laughter in his coffee cup.
"Can we go and play now?" Lily asks impatiently, bouncing on her feet.
"Can I at least get dressed first?" James asks.
"It's almost half past ten," Lily protests. "You should be dressed already."
"It's also the first day of the holidays," James points out. "I should still be in bed. Would be if it wasn't for you freaks - "
"Dad, dad, dad!" Albus calls, positively bouncing into the kitchen. His enthusiasm warrants raised eyebrows from everyone except Teddy.
"Son, son, son?" Harry asks.
"Can Scorpius come to visit in a couple of weeks?"
"If - "
"His dad says it's okay!"
"Really?" Harry blinks and looks over at Teddy. Draco has always been as steadfastly opposed to his son visiting Harry's house as Harry has been opposed to Al visiting the Manor.
"He's really not that bad," Teddy says in an undertone, feeling a bit guilty. He actually gets on very well with his cousin and Scorpius, for all that Draco is terribly well-bred and a little intimidating. There certainly isn't much left in him of that spoilt brat that Ron describes with great enthusiasm when Hermione isn't around to stop him.
"Well, of course he can," Harry says to Al. "Right, Ginny?"
"Of course," Ginny says, although Teddy notices that as she lifts her tea to her mouth her lips purse a little doubtfully.
"Excellent!" Al crows. "I'll go and write to him now, shall he come the same week as Louise?"
"For a week?" Ginny asks abruptly. "I mean, that's fine and everything but I can't imagine Malfoy letting his son spend a whole week with - "
"Gin," Harry says warningly.
"Uh - us," Ginny finishes a bit lamely.
"Well he is," Al says stubbornly. "Letting him. If that's alright with you."
"Of course," Ginny says again, shrugging. She might seem a little reticent, but Teddy isn't too worried. Scorpius has all of his father's wit, but a good deal less of his cool, distant manner. Teddy's confident that Scorpius will be able to charm Ginny immediately and put all thoughts of his parentage from her head.
"Guys," Lily says impatiently. "Quidditch."
"Oh, on and on and on, she goes," James grumbles, pushing himself to his feet.
"I'm going to write to Scorpius," Al says, turning back the way he came.
"And then - " Lily says.
"Yes, yes, and then," Al laughs.
"Back in five minutes," James calls over his shoulder as he and Al head through the house towards the stairs.
"Come on then," Ginny says, setting down her teacup and nudging Lily towards the door. "Let's go before you burst, eh? D'you need a broom out of the shed, Teddy?"
"Please," Teddy nods. "I'll be out in a sec."
"How's work, Teddy?" Harry asks, and Teddy shrugs.
"Alright. A bit in limbo at the moment, they're looking to bring in two new directors so everyone's a bit on edge about what'll happen next and what direction they'll want to take us in."
"How so?"
"Well they seem to be sort of winding down the arithmancy side of things."
"Really?"
"Mmm. There used to be five of us in each area and now there's six of us in charms, four in potions and only two left in arithmancy. They've getting very twitchy."
"I don't blame them," Harry says, frowning. "Think you'll be okay?"
"Yeah, as far as I know. It was all above board and everything," Teddy hurries to assure his godfather. "Everyone was given their standard notice period to work, and Marie said they were fairly laid back about having time off for interviews and everything."
"Hmm..."
"Honestly, I'll be fine. I don't think I'll lose my job, but if I do I've got money enough to tide me over until I find something else."
"Well," Harry says a bit dubiously. "You're to come to me if you need any help, you understand?"
"Don't I always?" Teddy jokes.
"Just you keep it that way," Harry teases. "And what about just in general? You doing alright?"
"Oh, fine," Teddy says. "Still feels a bit weird being home. I'll definitely go travelling again at some point."
"Back to Fiji, eh?" Harry asks with a knowing little smirk.
"What? Er - Erm - "
"Give me some credit, Teddy. I can read between the lines. Don't worry," he laughs. "I've got no intention of making you go into detail. You had a nice time, though?"
"Most satisfactory," Teddy says, unable to help a foolish little grin.
"That's good," Harry nods. "You need some fun, Ted."
"I - I have fun," Teddy protests.
"I know," Harry shrugs. "You just always look so serious."
"That's just my face," Teddy quips, and Harry rolls his eyes.
"Alright, I can take a hint. Subject closed."
"Thanks," Teddy says, relieved. Harry is a great bloke, and a wonderful Godfather but - well, this just isn't the kind of thing Teddy wants to discuss with (anyone, his mind whispers) the closest thing he has to a parent. "Everything alright with you?"
"Oh, you know. Same as ever," Harry shrugs. "Actually, I took one of the stealth training sessions the other day. Richard's doing really well."
"I'll tell him you said that," Teddy laughs. "He'll wet himself."
Harry laughs and waves a hand absently. "Did you hear Angelina's pregnant again? Everyone's going completely mad. I always forget what this family gets like when there's a baby on the way. It's been a few years."
"Yeah, George floo'd me the other day," Teddy nods. "Actually, he - he asked me if I'd stand as Godfather."
"I thought he would," Harry beams, which takes Teddy a bit by surprise. He's always got well on with George, who talks fondly of Teddy's dad, and had worked for George at Wheezes for several summers when he was a teenager, but he'd never expected to be asked such a thing.
"To be fair," Teddy says hurriedly. "They couldn't ask you or Lee again."
"That's got nothing to do with it, and you know it," Harry say firmly.
"Maybe," Teddy shrugs. "You know me, though, Harry. Constantly feel about five years younger than I am. My first thought was but don't they want a proper adult to do that?"
Harry throws his head back and laughs, but Teddy can't bring himself to be offended when Harry adds, "You get that from me, I think. And your mum, I suppose. She always seemed younger than she really was. You better get used to it, because I don't think it ever completely goes away."
"Mmm. It just seems like the last few years have gone by so fast. I can't believe how soon the kids will be finished with school."
"Oh, don't remind me," Harry groans. "For one thing, it makes me feel about a hundred years old, and for another, I don't think James even has a clue what he's going to do with himself when next year's over."
"Oh..."
"Don't get me wrong, he's very clever, when he wants to be. He just never seems to think beyond the next few weeks." Harry shrugs. "I'm sure he'll get himself a good enough job, but Al's worse than Hermione used to be when he's talking about fundamentally altering from within the underlying structure of the ministry of magic, and Lily and her Quidditch... I just hope James finds something he's genuinely passionate about."
"Oh, I'm sure he will," Teddy says.
"Mmm," Harry mutters. "He's just so - I don't know, he's very distant lately. Distracted." Harry looks as if he's going to say more, but Al walks in just then, closely followed by James who has changed into black jeans and a red t-shirt.
"Quidditch?" Harry says, standing.
The four of them head out of the garden and down, away from the planted area and to a plain grass area that they always use for Quidditch practice. Lily and Ginny are already in the air, tossing a quaffle back and forth between them, and Harry had obviously set up the single set of goalposts earlier.
"How're we going to do this, then?" Harry asks, looking up. James, Al and Teddy follow Lily and Ginny into the air.
"I'll keep," Al says promptly, zooming off towards the goal posts.
"James and Teddy can chase," Lily calls, and Teddy transfigures their shirts into padding.
"What about me?" Harry asks.
"You and mum are seeking, obviously," Lily says.
"Oh - "
"Scared, darling?" Ginny calls sweetly.
Ginny tosses the quaffle to James and Harry summons the bludger and bat for Lily. Thus begins the strangest game of Quidditch Teddy has ever been part of. He supposes that technically he and James are one team, and Al and Lily are another. Harry and Ginny largely ignore the game below them, looping around each other while they look for the snitch and shouting out the occasional encouragement. Teddy can usually survive Quidditch matches, but to actually perform well requires more hand-eye co-ordination than he can generally muster. Al is a solid enough goalkeeper, but not spectacular. James is an excellent flier, and probably could have made the team on the strength of that alone in some years. He's never tried out, though, and although he does like the game, he's not as Quidditch-mad as the rest of the family.
Lily is something else, though. She has an excellent sense of balance on the broom, and flies so easily. Only Harry can really out-manoeuvre her these days. Her aim is fantastic, and for a slender-looking kid, she gets some ridiculous power behind her bludgers. Luckily, Teddy thinks as he dodges one a bit clumsily, they are only using one bludger today, and it has been spelled to head back toward Lily. Teddy dodges again and tosses the quaffle to James who zooms off towards the goal, barely outpacing the bludger. He scores, although only just, the quaffle slipping past Al's outstretched fingers.
"Woo-hoo!" James yells as he swoops down after the quaffle, catching it just in time to swerve upwards. He spirals around until he is above Teddy and drops the quaffle before speeding off in the opposite direction. Teddy is so distracted by James' antics that Lily's next attack catches him right in the chest.
"Oops!" Lily cries, whacking the bludger as hard as she can away from everybody. "You alright, Teddy?"
"Fine," Teddy wheezes, waving one hand. "Coming back, kid!" he yells, and Lily turns, hitting the bludger towards James this time who swerves down and around, evading it easily until it catches his leg on the return.
"Ow!"
Lily just ignores him, trailing away, making the bludger follow her for a bit.
"Oh, very nice!" James yells after her. "Don't check if I'm alright. Stupid - " He tosses the quaffle as hard as he can, but it still doesn't reach the goal and Teddy dives down to catch it, dodging around Al a few times and finally tossing the ball towards the left hoop. It starts to fly wide but James pops up out of nowhere and slams it in.
"Nice one!" Teddy yells and James shoots him a grin, dropping down to reclaim the quaffle and tucking it under one arm before popping up again to give Teddy a high five. When James unexpectedly passes Teddy the quaffle he fumbles it and it flies out from his hands. They both dive after it, jostling each other and making a bit of a game out of it.
"Clumsy wanker," James laughs.
"Show off," Teddy grins, reaching out one foot and tapping the handle of James' broom, sending him spinning off with a cry of outrage. Teddy catches the quaffle and shoots up, in time to score a goal while Al is still laughing at his brother's predicament.
Eventually Harry and Ginny both go into a sudden dive and everyone except Lily - consummate player - stops to watch. Ginny comes out victorious, but only just and she flies circles around Harry, crowing with laughter. They all drift back to the ground after that, and start walking back to the house for lunch, brooms over their shoulders.
"You and James play well together," Harry says idly to Teddy, as go through the back door.
"Nah. He'd make anyone look good, the way he flies," Teddy says honestly.
"True enough," Harry admits. "You're not that bad, though."
"Mmm. Just a bit of a butter-fingers."
"A bit," Harry acknowledges.
In the kitchen, Ginny hassles Lily and Albus into helping her make a round of sandwiches while Teddy and James root through the cupboard under the stairs for crisps and chocolate bars. Harry sets a jug of pumpkin juice on the table and starts brewing a pot of tea.
"Hey, Albus," Lily says, smiling mischievously at Al over her glass of juice when they have all sat down. "Why don't you tell everyone about Elodie?"
"You're dead meat, Lil," Al says, but he says it cheerfully, blushing a little bit. It emerges that Elodie is a Ravenclaw in Scorpius' class, and that she has brown hair and blue eyes, and that she is excellent at Transfiguration, and absolutely best of all, she is a muggle-born who'd never heard of Harry Potter (no offence, Dad) before coming to Hogwarts, but that she is not his girlfriend. Harry exchanges a little wink with Teddy at that comment, and Teddy's sure that Elodie won't remain not Albus' girlfriend for long.
Teddy joins in the good-natured teasing, but notices that James doesn't. Pretty soon after lunch, James excuses himself with a vague, mumbled explanation. Teddy watches him go, and half-watches Ginny and Harry's subsequent silent conversation.
"Shut up," Al tells his sister, dragging Teddy back to the present. "All of you. I'm not saying another word."
"That's alright," Teddy grins. "I'll just ask Scorpius."
"He won't tell you anything," Al says confidently.
"I think he will," Teddy shrugs. "I'll tell him it's a family obligation."
"You do realise he isn't an idiot, don't you?" Al asks seriously.
"Debatable," Teddy lies.
"I'll tell him you said that."
"Do it," Teddy laughs. "He doesn't scare me."
"He couldn't scare anyone," Lily giggles. "He's so pretty! He looks like a little doll."
"Oh, god," Al groans.
"No," Ginny says firmly, looking at Lily. "Just no, alright?"
"Mum!" Albus wails.
"What?"
"Just – I really hope you're not all going to treat Scorpius like a zoo exhibit the whole time he's here."
"Of course not, silly," Ginny says lightly and Teddy rubs a hand over his mouth, stifling laughter. He will have to drop in on the Potters when Scorpius is here, as much for entertainment value as anything else.
After they have finished eating and Harry and Teddy have polished off a second pot of tea between them, Lily persuades Ginny to go out into the garden for a bit more Quidditch practice – Teddy gets the distinct feeling that this is how they'll be spending most of the summer if Lily gets her way. Albus begs off and retires to the living room with a book while Harry wanders off towards his study, complaining under his breath about bloody bloody bloody paperwork.
Supposing that now is as good a time as any, Teddy heads up the stairs to James' room and knocks on the door. There is a long silence before Teddy knocks again, this time using the secret knock they'd devised when James was a kid.
"Come in," James calls this time and Teddy's disquiet grows a little.
"Alright, Teddy?" James asks as Teddy steps through the door.
"Fine. Are you, though?"
"What'd you mean?"
"Are you alright? You just seem a bit - off. Is anything bothering you?"
"Oh. Um. Not - Yeah, a bit," James admits.
Teddy shuts the door behind himself and crosses the room to sit on the end of James' bed.
"What's wrong, mate?" he asks.
"Nothing, I think I just – I understand something you said to me before. About – you know. It's not worth the risk of caring about someone."
Teddy gets a sinking feeling in his stomach and crosses his legs, drumming the fingers of one hand on his knee.
"I don't think that's exactly what I said," he says gently, but James doesn't seem to hear him.
"Teddy, did you ever get - hurt?" he asks. "By a boy. Um. Emotionally, and stuff."
"Oh, James," Teddy sighs, recognising the well-hidden look on James' face - it's new to James, but Teddy has worn that look himself, and seen his friends wear it - hurt and shocked, and shocked that you are so hurt. "Did you get burned? It happens to the best of us, mate."
"Not - not like that," James says. "I was really stupid, it was all my fault."
"I doubt that," Teddy says gently, adding hesitantly, "Was - was it Jack?" James' best friend and first crush has grown into a cute, cheeky, irrevocably straight young man. According to James, he has been making eyes at Rosie for the last few months.
"What?" James asks, looking totally perplexed. "Oh - oh, no. I told you, I don't fancy him anymore. I haven't even thought about that in ages..."
"So - " Teddy prompts and James shakes himself slightly, fixing his eyes on a spot behind Teddy's head and reciting his words as though he's been practicing them for weeks. Teddy thinks he hears a note of desperation too, as though James has dearly wanted to say this to someone for a lot longer.
"There was this person, this bloke I had a crush on, someone really - really inappropriate, someone I could never have so I decided I would try to take my mind off it and I met this Hufflepuff in the year above and he seemed really nice so I just - "
Teddy hates to interrupt but he can't help himself, "What did he do to you?" he asks, his voice low and carefully emotionless.
"Nothing! Nothing like what you're thinking, anyway, you overprotective freak," James says, with a laugh that doesn't sound quite right. "No, I just - I wasn't even looking for anything serious that's the stupid part. I just wanted to stop thinking about Mr. Inappropriate and I let myself - I don't know. I really liked him, Teddy. The Hufflepuff, I mean."
"So what happened?" Teddy asks softly.
"I didn't realise what he was like. He - he was just another fucking one of dad's groupies," James blurts out bitterly.
"Oh, no," Teddy breathes, unable to stop himself. "Oh, James, are you sure?"
"Yeah," James laughs bitterly. "Yeah, I'd say pretty fucking sure, Ted."
"Oh, mate. Oh, I'm so sorry."
It's making Teddy's skin crawl, the thought of someone with their hands on James, thinking only Potter. Merlin knows it is not Harry's fault, but his kids have a lot to live up to, and encounter a fair few weirdos. Teddy thinks that's probably the reason that they all have a single best friend, rather than a large group, like he himself had been part of at school. Enough people are openly curious, angling for invitations just so they can meet the famous Harry Potter, and James has had to encounter someone who would probably have dressed that desire up in pretty words and flattery and sweet little whispers.
"He - " James says in a tiny voice. "I was doing - something - and - hecalledmeHarry." Teddy is so angry he doesn't trust himself to speak and James continues in a low voice that Teddy doesn't want to hear, but understands all the same. "He said yeah, take it Potter and then - the dad thing. Fuck. Fuck. It makes me want to just die even thinking about it. I'm such an idiot."
"No you're not," Teddy protests instantly. "That little bastard, I'll – " Teddy stops himself with an effort, but adds, "You couldn't have known - "
"I should have, though. We were all fitted with some sort of weirdo detector at birth, I don't know why it failed me this time," James says, trying to joke.
"Do - do you get a lot of that, then?" Teddy asks, feeling sick all over again.
James shrugs. "Not as bad as Al, cause he looks more like dad I suppose, and you know, isn't gay. But yeah, enough. Enough that I should have seen it coming a mile off. He always used to call me Potter, never James, not even when we were on our own. He said it was cause we were in different years, we shouldn't seem too close or people might start suspecting. He knew I wanted to keep it quiet, you know?"
"Did he hold that over you?" Teddy asks, wondering exactly how much of a prick this Hufflepuff could actually be.
"After I beat the crap out of him? He - "
"You - beat him up?" Teddy asks, knowing he shouldn't encourage that kind of thing, but secretly wanting to cheer.
"Yeah. He's taller but y'know. Pants were down. Gave me an advantage, I suppose. Not letting that wanker think about my dad like that. Fucking bastard."
"Oh, James," Teddy says tenderly and he reaches over to squeeze James' hand. It's probably not a lie, because James wouldn't want someone thinking about his dad in that way, but it also gets him out of having to admit the personal hurt that Teddy can see so plainly in his eyes. "Did you hurt him?"
"I - he - It wasn't just me, we were fighting and - I'm not proud of it Ted. Well, maybe only a little bit proud. But he was unconscious when I left."
"Blimey," Teddy says with another squeeze which James returns this time. "You know - I don't usually approve of violence, but even I'd make an exception for someone like that. Proud of you, kid."
"Yeah, well," James says awkwardly. "I realised he'd probably tell the whole bloody castle I was a poof and that I'd beaten him up for knocking me back or something stupid like that and I was - I didn't know what to do."
And I was probably on a beach somewhere, Teddy thinks, annoyed at himself even though he knows it's stupid. "What happened?"
"Jack," James says, with a genuine smile this time. "I found him and he patched me up, got most of the story out of me. Not the details, obviously but - He was great, said he'd known I was bent for ages and couldn't give a damn. Then he ran off and when he came back he had this massive grin all over his daft face. He's pretty Slytherin for a Gryffindor."
"What'd he do?"
"He got into the hospital wing somehow and woke up Arseface before he spoke to anyone. Jack told him that he could have a whole bunch of girls organised by morning to swear that I have a very colourful, very straight romantic history and that I'd have watertight alibis for every time he claimed to have been with me, then asked whether he thought people would believe some bent little 'Puff, or the all-shagging son of the most famous man in the wizarding world."
"That is brilliant," Teddy grins.
"Yeah, he's a mate," James nods. "I still feel like a prize idiot, though."
"You shouldn't," Teddy says, "It wasn't your fault, James, not at all."
"Hmm," James mutters dubiously.
"Wait a sec," Teddy says. "This bloke, would he be the one Jack was squaring up to in Hogsmeade last time I saw the lot of you?"
"Oh, fucking hell," James groans. "Yeah, it probably was, the stupid bugger."
"About my height, blond hair?" Teddy asks, and James nods. "Should have let Jack beat the crap out of him," he adds and James laughs before heaving a massive sigh and rubbing his hands over his face, then nudging Teddy.
"Thanks. Always feel better after I've told you stuff."
"Well," Teddy says a bit helplessly. "Good, I suppose. I'm sorry there isn't anything more I can do."
"Stop looking like that," James says.
"Like what?"
"So bloody sad."
"James - "
"Don't, okay? It was shit, but it's done. Don't worry yourself about it."
"Alright," Teddy says with a sigh. "And he won't be there next year?"
"No," James says, shaking his head. "No, this was his last year. Come on, then, tell me all the bits of your holiday you couldn't talk about in front of Mum or Dad or Lily," James grins.
"You what? We're good boys, we are," Teddy laughs.
"Oh, please," James says in a disappointed voice. "Tell me you didn't stick to the letter of the law the whole time you were gone?"
"James," Teddy says, grinning at him. "It is possible to have fun within the law, you know."
"Bo-ring," James sing-songs.
"We did nearly get arrested by the muggle police on our last night in Australia. Am I acceptably disreputable company now, Mr. Potter?"
"Shut up, you sound like one of the professors," James laughs. "What happened?"
"Well," Teddy says, leaning back on his hands and stretching his legs out in front of him. "It was our last night, yeah, so we went to this muggle nightclub. We had a great time but we were all a bit the worse for wear when we left - "
"By a bit the worse for wear," James interrupts, "Do you actually mean more completely paralytic than Uncle Charlie at Christmas?"
"Well - yeah," Teddy admits. "Anyway, we decided to go down to the beach for a bit. You know, look at the stars, listen to the sea, nothing illegal there. It was great, quiet and dark with the noise of the waves in the background... Amazing place. You know that, um - that Jake bloke that I wrote to you about? Well he was with us then, and obviously it was our last night so - Anyway, we were sitting a little way off just talking, and as far as I knew, Ian was passed out drunk and Rich and Mark were burying him in the sand."
"Right," James nods.
"Anyway, the next thing I knew, Rich had decided that he simply had to streak along the beach before we left. Apparently he doesn't feel he's really seen a place unless he's been illicitly naked there - "
"Good policy," James jokes.
"Yeah, I thought you'd approve," Teddy laughs. "Anyway there weren't any people immediately around, but we were in a pretty tourist-y area where people are out and about twenty four hours a day, basically. So I thought Richard's bare arse running along the beach probably wouldn't have added to the ambience so I was trying to stop him taking his clothes off. Naturally, Mark and Jake were pissed enough to think it was the best, most sophisticatedly hilarious idea they'd ever heard so they were trying to help him."
"Oh, god!" James laughs, pressing a hand to his mouth to stifle his laughter.
"Oh, it gets better," Teddy laughs. "Next thing, Ian woke up and just took off towards the sea. I've never seen the little git move so fast without a broom. He was yelling about going for a swim, and we'd seen this bloody massive shark a few days earlier. Of course, that was about a hundred miles away, but I forgot that in my - erm, state. So I went tearing off after Ian but it was so dark that by the time I dragged him back up the beach we were both soaking wet, and all we found were Rich's clothes in a pile, and Jake and Mark in hysterics on the ground."
"Your friends are completely insane," James laughs.
"That's been said by better men than you," Teddy acknowledges. "It still gets better, though."
"Oh, god, what else?" James laughs.
"Richard - never going to win any brain of the year contests, bless him - took off in the wrong direction and ended up on the private stretch of beach of some stupidly posh muggle hotel."
"Oh no - "
"Oh, yes," Teddy smirks. "We did find him, but only a few seconds before the hotel security guards came out looking for him, and found all of us. They marched us up to the manager's office; one wet and embarrassed, one wet and confused, one dry but naked, and two dry and clothed but laughing like complete lunatics."
"Sounds like quite a party."
"Oh, it was awful. The muggles have this thing called ceeceeteevee, have you heard of it?"
"Like a film, but just of boring things?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Teddy nods. "They've got these cameras that can see in the dark, and they made us watch the footage or Richard being a bloody idiot - trying to dance on deckchairs and falling all over the place and shaking his pasty arse at the hotel. It was terrible, James, we couldn't stop laughing, and the manager and security guards looked so bloody serious."
"How did you get out of that?"
"To be honest, I have no idea," Teddy laughs. "I think Jake did something because one minute they were talking about calling the police and the next they were giving Rich some spare clothes and waving us off."
"I'd say that was improper use of magic," James jokes.
"If it kept Richard out of an Australian jail and stopped me having to explain it to his mum, I'd say it's a very proper use of magic, actually," Teddy winks.
"Well, maybe," James laughs. He stretches his legs out in front of him until one pokes Teddy in the ribs. "So. Jake, huh?"
"Um – yes," Teddy says a bit cagily.
"Your face!" James laughs. "I'm not going to whip out the veritaserum, you know? I'm just curious."
"Curious how?"
"Well – I don't know... You're not going to bugger off to Fiji and abandon us, are you?"
"What? Of course not!" Teddy laughs. "No, it wasn't like that. I mean – we liked each other a lot, but we both knew that it wouldn't be anything serious."
"Serious enough for him to meet your mates," James points out.
"Yeah, well. It'd only been a few weeks at that point and he was very – "
"Sexy?" James suggests jokingly.
"Well, I thought so, obviously," Teddy laughs. "I was going to say intense, actually. Ever felt like you need to know everything about a person you can possibly learn?"
"Sort of," James says after a pause.
"You will," Teddy says.
"Are you going to keep in touch?"
"Probably," Teddy shrugs. "Maybe. I don't know. I hope so."
"Was he first attracted to your forthright and decisive manner?" James teases.
"When did you turn into such a smart arse?" Teddy asks, reaching out and slapping James' leg.
"It's a mystery," James says. "Oh hey, what were you and dad talking about earlier?" James asks absently.
"When?"
"In the kitchen. You looked all serious when me and Al got there."
"Hmm? Oh... He was saying you've been distracted lately. I'm not surprised anymore."
"Oh, is that all?" James asks, looking unconcerned. "Yeah, I've - I can't stop thinking what an idiot I've been."
"You haven't," Teddy insists and then, still wondering if he should bring it up or not, adds, "James - there was something else. Harry was wondering if you have any plans? Long term, I mean."
"Bloody hell," James says crossly. "They know I do! They just don't – " he makes a noise of frustration and glares off into the corner of the room.
"What d'you mean?" Teddy asks, concerned. James rarely has any complaints about his immediate family, and right now he sounds genuinely pissed off.
"I want to do Potions," James says determinedly. It doesn't come as a complete surprise, because James' Potions marks have been his best since early in his third year. This is obviously a real bone of contention for James, because he says it sulkily and folds his arms, glaring around the room as if daring it to defy him.
"Well that's good, isn't it? At least you know what you want to do. In what way?"
"Medicinal potions," James says, clearly already warming to his subject. "I suppose just brewing at first, but I want to get into modifying them, maybe even developing new ones. Did you know the standard recipe for pepper up potion hasn't changed in over seventy years? There are so many new techniques, there must be a way I could – am I boring you?" he asks suddenly.
"Not at all!" Teddy says quickly. "I think it's great, I really do. I've never seen this side of you before."
"Well – it is a fairly recent development," James admits. "Mum and Dad, they – I don't know. They haven't noticed I've got serious about it, I don't think. They still think Potions is just my best subject, not the career I want."
Teddy side steps the issue of James' parents for a moment. "What made you get serious about it?" he asks instead.
"Oh. Jack gets these mad headaches, really bad ones, they make him throw up and everything. The muggles have a name for it - "
"Migraine?" Teddy suggests.
"Yeah, that's it. He can be layed up for days sometimes, and normal headache potions don't work because of all his other symptoms."
"Let me guess," Teddy interrupts. "You're making him an antidote."
"I'm working on it," James says with a small smile. "We've got it manageable now, but I can't get rid of his nausea and sensitivity to light without the dose of powdered salamander eggs being too high."
"Salamander eggs?"
"I know it sounds strange. It interacts with the daisy roots, but only in the presence of bergamot essence."
"Blimey, James," Teddy says softly.
"What?" he asks, giving Teddy a curious stare. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Just proud of you, kid."
"He's a friend," James shrugs. "It's kind of fun, anyway. A bit like those treasure hunts you used to make up for me when I was a kid, do you remember those?"
"Of course, I do," Teddy laughs. "And I don't mean just for making Jack the potion. You sound different, James. You know your stuff, and you seem really focused."
"Well," James says, giving Teddy another odd look. "I know what I want now."
"Have you got any plans for the summer?" Teddy asks.
"No," James sighs. "It's going to be dead boring, Jack's away the whole time."
"Oh, that's a shame. Where's he gone?"
"Brazil, with his parents."
"Wow!"
"Yeah, they're going on an aeroplane and everything, I'm pretty jealous."
"I bet you are. Well, if you get too bored you can always come to my place for a change of scenery."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, I can dictate my reports to you to write."
"What?"
"Joking, James. We can go out if I'm not working, or you can just have a rummage through all the weird bits and bobs I do for work."
"Sounds good," James smiles.
Just then, Ginny knocks before poking her head around the door. "What are you two doing up here?"
"Just catching up," Teddy says.
"Well, dinner's ready in half an hour if you're staying, Ted?"
"If that's alright," he nods.
"Of course."
"I'll come and give you some help," Teddy offers.
"You could set the table if you don't mind," she suggests and Teddy gets to his feet, hauling James up after him.
"Come on, you," he orders, ignoring James' protesting groan. "You can give me a hand."
chapter 5
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-01-03 04:22 am (UTC)Everything felt so natural and the narrative moved along so easily. You don't get a lot of naturalism in fandom and this really, really works. Okay, that sounds like an odd thing to say, but all of it, the dialog, the topics of conversation, the emotional arc felt very much like a good RL family visit or a well-paced movie scene. I like that James's negative incident was something very plausible and troublesome, but not over-the-top horrible (like date rape of something.) And yet it makes perfect sense that the family would attract groupies. Poor James.
And Teddy's almost-got-arrested incident was very well played, too. Hmm, perhaps something similar happened in RL?
I love the moments that aspects of his father shine through Teddy and the little hints/bits of foreshadowing about what is to come:
"You and James play well together," Harry says idly to Teddy, as go through the back door.
and
Just then, Ginny knocks before poking her head around the door. "What are you two doing up here?"
Well done!
no subject
Date: 2009-01-03 11:16 am (UTC)I couldn't do anything that horrible to James, I don't think. I would never forgive myself.I did waer over this, even, so yay for not being OTT.
As for the incident... Replace an australian beach with a freezing cold river in england, the posh hotel with a military services club, and the improper use of magic with..well, begging, really, and something similar may have occurred. I hasten to add that I was not the streak-ee. Alas nor was I responsible enough to be the Teddy figure. Peanut gallery, that's me :) Also! In a few chapters, Teddy and James will be enacting one of my dafter moments also involving a river. I should evidently not live near water.
Mwahaha, the foreshadowing will get less and less subtle. I am quite excited. Only a couple more chapters to go (not til the end, just til the good stuff).
THANKYOU so much for your lovely comment honey :)
no subject
Date: 2009-01-03 06:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-03 11:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-03 09:22 pm (UTC)Great job! I can’t wait to read more!
Also: ‘He's so pretty! He looks like a little doll.’ Brilliant. Isn’t it just the truth?
no subject
Date: 2009-01-03 09:43 pm (UTC)Hahaha, Scorpius <3 I think he is my favourite of all the background characters in this fic. PRETTY.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-03 09:33 pm (UTC)Also...I wonder what ‘really inappropriate’ person James was trying to get over with this boy who just happens to be Teddy’s height...HRM!?
OH AND I CAN'T WAIT for the "Scorpius Visits the Potters" chapter!! :)
~Georgie
no subject
Date: 2009-01-03 09:47 pm (UTC)The identity of Mr. Inappropriate is SHROUDED IN MYSTERY nudge nudge wink wink say no more.
That would be the next chapter :) Which should hopefully be up soonish. Thanks for reading.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-03 09:45 pm (UTC)pretty little dollScorpius staying at Potters? Cool.Anyway, this was perfect. Can't stop reading (and laughing at some parts), how you manage to do it so realistic? Moments between Teddy and James are really sweet, and I'm like, totally excited for more :] But
Thanks for updating! really very much
no subject
Date: 2009-01-03 09:50 pm (UTC)I'm really glad you enjoyed it and found it realistic. More soon hopefully.
ps OMG YOUR ICON!!
no subject
Date: 2009-01-04 11:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-05 12:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-27 06:01 am (UTC)The Quidditch game was excellent, as was the gambit with Draco, Scorpius, Harry, Al, and vacation.
Teddy and James are really so heartbreaking. At least, James is. Poor James. <3
no subject
Date: 2009-05-27 08:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-27 02:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-28 09:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-29 08:00 am (UTC)