smile like you mean it | albus

[edward remus lupin]

And someone is playing a game

In the house that I grew up in

January 3, 2029
Albus Severus Potter

Years of traveling had shown Teddy that it was possible to exist in a place where one didn’t need so many layers of clothing in January. Unfortunately, his home was not that place. Even now, his gran still fussed when he left the house as if he were ten years older rather than thirty, but Teddy indulged her. Despite how uptight she may seem, she was far more relaxed with Teddy working at Hogwarts than wherever the museum thought to send him. ”Yes, Gran—“ ’Shall I expect you for dinner?’ ”Yes.” Teddy grinned, returning from the door to where his grandmother stood outside the kitchen.

”I won’t be out long.” Teddy kissed his grandmother on the cheek and stepped outside. Once outside the specified perimeter, he apparated and appeared in front of his target. The Potter home never felt like a foreign place for Teddy, and the family never let him feel like a guest. And it was much the same at the Burrow. Although Molly Weasley would insist that Teddy could come and go as he pleased, he always knocked. With the Potters, it was a bit different. Christmas and the New Year had passed, and with a little less than a week left until the start of the Term, Teddy figured he’d stop by and visit his home away from home.

Teddy was hoping to catch Harry, perhaps catch up over tea. But he’d be happy to run into whoever was home. James had been difficult to see with his constant traveling for work. Over Christmas, the oldest Potter shared many stories of Hy-Brasil and his interactions with the people there. He worked directly within the High Druid at times. Teddy noted how happy James appeared as he seemed to glow and beam with pride at his work on the island. Albus or Lily might be home, although a full moon had just passed, so Teddy wasn’t sure if he should expect the youngest. Turning the doorknob, Teddy pushed the door open and let himself inside out of the cold. Immediately, he thought Harry must not be home, for he didn’t hear the sounds of tiny paw prints running around from the dogs. Though he spotted a figure once he entered the kitchen behind the open refrigerator door. ”Happy New Year?” He announced his presence calmly but still suddenly out of the quiet.

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[Albus Severus Potter]

don't speak too soon.

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS WAS SUCH A performance for the Weasley-Potter clan. And that's what they were, really. The sheer magnitude bursting each home at the seams. Al had started accepting shifts at the holidays just to get a break. He'd never been a great lover of crowds, and his family definitely crowded. However, this year his boss had insisted he take time off. He'd traded Christmas for New Years, and blessedly he'd missed the great mass and eaten his dinner cold over the sink while everybody had soundly slept the day after.

Luckily, after a Christmas spent together, the crowd dispersed and Al was treated to an empty house for much of first-footing. Their parent's were probably out shaking every Weasley hand they could find bringing the new year in. And James was probably out dancing naked around a fire on Hy-Brasil. Lily might have been barking at the neighbours, but that was really none of Al's business. He treated himself to a bottle of butterbeer and snuck a chunk of cold pastry from underneath a foil tray. He was rifling around in a drawer full of chilled chocolates when he heard the padding of feet. His cheeks bulging with chocolate, the butterbeer held firmly in hand as he poked his head over the fridge door guiltily.

"Oh-" He mumbled, mouth muffled with melting chocolate as he realised he hadn't been caught by his mum. Instead, Teddy stood tall and broad shouldered. Filling the kitchen archway and grinning under a beard Al tried to remember if he'd had last time he'd seen him. Teddy travelled a lot, and it used to bother Al when he'd been younger. When Teddy had been Al's favourite brother. Now, it didn't sting half as much. He grinned a hamster-cheeked grin, chewing quickly and kicking the fridge door shut with his foot.

"I thought you were mum." He confessed with a sheepish little laugh. Clearing his mouth with a foamy glug of butterbeer and burping behind one hand as he crossed the room in three big strides. "Happy New Year,  Teddy." He greeted him with smiling eyes, hesitating briefly and seeming to shuffle in place for an awkward handful of seconds before he threw caution to the wind and wrapped an arm around Teddy's shoulders in an uncharacteristic hug. He spilled only a little bit of butterbeer down his back as he did so. "You're back." He said against his shoulder, pulling back quickly to get a proper look at him. 

edward remus lupin

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[edward remus lupin]

And someone is playing a game

In the house that I grew up in

January 3, 2029
Albus Severus Potter

Over the door, Teddy spotted Al’s signature eyes. Although he was in more of a relaxed and disheveled state than usual. Then again, nobody else seemed to be around. ”She usually finds me the second I enter.” Teddy shared. Ginny had those motherly instincts to know when one of her children, adopted or otherwise, was home. And then Teddy was left declining every offer of a drink, food, or snack, as his gran would never let him leave the house on an empty stomach. Al seemed unsure of how to behave, but Teddy never pushed him. While he had to admit some of the jokes were a bit funny, Teddy had never gone out of his way to mess with Al as his siblings did.

There had always been an understanding between them, perhaps due to their innately reserved natures and Teddy’s ability to simply listen. This trait was lacking from the Weasley side of the family. As Al finally gave him a hug, Teddy returned it while smiling into his adopted younger brother’s shoulder. ”Happy New Year, Al.” Teddy pulled back, beginning to slip off his coat, though he didn’t mention the butterbeer spots on the back. ”You leave any chocolates?” If there was one thing that was Teddy’s weakness—chocolate. Apparently, his father had been much the same.

”Where is everyone?” He wondered while opening the door and searching around for the goods. In the meantime, he retrieved a bottle of butterbeer. ”I’ll be around more often.” Teddy responded to Al’s earlier statement. While Teddy had begun teaching when the school reopened, his hours had been limited as students slowly began to return to Hogwarts, so he wouldn’t need to work so many hours at Witch TV, which did include some traveling. ”Teaching at the school.” Finally, he saw the drawer with the chocolates and grabbed a few for himself. ”But tell me about you.” Teddy dropped himself into one of the chairs. ”How have you been?”

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