compass | florence

[edward remus lupin]

Hard to imagine ever changing

Anything changing my way

March 2027
florence violet fortescue

Teddy ran his hand through his brown hair. It was getting a bit long, showing off its natural brown hue. Once upon a time, he kept it a fun turquoise blue for the fun of it, smiling every time his gran would glance at it. When his beard finally began to grow, it seemed silly to have a beard of the same color. And most of the time, Teddy felt desperate to blend in. Unfortunately, this was not always possible with his name, but he figured it was better than being infamous. The past nine months had reminded Teddy of much of those past times. Working on the Hogwarts rebuilding had brought a lot of nostalgia he hadn’t realized he was carrying.

But he was happy to do it. The first time he saw the aftermath up close he’d been speechless. And shocked to the point his hair went grey, literally. At this point in his life, Teddy felt he was at a place where finding balance with how he felt at any given time wasn’t terribly difficult. Taking a break from working on-site, Teddy made his way toward the village. His feet moved on their own while his mind wandered a bit. How many times had he walked this path during his school years? But now was as good a time as any. He’d been disappointed earlier to find he was out of chocolate.

As a boy, his gran always kept some around. Learning his father had preferred Honeydukes chocolate also helped him feel closer to his memory. A whisper or two had reached Teddy about the shop not doing well financially, which seemed to stir up many in the community as Honeydukes was a staple of the village. He only hoped it wouldn’t get replaced by some other franchise shop as in other parts of the magical world. Entering the shop, he heard the bell ring above the door. The shop appeared the same, though various boxes were stacked in corners or open near a shelf. They must have been restocking during the slower times of the week. But after a cursory glance at a few shelves, Teddy didn’t see those familiar chocolate bars. He hoped this would’ve been a quick visit, but now it was a hunt. Approaching the counter, Teddy peered around for anyone working. ”Hello?” Maybe they had chocolate in the back and hadn’t stocked the shelf yet.

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Hectic. That was the only way Flossie could describe her first few weeks of running Honeydukes. Owning Honeydukes. A dream come true, sure, but one that also meant a ton of sacrifice on her part. Her divorce was finalized only a week prior, she and Spencer finishing up the final paperwork whilst she was already back in the UK and getting the shop up and running. Everything sort of hit at once and it had been difficult, to say the least. Luckily, she knew how to run a business and distract herself, and with operating Honeydukes, the two went hand in hand.

She had been left a long list of instructions by the Flumes. Most was contact information for distributors, but there were also directions on the house made candies. The ones that had always made Honeydukes, Honeydukes. That part honestly didn’t scare her too much, except that she felt like she was still missing something with their infamous chocolate. Despite spending the last half a decade as a private confectioner, she had nothing on the decades the Flumes had before her. Even with both showing her the exact recipe in person, it wasn’t clicking. Thus, Flossie had stripped the store of all of the chocolate until she could figure it out. She didn’t want customers to be able to tell the difference or buy her out of the remainder of her stock. It would be needed for taste comparisons.

Today had started with restocks, as the amount of tourism with Hogwarts being rebuilt had kicked up a bit of business. Watching it go up piece by piece from her front window had been fascinating. But she couldn’t stand there and stare at the castle all day. Fixing the chocolate problem was her first order of business. It had to be all set by the time the school reopened and the students came back. They would demand that damn chocolate, and she was determined to have it perfected by then.

Almost elbow deep in a giant bowl that she used to mix the chocolate, she didn’t hear the door to the shop jingle. It wasn’t until a voice called out that she managed to pull herself up, humungous spatula in hand, and poked her head out onto the floor. She couldn’t see the person, but knew they were still there. ”Hello! Over here!” she waved the spatula, a few droplets of liquid chocolate dripping down her forearm and onto the floor. Flossie could care less about that. It added to the atmosphere.

edward remus lupin ● 422

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[edward remus lupin]

Hard to imagine ever changing

Anything changing my way

March 2027
florence violet fortescue

Teddy heard a voice call out; it sounded far away, which felt impossible with the size of the shop. Still, perhaps they were stuck behind something. He’d seen it before at the Weasley’s joke shop as he helped Lily get out from behind a stack of boxes she managed to trap herself behind. That one was still a mystery to him, but he hadn’t tried to understand that puzzle. Walking down the aisles, the organized rows of various treats never ceased to amaze him. Maybe because his Gran had been a bit strict in letting him choose only one or two during a visit when he’d wanted the whole lot. But what child didn’t’?

”Hello?” Teddy called again as he turned a corner. Through a door frame, he spotted red hair. At first Lily came to mind, but that wouldn’t have made sense. She’d be back in London working. Curious, he got closer and realized he recognized the profile. ”Flossie?” Merlin, how long had it been? Their school years felt like so long ago and Teddy had spent a lot of time in Diagon Alley when he was young. Harry would bring him when they’d get school supplies or when he’d have some business to conduct. Often, Teddy would stop by Fortescue’s, get a bit of ice cream with the pocket money his Gran gave him, and sit outside and draw.

Sometimes, Flossie or Vasilia would ask him what he was drawing, and Teddy would show them some doodle or sketch he was working on. The family had always been kind to him, especially with the occasional free scoop of ice cream.

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Flossie had considered having some modifications to the store once she had enough money for it. Making a viewing room into the kitchen area sounded like a great idea to her. Not only did that allow customers to watch her work, but it also let her have a better view of the shop. As it was, she was through a doorway and completely blocked off from everything. On quiet days, like today, she tried to get extra work done. But then she was stuck with her hands quite literally in mixing bowls.

She heard her name called, or asked rather, and looked up from her chocolate workout. It took a moment, because she was pretty sure the last time she had seen Teddy Lupin, he’d had a head full of brightly colored hair. The shock of seeing him with normal, brown hair had her almost dropping her jaw. ”Teddy?” she asked, almost uncertain that it was him for a moment. There had been times growing up where she’d seen him ‘normal’, but a metamorphmagus being this way seemed impractical and out of character.

”Hold on one uhhh…one moment,” she started to quickly set her kitchen utensils down in places where they wouldn’t suddenly end up on the floor. That was almost inevitable sometimes, with the way she bombed around her shop. Throwing the giant spatula into the bowl as well, she quickly washed her hands off and went to meet Teddy out in the shop.

”Surprise?” she said, putting her hands up in the air. ”It happened so fast. The Flumes had to sell, I was coming back, and yeah…how’ve you been?” It really did all feel sort of unreal at times. The last year had been hell between losing her father, finalizing the divorce, and then moving back to Diagon Alley. Having this pop up was the perfect way to escape it all. At least that was how she was currently looking at it.

edward remus lupin ● 325

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[edward remus lupin]

Hard to imagine ever changing

Anything changing my way

March 2027
florence violet fortescue

She responded with equal shock. Merlin, how many years had it been? Automatically, he grinned widely. Flossie looked the same as all those years ago and just as beautiful. Though the chocolate was new. Seeing him triggered her to stop working, which wasn’t his intention. Teddy opened his mouth to speak but stopped as it felt futile to get her to stop. Some things really didn’t change. And the shop wasn’t busy, and he wasn’t in a hurry. It would be good to catch up. ”I think Gran mentioned something about the Flume’s selling…” His brow furrowed in thought—just one of those moments where things had gone in one ear and out the other, he supposed.

Looking back at Flossie, Teddy remembered when they were younger. He’d try to see how close he could get to matching her or Vasilia’s hair color, but he could never quite match it. These days, his hair rarely shifted on its own, but at most, it would lighten as it did now. From the brown, it shifted to a lighter shade of brown, almost sandy. ”I don’t travel nearly as much as I used to. I suppose I’m still a bit out of the loop with some things.” Teddy admitted. Then again, these last months were his longest stint home in a very long time. ”I’ve been helping with the school rebuild—artifacts and such.” Not even a year had passed since that horrible event, but every time Teddy could help save a painting, he felt a little better.

But in terms of the previous year, that brought another sad thought to mind. ”I was sorry to hear about your father…” Teddy’s hair darkened a bit back to its natural brown. It was strange to have lost both his parents, but he never met them. But he recalled his devastation when they all thought they had lost Harry. There simply weren’t words. He offered Flossie a sympathetic smile. ”This place seems in good hands. But—“ Trying to lighten the mood, Teddy dramatically sighed. ”—Please tell me you have some chocolate somewhere.” He smiled, the corners of his mouth upturning until his dimples appeared under the scruff.

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Flossie had come to learn that the greater magical community really didn’t care about the lawsuit that had been brought against the Flume family. The confusion that most of the older customers had when stopping by was beyond interesting – most thought she was a younger relative of theirs just watching the shop, not the brand-new owner. Never in a million years did they assume that the Flumes would have to sell. The candy shop had been with them for too long. Flossie’s attempt at keeping everything exactly as it was, seemed to add to that misunderstanding though, as she knew what she had enjoyed out of Honeydukes when she was younger and wanted to keep it relatively the same.

Teddy explained that he had been assisting with the rebuilding of the school, and her face turned into an ‘O’-shape. She’d been watching the reconstruction over the last few months, and it looked like everything was getting closer to completion. Supposedly the goal was to open by the summer, in time for a new, re-worked, school year. She didn’t really understand what that meant yet, but if it brought more people to Hogsmeade on a year-round basis, she wasn’t going to complain. What better time to have a shop here, right?

”Thank you,” she said earnestly about her father’s passing. It was almost a year now. A lot had happened over the last twelve months. Some people would probably view her actions as self-destructing. She saw it more as realigning herself. There were too many little things here and there that weren’t working out together, and when it all came to a head, it became very obvious what she needed to do. Thank Merlin her ex-husband had been on the same page as her. It was almost silly how they were still in agreement up until the end. Under other circumstances, it would have never ended.

”So…sort of,” Flossie said slowly in response to the chocolate. ”It’s not the normal recipe. That’s actually what I’m working on right now.” She’d figure it out with enough time. ”But if you’re willing to be a test subject of sorts?” she asked, motioning for him to follow her back towards the kitchen. There was enough failed chocolate that she had to get rid of it somewhere. It still tasted perfectly fine, it just wasn’t the typical Honeydukes special.

edward remus lupin ● 394

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[edward remus lupin]

Hard to imagine ever changing

Anything changing my way

March 2027
florence violet fortescue

Teddy remembered Florean Fortescue’s kind smile as he met Teddy for the first time. Something had appeared in his eyes when Harry explained Teddy’s parentage. Once he began to attend Hogwarts and spend more time in places like Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley, the magical world didn’t feel so expansive. Every now and then, he would meet someone who had been a student in Harry’s Defense Against the Dark Arts class with his father or knew his mother from school or Auror training. The attention was a bit embarrassing at times, though Teddy would never complain about the free ice cream the Fortescue’s would give him now and then as he sat outside the parlor drawing in the summertime.

But the family seemed to keep on trucking, now adding Honeydukes to their businesses. With ice cream and candy in hand, he supposed something else food-related was next, right? Teddy never had a mind for such things; he far preferred his history books and sketch pad. He tried not to look so skeptical as she explained the chocolate recipe was a work in progress. Before he could answer, Flossie turned and began to walk, so Teddy followed obediently. ”I—sure.” It was not what he’d planned for the day, but he supposed this was an improvement. Catching up to the redhead, he smiled, his hair lightening to the sandy color. ”I’ll never turn down chocolate.” Teddy admitted.

As he waited, Teddy glanced around curiously. ”Last I heard, you were in America.” Naturally, news of her father must have brought her back, so Teddy skipped that obvious question. ”Did you like it there?” Teddy had only visited for short lengths of time for the most part. Every now and then, he would spend an extra day or two in various places, but his experiences as a tourist could hardly match up to living there.

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Flossie believed that chocolate was a harder sell than ice cream, especially with younger demographics. But there were the odd few out there that enjoyed a solid bar throughout their day. Herself included. She viewed the ice cream experience as having a definitive start and finish, mostly due to the fact that it could melt. Chocolate, though, could be wrapped back up and eaten whenever. Which suited her schedule much better now.

Teddy followed her into her work kitchen, seemingly okay with testing her shoddy chocolate. From her own tests, it wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t at the Flume caliber yet. She quickly organized the chunks of chocolate from what she considered worst to best and hesitated on some of the poorer quality ones. They really should have been binned already. They were horrid.

”I was…I did,” she responded about her time in New York. It still felt pretty raw, her divorce paperwork just finished and all that. ”I would do it all again the same way, I think.” There were definitely not any regrets for her marriage or life in the US. The last thing she had wanted was to feel any resentment towards her ex-husband. ”But I also knew that I couldn’t pass up this opportunity, so yeah…”

Stepping back from the counter where she had arranged the chocolates, she waved Teddy over. ”So the ones on the left aren’t really worth trying, unless you want to see how much improvement I’ve made,” she explained while pointing at the subpar chocolate. ”And then the one on the far right is the closest. I think.” She knew it wasn’t, but every time she made a new batch she got closer and closer. Obviously, she didn’t have to do it perfectly, but it would be really cool if she did. That would definitely be a bit of an ego boost for her, which she definitely needed right now.

edward remus lupin ● 318

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[edward remus lupin]

Hard to imagine ever changing

Anything changing my way

March 2027
florence violet fortescue

Teddy’s eyes followed as Flossie moved pieces of chocolate in various sizes and with slight color variations. It couldn’t have been that difficult to make chocolate, could it? Honestly, he’d never thought about it. And subjects such as Potions were never more than a passing interest. He supposed his interests always lay in where something could have come from and why rather than what it was composed of. Teddy nodded silently. It was a big change, even if just to move home, he imagined. And after so many years. ”I suppose we can only keep looking forward, right?” That’s what Arthur Weasley would say—in his own way. And perhaps his Gran as well, even as Teddy sometimes caught her sighing thoughtfully at photographs of her family. Teddy’s late grandfather and mother.

Now, on to happier subjects—chocolate. Approaching the display, he eyed all the specimens curiously. With a lazy shrug, he picked up a piece from the left despite her warning. ”I’m sure it can’t be that bad.” Biting into the chocolate, he focused on whatever he thought chocolate experts focused on, much like those people who pompously swished wine around in their glasses at dinner to justify its cost. It wasn’t bad. But one could say he was always the optimist. Still, it was missing something. ”It's pretty good, but—uh…” He couldn’t quite think of a way to verbalize what was in his mind. ”Something…” Again, he focused on what made Honeydukes chocolate so great, but all his brain chose to provide him were regarding ancient civilizations existing around the seventh and sixth centuries BCE.

This time, he chose a piece farther on the right, and it was certainly better. And Teddy tried a few more samples, alternating where he chose from until finally trying the farthest on the right. Nodding his head, he looked at Flossie. Either all the sugar was beginning to kick in, or she was, in fact, getting closer to the recipe. ”These are all quite good, by the way.” She had obviously been working very hard at this. ”But I think this one is damn near close.” While seeing a Fortescue behind the counter might confuse some for a moment, there wasn’t a doubt in Teddy’s mind people would feel confident the store was in good hands.

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”I’m certainly looking forward to it,” she admitted. A clear cut away from everything she had left in New York was what she needed, on top of a constant distraction. Every part of owning Honeydukes had solved that for her so far. Eventually it would slow down, it always did. She knew that from years of working the front at the ice cream parlor. Thankfully, that front facing part of the job came naturally to her. Being forced into it at a young age and realizing she liked it sort of helped. Fortescue’s seemed to have an inherent knack for shopkeeping.

Flossie frowned as Teddy tried to reason that the first few chocolates were ‘good’. Maybe by a layman they were, but she was supposed to be a candymaker now. Handmaking this amount of chocolate was a difficult process, and she didn’t have access to the right kinds of factory machines that would allow for the perfect separation of ingredients and spread into the molds she used. That was, of course, the charm of selling homemade chocolate. ”I’m no Vector,” Flossie admitted, knowing full well that parts of that family had a talent for baking and cooking that she didn’t have. ”And I’m sure it’s better than what the normal person could whip up, but you’re not wrong. Something is missing in the first few.” She still couldn’t tell what it was exactly, but was glad there was now a consensus on it.

Teddy made his way to the ones she considered her best and had a drastically different reaction. Even going as far as saying the last one was close. ”But still not it, right?” she asked. ”I’m positive I can get the old recipe down, it’s just going to take some work. I wanted to change as little as possible, only because I loved the way Honeydukes was ran while growing up.”

edward remus lupin ● 314

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0