Hugo remembered being six and sitting on Grandpa Granger’s lap, listening to his grandpa’s deep voice read aloud the stories of Winnie-the-Pooh. The stories took him to the Hundred Acre Wood, where he pretended to be Christopher Robin visiting Pooh and his other friends. The stories encouraged him to read more, and it wasn’t long before he read all the Pooh books and began to act out and create his own stories and adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood.

“Let’s play Poohsticks,” he’d say to Lily. “I’ll be Pooh.”

“Then I’ll be Tigger.” Lily would grin and bounce to the bathroom in the Burrow, wearing her tiger-striped pyjamas. Hugo would follow her wearing a bright red shirt that said “Pooh” on the front. There, in the bathroom, they used toothpicks in the tub to see whose stick would reach the finish line first. They added bubbles and food colouring to the tub to make things more exciting, and then they splashed around and had rainbow water fights. They had so much fun; they didn’t even care when they got scolded for making a huge bubbly mess. For days afterwards, Hugo found bubbles everywhere — not just in the bathroom, but in the bedroom, in the sitting room, and even in his mum’s study!

Since meeting Pooh and going on his own adventures, Hugo became a voracious reader.

At the age of eight, Roald Dahl introduced him to black comedy and satire, and Hugo devoured any and all of Dahl’s books. The supernatural and magical elements of the books didn’t faze him, not when he was surrounded by magic himself, but it was Dahl’s sense of humour and the way he portrayed the world in his satirical ways that fascinated Hugo. From Matilda to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to The BFG, he escaped the real world and joined the fictional characters on their voyages.

He even begged his parents to take him to the Wonka Factory in America, believing it to be the exact replica of the magical place in the book he’d read. He asked Uncle Harry if it were possible for a glass lift to be created as a transportation device, saying it seemed more practical than a broomstick.

But his mum tried to explain to him that the factory in the United States was a Muggle factory, and that Honeydukes’ in Hogsmeade and Uncle George’s shop in Diagon Alley were the closest he’d find to Wonka’s factory. Even Uncle Harry explained how a glass lift would make a terrible transportation device, saying it had none of the flexibility a broomstick offered.

The explanations didn’t bother him. Hugo still read and imagined anything and everything he could. Even when he read the Narnia books and Lord of the Rings trilogy by the time he was twelve, he still kept his imagination, still daydreamed and imagined the magical and the Muggle worlds he lived in to be like the ones he read in the books. Even in Hogwarts, the most magical place in wizarding Britain, Hugo found things to be too mundane for his liking, so whenever he wasn’t studying, he continued to read and lose himself in the fictional worlds books provided.

But it was the novel he read at the age of fifteen that changed his life. It was the winner of the Agrippa Literary Award that year, a book where reviews said it started off deceptively simple, but ended in a way that gripped and thrilled readers, taking them on a twisting, page-turning, rollicking adventure until its last page. Muggle-borns compared the book to the magical-realism genre, especially with novels by Gabriel Marquez Garcia. It was a book where nobody knew who the author, R.L. Tilleridge, was (rumours had it that the author had a secret-keeper), but they all praised the book for its genius storytelling and theme.

Curious, Hugo read the book, wondering what made it so special, especially when nobody knew who the mysterious author was. He approached Tilleridge’s novel with wariness, thinking it had to be some overhyped marketing tactics.

He read it three times. Three times in three days. The book made his mind hurt and made him question everything he knew of the world until then. He laughed at the humorous parts until his stomach cramped; cried at the parts that overwhelmed him with emotions, hoping nobody was around when he quickly scrubbed his eyes; and in subsequent readings, he found new concepts and realisations that would leave him numb from shock. But everything the author alluded to made perfect sense to him, and all the little nuances, the symbolisms, the allusions — they were all put together masterfully.

It was Tilleridge’s book that became a milestone in Hugo’s life. This work was what made Hugo decide to become an editor instead of a writer. After seeing such skills, he knew his own mediocre writing could never live up to the likes of Tilleridge. That was not his strength — instead his strength was to read and analyse, to find loopholes and think of alternative ideas, and he’d proven that when he worked as an editor for the Hogwarts newspaper. Now he dreamed of one day becoming Tilleridge’s editor.

And when the day arrived that Tilleridge was finally revealed to be none other than Teddy Remus Lupin, Hugo decided to do everything he could to achieve his dreams.

“You have the qualifications, but do you really think you’re capable of becoming his editor?”

Hugo blinked at that question, surprised by Luna’s seriousness. Of all the years he’d known her, he was used to seeing her with a dreamy expression. Then again, those were times when she’d been going on about some magical creatures she and her husband, Rolf, had discovered. So perhaps, with her job as the head of a successful publishing company, she took things a bit more seriously.

He selected his words carefully. “I’m capable. I may not be perfect, but for what I lack, I’ll make it up with hard work and determination.”

“Ah, hrmmm.” Luna tapped her gaudy peacock quill, complete with a glittery tip. “I should warn you that it will not be an easy job.”

“I . . . ” Hugo cleared his throat. “I don’t care if this is going to be the world’s hardest job. Even if I have to be Uncle George’s test subject to do this job, I’ll still do it. It’d be an incredible honour to be Teddy Lupin’s, or should I say, Tilleridge’s, editor. I’ve read every single book he’s written so far.” And he had. He had even bought two copies of each book, one to read and one to keep in mint condition.

Luna nodded, and the familiar dreamy smile returned as she wrote on a small parchment, making the glitter fall all over her desk. “Here are the Apparation coordinates for his place. He’ll expect you tomorrow at ten o’clock in the morning.”

He accepted the parchment, puzzling over something. “That’s it? Doesn’t he need to interview me?”

“No. He leaves that sort of thing up to me. Don’t worry about it. Just go be the best editor you can be and more. Welcome aboard, Hugo.”

Once outside, Hugo carefully folded the parchment, slipped it into his pocket, and then let out a loud yell of happiness, not caring that he almost gave some poor lady a heart attack.

Feeling high and mighty, Hugo rushed home to his small flat near Baker Street, and he eagerly began his preparation for tomorrow.

Ding dong!

Hugo stepped back and shifted nervously as he wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers. He looked around the well cared for bushes that lined the small path. It connected to a larger dirt path, and that path became two a few hundred metres away. Down one way, he could see a small town. On the other route, he saw it going into an ominous looking forest. Just looking at that forest gave Hugo the willies as he remembered that one and only time he and Lily had snuck into the Forbidden Forest, and it was there he realised just how scary gigantic spiders were and just why his dad did not like them.

Hugo suppressed a shudder and quickly looked back at the longhouse in front of him. The place had a thatched roof with a stone chimney attached to it. The longhouse wasn’t as big as some of the ones belonging to farmers, but its smaller size gave a cosy feel to it. He wondered how the inside would look.

Then he realised that nobody had come to the door. Frowning, he pressed the doorbell again.

Ding dong!

Still nobody came. Confused, and now wondering if he had even Apparated to the right place, Hugo pulled out the parchment from his pocket to re-check his coordinates. “These are right,” he muttered to himself, and he took a deep breath and tried again.

Ding dong! Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong!

Exasperated, he reached for the doorknob, fully expecting it to be locked, but instead it opened with a click. There’s something familiar about the wards, he thought, as he slowly opened the door.

“Hello?” he called out. Hugo stepped inside and closed the door behind him. It was one gigantic room with one side of the place designated as the kitchen and dining area, another side as the study and sitting room with a fireplace, and the final side was walled off with a door, to which he guessed was the loo.

From the entryway, he stared at the piles of books all over the place. There were books stacked by the fireplace. In front of the unlit fireplace, two armchairs, a sofa, and a table were arranged there, and all of them had their own piles of books. One pile, on the table, was set precariously, making Hugo wonder if the slightest bump would cause an avalanche or not. The desk nearby, placed in front of a sunny window, also had stacks of books and parchments on it. There was even a huge Muggle-style entertainment system set up with a gigantic telly and video game systems.

He averted his gaze to the kitchen and dining area, and he wrinkled his nose from the sight and the terrible stench emanating from the area. In the sink, and on both the counters and the table, there were dirty dishes. He even eyed the open microwave and saw a bowl in there, and he knew that it, too, was dirty like all of its companions in the vicinity. He decided to forgo checking the loo, deeply afraid of what he may encounter in there.

Instead, he looked at the stairs in the back of the house, past beyond the kitchen area, which led to the loft. He headed over to the stairs, and he called out again, “Hello? Ted — er — Mr Lupin? Mr Tilleridge?”

There was no answer. Hugo’s brow furrowed, and he pursed his lips as he began to slowly ascend. Halfway up the stairs, he saw something from the corner of his eye. He looked and saw a huge dangling spider and a man with glasses and the most frightful, messy-looking white hair.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” Forgetting that he was on the stairs, Hugo took an automatic step back and fell onto a soft cushion that appeared just in time. He landed with a loud “oof!” and while he tried to regain his breathing, he looked back up at the face that was peering over the edge of the loft’s opening.

“Oh!” Teddy, at least Hugo assumed it was Teddy masquerading as that one Muggle scientist, stared back owlishly. “Terribly sorry about that! I was digging under my bed and through my trunk for this little eight-legged fellow, so I didn’t realise the doorbell was ringing and that someone was calling for me. I thought it was just my head playing tricks on me. Good thing Harry had spelled the wards to allow friends to enter. It’s also a relief that Luna had convinced me to spell that cushion to appear in case somebody falls off these stairs. Are you all right?”

“Juh — just fine,” Hugo managed to gasp, still trying to calm his wildly beating heart. He gestured at the spider, and he shivered at its realistic appearance, which included the rather large fangs and the hairy legs. “I’m glad you found it.”

“Me, too. I needed Shelob here to give me inspiration for my next story. Now that I found it, I should get to writing some. And you are . . . ?”

“Hugo. Hugo Weasley. Your new editor?” He gathered his dignity and picked himself off the cushion. “Didn’t Luna tell you?”

“Did she? I think I heard the Floo go off, but I was trying to cook eggs at that time. But that didn’t go too well, hence those dishes down there,” Teddy explained as he came down and stood at the bottom of the stairs.

Hugo finally got a good look at the man whose books had changed his life. Teddy was just a bit shorter than he was — then again, Hugo did inherit his dad’s height and build — and aside from that hairstyle, he wasn’t a bad looking bloke. He had broad shoulders, but his body was on the lithe side. The way he carried himself gave him a sereneness that felt almost otherworldly to Hugo. When he looked into Teddy’s hazel eyes, deep within the mixture of colours, he saw a spark. He couldn’t find the exact words to describe it, but he sensed that Teddy was different. Hugo felt like all time had stopped as he continued to look into those eyes, and when Teddy began to speak, he saw the full, but chapped lips moving slowly.

“–do the dishes?”

That broke the spellbinding hold on him, and Hugo shook his head, his fringe moving along, and he blinked his eyes. “Sorry?”

“Will you do the dishes and then help me organise and put these books away?”

“Huh?” Hugo pressed his lips together, and he clenched his fists before saying, “I’m your editor, not your house elf.”

“You’re to also helping me with my writing.”

“By cleaning your place?”

Teddy took out a large notepad and summoned a quill and began to write on it. “Yes. How else can I focus and find the time otherwise?”

“You could get a house elf,” Hugo repeated, this time slowly.

“That goes against my principles.”

“Wait, what?!” Hugo’s mind went back to the stories he’d heard from his dad and Uncle Harry about his mum’s wild SPEW campaign, and he wondered if Teddy had been lured into the whole thing by his mum.

“Oh, and when you’re done, can you prepare some tea? I just realised I didn’t get my caffeine fix yet. I take milk with mine, Helio.”

“It’s Hugo, and who in Merlin’s beard would name someone ‘Helio’?”

Teddy went to his desk, and he set the notepad on top of the mess and continued to write without stopping. “I know someone with the name Prickenstein. Or was that a book title? By Bloody Mary? No matter, that’s not important.”

Prickenstein? Bloody Mary? It took every ounce of control for Hugo to not correct him. Instead, knowing that it was easier to just do the chores instead of arguing with this madman, he turned and went to do the dreaded dishes and prepare the sodding tea. All the while he cursed at how someone could use up every single dish in the cupboards to make eggs, and he began to wonder if this was really an editor’s job or not.

By the end of the second week, Hugo was exhausted. He was also amazed by Teddy’s capacity to create a mess every day. He suspected Teddy must stay up all night trashing the place instead of writing. Sometimes there were dirty clothes all over the place. Other times, the books Hugo had put away would all be back out again. Then there were always the dishes left for him to wash. Strangely enough, though, the loo was the only place in the house Teddy kept tidy. Hugo was tempted to ask about that, but then he feared that might only give Teddy the idea to mess it up, and Hugo did not want to add the loo to the many things he had to clean.

Hugo had to go see Luna before going to Teddy, so when he saw her, the first thing out of his mouth was, “Is this really an editor position?”

“What do you mean?” Luna asked while trimming some of the needles off her pet cactus, Billy. The cactus — a gift from Neville — glared at him and stuck out its tongue. Hugo gave it a look of his own.

“I haven’t edited anything yet. I’ve been–”

“Cleaning? Preparing his food? Making sure he doesn’t blow up his place with his microwave?”

Hugo nodded and then remembered something. “Is this what you meant by being a good editor and ‘more’?”

“Yes. So good of you to remember.”

“But–!”

“You know what I think an editor is supposed to be?” Luna’s face took on a serious look once more. “It’s to support their author in every shape and form. Most people believe that an editor’s job is to only correct and suggest ways to improve the author’s writing, but the strongest relationship between the editor and the author is supposed to be one of trust, mutual respect, and understanding. It’s quite similar to marriage.

“Teddy’s a brilliant writer,” she continued. “But you have to be patient and help him achieve that in his writing.”

“How on earth did he write all those great books before? How did those editors handle him?” Hugo asked with a frown.

Luna cocked her head to the side. “You think all of his books are great? You know that’s not the general consensus in the literary world? Everyone agrees that his first novel, the one that won the Agrippa Award, was a work of a genius, but the novels he wrote after all lacked the same greatness of that first book.”

“That’s not true! All of his books to date have been brilliant!” Hugo retorted. “Granted, the others after are not on the same level as the first book, but the other people are just not able to understand what each book is doing!”

“That’s your opinion, and you’re the first one I know of that thinks like that.” Luna smiled gently. “Therefore, as his editor, if you really believe in him, you can get the others to believe in him, too.”

“Huh? Why should I be the one to try and convince the others?”

“You don’t have to, but as an editor, you’re to also help produce a book that will affect our society in some way or other.”

Hugo saw her opening up her tiger-striped, rainbow-coloured notebook. This was a sure sign of dismissal. He stood up, gave one last glare to the unfriendly cactus, and turned to leave, but before he reached the door, he heard her say, “By the way, when he wrote that award-winning book, he had an excellent relationship with his editor. But that editor passed away unexpectedly, and since then, all the editors he’s had did not have what it takes to be with him. But I think you’re unlike the others, Hugo. You can make this work.”

All weekend long, Hugo thought about his conversation with Luna. He thought about Teddy’s quirky personality and his “inability” to take care of himself. After much prodding and hemming on his own, he decided that he’d support Teddy in every way he possibly could because he did want to see another great book from Teddy, and he did want to fulfil his job eventually, despite all he’d have to do. Besides, the endless amount of chores didn’t take so long to do now as he was getting used to them. He was becoming quite proficient in cleaning and cooking charms.

Despite Teddy’s absent-minded way of living, Hugo noticed that Teddy was a creature of habit in his own unique way. Every morning, when Hugo arrived at Teddy’s place, Teddy would be up and ready. Some days, Teddy opted for his natural appearance, but other days he would change his hair colour and style and his eye colour for fun. Hugo quickly got used to seeing Teddy with an orange mullet and purple eyes or some strange combination like that. Looks aside, he was always ready for whatever breakfast Hugo decided on making.

Since that first day when he had to clean up the egg disaster’s aftermath, he’d quickly learned that Teddy was not to be trusted with anything kitchen-related. Case in point, when Hugo had asked for sugar one time, Teddy had handed him salt instead, and Hugo saw that Teddy would not pay attention to what he punched on the microwave. Ergo, he decided that the only safe thing Teddy could handle was setting the table.

The few times Teddy did try to help out, he noticed Teddy preferred to do everything without magic. He asked about that one time.

“Hrm? Use magic to clean and cook? Well, this is a bit embarrassing to say, but I’m quite awful at those spells.”

“But I thought you did great in Charms?”

“No, I did great in Transfigurations. Besides, I kind of like the Muggle lifestyle. It adds something more rustic, yes?”

You mean you like it because it gives you an excuse to do a horrible job at cleaning and cooking to get someone else to do them for you? Hugo thought, but not unkindly.

That was breakfast, and then after, Teddy would do research or watch some Muggle shows to learn from them, and that was when Hugo would clean up the place and do laundry. Then he’d cook something for lunch, and they would eat it together. It was during their lunch that Teddy would initiate random conversation topics such as:

“You know how history tells us that Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin were rivals? And they even grew apart because of their ideological differences?”

“Yeah?”

“I think it was more than ideological differences. I think Gryffindor fancied Slytherin and vice-versa.”

Hugo dropped his fork and gaped. “What?!”

“It makes sense. They both fancied each other, but they were both too tied down by societal expectations, busy creating and maintaining Hogwarts, and focussed with the whole Muggle-borns situation. All of that pretty much created unresolved sexual tensions for the two, so that further deteriorated their relationship.”

“Oh, er, that’s an interesting . . . theory?”

“Thanks! Oh, and also, you know the Stonehenge? I believe the whole thing used to be shaped like a penis . . . ”

After lunch, Teddy would do one of two things. He would blast out the wireless and write on his laptop (a gift from Harry) that was charmed to type his dictation if he wanted, or he would turn on one of his video game consoles and have them play a game of his choice. Most of the time, they played something called “Mario”, and Hugo tried to figure out the concept of a plumber going around some mushroomy place to rescue a princess from this strange dragon-turtle thing with spikes. He also noticed that Teddy was a vocal and active player.

“Jump! . . . No! You’re jumping too slow! That mushroom’s getting away from me! Blast it all! That bloody fireball!” While saying all this, Teddy jumped and moved around on the sofa. Hugo quickly learned to give Teddy plenty of space whenever they played video games.

Tea time came in mid-afternoon, and Hugo prepared tea with scones or other treats, and Teddy would have that while reading some gigantic book. It was during these moments Teddy had told Hugo to do whatever he wanted. Hugo usually opted to do some lingering chores or tasks that needed to be done. But sometimes he became bored, so he decided to just talk to Teddy.

“You know, you really have an impressive book collection.”

There was no answer — fairly typical of Teddy whenever he was drinking tea and reading a book.

Hugo, undeterred, smiled and continued, “You remind me of Matilda, except you’re drinking tea, not Ovaltine.” Suddenly an idea came, figuring this would break Teddy’s concentration. “By the way, I’m hung like a hippogriff.”

He watched closely for a reaction, any slight movement. There was none except for Teddy turning a page while his eyes moved to follow the words.

Rolling his eyes, realising that Teddy’s concentration could not be broken even if a real hippogriff did come, Hugo finished his tea.

His last task of the day was to leave Teddy some dinner, usually by getting takeaway. Then he’d bid Teddy a good night, and he’d go home. And each day he did, he wondered whether he had done enough to help Teddy with his writing and hoped that he was forming that mutual trust and respect Luna had mentioned.

One Thursday morning, after tea and cake, Teddy said abruptly, “Let’s go to London after lunch.”

“Huh?” Hugo was thrown off by the unexpected suggestion.

“I’d like to take a ride on the Tube, go see the Buckingham Palace guards, and go to Hyde Park.”

Hugo raised his eyebrows. “Okay,” he said slowly. “If that’s what you want . . . ”

“Stupendous! There’s a safe point we can Apparate to, and from there we hop on the Tube.”

Teddy wandered up to the loft to change. While he did that, Hugo checked his own outfit to see if he was wearing something proper for Muggle London. He never wore robes, so his simple ensemble of a red Weasley jumper over a t-shirt with jeans and trainers passed his test. However, when he saw Teddy coming downstairs, he ended up gawking at Teddy’s appearance. Teddy wore a white shirt under a dark grey pinstriped waistcoat with a matching pair of trousers. He had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up, and he wore a blue tie with some abstract designs on it. His black dress shoes and his grey-and-black-banded fedora finished and complimented his outfit. Under his hat, his hair was short and it was black with blue tint.

Normally, Teddy wore outfits that tended to clash and be horribly uncoordinated. The other day, Teddy had worn some neon pink and green polka-dot shorts and a purple and orange striped t-shirt, with matching neon green coloured hair. All day, Hugo had to resort to wearing sunglasses. With that kind of style, Hugo assumed that it was just another one of Teddy’s quirks and that he just had bad fashion sense.

But no! What Teddy wore now made him look so different, so dapper. Hugo cleared his throat. “Will you wait a few?”

“For?”

Teddy’s eyes looked back at him half-lidded. His eyes, like on their first day of meeting, were hazel, and Hugo didn’t miss the sparks in the blend of colours. He felt smothered by them and it took him a couple of seconds to regain his composure before saying, “Er, I need to change.”

“Change what?”

“My clothes.”

“Whatever for?” Teddy looked genuinely confused, so unlike his usual unfazed, unflappable self.

Hugo gestured at Teddy’s well-put together ensemble. “I look like rubbish compared to you!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You look fine.”

“We’d look quite mismatched,” Hugo insisted.

Teddy reached out for Hugo’s wrist, and he side-Apparated them to the station. There, he continued to tug him along.

“W-wait!” Hugo exclaimed, but Teddy didn’t stop moving. Still holding onto Hugo’s wrist, he bought their tickets, and he only let go when they were in the train.

Hugo could feel everyone’s eyes on him. He knew that they were probably wondering why someone so plain-looking was with someone dressed up like some model. He tried his best to ignore them, and instead he glanced at Teddy, who ignored everyone as if he had no other care in the world. As the train travelled, Hugo tuned out the noise and his body became used to the vibrations, which relaxed him. He glanced at Teddy once more, and he saw Teddy’s head moving slowly, his eyes taking on a serious gaze.

Hugo knew instinctively to not say anything, to not bother Teddy, but he wasn’t sure why his gut was telling him that.

Upon reaching their destination, they silently walked outside and soon reached the gates of Buckingham Palace. Hugo and Teddy joined the slew of tourists who were snapping away on their cameras. Just like on the Tube, Hugo assumed Teddy would not say anything and would just look around. That was the case until Teddy said, “Are you really hung like a hippopotamus?”

Hugo whipped his head around so fast and hard that he could feel his neck muscles cry out in pain. He watched a few people look at them strangely before they walked away, and he hissed, “Shut up!”

“Eh? That’s what you said to me a few days ago during tea. These guards’ hats reminded me, so that’s why I decided to ask.”

Bloody fucking hell! He’d been listening all those times when I was talking to the front of his book? Hugo flushed, groaned, and slapped his forehead. He then whispered, “I said ‘hippogriff’. I never said ‘hippopotamus’.”

“We’re in the Muggle world now, so I replaced that word with one that sounds similar,” Teddy responded airily.

“Oh.”

“So are you?”

Hugo blinked before remembering the original question. “No! Time to change the subject! Let’s go to Hyde Park.” This time he grabbed Teddy’s wrist, ignored the soft chuckles, and guided them through the streets to reach the park.

They reached a quiet area and took a seat on a bench. Hugo leaned back heavily and tilted his head and looked at the sky. Next to him, Teddy took off his fedora, laid it on the spot next to him, and slung his arms on the top of the bench. He heard Teddy inhaling deeply. Teddy then stood up and walked slowly to a nearby tree.

Hugo remained at the bench, and he watched Teddy touching a tree, watched the way his slender fingers traced the trunk and the leaves. Like before, Hugo stayed silent because of his instincts, and as he continued to watch Teddy, it hit him then that Teddy was doing all this for his writing. Teddy was observing and participating in the world they lived in so he could write all about them. The way Teddy was communing with nature at the moment reminded him of the Lake Poets and their love for nature. Just like the poets of the past, he realised that Teddy’s own writings contained a lot about surrealistic interpretation of nature, so that was why this outing was suggested today.

Teddy may act like the most incapable, oddest bloke he had ever met, but Hugo knew that there was more to Teddy than met the eye. Something shifted inside of him; after that day, he began to look at Teddy differently.

The hands, its fingers all callused and rough, were warm. They grazed his cheeks for a few seconds, right below his blindfolded eyes, the roughness meeting the scratchiness of his stubble, before they slowly descended and traced his collarbone. One of the hands stopped at his nipple, pinching it softly until it proudly perked up. The other hand went farther down, past his navel, and he felt the heated hand around his throbbing manhood.

Hugo let out a moan as the hand slowly pumped him, its thumb right on his slit, playing with his precome. “More. Please, more. Faster!” he begged.

He felt something hot and wet on his ear, and he heard a sultry voice say, “You like this?”

The hand down below picked up the pace ever so slightly, and the pleasure inside of him grew and spread all over his body so slowly that it made him want more. “Yes!” he panted out, trying his hardest not to sound so needy. He arched his body forward, urging that hand to move even faster. “I . . . please!”

“Is that all? Don’t you want to know who I am? Aren’t you curious?”

“Yes, I . . . ” The hand stopped moving, and Hugo let out a soft whimper as his cock throbbed where the hand squeezed him. “Please, don’t stop.”

The other hand that had been playing with his nipple moved away, and his blindfold slipped slowly down his face. He blinked at the sudden light, and they slowly focussed on the smirking man.

“Gah!” Hugo woke up with a start, breathing hard as he reached up to wipe away the sweat on his face. He shifted and realised that he was still hard from that dream. A dream that had him aching for more. He couldn’t believe it.

He glanced at his nightstand, and then he flew out of bed and went straight to take a cold shower. He had overslept.

In the freezing shower, he thought about his dream, and he told himself, “It was only a dream. Dreams do not mean anything!” Yet no matter how many times he repeated it, deep down inside, he knew it meant something.

He quickly made it to Teddy’s place with only minutes to spare, and he shoved all the sexual thoughts away as he concentrated on his job and pretended that nothing had happened.

But night after night, his subconscious betrayed him, and every morning he’d wake up hard and wanting Teddy so much. Some nights the dreams were sweet and pleasant, as he and Teddy snogged themselves until they were completely breathless. Other nights were like his first dreams — kinky and sexually-driven. Still, despite his own wants and needs, he did everything to not show his feelings on this particular matter. He acted polite and went about his job; he mentally patted himself on the back for being able to keep his personal life separate from his professional one.

Or so he thought.

About a week later, Teddy said during breakfast, “Is everything all right?”

“Yes!” That came out far higher than normal. Hugo cleared his throat and continued, “Everything’s all right.”

“Are you sure? You’ve been much too quiet these days and it seems like you’ve been avoiding me.”

Oh, bugger! So he hadn’t been doing a good job. Inwardly, Hugo berated himself, and his mind rushed around as he tried to think of something to say that would change the subject. “Why did you write under a pseudonym before?”

“Is that what’s been bothering you? I thought it was because I kept beating you in Mario.” Teddy looked surprised.

Mario? An image of a mushroom came into his mind, and he began to wonder if the tip of Teddy’s cock was shaped like that or not, but before he could dwell on it further, he mentally slapped himself to get back to Teddy’s pseudonym. “Uh, yes? If you don’t want to answer, it’s okay.”

“Mmm.” He took a sip of his tea. “It’s not a big deal. I just decided to write under a pseudonym because I wanted to see if I could make it without being known as the son of war heroes and such.”

“Oh.” Hugo could understand that. His parents were heroes, too, plus his cousins were also all descended from the most famous war hero of all.

“Also,” he continued, the serious tone and expression stilling Hugo, a tone and expression that were a far cry from his usual absent-minded behaviour. “I wanted to use the name ‘Tilleridge’ to commemorate my first editor.”

“Tilleridge was your first editor?”

“Well, sort of. He was a Muggle living next to my grandmother. An old chap, widowed, and the biggest lover of books. I went over to his place a lot when I wasn’t in school. His personal library was impressive. He encouraged me to read and write whatever I could. He helped me a lot when I was writing my first novel, so while he was never my official editor, he was one for me.” Teddy took a deep breath. “He died before I finished the book.”

Hugo nodded once. His throat was too tight for him to say anything.

“He and Harry were both like a father to me. I will never forget him.”

“Yes. And you won’t. You’ll join him one day and see your parents when you go to the Grey Havens.”

Teddy looked up in surprise. “You know . . . ?”

“Yes. I’m a big fan of Tolkien’s books. And I figured you read his books, too, considering how you named that spider ‘Shelob’.”

They both looked at each other and started to laugh, which changed their current atmosphere to a happier one. Teddy stopped laughing first, and he said, “Well, a lot of the books you see here are from Tilleridge’s library. Thank you for helping me take care of them.”

“It’s nothing. I’m glad to help.”

Teddy reached out and squeezed Hugo’s shoulder. Without any more words, Teddy finished his breakfast, and the rest of the day passed as any other day.

Hugo’s shoulder stayed warm the whole day.

One afternoon, Hugo suddenly heard loud noises when he was in the loo. It didn’t sound like any of Teddy’s video games, and it didn’t sound like the wireless. When he stepped out, he marched over to where Teddy had planted himself in front of his gigantic telly. On screen, he saw a bunch of large elephant-looking creatures, men in armour and on horses, and ugly goblin-looking creatures, all fighting for their lives. “What in Helga’s name are you watching?”

“The Battle of the Pelennor Fields.”

Hugo frowned. “Isn’t that from The Lord of the Rings?”

“Yes, this is the film adaptation of the book.”

“Oh! That trilogy directed by Paul Jackson?”

“Peter — not Paul.”

“Oh, right. Peter Jackson.” Hugo sat down next to Teddy, their shoulders nearly touching, and he watched the continuing battle on screen. “I have heard about the film adaptations, but I haven’t watched them.”

“Why not?”

“Because Mum always told me that the film adaptations of books were always rubbish compared to the books.”

“Mmm.” Teddy nodded. “I tend to agree with your mother, but Peter Jackson did do a brilliant job with the trilogy. Some of the changes and some of the scenes he chose to not include are not always logical, but what he did as a whole, these are great films.”

Hugo was about to ask about the changes when Teddy continued, “Plus, I cannot deny the fact that Aragorn, Legolas, and Faramir are all quite handsome. Actually, no, they are all quite sexy in their own ways.”

Hugo’s mouth dropped opened. “Um, what?”

“Hmm? Do you not trust my taste? Here let me show them to you!” Teddy eagerly began to push the buttons on the remote control, and he happily showed all the characters in the trilogy. Hugo’s head spun as he watched the montages of the original Fellowship members, Faramir, Celeborn, Eomer, Haldir, and even of the antagonists such as Saruman before Teddy finally stopped. “See, all of these men — young or old — are all good looking. But my absolute favourite is Aragorn. Several of my lady friends all swooned over Legolas — I guess it’s because he’s very pretty? — but I, myself, greatly preferred Aragorn. Though I cannot say I like him being with Arwen. I always thought Eowyn would have been a better match for him.”

Hugo burst out laughing after listening to Teddy’s opinionated speech. He knew Teddy liked Tolkien’s books, but he had no idea Teddy’s love for the work went this far. Even better, though, was that he now knew for sure Teddy’s own preferences, so that made him feel all hopeful and giddy at knowing that perhaps, just perhaps, he had a chance with Teddy.

However, he was unsure of how to make the next move. He decided that now was probably not the best time to announce his crush. Instead he said, “I agree. Eowyn would be better for him.”

“Absolutely!” Teddy beamed. “Do you want to watch the whole trilogy from the beginning?”

Hugo slowly smiled. “Why not?”

“All right. Do you want to watch the theatrical release, which is about nine hours long or the extended edition for eleven hours?”

“I . . . er . . . extended?” Hugo felt faint at the suggestion of watching something for eleven hours, but Teddy mistook his hesitance.

“Extended it is! That one is much better. Let’s begin this marathon.”

Hours later, when Hugo finally left Teddy’s place around four in the morning, he knew what was meant by the Muggle’s phrase of being a “couch potato”. He also discovered just how hard it was to keep his hands to himself during those eleven hours. Teddy’s excitement and love of the films shone brightly through his facial expressions, his body language, and his intricate explanations. The twinkling in his eyes, the smile that showed off his dimples, that bit of skin that made itself known whenever he raised his arms up in the air as he cheered on the characters, and that deep, husky voice that sent shivers down his spine — all of these made Hugo fall harder for the man right next to him. Teddy was so near, so close to him, and yet Hugo could do nothing as he waited for the marathon to end so he could go home and fantasise about him even more instead of thinking about that Ring that Launched Hell on Middle Earth.

Yet his own brains turned against him that night when he finally got some kip. Instead of dreaming about the two of them bonking each other, he’d dreamed that Teddy was Legolas and he as Gimli, and they were going at it like two wild Cornish Pixies. When he got up a few hours later, he woke up scowling and muttering, “Bloody hell, making me the short dwarf, and Teddy the cool, good looking elf even when I’m taller than him . . . I hate my subconscious!”

“I think I’m done.” Teddy stretched and then scratched his leopard-patterned hair.

“With what?” Hugo spelled the last set of cups onto the drying rack. He dried his hands and walked over and sat across from Teddy. In between them was the coffee table, and on it was a stack of papers bound together.

“The first draft.”

“Oh!” Hugo smiled. “That’s great. Congratulations!”

“Thank you. And now, it’s your turn.” Teddy turned his laptop off and he moved to the front of his video game system.

“Right.” Hugo felt a bit odd — after months of cooking and cleaning, he was finally going to do the job he originally was to do. He felt anxious and excited, wondering what this newest novel would be like. Taking a deep breath, he made himself comfortable on the sofa, and he picked up the thick draft and began to read.

For the next five hours, that was what he did along with keeping notes of what he read on a parchment. He just couldn’t stop. He didn’t even stop for their mid-afternoon tea; Teddy somehow took care of it himself, surprisingly without causing an explosion.

Hugo ignored the tea Teddy gave him. He only continued to read and edit. Every single word, every sentence hit him just like the very first novel he’d read from Teddy. He became lost in the characters’ minds as he looked at the novel’s world through their eyes. The more he read, the more he felt disconnected from the physical world. The mixture of narrations at first confused him, but they all came together in ways that were almost magical.

When he finished the last page, Hugo’s eyes lingered on the final words. Unbeknownst to him, tears had gathered in his eyes, and they came down slowly. He came back to reality when he felt someone touching his cheek gently and taking away the pages from him. Then he felt someone sitting next to him, and he turned his head and stared at Teddy through his tears; one of Teddy’s thumbs wiped away another tear that had fallen.

Teddy’s eyes held a hint of concern. “Was it that bad?”

He shook his head.

Teddy looked relieved. He removed his hand, and he was moving back, but then he stopped because Hugo had reached out and grabbed him by the back of his neck.

They looked into each other’s eyes, and Hugo grew dizzy. Unhurriedly, inch by inch, they came closer. Hugo closed the remaining gap between them, and he kissed Teddy hard, remembering one of the novel’s messages, about how people should grab life by the bull’s balls or something. Or was it a hippopotamus? All thoughts about the novel disappeared when he felt Teddy kissing back, and all his nightly sexual fantasies came back in full-force.

Someone moaned into the kiss; Hugo didn’t care whose moan it was — he only cared that they were both full out snogging now, both tongues caressing each other’s, and Hugo found himself lying on the sofa, with his back now against the soft cushion and Teddy’s warm, hard body on his. He wrapped his arms around Teddy’s broad back, and his legs spread open wider, arching into Teddy’s body when he felt their groins meeting for the first time.

It was Teddy who broke the kiss. Panting, he shifted his lower body and said, “I feel as if you are hung like a hippogriff.”

Hugo let out a breathy moan as he felt the movement, and he flushed harder as Teddy reminded him of that blasted conversation. Yet before he could say something, Teddy said, “We should stop.” But he didn’t stop. He continued to plant small kisses all over Hugo’s cheeks and neck.

“You first,” Hugo gasped, tilting his neck to give Teddy better access. He moaned out loud when he felt Teddy’s hot mouth and tongue sucking on his sensitive skin. Their hips both rocked back and forth, and Hugo’s body was on fire as he felt his arousal growing more in the passing seconds.

Teddy stopped sucking, and he moved his hands to slip under Hugo’s shirt. “I can’t. You’ve been occupying my dreams far too much lately. Made me wonder if you had cast a spell on me.”

Hugo laughed. “I did no such things. If anything, you cast a spell on me! You . . . do you know how much I’ve wanted this?”

“Do tell. Tell me more,” Teddy said, moving back up to kiss him again.

Before their lips met again, Hugo said, rather shrilly , “I fancy you!” He cringed at his voice, which suddenly reminded him of his mum’s voice when she was upset.

“I’m glad the feeling is mutual.” The words sounded raspy, but Teddy didn’t stop there. He came closer and his lips gently covered Hugo’s.

Hugo accepted the kiss for a few seconds before he brought his hands to Teddy’s chest and pushed him off. “Let’s stop!” And before he could sound like an arse, he added, “Let’s take it a bit slower. As much as I want to bonk you or be bonked by you, let’s go back to that novel of yours. The ball grabbing thing can wait.”

Teddy sat back up, while Hugo closed his eyes tightly as he imagined Hagrid in some BDSM get-up. That worked for him, but when he pulled himself up into a sitting position very close to Teddy, he almost faltered at the image of a naked Teddy that bombarded his mind. Luckily Teddy said, “What’s this ball grabbing thing you’re talking about?”

“Oh, erm, that’s a message I got from this novel? That people should grab life by a bull’s balls when they need to?”

Teddy blinked. “That’s an interesting interpretation. Anything else?”

Hugo reached out for the parchment with his notes on it. “Here. These are my notes with all my suggestions and corrections that are to be made.”

“All right.” Teddy took the parchment and read through it. Minutes passed as Hugo watched a frown grow deeper and deeper on Teddy’s face. When he finished he set the parchment down and said, “You went pretty hard on me there.”

“Is that . . . a problem?”

“Oh, no, no, no!” Teddy smiled. “It’s a good thing. My previous editors were never this hard on me. But you’re like Tilleridge. Both of you are encouraging, but also complete hard-arses with editing.”

“Oh,” Hugo said nonchalantly, but was secretly glad he was compared to Tilleridge and was told that he was a hard editor.

“Hrm, can you elaborate on this point? Then afterwards let me treat us to a good restaurant I know in London? I’m kind of tired of fish and chips. And we need to celebrate me finishing this first draft! I’ve worked hard on this, you know.”

Hugo laughed and grabbed Teddy’s hand and squeezed it. “I do know. Let’s go for it.”

“Are you pleased by the reviews and accolades Teddy’s book has been getting?” Luna asked, smiling in a knowing way as she carefully moved Billy to a new location on her desk.

Ignoring Billy, Hugo said, “Of course. It feels great that I helped edit it.”

“I’m glad you two worked out well. I have to say I had my doubts when Teddy suggested you.”

“Suggested me? What are you talking about?”

“He hasn’t told you?” Luna looked at Hugo intently and then laughed softly. “I guess both of you have been too busy communicating in other ways, and it must’ve slipped his mind.”

“Luna!” Hugo flushed at her allusions. “Wait, wait, are we that obvious?”

“Have you forgotten the time I walked in on you two when his hands were in your–”

“You can stop now!”

“–and like I said, he was the one who suggested you to be his new editor,” Luna continued. “Apparently, he saw you in a bookstore, saw you picking up one of his newest books that was released last year . . . ”

His mind flashed back to that day, too. He remembered being thrilled for the day he’d been waiting for what felt like forever. He had stood in front of the display that was stacked with copies of Teddy’s book, and he had reached out, slowly picking it up as if it were a precious gem.

” . . . and he recognised you. And he was enamoured by your smile, by your sheer happiness at his book. And he told me that you were his kindred soul to his writing.”

Hugo made a face at the cheesy line. “Yeah, right.”

“Well, that wasn’t the exact phrase. What he really said was that your smile was sexy and that you had one hell of an arse.”

“Luna!” Hugo felt his cheeks flushing. He was pleased to hear about Teddy’s thoughts, but quite the opposite at how Luna was presenting all this as if she were discussing Nargles.

Luna just smiled brightly. “Yes? I only speak the truth.”

Quickly, Hugo moved on, “Wasn’t there something else you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Teddy has these book signings and events to attend to in the next few weeks. Your newest task is to ensure he makes it to all these events.”

Hugo nodded and took the parchment she held out. He scanned it and said, “Quite a bit, but this shouldn’t be difficult.”

“Easier said than done. Getting him to one of these is like trying to stay awake in one of Professor Binns’ lectures.”

He blanched at the comparison. “That bad?”

“Somewhat. Though . . . ” She winked at him. “I’m sure you have ways to convince him. Now I bid you a fond farewell. I must go see Neville about Billy.”

Blushing once more, he left her office, and there Hugo let out a slow smile. As he chuckled to himself, he walked outside to Apparate to his lover’s home, where he looked forward to this new challenge.

Click on the image for the larger version.

** The fanmix for this fic is here. **

There was a floor in the flat, somewhere, hiding under wrinkled clothes that covered up the stained carpet. The kitchen sink was filled with dirty dishes, cups, and silverware, all carrying some kind of food residue like rusted metal. Dust had piled up on top of the bare mantel; beneath it, the fireplace was cold and lonely. The windows of the flat were cracked open an inch and covered with drab-looking curtains that used to be white; their ends were frayed with threads hanging and fluttering from the light breeze. A tiny beam of light tried to peek through the drapery, but it was soaked up by the darkness of the place; the sitting room’s only light source was the telly, which blared with well-timed laughter and applause, and a lamp in the corner.

Off in that same corner were two orange-coloured armchairs that had seen better days. Between the chairs was a small table with a chess set on it. The chess set was the only thing in the room that looked immaculate. The board, its black and white squares made of black onyx and Mother of Pearl, were enhanced never to chip or scratch, even when the game became violent. Each piece was hand-carved with intricate details and spelled with a powerful charm that granted them strong and unique personalities. Just like the board, they were spelled never to become permanently damaged.

One of the chairs was occupied, and its occupant let out a weary sigh. The owner’s freckled hand reached out and slowly moved a piece to its destination.

“Checkmate,” Ron said softly as he set the black piece down in the square to deliver the game’s final move. He didn’t hear the cheerful laughter from the telly as he leaned back heavily against his chair, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling.

He turned his head slightly to his right, his eyes passing the telly and meeting the upright piano. It was covered in dust, like practically everything else in the flat, but it still had a stately feel to it. It was an Essex, a cheaper brand produced by Steinway and Sons; its dark-brown finishing was warm and inviting, and it had taken his breath away when he’d laid eyes on it months ago. He recalled how the off-white keys had felt cool to his touch. The black keys were a beautiful contrast to their cream-coloured counterparts, and his fingers had danced across them briefly, effectively shutting the shopkeeper’s overeager sales pitch, as the piano sang out its melody. He’d played a light, crystal-clear tune that’d been the opposite of his gloom, surprised to have chosen an old childhood lullaby his mum had sung when he was upset. He’d only played a few measures of the tune, but he’d known immediately he’d found the right piano.

Now it was abandoned.

He turned his attention back to his chess set, and with another sigh he re-organised the pieces to start a new game. After all, there really was nothing to do except to watch the telly while he munched on some crisps and drank Firewhisky until it was time to sleep.

Work was no longer fun. Back when Ron had first become an Auror, the rigorous training and field work had made him feel alive with enthusiasm. Whenever he and Harry had to investigate a new threat, whether it was a wanted criminal or a dispute between two drunken wizards, adrenaline had sparked every cell in his body, and the rush had encouraged him to work harder and better. That led to promotion after promotion, and it wasn’t long before his position as a unit leader confined him to his desk with mountains of paperwork, while the younger Aurors went out and did the job he’d enjoyed in the past.

Day after day, he sat at his desk, sometimes shuffling papers, sometimes writing briefs, but most of the time Ron stared at this mark on the wall that was shaped oddly like a pumpkin, while his subordinate in the next room blared music from the wireless. He would be subjected to all the screeching and howling that would permeate his own office — something he’d learned quickly to tune out since Silencing Charms weren’t allowed in their area. Once in a while, classical music played. Ron found himself looking forward to those days; he usually found the classical music soothing.

That day was different, though.

It only took three notes, and he found himself pounding on his subordinate’s door. “Turn that thing off, Horowitz!”

The door opened. Horowitz gave Ron a strange look. “You got something against classical?”

“No, I just don’t want to hear that piece right now.”

“You hate Rachmaninoff?”

Ron’s lips thinned. “Just turn that shite off.” He turned and went back to his office.

Leaning against his closed door, he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. There was now silence, but Ron could still hear that piece in his head.

“Rachmaninoff’s ‘Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor’,” he muttered. Normally, he liked Rachmaninoff, but this was a favourite of his ex-wife, and he was reminded of the news article he’d read last week in the Prophet — an article proclaiming Hermione Granger-Weasley getting married to Quidditch star Viktor Krum.

He lowered his hand back to his side, and his fingers began to play that song on his thighs. “No!” he mentally shouted, not wanting to think of that song. He looked around, and he swore the room had grown smaller on him as his breathing quickened and his stomach flip-flopped until he was feeling queasy. He strode over to his desk, and he quickly scribbled a note on the Ministry Message Pad.

I’m going home early today. Not feeling well. Just need sleep.
— R

After he tapped the message with his wand and said Harry’s name, he made his escape.

“Bloody hell!” Ron threw the bishop against the wall and ignored its indignant squeals. He began to pace around his small flat. His skin became taut, his mouth turned dry, and his heart rate increased as his agitation grew stronger inside of him. He wanted to punch something so he could hear the satisfying crunching noise. He needed to release that dam inside of him, but something was blocking it, and he had no idea what that something was.

He’d tried sleeping earlier, but he couldn’t sleep. Whenever he stared at the dark ceiling, he could see Hermione and Viktor in a deep embrace as they snogged each other’s tonsils out. Even when he closed his eyes, he could see them — a calloused hand hiking up a skirt, feeling the smooth skin there before it disappeared under the material — and it further angered him.

He ended up doing acrobatic moves on his spacious bed, even banged his arms and legs against the wall several times, before he gave up and resigned himself to a game of chess in the middle of the afternoon. He wanted to clear his mind and only think about chess, but his attempts were fruitless.

His mind was full of so many conflicting thoughts about his current life, and it didn’t help that the stupid song was still in his head. That blasted Rachmaninoff piano concerto was lingering in the back of his mind, and like a stubborn itch it refused to go away.

He stopped pacing and gripped the top of his armchair. He wanted to squeeze his frustration through the cushion. Just as he was at his wit’s end and was about to scream his lungs out, his doorbell rang.

He stalked over to the door, sure it was a salesman of some sort, and yanked it opened, ready to tell the salesman to piss off and never come near his flat again. His yell caught in his throat as he found himself staring at a smiling Teddy Lupin.

The next minute or so passed by slowly as Ron studied Teddy. The most obvious thing about Teddy was his hair. Ron was used to seeing Teddy’s hair in unusual colours (he was certain Teddy had tried out every single colour of the rainbow), but seeing Teddy’s shaggy brown hair and fringe littered with yellow and green polka dots was definitely something new. He also noticed that he didn’t have to bend his head to look at Teddy’s eyes, which were a mesmerising shade of blue. Ron took a step back and he glanced over Teddy’s build. Gone was the skinny teenager he remembered from a few years back. Teddy was now broad-shouldered and had some muscles in his upper body. He wasn’t heavy like Ron, but he no longer looked like one of those chips from Loch Arnold burger chain.

“Hello, Ron. May I come in?”

To Ron’s dismay and before he could say anything, Teddy slipped past him, causing a shiver to go down his back as he felt Teddy’s shoulder brush against his. Ignoring that strange sensation, he closed his door with the full intention to tell Teddy — politely — to bugger off, but Teddy began to dig around his bag for something and his mouth started to yap really fast.

“Apparently Harry got called away to Wales — he said something about flying computers with wings, along with some flying pigs and cows, and that it’s going to take him all night to resolve. Anyway, I finished my job for the day — you know I’m a freelance writer, right? — and I stopped by Harry’s office since I hadn’t seen him in ages. But he was in a terrible rush. He told me that you went home early because you didn’t feel well, so he asked me to give you this — if I can ever find the darn thing in this bag. I swear, I love this bag, but it’s like a black hole. Once something goes in there, it’s impossible to dig out . . . Ah-ha! Here it is!”

Teddy pulled out a foil-wrapped package that looked like it’d been beaten by several Bludgers. Ron took the smushed package and stared at it warily. “What is it?”

“Banana nut bread. Harry baked some. It’s his way of relieving stress lately, and he’s baked a whole boat load’s worth and has been giving them away. He gave me and Gran about three loaves, and he asked me to give you one.”

“Er, thanks.”

Teddy grinned. “Bitte.”

“Huh?”

“It means ‘you’re welcome’ in German, I think. I’ve been recently watching a lot of German films with English subtitles.”

“Oh, right.” Ron set the bread down on the table, and he finally remembered his manners. He gestured at the two orange armchairs. “Have a seat. Want something to drink?”

“Actually, might I take your offer later? I’ve still got to deliver the rest of these loaves to your parents and the rest of your family.”

“Huh?” Ron repeated, wondering if he was going senile at such an early age.

“I told you. Harry baked a lot of this stuff. He also asked me to deliver some to your parents, to Bill and Fleur, to George, to . . . well, you get the gist. Harry had the bread all piled up on his desk, but he had to go to Wales, so I’ve become his delivery boy for the day.”

“And all that fits in your bag? I’m . . . impressed.”

“Yeah, it’s a great bag, except when I want to find something. Anyway, will tomorrow work?”

“Uh, I guess.”

“What time?” Teddy’s eyes shone brightly as he flashed a smile, giving Ron a good view of his crooked teeth.

Ron momentarily lost his thoughts. The crookedness reminded him of Hermione and her family’s fondness for straight teeth, and he almost shuddered at a memory where, because of his father’s morbid curiosity, Hermione’s parents demonstrated how braces worked. He jerked himself back to reality and said, “Well, tomorrow’s a half-day for me, so I’ll get off work at one . . . ”

“Great, then I’ll stop by at about two. Enjoy the bread!” Teddy rushed out, and Ron stared at the now empty spot.

“Fantastic,” Ron muttered. “Did I just get conned into a visit from Teddy Lupin, of all people?” Not that there was anything wrong with Teddy, really. It was just that he’d never been really close with him. Harry and George had been the one who interacted with Teddy the most, so he only knew Teddy through Harry, George, and their family gatherings.

To his surprise, he found himself looking forward to this unexpectedly planned visit. It would certainly break his routine up a bit.

Sitting back on his chair, he picked up the fallen bishop and wondered what tomorrow would be like. Just as he was about to resume his lonesome chess match, he sniffed and scrunched his nose in disgust. He stood and looked around his flat and grimaced.

“So much for finishing up this game,” he muttered to himself.

At exactly two o’clock, with Ron’s flat now in a much cleaner state — at least it smelled better and wasn’t as dusty — his doorbell rang. Ron walked over to the door and let Teddy in. They exchanged the usual pleasantries before Ron gestured at him to take a seat and asked, “Tea?”

“Tea would be great, thanks.” Teddy walked over to the chairs and he stared at the chess set. “Oh, hello, there. You, Bishop, you were on the floor yesterday, right? Why were you on the floor? Did you upset the queen? Women and their tempers . . . you’ve got to watch out for them!”

Ron burst out laughing at the wayTeddy was talking to inanimate objects. It reminded him of how Rose had played with her toys. Normally Ron thought it was childish when adults acted like that, but it actually suited Teddy — albeit, in a strange and enticing way.

“I didn’t know you could play the piano,” Teddy said when Ron came over carrying a tray with a teapot, two teacups, sugar, and milk. Teddy set the chess set carefully on the floor, and Ron set the tray down.

As he prepared his cup, Ron shrugged and said, “I’m all right. I’m not that great with it.”

“I bet you are!” Teddy insisted as he poured some milk into his tea.

“I’m not,” Ron said, scowling.

“Prove it.”

The words sounded like a challenge, but Teddy didn’t look like he was issuing one at all; his eyes, now dark brown, reminded Ron of a puppy. Teddy’s smile, so gentle and imploring, made Ron’s insides twist in a way that made him want to play the piano, right then and now. “Prove it,” Teddy repeated. “I want to hear you play.”

Ron cleared his throat and averted his gaze from those puppy eyes. “Fine, but I haven’t played in a long time, so don’t you dare laugh if I make a lot of mistakes!”

Taking a seat at the piano, Ron opened up the cover to reveal the ivory and black keys. He glanced to his left, noticing Teddy’s relaxed posture as he stood off to the side, still smiling with unabashed eagerness. Ron cleared his throat and ignored the way his stomach churned and his hands got wet; he quickly wiped them on his trousers.

His mind raced as he tried to pick a piece to perform, but the only thing in his mind was that dreadful Rachmaninoff piano concerto. He closed eyes tightly, desperate to chase that song from his head; when he heard the faint sound of rain, he knew what to play. He opened his eyes and positioned his hands over the keys, and he played Chopin’s “Raindrop Prelude”.

It was sloppy, but that was expected since it’d been a while since he’d last practised. He made mistakes everywhere, his fingers stiff and clumsy, but he didn’t stop, only concentrating on reaching the end. The first part of the piece washed over him, its serenity echoed in the small flat, and the repetitious A-flat from his left hand gave him a strange sense of peace. He continued the song and reached the middle section, and his tranquil mood dissipated to something like melancholy as he shifted from major to minor key. He wanted to hurry his pace, wanted to leave that gloomy C-sharp minor section, but he kept it slow and steady. As soon as he modulated into the major key once more, he relaxed in his playing. He slowly came to an end, feeling lighter than he had been for days, and he found himself wishing he didn’t have to end the song. As he played the final notes, holding them longer than usual, he startled from the sudden sound of thunder.

He blinked up at Teddy, who was clapping enthusiastically with a beaming smile. “That was brilliant. Really, really brillaint! Chopin’s ‘Raindrop Song’, right? See, I knew you were good!”

Ron felt his face turning red. “I’m not! That was actually one of my worst attempts ever! There were so many mistakes!”

“Oh, blah-dee-dah! Don’t be so modest. That was actually pretty good, considering how you hadn’t played in a while.”

“Shut up,” Ron muttered.

“Shove over,” Teddy said.

“What?” Ron was about to stand and close the piano, but Teddy had scooted next to him and sat down. He could feel Teddy’s hip and thigh against his, and that closeness made him dizzy. “W-what are you doing?”

“I want to show you my piano skills. They’re really terrible, actually, but I wanted to play ‘Heart and Soul’ and ‘Chopsticks’ with you,” Teddy whispered into Ron’s ears, his warm breath affecting Ron’s breathing.

Ron felt strangely light-headed, but he didn’t feel uncomfortable, and he realised that having Teddy this close to him felt normal, almost natural — like they’d done this before, but they hadn’t. In fact, it was as if Teddy’s definition of personal space were different from most people’s, and Ron wanted to tell Teddy to move over a bit, but he didn’t. What he said instead was, “Which ‘Chopsticks’?”

Teddy looked at him blankly.

“I mean, there’s the version known as ‘The Celebrated Chop Waltz’ which is what the Americans call ‘Chopsticks’, and then there’s the one we call ‘Chopsticks’ which is really known as the ‘The Flea Waltz’,” Ron explained as he demonstrated the two pieces.

“Ah-ha! I know both. Let’s play them. I’ll be the left-side part.”

“The chords?”

“Yeah. Those three songs, plus ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ are all I know how to play. You can have fun with the variations on the right.”

Ron chortled. “Fine, fine.”

Teddy started playing the chords for “Heart and Soul”, his right arm bumping into Ron’s. Two grown men on a single piano bench really didn’t leave much space at all. Ron could feel warmth emanating from Teddy, and he could feel himself growing light-headed once more. Light-headed or not, though, with Teddy’s steady rhythm and beat, he was drawn into playing the songs Teddy wanted to play. Variation after variation, the melody flowed through his fingers, and Teddy kept up with Ron, never faltering. At one point, Ron glanced at Teddy’s face, and he saw the closed eyes, the happy smile. Teddy was deriving simple pleasure from playing the simple part of the songs while Ron played as complicated as he wanted to. They somehow meshed well together. When Ron played slowly, Teddy slowed down, and when Ron sped up, Teddy would match his tempo without a break in his playing.

Playing with Teddy was exhilarating. Sure, they were playing songs that Ron found easy and unchallenging, but this was the first time he felt like he found a partner who was perfectly in tune with his playing. In the past, whenever he played duets with anyone, he had never really fit with them, but with Teddy, it was almost a flawless match.

After they came to the end, Ron asked, “Have you had musical training?”

“I took violin lessons for years. What about you? How long have you played?”

Ron eyes grew large. “Really? That would explain your good sense of rhythm. My great-aunt Muriel wanted to teach one of us. I think she really wanted to teach Bill, but he and the rest of my siblings weren’t interested. Except for me. I had lessons with her from when I was four until I went to Hogwarts. To be honest, she was a real harpy, but she did teach me a lot.”

“I’m absolute pants with the piano, though. Gran tried to get me to be skilled with both the violin and the piano, but I preferred the violin more. In fact . . . ” Teddy’s face became thoughtful, and his hair colour changed from brown to turquoise. “Do you know that ‘Spring Sonata’ by Beethoven? I think it’s ‘Violin Sonata No. 5’? And ‘Salut d’Amour’ by Elgar?”

“I know ‘Salut d’Amour’, but I’ve never played the piano part.” Ron frowned as he tried to remember the Beethoven piece. “How’d the ‘Spring’ one go?”

Teddy started to hum the piece, and Ron nodded slowly and said, “Sounds familiar.”

“I’ve got the sheet music for them. I play them sometimes, but it’s rather boring playing without the accompaniment.” Teddy plunked out some notes on the piano, and he stared at the keys. “If I bring the music, would you play with me?”

Ron studied Teddy’s body language, and he realised that Teddy was nervous about asking this. That made him feel uncertain, too, and he said, “Well, I wouldn’t mind, but I don’t think I’m that good to accompany–”

“You are good!” Teddy interrupted, his brown eyes looking determined and his hair colour turning more vivid. “I’m just not sure I’ll be good compared to you. It’s been forever since I’ve played the violin, too.”

Awkwardly, Ron patted Teddy’s shoulder, feeling the tense muscles there, as well the heat. “I’ll be the judge of that. Just bring the sheet music and we’ll play together.” He was keen on the idea. It really had been far too long since he’d been this interested in music. Plus, he trusted his instincts, and they were telling him that Teddy was a good violinist. “How does Saturday sound to you?”

Teddy grinned. “Just not early, okay? I cannot wake up before noon.”

Ron raised his eyebrow. “Will three o’clock work for you, Mr Late Sleeper?”

“Great!” Teddy stood up and stretched, making his shirt ride up and revealing his well-toned abs.

Ron’s mouth grew dry, and he briefly wondered why Teddy had this effect on him before saying, “Let’s finish our tea. I’ll warm them up with a spell.”

After a long conversation about the Cannons — Teddy was a fan, much to Ron’s delight — they talked about other things, mostly about Teddy’s job as a freelance writer and Ron’s earlier days in the field, and about what they had seen on the telly. When it was time to eat supper, Teddy treated them to a take-away of fish and chips. It was fun, Ron thought, to talk with Teddy. It’d been a while since he had felt comfortable enough with someone to talk about innocuous subjects, and Teddy was just a cheerful bloke to talk with. He realised that, after being alone for months, he actually missed human company. His other friends had tried to get him to hang out at pubs or wherever, but Ron had shoved them away, not wanting their pity or to be around fake cheeriness, something he couldn’t stand. Whereas, Teddy just simply came into his life and showed him simple companionship that was real. And a bit odd, if he was really honest with himself, but he didn’t mind Teddy’s quirky personality at all.

Aside from their conversations, Ron found himself looking forward to hearing Teddy on the violin. He was curious on what sort of a sound Teddy would produce. He just hoped Teddy wasn’t one of those musicians who sounded like crap despite their long years of training; after all, it wasn’t that length that mattered, but it was rather the individual’s dedication to better himself through practise.

On Saturday, Teddy arrived with his violin. Ron wasn’t an expert on the violin, but from what he could see, it looked rather expensive and also old. He watched Teddy take the violin out carefully from its case, and he admired its rich brown colour. He wondered if it was a Black heirloom or not, but before he could ask, Teddy said, “I’ve brought over Stravinsky.”

“Stravinsky?”

“Yeah, that’s what I named my violin. Gran gave it to me. She was appalled I’d call her heirloom after a composer she detests.” Teddy shrugged and placed the violin under his chin. “I don’t know why she has a thing against him. I think his works are brilliant.”

Ron nodded, though secretly agreeing with Andromeda’s opinions on Stravinsky. “Well, not everyone likes him, I guess.”

“A shame, really.” With the violin still under his chin, Teddy went through his bag and pulled out the sheet music after muttering to himself during his search. “Here. I couldn’t find the Beethoven one. It’s hiding somewhere in my room — Gran says my room is more like a rubbish bin — but I found the Elgar piece.”

“Thanks.” Ron placed the sheet music on his piano. “What about you? I could transfigure something into a stand for you.”

“Nah, I’ve memorised the piece. Can you play the tuning pitch? I don’t think we’re going to sound good if I’m not in tune with you.”

Ron obliged Teddy’s request and played the pitch, listening to Teddy tune and adjust his strings and begin his warm-up. Ron tuned out Teddy’s scale exercises, and he studied the sheet music in front of him, his fingers hovering over the keys as he played out the song without making a sound.

“Okay,” Teddy said. “I’m ready.”

With a nod, Ron began to play the accompaniment, his opening a solo. When Teddy came in, Ron nearly froze upon hearing Teddy’s first note. Teddy’s sound was clear and bright, and it washed over him, lifting his mood. They played and they were in perfect sync. Just like Orpheus and his lyre, Teddy’s violin demanded Ron’s attention and he wished time would stop; there was an invisible, unspoken connection between him and Teddy, and he didn’t want the song to come to an end, lest the connection disappear from him forever like Eurydice did.

Click on the image for the larger version. Fanart by Heldrad.

The piece, unfortunately, came to an end, and Ron turned around and met Teddy’s intense gaze. The air felt heavy between them, yet it didn’t weigh Ron down at all. Instead, he slowly stood and in a raspy voice he said, “That was fantastic. I’m not going to believe anything you say about your playing from now on.”

“I really haven’t played in a while,” Teddy insisted, but he smiled.

Ron smiled back, and they continued to stare at each other — Ron in front of the bench and Teddy a few steps away, still holding onto the violin. He didn’t know what to say next. Somehow, there wasn’t really anything more he could say. The heaviness in the air wrapped around him once more, and he found himself moving closer to Teddy. He reached out his long fingers and he touched Teddy’s slender fingers, the ones holding onto the bow, and he grasped the bow and set it aside gently, and then he did the same with the violin until there was nothing obscuring Teddy’s body. Their eyes met once more, and Ron’s breath hitched slightly as Teddy moved closer and whispered into Ron’s ear. “Do you like Beethoven’s symphony?”

Ron suppressed a shiver and licked at his dry lips with his tongue. “Which one?”

“The seventh. It’s my favourite.”

“I prefer the fifth, but the seventh one isn’t so bad.”

“I’ve got two tickets to the Royal Albert Hall. London Philharmonic Orchestra is going to perform that. Would you like to go?”

“Uh . . . ” Ron’s brain felt hazy. It took him a few seconds to get his tongue working again. “Sure, why not?”

“Great!” Teddy yelled.

Ron jerked away, and he scowled, realising that the weird spell that had overcome him had been broken with Teddy’s excited shout. “Next time, yell into someone else’s ear!”

“Oh, sorry.” Grinning, Teddy stepped away and he grabbed his violin and bow and began to play a wild version of “Heart and Soul” on it. “I’m just excited because none of my friends like classical music, so I always attend those concerts by myself. It’s more fun to go with someone who likes that sort of stuff. You won’t mind if I bring a notepad, will you? I need it to jot down notes about the concert since I am a music critic for one of my freelance assignments.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Okay, then next Saturday at six? And wear a nice outfit.”

Ron grimaced. “Does that include a tie?” He hated those things because he felt like they always choked him.

“Nah, though I think you’d look nice in one.”

It was just an offhand comment, but something about it made him want to ask Teddy something. He didn’t. Instead, he let the comment slide and said, “We’ll see.”

“All right. Do you mind if I practise a bit more?”

“Go ahead. I’ll get us some tea.”

The telly was on, but Ron wasn’t paying attention to it at all. In fact, the telly might have been on mute since all he could hear was Teddy’s humming as he pondered on his next move in their chess game. The concert had ended a couple of hours ago, but they’d come back to Ron’s place to have some tea while they relaxed with a round of chess — Teddy as white and Ron as black.

Ron, his head ducked as if he were studying the board, was really looking at Teddy, who, with a wide smile and his purple hair, was happily humming Beethoven’s seventh symphony. His shirt was unbuttoned at the top and his sleeves rolled up; Ron really liked that look on Teddy. He noted Teddy’s rosy, dimpled cheeks, and he knew that Teddy had really enjoyed the performance. Until today, he had never really paid attention to Beethoven’s seventh symphony, never noticed how it was one of those symphonies that had so much passion. Of course, the second movement wasn’t as bouncy and exciting as the other movement, but it was beautiful regardless of its melancholy mood. The symphony fit Teddy’s personality, and that conclusion made Ron like the whole piece even more.

Teddy also proved to have really good hearing as he talked about the concert. “That was great. I always enjoy listening to London Philharmonic, but I think the second violins were a bit off tonight.”

“Were they? I didn’t hear anything off.”

“Oh, they were. Then there’s the brass section. They overpowered the strings in some parts. But all in all, this was a good, solid performance. I’ll have fun writing my article later tonight.”

Ron raised an eyebrow, remembering how when he’d glanced at Teddy’s notes earlier, they looked like illegible scrawls that he could never decipher. “It’s already almost ten. When is this ‘later’?”

“Oh, probably two in the morning. All my best writing comes out after midnight, strangely.” Teddy grinned and finally moved his piece.

“A night owl, huh?”

“A big one. My sleeping schedule drives Gran crazy. She can’t comprehend why I can’t sleep from ten at night to six in the morning like the ‘normal’ people.”

“Ah.”

“Though if I was in a relationship and shagged regularly, I reckon my sleeping schedule wouldn’t be so backwards.”

Ron nearly spat out his tea at that statement — which was said in a very frank manner — but started to cough instead. “I . . . I see.”

“Yeah. It’s been a while since I found anybody I’d want to be in a relationship with.” Their eyes met right when Teddy finished that sentence, and Ron found himself unable to look away. Teddy’s face was smiling, but his eyes were serious, and those eyes burned Ron, making his mouth grow dry. Just like that day when they’d played together, Ron felt like someone had cast a spell on him. He set his tea cup down and he let his hand reach out across the board to — to do what, he wasn’t certain. Maybe it was to stroke Teddy’s red cheeks, which appeared more flushed than earlier, or maybe it was to run his thumb over Teddy’s bottom lips and feel the chapped skin there.

Instead, he pulled off a piece of lint off of Teddy’s shoulder.

“Thanks,” Teddy said in a husky voice that sent heat to Ron’s middle.

Ron didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. His vocal chords had died on him, and he felt like his hands had become their own entity as they reached out to cup Teddy’s face . . .

“Oh, bugger!” Teddy shouted and jumped up. “I just remembered I have another article I have to write that’s due tomorrow at eight in the morning!” He grabbed his jacket and looked at Ron with an apologetic expression. “Sorry to dash off, but can we meet sometime next week for dinner? I know a very good Italian restaurant nearby. I’ll send you a message.”

Startled, Ron could only nod at Teddy’s request. Teddy grinned once more before he Apparated away with a crack.

It was only when he was in bed later did he realise that Teddy had yet somehow conned him into another meeting, another date of some sort. Like an unexpected whirlwind, Teddy had swooped into his life, breaking a monotonous routine he’d set himself up for months, and it was Teddy who showed him that he’d been truly lonely. Had it been anybody else, Ron surely would have resented that person from disrupting his solitude, but he didn’t mind Teddy at all. Really, he didn’t, but he was even more confused with his feelings than ever. Did he like Teddy? Was he gay? Since when? Sure, Teddy was attractive, and he did enjoy Teddy’s company, but did he like Teddy that way?

Confused, he fell asleep with all those questions in his mind.

When Ron opened his eyes, he found himself standing next to his bed. On his bed, sprawled out naked except for a sheet covering his lower body, was Teddy, who was covered in a light sheen of sweat. His chest heaved as he panted lightly. Ron gazed at Teddy’s swollen lips, growing warm as he watched Teddy’s tongue flicked out. Teddy’s hair was the same colour as his flushed skin, and they were matted against his forehead.

But it was Teddy’s eyes — full of lust and desire — that captured Ron’s attention. Ron found himself being drawn to them again, drowning in them, and when Teddy let out a low “Ron, more, please!”, he climbed on top of Teddy and kissed him hard, without any hesitance, desperately wanting to taste Teddy, to soothe that fire burning deep inside of him. His hands flew everywhere, touching, grasping, stroking — never stopping at all.

They both moaned when Ron grinded his hips against Teddy’s, the friction from their movement and the sheet between them sending waves of pleasure through their bodies, both shifting and groaning as they sought the release they desperately wanted. Ron slipped his hand in the sheet, grasped at Teddy’s hip, and he rubbed the area with his thumb, so close and near his goal . . .

Ron startled awake when he heard his alarm. Disorientated, he squinted his eyes and looked around his dim room. He sat up in his bed, and he felt stickiness in his pants.

“Merlin,” he groaned. He hadn’t had a sexual dream in ages, not since his divorce, and he was perplexed that Teddy would be the first one to grace his dreams after all these months.

Feeling quite frustrated, he did the only things he could do — wank away his fantasies and hope they would disappear soon, and, as Hermione would do, overanalyse this new predicament.

“Aren’t we supposed to meet at the restaurant in an hour?” Ron asked, staring at Teddy, who was holding a picnic basket in the middle of his sitting room, noting Teddy’s attire consisting of a t-shirt, shorts, a light jacket, and a pair of trainers. “And you told me it was a slightly fancy restaurant, so why are you dressed like . . . ” Not that he was better dressed than Teddy. He himself was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans, as he was going to get ready and changed until Teddy appeared in his flat.

“The restaurant I was going to take us to is closed this week for renovations. I thought about some different alternatives, and I came up with the idea that we should have a picnic!”

Ron glanced at the window and then back at Teddy. “But it’s raining out today.”

“Ah, I meant an indoor picnic.” Teddy beamed and motioned at the sitting room. “May I?”

Nodding, Ron watched Teddy carefully set his chess board in safe place, shrink the table and the two chairs, pull out a bright orange blanket, spread it on the floor, and place the basket in the middle. “Have a seat.”

Ron started to laugh. He couldn’t help it. This was a kooky idea, but he actually had to admit it was very unique and different from anything he’d ever done so far. Admittedly, it was rather childish, but Teddy’s enthusiasm made everything seem so refreshingly new that Ron couldn’t help but go along with it.

Still laughing, he sat on the soft blanket, and Teddy joined him and emptied the basket of enough food to feed the entire Ministry. There were sandwiches filled with juicy meat, crunchy lettuce, and fresh tomatoes on toasted bread that were still warm. The strawberries and watermelon slices were sweet and cold and delicious. The biscuits were sweet, too, and they were mouth-meltingly perfect. Teddy had even brought a bottle of champagne. Ron was amazed by how thorough Teddy was with his planning. He wondered if Teddy had originally planned this in the first place and the Italian restaurant suggestion was just a bluff; thinking this made him smile into his sandwich. If this was Teddy’s intention all along — to have a picnic in the middle of a sitting room — then Ron wasn’t surprised by the way Teddy presented the idea. The bloke was a Slytherin, after all.

Still musing about how this was a very interesting idea, Ron chewed and swallowed before asking, “Did you make these sandwiches?”

Teddy nodded.

“You must be a great cook.”

“Actually, I’m horrible at cooking,” Teddy explained with a grin. “Sandwiches are the only things I can make without causing an explosion in the kitchen.”

“Really?” Ron eyed the biscuits because they were certainly home-made and not store-bought. “What about the biscuits?”

“Oh, those? Harry baked those and sent some over to me when I told him I was going on a picnic.”

“Did you tell him it was going to be an indoor picnic?”

“Of course. This was his idea.”

“Huh?” Ron felt something clench inside of him. Had Harry become psychic and somehow found out about all of his hidden, unexplainable, desires and fantasies about Teddy? But if Harry found out, then what kind of idea was this? Was this his way of saying to be with Teddy? Was this just another scheme to get him to go on a date with Teddy? But if this was yet another date . . . then did that mean Teddy liked him back?

With that many unanswered questions battling in his mind, he almost missed Teddy’s explanation. “When I was younger, Harry would do this with me, especially on a rainy day. To keep me from going stir-crazy, this was something we’d do as a lunch substitute.”

“Oh,” Ron exhaled loudly, relieved that Harry hadn’t indirectly set this up or anything. But now all those nightly wanks and fantasies of seeing Teddy naked on his bed bombarded him, and he felt heat pooling up deep inside of him. Stifling back a groan, he willed himself to calm down and to think about that one time he accidentally saw Aunt Muriel naked when he was about nine, truly one of his most traumatising childhood moments aside from that Spider Bear incident.

That did the trick, but then he made the mistake of looking down at Teddy’s bare feet and legs. One of his most recent dreams had featured Teddy — naked as always — on his back, with Ron ravishing Teddy’s chest. Teddy let out moan after moan, all of them sultry and growing louder whenever Ron had found a sensitive spot, and Teddy would arch his back and extend his strong legs as his toes curled from the pleasure. And those same legs would later be wrapped around Ron’s waist, locked tight at the ankles to make sure Ron didn’t go anywhere.

“Ron?” Teddy’s voice broke through his thoughts, and Ron welcomed that distraction as he thought about Aunt Muriel again.

“Yeah?”

“Since we’re done eating, let’s clean up and I’ll put your sitting room back in order.”

“All right.”

Ron stood up and they both cleaned and arranged the room back to order. It was when they were finally sitting in the orange chairs that Teddy said, “It’s kind of last minute, but I’ve been given two tickets to a concert in a couple of days. It’s going to be a piano concerto.” Teddy’s eyes twinkled. “Want to go with me?”

Despite his conflicting feelings towards Teddy, Ron ended up smiling. Teddy’s positive attitude was contagious and, strangely enough, addicting. “Sure, which piano concerto is it?”

“It’s a Rachmaninoff piece.”

“Oh?” Ron felt something akin to dread in his stomach.

“It’s the second one.”

No longer smiling, his eyebrows now scrunched together, Ron’s answer came out swiftly. “No.”

“No?” Teddy looked at him with a startled expression. “Why not?”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I hate that piece.”

Teddy began to frown. “Why do you hate it? It’s such a brilliant piece, truly one of the best piano concertos in the world, so I can’t understand why someone like you would–”

“Shut up.” He was growling, and he didn’t care. He really didn’t want to think of that song right now.

“If you could just explain to me why–”

“You’re too young to understand!”

“I’m not that young. How can you assume that without testing me first? I want to understand, and if you explain–”

“Why don’t you drop this?” Ron stood up and began to pace around the small room. “I hate that bloody song, and I hate it when people listen to it around me! Now you’re trying to get me to go to an actual live concert featuring that piece? And now you want to know why? I don’t have to explain it to you!”

“Ron, wait–”

“Stop it already! Leave!”

Teddy looked stricken, and that painful expression and the forlorn and downcast eyes made Ron feel guilty at the way he snapped at Teddy, but he was too upset, too disgusted with the way he was acting to apologise. Wearily, Ron whispered, “Leave.”

Without another word, Teddy left, and Ron could feel all the happiness being sucked out of his flat and out of him. He threw himself onto his chair and threw his arm over his eyes, and he clenched his fists hard until he could feel his nails digging into his palms. Feeling like shite, he muttered, “Bloody hell, I’m a fucking prick.”

Ron stared at the blank screen of his telly. Already a week had passed since his picnic with Teddy. His flat, which he’d been trying to keep clean, had returned to its smelly state, and it was rapidly becoming dusty, too. All week long, he’d been in a terrible mood as guilt, confusion, and frustration waged several wars inside of him. He was especially an ogre on the day of that damned Rachmaninoff concert. Everywhere he went, the song haunted him, and so did Teddy’s hurt expression. He shouldn’t have said that to Teddy; he should have apologised and just changed the subject that day. He should have stopped Teddy from leaving; he shouldn’t have taken his anger and frustration out on him.

He also hated himself for being confused on his sexual orientation. He was 39, almost 40, so if he was gay or bi or whatever — how much of an idiot was he to realise this fact now? He considered that maybe he was confused since it’d been a while since his last shag, but he knew, deep inside, that that wasn’t the case. He wanted Teddy. There was nobody else he was attracted to. Teddy was the only one he wanted, but he was too insecure, too unsure, and too afraid to do anything about this. In fact, he wasn’t sure just how he could mend their rift at all.

Angrily, he stood up, so wound-up that his skin felt taut. He needed to do something to let off his steam, and chess was not going to help this time. His eyes landed on his piano, and he stalked over to it and sat down, playing the first thing that came into his mind. It was a song he always played when he was upset, a piece that required so much strength and power that it always left him feeling exhausted, like he’d run a marathon.

Chopin’s Étude Op. 10, No. 4, otherwise known as “Torrent”, sounded out from his piano, his fingers furiously flew up and down the keys, his back tense as he played out the aggravation he’d had the entire week. He closed his eyes, and Teddy’s face — hurt and miserable looking — flashed by, and he played harder, his foot stepping on the pedal with enough force to nearly put it through his floor. He didn’t care about that. He only wanted to play this piece and hear the sixteenth notes thundering and echoing in his flat. He wanted to tire himself out and not think about Teddy and everything else that was aggravating him.

He eventually came to the end of the song, and he was panting from the sheer workout he’d just been through; his arms and back were sore, and his fingers felt like they were going to fall off. Unfortunately, though, he was still too tense and upset. He was about to slam his fists on the keys, not caring if he broke the piano or not, when he heard something behind him.

Standing, he spun and pointed his wand into his brother’s face.

“Oi! Point that elsewhere!” George protested, backing away as he held onto a pie in both hands.

“It’s you,” Ron said in a flat voice, bringing his wand down as he sat back on the bench, his legs weak after the sudden rush of adrenaline. “What are you doing here?”

“Is that how you greet your favourite brother?” George asked, making a face as he set the pie on the mantel.

Ron rolled his eyes and glanced at the pie. “What’s with the pie?”

“Harry baked this and he requested I bring you one. It’s Hogsmeade weekend, so he took off to go deliver the rest of his baked goods to my lovely niece and nephews.”

Upon hearing about Hogsmeade weekend, Ron felt another pang of guilt. Ever since the divorce, he hadn’t been keeping in touch with Rose or Hugo. He really should respond to Rose’s letter and send some new Muggle trading cards he’d promised to Hugo and make plans to meet up with them at Hogsmeade. Not wanting to think on all the parts of his life that had gone to shite, he put on a tight smile and said, “How’s your shop?”

George’s eyes grew intense and focused. “Surely that’s not what you really want to talk about, is it?”

“What?”

“Along with this pie, I’ve also come to knock some sense into you. Just what the hell did you do to Teddy? He’s been coming to the shop all week, so depressed that none of my prank items are making him laugh! And I need him to be in a good mood. His writing’s turned dismal and his articles reviewing my prank items have none of his eager and cheerful attitude!”

Ron’s mouth fell open, but he quickly closed it and demanded, “How — what — what makes you think I have anything to do with this?”

“I know, Ron.” George frowned and continued, “I know he likes you.”

“Of course he likes me — we’re friends,” Ron answered in an unconvincing tone.

“Ron. He fancies you! He told me about you guys playing the violin and the piano. He told me about that Beethoven concert. And he also told me about the picnic, which had gone all right until you kicked him out for no reason.”

Clenching his fist, Ron mumbled, “I had my reasons.”

“Oh? Do tell.” George crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared at him pointedly. “He mentioned something about you hating a Rackmoney bloke. Said something about you not wanting to go to a concert he invited you to.”

“Rachmaninoff.”

“Don’t snap at me, baby brother. How about explaining to me what got your prick wound up like a pretzel?”

A long moment of silence passed. Ron opened his mouth to tell George to piss off, but before he could say anything, George continued, “Let me guess. It’s because that particular Rackmoney bloke’s song was a favourite of Hermione’s.”

“Shut up!” Ron growled, turning his head to look at the drab-looking curtains.

George sighed loudly, and he leaned against the mantel. “I want you to think about this. Are you really angry at Hermione for leaving you for Krum, or are you angry at her for something else entirely?”

“What other reason would–”

“I’ve always questioned your obsession with Krum in your fourth year. I also can’t help but wonder if you’d be this angry with Hermione if she had gone for a different bloke.”

George’s words punched him in his stomach, making him wrap his arms around himself as he tried to deny his brother’s words — words that were so true and so finite that he desperately told himself that he had his reasons back then and had his reasons for denying his real desires all these years. The dam he had deep inside broke as all the years of suppressed desire and guilt came tumbling out.

In a soft voice, George said, “Don’t do this, Ron. Don’t try to lie to yourself any more. No one’s going to begrudge you for your choices. You . . . you have the choice to do what you want.”

There was a catch in George’s voice that made Ron look up, and he saw sorrow in his brother’s eyes. Ron didn’t have to ask. He knew what George meant in his unsaid words.

George gave a wan smile as he fingered the ring on his finger, Fred’s ring. “Think about it, Ron. At the least, go apologise to Teddy.” He turned and Flooed himself out, and Ron was left alone.

It was a long time before Ron moved from his spot on the bench. When he did, he knew what he wanted to do.

Ron stared at the door, ignoring the whispers from the passer-bys, and he took a deep breath. He had to do this. He had to make amends with Teddy and get over his past.

He rang the bell, his finger shaky, and he waited.

The door opened, and he momentarily startled upon seeing a dull looking Teddy. Gone was his bright coloured hair, replaced with a drab-looking brown. His eyes were blank, and there were bags below them. Still, Teddy smiled — forced a smile — and said, “Hello.”

“Huck–” Ron cleared his throat. “Hi.” He awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and he looked down at his feet.

Teddy stepped back and opened the door wider. “Come on in.”

“Thanks.” He walked in and looked around. “Where’s your grandmother?”

“Gran? She went to visit Aunt Narcissa.” Teddy led them to the sitting room. “Do you want anything to drink?”

Ron hated this Teddy, this stiff, formal Teddy who was nothing like the passionate and slightly eccentric young man he’d grown fond of in the last few weeks. Shaking his head, he sat down at the couch, and he quickly launched onto his question. “Do you have a recording of that Rachmaninoff concerto? The first movement, at least?”

“Yes.” A curious expression crossed Teddy’s face.

“Look, I’ve got lots of crap that is associated with this particular piece, but I . . . I want us to listen to it together. I want to listen to it with you because I know it’s one of your favourites.”

Teddy cocked his head and looked at him thoughtfully. “I’ve a stereo system in my room. We can listen to it there.”

Ron nodded, trying not to think about how intimate the idea was. “Sure.”

They went to Teddy’s room, and Ron knew immediately why Teddy couldn’t find that Beethoven violin and piano sonata. The room was filled with books and papers everywhere. There were books and papers on the nightstands, on the stereo system, on the desk, on the desk chair, and everywhere on the floor, including under the bed — the top of which was surprisingly the only clean spot in the whole room. That was where Ron sat after he carefully stepped around the books and papers.

Teddy fiddled around with the stereo system, and when he finished he joined Ron on the bed, sitting next to him, but not touching him at all.

Closing his eyes and inhaling deeply, Ron opened his eyes when he heard the first notes, the familiar bell-like sounds, followed by the orchestra playing the main melody, and he remembered the first time he’d heard and fallen in love with this piece. As the concerto played, he travelled back to the summer before his fourth year, before the Quidditch World Cup. This song had come on the wireless as he had been flipping through a Quidditch magazine. He stopped when he saw the moving picture of Viktor Krum, who was flying with a sullen expression; yet when Ron’s eyes gazed over his slender body, in his Quidditch uniform, Ron was captivated. He stared at the way Viktor would fly around the page, watched the grace that was visible in most Seekers, his movements matching the elegant, lyrical piece of the song, and when he did the Wronski Feint, the piano repeated the main melody in a march-style that made Ron’s chest burst with emotion.

That was the moment when he had fallen for Viktor Krum. He remembered how he’d been horrified by this revelation and how he’d felt like he was the odd one out in his family, so he frantically tried to suppress any thoughts about Viktor, but it was hopeless. He fell more in love with him at the World Cup match, at Hogwarts when the tournament was going on, during the Yule Ball when he saw that Viktor had taken Hermione to the ball . . .

Then when he’d finally got together with Hermione, he succeeded in his quest to suppress any sexual urges he had towards Viktor. With the Rachmaninoff piece — how ironic that Hermione had ended up liking that particular piece — he was able to associate that with Hermione instead of Viktor . . . until Hermione went to Viktor after the divorce.

But Ron no longer wanted to associate this song with them. He wanted to focus on the present, so he turned his head to look at Teddy, with the song still playing in the background. The song didn’t fit Teddy at all; it was kind of strange that Teddy even liked this song since he generally preferred music in a major key. He tried to figure this puzzle out, and then Teddy’s eyes met his. Ron lost all sense of time while he stared into those deep eyes.

Passion, he realised. Teddy was full of passion. Whatever he did, whether it was to play the violin with such force that each notes commanded his attention, to play those simple piano pieces that brought a smile to his face, to talk his ears off about the most inane things, to come up with ideas that turned his life around — it was what made him Teddy, and it was what the Rachmaninoff piece had — passion — despite the sombre tone.

Towards the end of the song, Teddy’s gentle hands reached out and cupped Ron’s cheeks, and Ron, feeling the tears in his eyes, feeling drained from weeks and months of uncertainty, guilt, and sadness, accepted the tender touch; he moved closer to rest his head on Teddy’s shoulder and pressed himself closer when Teddy’s arm wrapped around him.

Soon, the first movement finally came to an end. Ron tried to explain everything to Teddy. “Look, I . . . y-you see, back when I was about fourteen, I — er –” He swallowed hard and tried again. “I associated this song with someone . . . a guy . . . and I–”

Run shut up when he felt one of Teddy’s callused fingers on his lips. He looked up and he nearly sobbed from seeing the understanding expression on Teddy’s calm face. Teddy whispered, “It’s okay. It’s okay, Ron. I know. I know.”

That simple declaration broke the last remaining barrier Ron had up to now, and he reached up and kissed Teddy, who kissed him back with so much force and heat that Ron lay back on the bed and pulled Teddy up on top of him.

He didn’t know how long they kissed. He didn’t care. He only knew that Teddy, pressing down on him, felt so good. When Teddy slipped his tongue inside his mouth, Ron felt heat explode everywhere inside of him. He could taste Teddy and smell him and feel his warmth. His hands touched everything and played their own solos as they explored and found spots that made Teddy moan in their kisses. His own moans echoed with Teddy’s, and he wanted Teddy to touch him until they both reached that edge they both needed and wanted.

When Teddy whispered, “You’re the only thing — one — I ever want anymore,” Ron kissed him again, and also whispered, “Me too.”

“I can’t believe you made me wear a tie.”

“It looks good on you.”

“It’s yellow with black polka dots. Are you trying to tell me something here? You do realise I was a Gryffindor, right?

“I know, but red and gold is boring.”

“And you’re wearing a blue and silver tie.”

Teddy laughed. “Your point?”

“Next time, stick with our individual house colours!” Ron gave him a mocking glare, but it quickly turned into a smile. “This is how you thank me, huh?”

“Oh, I’ll thank you in a much different way when we get home after this concert.”

Ron felt his cheeks getting warm, and he ducked his head as he looked around the lobby, which was filled with people waiting to go into the concert hall to hear Tchaikovsky’s “Violin Concerto in D Major”.

Teddy leaned over and whispered, “I’m really glad you invited me to this concert. I’m actually looking forward to enjoying a concert I don’t have to write a review for.”

Ron nodded. He purposely chose this performance because it was a violin concerto; it was a piece he’d heard recently on the wireless and it was one of those pieces that just fit Teddy. So when he heard about this performance, he bought the tickets and invited Teddy. Of course, he also had an ulterior motive to all of this. He lowered his voice and conspiratorially said, “Yes, you don’t have to write a review, but I expect you to perform the solo part tomorrow from memory for me.”

Teddy’s eyes opened wide before it narrowed and he said, “If you make me do that, I’ll spell a permanent cock ring on you.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“I would,” Teddy said as he straightened himself up. “So what are you going to do? Do you still want me to play tomorrow?”

Ron sighed loudly and smiled. “Fine, fine. You don’t have to play it tomorrow. But I do want to hear you play it one day.”

“All right.” With a last impish grin, Teddy leaned and planted a soft kiss on Ron’s cheek. He looked at the opened doors. “But let’s worry about that later.” He laced their hands and they walked into the concert hall.

Together.

Ron tightened his hold and he said, “All right, Teddy. All right.”

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. — Carl Jung

Teddy remembered the first time he met Neville. That was his earliest and most vivid memory from childhood. He was playing at Harry’s place, and they were drawing and finger-painting in the sitting room. It was a messy activity, but Teddy loved it since he enjoyed the cool feel of the wet paint on his fingers and the colours he could combine to make what his grandmamma would call a “repursibe brown”. He didn’t think it was “repursibe” at all. He found it appealing since it matched his natural hair colour.

He’d been in the middle of trying to paint an orange cat — just like “Cookshrank” — when the Floo activated and out popped a man Teddy had never seen before.

Click on the image for the larger version. Fanart by Vividescent.

“Neville!” Harry exclaimed, standing up to greet their visitor. “What brings you here, today?”

The man called Neville was taller and broader than Harry. He had a friendly face, a slightly crooked smile, and eyes that twinkled. Teddy wasn’t sure what colour Neville’s hair was; to his eyes, it was either yellow or brown. Teddy watched with wide eyes as Neville dusted himself off with his large hands. He could plainly see dirt under Neville’s fingernails, and that surprised him since he thought most grown-ups didn’t play with dirt.

When Neville talked, his voice sounded very deep, one that made Teddy feel like he was eating delicious chocolates. “I stopped by — I know I’m overdue for our regular visit.” The warm brown eyes turned to look at him, and Teddy stared back without a sound. “Is this Teddy?”

Harry nodded. “He’s with me today because Andromeda had to do stuff. Teddy? This is Neville Longbottom, one of my good friends from school.”

Teddy still didn’t say anything. He wasn’t sure what to say.

A gentle smile came over Neville’s face, and Teddy watched him crouch down until their eyes were level. “Hey, there. I see you’re painting. Can you tell me about your picture?”

“It’s Cookshrank. It’s Herminny’s cat,” Teddy answered in a soft voice.

“Wow! It’s very good. Very colourful.”

Teddy smiled a bit as his large eyes stared questioningly at Neville’s hands. “Um . . . Mr Longbutton?”

“Neville. Just call me Neville.”

“Okay, ‘Nebul’, why’s your hands dirty?’

“Teddy,” Harry interjected. “That’s not a polite thing to ask.”

“But . . . ”

“It’s okay, Harry. He’s just a kid.” Neville laughed. It was a soft laugh, and it sounded happy. One of Neville’s hands reached out to pat Teddy on his shoulder. “It’s dirty because I work with plants. I like Herbology.”

“‘Herbogey’? What’s that?”

“It means I like to study plants and make them grow.”

“Really? Like flowers? Trees?” Teddy thought that was really cool. “That means you play with dirt?”

“Yep, I play with dirt.” Neville’s smile revealed his crooked teeth, and Teddy found them funny looking.

“Can I play with Herbogey, too?”

Neville and Harry laughed. “Sure,” Neville said. “I’ll show you my personal greenhouse one day.”

“Okay!”

Teddy decided that Neville was someone fun and different. He wasn’t as outgoing or funny as Ron or George, nor cool and beautiful like Bill or Fleur, but he thought Neville was super-nice and friendly for a grown-up. Plus, Neville played with dirt. That alone was good enough for him.

He wished all grown-ups weren’t so picky about playing with dirt.

“Grandmamma? How come Charlie has a boyfriend instead of a girlfriend?” Teddy wriggled a loose tooth as he watched his grandmother turn an interesting shade of red. It was quite an impressive sight, considering how she lacked any Metamorphmagus skills.

“Teddy Remus Lupin! What kind of a question is that?”

His friends told him to always smile innocently with big puppy eyes to avoid trouble with grown-ups. Teddy felt like he ought to give that a try. He had a feeling he’d just bungled up, so he widened his eyes and answered in a child-like voice, “I just wanted to know why he’s got a boyfriend instead of a girlfriend. I thought it was normal for boys to have girlfriends. Not boyfriends.”

“Well . . . some men like men and some women like women. Love . . . love isn’t something one can be judgmental about. As long as the people themselves are kind and caring individuals, it doesn’t matter who they love.”

Teddy thought about her answer. He thought about the people he loved himself, but he figured that there were different, more grown-up kinds of love. “So it’s a choice people make?”

“Yes, dear. We all have the right to love who we want.”

He glanced at a plant, and he was reminded of something. “Does that mean Neville’s the same way?”

“Same way? Oh, you mean like Charlie?”

Teddy nodded.

“Well, yes, I suppose . . . but Teddy, it’s really none of your business. Don’t go around poking your nose where it doesn’t belong,” Andromeda said in a firm voice. “Now, let’s go practise your penmanship! I will not have a grandson who writes poorly.”

“Yes, Grandmamma.”

As he practised on improving his handwriting, Teddy daydreamed about Neville. He was slowly finding out that Neville was an interesting man. He’d heard stories about Harry and his friends’ adventures in their seventh year. He’d also heard stories about Neville’s bravery as he fought the bad wizards and witches in Hogwarts. Neville had acted quite headstrong and determined, and Teddy thought it didn’t quite fit what he knew of Neville right now.

The Neville he knew right now was kind and gentle, always friendly and polite, and Teddy enjoyed talking to him about the different kinds of plants. He’d visited Neville’s personal greenhouse several times now, and he’d watched Neville bent over a pot to take care of a flower, his hands and arms all black and brown from the dirt as he worked with a happy smile. Teddy really was having a hard time imagining Neville fighting the bad guys.

But all that didn’t matter to Teddy. He knew Neville was a good person, and that was what counted.

Teddy looked at the crowded platform, where he could hear the chattering and shouts of excitement from the students and their guardians. He clutched his grandmamma’s hand and Harry’s hand tightly. He knew he should be excited that he was finally going to Hogwarts, but he felt fear and nervousness surging through him instead.

He looked at the trunk Harry was levitating. It had all his new textbooks; he’d already flipped through them, and the scent of new books had wafted to his nose, encouraging him to get a head start in reading. There were new parchments, quills, and inks for him. He’d stuffed his “Hairy Teddy” in there along with some sweets, his potions equipment, and some new robes. In Grandmamma’s other hand, she carried a cage with a beautiful tawny owl Teddy had named “Amber”. He was ready for Hogwarts with all his new stuff, but he didn’t want to leave home.

He mainly didn’t want to leave his grandmamma and Harry, but he knew he had to go to Hogwarts. He just wished he didn’t have to board there, but that was the way things were so he had go with the system. Tears were in the back of Teddy’s eyes, and he blinked hard to keep them from coming out. He didn’t want to cry. He was going to Hogwarts now, and Hogwarts boys did not cry in public places.

However, when Grandmamma hugged him tightly, he buried his face in her chest, and a few tears came out against his will. He sniffled loudly, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly and mumbled, “I don’t want to go.”

“Oh, Teddy, it will be fine. You’ll love it there, and we’ll write to each other. You’ll make new friends and have the time of your life,” Grandmamma soothed him.

Teddy wasn’t convinced. He wanted to study at home like he’d been doing before. Why did he have to go away?

Still hugging his grandmamma, he felt a large hand ruffling his hair, which was in a sombre shade of blue at the moment. “Teddy, don’t you remember all the stories I told you about Hogwarts? The ghosts? The moving portraits? The way to sneak into the kitchen to meet the house elves and grab some extra food?”

Teddy did remember. He did want to see all of the fascinating stuff Harry and Grandmamma had told him, but he just wasn’t ready to leave home yet.

“Plus, don’t forget. Neville will be there. If you ever have any problems, you can go to him,” Harry reminded him.

Neville? Teddy completely forgot about Neville being a professor at Hogwarts. He knew Neville worked there, but Teddy didn’t associate Neville as “Professor Longbottom”. He only considered him as “Neville”. But now that he remembered this little fact, he gave Harry and Grandmamma a brave smile. “Okay, but if I really don’t like it there, will you come get me . . . ?”

“I doubt that’ll happen, but yes, if you really want to leave, we’ll come get you,” Grandmamma promised.

When Harry gave him a big hug, he said, “Say hi to Hagrid for me, okay? And don’t worry so much. You’ll enjoy Hogwarts.”

With one more round of hugs, Teddy trudged onto the train. He found an empty compartment, but it didn’t stay empty that long. He was joined by a hyper girl, named Helena Kensington, who was a cousin of Mr Finnigan, and a friendly young boy named Jacob Goldstein. They were both first years like Teddy, and it wasn’t long before the three of them began to talk and converse like they’d been friends for years.

Eventually, they reached their destination, and he heard Hagrid’s loud voice calling all the first years towards him. After relaying the message to Hagrid from Harry, Teddy got in a boat with his new friends. Harry had told him about the Giant Squid, and even though he didn’t really want to run into the beast, he still kept out an eye for any signs of it.

Professor Vector, the deputy headmistress, greeted them in the castle, and she led them into the Great Hall.

Once again, nervousness came fluttering into his stomach as Teddy sensed thousands of eyes watching him. All the first years were silent, including Helena and Jacob, and they all stood in a line to go through the Sorting. Even though Teddy had heard plenty of stories about the Sorting Hat, it still tickled him to hear it actually sing.

The first student, a girl by the name of Victoria Adams went first. The Sorting Hat was placed on her head, and Teddy waited a minute before it yelled, “Ravenclaw!”

As he waited for his turn, he wondered which house he would be put in. Would he go to Gryffindor like his father or Harry? Or would his mother’s house fit him more? Would he be sorted into Slytherin like his grandmamma? There was also Ravenclaw. Teddy really wasn’t sure where he’d end up.

Jacob went to Gryffindor, and Helena ended up in Slytherin. He waited and waited until Professor Vector finally said, “Lupin, Teddy!” Taking small steps to the stool, he sat on it. He ignored the stares as he tried to keep his hair brown instead of red. He didn’t want the whole world to see that he was embarrassed by all of this. He glanced up at the Head Table, and there he saw Neville smiling at him. It was an encouraging smile, making Teddy feeling a bit better. Before he could force a smile back, the hat came on him, and he nearly jumped at the voice he heard in his head.

“Well, well. A Lupin and a Tonks! I would have never guessed . . . but let’s see. I see you have a bit of everything going for you. Brave, yes. Hardworking, intelligent, ambitious . . . it’s not often I meet a first year like you, Teddy Lupin. Which house should I put you in . . . ”

I . . . I want to be in . . . the house where I can make people be proud of me. Teddy wasn’t sure why he suddenly thought that, but it was true. He did want to make his grandmamma and Harry and Neville all proud of him. And he wanted to make his parents proud of him, too, wherever they were right now.

“I see . . . if that’s how you feel then I think you will do excellently in . . . SLYTHERIN!”

A Slytherin. He was now a Slytherin. Teddy slipped the hat off, and he nearly stumbled over to the Slytherin table, where he was greeted by a happy Helena, who scooted over to give him a spot. As she chattered on how it was a shame that Jacob hadn’t joined them in the same house, Teddy dazedly stared at the rest of his new housemates. Some of them looked aloof and scary. Some looked as if they just didn’t care about what was happening around them as they conversed to themselves. Teddy felt strange inside. Was this really his house? Was he really suited for this?

He looked up, feeling someone’s eyes on him. He met Neville’s dark brown eyes. They were kind and gentle, and Teddy knew that he had Neville’s approval and support for his Sorting. He remembered what his grandmamma and Harry told him. It didn’t matter what house he was in. No house was better than the other. In Neville’s eyes he saw that same message, and he grew more confident with his house placement.

His nervousness disappeared, and he began to see that being at Hogwarts was going to be fun. Teddy did not regret coming here at all. He would make the best of it.

“Good morning. I am Professor Longbottom, and I want to welcome you all to my class.”

Teddy stared at Neville in awe. This Neville was different from the Neville he was used to. Then again, Neville had always been more of a good family friend than a direct authority figure. Whenever they’d been together, it was always to play in the greenhouse or to have dinner with Harry. He’d never seen Neville in his professor mode, and now he finally saw Neville in action.

“In my class,” Neville continued, “I expect you all to be attentive and on good behaviour. I will not tolerate anyone misbehaving. I have no qualms about giving out detentions or deducting house points. However, I will try to make this subject fun for you all. If you ever have any questions, do ask. The only stupid question is the one that’s never asked. So please, ask questions!”

Standing, Neville had a good, sturdy look about him. His back was straight, and his shoulders were broad. His eyes, while still looking gentle, had a firm look about them, and his mouth was set in a pleasant but no-nonsense smile. It was a strange contrast, but it was very effective. He watched Neville give two students — both were whispering — a fixed stare, and they quieted down without him ever telling them to do or raising his voice. In fact, Teddy noted that Neville never yelled. If Neville ever turned upset, his voice would change in its inflection, and Teddy could hear the disappointment underlying his deep voice

As each day passed, whenever Teddy had Herbology, his respect for Neville grew. Neville was very fair and firm, but he always acted in such a gentle manner that nobody would dare try to disappoint him. Teddy really liked that in Neville, and Neville quickly became his favourite professor after Professor Nott — who was the Head of his House and the Arithmancy professor.

One day he had been outside by the lake, enjoying the autumn breeze, reading at the docks, and again trying to catch a glimpse of the elusive Giant Squid. He had no luck, though, and he was on his way back into the castle when he bumped into Neville.

“Hello, Teddy! What are you up to?” Neville asked cheerfully.

“Oh, Nev– I mean, er, Professor Longbottom. I was just reading outside.” This was the first time he had the chance to talk to Neville outside of class, and he had almost called him “Neville”, which was what he’d always called him before.

“I see. Good book?”

Teddy nodded as they stopped outside the main entrance. Now that he was alone with Neville, he had no idea what to say. Their relationship had changed somehow since he started at Hogwarts; they were now in the student and teacher relationship. Teddy wasn’t sure if he liked that or not. It wasn’t bad per se, but it was awkward. As much as he liked Neville as a teacher, he also missed their easygoing friendship they had before he started school.

“It seems like you’re really enjoying Hogwarts. I’ve heard that you’re doing well in your other classes and I see you’ve made new friends.”

Teddy nodded eagerly, glad that there was something to talk about. “Yes! I love it here, and I really like the whole castle. It’s such a wonderful place, and I do like my new friends.” He and Helena were great friends now, and they were both still friends with Jacob despite their different houses. Whenever they could, the three of them would study together in the library or spend time exploring the castle and visiting the kitchen for a snack.

“That’s great to hear. If you ever have any problems or want to talk about anything bothering you, do stop by my office or my personal greenhouse, okay?”

“All right, Professor. Thank you.”

Neville opened the door to the castle, and he turned and gave Teddy a big smile. “Also, whenever we’re alone, you can just call me ‘Neville’. Just don’t call me that in class, or I will assign a week’s worth of detention with Mr Filch.”

Teddy grinned. “I won’t call you that in class.”

“Have a pleasant day, Mr Lupin.”

“You, too, Professor.”

There were plenty of things for Teddy to learn at Hogwarts. He was taught all about the wizarding subjects — some more fun than others. He discovered that he enjoyed Potions, Herbology, and Transfiguration the best, while he detested History of Magic and Astronomy. Also in his studies, he enjoyed doing the practical lessons more than listening to the theories in lectures.

Aside from school, he learned much about his social life, too. He was slowly finding that not all Slytherins were aloof and scary as he had thought on his first day here. He realised here and there that not everyone would be friends with him, and that was fine with him. He’d always preferred having small groups of friends, and he was happy with Helena and Jacob. And even though he had one unique skill that not many had, he didn’t want to use it all the time and appear like he was bragging. Though, depending on his mood and stress level, it was a bit harder to control his hair or eyes from changing colours when he least expected.

Lastly, Teddy learned, in the beginning of his second year, that there were different kinds of respect. Especially with his professors. He respected most of his professors and listened to them — even if Binns was a boring ghost — and he liked all of them. He valued Professor Nott, his Head of House, and he knew that Professor Nott always had his door opened for the Slytherins if they ever had any problems that needed to be addressed. However, he noticed that he respected Professor Nott differently from Neville. With Neville, he wanted to go talk and get to know him. With Neville, he felt comfortable to the point where he could talk to him about his personal problems; with Professor Nott, he only could talk about school-related topics.

That was why, one day when he struggled with a personal problem of his, he sought out Neville instead of Professor Nott. Yet even though Neville had told him that he was welcome to visit whenever, Teddy still felt a bit jumpy when he knocked on Neville’s personal office door.

“Come in.” Teddy opened the door and entered with his hands behind his back. Neville’s office was a nice, cosy room; sunlight streaming inside gave it a warm and inviting feel. The earthy colours Neville had picked out for his curtains, carpeting, and furniture was a nice change from the rich and high-class office Professor Nott kept. Then there were the various flowers and plants Neville had all over the room. He saw a bonsai tree in the corner, and he remembered the time Neville had shown him how to take care of it. Teddy hoped to keep a bonsai tree of his own one day.

Teddy walked closer to the front of Neville’s desk. It was a large desk, and it was covered with papers. He looked at Neville who, with a quill in one hand and an essay in another, appeared quite occupied. Teddy had a feeling he’d come at bad time. “I . . . are you busy?” Teddy asked, his foot scuffing up the carpet.

“Oh, no! This is my last essay, and then I’ll be done . . . although the mess here probably makes it look like I have more to go . . . do excuse it. I kind of like having my desk all covered up with papers,” Neville explained cheerfully. He set the parchment and the quill down and gave Teddy his full attention. He gestured at the chair that was next to Teddy. “Have a seat. What can I do for you? Oh, would you like some tea and biscuits?”

After getting his own cup of steaming tea, Teddy took a sip and nibbled on a biscuit. “I . . . I need some advice.”

“Oh?” Neville’s brown eyes twinkled, and he lifted one dark blond eyebrow. For a few seconds, that eyebrow distracted Teddy. It wasn’t elegant and thin like Professor Nott’s or bushy and wild like Hagrid’s, but it was in between and nicely-shaped. Teddy didn’t think Neville would cast an eyebrow shaping spell like his grandmamma did, so those brows had to be natural. He decided he’d try to transform his just like that later when he was alone in the loo.

“Grandmamma’s birthday’s coming up. I want to get her a special gift, but I don’t have a clue on what to get her.”

“Well,” Neville said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his hands together, “what did you get her before?”

“Usually a card with a drawing or something, but I want to do something different this year . . . ” Teddy explained. “I’m coming up with a blank on what I could get her.”

“What are some things she likes?”

“She likes tea, flowers, books, and sewing, but those aren’t anything special for me to get her,” Teddy listed, staring at the teacup in his hand.

“Teddy? Anything you get her will be special since it’s from you.”

“I know . . . but I want to do more.” Teddy wasn’t sure how to explain it, but he really wanted to get her something extraordinary. “I was hoping you could give me a better advice than Helena and Jacob did. Helena told me to get her a subscription to Witch Weekly, and Jacob suggested I get her a bunch of sweets I can nab from her later.”

“Hm.” Neville pondered after he laughed at Teddy’s story. “When is her birthday?”

“In about a month.”

“Why don’t you try to make a handcrafted gift? You can personalise it to her liking, and since you made it yourself, it will really make her happy.”

Handcrafted? Like what? It wasn’t like he knew how to sew or anything. “I don’t know how to do that kind of thing. I can’t sew or knit.”

“Do you know Luna Lovegood-Scamander?” Teddy nodded. Since she was friends with Harry and Neville, Teddy knew of her slightly. “She’s really good at making all sorts of stuff. Maybe she could show you how to make a bookmark or something? You could also learn a stasis charm that will freeze your grandmother’s favourite flower into staying in its beautiful state forever, and you could add to the bookmark. Those are some suggestions.”

Teddy thought about it. It wasn’t something grand like he was originally thinking, but it was a great idea that would allow him to make a unique gift for his grandmamma, and it would be special since he made it personally. “That’s a good idea,” Teddy spoke with a smile. “But I don’t know Ms Lovegood-Scamander well enough to contact her . . . ”

“Then allow me. I’ll contact her. She’ll love to teach you all her neat tricks, and plus, you will be a new audience for her. She’ll love to talk about the Nargles with you.”

“Nargles?”

Neville smiled mysteriously. “You’ll see.”

Intrigued as he was by Neville’s vagueness, Teddy was happier with the fact that he finally had an idea for his grandmamma’s birthday present. Joyfully, he drank and ate more of his tea and biscuit, and he said, “Thanks, Neville.”

Neville’s deep voice answered, “You’re welcome,” and the rest of the afternoon passed by pleasantly as Neville and Teddy talked about Hogwarts and Herbology.

“I hear you’re having some problems in your DADA class,” Neville said, placing a teacup and a saucer in front of Teddy.

Teddy came to have his weekly Saturday afternoon tea with Neville. Somehow, ever since that time when he went to talk to Neville about his grandmamma’s birthday present dilemma, they both made this get-together a weekly ritual. Teddy enjoyed their weekly meeting, but today, he wasn’t in a good mood and he scowled when Neville mentioned “DADA”.

“It’s that Boggart! I . . . I hate that thing!” Teddy exclaimed. He really did detest that creature, and he hated how its main purpose was to scare individuals by revealing their deepest fears out in the open like that. His deepest fear was loneliness, and although the Boggart would transform into this ball of darkness, and although he could see that it puzzled his schoolmates, he didn’t want them to know what his real fear was. Even though it was rather humorous to see his friend’s deepest fear — Helena was afraid of some weird looking people with white make-up on their faces, giant noses, weirdly painted mouths, colourful curly hairs, and these bizarre, puffy, polka-dot outfits — he still didn’t want to display his vulnerabilities.

“I don’t blame you. I didn’t really enjoy those either, but your father turned our Boggart class into a fun one . . . at least for me.”

Teddy brightened at the mention of his father. Harry had told him stories about his father as a professor, but Neville never mentioned about his experiences with his father. And since Neville never talked about it before, Teddy had almost forgotten the fact that Neville was a student of his father’s.

“Will you tell me about that class? Harry had already told me, but . . . I’d like to hear it from your perspective. And how come you’ve never talked about my father before?” Teddy didn’t mean to sound so curious and invasive, but he wanted to hear about his father. His grandmamma had plenty of stories to tell about his mother, but aside from Harry, there weren’t a lot of people he could talk with about his father.

Neville laughed lightly. “Which one do you want me to answer first?”

With his face and his hair turning red, Teddy stammered, “I, er, that is . . . ”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m just joking.” Neville sipped on his tea before continuing. “Your father, as I’m sure Harry had told you, was a wonderful professor. Patient and kind, he allowed me to grow at my own pace, and he never once made me feel like I was a failure. I almost want to say, he’s probably the first adult who really instilled any confidence in me.”

Teddy listened to the Boggart story. He’d already heard about that particular class from Harry, but hearing the same story from Neville, it sounded different yet still very familiar.

As he listened and processed this precious bit of information, he realised that his father had left an impact on quite a few people. Sure, his father had only taught at Hogwarts for one year, but he knew, whether it was a day or a decade, single or multiple encounters, one person can leave a lasting impression on someone, leaving a bit of themselves behind.

His father had done that. Teddy felt like his father was more tangible after hearing these stories, and since he heard it from Harry and Neville — the two people he felt most connected to — he understood then that he was not alone, and he should never fear loneliness.

His father had given Harry and Neville confidence. Now, it was his turn. Indirectly, he received confidence from his father through Neville, and he’d tackle that bloody Boggart now!

“I can see you’re ready to challenge that Boggart. Shall we do that?” Neville asked, smiling as he stood up.

Teddy grinned. “Ready. Oh, and Neville? Thank you.”

He didn’t have to clarify on what he was thanking Neville for. Neville already knew.

Teddy grumbled and glared at the blank parchment, wishing he could burn it up with his eyes. He couldn’t concentrate on anything at the moment, especially not an essay; all he could think about was his latest argument with his grandmamma.

Behind him, he heard Neville shuffling about, seeing to his plants. It wasn’t a Saturday; Teddy only came here today to work on his dreaded Muggle Studies essay, wanting a quiet place with no distraction. Yet he was too high-strung to get the words out.

He startled when he heard Neville ask, “All right there, Teddy?”

Teddy grunted, watching the ink from his quill drip onto the clean parchment, wondering if he could at least train his eyes to do telekinesis and draw an unflattering image of his grandmamma. He decided against that idea. Knowing her psychic abilities, she’d find out and chew his ears out since she was obviously part-Harpy. Or at least distantly related to one.

He looked up when Neville sat across from him, who said lightly, “Sorry, but I don’t speak or understand cave-man language. Care to speak in English? Or maybe Welsh? I know a bit.”

Teddy bit his tongue. It really wouldn’t be wise to tell a professor — no matter how close they are — to bugger off. He thought for a minute before he asked, “How come you stopped being an Auror?”

Neville blinked before he said, “It just wasn’t for me. I’ve always preferred Herbology.”

“If you’ve always preferred Herbology, why’d you become an Auror?”

“To be honest, I wanted to still try it. It was something my parents did. I wanted to try it and see if I could feel closer to them. And Gran, who raised me, had this idea that I’d be like my father, her only son.”

It was Teddy’s turn to blink. “That’s it!” he blurted. “That’s the same thing Grandmamma’s pushing me into! She wants me to be an Auror. She insists that it’ll be a good career and it’ll let me work with Harry.” He looked off to the side, trying to suppress his bitterness. He tried to keep the words from coming out, but they escaped him. What he said next wasn’t exactly true, but he was just so frustrated that the words tumbled out. “I think that’s all she sees me as. I look more like my mum. I’m a Metamorphmagus like my mum. I like to be a night owl like my mum. Apparently, I am my mum’s clone! Grandmamma doesn’t see me as me. I’m just a male version of Mum!”

Breathing hard, Teddy angrily looked away as tears stung his eyes. He hated to lose his composure, but after days of keeping his feelings bottled up, he just couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Neville didn’t say anything, and Teddy realised then that he probably sounded really immature and bratty. Bowing his head, his fringe covering his eyes, Teddy mumbled, “Sorry.”

“No need to apologise,” Neville answered calmly.

Teddy looked up then, and he saw something in Neville’s face. He didn’t see disgust or pity; he saw support and understanding in those brown eyes. “You understand,” he said simply.

Neville nodded. “What is it do you want to pursue after Hogwarts? What is it you really want to do?”

“Potions. I . . . I want to study it and be a Potions master.”

“Have you ever tried to tell your grandmother what you just told me?”

Teddy shook his head. “I didn’t think she’d listen. She’s . . . stubborn.” He stopped himself in time from saying “an old cow”.

“You should do so. Granted, like you said, she’ll be stubborn, but she’ll come around. Gran did for me. Eventually.” Neville grinned. “Just don’t do your screaming banshee act, all right? Believe me when I say that older women are not to be messed with. They are quite . . . formidable.”

Teddy snorted. “And strange.”

“I can’t disagree with you on that.” Neville laughed and shook his head. “Then again, my grandmother likes to wear vulture hats.”

“That’s nothing. Mine thinks sauerkraut with liver is tasty. I think she’s mad. Those two things are nasty, and that sauerkraut stinks up the whole house when she makes it. I swear, her nose is fully clogged.” Teddy sniggered at the green tinge on Neville’s face.

Neville coughed. “Well, we’ll have to exchange grandmother stories later.” He eyed Teddy’s parchment. “Is that your Muggle Studies essay?”

“Yeah.”

“You better start writing that essay. Now that Luna’s the new Muggle Studies professor, the consequences are not pretty if you don’t do well on your assignment.”

Rolling his eyes, Teddy dryly said, “I don’t mind listening to her talking about the Nargles. She does that whenever she helps me with Grandmamma’s gifts.”

“Oh? That’s only like a few hours.” Neville’s face turned green once more. “Try ten hours and throw in twelve hours of her talking about the Blibbering Humdinger and Crumple-Horned Snorkack to the mix.”

Teddy stared at Neville and then quickly looked at the parchment. “Er, I suppose I should concentrate fully on the many uses of a Karaoke machine.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

Teddy groaned as he lifted up his blanket to see his morning greeting. This had become a daily occurrence, and he knew this was normal for a boy of his age, but the content of his dreams confused him. Instead of soft and gentle curves, dainty and pretty hands, perky breasts, and a gorgeous female seducing him, he had hard angles, large and callused hands, a flat chest, and a handsome male seducing him.

He wasn’t particularly bothered by the fact that it was a faceless bloke invading his sexual fantasies. Then again, he’d never really thought about his sexual orientation that much before. He’d just assumed he liked the ladies; the idea that he’d prefer the gentlemen had never really occurred to him until these dreams appeared almost out of nowhere.

Something in the back of his mind was trying to tell him something. He sensed something familiar about the faceless bloke, but no matter how much he mulled over that pesky implication, he was unable to figure out the faceless bloke’s identity.

He needed to talk about this with someone, someone who wasn’t an adult and who wouldn’t judge him.

He decided to tell Helena first; he was slightly closer to her anyway. He’d tell Jacob later.

He told her at the docks. It was just the two of them enjoying the warm spring sunshine and the flower-scented breeze. He took a deep breath and said, “I think I’m gay.”

Helena’s gum went flying and landed in the water with a plop. She turned and stared at him as her mouth moved without making a single sound. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Not that I care, but why do you think you’re gay. It’s either you are or you’re not. Or you could be bisexual. If that’s the case, your Metamorphmagus skills will come in handy if your next man or woman decides they want to experiment having sex with the opposite gender.”

He gave her a horrified look. “How can you say all that with a straight face?”

“It’s in my nature.” She smirked at him. “Now, don’t change the subject. Why do you think you’re gay?”

“I . . . I just think I am?” No matter how close they were, he decided to keep his fantasies and dreams a secret only privy to himself.

“Look,” she said exasperatedly. “Are you asking me to help find out if you are? Is that what this is about? You want me to plant you a big, wet kiss or something?”

Unsure if she was serious or not, he slowly said, “I guess?”

“Fine, fine.”

Before his brain could decipher her response, she grabbed him by his arms, and her grip was extremely strong — not surprising since she was one of the Beaters. As his arms protested against her iron-clad hold, she pulled them together, with her breasts squashing into his own chest. He didn’t find them pleasant or soft. When their lips met, her teeth clashed into his, but after that initial bumpiness, they stayed still, hers pressing against his, and he waited for some sort of a spark or a “zing” he secretly read about in his grandmamma’s trashy romance novels from her own hidden stash.

He felt nothing. No spark, no zing, absolutely nothing.

They parted, and she grinned. “You didn’t like it.”

He gave her an apologetic look. “I’m so–”

“Don’t apologise. You don’t need to. At least we’ve established that you don’t like kissing girls — or at least me. Are you going to test your gay theory by kissing Jacob? That would actually be a very interesting way to come out to him.”

“Helena!” he yelled. “Ew! Just, no! I think he’d punch me if I tried!”

“True. A shame, though. I’d kill to have a picture of you two snogging. That could be my personal wanking material . . . ”

He covered his ears and shouted, “Too much information!”

Helena’s laugh could be heard all the way to Wales.

“I have a question,” Jacob said, blowing on his hands. “That damn warming spell is not helping.”

“That’s,” Helena said witheringly, “not a question.”

Teddy snorted as he watched the people pass by. Many were Hogwarts students enjoying their Hogsmeade weekend, but there were older wizards and witches bustling through the busy town.

Jacob glared. “Thank you for pointing out the obvious, but my previous comment goes well with what I’m about to say next. Why, for the love of Merlin, are we people watching out in this freezing weather?!”

“There’s more to see out here,” Helena explained. “While Teddy and I admire the handsome wizards walking around, you can drool over the witches and imagine them propositioning to you. A shame it’ll never happen in reality.”

“Oi!” Jacob shouted while Helena threw her head back and laughed. “I don’t see any wizards coming up to you or Teddy! Teddy, why are you letting her abuse me like this?”

Holding back his own laughter, Teddy held up his hands and backed away. “Don’t drag me into this. You and I both know that it’s pointless trying to outwit her.”

Something caught Teddy’s eyes. Ignoring his two best mates bickering as usual, he squinted his eyes, barely making out the two people in the shadows of the dark alleyway. His eyes widened a bit as he watched the two of them in their private snog fest. He could see one of them pressed against the wall; he took in that wizard’s strong grip on his partner’s hips. The way the two moved against one another appeared so powerful, so needy yet beautiful, that Teddy had to force himself to look away. Yet he couldn’t help but feel something off about this, feel like he should know one of those wizards.

Helena and Jacob hadn’t noticed anything. They were still arguing with each other, so Teddy walked away from them and he leaned against a wooden fence and dug through his bag of sweets. He picked out a Chocolate Frog and unwrapped it, holding onto the sweet tightly so it wouldn’t escape. Just as he took a bite, he saw one of the wizards walk out from the alleyway. He looked at the wizard’s back, looked at the familiar dark-brown robes, the slightly shaggy dark-blond hair, and he stilled. The chocolate in his mouth melted, but he couldn’t taste anything. He just stared at the wizard’s back, feeling something igniting deep inside of him.

“Oh! Hello, Professor Longbottom!” Helena’s distinctively loud voice pulled him out from his stupor, and Teddy now stared into Neville’s slightly flushed face.

And Teddy knew why Neville’s cheeks were pink, he knew why Neville’s lips were swollen, and he knew why the back of the robes looked slightly dusty.

He knew.

His feelings hidden inside of him intensified. Anger, happiness, sadness, eagerness. They all warred against each other within him. All those times he’d spent with Neville, the advices, the conversations, those dreams . . . he’d somehow fallen for Neville Longbottom.

He was in a daze. He could hear Helena and Jacob talking to Neville. He heard himself telling Neville that he’d just bought some sweets. When Neville walked away, Teddy didn’t miss the concerned looks from him. And when Helena and Jacob asked if he was all right, he answered in a monotonous voice.

At the castle, when he was finally alone in his dorms, his mind cleared up a bit. He lay on his bed and closed his eyes, and it wasn’t long before his imagination took over. He thought about what it would be like if he’d been the one pushing Neville against that dirty wall, wondered how tight Neville’s hands would be on his hips. Those same hands were always gentle and caring towards any plant life. Would there be dirt under the nails? How would Neville’s callused hands feel when they touched him?

He thought about the kiss, remembering how that one kiss with Helena left him feeling nothing. Somehow, he just knew that kissing Neville would be different. The “zing” he so craved, he almost could sense it on his own lips. He then pondered on how Neville would taste. Would he taste the tangy flavours of Earl Grey — Neville’s favourite tea — or would it be something different? Something spicy? Sweet?

In a joint effort, all of his senses and his mind worked overtime as he fantasised all of this to the point he almost thought Neville was actually in the room with him — kissing, touching, never stopping, and always encouraging.

After hours of lying on his bed, Teddy whispered, “Blimey.”

With this huge revelation, he knew that everything had changed for him.

Their Saturday get-togethers occurred less. Teddy told Neville he was too busy studying for his NEWTs, a perfectly good excuse he used all throughout his seventh year.

Honestly, though, being away from Neville was a blessing and a curse. Teddy hated being away from him, hated that he had to lie and pretend he was too NEWT-obsessed to be in the same room as him. Even his Herbology classes were doing a number on his libido. Every time he saw Neville do something, he wanted to jump him. Just hearing Neville’s deep voice and watching those wonderful hands touch a plant in a caressing manner made Teddy instantly aroused.

It wasn’t long before Helena and Jacob cornered him at the docks to question his strange behaviours.

“What’s the matter with you? I know I always say that we’re an odd bunch, but you’re acting really weird.” Jacob punched Teddy’s shoulder, making him wince.

Before he could punch Jacob back or shove him into the lake, Helena announced, “I think I know why. Ickle Teddy Bear is in love.”

“That’s your theory. My theory is better,” Jacob said, cutting Teddy off once more.

“What’s your theory? You know I’ve got the brains, right? You’re just too busy fumbling around in Myrtle’s bathroom with whatsherface to come up with a good theory. You’re just going to say something like ‘He needs to get laid’.”

“Oi!”

“You know I’m right.” Helena smirked before turning her attention to Teddy. “Now, fess up!”

Teddy hesitated. He knew his friends wouldn’t judge him, but he wasn’t sure if he could tell them yet. He chose to be vague. “You’re right, I suppose.”

Jacob gave him a wary look. “She is?”

Helena ignored Jacob and gave Teddy a long look. “With who?”

“I don’t really want to say right now.”

“You’re spoiling the fun here. You’re supposed to launch onto about the love of your life and how you’d bring them the moon and the stars or something sappy like that.” She grimaced. “Never mind. I should know better than to believe in those crap-filled romance novels.”

Before Teddy could retort with something witty, Jacob, in an uncharacteristically quiet voice, said, “It’s Professor Longbottom, isn’t it?”

Teddy swallowed loudly, fighting hard to keep his purple hair from changing colours. He could have easily denied his friend’s claim and lied. But he found himself unable to deny the truth now that it was out in the open, especially when his two best friends were right in front of him. Closing his eyes tightly, he nodded.

Nobody said anything. Teddy could hear the splashing from the lake, the distant chattering of students, and Fang’s barking. There was a breeze, and the pages of his book fluttered under his thumbs. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and forced himself to look at his friends.

He nearly fell off the docks upon seeing their grins.

“We knew it. Or at least we guessed it, but I was the one who thought of Professor Longbottom.” Jacob turned towards Helena and gleefully said, “I was right. You owe me now!”

Grumbling, Helena muttered, “For once. I mean, it was kind of obvious, so even you could have picked up on Teddy’s sudden mood changes and the changes in his schedules.”

Teddy blinked. “You guys were betting on me?”

“Not really. We were just guessing.” Helena sat next to Teddy and put an arm around his shoulders. “I have to say, you have good taste. That Professor Longbottom does have some nice arse.”

“Please! I respect the bloke. Really, I do, but let’s not talk about his or anyone’s arse at the moment?” Jacob intervened.

Laughter escaped Teddy’s mouth, and he felt tension leaving his body. He should have expected his friends to make a serious situation into a fun one.

Helena rolled her eyes at Jacob’s statement. “I’m going to pretend you’re invisible. I’ll just talk to Teddy. Anyway, Teddy, dear, what are you going to do about your great love for Professor Longbottom?”

“Nothing,” Teddy sighed.

“Nothing?” Jacob and Helena said together.

“Yeah, nothing. I mean, I . . . ”

“Is it because you don’t want to broach that student and teacher relationship thing?” Helena asked.

“No, that’s not it . . . ”

“Is it because you don’t feel like you’re — how should I put this . . . oh, sod it. You don’t feel like you can confess anything to him until you feel like you’re his equal or something?” Jacob questioned seriously.

Helena and Teddy gaped as if Jacob had grown another head and a tail.

“What?” Jacob looked annoyed. “Despite what you two might think, I am not an idiot.”

“Ah.” Helena snapped her finger with a smile. “You’ve been reading those psychology books of yours, haven’t you? Well, you’ve always been a bit sex-crazed, so all those Freudian stuff should be a no-brainer for you!”

“Aw, stuff it, Helena!” Jacob gave Teddy his full attention. “Anyway, if that’s the case, then the solution is simple! Go out into the real world, live a little, and then when you’re ready to conquer Professor Longbottom, go after him.”

“Yeah, follow Jacob’s plan. I hate to admit it, but it’s actually a good one. You need to be wiser and gain more self-confidence to go after a man of Professor Longbottom’s calibre. You can do it, Teddy.”

“Oh, you two!” Teddy laughed once more and crushed them into a three-way hug. “Thanks. For everything.”

“Don’t thank us. Thank Professor Scamander. Have you been talking to her lately? She made me and Jacob have a meeting. A three-hour long meeting, sprouting about Nargles or something, saying that they’ve possessed you, and that we need to talk to you.” Helena made a face. “We don’t take Muggle Studies like you do. Does she go on like that all the time?”

“Well, the last time I met her, my head was in the clouds . . . ” Teddy gave them a sheepish look. “Yeah, she tends to ramble, doesn’t she?”

“Definitely,” Jacob affirmed. “Not that it’s a bad thing, I suppose. Her theories were interesting. Strange, but interesting.”

“Enough with this love fest between us. Let’s talk more on this later. I want to go to Hogsmeade. You two come with me.” Helena got up and stretched. “I want some sweets. Race you two!”

She dashed off, with Jacob running after her, shouting that she’d cheated. Teddy ran after them, his book in hand, and he decided he’d just have fun with these two now and think about Neville later. He had time, after all.

Teddy felt like an idiot.

He watched the closed doors to Neville’s office, shifting his feet. He’d stayed there for the last fifteen minutes, wishing he’d brought that letter with him so he could have just easily slipped it under that door.

“I should have just endured Helena’s screeching lecture and just went about it my own way,” he muttered to himself, thinking back to the conversation he had with his two friends earlier. He and Helena and Jacob were technically no longer Hogwarts students as of this afternoon, but they were spending one final night here before they all separated tomorrow.

Teddy took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He’d told his friends that he had a plan, a simple plan consisting of him confessing his love to Neville. In a letter.

He regretted telling them his plan. Helena had balked at the idea, claiming that it was very impersonal and a coward thing to do. In fact, her exact words were, “I know you and I are the intelligent Slytherins, and we like to tackle stuff seamlessly and quietly, but I know you’ve got some of that Gryffindor traits in you. Find it, grab their bollocks, and go tell Professor Longbottom in person!”

Even Jacob had agreed with her. Damn him for being so diplomatic about it, too, with his, “She’s right, you know. She and I both say go tell him in person. You’re the one who wants to send him a love confession on a parchment. That’s two against one. Majority rules in this case.”

“Traitors, the lot of them!” Teddy continued to mumble to himself.

He groaned, hearing Helena’s waspish voice in his brain again. He clearly heard her, “Knock on that door, you idiot! Now!”

Teddy stepped closer to the door, raised his shaking hand, and knocked.

“Come in,” Neville’s pleasant voice rang out; the deep tone made Teddy’s stomach do flip-flops. He realised then that it had been ages since he’d last came to visit Neville, and he wished he hadn’t been so stupid to forgo his Saturdays like that. Forcing himself to stay away from Neville had caused Teddy to miss him more.

Teddy entered, and he saw Neville’s expression, a mixture of surprise and something else. Expectant? Was Neville expecting him?

Neville’s face transformed, displaying his gentle, familiar smile. Standing up, he gestured at the chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat. Do you want some tea? Juice?”

This all felt familiar and comforting, but that didn’t ease his nervousness at all. Teddy shook his head and stuffed his hands into his pocket before saying, “I’m only here for a bit. I just want to tell you something.”

“Oh?” One of Neville’s eyebrows quirked up, and Teddy had to clench his fists, preventing one or both of them from reaching out. He couldn’t allow his hands to touch Neville. He knew if they touched Neville, they would never stop.

Teddy mentally slapped himself. He had to do this. He wanted to do this, wanting no regrets or having questions about all the “what-ifs”. Taking a deep breath, he whispered, “I like you.”

Neville blinked. “I like you, too, Teddy.”

“No!” Teddy lowered his voice. “I mean, I like you, Neville. I’ve liked you for a while, probably for a long time, but I didn’t realise it until . . . ” He bit his lips, realising it wouldn’t be a good idea to mention his accidental voyeurism at Hogsmeade.

“That day in Hogsmeade. You saw me and my lover then.” Neville’s calm statement was just that, a statement, not a question. “You also stopped our Saturday get-togethers.”

Teddy gaped at him. He’d imagined all sorts of conversations from the result of his confession, but this scenario had never occurred in his head. “I . . . how’d you know?”

“Teddy,” Neville sighed. “I thought about this, and only two things came into my mind. One was that I did something to upset you. I wasn’t certain what I might have done, but I must have done something to make you uncomfortable with me. The other possibility was that you’ve developed a crush on me, and that made you uncomfortable instead. With you here, visiting me on your final night instead of out partying with your friends, I figured the second possibility was the most logical.”

Once again, Teddy felt like an idiot, but he hurried onto his next question, figuring he had nothing to lose. “How do you feel about me?”

Neville was quiet for a moment before he answered. “Teddy, I’ve known you since you were a child. You’ve grown up to become a fine wizard, and I admit you’re very easy on the eyes, but . . . ”

“Don’t say it. Don’t say I’m too young and don’t know any better.”

“Teddy, have you even been with anybody?”

“Well, no, but . . . ”

“I don’t want you to mistake your affection towards me.”

“It’s not a mistake!” Teddy felt his hair changing colour. He knew, without looking, it was fiery red right now. He pursed his lips and breathed hard through his nose as he tried to calm down. In a softer voice, he said, “It’s not a mistake, nor am I confused. I know what I want, and I know my feelings well to know that I really do like you. That day, when I saw you in Hogsmeade, I was jealous of that guy. I was wishing I was in his place instead of him. I . . . I’m no longer your student. I’m of age, and I know what I want. I want you.”

Neville stayed quiet, his usually warm brown eyes were void of any emotion, but Teddy saw it. A tiny glint of emotion. He wasn’t sure exactly what that glint was, but his instincts told him it was something akin to desire and astonishment.

It was enough to give Teddy courage to say, “Kiss me, please. Kiss me. I want to . . . I want to try it with you.”

Neville’s eyes narrowed. “You know I can have my wards kick you out?”

Teddy nodded and declared, “But you won’t.” Again, following his instinct, he stepped around Neville’s desk and stopped in front of Neville. Teddy could feel Neville’s warmth, and it made him feel warm, his palms beginning to sweat. He took his hands out and reached out to tilt Neville’s head slightly. In the last couple of years, Teddy had outgrown Neville by a couple of inches. Their eyes met, and this time Teddy didn’t miss the glint of suppressed desire.

Click on the image for the larger version. Fanart by Vividescent.

Slowly, Teddy moved closer, angling his head slightly. He could feel Neville’s hot breath against his cheeks, and he stilled when only mere centimetres separated them. Teddy waited, wondering if Neville would push away or punch Teddy’s noggin hard.

Neville did neither. Who made the next move, Teddy wasn’t sure, but the gap between them closed and lips met each other. Neither moved, just two lips pressed against each other, both chapped but warm. The light pressure didn’t give Teddy the spark he sought, so he was about to break it off, disappointed, but then Neville slightly parted his lips, and Teddy parted his, too. Their tongues, both hot and wet, encountered then, and that was when Teddy felt that delicious, powerful, and mind-blowing zing.

Blood rushed through Teddy’s body, and he had a sensory overload as he tasted, smelled, and touched the man he’d been wanting for ages. All those dreams of him kissing and touching Neville were nothing compared to the actual real thing right this moment. He intensified the kiss, his tongue reaching deeper into Neville’s sensual mouth. His hands, originally around Neville’s hips, began to move and dance all over Neville’s broad back and shoulders. While his mouth and his hands busied themselves, he pressed his whole body against Neville’s, loving the hardness of a man’s body and discovering just how wonderful Neville fit in his embrace.

Teddy wanted someone to freeze them, desperately wishing he could always savour this exact moment, but his longing went unanswered as Neville gently broke the kiss and stepped back as he panted lightly.

Panting himself, Teddy could feel disappointment growing inside of him. He struggled to keep his face neutral. “You didn’t like it, right?”

Neville shook his head. “On the contrary,” he said softly, reaching out to place a hand on Teddy’s shoulder, “it was quite nice.”

“Nice?” Teddy echoed. “Nice? It was beyond nice! I . . . kissing you was brilliant! It was so much different, so much better, so much . . . way better than kissing Helena!”

“Helena?” Neville started to laugh. “I see.”

Teddy wasn’t sure what made him say his next statement, but he did. He grabbed Neville’s shoulder and looked at him fiercely. “You enjoyed it. You felt that zing, too.”

“Zing? Is that what the younger crowds call it now?”

Teddy, embarrassed by his choice of word, ducked his head, blushing hard to match his hair colour. “Well, yes, zing. I blame my grandmother’s secret stash of romance novels. I think that’s where I picked up that word–”

Neville’s hand went through Teddy’s hair, and that calmed Teddy down. His fingers, so long and big and protective trailed down to touch Teddy’s cheek. His voice gentle, he said, “I felt it, too. That spark. I’ve been with a few partners now, but kissing you, I felt that connection. Kissing you is different from the others.”

Teddy’s eyes brightened, and his hair changed to turquoise while his face still remained red. “Does that mean–” He couldn’t continue it. Instead, he gave Neville a hopeful look.

“Well . . . ” Neville’s hesitation caused Teddy’s stomach to plunge unpleasantly. “Teddy, I do like you, and I am attracted to you. However, I don’t know if it’d be a good idea to start up a relationship with you so quickly.”

“I see,” Teddy said slowly. He heard the unsaid words. He knew Neville thought he was too young, not ready to get into a relationship with someone seventeen years older. He still had some growing up to do in Neville’s eyes. He’d matured from a little child to a man now. He’d gone through many changes that were physical and concrete or mental and abstract. He’d evolved, and he wasn’t finished. Neither was Neville, nor anybody else. Evolution was everywhere, inevitable and inescapable, but it could be manipulated, and that was exactly what Teddy planned to do. After all, he was a Slytherin.

Neville looked at him warily. “You’re smiling. Rather dangerously. Should I worry?”

Teddy shook his head. “No, I plan to woo you.”

“You are?”

“Yeah. I agree we should take this slow. You know I’ve taken up an apprenticeship to become a Potions master? I’ll be doing that with Professor Slughorn. That means I’ll be in Hogwarts a lot. That also means . . . ”

Neville chuckled. “I can’t get rid of you that easily, right?”

“Right.”

“Okay, get that mastery first, and then we’ll take the next step.”

“Wait, what?” Teddy glared, wondering if he’d just been outwitted by Neville, a Gryffindor of all people. “That might take a couple of years!”

Neville just laughed again. “We’re wizards. We’ve got a pretty long lifespan, so why are you going to let two or three years hinder your goal?”

“When you put it that way . . . ” Teddy rolled his eyes. “Oh, fine! It’s obvious I can’t win with you!”

Neville responded with a soft kiss to Teddy’s cheek. “Glad you realised that. Now, do me a favour? Go out and party with your friends. You don’t need to hole yourself up in here with me when your friends are leaving tomorrow.”

“Can I have another one of those ‘zinger-fied’ kisses? On the mouth?” Teddy couldn’t help asking.

“Fine, fine. But after that, I’ll kick you out. I need to go water Maurice and Alec, and I’ll have to make sure Clive is recovering from a burn one of the first year students caused, all right?”

“All right.” And Teddy puckered up one last time for the night.

Now that he had hope, he would use it to his advantage. And his next goal was to convince Neville to take the next step sooner than later by asking Helena and Jacob to come up with a plan — never mind that their plans had a tendency to work or backfire or both.

Teddy was ready for anything.

There is only one admirable form of the imagination: the imagination that is so intense that it creates a new reality, that it makes things happen. — Sean O’Faolain

“But I don’t want to go to bed! I’m not tired!”

Draco let out an exasperated sigh and stared up at the ceiling and muttered, “Salazar, give me strength!” He turned towards the very stubborn seven-year-old, who was scowling and pouting at the same time, and he found it hard to believe that this pink-haired spawn was his first cousin once removed. Then again, it was rare Draco had to resort to calling Teddy a “spawn”. As an easy-going youngster, Teddy was an example of a child Draco could tolerate. Creative, kind, polite, and intelligent compared to his peers, Draco had grown fond of him in the last few years.

It was with this fondness, he grudgingly would baby-sit for Teddy. Sometimes Scarhead would watch over his godson, but ever since Andromeda Tonks and Narcissa Malfoy renewed their relationship, the two families had become closer after the war, so the baby-sitting job was more or less given to Draco.

At first, he’d been horrified by the request — no, an order — from his mother. Having grown up as an only child, he’d never had to deal with younger siblings, so his exposure to children was very low. He’d never forget his first baby-sitting experience. Teddy had just turned two, was still in nappies, and wasn’t great with talking yet. That meant Teddy was in the dreaded “Terrible Two” stage, and Draco endured the longest night of his life.

He’d hoped that the house elves would be able to help him, but his mother had forbidden elves to assist him. Distraught and nervous, he arrived at his aunt’s house to find a screaming toddler — a cranky toddler who’d missed his nap earlier — and it was up to Draco to calm Teddy down.

With his red hair and red, teary face, Teddy had looked more like a strawberry, and Draco spent the night cajoling Teddy to stop crying.

“Come on,” Draco had urged. “Do you want to colour? Play with a stuffed Crup? Want sweets?”

Teddy had remained uncooperative. “No! No wanna! No! No! No!” He’d cried when Draco had to feed him. He’d cried when Draco had to change him. He’d cried when Draco had tried to sing thirty renditions of “Weasley is Our King”.

Stumped and at the end of his limited patience, Draco had sunk in the sofa, exhaustion washing over him. He couldn’t believe this was the “angelic boy” he’d heard about from his mother. And he really couldn’t believe Teddy was denying sweets, something he thought all children liked! Finally, figuring it wouldn’t hurt and with nobody around to witness what he was about to do, he had brought his hands up to his mouth, grabbed the sides of his mouth, crossed his eyes, and stuck his tongue out while saying, “Blehblehblehblehblaaaah.”

Teddy had stopped and stared at him. Draco had felt a flare of hope, and he had done it again, making even stranger noises and even funnier faces. Teddy’s wide-eyed stare had turned crinkly, and he’d let out a squeal of delight. “Again!”

Amazed that this was what it took to stop a crying child, Draco had complied, and things finally had turned better for him as rest of the night passed with no problems.

Since then, Teddy adored Draco as a baby-sitter.

And Draco didn’t mind it. Now, he actually looked forward to entertaining Teddy.

But tonight was an unusual night; Draco was ready to hex something since he needed to get Teddy to sleep before his aunt came back, and he was certain his aunt would not like Teddy being drugged by a potion! He didn’t like that idea either, but the idea was very tempting.

Frowning, Draco threw out ideas. “Want to listen to music? Want to draw for a bit? Want to watch that loud contraption, the ‘Tell Lee’?”

“No, no, no.”

This was all starting to sound very familiar. Draco wondered if he should make faces like he did before, but he highly doubted it would work again. That sort of thing usually only worked once. Throwing his hands up in the air, he said, “Do you want me to tell you a story or something?!”

Teddy perked at the idea and jumped up at that. “Yeah! Can it be a homemade one? With animals! And don’t make wolves bad!” He pouted. “I’m tired of stories with bad wolves!”

Draco blinked, and then he remembered those Muggle stories he’d read together with Teddy before. Something about a Red Rider meeting a wolf with a taste for the elderly and these three pigs that met a wolf who enjoyed huffing and puffing. Teddy hadn’t enjoyed those, and he’d kept asking why the wolves are portrayed as a negative character. Smiling, he said, “I promise I won’t make the wolf bad in this story. But first, let’s wash you up and change into your pyjamas. While you do that, I’ll be thinking up a story.”

“Okay!” Teddy rushed off, and Draco breathed out in relief. Finally, he could get the little tyke into bed! However, he needed to quickly conjure up a good story, one with a good wolf and other animals. His mind went all over the place as he tried to make a good story from Teddy’s request, but his tired brain refused to work with him. Frantically, he thought of mythologies and legends he’d read as a child. He’d read so many of them before, some Old English ones, Germanic ones, Norse, Greek, and even Asian ones.

Just as he reached Teddy’s room, he finally came up with a workable tale. It wasn’t exactly fleshed out fully, but he’d add onto the story as he told it. Smugly, he remembered his acting days from his third year and his prideful moment as a songwriter in his fifth year. Despite what Pansy had said before, he did have a creative mind, and he would put it to good use once more.

Settling comfortably next to Teddy on the huge bed, he leaned against the headrest, covered Teddy up with a blanket, and put his arm around him. “You ready?”

Nodding eagerly, Teddy squirmed and gave one of his bright smiles. “Ready!”

Draco took a deep breath and opened his mouth to start. He’d almost started the story with “once upon a time”, and he mentally winced. He hated that opening. It sounded too fairy tale-ish and sappy! He caught himself just in time, and he continued with, “Long ago, back when there were many magical creatures still on the Isle, there was a young dragon and a young panther, and they’d become friends. The dragon, a Common Welsh Green named Nye, was sort of an outcast amongst his clan. He was quieter and gentler compared to his peers. He befriended a panther named Calais, who’d come from Greece where he’d been banished by his own clan there. Two magicians, Dionysus and Artemis, decided to let him come to the Isle, and with magic, they transported him here. You see, Calais — like Nye — was a very unique panther.”

Teddy nodded, urging Draco to continue, his eyes large and full of curiosity. “Why?”

“Do you know what a panther is?”

“A big cat. Like a lion? Cheetah?”

“You see a panther is a magical creature who looks like a big cat, but it has multi-coloured fur. Another thing about panthers is that they like to sleep in a cave after a big meal, and for three days and nights, they sleep. On the fourth day, they wake up and let out a mighty roar.” Draco roared loudly, causing Teddy to giggle. “While they roar, they let off a sweet-smelling scent that causes other creatures to come to their cave where it eats them. However, there is one creature that is not affected by the panther’s roar.”

“The dragon?” Teddy guessed.

“Yes. They are immune to it. Still, though, Calais had a problem. You see, he was a multi-coloured panther, but whenever he roared, his colours changed.”

“Like my hair?” Teddy asked in hushed tones. “Like my Metamorphmagus skill?”

“Yes, you could say he was a Metamorphmagus panther, but unfortunately for Calais, the other panthers were jealous and resentful of that skill. That was why he was banished. Anyway, one day Nye heard Calais’ roar, but he didn’t go to the cave because Calais’ lure didn’t work on him, but Nye kept hearing it periodically, and that made him curious. He one day ran into Calais, and the two of them had a horrible fight, both fighting for dominance, both scared and frightened of each other. Calais roared while Nye breathed out his own harmonic roar with his fiery breath. This went on for a while until they both tired themselves out.”

Draco paused, and Teddy said, “What happens next?”

“They talked to each other. You see, they each respected each other’s abilities, and that was when they realised how much they had in common despite being two different creatures. Their feelings of loneliness and social ostracism — feeling like they didn’t belong in their clan — bonded them in ways that would have never happened otherwise. They became great friends, and they even started to hunt together because they didn’t have to hunt the same food, so they helped each other.

“But for these two, it wasn’t enough. They could still see that they were different. One a dragon and one a panther, they weren’t satisfied.”

“Draco? Is this a love story?”

“And then — what?” Draco looked at the solemn expression on Teddy’s face. “Not . . . not really. No! It’s not! Now, let me get to the interesting part! Back then on the Isle, the creatures had a ruler. Not like a king or a queen, but more like someone who made sure nothing went wrong with the harmony between all the animal clans. He’d oversee everything, but he’d rarely interfere with the clans. He was the Wolf-King named Gwydion. He was cunning and he was able to do magic. In a sense, you could say he was the animal version of Merlin, but there was no King Arthur or any of his bungling knights. Somehow news of their unusual friendship reached him, and he visited Calais and Nye one day. Intrigued, he listened to their troubles, and he came up with a plan quickly when they finished their tale.

“It was to test whether they really wanted to do this or not. Gwydion’s plan was for them to stay in a cave for one-hundred days. For those one-hundred days, they could not leave the cave, and the only things they had to eat were some mugwort and twenty cloves of garlic.”

“That’s it?” Teddy wrinkled his nose. “Why yucky food?”

“That was all part of their test,” Draco explained, though he secretly agreed with Teddy on how the food did sound yucky. “Once they staved off their hunger and stayed in the cave for one-hundred days, they’d both be turned into a new species. That was Gwydion’s offer and plan, and both Calais and Nye took it. For the next one-hundred days, they both endured their hunger and the meagre and unappetising food. The cave they were in was very, very deep in the mountain, so they didn’t know if it was day or night, rain or shine, or hot or cold. They both tried to come up with ways to distract themselves. They’d talk about their younger days. They’d talk about what they’d planned to do when this was all over.

“Slowly, but surely, the days passed, and when it was finally the hundredth day, Gwydion appeared in their cave. Unbeknownst to them, Gwydion was very surprised to see that they both didn’t quit in their quest. He had predicted they wouldn’t have lasted through this test, but they did, and he kept his promise. There, he turned them into the first wizards of the Isle. Nye turned into a handsome blond man with a strong body, which had come in handy when he had to deal with taming the dragons later. Calais then became the world’s first Metamorphmagus.”

“Like me!” Teddy’s loud voice nearly made him go deaf.

“Yes, like you. But now they were wizards, they were the same species, and they were both happy to leave their past and focus on their future. And they were the ones who started up the wizarding world.”

“Wow. So . . . they did all this together. That’s brilliant . . . ”

A yawn overtook Teddy, and that prompted Draco to say, “I’m getting tired.”

“Me too.” Teddy wriggled into a lying position, and Draco helped tuck him in. “That was a great story. Can you tell it again? A lot?”

Draco chuckled. “Sure. Not every day, but I will tell you it again.”

“You lied, Draco.”

“I did?!” Draco’s eyebrows disappeared under his fringe. “How?”

“You said this wasn’t a love story. But it is! Two men can be lovers. My friend Tommy told me. But that’s what happened with Calais and Nye, and I hope it happens to me and you, too! I’m a Metamorphmagus like Calais, and your name means ‘dragon’, you got blond hair, so that means you’re Nye!”

Draco nearly spluttered unattractively, but he just held in his tongue and nodded, deciding to humour him.

“So when I grow up, I’m gonna learn how to be pa — pashient. I’m gonna eat a lot of mugthing and garlic, even if it’s yucky. And I’m gonna marry you. Okay?” A happy smile came onto Teddy’s sleepy face. Teddy’s eyes closed as he said, “It’s my promise. I’m gonna be like Calais . . . . ”

Silently, Draco smoothed Teddy’s turquoise — his happy colour — fringe, and he left, going down to the sitting room. There, he mulled over Teddy’s interesting and unique interpretation of the tale. He hadn’t expected Teddy to come up with anything dealing with homosexual relationships. And he definitely hadn’t expected the marriage proposal. A proposal he knew that would never be fulfilled since they were cousins, they were both male, and how could he forget the age difference? Not that it mattered since wizards live much longer than those Muggles, but Draco knew it was impossible.

Teddy was just saying stuff a child would say, and when Teddy was grown up, he’d find a nice witch — or a wizard if he did end up being gay — and he’d forget all about his marriage proposal. Draco was positive about this.

Four years later, on September 1, Draco accompanied Teddy, Andromeda, and — unfortunately — Harry Potter to Platform 9 and 3/4. All of them were there to see Teddy off to Hogwarts, and Draco could see that Teddy was excited and nervous.

“What if the Sorting Hat doesn’t put me anywhere? What if the classes are too hard? What if I get locked in a secret room for years and nobody finds me? What if nobody likes me because I’m a Metamorphmagus?” Draco blinked at the barrage of questions Teddy had thrown out. He was surprised that Teddy was so nervous when he’d been looking forward to it all summer.

The three adults all looked at each other over Teddy’s head. Harry was the one who said, “It will be all right. At least you know all the secrets I’ve told you about Hogwarts! I went there with no knowledge beforehand, so you’ll be in a much better position than me. And you have the Marauder’s Map.” Draco snorted, and Harry gave him a dirty look before saying, “So you can use that to help you.”

“That’s right,” Andromeda said, “you’ll be fine. And the hat will sort you; it always does. You’re a smart boy, so your marks will be excellent.”

“And,” Draco added, “people will like you. If they don’t like you for your Metamorphmagus skills, then they aren’t worth your time.”

When Andromeda and Harry stepped off to the side to say hello to a few people they saw, Teddy smiled shyly at Draco. “I’ll be like Calais, right? I’ll find a friend like Nye?”

Draco bit back a groan. He couldn’t believe Teddy still loved that story. “Yes, I’m sure you will find a friend like Nye.”

“Brilliant! I hope I do.” But then a sly look came on Teddy’s face. “But in the end you will be my Nye.”

“Teddy,” Draco said, raising an eyebrow.

But Teddy interrupted him. “I’m just kidding.”

Draco knew Teddy better than that, though. He knew that tone of voice. It was what Draco dubbed as Teddy’s ambitious voice, and Teddy usually ended up getting what he wanted, especially when the little bugger plotted and schemed to achieve his end. Again, all he hoped was for Teddy to outgrow that foolish idea and acted like a Slytherin in other endeavours. Years ago, Draco would have never guessed Teddy to be a Slytherin, considering his parents, but with him growing up with three Slytherins in his life, it made sense for Teddy to be influenced by them — despite being around one very prominent Gryffindor who Draco couldn’t seem to get rid of.

Sighing, Draco said, “Just do your best and be happy, okay?”

“I will, Draco.” Teddy hugged him, and Draco hugged him back.

“Owl me whenever you want.”

Teddy nodded against Draco’s chest, and it was time for the former to say goodbye to the others.

The next morning, Teddy’s owl attacked Draco. Cursing his head off at the damned bird, he soon forgot about his annoyance as he read Teddy’s short message.

I’m in Slytherin!!!!!!!! Just like you, Grandmamma, and Auntie Narcissa!!!!!

Feeling a burst of pride going through him, Draco quickly wrote a quick note to congratulate him before he headed to work.

Now, with this new chapter of Teddy’s life, he just hoped Teddy would forget that ridiculous marriage proposal.

“Your grandmother tells me you’re doing well in all your classes except for Potions,” Draco said neutrally. “Why’s that? Do you need help?”

It was after Christmas, and Draco found himself visiting his aunt’s place. Draco was actually glad for the company. With his parents holidaying in France, Draco was happy to escape the huge manor, where he only had the house elves and his father’s prancing and preening peacocks to keep him company. Andromeda was busy cooking, and Draco and Teddy were playing a round of chess.

Teddy wrinkled his nose at Draco’s question. “I understand it. Really, I do! But . . . it’s . . . the smell is too nasty.”

“I beg your pardon?” Draco stared at Teddy as if he’d grown three heads. “The smell?”

“I can’t stand them! The smell bothers me.”

“Oh.” Draco remembered Teddy’s powerful sense of smell. It had been passed onto Teddy as a side-effect of Remus Lupin’s curse; Draco was glad that Teddy didn’t get any of the other aspects of the curse. Though, from what he knew about wizarding genetics, he wasn’t quite sure why the sense of smell got passed onto him. He figured the curse mutated Remus’ genes or something.

“But I’ll do better. I want to do better. I just need to figure out a way to block the smell.”

“You will,” Draco reassured, but inwardly, he wasn’t sure how Teddy would solve it. But he wasn’t here to really muse on Teddy’s keen nose. He was here to tell Teddy something important. Something he’d just found out recently. “Teddy? I’ve got some news for you.”

“What?”

“I’ve been accepted by this potions mastery programme.”

Teddy grinned. “That’s great! You’ve wanted it for a while, right?”

“Yes, I have . . . ” Draco trailed off, feeling guilty with the next bit of news. He really didn’t want to crush Teddy’s happiness, but he had to tell him. “But . . . it requires me to be away for a long time.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Teddy’s large eyes widened and his hair went from turquoise to a dull shade of brown.

Draco awkwardly ran his hand through his hair. “It will be an overseas programme. And it’s long. About four or five years. That means I’ll not be on the Isle for the duration of my programme and even longer, especially if I open up that potion business I’ve been wanting, but with the Ministry’s regulations . . . I’ll have to start it in a foreign country, build up a good credibility, and then start another branch in England.”

Teddy’s lips turned more and more downward as he pouted. “That long? Does it have to be that long? I’m gonna be out of Hogwarts by the time you’re back! This . . . I don’t want you to go!” The chess game now forgotten, Teddy stood up quickly, ignoring the fallen pieces, and he gave Draco a sad look. “Can’t you just find another programme in England?”

Quietly, Draco said, “There are no other programmes that will accept me.”

“I hate those Ministry prats!”

“Teddy!” Draco’s own voice was just as sharp as Teddy’s. He was also surprised. Teddy usually did not talk ill of anyone.

“I do! They’re still punishing you and Auntie Narcissa and Uncle Lucius! I hate that! It isn’t fair!”

Draco nearly chuckled at Teddy’s petulant attitude. As mature as Teddy could be at times, it was moments like these that reminded him that Teddy was still a child. “Teddy, it’s okay. I don’t mind, really.” Well, he did, but he wasn’t about to admit that! “Besides, this will give me an excuse to go see the rest of the world and learn all its fine arts of potions making. It isn’t forever, and I will send you stuff through the International Owl Post.”

“Don’t bribe me. I’m not a little boy anymore.” But his scowl slowly disappeared, and it was replaced with a contemplative expression.

Now, Draco turned wary at that look. He’d seen enough of those over the years to know that Teddy was scheming something. “What are you plotting now?”

“Nothing. You’re right. This is a good chance for you. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did. Sorry.”

That threw Draco off for a loop, though the actual words weren’t what did him in. Instead, it was the calm way Teddy had delivered his statement, his face looking tranquil. He had expected Teddy to be upset, yes, but he hadn’t counted on Teddy to accept this . . . quickly.

And Draco didn’t find out the reasoning for all of this until many years later.

Still, at the moment, he accepted Teddy’s change of mood — after all, Teddy was in that pre-puberty stage, so he was bound to have mood swings here and there — and he said, “It’s okay. We’ll keep in touch, all right?”

“All right,” Teddy said, his hair turning back to turquoise, and he reached down to pick up the chess pieces. “New game? I’m gonna beat you this time.”

“Sure. When Weasley actually gets a brain.”

“Which Weasley?”

“All of them. With the exception of King Weasley’s wife,” Draco added grudgingly. And the two of them laughed as they resumed their game before Andromeda called them over for supper.

But in the end, they didn’t keep in touch.

Draco’s programme demanded more from him, and he did more travelling than he’d expected. Not to mention, some of his adventures were quite dangerous, and Draco couldn’t help but curse at those responsible for creating the programme. With some reckless tasks, some quite hare-brained and ridiculous, he wondered if a Gryffindor was the one who came up with the planning. Really, Draco’s idea of fun did not include the following: hunting down a magical snake the size of an anaconda for its venom — and what a grumpy and huge snake that was; suffering from the freezing weather — one that no warming charm could help — in Nunavut to visit a group of Inuits to learn their potions brewing . . . which just had to take place outside their slightly warmer homes; riding a camel through the burning inferno known as the Sahara Desert to look for a Potions master who took residence in the world’s most unplottable place — because the bugger was too damn paranoid and insane to live near a civilised area; hiking for a week over the Alps to look for a plant they needed for an ingredient . . . only to be told it was in the sodding Black Forest; climbing another bloody mountain — this time in the Himalayas — to find yet another Potions master who was a recluse; and scuba diving in Australia to obtain some underwater plants as ingredients.

He enjoyed the last one, especially seeing the coral reefs — though he didn’t quite enjoy the ideas of sharks and poisonous jellyfishes lingering around in the ocean with him — but the rest were quite questionable on their fun factor. Then again, he really shouldn’t complain so much. He should be satisfied they hadn’t sent him to Antarctica. What would he do there? Observe the penguins to see if they really walk and waddle like some stiff butler and freeze his own arse off?

After doing plenty of continents hopping, Draco finally settled himself down in Japan. Tokyo to be more specific. He spent the last year of his mastery programme to study about Japanese potions making, especially the older techniques from the Edo era, which was becoming a lost art, so Draco was pleased to learn something he can pass down to future generations if he were ever given the chance.

When he finally finished his programme, he started up his potion business, and he buried himself into his newest project. When he wasn’t brewing stuff for the business, he was busy managing and financing the place. Draco simply didn’t have much time to keep in contact with his family back on the Isle, though he did manage to send letters back home, and he did send some souvenirs back for Teddy, but otherwise, he wasn’t able to visit once.

Luckily, though, his business succeeded without much hassles. Sure, he had to deal with stupid customers here and there, but the end result was clear — he’d succeeded.

“Finally,” he said, going to a rare party with his co-workers, sipping on sake or beer and eating yakiniku, a favourite of his. Taking a bite of the grilled meat, he continued, “I can go back home.”

“You sound happy,” Chikao said.

Draco smiled slightly at his business partner. Yamamoto Chikao was his first friend in Japan, and they occasionally had kept each other company in bed, but they were just good friends, and Draco knew their relationship would never progress from that. “Yeah. It’s been years . . . I’ll bet so many things have changed.”

“Good luck over there. I’ll come visit you after you get settled.” Chikao reached out and covered Draco’s hand with his. “And yes, things will have changed. I’m sure you will be in for a pleasant surprise.”

“You better visit. I did promise you a tour of London.” Draco grabbed his mug of beer and raised it. “Cheers.”

Chikao’s brown eyes, usually vibrant with happiness, looked sad. But he still smiled and picked his own drink up. “Kanpai. Or as you English would say, cheers! Let’s drink to your success here and more success waiting for you in England.”

“Thanks, Chikao.” Draco drank the rest of his beer and then looked around. He had so many friends and acquaintances here. He was definitely going to miss them.

Draco was definitely in for a pleasant surprise. Apparently, while he was gone, Hermione Granger-Weasley along with Minister Shacklebolt and Harry Potter, managed to tone down the harsh regulations against “former Death Eaters” like him. Meaning, when he did all his paperwork for his business, he didn’t meet much opposition like he’d expected several years ago. He’d been expecting much bureaucratic bullshit to slow him down, and while he was slowed down, he’d planned to meet and enjoy some time with his friends and families. However that idea was shot down as he found himself in a whirlwind of activities as the days passed by him.

He had to oversee the renovation process of his business location, making sure all the proper supplies were purchased and funded for. As that went on, he established business contracts with other businesses he’d want to deal with in the future. One of them was with Neville Longbottom’s herbology business, and he was pleased he signed the contract with the best herbologist on the Isle.

Even Neville seemed eager for their contract

“Any time you need a specific plant, I’ll be sure you get them,” Neville had said cheerfully.

Surprised by the lack of hostility, Draco had nodded slowly. “Er, thank you, Mr Longbottom.”

“Neville. And with your permission, may I call you Draco?”

“Yes . . . Neville, you may call me that.” With a final handshake, Draco had left feeling quite flabbergasted. Neville’s pleasantries were quite unexpected.

But Draco found more surprises during his quest to find a general manager for his own business. Even though he was the owner, he still wanted a manager to help him run the business, and he ended up interviewing quite a few people — some who were questionable at best, and some who nearly choked Draco by the strength of their horrible perfume or cologne. In the end, he found himself choosing Luna Lovegood of all people. Surprisingly enough, he found Luna to be quite intelligent, and she was actually pretty “normal” compared to the other people he’d met. Sure, she talked about the strangest things at random times, but after dealing with eccentric characters in Japan and all over the world, he could tolerate Luna. Besides, he was impressed by her organisational skills and by her knowledge in potions, herbology, and magical creatures.

It wasn’t long before his business was up and running, and he found out quickly that having Luna around was a definite asset. She had a way with the workers, as Draco found out.

“Hello, Draco!” Luna waved a fat folder in Draco’s face. “Here are the reports you’ve requested.”

“Thank you.” Draco paused as he took the folder. “I saw Mr Nottingham with a dazed expression just a while ago. Did you talk to him about how he has to always double-check the numbers before submitting them into the reports?”

“Oh, yes, I did. I told him that, and then we had a lovely conversation for the next three hours on how it’s important to hunt down Nargles every morning because it’ll revitalise you for a brand new day!”

Draco blinked. “Three hours?”

“It was wonderful. I can’t wait to have another conversation with him again.”

And that was Luna’s effective management skills. Whenever an employee made a mistake or did something problematic, Luna would take care of the situation. She was never intimidating, and she was never rude or nasty, but the employees quickly learned that it was better to do their jobs efficiently instead of poorly. The idea of being subjected to three or more hours of discussing Luna’s topic of the day was a good punishment.

Draco shuddered. It was a punishment he never wanted to suffer himself.

“Draco?” Luna walked into his spacious office. She eyed the blank walls. “You really need to put some colour in here. All this white space . . . it’s not healthy for you. Nargles like colourful places, so you really should make it more inviting for them.”

Setting his quill down, Draco gave Luna a look. “I’m sure you didn’t come here to give me yet another lecture about my office, did you? I’ll get arou–”

“Actually, this will be a perfect project to give to the new intern!”

“Intern? What intern?”

Taking a seat on the drab looking chair in front of Draco’s desk, Luna gave him a bright-eyed, eager stare. “That’s what I came to ask you about. I was wondering if we could have an intern or two here. It will be beneficial to your business and to the interns, of course.”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “But we’re still a new business. Do we really need interns right now?”

“Why not? We could try a trial-run, and if it works, we could implement this as a regular business project.”

“Well, you’re right. We could try it and see if it works,” Draco admitted. “Okay, Luna, you have my permission.”

Luna beamed. “Thank you, Draco! And I already have a list of candidates here! You want to hear some of their names?”

“As long as–” Just then, an owl from the International Owl Post came flying in, and he could see Chikao’s familiar handwriting on the attached letter. Quickly, he opened and read the letter, and as his eyes scanned the words, he continued, “I’ll have to go to Japan for a few days. Apparently there’s some financial incident I have to check out.” Draco smiled tightly. “As for your intern selection, I trust your judgement. Just don’t choose someone destructive and dangerous like a Weasley.”

Smiling, Luna said, “All right. Hope you settle the problem in Japan.”

As she left the room, Draco began to grab all the necessary files he needed to take with him to Japan, and he never once noticed the almost calculating and scheming look on her serene face.

As soon as Draco got back from Japan, he went straight to his business. The trip had been stressful, but the financial problems he’d had to deal with were finally settled. There was nothing more he wanted than to just stay in the manor and enjoy a nice long bath and some good alcohol, but he had a business to run, and he couldn’t really neglect his responsibilities. Grudgingly, he trudged into his office, ready to drop dead in his chair, but he stopped and stared at the huge, moving dragon that greeted him.

Thankfully, it wasn’t a real dragon, but the life-like moving painting of it on his wall behind his desk nearly made him shout with fear at first. The bloody mural actually glared at him, and Draco glared back. He wasn’t about to let a mere painting try to take command over him! He looked closely, and that was when he realised the dragon was a Common Welsh. He blinked and noticed the other changes to his office. The walls were no longer white. The walls were painted in the deepest shade of forest green, and its borders were trimmed in silver. Slowly he spun around, and he saw the different curtains on his windows, the plush new furniture that replaced the boring looking ones he had before, and even the carpet had changed from an old, dim grey one to a lush, fluffy cream-coloured carpet.

But it was the wall opposite from his desk that caught his eyes. It was yet another mural. A mural of a panther. It had multi-coloured fur, and it, too, was animated like the dragon. Only problem was, its fur changed colours, and it blinded him horribly like those awful disco lights he’d seen in a club once in Tokyo.

A dragon? A panther? Who . . . who had decorated his office? He felt like he should know the answer, know the significance of all this. A faint niggling was bugging him in the back of his head, but he was too tired to grasp that concept and concentrate on it. Not to mention, he’d only been at work for three minutes, and he already had a blinding headache.

A loud knock irritated his throbbing head more. “Come in,” Draco gritted out.

Luna entered with a cheerful smile. “Welcome back! How was Japan? Do you like your office?”

Draco sat down in one of his new chairs in front of his desks, and he glared at her. “Did you decorate my office?”

“That’s not a greeting. Don’t be so rude by answering a question with a question. But to answer your question, no, I did not decorate it. I haven’t had the time. I told you I was going to get one of the interns to do it, and one volunteered happily to do so! Isn’t it lovely?”

Lovely? Draco wasn’t quite sure if he’d call his new office lovely, but it certainly wasn’t bad or anything. Just not exactly conventional. “I see. An intern. And who might this intern be?”

Luna nodded towards the open door. “You can meet him now.”

Despite his headache, Draco jumped out of his chair in surprise when Teddy walked inside. He immediately knew it was Teddy; he didn’t know anybody else with turquoise hair, and even though it’d been a long time since they’d seen each other, Draco still recognised that quirky smile and that single dimple in his cheeks. What he didn’t recognise, though, was Teddy’s height and build. Last time he saw Teddy, the latter had only come up to his shoulders and had been quite skinny and gawky. Now, Teddy was taller than him by a couple of inches, and he was definitely well-built. The broad shoulders, the strong-looking arms . . . did Teddy really grow up into this handsome man?

Then there was the voice. It was deep, much deeper than he remembered Teddy from before, and it washed over him, sending shivers down his back. “It’s been a while, Draco,” Teddy said lazily, giving a smile that nearly turned Draco into a puddle of Draco-goo.

“I, er, yes.” Draco quickly composed himself, or at least he tried. He nearly lost his composure once more when Teddy had stride over and practically launched himself into a crushing a hug. A hug that allowed him to smell Teddy’s subtle cologne. It had a woodsy scent, and it left him feeling quite dizzy. He felt a tell-tale stirring in his groin, and his mind went blank as he wondered just why Teddy was causing him to react like this.

“I’ve missed you so much, Draco,” said that wonderful, deep voice.

Draco looked over Teddy’s shoulder, and he saw that Luna had already left, the door to his office closed. “So did I.” And he did. He had missed Teddy over the years, and he was sorry he hadn’t been in contact much.

Teddy let go of Draco with a smile. He gestured to the walls. “Do you like them?”

“Well . . . I should have guessed it was you! I can’t believe you still remember that story even until now.”

“I could never forget that story. It really did make a big impact on my life.” Something about the way Teddy said that gave Draco some strange ideas. Ideas he really didn’t want to think about.

He decided to change the subject. Moving over to an armchair, he sat in it, indicating Teddy to have a seat, too. After Teddy sat, Draco continued, “I’m surprised you took the internship here. Did you get over your problems with Potions?”

Teddy nodded eagerly. “I was doing terrible in that class. But I finally figured out a way to survive it. I discovered that if I use a clothes peg on my nose, my sense of smell is blocked!”

Draco stared. “A clothes peg?”

Teddy nodded.

“That sounds . . . ” He couldn’t help but wince at that image. His own nose felt sore hearing that. “Painful.”

“I figured out an excellent numbing spell that works. I use that and then put the clothes peg on my nose. And before you ask, I tried the scent blocking spell on my nose. It didn’t quite work, but this works better!”

Draco had to admit it was a rather interesting method. “Whatever works.”

Teddy glanced at his wrist to see the time. “I have to get back to work in a bit, but we should have dinner one day. Just you and me. I want to hear about your travels.”

Something about the way Teddy said “just you and me” made Draco feel a bit excited and apprehensive. He remembered Teddy’s interpretation of that story years ago. Did Teddy still believe in that interpretation? That was only something a child would come up with, right? Surely, the adult Teddy wouldn’t still cling to that. Draco shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. “Sure. Dinner would be nice.” He’d act neutral. He would do nothing to encourage that silly idea, in case Teddy still believed in it.

“Great!” Teddy smile was contagious, and Draco found himself smiling, too. “I better go do what I need to do. I love Luna, but I am not in the mood for her lectures.”

“Those can be quite educational, at least,” Draco said.

“Sure, but not for five hours! The other intern who signed up with me had to endure that.”

“I guess she upgraded . . . it used to be three.”

“Pity for all of us!” Teddy gave one last grin, and he left.

Draco, alone in his newly decorated office, laughed, too, albeit uneasily. He felt like something about all of this would go down the route he didn’t want it to go through. Sure, he couldn’t deny Teddy’s hot body and that even sexier voice, but this was a road he did not want to trespass. Teddy was family, his “little” cousin he used to baby-sit! And although the age differences between them wouldn’t matter since magical folks like them have a much longer lifespan, Draco didn’t want to ruin any familial relationship he had with Teddy or even his aunt Andromeda!

Groaning, Draco let his face fall to his hands. He better make sure that whenever they had that dinner, it wouldn’t be just the two of them alone!

“I’ve been told you’re doing great with your internship,” Draco complimented casually one day, when he passed by Teddy in the corridors.

“Thanks, Draco!” Teddy said, beaming. “When are we going to do that dinner?”

The close proximity to Teddy made his stomach feel funny. Then again, Teddy looked good as usual, and with his shirt’s sleeves rolled up, he could see Teddy’s arm quite nicely, and guys with nice arms were one of Draco’s weaknesses. He averted his gaze to Teddy’s face — which was a bad idea because that dimple, that smile, and that strong jaw line made him want to touch Teddy in ways that were definitely not friendly or platonic.

Remembering Teddy’s question, Draco said, “Dinner?” He pretended to act obtuse. “Oh, well, Aunt Andromeda invited me tonight, so we’ll do dinner then.”

“But I thought we’d do dinner just you and me one of these days.”

“Well, I–”

“Oh, there you are, Draco!” For once Draco was glad that Luna’s tendency to interrupt whenever inappropriate was actually appropriate for once. “I need you to look at these reports! I need you to do it now!”

Trying not to sigh in relief, he nodded. “All right. Let’s go to my office.” He glanced at Teddy. “I’ll see you tonight, all right?”

“All right.”

Walking away, he never saw the calculating look in Teddy’s eyes.

Chikao made a surprise visit to London, and Draco was thrilled to have his close friend here. After meeting Chikao for lunch, Draco suggested they relax at his office for a while, and it was there, Teddy met Chikao for the first time.

“Oh! Teddy. You need something?” Draco was surprised Teddy came to visit now. Normally, Teddy didn’t really visit until closing time.

“I didn’t realise you had a guest,” Teddy said in a rather low voice, which made Draco frown in confusion.

“Oh. This is Chikao Yamamoto. He was my friend and business partner in Japan. He’s here for a brief visit.”

Chikao stood up to greet Teddy with a smile. “You must be his cousin. Draco talked about you a lot when he was in Japan. He extended a hand, and Teddy reached out to grab it briefly.

“Nice to meet you.” Draco heard the slight edge to Teddy’s normally easy-going voice. Before he could ask if something was wrong, Teddy thrust out a parchment. “I’m doing this handwriting analysis thing for a friend. Can I ask you and Mr Yamamoto to sign this parchment?”

Draco blinked. “Sure.”

“Mr Yamamoto? Please sign on this part.” And when Chikao finished signing the paper with his name, Teddy gave the parchment to Draco. “And Draco? Sign here.”

Draco eyed the only space that was available. The middle. He wordlessly signed the paper, wondering why Teddy was doing this strange project. “Here you go.”

“Thanks, Draco! And thank you, Mr Yamamoto.” Teddy quickly left.

Chikao eyed him. “I think he likes you.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” Draco snapped.

“He does. He’s jealous of me.”

“He’s not! Don’t be coming up with any of that psycho-analysis jibberish you love.”

“Draco?” Chikao eyed the dragon and the panther, turning his head back and forth to look at both. “You told me one time when you were drunk about your cousin declaring a marriage proposal to you after you told a story about a dragon and a panther. What would you do if he still believed in it?”

Trying not to turn red and trying not to get angry, he answered, “It’s just a childish whim he came up with at the age of seven! He’s an adult now. He can’t still believe in that.”

“But what if he does? And you can’t deny that he’s good looking.”

“He’s family! He’s someone I baby-sat for, for Merlin’s sake!”

Chikao let out a soft laugh. “When we were dating other people in Japan, you’ve had plenty of admirers you didn’t find desirable. I’ve never seen you get so emotional about this. With Teddy, you’re quite defensive.”

“Chikao? Damare.” Draco glowered at his friend, hoping Chikao would shut up like he’d said in Japanese.

“Just give him a chance. Maybe he’s the one you’ve been looking for all these years. You’ve never allowed anyone to get close to you, but with Teddy . . . I sense something different about you.”

“Chikao,” Draco said warningly.

“Okay, okay. I’ll stop talking about this. Just for that, you owe me an expensive dinner.”

“Prat.”

Chikao rolled his eyes. “Baka.”

“I’m not a fool.”

“You can be. Now, about that dinner . . . ”

“You’ve got to be joking,” Draco said in a flat voice, his arms crossed over his chest.

Teddy shook his head. “It was the only way I could think of to get you to go on at least one dinner with me.”

“But, but–” Draco spluttered unattractively. “I can’t believe you did this! You got everyone’s signatures, you deliberately left a space in the middle for mine, you erased everyone else’s signatures, and then you write a contract out above it?! A contract for us to go on a date? Just us two?!”

Teddy’s eyes twinkled and a smug look came onto his handsome face. Draco had never wanted to punch someone’s face for manipulating him like that. Teddy waved the parchment around and said, “Well, you’ve left me with no choice. You keep only having dinner with Grandmamma and me. You’re just as sneaky, claiming you’re always busy and whatnot . . . so I had to come up with an idea to get you to do dinner! And why are you thinking of this as a date? It’s not a date. It’s just dinner. That’s what the contract said. You’re the one who came to the conclusion that it’s a date.”

“Oh, for the love of . . . ” Draco glared. “Fine! We’ll do that dinner you so want once! Just once!”

“Great! Tomorrow night at seven, then? Meet me at Trafalgar Square.” Draco’s frown turned into a petulant pout. “And you’re pouting.” Teddy sniggered. “It suits you.”

“I’m not pouting.” And right after Draco said that, he realised that somehow their roles had reversed. Teddy was acting like the adult now, and Draco was the one acting like a child. That only made him more exasperated, and he announced, “I’ve got work. Go back to whatever you need to do.”

“Will do.”

As Teddy walked — no skipped — out of his office, Draco glared at the panther that looked as if it were mocking him, too. “Oh, piss off!” he yelled at his wall, not caring that he was shouting at a bloody mural.

Draco was surprised. The so-called “dinner” was actually turning out to be fun. Talking to Teddy over wine and food was comfortable, and Teddy was a good conversationalist. There were plenty for them to talk about — about Teddy’s years at Hogwarts, about Draco’s travels, about the business . . . it was as if he were talking to Chikao, but it felt right.

Then there was a matter with Teddy’s clothes. With black trousers that were cut to emphasise his legs and his delectable, well-shaped arse and along with the button up shirt that wasn’t buttoned all the way up to reveal a nicely sculpted chest, Draco couldn’t help but stare indiscreetly as he could. Of course, combined with the clothes that showed off a very nice body, Teddy’s happiness and his smiles also drew Draco out of his sullenness to enjoy this as much as he could.

And three hours later, they’d ended up at Teddy’s flat, and Draco felt like he’d gone to a very strange place. The first thing he noticed when he walked in was the mantel of Teddy’s fireplace. It was a normal looking mantel and fireplace, but on the mantel was a stuffed dragon and a stuffed panther. That wasn’t the only thing he saw of Calais and Nye. There was a custom-made poster of a dragon and a panther entwined together, a very huge poster of them that was. What made it worse was that the poster was animated. That meant the dragon and the panther were moving — moving and gyrating against each other in a way that made Draco feel strangely aroused. Even worse, there was another poster of what he assumed were the human version of Calais and Nye, and the men in the poster — also animated — had their arms around their half-naked bodies. At first they looked at Draco happily, but then they had started a huge snog fest. With tongues and everything, their hands sweeping all over their bodies, Draco’s arousal grew. Thankfully, his own trousers were baggy enough to hide his discomfort, but he still felt embarrassed.

Maybe it was the wine or maybe it was his own stupidity, but the next thing he blurted was, “Why are you obsessed with a story like that?!”

“Eh?” Teddy gave Draco a wide-eyed stare. “I’m not that obsessed.”

Draco made a wild gesture at the posters and the stuffed animals. “You have all these! And you decorated my office with them! I’d say that’s obsessed!”

Teddy grinned sheepishly. “Maybe, but the posters and the stuffed animals are all gifts from friends.”

Draco was not hearing this. “You . . . you told your friends about this story?”

“Yes, but don’t worry! I didn’t tell them where I heard the story. It was just that we were talking about our favourite stories growing up, and I told them this one, and they all liked it, too, and so some of them gave me these over the years as birthday presents.”

” . . . I see.” Draco glanced at the human poster again. Calais at that point had his hands down Nye’s pants, and Draco didn’t need much imagination to know what Calais was doing currently. Draco looked away, his own cheeks warming up, and he could feel himself getting more and more aroused. “I, er, I see.”

Teddy’s hand landed on Draco’s shoulder, and that sent a huge jolt of pleasure down his spine. “You all right? We could move to another room. I have a study behind that door. It has nothing of Calais and Nye.”

Trying not to sound strangled, Draco shook his head and said, “It’s fine.” He stepped away from Teddy and sat in an armchair. Unfortunately, that gave him a great view of the two randy men. Draco eyed the couch, but he quickly figured sitting on a couch next to Teddy would allow them a chance to be in an incrimination position. Stiffly, he looked down at the coffee table.

“I’ve got some brandy. Want some?”

“Sure,” Draco said, glad that his voice sounded normal again. He looked up to see Teddy watching him intently. Teddy’s eyes, which were hooded and half-closed, made his insides churn with lust. “Teddy?” Draco breathed out. “The brandy.”

“Right, right. Be right back!”

Teddy’s absence gave him some room to breathe, and Draco calmed himself down. He couldn’t believe it. First Teddy had sort of “betrayed” him with that so-called contract, and now his own libido was starting up a coup to make him feel confused and horny towards Teddy. And then of course Chikao’s words from before came back to him. All of this was really not helping Draco at all!

When Teddy came back with the brandy, Draco gladly accepted it, seeing it as a welcomed distraction. “Not bad,” he said, pleased by Teddy’s choice of brandy.

“I like it,” Teddy affirmed. He set his own glass on the table and he sat on the couch. “Can we do this again?”

“What?”

“Dinner? I’m asking you for permission. I don’t want to resort to another contractual method.”

Draco hesitated. He knew he should say no. He knew he should end this. But he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to say no. He enjoyed this, minus the near-pornographic posters, and he did like Teddy and even felt sexual attractions no matter how much he tried to tell himself to not feel that way. “Well, I suppose. Dinner here and there won’t hurt.”

“Great!” Teddy looked so excited. Draco nearly expected Teddy to throw himself on top of him for a crushing hug, but to Draco’s disappointment Teddy didn’t.

And for the rest of the night, Teddy acted normal. They drank, talked, and joked, and when Draco left the flat, he almost wanted Teddy to stop him.

The next couple of weeks after their “dinner”, Draco’s attractions towards Teddy grew. Draco could not remember the number of times he had to wank himself off in private; he even had to double-check that he hadn’t been turned into a teenager since the amount of wanking he did was just ridiculous! And he blamed it all on Teddy! Every day Draco saw Teddy, and every day Teddy grew hotter and hotter.

One day, Teddy had got into an accident, and his entire shirt had got wet. Draco had the unfortunate timing of running into him, and after seeing Teddy’s torso through the wet shirt, Draco couldn’t get rid of that image for the rest of the day.

Another day, the staff all decided to get ice cream, and Teddy had to get a vanilla cone of all things. Draco nearly combusted from the way Teddy had licked the ice cream, the way some of it had gotten on the side of his lips . . . Draco nearly went up to Teddy to lick it off himself!

Then whenever they were at dinner or whenever they were alone, Teddy was always close to him, but he never touched Draco. All Draco could do was to feel the warmth from Teddy’s body and smell that familiar scent that screamed of Teddy.

How could he not wank when Teddy tempted him this much?

At this rate, Draco was going to go mad. Either that or his right hand would become permanently attached to his cock.

Draco wasn’t sure which was worse.

Or better.

Hell, even Luna noticed and said something. They were in Draco’s office as usual, and Luna said, “I guess you’ve run into some Nargles.”

“Say what?”

“You look frustrated. And if you’ve run into Nargles, that means you’re sexually frustrated.”

“Luna!”

“What?” She gave a confused look. “Did I say something untrue?”

He turned red, despite trying to stay composed. “I’m not what you say I am.”

“Oh, Draco. Your lying skills are terrible.” He bristled at that comment, but she went on. “And it’s okay! Why don’t you take a day off tomorrow? Teddy’s off, too. He said he had to go look for some new magical creatures! Something about a pink ostrich, except it’s really small. I hope he finds it! I want to see it, too! I can get my dad to write about it in The Quibbler.”

Draco just laughed and shook his head. “You’re something else.”

“Thank you! Now, if you show up for work tomorrow, I’ll take that as a sign that you’re willing to talk about the mating rituals of Nargles.”

That was Luna-ese for a ten-hour — yes, she’d upgraded again! — lecture. “Uh, you do realise I’m the owner, here?”

“Yes, but you need a day off. So if you come, we’ll just talk for the whole day!”

Only thing Draco could respond to that was with a groan.

“I can’t believe I’m here,” Draco muttered to himself, standing in front of Teddy’s flat. It was early morning, and he came here, hoping to catch Teddy before he did what Luna said he might do. Some pink ostrich hunting? He doubted the validity of Luna’s statement, but he figured he should try to catch Teddy before he went anywhere.

Taking a deep breath, Draco knocked on the door, and he waited.

The door opened quickly, and he saw Teddy’s surprised face. “Draco? Why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“Someone told me that you were going to go on a hunt for some pink ostrich. That someone also told me to . . . ”

“Yes?” Teddy looked at Draco bewilderedly.

Maybe it was the sexual frustration. Maybe it was the fact that he was losing his mind. Whatever it was, he blurted out, “You’re driving me bonkers!”

Teddy blinked and stepped aside. “Let’s talk inside, okay?”

Draco could only nod, and he went inside, went back to that dreaded sitting room with the dreaded posters, and yes the posters were being naughty again. Draco’s own arousal stirred to life, and he felt himself turning hard almost instantly at the snogging couple and the gyrating animals on the wall.

Still staring at the posters, he felt Teddy’s hand on his shoulder. Its grip turned tight and he heard Teddy’s husky voice asking, “Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” Draco lied. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not. Don’t lie. I can smell it.”

Draco spun around, and he looked at the smirk on Teddy’s face. “What?”

Teddy’s hand traced one of Draco’s thighs, and it took all of Draco’s control to not moan at that touch. “You’re aroused. I can smell things like that aside from those potions.”

“What?!” Draco grew dizzy after shouting that. “Wait, that means all those other times . . . ”

“Yes, I could smell your desire then.”

“And you didn’t do anything?”

“Of course not!” Teddy looked very affronted. “That wouldn’t be right! I might be manipulative, but I am not going to do anything non-consensual! I was waiting for you to make the first move!”

“And you were deliberately teasing me?”

“You can come to your own conclusions about that,” Teddy said calmly. “But . . . Draco, I really do like you.”

Draco was just about to go on a tirade on Teddy’s teasing, but he stopped when he heard the soft declaration. “You . . . you still believe in that marriage proposal?”

“Well, now that I’m old enough to realise that we’re not granted marriage licences like the heterosexual couples, no. I don’t believe in the proposal, but I do believe that I do like you. No. Love. For me, it’s always been love.”

The frankness of Teddy’s delivery unsettled Draco. He couldn’t believe Teddy liked — no loved — him all these years. It was impossible, really! How could Teddy choose him of all people? “Teddy, you know that . . . that story was just a story! It was never meant to be an allusion to us or anything.”

“It was, though.”

“How?” Draco snapped. “Just because a dragon that turned into a blond wizard and a panther that turned into a Metamorphmagus is similar to us, doesn’t mean it’s us!” Draco started to pace, and Teddy’s strong arms reached out to stop him, and somehow, Draco wasn’t sure how, he’d ended up against the wall, and Teddy was in front of him. He could feel Teddy’s legs against his, could feel Teddy’s warm breath mingling with his own, and Draco reached out to put his own hands on Teddy’s shoulders. “How?” he repeated in a low voice.

“Well, you know when you told me you had to leave the country for your mastery programme? I saw that as a symbolism for what Calais and Nye had to go through.”

That explanation was not expected. “What?!”

“That was why, back then, I didn’t argue or beg for you to stay. I didn’t want you to go, but I figured we had to overcome our own trials and tribulations to achieve what I saw as our goal. Only, I kind of wished we’d just done the mugwort and garlic thing instead. At least it would have only lasted one-hundred days instead of seven years.”

Feeling his mouth go dry at the comparison, Draco opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. By now Teddy’s lips were close to his. He nearly felt Teddy’s lips, and he longed for that gap to be closed.

“Draco? I do love you. I always will. But if you don’t feel the same way, I will not force you to do anything.” Teddy let go of his hold, and he stepped back, giving a small smile. “But I am telling you what I’ve always wanted to tell you as an adult. I’ve told you what I wanted as a child, but I was too young then to know better. But now, I know for sure. I know we’re supposed to be family, but . . . I don’t care about that.”

“I . . . ” Draco’s voice was caught. What did he want? He knew he physically wanted Teddy. His body was honest about that much, but emotionally and mentally, what did he want? Almost two decades had passed since ending of the war that had nearly fucked up his life. Finally, his life was slowly getting settled. He had his mastery and a good business. He had many liaisons with his previous lovers, but none of them meant anything to him. None of them made him feel content like the way he felt around Teddy. Chikao came the closest, but even with Chikao, he couldn’t commit to anything long-term.

But with Teddy . . . even though they were related, his feelings had somehow changed in the last few months.

“Draco?” Teddy gave another small smile — this time it was tinged with sadness. “I’ll respect your decision.”

Teddy took another step back, and he was about to turn around, but Draco stopped him. Draco reached out to wrap his arms around Teddy’s neck, and he leaned in closer to kiss the lips he’d been wanting.

The kiss was powerful. One little kiss turned into a snog, and next thing Draco knew, his back was against that wall, and Teddy’s delicious body pressed hard against him. Hands flew everywhere, touching everything it could reach. Teddy’s warm hands touched Draco’s bare torso, making him shiver with want. He slipped his hands through Teddy’s hair, which were now red, and Draco tilted his neck when he felt Teddy’s lips there.

It was intense, so passionate, and Draco didn’t want it to end. He bumped his hips into Teddy’s, and he could feel Teddy’s hardness, and when his cock bumped up against Teddy’s, Draco felt like time was slowing down.

“Teddy, oh, Teddy,” Draco panted. He reopened his eyes to look at Teddy, but instead, over Teddy’s shoulder, he saw the mantel with the stuffed animals. Below it, he saw a face. “Luna?!”

That broke the spell, and Teddy stumbled backwards, making Draco regret the loss.

“Oh, I see you guys decided to not go hunt the pink ostriches. A shame, really.”

“For Merlin’s sake, Luna, what’s the matter?” Draco tried to straighten his clothes, and he willed his blush to go away.

“Oh, I need the two of you to come in today! I need both of your help. I’ll see you in a bit!” Luna’s head disappeared.

Draco turned to look at Teddy, who was quite flushed. “I, er, sorry? She . . . she has the tendency to interrupt a lot.”

“Duly noted,” Teddy said, but he grinned. “Well. Next time, let’s make sure she’s occupied with something.”

Draco sniffed, pretending to be annoyed. “What makes you think there will be a next time?”

“Oh, I’ll find a way. I’ll make you take me to Tokyo.”

“Huh?”

“And I want to visit one of those love hotels that are famous there.”

Draco scowled. “And what if I don’t do that.”

“Then I’ll blackmail you! I’ve got loads of embarrassing stories about you. Like that time you tried to beat me in a chocolate eating contest and vomited afterwards? I was only eight then, and how embarrassing would it be if words got around that you got beaten like that?”

Draco slapped Teddy’s shoulder and groaned. “Since when did a person like you, a person who had a Gryffindor father and a Hufflepuff mother, become such a little, sneaky prat?”

Teddy grinned evilly. “I had several great role models growing up!”

” . . . Don’t lump me with Potter.”

“Well,” Teddy said contemplatively. “He did almost get sorted into Slytherin.”

“Don’t remind me.” Draco rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll take you to Tokyo one day, but we’re not going into one of those establishments!”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Okay. Thanks, Nye.”

“And don’t call me that! Let’s go!” Draco stalked off with a glare, but inside, he felt happier than ever. Teddy, manipulative or not, was here to stay in his life.

Click on the image for the larger version. Fanart by Heldrad.

Ending Notes

– The myth of Calais and Nye was pretty much borrowed from the myth of “The Bear and the Tiger”, a Korean mythology. Like Calais and Nye, they wanted to become human, so they had to do the whole mugwort and garlic trial for one-hundred days. The bear persisted, but the tiger gave up. So with that myth and with some European mythological creatures . . . I’ve created one suited for this fic!
– Nye is a Welsh name, and it means “golden”.
– Calais is a Greece name, and it means “changing colours”.
– Gwydion is a Welsh name, too, and it means “God of Magic”.

Click on the image for the larger version.

Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them. — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Five-year old Teddy, holding onto his daddy’s hand, skipped down the long corridors of the Japanese Ministry of Magic. He was so excited — so excited that his hair was turquoise, his happy colour. He was going on a trip, a portkey trip, and he couldn’t wait. He loved travelling by portkey; he didn’t mind that strange tug in his belly. He just found it fun that they could travel somewhere like that.

They entered a room, and a young Japanese worker greeted them with something dangling from his hand.

“Daddy!” Teddy pointed at the yellow Pikachu keychain. “Is that Pikachu going to take us back to England from Japan?”

Daddy tousled Teddy’s hair. “It will. When we both touch it, this man will activate it for us, and we’ll be in London’s Ministry of Magic.”

“Wow!” Teddy looked at the worker named Hangata with a grin. “Can I have this Pikachu, Hanagata-san?”

Hanagata chuckled. “Sorry. This belongs to the ministry. How about I give you this Charmander keychain instead?”

Teddy looked at his daddy hopefully, who smiled and said, “Go ahead. And what do you say?”

“Thank you!” Teddy hugged the keychain to himself. This was going to be his new favourite thing to show off. He loved Pokemon and their many species.

“Are you two ready?” Hanagata asked. “If you are, please touch the keychain. Mr Lupin? Teddy? Good luck in England.”

“Is this London, Daddy?” Teddy asked, his eyes huge as they looked around the busy streets. He watched the people pass by him, the red double-decker bus on the streets, and the English language all around him. He saw that the people were dressed differently here than the Japanese did. He didn’t see anybody wearing kimonos or anything of the like, but he did see colourful hairstyles and clothing that were wild like the ones he saw in Tokyo. He didn’t see any shrines or temples nearby like he did in Tokyo. London was different from Tokyo, yet he could sense that it was a busy and crowded place like his previous home.

“Yes, it is.” Daddy’s calm voice soothed him, and Teddy grabbed his daddy’s hand tighter. He didn’t want to get separated from him.

“It smells different.” Teddy sniffed at the air, and although he couldn’t explain how it smelled different, it did. In Tokyo, he smelled takoyaki, ramen, fish, green teas, and the cherry blossoms. Here, he smelled potatoes, meats, some different kind of tea, and some sort of a flowery scent that he wasn’t able to figure out yet. Tokyo had smelled very unique to his nose, along with Osaka and Kyoto when he had visited before, and now he sensed that London had its own scent. All of these new sensations intrigued Teddy. Daddy had explained to him about how Tokyo was on the other side of the world from London. Teddy was told that things were never the same from one place to another, so the new experience of being in London made some sense to him.

Daddy let out a quiet laughter “Are you ready to go meet your grandmother?”

“Grandmamma?” Teddy perked up. “I want to see her! I want to show her my new Charmander keychain!”

“Well, then, let’s go. It’s a short walk from here.”

“Okay!”

When they reached Andromeda’s house, Teddy met and saw many people there. There were many of Daddy’s grown-up friends. He lost count of how many legs he had hugged. Some legs were in trousers, some in jeans, and some were covered in robes. He liked the robes. They reminded him of kimonos; though the robes were less pretty than the designs and the colours of the kimonos.

With his grandmother, once she picked him up and hugged him tightly, Teddy could smell this flowery scent coming from her. She was warm and kind, and Teddy liked her immediately, even though he’d only met her once last year. He still loved his grandmother.

There was a party going on with many good food and sweets. Teddy looked at the foreign looking food, so different from the Japanese food he was accustomed to, but he liked them, especially the sweets. He always liked the Japanese chocolates, so when he tried the English chocolate, he was amazed by how much sweeter they were. He liked it. Then again, he and Daddy both loved sweets.

As the grown-ups talked amongst themselves, Teddy wandered around the sitting room until he ran into Harry, his godfather. His godfather had black hair that was wild. The hair fascinated Teddy. He always hated it when his hair needed to be brushed, but it looked like Harry never brushed his own. Teddy wondered if Daddy would let him not brush his hair, too.

“Harry!” Teddy squealed, running into the open arms. He laughed and giggled as Harry swung him around.

“You’ve grown so much, Teddy! What’s that in your hand?”

“It’s my Charmander keychain. Hanagata-san gave it to me! He’s the portkey man!”

“I see.” Harry nodded. Teddy saw a glint of happiness in the deep green eyes, and Teddy tried to change his own eyes to match that colour.

“Is it green?”

“Your eyes? Yes, they are. And your hair is now black. You’re pretty good at this.”

Teddy beamed at the compliment. He enjoyed his metamorphmagus ability. He and Harry talked until someone came near them, and Teddy saw it was a red-haired man with one ear. Teddy stopped talking, and he stared at the unknown man.

“Oh, hullo, George,” Harry said.

There was a sad look to George’s eyes, and Teddy remained silent. He was a bit frightened by George. He had never met a man with one ear, nor did he ever meet a man with such sorrowful eyes. But George was smiling. It was strange. Teddy always thought when someone was sad or happy, they were just that. Not both. He stepped back, bumping into Daddy.

“There you are, Teddy,” Daddy said. “Having fun with Harry?”

Teddy nodded, but his eyes didn’t leave George. “Yes.”

Daddy reached out and rested a hand on George’s shoulder. “This is George Weasley. He’s the owner of that joke shop I told you about. The one Harry is the sponsor of.”

“Really? He’s the owner of the WWW shop?” Teddy brightened a bit at that. Daddy had told him about the store and had promised to take Teddy there one day. But Teddy was a bit stumped. He’d imagine joke shop owners to be bright and bubbly, yet George seemed neither bright nor bubbly. But his mind wandered on, and another question popped in his head. “Are you named after Curious George?” That was the only George Teddy knew. Teddy loved those books Daddy would read to him. He’d always imagined that he was George and the man with the yellow hat was Daddy. Only, Teddy didn’t try to get into all those mishaps like George did!

George and Harry both blinked as Daddy laughed. “No,” Daddy explained. “I don’t think he’s named after that.” He turned to look at the other two. “Curious George is this character in one of his favourite Muggle book series. It’s a monkey that gets into a lot of sticky situations due to his curious nature.”

Teddy watched as George crouched down to his level. “I’m not named after a monkey, but I can act like one if you want.” Teddy giggled as George scratched his armpits and let out an “Ooh, ooh, aah, aah” sound. He then pretended to unpeel an imaginary banana and eat it. “How’s that?”

“You’re funny!” Teddy exclaimed, feeling more comfortable with him. Maybe being around George wouldn’t be as scary as he thought. He liked George’s goofy nature. “That’s not how Curious George acts, but you act like a good monkey.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t really like bananas. I prefer chocolates,” George continued.

“Me too! I like chocolates!” Teddy agreed excitedly. Aside from Daddy, he didn’t know that many people in Tokyo who liked sweets like they did. Teddy wasn’t sure why a lot of Japanese grown-ups didn’t like many sweets, but it seemed like the grown-ups in London liked it more, at least.

George reached into his pockets, and he pulled out a package of chocolate and gave it to Teddy. “Here, have some Chocolate Frogs.”

“Can I, Daddy?” Teddy asked.

Daddy nodded. “But that’s your last chocolate for the day. I don’t want you to spoil your appetite.”

Teddy took the Chocolate Frog, and he said, “Thank you!” He quickly ate the frog before it tried to escape from him, and when he finished he asked, “You own that joke shop, right? Can I see it?”

A dark look came on George’s face. It was really quick, but Teddy didn’t miss it. It was rapidly replaced with a smile, and George answered, “Yes. I’ll give you and your dad a special tour.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Woooow. This is so cool!” Teddy couldn’t keep his mouth shut as he walked up and down the aisle with Daddy and George. On the shelves he saw so many items that his eyes were crossing from trying to look everywhere. Next to each of the products were little monitors that showed the jokes’ effect on the screen. He watched one where a taco shaped treat caused someone to breathe out fire and fart really, really loudly. That was extremely funny, and Teddy found himself laughing and saying “Ewwww”.

He saw another product that transformed someone into a canary. That grabbed his attention. Although he had the ability to change his appearance, he had yet to figure out if he could transform into an animal. He looked at George hopefully and asked, “Is there one that can change someone into a Pokemon?”

“Er, a Pokeyman?” George looked bewildered.

“A Pokemon! You know, Pikachu? Charmander? Bulbasaur?”

“It’s another Muggle thing he likes,” Daddy explained, his eyes twinkling.

“Yeah!” Teddy pulled out his toy Poke Ball and showed it to George. “The Pokemon live in these things, and when I want to summon them, they come out of them!”

“Hmm.” George’s face changed into a thoughtful expression. “You know, while I probably can’t really do Pokeyman since I’ll run into some copyright issues, I can probably come up with some ideas equivalent to that.” A scheming look came on George’s face. “What do you say, Teddy. Do you want to help give me ideas?”

Teddy nodded, feeling proud that a grown-up was asking for his advice. “I’ll help!”

Again, Teddy saw a flicker of uncertainty on George’s face, but like before, it went away quickly. “Let me show you my inventing room. There’s a lot of stuff in there that goes ‘boom’, but it’s all harmless. I think you’ll like it. Especially the candy floss fireworks.”

“Okay!” Teddy couldn’t wait to see what was in the room. He was very fond of explosions.

After a long and exciting day at the shop, Teddy was tired and happy. He and Daddy came back with bags of free samples of George’s products, and Teddy couldn’t wait to try them all out. He’d wanted to try them out now, but it was bedtime. Teddy was too tired to beg to stay up longer.

Teddy snuggled comfortably into his bed; the same bed that came with him from Tokyo. The sheets were blue — his favourite colour — and his Pokemon blanket featuring the main characters covered him. When Daddy came back with a book to read, he said, “Daddy? I like George.”

“You do?”

“Yes, but why does he only got one ear?”

“Only have,” Daddy corrected. “That’s because he was in a fight with some bad wizards and witches before. One of them spelled it off of him.”

“Really? That must have been a big owie.”

“Yes, it was.”

“Daddy?” Teddy yawned. “Why does George look sad sometime?”

“Well, he lost someone important to him.”

“Like . . . ” Teddy paused, unsure if he wanted to ask about his mother and Sirius. He noticed that whenever they were mentioned, his daddy would turn sad.

Daddy nodded, giving a small sigh. “Yes, like your mother and Sirius. He lost his twin brother.”

“He’s a twin like Daisuke and Hikaru?” They were Teddy’s neighbours in Tokyo.

“Yes, just like them.”

“But George’s brother, Mummy, and Sirius are in that happy place now, right?”

“Yes, they are.” Daddy ruffled Teddy’s hair and opened up the book. “Now, let’s read a bit before you sleep.”

“Okay.” Teddy tried to stay awake for this nightly ritual. The only time they didn’t do this was when his daddy went off on his monthly business trip. Whoever stayed with him during the trip would read to him, but it wasn’t the same when his daddy read to him. He loved listening to his daddy’s soft voice reading the stories he enjoyed. His daddy was able to change his voice to fit the characters of the stories, making Teddy laugh. He called that skill “Daddy’s Voice-a-morpmagus Skill”.

Before he slept, he turned his hair into a mixture of violet and pink just like his mother’s favourite hair colours, and he thought about the shop and George. He hoped George would stop looking sad soon. He didn’t want the people he liked to be unhappy.

Teddy was supposed to be taking a nap, but he wasn’t tired. He didn’t want to take a nap. He wanted to play with his Pokemon and with George’s joke items. Quietly, after Daddy left his room, Teddy grabbed his toys and snuck out from his room. He crept downstairs, and he went into the sitting room. There, he played on the floor next to the sofa, and he quietly imagined and acted out his own Pokemon adventure. He pretended to be Ash, and he pretended to travel with Pikachu and his other friends. He and his other companions were taking a break by getting ready for camp in a forest, and he and Pikachu walked off to get some water from a nearby stream. There, he heard the running water and heard voices coming from the camp. Suddenly, Pikachu stepped on a balloon that appeared out of nowhere, and it let out a loud pop!

Teddy was startled from that noise. He was no longer in the forest. The loud popping noise he’d imagine was real, and he knew someone came over. In the kitchen, he heard three voices. Two of them were Harry — who was visiting — and Daddy. He wasn’t sure who the third voice belonged to yet. When the voices grew louder, Teddy realised that they were coming to the sitting room. He quickly gathered his toys, and he squeezed behind the sofa. As still as a mouse, he listened closely. The newcomer’s voice belonged to George.

“What brings you here?” Daddy asked.

Someone crashed onto the sofa, nearly startling Teddy out of his hiding place, but Teddy held his breath and remained still.

“I just told Ron that I wanted to close down the shop. For whatever reason, Ron yelled at me and told me to go take a walk to clear my head. I didn’t want to take a walk, so I decided to come here. I hope you don’t mind. I just needed to talk to someone who’s not family. I’m tired of my family’s nagging at times.”

Teddy’s eyes widened. George wanted to close his shop? Why? It was a wonderful shop filled with so many great stuff. Teddy didn’t want George to close it down.

“Harry,” George continued, “if it weren’t for you, Fred and I would have never opened the shop this quickly. On our behalf, I do thank you for all your support over the years, but . . . it’s already been five years, and it’s just been ruddy difficult running that shop without him.”

Fred? Was that George’s twin brother? Teddy wasn’t sure, but that was what he guessed.

“I understand, George. If you decide to close the shop, it’s your decision. I’ll support whatever you do. And it’s really nothing. I didn’t want that money,” Harry’s voice sounded heavy. Teddy wondered why grown-ups over here were always sad. The grown-ups in Tokyo weren’t like this, so why were the ones in London so depressing?

George spoke next, his voice sounding equally miserable. “I love the shop, don’t get me wrong, and I know a huge part of me will regret closing it, but . . . I don’t know.”

“Why don’t you take a break?” It was Daddy suggesting that. “Ron and Verity can run the shop for you while you take a well-deserved break. From what I’ve seen in the shop, there are enough products in stock before you have to create more. So take some time off. See if this is what you really want to do.”

“Maybe . . . ”

Teddy couldn’t help himself as he shouted, “Don’t close the shop, George!” He heard someone yelling, and he heard the sofa’s coil squeak loudly followed by a loud thud. He crawled out from his hiding place.

“Teddy!” Daddy admonished. “Why are you here? You know eavesdropping is rude!”

“I’m sorry,” Teddy automatically apologised. He saw George looking a bit dazed on the floor, and he scooted over to him. “Don’t close the store, George. I’ll miss it.”

George gave Teddy a crooked smile. “Merlin, Teddy. You were behind there the entire time? You were so quiet. I’m impressed!”

Teddy knew this trick. He knew that grown-up trick of trying to distract him. His nanny, Megumi-san, did that whenever he asked her a question. His lower lips came out, and he said again, “Don’t close the shop. I don’t want you to.”

“Teddy, I think you need to go back to your nap. And we’ll have a talk about your eavesdropping behaviour later. Go to your room.” He heard the firmness in his daddy’s voice, and he knew he’d better listen, but he still gave George a begging look with his eyes.

George shook his head. “Your puppy eyes are very convincing. I won’t close the shop yet, but I do need to think about it. Now listen to your daddy, Teddy.”

“Okay,” Teddy answered quietly. He didn’t believe that George was telling the truth, but he saw the warning look in his daddy’s eyes. He quickly gathered his toys, and he went to his room. Climbing into his bed, he grabbed his stuffed Pikachu. He whispered to it, “I hope he doesn’t close the store.”

Teddy woke up with a start. He’d been dreaming of catching Pokemon. He’d just caught a Pikachu, and it had kept saying, “Pikachu. Pika? Pika, pika, pikaaaa!” But then it began to say something new. It was now saying, “Teddy? Teddy? Wake up, Teddy.” The Pikachu’s voice sounded suspiciously like his daddy, and that was when he woke up. Daddy was sitting on his bed, and Teddy felt something inside of him twist at the stern look on his daddy’s face.

“Did you have a good nap?” Daddy asked, his voice sounding gentle despite his expression.

Teddy nodded. He wanted to talk about his dream, but he knew he was in trouble at the moment.

“You know it’s very rude to eavesdrop on people, Teddy. And you were supposed to be napping, but instead you snuck out from your room to play behind my back. I’m very disappointed in you.”

Teddy hung his head, his hair turning back into its natural, dull shade of brown. He knew what he did earlier was naughty. He hated disappointing his daddy like this. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I won’t do it again.”

Daddy smiled, and Teddy tentatively smiled back. “Good. I know you won’t.” He opened his arms, and Teddy went for the hug. He rested his head against the warm chest, listening to the steady heartbeat inside, and he felt protected by the strong arms around him. “Did you dream while you slept? You had a smile on your face when I tried to wake you.”

“Yeah!” Teddy proceeded to talk about his dream. When he was done, he asked, “Can I ask a question?”

“May I.”

“May I ask a question?” Teddy repeated. Daddy nodded, so Teddy asked, “Is George really going to close the store?”

“Teddy, it’s really none of our business on what George ends up doing. Whatever he does, we must respect his decision, but right now he’s thinking about it. So when you see him next time, don’t bother him about it.”

“I won’t.”

His daddy stood up with Teddy still in his arms, and Teddy giggled when Daddy pretended to put on a show on heavy Teddy was. “Oof. Soon, I won’t be able to carry you like this.”

“Because I’ll be a big boy?”

“Yes, now how about we go to the playground for a while. Then we’ll get some pizza for supper.”

“Yayyy!” Teddy loved going to the playground, and he loved pizza. He knew then that Daddy was no longer upset at his naughtiness.

Teddy was a bit curious on something. Lately, George was at their place a lot. Teddy didn’t mind. He liked George. He wasn’t sure whether George still planned to close the shop or not, but he didn’t ask. He remembered Daddy’s words on not pestering George about it. But he did know that George was still taking a break from the store, and it seemed like George mostly just hung around with him and Daddy.

One of the things George did with Teddy was flying. Daddy didn’t particularly enjoy that activity, so Teddy would usually go flying with Harry. But Harry was too busy with his job, so whenever Daddy was busy with his own work, something dealing with freelancing, George would take him flying. Then, when they were done, they’d stop by the Burrow, and Mrs Weasley would give him delicious cakes.

Then, in the evenings, all three of them would do something together. Sometimes Harry and all these friends of his would join them, but Teddy preferred just himself, Daddy, and George. He loved playing at the playground with them, and he made George watch Pokemon together. He was pleased that George ended up enjoying the show. In fact, they would all watch other films together. Teddy particularly enjoyed some of the Disney films.

During all of this, Teddy wondered just what Daddy and George talked about a lot. He noticed that they would sit really close to each other on the sofa, and he saw them share a secret look between them. He knew something was happening, but he wasn’t sure what. But he also noticed that Daddy seemed more relaxed and happier than before.

But Teddy was still curious and wanted to know what was not being said. He knew he was only a kid, but he was also getting to be a big boy, and he wanted to be treated like one.

Although it was Saturday, Teddy still had to take his nap. As usual, he didn’t want to, but Daddy insisted, so he listened.

He took a short nap, and he woke up. The house was quiet, and Teddy wondered if George was around like he usually was, so he quietly padded towards Daddy’s room. He noticed that the bedroom door was closed. That confused him since the door was always opened during the day.

He knocked on the door like Daddy told him to always do, and then he opened it. “Daddy . . . ? George? What are you guys doing?”

Daddy and George were on the bed. George was on top of Daddy, and he saw that their clothes were rumpled. They were also breathing rather hard. Teddy blinked at their current state, and he noticed that their faces had gone red. George’s entire head was red, reminding Teddy of a tomato.

“Oh, er, Teddy. You’re up already?” George pushed himself into a sitting position.

Teddy saw the two of them exchange looks. “We were, er, we were . . . ” Why was his daddy not able to speak? Teddy found that quite odd.

“Wrestling!” George blurted out in a strange sounding voice. “We were trying to see who’s a better wrestler between us!”

“Yes, wrestling,” Daddy agreed quickly. “And I think I’ve been beaten by George, here.”

Teddy frowned. “George beat you?” He walked closer to the bed. “Nobody beats my daddy! I’ll beat you now!” he declared and climbed onto the bed. He threw himself against George, laughing as he tried to push him down. George fell back onto bed with a loud shout, and Teddy grinned as he playfully punched him. “Bam, bam, bam! I got you!”

“Not bad,” George said. “You’re stronger than you look.”

“Of course! I eat my vegetables. It’s supposed to make me strong. Especially spinach. I want to be like Popeye!”

“Like who?”

Daddy let out a loud guffaw. “Popeye. This Muggle cartoon character.”

“Ooooh! Well, then I better eat more vegetables, too!”

“But first,” Teddy said, climbing off of him. “You got to beat me!”

“Remus! Your son is too tough for me!”

Teddy saw the proud look on Daddy’s face. “He is. He certainly is.”

“Can I play with that stuffed Pikachu when you’re done?” Sophie Jordan asked. She was Teddy’s neighbour, and was a cousin of George’s friend. Teddy was glad to have a friend his age. As much as he liked being around grown-ups, he wanted more friends his age.

Teddy handed over the stuffed Pikachu, and he said, “You know what I did yesterday?”

“What?”

“My daddy and George were wrestling, and I wrestled and beat George!”

“They were wrestling? Outside?”

“No, in Daddy’s bedroom.”

Sophie gave him an odd look. “But that’s what my mummy and daddy do alone. They never let me wrestle in the bed.”

“Really?” Teddy frowned and pursed his lips together.

“Yeah, and they also kiss together in bed, too.”

“Kiss?”

Sophie nodded. “Yeah. I caught them kissing in bed once, and they said they were wrestling and then when they finished, they decided to kiss. They told me that two grown-ups who love each other will do that. And my mummy and daddy love each other.”

“Oh. I wonder if Daddy and George were kissing, too.”

“Do they love each other?”

“I don’t know.” Teddy didn’t think too long on that. Sophie wanted to go on the trampoline, and he wanted to jump up and down, too. “I can jump higher than you!”

“Nu-uh! I can!”

Teddy grabbed her hand, and the two dashed off to the trampoline.

Later, during supper, George ate with them. Teddy watched the way they interacted, and he noticed that whenever George and Daddy looked at each other briefly, their eyes would soften, and they looked as if they spoke to each other with their eyes. Teddy remembered his conversation with Sophie, and he asked, “Daddy? Do you and George love each other?”

Their reactions amused him. Daddy spluttered and coughed on his tea. George turned very red, and he froze in his seat, as he dropped his hands on the table, leaving the fork dangling in his mouth.

Daddy managed to rasp out, “Why do you ask that?”

“I told Sophie about me catching you guys wrestling, and she asked if you guys kiss during wrestling, and she said two grown-ups who love each other only do that.”

Again, George and Daddy looked at each other. Nobody spoke, and Teddy waited forever for someone to say something.

George finally answered. “Teddy, I do like your father, and well . . . it’s a little too early to say I love him, but I think I do love him . . . ”

Teddy looked over at his daddy. “Daddy?”

His daddy nodded, but he didn’t answer right away. Another long silence passed before he cleared his throat and said, “I agree with George. I love him, too.”

Teddy accepted the answer. It was a strange answer, but then again grown-up were confusing at times, including his daddy. “So does that mean George’s going to be my new ‘daddy’?”

George chuckled. “We’re not getting married yet. We’ll wait on that, but if we do get married, yes I’ll be your new ‘daddy’.”

“So I’ll have two daddies?” When both George and Daddy nodded, Teddy felt happy by this turn of event. He didn’t mind his small family growing. But at the same time, it’d always been just him and Daddy. Daddy and him. With George being part of their family, that mean Daddy would have someone special for him. Then where would that leave Teddy? In a quiet voice he asked, “So now that Daddy and George love each other . . . will you still love me?”

His Daddy and George both left their chairs. Teddy moved in his seat to face the two who were now crouched on the floor. One of Daddy’s large hands was on his shoulder while the other smoothed his hair down. “I may have found someone to love — a grown-up kind of love — but nobody will ever replace you, Teddy. You’re my son, and if I ever have to choose between you or him, I’ll choose you. I will always love you, Teddy.”

“Just like he said, Kiddo. Your daddy here will always love you. And I will love you to.” George grinned as he continued. “I’ll choose you over him, too, because honestly you’re more fun to play with than your old man, here. At least you’re a much better flying partner than him.”

His daddy glared at George. Teddy giggled since he recognised it as a pretend glare. “I’m not old.”

George rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine. I mean young man. A handsome young man. Anyway, Teddy, don’t worry. I won’t take your daddy away from you. I may play pranks and own a joke shop, but I’m not cruel, okay?”

Teddy smiled as he felt his hair become turquoise. He was embraced in a “sandwich hug”, and he knew that things would turn all right. “I love you Daddy. I love you George.”

“I’ve decided something. Something very important.” George announced.

“What, what?” Teddy asked. “Are you going to go to Tokyo?” Lately, there had been talks about George wanting to visit Tokyo, and he was hoping he could go back and visit there, too.

“I’ve decided I’m taking you both to Tokyo with me, but that’s not my news.”

“What’s the news?” Daddy asked. Teddy was surprised that even Daddy didn’t know George’s secret.

“I’m not going to close the shop.”

“Brilliant!” Teddy shouted, a phrase he’d picked up from Ron. “You’re going to keep it open? Forever and ever?”

George laughed. “As long as I live, yes, I’ll keep it open. I’ve decided that I want to keep it open in memory of my brother . . . and because of you two.”

“What did me and Daddy do?”

“Both of you brought me back happiness in my life. Before you two came, I was feeling not happy.” Teddy nodded. He remembered George looking sad before. “And you two, especially you, Teddy, reminded me why Fred and I opened up that joke shop. We wanted to spread happiness and laughter in the world, and seeing how much you love the shop and how much you love my pranks and jokes . . . I want to keep spreading that joy. With your Daddy. Who I’d like to ask to be my business partner. As the last of the Marauders, I think it’s appropriate to ask him to be my partner.”

Now his daddy looked really surprised, and Teddy thought he saw tears in his daddy’s amber-coloured eyes. “George . . . I . . . ”

“Daddy? Will you?” Teddy didn’t exactly know what a business partner or a Marauder was, but it sounded like a good idea.

Daddy shook his head a bit, and he chuckled. “Well . . . all right. Someone needs to help you with the books and the accounting, after all.”

“And giving me some critiques and suggestions on the products,” George added.

“Hooray!” Teddy cheered.

George let out his own loud joyfulness, and he lifted Teddy up in the air, twirling them until Teddy felt dizzy. “Hooray, indeed! Now, let’s go back to my shop! We have a party to throw!”

“A party?” Teddy loved the idea of having a party in a joke shop. He especially wanted those candy floss fireworks. He loved watching the item burst into brightly coloured candy floss in mid-air. “Can we blow up all your candy floss fireworks?”

“Definitely! We’ll explode everything that can be exploded in the shop until we lift the whole building up into the sky!”

Teddy beamed. He knew that wasn’t possible, but it would still be neat to see all that! He couldn’t wait to do more fun things with his daddy and his new “daddy”.

October 2024

“Are you sure about taking this mission, Teddy?”

Teddy Lupin looked up at the man who had helped raised him. Harry Potter, the saviour of the wizarding world, the man who worked as the head of the Auror Department, the man who was his surrogate father, godfather even, and — just as equally important — his boss.

“Yes, I’m sure. I volunteered because I want to do this.”

“It’s not going to be easy.”

Teddy’s smile lit up the sparks in his natural hazel eyes. “Anybody designated to protect Draco Malfoy will automatically know that it won’t be a simple task. However, I’m more than prepared for it.”

Not really, but I can’t let Harry know my doubts right now, he thought to himself. “Yes, Draco Malfoy will probably be a bit of a curmudgeon — our family reunions are enough to draw back on that fact — but he’s still family. Plus, I wouldn’t mind travelling and living in a foreign country, an Asian one at that.”

“Well, yes, but it’s not everyday somebody like Draco Malfoy receives threats and is almost bludgeoned to death by a car. I can understand if it happened here, in England, but in South Korea of all places?” Harry shook his head at the idea of it. “I suppose the Malfoy name is more widespread than I thought.”

“Not more than yours,” Teddy teased with a grin. “Your fame apparently has travelled outside of England, to all the international magical communities in the world.”

Groaning, Harry said, “Yes. Why do you think I don’t travel much? And if I do, I make sure I’m in a place surrounded by Muggles rather than wizards!” Teddy watched as his godfather pushed his spectacles up from where they had slipped down. His green eyes turned a bit dark as he stared contemplatively at Teddy.

“Are you taking an overseas assignment because of Victoire?”

Teddy stiffened at the question as he avoided looking at Harry. Instead, his gaze travelled across the Head Auror’s office, the same office he had been coming into to talk to Harry in the past seven years since he started his Auror training. “Perhaps . . .”

“Let me ask you a simple question — do you love her?”

“You know that’s not a simple question at all,” Teddy said, looking back up at Harry. He let out a soft sigh. “I do love her, I know I do, but something’s telling me that she’s not the one. Maybe my instincts are misguided, but at the same time I trust them.” Actually, it was more like he could smell that Victoire wasn’t the right one. The werewolf side of him screamed that information, especially around full moon. This heightened sense of smell was one thing he had inherited from his late father. He could not only smell flavours, he could also smell people’s emotion and their aura. As an Auror, this skill allowed him to be a good judge of character and people.

Harry reached out to pat Teddy’s broad shoulder. “I just want you to know. Whatever you choose to do in life, I will support you, and so will Andromeda and the rest of the family.”

Teddy was glad that Harry was there to support him. After all, even though Harry and Ginny had separated amicably several years ago, the Weasley family still supported him. Teddy knew that he still had the family’s support, but when Teddy suggested that he and Victoire take time off from one another, Victoire had taken the suggestion very emotionally. It wouldn’t have been fair to Victoire if he’d chosen to stay together without any feelings of love towards her. Luckily, Bill and Fleur didn’t hold anything against him for his actions, but he still felt guilty.

This had happened several months ago, and Teddy needed to get away from here, needed a change of scenery, and needed to clear his mind and soul of this mess he’d inadvertently gotten into. However, he honestly wanted to go visit the country, experience the culture and food, and he didn’t want this opportunity to escape him. “I’m glad you trust me to do this assignment. Thanks, Harry.”

Harry nodded. “Now, let’s go over the briefing once more before I send you off.”

Teddy knew that Asians, in general, had an entirely different fashion sense from the west. He had seen enough pictures and other media in the Muggle world to come to that conclusion. However, seeing it on digital media and then seeing it face to face was an entirely different story.

He watched a feminine looking man run in his direction. The man in question, a very skinny man at that, had on a pair of tight black jeans, an equally tight pink long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of black flip-flops. The outfit, minus the pink shirt, wouldn’t have been too odd except that it just looked very out of place on a scarecrow like him.

After Teddy studied the man’s outfit, he tried to look at the man’s eyes, but they were covered by a common-looking pair of sunglasses. Instead, his eyes travelled to the man’s hair. His hair was long and shaggy, dyed in a horrible shade of orange with what looked like magenta highlights, and pulled back in a loose and messy ponytail. Teddy’s eyes saw a glint and it took him a moment to realise it came from the man’s multiple piercings on both ears.

As the man got closer to Teddy, he asked in an out of breath voice, “Are you Teddy Lupin?” The man’s perfect English, with no hint of an accent, broke through Teddy’s thoughts.

“Ah, er, yes, and you’re . . . ?”

The man bowed deeply. “I’m Lee, Yi, or Ee — pick your choice — Sung Hoon, otherwise known as Max.” Max removed his sunglasses to reveal his violet eyes. “I am Draco Malfoy’s real estate agent and a translator for the Ministry of Magical Seoul, otherwise known as MOMS.”

Teddy decided that he didn’t want to know why the South Korean Ministry had someone like this guy as the translator for MOMS, much less a real estate agent. However, he sniffed subtlety at Max’s scent, and he relaxed as he found that Max exuded a friendly and an apologetic aura.

“I’m sorry I’m an hour late. See, I was stuck in the horrible Seoul traffic, and since I was in a cab, I couldn’t Apparate. How was your international Portkey travel?”

“It was tiring, but I’m well aware that I have to go to Mr. Malfoy’s place by Portkey.”

Max nodded as he dug through his pocket for his cell phone. “Yes. He’s expecting us — or was. He hates to be kept waiting. We’re late, but it’s my fault! I’ll explain to him.” He raised an eyebrow. “Mr. Malfoy? I thought you two were related.”

Before Teddy could answer, Max just waved a hand. “Never mind! Let’s go to his place in Gwangju down in Jeollanam Province. Be glad that this is going to be a quick trip. Going by car or bus would take four hours at least.”

Before Teddy could ask why Draco was there instead of in Seoul, he felt Max’s hand on his. In between their palms, something cool pressed into their skins.

“Starbucks!” Max said the code word to activate the Portkey.

Teddy felt the familiar tug in his stomach as he fell through the vortex of darkness.

Coming to reality, Teddy’s body jerked at the landing. He let his mind clear from the sensations, and when he came to, he realised he and Max were still holding hands. Nonchalantly as possible, he let Max’s hand go and was about to put his hand in his pocket when he saw that their Portkey was still in his hand. He saw that it was a coin. A coin that had the number one on it. “A one won coin? I thought these don’t exist anymore.”

“They aren’t used here in the present, but I use it as a personal portkey. It’s my lucky coin, so I use it as my personal Portkey when I’m by myself or only with one other person.”

Teddy nodded and gave the coin back to its owner. Just as he was going to comment on how amazing it was that Max hadn’t lost the coin yet, the view — or rather the gate — in front made him stop and stare. “Wow.”

“Yes, pretty impressive, right? These are what we call hanok-style buildings.”

“Impressive? This is beyond fantastic and brilliant!” Teddy allowed his eyes to take in the view. He had imagined Draco to be living in some western-style mansion. Instead, a very eastern-style “mansion” greeted him. The gate, white and brown with stone pillars decorating the front, had windows running from one end to the other. In the middle, though, there was a door, a heavy wooden door. From the top of the gate, he could see rooftops of the houses in there. Not a single house, but houses.

“How many buildings are behind these walls?”

“About six. However, he lives in the biggest one. Although I’m still not sure why a single man like him decided to get this huge place just for himself.”

Teddy let out a chuckle. “He’s a Malfoy. Malfoys like to be rich and pretentious.”

Teddy watched the perplexed expression on Max’s face, who looked as if he was going to question the logic behind that response before he decided it probably wasn’t worth the trouble. “Let’s go.” Max headed to the wooden door and pushed a button on the side. Teddy stood behind him, mused on how orange and magenta could be a combination, and listened to Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” doorbell — which sounded as if a cat was being strangled.

A minute or two passed, and Teddy heard Max mumble, “Well that’s unusual. I wonder why he’s not letting us in. It’s a good thing I have a key.” Max dug out a key from his bag and unlocked the gate. “I hope nothing happened . . . ”

Teddy’s Auror instincts took over him. As soon as the door unlocked, he rushed past Max and ran straight for the biggest house he saw. He stepped onto the wooden patio attached to the house and quickly opened the sliding door.

“Mr. Mal — Malf — Dra — Draco!” He entered the house and stared at the western looking room that greeted him. Just before Teddy could look around some more, Draco came around the corner from another room. All thoughts about the contrasting décor of east and west left his brain as he stared at Draco. A Draco who had brandished his wand at him. A Draco who was dripping wet, naked, and pissed off.

Teddy couldn’t help it. His eyes developed a mind of their own as they gazed all over Draco’s hardened body. He looked at the broad shoulders and arms, where they had enough muscle on them to indicate strength, but not overly huge like a body builder. His gaze moved downward as he briefly noticed the slim waist and the legs that were a bit more muscular than the arms. As he continued looking, two major details struck him. First, he could see pale scars — lines that criss-crossed in small patches all over Draco’s body. Secondly, he could see the thin trail of hair starting from Draco’s navel. The blond hairs were pale, but on the slightly flushed skin from the hot water, he could see the contrast. In fact, Teddy could see that almost everything about Draco was pale: his skin, hair, and scars. Despite that, though, the scars struck out, and so did the inviting trail.

In contrast, though, there were three things that weren’t pale on Draco. One was his flaccid penis, which was slightly darker in colour than the rest of his body, the second was the faded Dark Mark, and the third was Draco’s face. More accurately, his cheeks. Teddy could see that the man was blushing from embarrassment and anger.

He almost flinched at the accusatory and clipped tone Draco used. “How dare you two not alert me of your presence by using the simple Muggle invention of a doorbell? That’s the least you could do, if you aren’t going to be punctual!”

“Sorry about being late. I got stuck in traffic — and yes I know I could have Apparated, but I wanted to ride a cab today. Didn’t think the traffic would be awful. Oh and we rang the doorbell.” Max had come up to Draco with a smile. He threw Draco a towel. A small towel that was only big enough to wrap around his waist. He gave Teddy a grin. “These are your traditionally small Korean towels.”

Draco quickly wrapped the towel around him and said, “Don’t change the fucking subject, Max. I didn’t hear the doorbell, which means you didn’t ring it.”

“We did.”

“Rubbish! I would have heard the doorbell! That tune screeches through the entire house! Plus, the natural wards around this place would have alerted me if someone was coming, but that didn’t work . . .” Teddy watched Draco’s face clouded in anger. Before he could ask about these “natural wards”, Draco did the impossible thing where he yelled without actually raising his voice.

“Mung Chung! Show yourself!”

Right in front of Teddy appeared someone — or something? — roughly the size of a five-year old child. Teddy, still in his Auror-mode, was just about to cast a spell when his wand flew out of his hand and landed across the room from him. He let out a surprised yell as he took several steps backward, away from the thing in front of him.

“Wha–? Who or what are you?” After Teddy had a closer look at the small figure, he came to the conclusion that this thing was definitely not a human. He tried to sniff the thing out, but he was extremely surprised to find that not a single scent came from it. He studied the odd thing. He saw that there was a brown horn, rather wide instead of thin like that of a unicorn’s, on the top of the head, where it was covered in green hair, all spiked up. The thing’s skin was pale, and it wore a leopard-printed pair of shorts as its only piece of clothing. Lastly, Teddy eyed the bumpy club in the thing’s hand, and he could sense some kind of magic from the club.

A few more seconds passed as Teddy continued to stare at what he decided was something directly out of the last century: a punk rock caveman thing wannabe. His train of thought was interrupted by Draco, though.

“Did you disable the wards around this place and my doorbell?” Teddy could hear and smell the anger surrounding the words, but he also could smell something else from Draco: resignation and a bit of exasperation mixed with humour. Then there was something even more subtle. Something unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. Teddy pushed the thought aside as he stared back at the weird thing.

The thing, Mung Chung, gave Draco a cheeky smile. “No. It must have been my twin. I was sleeping the entire time.”

Teddy watched Draco and Max share knowing expressions. “Thank Merlin you’re not a twin. Otherwise my life would be more of a hell than it already is. Now why don’t you just admit to doing this trickery before I decide to get a dokkaebi exorcist and have them exorcise you when you’re in your kimchi-pot mode.”

Before Mung Chung could answer, Teddy looked at Draco and Max. “What’s going on? What is this thing — a dokkaebi, was it? — and what does a kimchi-pot have to do with anything?”

Draco and Max looked up at Teddy in surprise, the former more with more disdain. “You know what a kimchi-pot is, but you don’t know what a dokkaebi is? How’s it possible you know of the Muggle terminology here rather than the magical one? And you call yourself a wizard?”

Teddy ignored the insults from Draco as he decided to talk to Max. “Sorry, Max, forgive my ignorance. I didn’t exactly have enough time to review the magical world of South Korea in enough detail to familiarise myself with this terminology. I know about kimchi and kimchi-pot because they are a staple of Korean culture in the Muggle and wizarding sense.”

“Ah, that’s understandable. To answer your question, dokkaebi is believed to be a mythological figure — kind of like a goblin — with special magical power within their clubs, the clubs being called ‘bangmangee’. They exist as pranksters who reward good people and punish the bad people.” Teddy listened to the explanation. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Mung Chung take a bow at him.

“However, one little warning about getting rewards from a dokkaebi. For an example, if they reward you with something like money, it will be stolen from somewhere nearby, from another household perhaps. As for the whole kimchi-pot situation, each dokkaebi has a standby-mode where they transform into everyday objects. He just happens to transform into a kimchi-pot.

“It may seem like a weird thing to have a dokkaebi in the house, but sometimes, like in Mung Chung’s case, a dokkaebi will be attached to a particular location. Mung Chung is attached to this house, and because of that, this entire place has a natural ward against any dangerous foe who might want to break into it.”

Teddy nodded as he processed the new information. “So you’re telling me that Mung Chung’s very useful to have, but his mentality and appearance matches that of a mischievous five-year old?”

Right then, Teddy felt something wet and smelly hit his face. “Oh bloody hell, what is this?!” He peeled the object off of his face, and he realised that it was someone’s wet, stinky socks. “Ugh! Disgusting!”

Max started laughing out loud. “I also forgot to say one last thing. A dokkaebi is very sensitive, prideful, and does not take insult well. So do be careful and do not insult Mung Chung here. By the way, his real name is Chung Mung, but Draco decided to westernise the name order by putting the surname last. In essence, by putting his name in a western order, his name literally means ‘stupid idiot’.”

Teddy recalled a word that floated in his head. The first Korean word he learned from couple of his Korean acquaintances back home. “So it’s similar to ‘babo’?”

“That’s right! Mung Chung is a big babo!” Just then a broom came out of nowhere, which literally smacked Max’s butt.

“Ouch! Ow! That hurts, you babo!” Teddy watched the broom’s continual hitting spree, and soon it was leading Max out the door.

“Ack! Stop! I apologise! Ouch! Fuck it! I’ll just leave and come back soon or call me up when you come up to Seoul! Bye!”

Max disappeared off of Draco’s property and so did Mung Chung. Teddy, surprised by the random turn of events, turned towards Draco. A Draco who was still naked except for the small towel covering his private areas. “Um, er.”

Draco’s glare stopped him from continuing. “I’m going to finish up my bath. After this hell happened, I’ll need to unwind again.” Draco pointed towards the side. “That’s the sitting room. Just wait there and don’t touch anything until I come back.”

Teddy sighed as Draco stomped off in the opposite direction while holding onto the small towel. Teddy turned and started to head into the sitting room, but there was a pop and a high-pitched voice asked, “Does Master Teddy wishes to have something to eat or drink? Shinny will help you, sir! I come back from food shopping. Shinny’s sorry that you and Master Draco had to deal with that no good ‘bi-bi’.”

“Ah, thank you, Shinny. I am not hungry, but could I have a cup of tea?”

Shinny nodded her head enthusiastically. Teddy saw the neatly tied blue-coloured bow in Shinny’s hair, which matched her simple blue dress. “Yes, sir! I bring it to you in the sitting room!” Shinny disappeared and that was when Teddy saw that Aunt Hermione’s SPEW campaign really made a difference if a house-elf under someone like Malfoy was given equal rights. Smiling, he picked his wand up and headed into the sitting room to wait for the master of the house.

Two cups of tea and several biscuits later, Draco finally showed up in the sitting room, dressed neatly in a pair of black trousers and an equally black velvet robe. Teddy could see the white-collared shirt under the robe, and he couldn’t help but be amused at how Draco preferred to be dressed formally, even when he was in his own home.

He watched Draco take a seat in an expensive armchair and wave a hand. The fire came to life in the fireplace. While Teddy questioned why there was a fireplace here instead of the “ondol” floor heating Koreans were famous for, Teddy was glad of the warmth being given to him in a familiar fashion — the evening had turned quite chilly.

After the fire was lit, Shinny popped into the room. She had a tray with her, and on the tray was an expensive bottle of brandy and two tumblers. The tray was set on the table between the armchair and the couch Teddy sat upon. Shinny looked at her master. “Anything else, Master Draco?”

“That is all for now, Shinny. Thank you.” After Shinny took her leave, Draco took the bottle of brandy and poured some into the tumblers. He took one tumbler. Teddy took the other.

The two sipped their drinks quietly for a few minutes. It was Draco who broke the silence. “First of all, I will not tolerate your hair. I think it’s better to be incognito about all this, and you having green and blue streaks in your light-brown hair will not help. It’s bad enough Max has that horrible colour-scheme, but I refuse to have you tag along with me looking like some misplaced punk rocker.”

Teddy’s hands automatically went to his shaggy hair that framed lightly around his face, where its length ended right in the middle of his neck. With his metamorphmagus ability, he liked to experiment with his appearance. However, after going through his teenage years where he changed appearance practically every hour, he decided that he needed to tone down his transformations. Now, he only did it when he needed to do his job, but once in a while, he would change his hazel eyes into a different colour and play around with his natural, shaggy light-brown hair. His current style right now was actually tame to some of the other stuff he had tried.

Teddy opened his mouth to retort, but Draco beat him. “Also, I am far too old to have a baby-sitter. It was not my idea to have you here, and frankly, I am not happy about it.”

“Look–”

“Therefore, I already have a plan in mind. Luckily, I have a long weekend. I’ll let you know the details about what I suspect. We’ll go by my plans and my terms until this conflict — or lack there of — is solved. That’s all that’s needed to be said.” Draco drank some more, and he made a dismissing gesture at Teddy.

Instead of leaving, Teddy set his tumbler down on the table. He leaned towards Draco. “I have a few things to say as well. First, my hair is my business, not yours. I respect you wanting us to take the subtle route, especially when we have to be out in the public, but when I am out of public eyes, I will do whatever I wish to my appearance.”

Teddy saw the frown on Draco’s forehead, but when Draco didn’t say anything, Teddy continued his speech. “I’ll go with any plans you have. After all, you’re more familiar with this country’s locales and its cultures and traditions. You’ve been studying Korea for five years now, and I know you’re dedicated to your studies instead of skimping on them. However, I request that you tell me of the plans, and we’ll execute them after we both come to a mutual agreement on them.”

He paused as he studied the frown on Draco’s face, the frown that hadn’t changed since its appearance. “Also, I am not a baby-sitter, either. However, to prevent any casualties, I will do what I have to do. And, yes, it could have been coincidence, where a random horrible driver lost control of their brakes and barely managed to miss you. However, the fact that they threw out a message, tied to a rock that was aimed straight for your head and luckily missed, that explicitly targeted you and told you that you needed to die is enough to warrant a protection issue for you.

“Believe me. I’m sure the easiest route is to let you be banged up by a car in this country, but I don’t fancy that idea and neither does Harry.”

Teddy gave Draco an amicable smile as he stood up and held out a hand. “But I will say that I want to get to the bottom of this, and the quickest route for that to happen is for you and me to cooperate with one another. Do we have a deal?”

Draco let out a growl. “Fine. I guess I will always be indebted to the Potters or to the godchildren of the Potters. But if it means getting rid of you in the fastest mean possible, then let’s do it. Just don’t expect this to be pleasant.”

“Let’s shake on it.”

A paler and smaller hand grasped his darker and larger one. Teddy gave a firm shake before letting go, but not without feeling something passing between them. Teddy sniffed the sudden energy between them, but he couldn’t decipher it. There was that scent from Draco again, a sweet, spicy sort of scent that had a secret of its own. Teddy sniffed, and the scent was there, trying to tell him something, but Teddy couldn’t fathom its meaning. That unnerved him, so he quickly loosened his hold on Draco. He gauged Draco’s reaction, irked that Draco was unfazed by whatever that experience was.

“I’m sure you’re tired from the international Portkey travelling. Shinny will show you to your rooms. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good night . . . ”

“Just call me Draco. Any of those formal names you’ve called me in the past is unnecessary.”

“Well, then. Thank you for your hospitality. Good night, Draco.” Teddy gave a nod of acknowledgement. Shinny popped up then and led the way to one of Draco’s many guest rooms.

When Teddy walked into one of the rooms, he was surprised to see that there was a bed in the room. He honestly expected to sleep on the floor in full Korean traditional way. He walked in and saw a queen-size bed covered with a colourful mink blanket that had the Korean tiger design on it. Along with the blanket, there were two hard and lumpy looking pillows that Teddy couldn’t help but think that they had to be made out of rocks.

Teddy, yet again, just shook his head at the contradicting décor of the place. Deciding that he needed a nice hot shower, he went into his personal bath, where everything was as modern and western as it could get. When he was done, dried up, and only in a pair of pyjama bottoms, he went to lie on the bed.

Just as he expected, the bed was really soft and easy on his back, and the mink blanket was warm and comfortable. Unfortunately, the pillows were quite unpleasant. Yes, they were hard, yes they were lumpy, but they weren’t filled with rocks. Instead, it felt like beans or something. Teddy decided he didn’t want to know what exactly filled up the pillows.

“Shinny?” Teddy wasn’t sure if calling her would summon her, but he decided to try.

Right after he said the name, Shinny appeared quicker than the speed of light, almost startling Teddy. “Yes, Master Teddy?”

“Hey, you don’t need to call me ‘master’.”

“Okay, Master Teddy.”

“Er,” Teddy decided that it would be futile to argue with a house elf. “Is there a softer kind of pillow around here by any chance?”

“Master Teddy no like these Korean pillows? Then how about cotton pillows?”

“Please, that would be great.”

“Shinny will do as you wish!” And she did. She took the two rock-or-bean-filled pillows and came back with two normal cotton pillows.

After thanking her, Teddy lay back and sighed in happiness as his head met the soft pillows. Finally comfortable and exhausted from his travels, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

One thing Teddy never liked to do was wake up for a new day. He hated it, making alarm clocks his worse enemies at times. However, he was just about to experience the rudest alarm clock in his entire life.

Crash! Bang! Crash! Crash! Bang! Bang! Bang! Ding! Ding! Dong! Dong!

Teddy flailed awake, thinking he was being attacked. He threw the warm blanket off of him and rushed to the window that was opened wide. He had his wand out and surveyed the view. He then noticed that Draco’s house was on a hill. He blinked at the sight that greeted him at the bottom of the hill.

“What in the bloody hell is that?!” He looked at the marching troupe of men and women, dressed in some strange outfits that were blue, red, yellow, black, and white. He saw odd looking hats on the group of twenty people. Half of them were carrying some kind of drumming instruments. One-quarter of them were dancing. The remaining men and women had smaller instruments and were singing some kind of folk song.

Teddy watched this group march around the bottom of the hill, and now that he knew what had woken him up, he felt the adrenaline rush leaving him. He sagged to the floor and wished he could go back to sleep. Instead, though, he had to go get ready. He stood up and looked out the window once more. The marching troupe finally stopped circling the hill and was now headed towards the village. In fact, that’s all Teddy saw around outside. All he saw were houses and rice paddies. Rice paddies could be seen miles and miles away. Along with the many rice paddies, in the far distance, he could see the faint outline of some mountains.

“Rice paddies. They are everywhere here. I guess it’s the Korean’s equivalent of the English moors.” Teddy yawned and headed into the bathroom where he took his customary morning cold shower — he needed one to fully wake up.

While he showered, he remembered that indecipherable energy between Draco and him. He pondered on why he couldn’t gauge that strange aura between them. Even that scent, the one that was trying to tell him something, bothered him. As a matter of fact, this was the first time his keen sense of smell had ever failed him. Until now, he had been able to analyse any given situation by sniffing the people he needed to associate with, but with Draco, he couldn’t figure it out.

It was seriously frustrating him. He exhaled loudly as he rested his forehead on the cool tiles. The cold water ran over his entire body as he stayed like that for a couple more minutes before he decided to forget about his problem for now. He had other stuff to worry about.

Teddy walked into the dining room where Draco already was dressed in his usual formal attire, sipping some tea while he read the paper. Teddy took a seat across from Draco. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Draco said, putting the paper down. “Did you enjoy the wake up call?”

Teddy gave him a wary look. “Exactly what was that?”

“Pungmul. That whole troupe is called that, and they usually perform for farming reasons, rural holidays, Shamanistic purposes, and for the village to enjoy. Today just happens to be one of the many minor rural holidays. Hence the pungmul performance this morning.”

“I see.”

“Although–” Draco smirked at Teddy. “–I’m sure the sounds were louder for you because your windows were opened. I could barely hear them myself.”

Teddy studied that smirk. That sneaky, conniving smirk that hid something. “Did you have anything to do with my windows being opened?”

“Oh, no. It wasn’t me at all.”

“Then who? I can’t imagine Shinny doing that.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Oh, for the love of Merlin. You’ve been around that Weasley joker for years! Think about it!”

“Oh.” Teddy had completely forgotten about that live-in prankster. “Mung Chung.”

“Yes. Who probably also somehow enhanced the pungmul’s volume level to its maximum and directed it straight to your room.” He shook his head. “You win the prize for being absolutely dense first thing in the morning. Congratulations.”

Just as sarcastically, Teddy retorted, “Thank you. Is my prize the food in front of me? I shall eat then.”

For the next ten minutes, the two of them just ate and drank their tea in silence. Their solace was interrupted, though, by the screeching “Fur Elise” doorbell.

Teddy heard Draco mutter, “At least that Mung Chung didn’t disable it this time.”

Shinny appeared and announced, “Master Draco, the landlady’s here. Shall Shinny let her in?”

“Yes, go ahead.” Draco quickly turned to Teddy. “Change your hair colour. Look normal.”

“I’m a step ahead of you.” Teddy got rid of the blue and green streaks in his hair to make himself look “normal”. He nodded at Draco and gave him a cheeky grin. “Satisfied?”

“Yes.” At that moment, an old lady came in. She was hunched over, and she walked with a cane in one hand and a small kimchi pot wrapped in a cloth with the handle tied in knots with the other. She was dressed in a traditional Korean outfit — hanbok, was it? Teddy was sure that was the term. Draco helped her sit down, and she and Draco started to speak to each other in Korean. Teddy discreetly cast a translation spell, so he could follow along.

“Delay-co my boy! Don’t offer me anything. I only came by for a minute. My family and I made some kimchi, and I know you like fresh kimchi, so I bought you some.”

“Oh, Halmeoni, you shouldn’t have. You should have called me over and asked me to pick that up instead of you walking up here carrying something so heavy.”

“Pshhhh! Do not underestimate me, Delay-co. I may be old, but I have enough energy to make a trip up to my old family home to give my tenant some of his favourite food!” She whacked him in the back with her cane and laughed.

Draco chuckled as well, after he recovered from the impact. “Well, I appreciate it, Halmeoni. Thank you. I’ll be sure to enjoy them.”

“All right. Here you go.” She handed him the kimchi pot. “Remember to put it in the kimchi refrigerator to keep it fresh longer!”

“I will. Thank you again.” Draco set the kimchi pot on the table.

“By the way, who is this young man? Quite a handsome fellow there.”

Teddy could feel Halmeoni’s eyes on him, and he gave her a smile. While the translation spell he was using would translate what others said to him, it would not translate what he said to the other party. Instead, he tried to remember the few Korean phrases he had been taught in the last couple of years. In his broken and limited Korean he said, “Hello. I’m Teddy Lupin. Please to meet your acquaintance.”

Draco took over from there. “He’s a family member visiting here because he wanted to get some first hand experience of the Korean life and culture.”

“Ah. I see. So he’s visiting from England, yes? Delay-co’s lucky to have someone young and handsome here!” She turned towards Teddy. “And you, Teddy, take care of this old man here. He’s too serious. He needs more fun in his life!”

“Halmeoni, I’m not that old!”

Halmeoni just laughed at Draco’s protest. “Well, it was a nice quick visit. I must run now. You don’t need to show me out the door. I’m not some fragile person made from glass! Continue your breakfast and do let Teddy try some kimchi! I’m leaving now. Goodbye!”

Teddy watched Halmeoni walk out — quite fast for someone her age — and ended the translation spell when he heard the door shut. “So that was Halmeoni, your landlady?”

Draco nodded. “Yes. She and her families used to live here, but then many of them decided to move to the bigger cities like Seoul, Busan, and of course Gwangju. Only her oldest son’s family remain here, so they decided to get a smaller place built in the village at the bottom of the hill and rent this place out.”

“Her name is not ‘Halmeoni’, right?”

“No. Halmeoni means ‘grandmother’, but it doesn’t have to be amongst relatives.”

“That makes sense,” Teddy eyed the kimchi pot.

“You want some now?”

“Could I just try a piece?”

“Yes.” Draco opened up the kimchi pot, and with a pair of chopsticks, took out one long piece of cabbage covered in red paste, dotted in green vegetables, and smelled of garlic, red pepper, and fish. He put it on Teddy’s plate. “It might be spicy so take caution.”

Teddy stabbed the cabbage with his fork and was about to take a bite when he felt a presence behind him. He looked and saw it was Mung Chung. The dokkaebi was watching him with interest.

“Did he do something to this?” Teddy couldn’t help but ask Draco.

“No. Apparently he likes to watch foreigners eat kimchi. He did the same thing with me.”

“Ah.” Teddy, ignoring Mung Chung, took a bite of the cabbage. The flavours burst on his tongue. The spiciness from the red pepper paste, the salt-flavour from the fish, and the sweet taste of the lettuce all combined together to give the unique taste of kimchi. He liked it. Teddy proceeded to eat the rest of the long piece of cabbage, and he could feel his mouth burning up and his eyes watering with tears.

Draco just stared at Teddy with an amused expression. “You all right there, Teddy?”

Instead of answering, Teddy grabbed his glass of water and gulped down its contents. He fanned his burning mouth and said, “Yes! Whoo! That was pretty spicy! Oh man, my eyes are tearing up something else! That was good, though. I like it a lot!”

“Mmmph! I thought he’d jump through the roof or something!” Mung Chung disappeared from the room.

Draco just shook his head at both Mung Chung and Teddy. “Glad you like it. I’m going to have Shinny put the rest of this away. I’m done with breakfast. I’ll be in my study. When you’re ready, come there.”

Teddy nodded. Draco took his leave, and it was after he left that Teddy remembered that milk was a better drink to have when eating spicy food. “Time for some milk!”

Teddy slid the door to the study open and stepped into the large room. He glanced briefly at the many bookshelves along the walls. On one side of the room, there was a big desk, its mahogany wood polished to the point that sunlight from the window reflected off of it. The other side looked much like a sitting room, with couches and armchairs, and a large coffee table in between them. A pile of papers and books lay on the table, and Draco, sitting at one of the couches, was flipping through one of them, with a pen in one hand and a tea cup in the other. Teddy stopped to stare at this image of seriousness and dedication. He watched the sun’s rays play with Draco’s pale blond hair. While looking, it was then he realised that Draco had on a pair of spectacles, and they complemented his pointy and angular facial structures.

“I didn’t know you wore glasses,” Teddy pointed towards the stylish frames.

“Only for reading,” Draco answered without looking up. He set his tea cup down and waved towards one of the chairs. “Have a seat.”

Teddy settled into a comfortable position on the couch across from Draco as he pulled out a notebook and a pen. He waited patiently for Draco to start telling him what needed to be known.

Draco finished whatever he was doing and sat back on the soft cushion. He took off his reading spectacles and put them away in a case. He crossed his legs and rested his hands and arms on the armrests. “Do you know why I am in South Korea?”

“It’s because of your interest in Korean magical mythology and folklore, isn’t it?”

“That’s most of it, yes, but I have another reason for why I am here.”

“And that would be?”

Draco gave Teddy an annoyed look. “If you wouldn’t interrupt me, I would tell you what you need to know.”

“Okay, okay.” Teddy succeeded in not rolling his eyes in exasperation at Draco.

“It was a year after my wife had passed away in an automobile accident. Scorpius was at Hogwarts, starting his third year, and I was restless and bored. I was at the Manor, in the library, going through some books. One of those books happened to be a book on Korean mythology. Within the book, though, were some papers that Riddle and somebody by the name of Kim Jung Min had made notes on about the mysterious Earth’s Milk.”

“Earth’s Milk . . . ?” Teddy repeated as he took notes without looking up.

“Yes, Earth’s Milk. The Korean term for it is ‘Jiyu’.” Draco sighed. “Let me back up a bit. In Korean mythology and folklore, there are multiple creation myths. The most famous and popular one is about Dangun, which stems from Buddhist cosmology. There are two more, both of which predate Buddhism. One is Taoist in nature. The one I’m about to explain is from the Totemic and the Shamanistic beliefs called the Mago-Mythology.

“This legend says that the world did not exist in the beginning. Instead, there was a deity named Yul-ryeo and a goddess called Mago. Yul-ryeo died, but Mago gave birth to two more goddesses, and they gave birth to two Men of Heaven and two Women of Heaven. Yul-ryeo was revived after their birth, and at that point, the world was created. Heaven, earth, and oceans were created and infused with Chi, which is soul, along with fire, water, and earth. This in turn gave rise to the plants and animals. The Heavenly People then decided to rule all living things from their heavenly fortress called Magoseong, or Mago’s Castle.

“These Heavenly People continued to have more offspring, and twelve of them happen to be the human being’s ancestors. These ancestors were said to be pure with supernatural powers. They spoke without making any sounds, acted without seeing, and were immortal. This is where the Jiyu comes into place. That so-called Earth’s Milk, which came from a spring inside Magoseong, enabled these ancestors to live their unspoiled heavenly life.”

By this time, Teddy had stopped his note-taking and was listening attentively to Draco’s lecture. Draco, he decided, had a way with words. Not only that, but Draco made something like a lecture enjoyable. Draco was definitely the opposite of Professor Binns. Instead of putting him to sleep, Teddy actually wanted to learn more about the subject, which was ironic since Teddy was never a fan of history, mythology, or the like.

Draco, however, mistook Teddy’s attention for boredom because he said next, “I hope this isn’t tedious for you.”

“Quite the contrary. This is fascinating stuff.”

“Well, I guess you’re not a total loss like Albus Severus.”

Teddy frowned at that comparison. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, nothing. You know his relationship with Scorpius? Scorpius told me that he tried to tell Albus Severus some of this information, and it put him to sleep. So I just assumed you, being influenced by the Potters, would find this subject dull.”

Teddy knew he should be insulted by Draco’s assumptions. Instead, though, he decided to just give a smug smile at Draco. “Well, you forgot something. I may be influenced by Harry and all the Potters plus the Weasleys, but I am a Black by blood like you, and I was raised by your aunt, my grandmother, a fellow Black. In fact, let me remind you that we are related.”

Teddy watched Draco crack a small smile. “Touché.”

“Now do go on. There is more to the explanation.” It was said as a statement rather than a question.

“Back to the Jiyu. It wasn’t long before overpopulation came to Magoseong, and there was a shortage of these Heavenly People’s energy source. Then came the fateful day where one man, by the name of Jiso, decided to give up his share for his fellow people. Another source says he waited too long in line, didn’t get his turn, and grew hungry to the point of starvation. The point is that his hunger drove him to try to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff. At its edge, he saw some grapevines. Succumbing to his hunger, he ate the grapes, and acquired the five types of taste.

“He then proceeded to tell the other people, and they, too, ate the grapes. But they soon grew teeth and formed saliva that transformed into venom, and it’s all because they ate another living thing to stay alive.”

“Wow, so it’s kind of like Adam and Eve with the snake in the Garden of Eden,” Teddy said, still transfixed on Draco’s lecture.

“Yes, the similarity is quite striking in some ways. Like Adam and Eve, their wrongful discovery led them to experience changes and hardships such as their skin becoming coarse, their new lack of purity, and their lifespan shrinking. It wasn’t long before Jiso and the others who ate the grapes were told to leave Magoseong. Unfortunately, as they were leaving, Hwang-gun, the direct ancestor of the Korean people, told them that they could regain their purity back and be free from this curse. Jiso and the others decided that they needed to drink some Jiyu to regain their heavenly status. They stormed down the place and tried to find the source of the spring. They found it, but it flowed all over and converted into inedible earth.

“Everyone at Magoseong lost their source of food, and they starved until they started to eat grapes and everything from plants to animals. Things were pretty chaotic, more or less. However, there was hope as Hwang-gun went to Mago herself and begged for forgiveness. He promised her that he would try to help his fellow men and women regain their heavenly nature, and henceforth he gained the Three Heavenly Heirlooms and the knowledge to survive in the world. It was from there that Hwang-gun and three other guardians and their descendants settled in the different parts of the world, with Hwang-gun settling in Korea.”

“This is all quite in-depth and captivating.” Teddy leaned back into his seat, his notebook and pen lying on the table, forgotten.

“The Jiyu’s the reason why I’m here. Riddle and Kim were researching the last remaining three drops of Jiyu somewhere in the world. Their guess was that it’s somewhere in Korea, which makes sense because another myth stated that later, after Hwang-gun settled in Korea with his people, he made contact with Mago one last time, and Mago gave him the remaining three drops of Jiyu in a small vial, made of diamond.”

“The hardest natural-occurring mineral in the world,” Teddy speculated mostly to himself. “To protect the remaining drops. That makes sense.”

“Yes, I think that’s a natural conclusion, though I wonder when you had time to study geology.” Draco took a sip of his tea, still warm due to the heating spells. “Anyway, that’s the reason why I am here. Thanks to the findings about the Jiyu, I read and studied more on Korean mythology and folklore. I started to communicate with the scholars and professors here. I visited several times, and then the president of Yonsei University offered me a teaching position at their college of Korean mythology and folklore. I decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to study more about the subject and to do research into the location of the Jiyu.”

Draco took out a piece of yellowed paper and showed it to Teddy. On the paper there were foreign looking characters. “Does this tell you of the clue of the location?”

“Yes. However, it’s written in the ancient Korean language. Luckily, Kim had already translated it into modern Korean, and this is the riddle in English.” He pulled out another piece of paper and handed that to Teddy.

Teddy read:

In between two warring states of power,
Divided by a common legacy,
On a rocky spire, deep within a cave,
There lies the remnant of the Ancient Past.

From the clear waters in its hidden depths
To the origins of the mighty world,
The souls of the magic come into place,
The round pedestal unites and divides.

“That’s quite a vague riddle, and I’m amazed it’s in iambic pentameter.”

Draco nodded. “I’m surprised you even know what iambic pentameter means. But yes, it is. From what I concluded, the Jiyu must be somewhere between North and South Korea, but I haven’t found that location yet.”

“And you didn’t want anybody else to know about this, right? Because the files I received certainly didn’t give me this reason for you being here.”

“Of course. The MOMS doesn’t need to know about this. If they knew, they’d prevent me from locating the Jiyu.”

“That’s a high possibility. However, it seems like someone else must know about its existence and know you’re looking for it as well, hence that attack on you.”

Draco grimaced. “Yes, I have come to that conclusion.”

Teddy now snapped into his business mode, letting his Auror-trained mind take over the situation. “Logically speaking, there are two other people who know of this because of the notes. Riddle and Kim. Riddle’s out of question. But Kim . . . ”

“He’s dead.”

“Oh?”

“He was apparently a Muggle who was visiting England in the 1970s.”

Teddy’s face hardened at the realisation that hit him and at the way Draco had slightly shifted uncomfortably. “I see. That would explain Riddle getting the notes.”

“Yes. Obviously he didn’t succeed in finding this, which is probably a good thing. Legend has it that if anyone consumes the last remnant of the Jiyu, then they will gain godlike powers, which I’m sure is the reason why Riddle was interested in it.”

“What about the Kim’s family?”

“He didn’t have any. I looked him up, but the records stated that by the time he was in England, he was the only one left in his family. His parents had already passed away, he was an only child, and he didn’t have his own family.”

“Well, so much for that angle.”

Draco gave a nod. “That’s pretty much all the information I have. It’s definite that whoever tried to attack me was doing so because of my secret research with the hidden Jiyu, but the ‘whodunnit’ part is rather elusive. However, they obviously failed, since I am very much alive now.”

“And very modest,” Teddy teased.

“Shut up,” Draco stood up at that point and stretched his arms high in the air. He grabbed a very fat folder full of papers and walked around the table to stand next to Teddy, who was still sitting down.

Teddy looked up, and that same sweet and spicy scent attacked him, thanks to Draco’s close proximity. He blinked and tried to make his brain work, but all he could do was let the smell overwhelm him. He felt dazed as he reached out to touch the robe’s sleeves, wanting to grab the pale wrist he could see peeking through its clothes.

At the last minute, though, he grabbed the folder.

“Read the rest of this file. I have other things to work on for the day. I have to get lesson plans ready for my classes as well as a couple of quizzes. You can either read it here or go to your room and read. I don’t care. Just don’t get in my way.”

His throat and mouth dry, Teddy just nodded, stood up, and decided to leave the room and read the files somewhere else. Preferably far away from Draco so he could not only concentrate on reading this but also try to guess just what was going on with his sense of smell!

Really, Teddy shouldn’t be surprised that the file contained all the details Draco had already told him. “Guess he didn’t trust me to comprehend all this the first time he explained it all!”

Despite that minor complaint, Teddy went through the file thoroughly, and by the time he finished, he could see all the whys, but like Draco, he couldn’t see the who and the where. Who else knew about this and where was that last remaining Jiyu?

After going through the file’s contents, Teddy grabbed his cup of tea, sat back on the comfortable couch, and relaxed his sore neck and back. He sipped on his drink as he tried to think of ways to get more information about Kim. There were files from the MOMS about this man, but nothing from England.

Just as he set his tea cup down, Draco walked in. “Shinny’s cooking. Supper will be ready soon.”

“It’s that late?” Teddy glanced at his watch, a watch that displayed Britain’s time and his current location’s time. “Wow, I didn’t realise how much time had passed.”

“Hn,” was the Draco’s noncommittal answer.

“I noticed that Kim’s information only came from MOMS. Have you tried to find out more about him from our Ministry of Magic?”

“No. I haven’t tried.”

“How come?”

Draco gave Teddy a sharp look. Underlying that look, Teddy sensed something else. Bitterness. “Even though I was employed by the Ministry, imagine me going to them and asking to see if there was any information regarding a Death Eater’s victim. I doubt that would have gone over well.”

“It was in the past; I’m sure they wouldn’t have questioned your actions since you did join the light side at the end.”

Instead of responding, Draco just stared down at Teddy for a long moment. He finally said, “The past is not that easy to forget or forgive.”

Teddy didn’t rebuke that statement. As much as it disgusted him, what Draco said was the truth. The past haunted people more than they realised. “Then do you mind if I check this out?”

The bitterness that surrounded Draco disappeared as he waved his hand. “Go ahead. I doubt you will find anything useful, though. Now, let’s go eat some supper.”

Draco left the room, and Teddy, after he cleaned up his mess, went to the dining room. While eating, the two men didn’t say much, but when it was time for some dessert, Draco broke the companionable silence.

“Since it would be an extreme shame for you to be in South Korea and not see any of it, we can do some sightseeing tomorrow. Is there anything in particular you would like to see?”

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea . . . what if someone tries to attack you while we’re out?”

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake!” Draco scowled angrily. “I am not going to be a prisoner in my own home because of that attack. I refuse to let that attacker get the best of me. Plus, you will be with me — something I am not exactly happy about — so it’s not like I’m going to be out by myself!”

Teddy gave in. After all, it was silly to prevent Draco from leaving the place. The man did have to leave to go do his job, after all. “Fine, fine. I would like to see more of Seoul. I am not sure what’s good to see there, but I trust you know of some good locations?”

“Yes, I do.” Draco scowl lessened in its severity but didn’t disappear entirely.

“Then I’ll leave it up to you. I trust you won’t take me to some sleazy place I will dislike. Though I am not that picky, so any place you choose will be fine with me.” Teddy gave Draco a friendly smile to placate him.

A smile that Draco seemed to be immune to. “Taking you to a sleazy place . . . the temptation is there.”

Teddy just rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “I’m sure.”

“I’ll think of something. I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

“Brilliant. Oh, by the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, why are you all the way out here, near Gwangju instead of Seoul?”

“This place intrigued me the most of all I had seen when I was house hunting. The countryside also reminded me of the moors back home.”

Teddy laughed. “Something about these rice paddies sure reminds both of us about the moors.”

“Well, they are green. Plus with the ability to Apparate and the availability of Portkeys, living a bit out of the way doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“True. And this area is only about four hours away by car.”

“Yes.” Draco rose from his seat. “Well, as much as I hate to cut off this pleasantry, I have more work to do before the necessity of sleep overcomes me. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good night.” As soon as the older man left the room, Teddy could immediately smell the lack of Draco’s scent. While it hadn’t bothered him during their mealtime, now that the scent wasn’t as prominent, he could sense it, and he strangely missed it. Teddy groaned to himself as he wondered just what was up with him and Draco’s scent. Just why was he so affected by it? Shoving these unanswerable questions aside, Teddy went to his room to catch up on a mystery novel.

Next day came with its own share of problems. This made Teddy come to a really simple conclusion: Mung Chung hated him.

It was a blessing that Teddy woke in a normal manner unlike the previous day’s rude awakening. However, when Teddy went to have his cold shower, instead of feeling refreshed and energised, scalding, hot water greeted him, and he nearly suffered from what felt like third-degree burns. Luckily, the water cooled back down, and Teddy took a rather uncomfortable shower.

Things just went downhill from then. More childish pranks occurred during breakfast. Teddy discovered that his tea was contaminated with salt, his food burnt to crisp just as he tried to eat some, and the food itself was practically drowned with the spiciest Korean green pepper, something called “chunyang ggo chu”. This was also where he learned, from Draco, that “ggo chu” meant not only chilli pepper, but was also slang for “penis”. He decided that, considering how this particular pepper was in the shape of a perfect phallus, it made sense for the word to have two meanings.

Teddy was getting sick of the pranks, though. He finally requested Draco to ask Mung Chung to stop.

“Really, I may have worked at Uncle George’s WWW store for a year after graduating from Hogwarts, but this is going beyond mere pranks! At this point, that pint-sized thing is going to poison me without me realising it!”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “I’m aware of your involvement with that establishment. That’s why I figured you and Mung Chung would get along. It’s quite surprising to hear otherwise.”

“Even I have limits.”

“Again, it’s really surprising to hear that from you.”

“And,” Teddy retorted, “I am not Uncle George nor am I related to Peeves.”

“Fine. I’ll talk with him after breakfast.”

The two of them finished their breakfast. Draco went off to talk with Mung Chung, and Teddy went off to grab his Muggle digital camera — a gift from Aunt Hermione — and a few other necessities for a day of sightseeing.

Without saying a word, Draco grabbed Teddy’s hand to do some side-along Apparating. There was a pop, and Teddy’s peripheral views of the rice paddies changed into concrete buildings. Not only did his view change, but that scent he was starting recognise as Draco’s affected his smell, and that brief holding of the hands brought a jolt of energy. With their hands still clasped, Teddy saw that they had Apparated into a position where Draco was against one of the buildings’ walls, and Teddy was right in front of him. There was a good amount of space between them, but it was closer than what should have been “normal” in Teddy’s perspective.

Quickly, Teddy took the opportunity to look straight into the Draco’s face. While he’d had a good look at the man’s body the other day, he realised that he had yet to really look at his face this closely. He studied the sharpness of the facial structure, the barely seen facial hair that covered Draco’s cheeks and chin. He looked at the faint lines associated with aging on various parts of the face. He looked at the blond hair that was slicked back, which only showed more of Draco’s receding hair line, but Teddy thought that gave the older man a regal look.

However, it was the steel grey eyes that Teddy found himself almost drowning in its depth. He saw fast-moving sparks of energy in them, but in contrast, he could almost see something, like mercurial liquid, deep inside that moved slowly. Teddy had the feeling that the two opposite forces were in harmony with one another. It was as if the sparks represented Draco’s vitality — he wasn’t that old by wizarding standards — and the liquid represented the maturity that comes gradually with age.

Teddy felt like he was in a spell, and if it really was a spell, he found himself wishing that it wouldn’t break.

Unfortunately for Teddy, Draco broke the spell by letting go of their hands, and he stepped around Teddy.

“We have Apparated to a safe spot near Sadang Station. I assumed you’d want to try riding Seoul’s subway system at least once while here. We’ll get on the subway and travel up on line number four to reach our destination of Myeong-dong.” Draco started to walk out of the alley, and Teddy followed.

It wasn’t long before they reached the stairs that would take them to the underground transport. Below the surface, Teddy watched Draco purchase something at the ticket counter and come back with a card. Draco handed the card to Teddy and said, “This is a T-Money card. You can use it for buses, subways, and even some taxis by scanning it against the machine. Just make sure to charge it when your balance is getting low. Just stick it in your wallet and scan it that way. The machine’s quite sensitive, to the point you can have the card in a bag and just scan the bag.”

“That’s brilliant, really, and convenient. That way, I don’t have to constantly take the card out to scan it!”

“Let’s go.” Draco swiped his own wallet against the machine as he walked the gate.

When they were on the subway, they were able to get seats. Sitting down, Teddy saw a few Koreans staring at him and Draco. He smiled at them, but they just averted their eyes. Teddy remembered being warned about something like this, how some Koreans stared at foreigners in curiosity despite how globalised and westernised South Korea had become in the last half-century.

Or maybe the people stared at both of them because of their differences in clothing style. Draco, formal as always, wore a grey-coloured suit along with a green tie. Over the suit, he had on a long black coat and had on a pair of black dress shoes. While Draco looked like he was headed to do some official business negotiation, Teddy wore loose-fitting jeans, a green hooded sweatshirt over a tee-shirt, and finished off with some Converse sneakers. Slung over him was a messenger bag, where he carried his camera and other stuff.

Quite honestly, Teddy could see why they were stared at, but he didn’t care. He wanted the excursion to be a comfortable one, and if Draco was comfortable in suits, then so be it. Beside, he actually found the suits meshed well with the older man.

“I’m glad your hair isn’t in some radical shade,” said Draco, breaking the silence between the two of them.

“I told you, when we’re in public, I won’t draw unwanted attention.”

“That you did.” Draco paused for a minute. “Thank you for that.”

Teddy smiled, the same smile that had been said could charm the pants off of a Norwegian Ridgeback. Teddy saw something change in Draco’s grey eyes, but it was too quick to see what it exactly was.

Draco looked up at the signboard that flashed which stop they were approaching. “We’ll be there shortly.”

Teddy reached into his wallet to pull out his wallet-sized, foldable Seoul subway map. He scanned it. “We’re on line number four, right? The sky-blue line?”

“Yes.”

Teddy found Sadang and then he travelled up north to look for Myeong-dong. “Found it and we’re approaching Ichon-station, so that means we have more six more stops. About how long will that take?”

“Twenty more minutes or so.” Right when Draco said that, the dark underground tunnels became light as they were outside now, crossing a bridge across a river.

Teddy looked out the windows to watch the scenery pass by. “We’re crossing the Han River, aren’t we?”

“You’re correct.” Just then an older woman came down the train, and when she was in front of Teddy, Draco stood up and offered her his seat in Korean.

Teddy decided to stand up as well, deciding that he wanted to see how well his balance was on the shaky train. He stood next to Draco, holding onto the seat’s metal bar. “That was generous of you.”

“It’s an unspoken rule here to give the older citizens, pregnant women, disabled citizens, and the religious nuns and monks your seat.”

Teddy recalled Uncle Ron talking about the past when he was in one of his moods. One thing Uncle Ron liked to reminiscence about was the good ol’ days of his early years at Hogwarts, in particular about how Draco Malfoy was an “arse-faced, pompous, self-centred git who pranced around talking about how the Purebloods were the real wizards and witches”. If Teddy was to apply that description to the present Draco, he would agree with the “pompous, self-centred git” part, but he could see that time had toned Draco’s xenophobic attitude down a lot.

He was thinking so hard that he almost missed what Draco said next. “I’m glad Seoul’s subway system is convenient. Much more than Tokyo’s. I had the unfortunate privilege of being privy to their subways once because I had a conference there, and it was more hectic and confusing than Seoul’s. When I came back to Seoul, I decided never to complain about Seoul’s subway system.”

Teddy laughed at that. “One of my co-workers, stationed in Tokyo, told me that as well. He said that he had a love-hate relationship with that subway system. He loved it because it was cheap compared to other public transportation, but he hated the JR Line or something another.”

“Yes, the JR Line is quite annoying in the sense that the map they gave us didn’t list all the stops compared to the real JR Line that were displayed at the stations.”

“That’s odd how not all the stations are on the map. Very perplexing.”

“Indeed.” Draco looked up at the board. “Three more stops.”

“Exactly what is Myeong-dong?”

“It’s a popular shopping district, especially for the younger generation. Not only does it serve as a shopping area, but it has a lot of bars, cafes, and restaurants for people to easily hang out with their friends. Unfortunately, it is like a giant labyrinth, many streets and alleyways are tangled up in there, so if you want to look for a store in the middle of Myeong-dong, good luck. Thankfully, I know the outer edges of the area fairly well, and then we can get lost in the middle for a while if you’d like.”

“You must have gone there a lot to be familiar with it.”

Draco nodded. “A lot of previous visits led me here, and MOMS is located only fifteen minutes away from Myeong-dong, so I ventured out here with my business associates for a drink or two. The wizards and witches here are more or less part of the Muggle society, all blending seamlessly with each other.”

“Ah,” Teddy said, moving towards the door, “we’re here.”

They stepped out onto the platform, and Draco led the way. It wasn’t long before they climbed the flight of stairs where noisiness and crowdedness greeted the two of them.

“Wow.” Teddy looked around, taking in the multitude of people and the various vendors that were lined up down the streets. “This reminds me of a crowded version of Diagon Alley.”

Draco grabbed onto Teddy’s messenger bag’s strap. “Let’s start walking. I’m going to hold onto this, if you don’t mind. As much as I’m not crazy about having a baby-sitter, I don’t fancy the idea of you being lost in Myeong-dong by yourself.”

“You think you have a baby-sitter? I think you just turned the tables here in making me feel like I’m being baby-sat!” Teddy sniggered good-naturedly.

“Oh, trust me. That was my intention.” Draco tugged the strap. “Let’s go. If you see something interesting or want to go in a store, let me know.”

The two of them walked down the streets where Teddy looked at each vendor to see what was being sold. A lot of it dealt with fashion and food, though he wasn’t really interested in the former. However, he did see items that he knew he could buy for his grandmother and Victoire.

As if reading his mind, Draco asked, “See something you want to buy Victoire?”

“Yes, but . . . ” Teddy shifted uncomfortably. “We’re not together right now.”

“Oh? I thought you were going to be like your godfather and the rest of the Weasleys where you marry and quickly have about a thousand children. You’re surprisingly still single.”

Teddy didn’t say anything. This prompted Draco to continue. “But then again, I did notice how your godfather separated from his wife, so maybe he wasn’t meant to have that domestic lifestyle.”

“Probably.” Teddy let out a sigh and decided to just tell Draco his situation. “Maybe I’m not meant to get into that lifestyle either. I actually was the one who told Victoire we should . . . separate for a while.”

“Really?” Draco raised his eyebrow. “That’s quite surprising. Why, if I may ask?”

“The answer’s simple: I don’t love her. I mean, I love her like a best friend, but something’s telling me that she’s not the one.”

“You never struck me as the type to believe in predestination,” Draco noted dryly.

“That’s the thing. It’s not about fate or destiny. It’s . . . my sense of smell.”

“Smell?” Draco frowned until realisation dawned on him. “I see. I wasn’t aware of what werewolf genetic does to the offspring.”

While they walked deeper into Myeong-dong, Teddy explained his sense of smell, and how he used it with his job. Teddy’s love life now forgotten, the two of them talked about various Ministry and Auror topics along with Draco’s job as a professor. They even talked about Draco’s previous job at the Ministry where he worked as one of the analysts for the Department of Mysteries.

They talked while Teddy shopped and took pictures. He bought something for his grandmother and caved in to buy something for Victoire. He planned to use it as a means of reconciling with Victoire and hoped the two of them could be friends.

It wasn’t long before he saw people walking around with tall soft ice cream cones, and then he wanted one! Luckily, he found the place that sold them. They were really cheap and very long — the store’s sign saying it was thirty two centimetres long. He got the chocolate cone while Draco bought vanilla. Before he started on the cone, though, he whipped out his digital camera and took a picture of himself with it.

“Folks back home won’t believe this is real!” Teddy said excitedly. “Especially when I tell them the price.”

Draco gave Teddy a small smile. “I’m amused that such a small thing as ice cream would make you act like some hyperactive brat.”

Teddy ignored the insult and ate his cone before it melted into a sticky mess. They walked around with the ice cream, and when it was gone, Teddy perused the streets and stores some more.

The next three hours passed by quickly, and Teddy had to agree with Draco when he said, “Let’s go eat a proper meal.”

He hadn’t realised how much time had passed. That would explain his hunger. “Well, I’m game for anything. If you know of a good place, let’s just go there.”

Teddy followed Draco into a traditional Korean restaurant. He saw that the establishment was one where customers sat on the floor on some cushions, and ate like that. He knew he had to take his shoes off to get up onto the dining area. That wasn’t surprising. What was surprising was to see Max eating with a female companion.

“Well, I’ll be. What are the chances of us meeting in a big place like Seoul?” Max stood up and walked over to them. “Fancy meeting you guys here!”

Teddy nodded, “What a coincidence.”

Draco folded his arms across his chest. “I think Max is stalking us.”

“Oh, you wound me! How can you say something like that when we’re such great friends?”

Draco gave him a pinched look. “Great friends? You may have come to that conclusion, but I most certainly haven’t!”

Max ignored Draco’s comment and instead slung an arm across Teddy’s shoulders. “Come, come! Feel free to join us! Here, let me introduce my girlfriend!” He dragged Teddy over to his table with Draco following.

The young woman, about Max’s age, stood up to greet them. In English, she said, “Hello, I’m Pak Jin Sil. Pleased to meet you.”

Teddy studied the woman in front of him. She actually looked very plain. She had on tight jeans and wore a simple black turtleneck shirt with a beige-coloured jacket over it. Her long black hair was in a ponytail, and she wore a necklace. Well, Teddy couldn’t help but see that it was more like a small pouch, the size of a snitch, on strings, but he just guessed that she wore it like a necklace.

Just how in the world such a normal looking girl got together with wild and crazy Max was beyond Teddy’s guess. He tried to see if Draco looked as bewildered as himself, but Draco just looked indifferent as usual. He did greet Jin Sil politely.

Ah, yes, he’s using the Malfoy charm on her. Teddy smiled and subtly sniffed her out. There wasn’t anything dangerous or suspicious about her, so he greeted her. “Nice to meet you, Jin Sil. I’m Teddy.”

“Ah, yes, Max told me about you and Draco. I’m glad to finally meet you two in person!” She gave the two of them a friendly smile. Then she gestured for them to sit down. “Sit! Let’s eat together.”

“Great,” Teddy said. “I’m starving.”

The four of them shared a big meal of bulgogi and galbi, basically two different meat dishes that came with many small side dishes that included kimchi, some lettuce to wrap the meat in with some soybean paste called dwaenjang, and a bowl of rice. Teddy, while he had tried bulgogi in London once, decided that nothing beat real Korean bulgogi and galbi!

The four of them ate and talked with each other. Halfway through the meal, Max ordered some soju, the Korean version of vodka — which was what Teddy came to the conclusion of — and all four shared a shot or two of the clear alcoholic drink.

Teddy discovered that it tasted pretty vile. He couldn’t help it as he made a face after he downed his first shot. Teddy watched Draco drink like a pro, and said, “You don’t find the taste a bit unpleasant?”

“Nope. I’ve had time to get used to it. It’s actually not bad, though. Taste a lot better than Korean beer if you ask me, though nothing beats brandy.”

Teddy tried one more shot before he decided that he’d stick with the Korean beer that Draco found disgusting. At least it tasted better than soju!

After spending a couple of hours eating, drinking, and talking, Teddy and Draco decided to finally end the meal. To be accurate, Draco was the one who said, “As much as the meal was pleasant and all, I think it’s time for us to part ways.”

“Aw, come on Draco, you can stick around longer!” Max exclaimed.

However, Jin Sil went against Max’s idea. “Max, I’m sure they have plans. We can just meet up with them again sometime in the near future.”

Teddy nodded. “I agree. We can just meet up again for dinner or something.”

Max jutted out his lips for a few seconds before he burst out laughing. “Fine. We’ll do that.”

While this was going on, Teddy saw that Draco had already gone up to the register to pay for their entire meal. Draco came back and said, “Jin Sil, it’s been a pleasure to meet you. Teddy, are you ready?”

“Wait, wait, wait! You paid the entire thing?!” Max stood up to put his shoes on.

“Yes.”

“Oh, thank you, but you didn’t have to,” Jin Sil said, reaching out to calm her boyfriend down.

“It’s not a big deal. It’s only natural that the oldest one here pays it all. Now, if you’ll excuse us.” Draco bowed at them.

Teddy awkwardly followed suit and after saying his final farewell to the couple, he followed Draco out the restaurant. Once they were back out on the busy streets of Myeong-dong, Teddy thanked Draco as well.

“You don’t need to thank me.”

“Oh, but I do need to thank you,” Teddy insisted. “I know that probably cost quite a bit of sum.”

“It was nothing.” Draco gave Teddy a look that plainly said to drop the subject.

“Okay. Now, what are we going to do?”

“We’re going to the Myeong-dong’s version of ‘The Leaky Cauldron’, and we’re going to Apparate to the safe spot located halfway up to the Seoul Tower on Namsan Mountain.” Draco once again grabbed onto the bag’s strap.

Click on the image for the larger version. Fanart by Jenken.

“That sounds like fun,” Teddy grinned as he dodged through the crowd with Draco hanging onto his bag.

“Yes, and we’re lucky today’s a nice, clear day. It will be great for you to see the city from there.”

It wasn’t long until the two of them arrived at “The Spicy Cabbage” establishment. Draco greeted the bartender. Teddy looked around the small, cramped place. Despite its size, though, it held a cosy atmosphere, and he saw kimchi pots and posters of different kimchi all over the place. After Draco finished his brief talk with the bartender, he again grabbed onto Teddy’s hand, and with a pop, they disappeared.

Teddy blinked at their new location. It was a wooded area, and off to the side, he saw a path.

“Let’s go,” Draco led the way.

After a pleasant walk up the rest of the mountain, they reached the top and walked into the tower. They paid a small fee to get up to the observation decks. Once up there, Teddy admired the view of the whole city. He took pictures of the views, capturing all the buildings, streets, and the Han River. Off in the distance, he saw a tall brownish building.

“What’s that?”

“Hn?” Draco followed Teddy’s line of the sight. “That tall building is the DLI 63 building. That, too, has an observation deck and even an aquarium to visit. However, if you want an aquarium to explore, the one at Coex Mall is better, from what I’ve been told.”

“Fascinating. There is so much to see here!”

Draco smiled at Teddy’s enthusiasm. “Well, during the holidays, after Christmas, Scorpius and Albus Severus are thinking about coming by for a visit, which naturally means tourism. I’m sure, if you’re still around here, you can accompany them.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Teddy agreed.

They stayed there until night-time came. With the darkened skies, the whole city lit up beautifully. From the streetlights to all the glowing buildings, Teddy couldn’t help but be enamoured by the view as he snapped away with his camera.

After Teddy had his fair share of pictures, he and Draco decided to have supper in the rotating restaurant up on the fourth deck. This time Teddy insisted on paying for their meal, and throughout it, they talked some more about Korean mythology, comparing it to the western ones.

Before they left the tower, Teddy stopped by the gift shop to buy more gifts and souvenirs for himself and his friends and family. He put them into his bag, after casting a discreet shrinking charm, and soon he and Draco found a quiet, secluded place to Portkey back to Draco’s home in Gwangju.

“Thanks a lot for today,” Teddy said once they were back in the house. “I appreciate it, and it was a blast, really.”

“Not a problem,” Draco sat down on the nearest couch in the sitting room. He waved his hand to make the fire come to life in the fireplace. Teddy sat down on the spot next to Draco, and he watched the other man loosened his tie after removing his suit jacket and overcoat.

Draco sighed as he leaned against the couch. “I’m quite exhausted from our excursion. I think I will turn in earlier than usual tonight. Thank goodness I already finished all my work last night.”

Teddy, not wanting Draco to turn cranky, agreed with him. “Do go. Don’t worry about me.”

Draco gave him a look. “Who said I would worry about you?”

“I simply meant that you don’t need to play host here. Just go off to bed. I can take care of myself.”

Draco just rolled his eyes and stood up. “Fine, fine. Just don’t break anything here.”

“May I borrow your fireplace to Floo call Harry and ask about looking up any information regarding Kim? I won’t mention the full story of why you’re here.”

“You may.” Draco started to walk out of the room, slinging his jacket and coat over his shoulder. “The powder’s on top of the mantel. I doubt Potter and the rest of the Ministry officials will be able to find any information, but far be it for me to talk you out of it. Good night, now.”

“Good night.”

Once Draco was gone, Teddy stood up, went to the mantel, grabbed some powder and called out to Harry Potter at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. It was Sunday afternoon there, and he expected his godfather to be home.

However, when he was connected to Number 12, Grimmauld Place, he saw Neville Longbottom instead of Harry at first, which shouldn’t be a surprise since after Harry’s divorce from Ginny, he seemed to have found his new love with Neville.

“Oh, hello, Teddy!” Neville cheerfully said. “Harry’s — ah — off in the kitchen. I’ll go get him.”

Neville went out of view, and it wasn’t long before Teddy saw his godfather’s familiar face. “Teddy! What’s the occasion? Is everything going all right with you and Malfoy?”

Teddy gave a big smile to his godfather. “I’m fine. Draco and I are adapting to each other. We actually just came back from a day of sightseeing in Seoul.”

“In Muggle territory?” Teddy saw the look of disbelief on Harry’s face. “I, well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. People do change over a long period of time.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t entirely say that,” Teddy sniggered. “He’s still prickly and snobbish as ever, not to mention sarcastic, but he must have changed. He doesn’t exactly match up with Uncle Ron’s description of him from the past.”

“Hn,” Harry rubbed his chin. “Well, I doubt you Floo called me to talk about comparing and contrasting Malfoy from now and the past. What’s up?”

Teddy explained briefly without going into the full details. “Is it possible you can find more information about him, even if it isn’t anything helpful?”

“Not a problem. I’ll take care of it and will let you know of anything that comes up.”

“Thanks, Harry. I’ll let you get back to Neville.”

Teddy saw the slightly embarrassed smile on his face. “You take care now. Keep in touch.”

Teddy nodded and ended the Floo call. Now, it’s time for me to get some sleep . . . after I sort out all the stuff I bought.

Luckily, whatever talk Draco had with Mung Chung worked because his mornings were pretty much left alone. No more rude awakenings and pranks occurred; at least nothing obvious. Like whenever his pens or the tea he was drinking disappeared, he knew or suspected Mung Chung. However, since it was so minor, he let it pass and only tried to “compliment” the dokkaebi by throwing out comments like “Hope you enjoy the tea,” or something mundane like that.

The day after their sightseeing happened to be Monday. Draco had to go back to work at Yonsei University, and Teddy followed him. Dressing in a pair of black trousers with a grey jumper over a white collared shirt, he pretended to be Draco’s new teaching assistant, who came in the middle of the school term because he was delayed at the immigration office with some visa problems.

Naturally, Draco didn’t exactly accept the idea easily. Teddy suffered through the brief grumblings from Draco who had grumped about how this was another way for Teddy to constantly follow him as a baby-sitter. However, Draco grudgingly accepted the idea because he explained the sooner Teddy figured out what was going on, the sooner he could solve it.

So every morning and afternoon, from Monday to Friday, Teddy sat in the back of Draco’s classroom, pretended to take notes, kept an eye out for anyone who might be suspicious, and ate lunch with Draco in the campus’ cafeteria or at one of the many small restaurants outside the campus.

He also found himself actually listening to Draco’s lecture. Thanks to the usefulness of translation charms, much like that night where Draco explained about the Jiyu, Teddy found himself entranced by Draco’s powerful and thought-provoking lectures. Each day, he learned more about Korean mythology and folklore. Each day, he learned something new and different about Draco by watching the way he interacted with his students. Each day, he felt something change within him, but he didn’t know what it was.

When the final class ended each day, Teddy would put the room back in order, grade whatever assignments and quizzes he could grade, input what was graded into the grade book, and anything else that would help Draco have time to prepare for the next day and to open up time for the two to research more about the Jiyu.

During the next couple of weeks, the two of them fell into a comfortable routine. Somewhere along the line, they formed an easy partnership. They still bickered, but the “dislike” Draco had at the beginning and Teddy’s wariness towards Draco disappeared as the two settled into intellectual debates about various different topics over their meals and tea instead.

On some days, after class and on Saturdays, Draco would take Teddy to explore a new area of Seoul or different parts of South Korea. This gave Teddy more tastes of the richness of South Korean lifestyle and culture. He saw the foreigner’s haven of Itaewon where there were more bars, restaurants, and coffee shops combined with stores and street vendors. The artsy district of Insa-dong where traditional arts, crafts, and antiques could be seen along the long stretch of streets impressed him, and a fair amount of spending money was used there. Teddy even went to a Buddhist Temple, called Bongeunsa, in the middle of Gangnam, right across the street from Coex Mall, and he was amazed how quiet the area was despite it being next to a busy street in a city.

Outside of Seoul, Draco took him to Seoraksan, the highest mountain of the Taebaek mountain range located in Gangwon province, in the north-eastern part of the country. Teddy enjoyed their time there, as he always liked the simple beauty of nature. He was fond of the hike up the mountain to see the trees’ leaves change colours, and he took pleasure from seeing the beautiful waterfalls.

Another day, Draco suggested one of his favourite places, Gyeongju, a city in Gyeongsanbuk province, known as the capital of the Silla Kingdom in far away times. There, Teddy saw the giant burial mounds of previous kings and other historical figures. He also stopped by another Buddhist Temple called Bulguksa which held seven national treasures of South Korea. While still in Gyeongju, Teddy saw the Cheomseongdae, one of the oldest astronomical observatories in East Asia. Gyeongju really was a great place to visit for cultural and historical reasons. Teddy could see why Draco enjoyed the visits here.

Sundays were a day of rest. Both of them stayed home, or at least in the area when they wanted to go out for an evening walk, but they used the day to rest and catch up on whatever they needed to do. They sat in the sitting room, read books together while sipping their teas or the occasional glass of brandy, talked and researched together on their case. Shinny popped in here and there to remind the two men to eat. Mung Chung, more or less, left them alone.

Really, his days were actually quite peaceful. So peaceful, that more than once, Teddy had to remind himself that this was not some leisurely visit. Draco’s life was threatened, and he had to figure out just who could have done it and why. Not only that, but the question of the Jiyu’s location was so elusive. He wondered if that so-called diamond container existed at all.

It was during a Sunday towards the end of the month when Draco said, “I have a new seminar class. Twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays — for the entire month of November, I’m to teach this new class from four to seven in the afternoon.”

“Really? Well, your schedule’s pretty easy as it is, so an extra seminar won’t be a problem.”

“There’s no problem. I was simply telling you the change in my schedule.”

“Ah, I got you,” Teddy grinned.

Draco paused before he continued. “You know, you’ve been with me these past couple of weeks now. There hasn’t been any threat against me. No attacks, notes, nothing.”

“And . . . ?” Teddy cocked his head to the side. “Is that your subtle way of telling me that I am not needed, and that all this idea of you being targeted is all nothing but conjectures?”

“You summed it up nicely.”

“But what if it isn’t? What if we drop our guard now, and then something happens to you? Then you’d be dead and all that you have dedicated your life to won’t be fulfilled,” argued Teddy, setting his lips in a straight line and giving Draco a determined look. “I will not let that happen to you. I will not fail in this.”

Draco let out a small smile. “Are you done with your speech? I just wanted to say that I’m glad that you’re the one following me around instead of Potter, or worse, Weasley. You’re not bad company once we got over our mutual dislike for one another.”

“Mutual dislike? Wha–? Don’t you mean your dislike of me because of my association with my godfather and Uncle Ron?” Teddy asked, flabbergasted.

“Oh, you didn’t like me. I’m well aware of the stories you heard about me from your relations. Therefore, you were wary and suspicious of me, right? I’ll just categorise that as ‘mutual dislike’.”

Teddy just rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Whatever you say.”

Draco laughed before he stood up. “Well, I think I shall turn in early. See you tomorrow morning.” He walked towards the exit, passed by Teddy, patted him on the shoulder, and left.

When Draco left the room, Teddy had the biggest epiphany in his life. For the past couple of weeks, he’d been struggling to try to decipher just what Draco’s scent meant to him. He couldn’t come up with any logical answers to his private dilemma. However, with the image of Draco’s laughing face in his mind and the way his shoulder tingled from where Draco’s hand touched him, he had a reaction within him. A reaction that triggered a familiar sensation in his groin.

Somehow and somewhere between his first day here and now, he had come to fancy Draco Malfoy. He recalled that first night when he met Draco, the way the older man’s smell had affected him. Now he knew why. His sense of smell was telling him that Draco was the one for him. He felt this in his gut, like the way he knew when his nose had told him that Victoire wasn’t the one for him.

Instead, though, it had to be Draco Eltanin Malfoy of all the people in the world.

All Teddy could say softly to himself for the next hour was, “Fuck, fuck fuck fucking fuck. Fuck, I’m screwed.”

November 2024

A week passed. Teddy shoved his unexpected revelation aside as he went about his daily routine with Draco. Unfortunately for Teddy, now that he knew just exactly what Draco’s scent had been trying to tell him the last month, Draco’s smell bothered him in ways that made him feel like a horny teenager again. Needless to say, his time in the showers was spent mostly wanking off to naughty thoughts of the man he was supposed to protect.

It was after one of those wanking session that Teddy noticed Draco giving him odd looks at breakfast one morning. As casually as he could, he asked, “Is something the matter?”

Draco let out a cough before he drawled, “You know if you are that sexually repressed, you can — ah — go out for a night or something.”

Teddy blushed harder than he ever had in his life. This was the most embarrassing moment of his life. More embarrassing than when he was caught by Headmistress McGonagall with Victoire in the Astronomy tower, where he snuck in to see her after he graduated from Hogwarts.

“I, er, that, er, I’m not . . .” After he fumbled around with his words he finally blurted, “How did you know?!”

“Easy.” Draco gave him a solemn look. “Two words: Mung Chung. I guess I should have warned you that he has voyeuristic tendencies. He watched you, and he came and told me each time you did it, which drew me to the conclusion that you need to go out for a while and get it out of your system.”

Teddy gaped at Draco. He couldn’t believe just how composed Draco was, discussing something this embarrassing like a weather reporter. “I . . . ” He stood up so fast that his chair almost fell backward. “I’m done with breakfast. I’ll go get ready first.”

As soon as Teddy was in the safety of his own room he sank to the floor as he leaned against the closed door. He buried his face in his arms as he pulled his legs up to him. He almost lost it in there. When Draco suggested he should take a night out in town, he had wanted to slam his hands down on the table in anger. He wanted to shout at Draco, “I don’t need anyone to give me a one-night stand! I want to be with you, preferably longer than one night!”

Teddy raised his head up and stared at the ceiling and thought, Fuck. Good thing I left before I could really muck everything up by saying that.

Suddenly remembering that Mung Chung was indubitably the cause of Teddy’s frazzled morning, Teddy shouted, “Mung Chung! I need to talk with you!”

Mung Chung appeared with a cheeky smile. “Yes?”

Lowering his voice, Teddy leaned in very close to the dokkaebi in front of him. In a controlled but angry voice, he said, “Will you please not spy on me?”

“Spy?”

“Yes and don’t tell Draco everything I do that’s personal!”

“But he’s the master of this house. He needs to know what’s going on.”

“Not every single little detail like what you told him about me!”

Mung Chung cocked his head to the side. “Then can I tell him the big detail?”

That threw Teddy for a loop. He quickly collected himself and said, “What big detail?” After he asked that, he suddenly had an idea to what Mung Chung was referring to. He felt his stomach churn uncomfortably.

“You know what I’m talking about,” Mung Chung, apparently bored, started to play with his magical club, the bangmangee.

“How’d you find –?”

“Easy. That night? When you were saying ‘Puck, puck, puck,’ over and over again, I saw that look on your face when the realisation came to you.”

Just like the way he had stared at Draco earlier, now he gawked at Mung Chung in disbelief. Puck? Oh, wait, he means “fuck”. Korean language doesn’t have an actual “f” sound. Damn. For a prankster, he’s pretty perceptive.

However, what Mung Chung said next really shocked Teddy. “I won’t tell him that, though. Dokkaebi promise. Remember, you owe me! Just make sure you protect the master of the house.” With an impish smile, Mung Chung disappeared from Teddy’s view.

“Well, I’ll be damned . . . ” Teddy let out a soft snigger that grew into a loud, relief-filled laugh. So loud, that Draco came to the door and banged on it several times.

“Quit laughing and hurry up so we won’t be late!”

“Okay, okay! I’m coming.” He quickly calmed his laughter and made himself presentable. He grabbed his coat and his bag and rushed out to where Draco was waiting with the Portkey.

This was the first day of Draco’s new Monday and Thursday seminar. It was a fairly small class; there were only about fifteen people as opposed to the usual thirty to forty students in Draco’s regular classes. However, Teddy was surprised to see Jin Sil, Max’s girlfriend, there in the class. When they met in Myeong-dong, she never mentioned that she was a student at Yonsei. Well, she did mention she was a college student just that Teddy couldn’t remember which college she attended.

Through the entire seminar, Teddy watched Jin Sil, watched how she paid attention to Draco’s lecture, and watched her take scrupulous notes in her notebook. He also noticed that there seemed to be a hint of sadness lingering about her. Soon, the session ended, and Jin Sil approached Teddy and Draco.

“Hello, again. When I signed up for this class, I wasn’t aware that you, Professor Malfoy, were the teacher. Nor was I expecting Mr. Lupin to be your assistant.”

“Yes, well, I wasn’t expecting you to be a student here! I thought Max mentioned you were a student at Sookmyung’s Women College,” Draco said.

“Oh, I am. However, this seminar sounded really interesting, so that’s why I decided to take it. I am still a primary student at Sookmyung, though.”

Teddy smiled. “Well, we’re glad to see you here. How’s Max? Maybe after one of these seminars, we should all go out for a meal again.” He gave Draco a questioning look, to which Draco nodded.

Jin Sil’s eyes lit up at the idea. “I’ll mention that to Max. I’ll let you know when we can take up that offer.” She looked at her watch and said, “I must run now. Good night, Professor and Mr. Lupin.”

She left.

Teddy turned to Draco and said, “Well, that was a pleasant surprise.”

“Yes, I must yell at Max for not telling me this.”

“Perhaps she didn’t tell Max. Or she did, but he forgot to tell us.”

“Hn. That’s probably it.” Draco packed his stuff and turned to Teddy. “Ready?”

Teddy nodded, and the two of them touched the Portkey after they went to their normal secluded spot. Their hands brushed against each other, and Teddy stared at the spot on his hand before he was jerked into that familiar sensation. When they were back in Draco’s place, Teddy remembered his conversation with Mung Chung, and it took every ounce of his power to look normal and not blush his silly head off.

Thankfully, the rest of the night passed by without a hitch.

The next few days passed as the second session of the seminar occurred. Teddy noticed that Jin Sil looked tired and depressed. She also looked as if her mind was a thousand miles away from the seminar. His thoughts were proven right when the seminar ended. Everyone packed and left except for her. While Draco reorganised his notes, Teddy went up to Jin Sil.

“Are you all right?” he asked, coming up to stand by her seat.

Jin Sil slowly looked up, tears in her eyes that she tried to sniff away. She hastily swiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry. I just . . .”

Draco came up to stand next to Teddy. Wordlessly, he just handed her a handkerchief. She accepted it and wiped her eyes on it. “I’m sorry. It’s just that last night my pet dog was put to sleep. He’d been sick the last couple weeks, and last night was his time.”

“I see,” Teddy said. “I’m sorry to hear about that. It’s hard losing a loved one, whether they are human or animals.”

Jin Sil took a deep breath before she forced a smile. She looked up at Draco. “I’m sorry, Professor, for not doing my best in class today.”

“Please don’t worry about it. In fact,” Draco walked back to his desk to grab his spare lecture notes and brought them to her, “here are tonight’s lecture notes. I know that it was hard for you tonight, and I have to admit, I’m surprised you came to class despite the way you were feeling.”

Teddy had to admit that he wasn’t expecting Draco to be this understanding or comforting. Then again, though, he wondered if Draco was thinking about the day his wife had died.

Jin Sil accepted the notes and thanked Draco profusely. She stood up and packed her stuff before remembering the handkerchief. “Thank you again, Professor.” She tried to hand the cloth back to Draco, but he just smiled and shook his head. “Keep it.”

Teddy chimed in, too, “Yeah. He probably has more of them stashed in his coat pocket. He can afford to get about twenty more as it is.”

That broke the solemn atmosphere in the room as Jin Sil sniggered, especially when she saw the dirty look Draco gave Teddy. Teddy just grinned and shrugged. “Did I speak wrongly here?”

Sighing, Draco rolled his eyes and smirked. “No, you spoke the truth.”

Thanking Draco again, Jin Sil left and the two men started to get their stuff ready to head home

That Saturday, Draco suggested they go check out the Seoul Grand Park Zoo. “I have discovered that I enjoy going to the zoos to see the animals. However, I cannot stand the stench, so if you hear me cast the air purifying spell, then you know why.”

The two of them spent the whole day at the zoo. They walked around and looked at the various different animals the zoo offered. True to his word, Draco did cast the spell more than once, but luckily nobody around them questioned the sudden shift of smells. At one point, Teddy whispered into Draco’s ear, “They are probably glad that the animal odours are not as strong.”

“Of course. Tell me anyone who would enjoy being around this animal smell all day long.”

“That’s easy. Hagrid.”

Draco scoffed. “That giant oaf is barely even human, so it makes sense why he’d be happy to be surrounded by animals every day.”

As per usual, they continued their banter all day long. They ended their day at a Korean barbecue restaurant in Itaewon called Don Valley. It was a nice clean place, and Teddy and Draco were both satisfied by the hearty meal.

Finally home, exhausted from the long day, Teddy collapsed into his bed after washing up, glad to get some sleep in his system. He looked forward to sleeping in. However, he should have known that these simple wishes were never granted for him, or at least when it came to him wanting some decent kip.

Teddy groaned in pain as he realised that he had been literally thrown out of his bed by that pint-sized troublemaker. “Mung Chung!” Teddy sat up on the floor to look at the clock on his night table. “It’s three in the morning!”

“Come. Master’s in trouble.”

“Wha–?” That woke him up immediately as he grabbed his wand. He bolted out of his room and ran down to Draco’s room. He heard the muffled screams, realising that Draco had enforced silencing charms on his door.

Without thinking, he rushed into the room, his wand in front of him. He quickly glanced around the room but didn’t see anybody but Draco on the bed. It took him a second to comprehend that Draco was tossing and turning on the bed because of a nightmare. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he quickly shook Draco. “Draco! Draco! Wake up. It’s just a nightmare!”

Teddy’s voice broke through Draco’s consciousness. Draco gasped as he woke up. It looked as if Draco was going to jump out of his bed, but Teddy grabbed him by the shoulders and firmly but gently pushed him back. “It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s just me, Teddy. You’re all right. You’re safe.” He could feel the man’s sweat-soaked pyjama top beneath his hand, and he could feel Draco shaking from the aftermath of his nightmare.

“Teddy?” Draco’s voice was hoarse.

“Yes, it’s me. You were having a nightmare.”

He watched Draco closed his eyes. “It was horrible. It was . . .”

“Shush,” Teddy put a finger against Draco’s dry lips. “We’ll talk about it later. For now, do you want water or anything?”

Draco shook his head. “Just . . . stay. Please?” He slumped back on his pillow and scrubbed his face as he took several deep breaths.

Teddy knew that he should just remain sitting on the edge, but Draco looked so shaken, that he decided to sod logic as he lay down on the bed. On his side, he pulled Draco to his chest and wrapped his arms protectively around Draco’s waist and shoulders. Teddy could feel and smell Draco’s fear. He heard the quick, staccato heart beats slowly decrease in the tempo, eventually followed by Draco’s deep breathing, indicating that the man had drifted to sleep.

Instead of falling asleep himself, Teddy lay awake for a long time. He couldn’t believe that he was in Draco’s bed, had Draco in his arms, and was watching the man sleep away next to him. With the warm body right beside him and the spicy scent lingering all around him, it took every ounce of his willpower to keep his other head from jumping up in excitement. He tried to imagine the most disgusting thing he could think of.

He thought of McGonagall naked. Thoughts of Hagrid prancing around in a hot pink evening gown made him shudder. The imagery of Flitwick in a bondage outfit did the trick as he closed his eyes so tight that his libido was clamped down tightly as well. With that, he finally fell asleep with his arms still around Draco

When he woke up the next morning, he found himself hugging a pillow, and when his eyes focused, he saw Draco on the edge of the bed, sipping some tea. Teddy pushed the blankets off of him as he sat up. After a good stretch and a yawn, he said, “Good morning.”

Draco nodded. “Want some tea?” He talked like a man who hadn’t suffered from a nightmare just several hours before.

Teddy gladly accepted the cup of tea. He drank some, revelling in the warmth and the sweetness. He looked over at Draco, who appeared normal except for having a severe case of bed hair. There was an awkward tension between them, and Teddy wanted to ask if Draco was all right, but he held his tongue, waiting for his host to say something first.

And Draco did break the silence. “Thank you for last night. I didn’t mean to trouble you in that manner.”

“It’s not a problem. Mung Chung’s the one who threw me out of bed. Literally.”

“I figured. With the silencing charm, you wouldn’t have known what was going on with me.”

Teddy took another long swallow before he continued. “Are your nightmares always this bad?”

“No.” Draco shook his head to emphasise his answer. “It’s never this bad.”

“Do you mind telling me what it was about?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“I’m aware of that. However, don’t forget that your life is in danger here, and who knows if someone’s using Legilimency on you.”

Draco snapped at Teddy, “That’s impossible. I am too skilled at Occlumency to be affected by something that trivial!”

“I’m aware of that,” said Teddy, trying to placate Draco. “However . . . ”

“It’s just a simple nightmare that went out of control. Trust me! I know when someone’s trying to use Legilimency on me, and that was not Legilimency!”

“But–”

“Beside, it was just an old nightmare. I’ve had it before. It was when I had failed my task as a Death Eater. Riddle was extremely upset with me and was casting the Cruciatus on me.”

Teddy heard the unsaid words. “Did he? Or he didn’t and you imagined it to be you?”

Draco snarled, “Oh, shut up! Don’t try to psychoanalyse me!”

“I’m serious. Did he really punish you for that incident?” Teddy asked calmly.

“I,” Draco sighed, his shoulder sagging in defeat. “He didn’t, but I . . . ”

“You were terrified he would one day, and that fear hadn’t left you despite the war being over.”

Draco just nodded, suddenly looking more like a soldier tired from the war. “Yes.”

Without a thought, Teddy put an arm around Draco and pulled the man closer to him. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know. But it could have been my fault if I had succeeded in that mission.” Teddy felt Draco’s head resting on his shoulder. His hold on Draco tightened as he couldn’t believe that this was the second time he had his arms around the older man. However, he reminded himself that Draco was vulnerable right now, and he had better not take advantage of that. The voice that told him that sounded suspiciously like his grandmother, so he mentally shook his head to rid himself of it.

The two of them sat like that for a while. Then they went to get some breakfast and had a quiet Sunday. The sombre atmosphere hovered over them for the rest of the day. Teddy didn’t bring up the topic of the nightmare again, and Draco didn’t mention anything about the way Teddy had held him twice to comfort him.

Despite Draco’s insistence that his nightmares were just nightmares, nothing more or less, they attacked him almost every night. The first couple of nights, Mung Chung, again in his predictable ways, tossed Teddy out of the bed. Sore and bruised from his landing on the hard floor, Teddy would make his way to Draco’s room and wake up the screaming man. For the rest of the night, Teddy held Draco, and two drifted off to sleep that way.

After that pattern continued, Teddy suggested over breakfast, “How about we try to sleep that way from the beginning?” Realising that the sentence sounded perverted, he hastily said, “With me sleeping on one side of the bed and you on the other.”

Unsurprisingly, Draco simply said, “No.”

Teddy backfired with, “Let’s just try it as a simple experiment.”

“Really now? I think you’re overreacting over a simple nightmare.”

Scowling, Teddy bit off a piece of his scone. He chewed and swallowed the delicious pastry Shinny had baked. “You know this is not just a simple bloody nightmare. This has almost been a daily occurrence, and whether you want to admit it or not, it’s taking a toll on you!”

Draco glared back at Teddy’s scowling face. “I will not be in an experiment with you! Especially something so half-baked that it’s the most preposterous thing ever.”

For the first time since he’d been living with Draco, after all the time he’d been insulted by him, Teddy grew furious with the man for being so stubborn. He scooted back in his seat. “Fine! See if I care if you keel over in exhaustion or something!”

He stomped back to his room, sat down hard on his own bed, and fumed to himself. Angrily, he punched his pillow. What an infuriating and stubborn man! I know the idea’s an uncomfortable one, but since his nightmares go away when I am there, it’s logical to think it might work if we slept together from the beginning!

Teddy punched his pillow several more times before he decided to get ready to go to Yonsei University. The rest of the day passed, and the atmosphere between the two men was icy and stormy. Even Draco’s students must have noticed the tension between the two men since none of them participated in the classroom discussion.

Dinner went by with both men giving each other the silent treatment. When it was time for bed, they went to their respective beds. Teddy lay there, staring at the ceiling, too angry to fall asleep immediately as he usually did. He counted hippogriffs, crups, centaurs, and other magical creatures before he finally drifted off into an uneasy sleep. Later, unsurprisingly, he woke up by landing on the floor face first. Wordlessly, he arrived in Draco’s room and shook him to wake him from whatever imaginary hell that encompassed his brain.

Draco sat up, gasping, and he looked at Teddy with a layer of sweat covering his face. “Teddy?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

Draco scooted over, and Teddy automatically crawled into the bed. With the blankets covering both of them, the two slept with no contact with each other. Nevertheless, the next morning came, and Teddy stirred awake and saw that he had embraced Draco sometime during the night, with Draco embracing him back.

Quietly, Teddy watched the sleeping man. He studied Draco’s face, a face that wasn’t frowning or smirking back at him. He looked at the thin lips that liked to spout insults and witty sarcasm. His gaze travelled upward to where he could see the almost invisible eyebrows and eyelashes. When his face is not wrinkled up in his usual tense manner, he actually is a very handsome man. I think I’d rather see him in his usual disgruntled expression. Suits his personality to the core. However, his sleeping face is not bad either. I wonder how he’ll look when he’s in the throes of passion.

Grasping his last thought, he quickly chucked that image out of his head. Or at least he tried. He found himself, to his horror, feeling the familiar stirrings in his groin, and he again tried to think of the most revolting images to quell his arousal. He exhaled deeply when he felt that he was safe from his libido. That was when Draco woke up.

“Good morning. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Draco yawned before answering. “It’s time to start the day. No need to apologise.”

Teddy sighed. “Listen, about that idea . . . ”

“Let’s try that tonight.”

Not expecting an easy acceptance, he stared owlishly at Draco. “What?”

Draco frowned at him. “What? It was your idea. I’m only agreeing to it because quite frankly, I want to see if it works as well. These nightmares are quite annoying, if you ask me.”

“Fine, then. Tonight.” Teddy let go of his hold on Draco and went back to his room to shower and to wank off to his overactive imagination.

That night, Teddy and Draco slept next to each other. Each night, they would be on their own side of the large bed. In the morning, they woke up in each other arms. The two of them never mentioned it as the pattern repeated day to day. However, the nightmares did lessen in their attacks. Instead of crowing like a crazed winner, he only smiled while Draco slept peacefully.

One Thursday night, after the two came back from the seminar and had dinner, Draco announced, “Would you have any problems with us returning to England, tomorrow after classes end, to spend the weekend there?”

The two were in the sitting room, on the same couch within close proximity of each other. Teddy read a book while Draco studied his notes to continue his search for the Jiyu. Teddy set his book on the table and shifted to look at Draco.

“No, I don’t. Are you planning something?”

“More or less. It’s Scorpius’ birthday on Saturday. I had planned a small gathering for him to celebrate. We’ll come back Sunday night.”

“Works for me. I could Apparate back to Grandmother’s place, and then I’ll catch up with her in the morning, and I’ll go see Harry in the afternoon.”

“You’re more than welcome to come to the party.”

“Sure. I wouldn’t mind wishing Scorpius a ‘happy birthday’.”

Draco nodded. “Then that’s settled.” With that, Draco went back to his notes, and Teddy picked up his book and continued his readings.

Later, Teddy packed up all the souvenirs for his family and friends back home. After he shrank them and put them away neatly, he readied for bed and slept in Draco’s room.

Classes passed as normal, almost. For once Draco, who liked to assign a decent amount of homework over the weekend, declared to each of his classes that there wasn’t any. His students didn’t cheer out loud because they respected Draco as their professor, but Teddy did see bright grins and happiness in their eyes.

Both Teddy and Draco had brought the possessions they were going to take back with them to England, so once they locked up the classroom, they went to a secluded place on campus to use the Portkey that would take them directly to Malfoy Manor. Once there, Teddy promised that he’d come to the party. However, he had to ask Draco one thing.

“You will let me know if you have any nightmares, right?”

“Yes. And if I don’t, we can come to the conclusion that they are some how associated with me being in South Korea.”

“Right.” Teddy nodded. “Then, good night. See you tomorrow.”

“Good night.”

Teddy Apparated to his grandmother’s place, where she was waiting there with tea and biscuits. After he hugged and kissed his grandmother, he sat down on the couch. The same couch he had jumped up and down on as a child. He took a sip of Andromeda’s warm cuppa.

“Thanks, Gram. I missed your cuppas.”

“Not a problem, dear Teddy.” She sat elegantly on the couch, her hand fingering the bracelet her deceased husband had given her many years prior.

Even though Teddy studied his grandmother’s appearance and profile for just the briefest of seconds, he couldn’t help but smile at the realisation that struck him. He could see Draco’s pureblood haughtiness in her. Not that she acted hostile towards anyone, but rather Teddy realised just how similar the two of them were. His grandmother had been raised by a pureblood family much like Draco had been, so the two of them shared the same wit and acerbic sense of humour. Also, even though she’d been disowned by the Black family, over the years her upbringing never really left her. She always looked stylish and graceful. Like right now, the way she sat, her back straight and poised, reminded him of Draco.

“What’s so amusing?”

His grandmother’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Nothing, Gram.”

Andromeda looked over him before she smiled softly. “You’re in love.”

At that moment, Teddy had been drinking his tea, and he nearly spat out his tea in surprise. Recovering his dignity, he said, “Uh, what’s that supposed to mean, Gram?”

She gave him an insulted look. “Nothing. It’s just that the last time I saw such a love-struck face like that was on your mother.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and you have that same look she did. And I know the one you are thinking dearest of is not Victoire. You’ve been with her for years, and I have never once seen that look on your face until now.”

“Oh . . . ” Teddy trailed off, suddenly feeling queasy in his stomach as he wondered how his grandmother would take the news that he was in love with her nephew.

“It’s Draco, isn’t it?”

Teddy, unable to look at his grandmother, just nodded and held his breath for the expected screams of bloody murder.

However, when his grandmother didn’t say anything, Teddy took the risk and looked up at her. Instead of seeing anger, disgust, or anything of an antagonistic nature, he saw understanding, love, and acceptance on her face. He also smelled those emotions from her. “Gram?”

“We don’t always choose who we love. We find love in the most unexpected place. Your mother found it in your father. I found mine with your grandfather, despite my family’s view on Muggles. Therefore, who am I to judge who you love, Teddy?” She smirked at him. “Surely your expectation of me wasn’t that low, was it? You know I’d accept you for who you are whether you are like the colour green or gay.”

“Gram . . . ”

Again, she gave him an affronted look. “I love you, Teddy Remus Lupin. You’re my one and only grandson, whom I have raised as a son, so do not ever think again that I will spurn you for who you love and for who you are. If anything, I will spurn you for thinking so lowly of me!”

Teddy, feeling guilty, reached over and hugged Andromeda with all the love he felt for her. “Thanks, Gram.”

They separated, and Andromeda picked up her cup of tea. “You’re welcome. Now finish up your tea. We’ll have breakfast tomorrow.”

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast with Andromeda, he went and unpacked his lot of souvenirs.

He gave Andromeda her gift — a gorgeous celadon vase — which she loved, telling him that the green colour of the celadon was really beautiful. He spent the morning telling her about his adventures in Korea and how he liked it. They also talked briefly about his love for Draco, and Andromeda just said to take his time with this new opening instead of rushing head first into it. Teddy decided not to mention the nightmare problems and how they’d been sleeping together.

After that, he sent his friends and family’s gifts by the owl post. He decided to take the rest of the gifts with him when he went to Harry’s place. His plan was to go visit Harry, catch up on stuff, and then after the party at Draco’s place, come back to Harry’s and spend the night there before he met up with Draco on Sunday night.

When Teddy Flooed into 12, Grimmauld Place, he saw Harry with Neville. However, he was surprised to see Ginny along with James, Albus Severus, and Lily. They all greeted him warmly; apparently, they already knew that he was going to be in the country, thanks to Draco and Andromeda telling them in advance.

After Teddy hugged them, shook hands, and did all the greetings, every one of them sat around the table, with tea of course, and talked for the next hour. Teddy gave everyone their respective gifts, for which they all thanked him delightfully, each of them liking their gifts.

After the gifts, they all talked for another hour before the group began to disperse, each going their own ways.

Soon, Teddy and Harry were the only ones left. Harry suggested that they go to the sitting room, where they could talk more comfortably. They sat, and Harry’s face took on a serious expression.

“I have news regarding Kim.”

Teddy, almost forgetting his request to Harry, looked up sharply in surprise. He nodded towards Harry to continue.

“I dug around through the old Ministry files and found that one minor Death Eater, one who was alive, was present during Kim’s torture session, the final one before the man was killed. The former Death Eater, who had hidden himself out in the most northern part of the Isle, was found and brought here for questionings. We offered to let him go back to his exile if he would tell us what he knew about Kim.”

“He agreed to those conditions, didn’t he?”

“Yes. He allowed us to extract his memories of the torture into a Pensieve.” Harry turned slightly green when he said that.

“Must’ve been some ugly sights.”

“Terribly so. To spare any details, Kim was tortured about the location of something to which he responded with an ‘I don’t know’ over and over again. Soon, though he started to shout and scream in Korean, which our translators said were just Korean curses and gibberish.”

“But?”

“But then in Japanese, he had whispered the word ‘wife’, and then he said a name. Kang Soon Jung, we assume that’s his wife’s name.”

Teddy sat up, astonished by the news. “But all the records say that he was single and that he had no family!”

“Perhaps, but I’m just telling you what I found out.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“That was the last thing he said before he died.”

Teddy’s mind worked overtime as he tried to piece the new information together from what he knew of the situation, which really wasn’t much. So based on this, that means whoever is after Draco is from the man’s family, maybe the wife or something. But how would the wife know that about Draco? Or know of her husband’s death and who caused it?

“Thanks, Harry. This revelation gives me more questions than answers, but it will be something to work with. At least now I know that someone has a rather legitimate reason to go after Draco.”

“That’s the most likely of possibilities.” Harry paused before he went on. “Just what is Malfoy’s reason to be in South Korea? Is he looking for whatever Riddle was asking for from Kim?”

“Something like that.”

“You can’t really say?”

Teddy nodded.

“I won’t push you. Just let me know if you need back up for help.”

Teddy reached over and hugged Harry gratefully. “Thank you, Harry.”

Harry’s arm embraced him and tightened slightly. “Just be careful. Wouldn’t want to explain to Andromeda why her grandson’s dead in a foreign country.”

Teddy laughed as they let go of each other.

“So what’s new with you, Teddy?”

He hesitated to tell Harry about what he and Andromeda discussed earlier about his love. But then he decided to tell Harry. After all, at least Harry would not flip out on him for being gay. “I think I found the . . . person.”

“What person?”

“ThepersonIlove,” Teddy said quickly, blushing at the same time.

“What? Speak clearly!”

Teddy shifted uncomfortably and whispered. “The person I love.”

“Oh? Is that all? Your nose finally found the one it liked?”

“You make my nose sound like it is its own entity.” Teddy teasingly scowled.

“It is.”

“Hn.” Teddy looked off to the side, wondering how he was going to tell Harry that it was Draco that his nose fell for, more or less.

“It’s Malfoy.” It wasn’t a question, and Harry’s face remained stoic and unreadable when he said this.

Teddy gawked at his godfather. “Blimey! What’s up with you and Gram? Are you two suddenly delving into Divination? Or am I that obvious?”

“Considering how your grandmother and I both agree that Divination is a rather bollocks-filled subject, I would think it’s the second reason. Although coming to that conclusion is really an easy one since who else could you have spent that much time with in the last month and a half?”

“Point proven.”

“Well, you aren’t with him officially, right?” Teddy shook his head. “If you two do get together, you have my approval.”

Teddy wondered just how many times this weekend he was going to look like a gaping fish. “Harry . . . ”

“I just want you to be happy. You’re really a great guy, and you deserve your share of happiness.”

All words escaped Teddy as he just hugged Harry again and let go after a second.

“Now, you will come to the Burrow for Christmas Eve supper? Bring Malfoy if you can.”

“Harry, Christmas isn’t for another month.”

“Doesn’t hurt to plan ahead.”

Teddy rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’ll come and drag Draco along if he’s willing.”

Harry grinned; his green eyes sparkled with pleasure. “Great. Now let’s talk about the latest Quidditch results.”

Teddy soon readied himself for the party. He changed into his semi-formal dress robes, changed his hair colour into light brown, without the blue and green streaks, and ensured that nothing was out of order as he looked himself over in the mirror. His smile lit up his face. He grabbed Scorpius’ gift and Apparated to the front of Malfoy Manor. Walking up the path to the entrance, he went through the door that opened automatically, and he was greeted by a loud blast of music.

As his eardrums recovered from the sudden increase in the decibel level, he walked around and found Scorpius with Albus Severus in the crowd. He knew Scorpius through Albus Severus. Over the years, he and Scorpius had talked and become friends with each other as the latter came to visit 12, Grimmauld Place quite often during the school holidays. He felt a bit weird that he was technically in love with Scorpius’ father, but he decided to shove that thought aside.

“Scorpius,” said Teddy, handing him the gift. “Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks, Teddy! Glad you could come!” Scorpius accepted the gift, two tickets for a three-day trip to a ski resort in South Korea for when he and Albus Severus came to visit Draco that winter.

“Brilliant! I can’t wait until we get there! Al and I would love to go have fun at a ski resort!”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“Go and get yourself some food and a drink! Dance and talk! Mingle around!”

Teddy laughed and did that for a while, but soon he decided to get away from the crowd of youngsters. Even though he really wasn’t that much older than the guests here, he felt too old for them as he decided to go someplace a bit quieter in the Manor. He found solace in the sitting room where he sat down on a chair and stretched out his muscles. Hearing someone coming up behind him, he looked and saw it was Draco.

Smiling at him, Teddy said, “This is a great ‘small gathering’ you put together for Scorpius.”

“Of course. He’s a Malfoy. Malfoys always get the best stuff.”

Teddy laughed at the haughtiness in Draco’s voice. “You and Gram both sound the same when you two are being sarcastic.”

“It’s the pureblood in us.” Draco sat down in the chair across from Teddy. “Why aren’t you out partying more? I thought you would enjoy this kind of event.”

“Sure! When I am around people my age!”

Draco chuckled. “I see you what you mean. Even though you’re not that much older, the age gap still exists.” He snapped his fingers, and a house elf popped out of nowhere and gave them two glasses of brandy before it disappeared.

“Thanks.” He held his glass out and clinked it against Draco’s. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.”

The two of them drank in companionable silence. Suddenly, Teddy remembered something very important.

“Did you have any nightmares last night?” Teddy studied Draco’s pale face, noticing that he looked a bit on the tired side.

Draco didn’t answer.

“You did, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Draco sighed. “I did.”

“I have news for you, by the way, about Kim.”

“Oh?”

Teddy told Draco everything that Harry had told him earlier. Draco listened closely and he looked at his glass of brandy with a thoughtful expression on his face.

A few minutes passed before Draco said, “It makes sense, actually. As a former Death Eater myself, I can see why I’d be a target if the wife existed.”

“But you’re not the one who killed that man!”

“It doesn’t matter. I still served the man who killed the poor woman’s husband. I took on Kim’s goals of trying to find the Jiyu. If the wife still lives and knows about all this, then it makes sense for her to try to get revenge. I’m not going to waste my time on trying to find Ms. Kang. For all I know, she most likely changed her name because she doesn’t want to be found.”

“But what if she really was the one behind the attacks, and maybe even these nightmares!”

“We have no proof that these nightmares are caused by a third party.”

Teddy sighed. “So you’re not interested in trying to find the person who probably wants you dead?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Sounds like it.”

“Look, so far nothing has happened since you came. Let’s just end it at the fact that you must be doing your job right, and because of that, nothing out of the ordinary has happened.”

“But the nightmares –”

“Stop going on about the nightmares. You’re sounding like a broken wireless!”

“I’m just worried.”

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake! If you’re that worried, then spend the night here. At least that keeps those annoyances at bay, along with you.”

Teddy couldn’t help but feel excited at Draco’s proposal, never mind that he’d been insulted. As casually as he could, he said, “Fine.”

The party eventually wound down, and Albus Severus and Scorpius decided to go to London to continue the party at a popular club. They wished Draco and Teddy good night and promised to come back home in the morning. Scorpius promised to have breakfast with his father, and the two left.

Teddy and Draco both retired to bed in the master bedroom. They fell asleep with their arms around each other, and Teddy couldn’t help but relish in the situation. Even though it was only a day, Teddy had missed the comforting arms around him. He tucked Draco’s head under his chin and snoozed away in the dark night.

As predicted, Draco didn’t have any nightmares, and they woke up and got ready for the new day. When the two of them walked down to the dining room, they saw Scorpius, looking perky for someone who had partied all night, drinking coffee, and reading the paper.

“Must have had a fun night,” Teddy said to Scorpius.

“Indeed, I did!”

“Ah, to be young again,” Teddy laughed as he mussed up Scorpius’ hair. He then turned to Draco. “I’m going to Harry’s place. I’ll come back this evening.”

“All right,” Draco said, sitting down across from his son. “Five o’clock.”

“Okay. Later, Scorpius!” Teddy waved to the boy, knowing that Scorpius would be asleep after breakfast. Teddy walked outside to the ward-free zone and Apparated to 12, Grimmauld Place where Harry and Neville were having breakfast together. Teddy joined them, digging hungrily into his food.

“How was the party?” Harry asked.

“Oh, it was fine. Loud, really.”

Neville laughed. “I’m sure. These youngsters like to have their music loud. Reminds me of those balls at Hogwarts.”

“Is Albus Severus sleeping?”

Harry nodded. “Yep. He walked in, grunted to us about sleeping all day.”

“Scorpius held out better than him. He’s at least having breakfast with his father.”

“Maybe I should have Scorpius teach Albus Severus to do that as well.”

All three of them laughed as they continued their breakfast. Afterwards, Harry and Neville cleaned up while Teddy decided to go pack his stuff, so he could head to over to visit Gram one more time before he returned to South Korea. However, while packing, there was a knock on the door. Thinking it was Harry, he opened the door and froze when he saw Victoire standing right there in the doorway.

Victoire gave him a nervous smile. “May I come in?”

Teddy stepped aside, and Victoire went past him and sat on the bed. She fingered the edge of the blanket. Teddy sat down next to her and the two sat in silence for a while.

It was Victoire who broke the silence. “How have you been doing?”

“Not bad, honestly. You?”

“All right, I suppose.” Teddy felt Victoire moving on the bed, and he looked over at her. “I wanted to apologise for the way I acted the last time we met.”

“Victoire –”

“Please.” She held up a hand. “I’m glad you suggested we spend some time apart, because after we were separated, I had a lot of time to think about our relationship. I thought back to all the times we were together, and I realised that even though we were together, we weren’t really together. At the beginning, there was some passion between us, but it fizzled out over the years. Soon, it felt like we were more best friends than a couple.

“And that is one thing I do not want to give up. I do not want to give up our friendship. You will always be one of my closest friends.”

“I don’t want to give that up, either. I am only sorry that I can’t . . . ”

“Love me?”

Teddy nodded, his voice working against him.

“It’s okay. I realise that some things are not meant to be. You don’t need to apologise. If anything, I should apologise for being a drama queen about it.”

Teddy smiled at her and gave her a big hug. “Thank you.”

Victoire hugged him back, and the two just sat there like that for a long time before they separated and caught up on stuff. Teddy gave her his gift — a Korean tea set. He watched the way her eyes lit up at the pretty set. She gave him another hug and thanked him profusely.

For the next hour or so, they talked about their current lives. She mentioned that she was seeing Anthony Chang. Teddy told her about him being gay and of his love towards Draco.

“Really? Well, if you can get through him, then you deserve him since he’s a bit of a pain from what I understand.”

Throwing his head back, Teddy laughed and Victoire laughed with him.

After his pleasant meeting with Victoire, Teddy said his farewells to her, Harry, and Neville. Then he went back to Andromeda’s place and they ate lunch together. It was there Andromeda gave him a huge container of mince pies. “Enjoy them with Draco.”

“Thanks, Gram! I will. You know your mince pies are the best!”

Teddy kept her company all afternoon. When it was time for him to go to Malfoy Manor, she hugged and kissed him.

“Good luck. Those who are descendants of the Black family will be stubborn, but if anyone can win him over, you can.”

“Gram!”

“I’m just speaking the truth, dear Teddy, that’s all. Now do take care and keep in touch. I will see you at Christmas Eve, yes?”

“Yes, Gram. Thanks for everything.” Teddy kissed his grandmother on the cheek, and then he left with his stuff.

At Malfoy Manor, Draco and Teddy said their goodbyes to Scorpius. The two of them touched the Portkey, Teddy’s hand covering Draco’s, and they arrived back at Draco’s place in South Korea.

Shinny welcomed them back and so did Mung Chung, who proceeded to steal several of the mince pies before doing his disappearing act.

“That no good bi-bi! At least let Master have some first!” Shinny grumbled out loud as she gathered their things and put them away. “I’ll have dinner ready for Masters soon.

Teddy looked around the familiar place and grinned. “Good to be back.”

“Growing fond of this place?”

Only because you’re here, he thought. “Yes.”

“So am I. It seems cosier than the Manor in some ways.”

“Even though it’s huge for one person?”

“It’s still smaller than the Manor.”

“True.”

“Let’s unpack and have some dinner.”

“All right.”

After a delicious meal with mince pies, which Draco complimented, Draco and Teddy settled for a game of chess. While they tried to outwit each other in the game, they talked about the upcoming week and what they should plan. The evening passed in a peaceful manner, and Teddy couldn’t help but feel really happy.

He was even happier when they crawled into Draco’s bed, snuggled into each other under the blanket, and slept together. Teddy nuzzled his nose in Draco’s hair, and he inhaled the familiar scent that made him feel complete with himself. Sighing in contentment, he mumbled, “Good night.”

Draco responded just as softly. “Good night.”

“Max invited us to go to a no rae bang tomorrow night.”

“A what?” Teddy gave Draco a perplexed look.

“No rae bang. It’s like karaoke, only you sing in small, private rooms instead of out in front of everyone at a bar.”

“Er, why?” Teddy didn’t really sing well, and he certainly wasn’t going to improve by the following night.

“It’s a cultural thing. Koreans like to go singing there, especially after they have a few drinks.”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind experiencing it.”

“I’ll tell him we’ll come.”

The next night, Teddy and Draco met up with Max and Jin Sil for some dinner first. They all opted to go to an Italian place called Sortino’s in Itaewon. Surrounded by the scent of tomatoes, basil, garlic, and other herbs and spices, they ordered two different pizzas and two pasta dishes to share with each other. They also shared an expensive bottle of wine that Draco decided to throw in.

It was when they were nearly finished eating that Jin Sil brought out the handkerchief. “Here, I wanted to return this to you.”

Teddy looked at it in surprise. He had forgotten about that piece of cloth. Apparently so had Draco, because his eyebrows went up as he accepted it. “Oh, you didn’t need to give it back.”

Jin Sil smiled. “I wanted to.”

Draco just nodded. “Okay.”

Soon they forgot about the handkerchief. When they went to a no rae bang, they all told Teddy to sing first, but Teddy insisted that they go first so he could see how it really worked.

Max volunteered to go first and he chose to sing The Village People’s “Macho Man”. It took every ounce of strength for Teddy to not turn Max’s microphone off. Teddy had never heard such a horrible rendition of that song in his life. Luckily, Jin Sil sang better as she chose to sing a song by some group called “Dong Bang Shin Gi”. She sang a pretty ballad-type song called “Love in the Ice”. She had a pretty nice voice and could carry a tune way better than Max. Draco surprised Teddy the most by choosing to sing Deep Purple’s “Highway Star”. Teddy didn’t think Draco knew that type of song!

Finally, it was Teddy’s turn, and after he flipped through the book, he decided to sing Queen’s “I Was Born to Love You”. He sang off-key, and his timing wasn’t in tune with the song, but he tried! When he finished, they all clapped for him, Max and Jin Sil cheering. Teddy blushed, but he started to get into the groove of things. He discovered that a lot of people who sang here weren’t good, so it didn’t matter if he sang horribly himself. In fact, he came to the conclusion that Max sang worse than him, but Max didn’t care. He just continued to make noises on that microphone and so did Teddy.

The entire evening turned into a fun one, and when Teddy and Draco were in bed that night, that was when he realised something very crucial.

“I want to try something tonight,” was the first thing Teddy said when they woke up.

Draco yawned and gave Teddy a sleepy look. “Try what?”

“Let’s sleep separately.”

Teddy, whose arms were still around him, felt Draco stiffen. In a cold voice, he said, “Fine.”

“No, let me explain. Those nightmares? Remember when it started to frequently attack you? Think about what happened before the nightmares started.”

“I am not following you.”

“There’s a connection between what happened last night and what happened before the nightmares started.”

Teddy watched Draco’s face. He watched as comprehension dawned on Draco. “The handkerchief.”

“Yes,” Teddy said, “the handkerchief.”

“Jin Sil is somehow a part of it. Maybe even Max. Somehow the handkerchief, because it was originally mine, was used against me. I’m positive the ancient arts of Shamanism were used to connect myself with it, and that’s how the nightmares were caused. Because its roots are Shamanistic in nature, that’s why it didn’t feel like someone was using Legilimency on me.”

“Well, that makes a lot of sense, but when I sniffed her out upon our first meeting, she didn’t feel like a threat. She still doesn’t, come to think of it.”

“Really?” Draco looked at Teddy thoughtfully. “Perhaps she has something that tampers your sense of smell when you’re around her.”

“That’s a possibility,” Teddy said slowly, the idea digesting into him. “Kind of like in that Muggle World War Two, how scientists on the Allied side came up with a chemical that altered and affected the dog’s sense of smell temporarily. Which proved to be useful when the Resistance groups would help smuggle and hide those who were being persecuted by the enemies.”

Draco threw his head back and rolled his eyes. “That necklace! Of course!”

“The one with a pouch?”

“Yes! She must have something in there to interfere with your sense of smell!”

Teddy snorted. “That would explain her strange choice in jewellery”

The two stayed silence as they thought about these new bits of information.

“Should we confront her about it?” Teddy asked while he absent-mindedly stroked Draco’s hair.

“We have no irrefutable proof to do that with.”

“True.”

“Let’s just try out your theory tonight and see what happens.”

They did that. For the first time in weeks, they slept in their own respective beds. Teddy felt empty as he climbed into his neglected bed. With the blankets over him, his head on the soft pillows, he couldn’t sleep. He stared up at the ceiling, waiting for the anticipated crash landing on the floor from Mung Chung. The night crawled away, though, with no signs of the dokkaebi. Finally, Teddy fell asleep and woke up tired the next morning. Upon waking up, he rushed to Draco’s room. He entered and saw Draco already sitting on the bed.

“Sleep well?”

“I didn’t have any nightmares.”

Teddy noticed that Draco avoided his question. “But did you sleep well?”

“No,” Draco scowled. “I didn’t.”

Teddy couldn’t help but smile a bit at that. “Why?”

Draco gave Teddy a tight-lipped look before he sullenly said, “You weren’t there.”

Teddy’s smile widen at that answer. “Me, too.” He walked over and knelt in front of Draco. With courage he didn’t know existed in him, he reached up and slowly and hesitantly cupped Draco’s face in his hands, feeling the scratchy stubble on his cheeks.

He heard Draco’s intake of breath, but he didn’t move. He stayed like that, and so did Draco. In a strangled voice, so uncharacteristic of him, Draco said, “This is probably not a good idea.”

“I know.” Teddy sighed, still looking straight into Draco’s face. He saw the grey eyes darken, and he could smell something different from Draco. Something that smelled like a combination of nervousness and something feral, lusty, and needy.

“But it feels right. So right,” Draco whispered.

Teddy nodded as he slowly leaned upwards, his face inching closer to Draco’s. He stopped when there were only a few centimetres separating them. He could feel the invisible energy crackling between them. Throwing caution to the wind, he moved to close the gap between them.

But then a loud noise banged outside the door. Teddy let go of Draco and fell back hard on his bum. Draco remained sitting on the bed, looking dazed, but then he came to his senses and yelled, “Mung Chung! You better not break anything out there!”

Teddy stood up, rubbing his sore bottom. “Ouch! Darn that dokkaebi!”

Draco just smirked at Teddy. “We’ll be late. Let’s get ready.”

The rest of the day passed as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened between them. No words were exchanged that night as they went back to their previous sleeping arrangements where Draco ended up in Teddy’s arms. The next few days passed without any mention of the kiss that almost took place.

They also pretended that nothing had been discovered about Jin Sil and Max. Or at least just with Jin Sil. Both of them decided to not give off any clues that would warn Jin Sil about them suspecting her. Luckily, nothing strange happened as November came to a chilly end.

December 2024

“Bloody hell!”

Teddy had just walked inside the sitting room to see Draco violently tossing a pen on the table as he slumped against the couch. He watched Draco take off his glasses. “You all right?”

“Yes — no, not really. This riddle is driving me mad!” Draco gestured towards the yellowed paper in its original ancient writings and the other paper that had the translation in modern Korean and English. Then there was the notebook, a rather fat notebook filled with notes Draco took on the riddle.

Teddy came and sat down on the couch. He reached for the translated version and read the familiar and mystifying riddle:

In between two warring states of power,
Divided by a common legacy,
On a rocky spire, deep within a cave,
There lies the remnant of the Ancient Past.

From the clear waters in its hidden depths
To the origins of the mighty world,
The souls of the magic come into place,
The round pedestal unites and divides.

“Tell me what you have come up with so far,” Teddy requested.

“I’ve been thinking that the location is somewhere in the middle of the Korean peninsula. The ‘two warring states of power’ could be between North and South Korea. I know the Jiyu’s in a cave somewhere. The first line of the second quatrain makes me believe that the Han River, which flows in both North and South Korea, has something to do it.”

Teddy nodded, agreeing with what Draco said. “What about the last two lines? What does magic have to do with anything?”

“Remember, the Heavenly People had supernatural powers, which can also be interpreted as ‘magic’. And the round pedestal is what the vial is laid upon.”

Teddy, who had been learning how to read and write Korean slowly, looked at the modern Korean version. He frowned as he read the Korean word for “magic” and remembered something. “Isn’t there another word for ‘magic’ in Korean?”

“There is more than one word for it.”

“So ‘mabup’ is another word for it? As well as ‘masul’?”

Draco nodded impatiently. “Yes, you are aware that synonyms are applicable to languages other than English . . . ”

“Draco?” Teddy cocked his head at the way Draco had trailed off. He watched Draco’s frown deepened. “Did you just think of something?”

“Merlin’s sake, Teddy! You’re a genius!” At that moment, Draco got up and ran out the room and quickly returned with a map of Korea. He slammed the map down on the table, bowing his head as he looked for whatever he was searching for.

“Er, Dra–?”

“Shut up and give me a minute!”

Teddy did as he was ordered. Considering this was the most animated he had seen Draco as of yet, he certainly didn’t want to interrupt the man’s dedicated work ethics.

Thankfully, the wait wasn’t long. Soon, Teddy looked at the map and looked at where Draco had circled a small island called Masul in red ink. He gave Draco a questioning look. “I assume that’s the location of the Jiyu?”

“Yes!” He turned to look at Teddy with a smile. “This calls for a celebration! And it’s all thanks to you!” Quick as a lightning, Draco leaned over and planted a kiss on Teddy’s mouth. Teddy, despite being surprised by the sudden action, swiftly kissed Draco back as his Auror’s reflexes came alive. The kiss was hot and filled with passion. Teddy’s tongue reached out and swiped Draco’s lips, and when Teddy felt Draco’s mouth opened in silent permission, he took the plunge and explored the new, sweet territory with gusto.

It wasn’t long before the two broke apart, gasping to get much-needed oxygen into their systems. Teddy looked at Draco’s flushed appearance, the man’s usual pale cheeks were stained pink, and those thin lips thoroughly kiss-swollen. Without a mirror, Teddy knew that he probably reflected Draco’s exterior image.

When Teddy felt like he could speak again, he swallowed hard and said, “That was — just, wow. I’m not complaining, but let’s hold off the celebration until we find that thing.”

“Right.” Draco pointed at the map, looking as if he hadn’t just snogged Teddy just now. “Masul-do, that has to be it. It’s a small island, which is the ’round pedestal’. The ‘clear water’ symbolises the ocean that surrounds it. It really is just a huge pile of rock, a ‘rocky spire’, and it’s in between South Korea and Japan, the ‘two warring states of power’. Korea and Japan are always at each other throats about something because of their long history with each other. A couple of decades ago, they even fought over the ownership of this particular island.”

“Anybody –?”

“Don’t you mean Dok-do?”

Teddy and Draco look up at the uninvited dokkaebi. Both of them echoed, “Dok-do?”

“Yes, Dok-do, hello! That’s the island that’s been fought over for centuries between Japan and Korea!”

Teddy and Draco exchanged a confused look before they stared at Mung Chung blankly. Mung Chung scowled at them and said, “Never mind! You guys are being babo!” He disappeared out of sight.

“He just insulted us by calling us ‘stupid’. I think I will seriously think of getting a dokkaebi exorcist,” Draco muttered.

Teddy just sniggered. “Forget about him. So does anybody live on this island?”

“No. It’s a really tiny island, and all there is on that is a single cave.”

“But then what if someone already went into the cave and grabbed the vial?”

“Oh, it’s there. Don’t worry.” Draco pulled out a normal looking rock and handed it to Teddy. “This rock looks like an ordinary rock, but it’s not. You see the inscriptions carved there? It matches those characters used in the ancient writings. Apparently you put this rock back in its spot, and it will unlock the inner cavern that leads to the vial.”

“No kidding. This is some fancy stuff, even if it’s all misleading.”

“Let’s go this weekend. I would say let’s go now, but I think it’d be wise to make more plans.”

“Agreed. Besides, we’ll have more time to go on this mission then instead of going after your classes.” Teddy looked over at Draco. He could see tension and excitement in Draco’s body language. “Also, I was thinking we should call for backup.”

Teddy received a glare. “No.”

“But what if Jin Sil –”

“No backup. It will just be you and me. Or would you rather have me go by myself?” Draco smirked.

Teddy let out an exasperated groan. “Fine, no backup. You have my word.”

It felt like the weekend would never come. Time not only crawled on its arse, but Teddy swore that time even stopped more than once. He could not believe he was looking forward to going to Masul-do on Saturday. It was ironic how he was jumpy and dying from impatience, whereas Draco looked calm and collected as usual except for the slight hint of tension in his jaw.

Fortunately, though, Saturday did come, and Teddy made sure that he had all his equipment, just in case. He felt uneasy about going there without backup, but since Draco had threatened to go by himself, that made him think twice. However, his gut instinct warned him to be prepared for anything that could happen there.

Soon it was time to go. Teddy and Draco decided to Apparate directly to the island.

“Ready?” Draco asked.

“Ready,” Teddy confirmed. Simultaneously, they Apparated to Masul-do.

Teddy appeared on the beach, and he heard the waves breaking against the rocks with a deafening crash. He looked around his surroundings. The island really was a small one. A tall volcanic mountain was situated on the middle of the island. At its base, he could see a small opening. Pointing at it, he turned to Draco. “Is that it?”

“Very astute. Do see any other caves around here?” Despite the barb, it lacked his usual biting tone.

Teddy just grinned. “Well, let’s go!”

They walked across the beach and climbed up a small slope before the path straightened out again. It didn’t take long before they reached the entrance of the cave and entered it. Teddy was surprised to see that this particular cave wasn’t dark. Through numerous cracks and openings, the sunlight entered the cave, brightening it. As they went further inside, the prehistoric paintings and carvings on the walls caught his eyes. Soon they reached a dead end.

Teddy looked at the vast wall in front of him. Unlike the other walls, this had nothing decorative on it; it was a plain grey wall. However, from the corner of his eyes, he saw Draco taking out the rock, and that was when the wall changed slightly. In the dead centre, the wall sunk inwards and made an indentation the size of the rock in Draco’s hand. They looked at each other. Teddy nodded, and Draco put the rock into the slot.

At first nothing happened. Teddy stood still, waiting. Suddenly, a loud noise snapped through the cave. An intricate and elaborate design of pictograms appeared on the wall as it glowed briefly. Then without warning, the wall simply disappeared.

Well that was pretty anti-climatic! Teddy kept the thought to himself as he followed Draco inside the inner grotto. Unlike the outer part, the new area was dark. Luckily, though, there were two torches already lit hanging at the entrance. Teddy and Draco each grabbed one. Wordlessly, they walked deeper and deeper inside.

After five minutes of walking, Teddy saw a glint of light. He heard Draco gasp out loud and watched as he rushed towards the glint. Teddy sped up and reached the round pedestal against another dead end. He saw a simple vial, shining brilliantly as if it had never known dirt.

Teddy looked at Draco, who had appeared to have frozen up on the spot. “Well, what are you waiting for! Get it, Draco! Grab that vial, that Jiyu you’ve been searching for!”

Draco nodded. He slowly reached out to touch the vial, and then he wrapped his hand around it. Carefully, he picked it up and put it in his bag. He looked up at Teddy with a genuine, happy smile, at which Teddy wished he had a camera to capture what must be one of the happiest moments for Draco. Teddy slung an around Draco and leaned in to whisper, “Now let’s really celebrate!”

“Of course!” Draco and Teddy walked out of the inner area, and once they were out of it, the wall silently appeared back in its place. They looked for that rock, but it had merged into the main wall.

“There goes your pet rock,” Teddy teased.

“A pet?!” Draco gave a mocking glare. “That was not my pet rock. It was simply a tool that I used for my objective.”

Before Teddy could say anything, he heard footsteps in front of them. Letting go of Draco, he grabbed his wand and squinted to make out the person at the entrance.

Without warning, he felt some powerful force throwing him against the far wall, away from Draco. With the wind knocked out of him, he slid down to the ground, coughing. He looked up in time to see a bunch of long white cloth appear out of nowhere. The cloth tied itself around Draco, binding him down on the spot.

“Draco!” Teddy tried to stand up, but he found himself held down by some force beyond him. He could move, but he couldn’t move from that spot. With his wand still in his hand, he tried to cast a spell to get rid of the white cloth, but he found that his magic wasn’t working.

He finally looked up at the person he’d seen earlier. An old woman stood there, wearing a white hanbok. Her hair, which was equally white, was pulled back into a neat bun. She looked fairly harmless, almost reminding him of Draco’s landlady. However, the crazed expression on her face looked dangerous.

“How does it feel? How does it feel to be powerless? To feel what my husband felt when your people attacked him!” She didn’t move. Instead she stayed at the entrance, looking directly at Draco.

Teddy stood up and was going to shout at her, but it was Draco who said in a calm voice, “You must be Kim Jung Min’s wife.”

“Yes. And you’re one of those monsters who tortured and killed my husband!”

Teddy interjected, “No! He wasn’t even alive then!”

She turned to give him an evil glare, “Silence! It doesn’t matter! He’s still one of them, a Death Eater! Once one, always one!”

“You’re a mudang,” Draco said matter-of-factly. “You used what must be a powerful Shaman spell as a barrier against our magic.”

Teddy frantically tried to remember what a mudang was until it came to him. A mudang was a type of Shaman who acted as a mediator between the gods and humans. Buddhist and Taoist in nature, these mudangs were the link between the spiritual world and the real world. They could see spirits, communicate with them.

Draco continued to converse with the woman as if nothing was wrong. “You must have changed your name after your husband’s death. You had to cut off ties to him. He must have appeared in your dreams and asked you to do that.”

Teddy had to give it to Draco. For a man who was quite sarcastic and crabby on a regular basis, Draco knew how to keep his cool. The woman, on the other hand, looked as if she had gone to a sauna and was burning up.

“Yes. My name back then was Kang Soon Jung,” she said angrily. “And you’re correct about my husband’s spirit appearing in my dreams. He told me what had happened and told me to change my name and hide with our unborn daughter. So I changed my name to Oh Son Hae. Several years ago, my poor husband, whose spirit is unable to rest, came to tell me that you had gained possession of his notes on his search for the Jiyu. Then I found out that you had decided to move here, to search for it, and I could have not asked for a better situation!”

“So you tried to attack me, tried to kill me?” Draco asked coldly.

“Why, yes. Absolutely. It’s a shame that the thugs I hired to have you run over failed in their mission. After all, you deserve to die.” There was such vehemence in her voice that Teddy cringed.

“I tried to make your little life miserable after you gained that bodyguard of yours! The nightmares! I wanted you to see and feel the same suffering my husband went through. Luckily, my granddaughter –”

“You mean Pak Jin Sil?” Teddy interrupted her this time. “We figured it all out. Especially when she gave it back to us.”

“Yes,” she sneered. “I knew that your bodyguard’s a descendant from the wolves, so I made up that necklace for her, to interfere with his smell. That ungrateful wench! I raised her, you know? After my daughter died giving birth to her, and her father already dead, I took her in my care. Oh, how thrilled I was to hear that her boyfriend was none other than your real estate agent! It was then I asked her to get me something that belonged to you. She gave me the handkerchief, but I guess she felt guilty because she tried to talk me out of this, tried to tell me that her dear ‘professor’ wasn’t a bad man! Why she even stole it from me!

“Unfortunately, I didn’t anticipate the two of you falling for each other. I didn’t predict that his love would override my spells and rituals! But no matter! I had another dream a few days ago in which my husband appeared and told me that you two had found the location of the Jiyu. He told me where, I set up my traps here, and you two fell for it!”

Teddy stiffened at the knife she revealed. He struggled to move, to get closer to Draco.

It was then that Draco yelled something to Teddy in French. Distract her to weaken her concentration. That’s what Draco had said.

“No! Put the knife away! You don’t want to do this!” His yelling must have distracted her a bit because when he struggled against the force that held him in the spot, he began to move. He felt like he was moving through the thickest molasses in the world, but he moved, centimetre by centimetre.

From where he stood, he could see Draco’s pale face, whiter than usual, and he could smell fear, even if Draco still looked calm as a cucumber.

Teddy moved, a bit faster now, he could feel that whatever power Son Hae used, it was weakening. Encouraged, he moved with more energy, with more force. He had to get to Draco!

Despite his best efforts, though, he could see that he wasn’t going to make it. Son Hae was getting closer to Draco.

“Now, after you get what you deserve, I shall take what my husband had been searching for most of his life until his undeserving death.” She held out the knife. Soon, she was only about three metres away from Draco.

“Halmeoni! Stop!” Teddy turned his head around, surprised to see Jin Sil and Max running towards Son Hae. “Stop! Don’t do this!”

Distraction, such a beautiful thing, Teddy thought. Because of Jin Sil’s unexpected shout, Son Hae’s hold on Teddy weakened to the point that he escaped from the invisible bonds and ran towards her. He saw the stunned look on her face, but she quickly recovered. With the speed of a demon, she ran towards Draco, the knife aimed at his heart.

“No!” Teddy reached out to grab the knife.

Right at that moment, the whole cavern lit. The brightness blinded him, and it made him stay in his spot as he waited for the lights to dim a bit. “Draco!” Teddy called out once he could see. He sighed in relief. There wasn’t any blood. Draco, still tied up, was fine. Teddy was about to run towards him, but there was a ghost in front of Draco. A ghost who stood between Draco and Son Hae.

Teddy swallowed. He could feel Jin Sil and Max behind him. He heard Jin Sil’s soft, “Grandfather?”

“Yuh-bo . . . ” Son Hae said the word that Teddy recognised as the term married couples used to call each other. Teddy couldn’t see her face, but he heard her voice shake, and he could smell the sadness and love that emanated from her.

The ghost of Kim Jung Min looked at his wife. “Stop. Don’t turn yourself into a killer. When I told you about this man finding my notes, I didn’t mean for you to plan revenge. I just wanted to let you know, so you could find him, talk to him, and get some credit as my wife if and when he found the Jiyu.”

“But –”

“Please. This is not what I want you to do. I love you too much for you to take this path. And think of our granddaughter.”

“Yuh-bo!” She pointed at Draco. “But he’s associated with those people who killed you! Who tortured you!”

“Yet he didn’t kill me. He wasn’t even born then. Yes, he may have joined up with those evil doers, but he made a mistake, and I’m sure he had to repent for it more than once. We all do when we do something we regret. Do you want Jin Sil to be associated with a killer? That’s what will happen if you do this. Also, this will not bring me back.” The ghost of Jung Min had begun to fade when it began its speech. By the end, it had disappeared entirely.

“Yuh-bo!” She reached out to touch him. Her hand only met empty space, and her shoulders sagged in defeat. She let the knife fall from her hand. It landed with a soft sound. She waved her hands and muttered something. The white cloth that had been binding Draco disappeared. She then sank to the ground and began to weep loudly.

Teddy ran past her, straight to Draco. “You all right?”

Draco nodded and looked as if he was going to say something, but Teddy didn’t let him. Instead, Teddy pulled him into a tight hug. He whispered, “I thought you were going to be a goner.”

“So did I,” Draco whispered back, his arms going around Teddy and hugging him back. “So did I.”

Teddy and Draco separated when they heard Jin Sil walking towards Son Hae. They watched as she stopped and knelt in front of Son Hae. Wordlessly, she pulled her grandmother into a hug and comforted her. Son Hae’s weeping grew into loud wails and sobs as she rocked in her granddaughter’s arms.

While that went on, Teddy grabbed Draco’s hand and led them towards the entrance where Max waited. The three of them walked back to the beach and waited there for the women.

“I’m sorry about all this,” Max said sombrely, so unlike his usual self. “Jin Sil only told me what was going on this morning. If I’d known sooner, I’d have prevented this or warned you two or something.”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. As for her actions, I don’t blame her for it, quite honestly,” Draco said.

Teddy, still holding onto Draco’s hand, gave it a squeeze. “Still, she shouldn’t have targeted you simply because you were affiliated with them years ago.”

Draco gave him a smile. Teddy could see it was a sad and bitter one. “I’m used to it.”

Teddy, anticipating Draco to say that, pulled the older man into a hug. “Nobody should judge you for something in the past.” They stayed like that for a while. At least until the two women finally joined them, at which point Teddy and Draco separated.

Son Hae walked up to Draco and stopped a few feet away from him. There was a tired expression on her face, making her look her age. “I want to apologise. My thirst for revenge nearly hurt more people than necessary. I’m glad my husband and my granddaughter were able to stop me, but I regret all that I have done to you.”

When she finished, Draco said, “Don’t blame yourself. I understand. You did all this out of love and loyalty towards your late husband, much like the way I joined the Death Eaters because of my own loyalty to my parents.”

Draco paused as he reached into his bag and pulled out the sparkling vial. He extended it to Son Hae. “Here. I want you to have this.”

Everyone, even Teddy, looked at Draco with an astonished expression. Son Hae took a step back and held up her hands. “No. I can’t take that. You solved the riddle. You found it, so it’s rightfully yours.”

“But it was all because of your husband’s notes. He had already done most of the work. He’s the one who had translated the riddle from the ancient language.”

“Yes, but you found it.”

“Yes, but I didn’t want to find this for fame and be renowned for this discovery,” Draco again tried to hand the vial over to her. “My plan was to find his grave and empty the Jiyu there. He deserves it.”

As Draco’s words sank into all their minds, Teddy saw tears well up in Son Hae’s eyes before she reach out with shaky hands and grasped the bottle. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Draco nodded and repeated, “Yes.”

She wiped her eyes and regained her composure. “Will you two follow Jin Sil, Max, and I to the grave?”

Teddy caught Draco’s eyes. He nodded in affirmation to Draco.

“Yes, we’ll be honoured to go,” Draco assured her.

This was where Max stepped in. With a grin, he pulled out a notebook that had Mickey Mouse on the cover. After he got the location from Son Hae, he spelled it into a Portkey. “Grab Mickey, everyone!”

Teddy suppressed a laugh at the bizarre turn of events and grabbed a part of the notebook. Other hands joined him, and Max said the word. “Kimchi!”

The place where Jung Min was laid to rest was at a peaceful, beautiful, snow-covered valley. Off in the distance, Teddy saw snowy mountains.

He focused his attention on Son Hae and Jin Sil, as they walked up to the burial mound. The women, despite the snow on the ground, got down on their knees and made a formal bow to pay respect to Jung Min. Son Hae stood up and edged closer to the front of the mound. She opened the vial, but she hesitated as she turned back to look at Draco.

Draco didn’t say anything. He simply nodded.

Son Hae turned back to the mound. Slowly, she poured out the three drops of the liquid from a long forgotten past. The drops hit the snow.

A slow mist came and surrounded the valley. Teddy saw a huge amount of the mist all congregated on top of the mound. The mist gradually took a form, and once again it was the spirit of Jung Min.

Son Hae stayed silent and the others followed suit as they all watched the ghost. Jung Min’s mouth moved as if he was talking, but there were no sounds coming from him. However, Teddy could hear in his heart the spirit was thanking them. The ghost smiled and gave a loving look to Son Hae and Jin Sil before it dissipated. Teddy instinctively knew that the spirit was finally able to rest.

The mist disappeared as well. Jin Sil gasped as she pointed at the top of the mound. A single flower stood there. A beautiful flower, its petals coloured blue and white, its stem and leaves in the healthiest shade of green. For eternity, the Jiyu’s power would allow it to always live on, even through the most extreme weather, it will never die, always remaining its beautiful blooming self.

After that was done, Son Hae left the mound and walked up to Draco. Grabbing his hands, she put the diamond vial in his opened hands and closed them. “Keep it. You gave my husband the Jiyu. I give you the vial.”

Teddy could see Draco wanting to protest, but Draco gave her a small smile as he brought his hands towards his body. “Thank you. Thank you for this honour.”

After they promised to go out again with Max and Jin Sil to another night of singing and drinking, Teddy and Draco Apparated back home. Once there, they walked into the sitting room.

“I didn’t know that was your plan with the Jiyu.”

Draco just shrugged as he sat down on the couch. “You never asked.”

“You’re right about that.” Teddy took a seat next to Draco and grabbed him into an embrace.

“Hey!”

“I thought I was going to lose you,” Teddy explained without any mirth. “When she was running towards you with the knife, and I wasn’t able to get to you in time, I have never felt so helpless in my entire life.”

Teddy felt Draco relaxing in his arms. He felt Draco’s arm around him. Encouraged by that small gesture, he buried his face in the space where Draco’s shoulder and neck met. Teddy breathed in that familiar scent, the scent that had caused him to go mad just two months ago. Softly, he kissed the pale skin and stayed there, unmoving.

“Are you,” Draco started in a slightly breathy voice, “just going to stay there all day?”

Teddy raised his head to meet Draco’s grey eyes and gave him an impish smile. “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Your scent is very pleasing to me.”

“You make me sound like I need to take a bath.”

“Not really. I’ve enjoyed your scent since that first day I saw you.”

“Ye gads! Not that first day!”

Teddy smiled and kissed the area again. It must have been a sensitive spot for Draco because he moaned out loud. “You like it?”

“Don’t ask silly questions,” Draco managed in his usual biting tones. Teddy felt Draco’s hand against his head, pushing him away. “So tell me, you liked me since that first day when I was butting heads with Mung Chung?”

“Where you were wet and naked? Well, sort of. You had this smell about you. Remember how I told you Victoire didn’t smell right to my nose? Well you apparently smelled right from the very beginning.”

“Somehow that confession doesn’t make me want to jump up and down in excitement.”

“It was the end of October,” Teddy admitted. “That’s when I came to the realisation that I liked you and realised that you were the one for me.”

A sharp look overtook Draco’s face. “Wait a minute. That was around the time when you were –”

“Wanking off like a teenager while being spied on by a dokkaebi who told its master?” Teddy dryly said.

Draco nodded.

“Very perceptive, Professor,” Teddy said in a husky voice.

He watched Draco’s grey eyes darken. “I — my feelings started to change for you as well. Probably around the same time. I just tried not to let it show nor treat you any differently.”

“And you succeeded.”

“Ah, but I didn’t succeed around my son.”

Teddy blinked. “Explain, please.”

“That Sunday morning at breakfast, the day we came down together? We were catching up with each other. That shrewd son of mine must have read something in me.”

“And what was his, er, response?” Teddy cautiously asked.

Draco smirked. “His response was — and I quote — ‘Dad, just do what makes you happy. Just don’t go into details about your sex life, okay?'”

Teddy blushed and groaned. He rested his forehead on Draco’s shoulder. “For Merlin’s sake! Your son, my godfather, and my grandmother must all be taking Divination from someone who’s not Professor Trelawney!”

“Hm. Honestly, I could care less about their Divination skills or lack thereof. I was thinking about ways of trying to torture my son with details of our sex lives if there ever is a time for it.”

Teddy lifted his head up at the challenge. He pulled Draco onto his lap. In a rough voice, he said, “I’m up for the challenge. Just don’t tell Scorpius.”

“What if I want to?”

“Then I’ll do this to shut you up.” Teddy closed the gap between them. Their lips met, and Teddy kissed, sucked, and nipped Draco’s lips. He deepened the kiss by slipping his tongue inside where he memorised every single indentations and depression as he tasted him. While he kissed Draco, he allowed one hand to reach down to cup a nice, firm arse. His other hand reached up to undo the buttons of Draco’s shirt. With the shirt parted open, the ends pulled out from the pants, Teddy’s hand roamed across Draco’s chest and torso. Breaking the kiss, he made a wet trail with his lips down Draco’s jaw and neck.

“Wait –” Draco managed to say. “Not here. Bedroom.”

Teddy stopped his ministrations and pouted. He helped Draco up on his feet and led them back to the room. “Satisifed? I hope so! Now my mood’s ruined!”

He allowed himself to be tugged forward. He kept his eyes on Draco’s face; even when Draco sat on the bed and scooted himself backwards, Teddy’s eyes didn’t move away from Draco’s face. His stare broke, though, when he felt Draco’s foot at his crotch, massaging his arousal. He moaned loudly. “Damn. Feels so good . . . ”

“And you said your mood was ruined?” Draco kept up the crotch massage. “If that’s ruined, then I’d love to see how you would act if your mood’s not ruined.”

Growling, Teddy crawled on the bed and hovered over Draco. He stared at Draco’s scars, the same scars he saw two months ago. He kissed them, traced each and every one of them with his tongue. Draco moaned and grabbed onto his lover. Encouraged Teddy kept up his attention. As each second passed, the passion between them grew stronger. It wasn’t long before Teddy took off Draco’s pants and underwear. Soon after, Teddy started to taste Draco, smell him in ways he never would have imagined. His exploration of Draco continued as he urged himself to try to find out how to make the man cry out in pleasure. First it was with his fingers. Then he fully entered all the way himself, and he lost himself in pleasures he never had imagined. When he and Draco reached the end together, he couldn’t help but relish the fact that the bliss he had just experienced felt so much better than any wank session.

During the aftermath, he and Draco cuddled with each other on the bed. No words were exchanged as they rested. Teddy felt his eyes drooping, and he would have fallen asleep if it wasn’t for Draco’s, “Mung Chung!”

Teddy’s eyes shot open. At the foot of the bed, he saw Mung Chung standing there, grinning at them.

Both Teddy and Draco shared a look. And both of them shouted the dokkaebi’s name, the sounds echoing throughout the house as chaos between the three resumed.

Christmas Eve at the Burrow was hectic as usual, with all the Weasleys, Potters, and other friends and family members all crammed into the tight spot. Teddy looked around the homely place, one of his many hang outs from childhood. He saw Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione and their children, Rose and Hugo. He saw Aunt Molly and Uncle Arthur playing host as usual. There were loud banging noises followed by laughter, and he wasn’t surprised to see Uncle George showing off one of his new tricks. Off to the side, he saw Harry and Neville talking to Ginny and her boyfriend. Amongst the river of red, he saw his grandmother talking with Lily and James. Victoire and Anthony were talking with Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur.

Then his eyes rested on Albus Severus and Scorpius, where the two of them looked so happy with each other. Teddy couldn’t wait until the two of them came to visit in Korea. Now that Teddy’s mission was officially over, he decided to accept Yonsei University’s offer to teach at the College of Advanced Auror Techniques, CAAT for short. This allowed him to stay in Korea and to stay with Draco, who currently was talking to Uncle Percy.

It wasn’t long before it was time to eat. They all gathered into the expanded dining room, where they all sat at the long table that looked as if it was grunting in pain from the weight of all the food. Everyone was served, and they started to eat and talk as they all enjoyed Christmas Eve.

Teddy sat between Albus Severus and Draco. While they ate, under the table, he reached for Draco’s hand. He laced their fingers together. He leaned in and whispered in Draco’ ear. “Happy Christmas, Love.”

Draco smiled and whispered back, “You too, Love. Happy Christmas.”

Ending Notes

These are the images I used to picture places in the fic:
– Draco’s hanok home inside http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Korea-Gangneung-Ojukheon-01.jpg
– Draco’s hanok home outside http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Korea-Gangneung-Seongyojang-01.jpg
– Yonsei Univeristy http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Yonsei-university-main-building.jpg/800px-Yonsei-university-main-building.jpg
– Visual representation of a dokkaebi http://www.prontera.net/cards/dokkaebi_l.jpg

Wikipedia Pages for research and more in-depth reading:
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoul
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pungmul
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanbok
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimchi
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_mythology
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_shamanism
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_River_(Korea)
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myeongdong
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N_Seoul_Tower
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DLI_63_Building
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itaewon
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insadong
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bongeunsa
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoraksan
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Gyeongju
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoul_Grand_Park
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dokdo

Couple of the Korean names in the fics actually have meanings. Here’s the list:
– Jin Sil = truth, sincere
– Soon Jung = pure
– Son Hae = damage

Teddy has known for years that he’s a Metamorphmagus where he can change his appearance at will. His nose can grow bigger and longer to match a certain former headmaster, he can change his hair colour and style every minute if he wishes without having to pay any salons, and he can be taller, skinnier, bigger, shorter, and any other adjectives available in the English language.

What has always fascinated him is the fact that he’s able to also change his skin colour. Not only that, but he has discovered he’s capable of changing only certain areas of his body to a particular colour.

He uncovers that peculiarity one day rather unexpectedly. He’s home, at his flat, and he’s bored out of his mind. Plus, it’s hot and humid, and no matter how many Cooling Charms he uses, his flat still feels like a sauna. Fanning himself and sweating immensely, he first strips off his shirt, not caring that beads of sweat are trailing down his firm chest and stomach. Then he loses his trousers, tossing them across the room, his legs feeling sticky and unpleasant; they at least feel a bit cooler as soon as they are released from their constraint!

With only a pair of pants on him, he sags into his leather sofa and watches the telly. Flipping through the channels, he finds an Asian film that shows a bunch of young men trying to do interesting Quidditch-like moves — minus the broom — in a swimming pool. Curious, he watches it, hoping it will cool him down some, but the more he watches, the more he realises he’s still hot as all hell.

Suddenly, he says to his telly, “I need a cold shower. This weather is bloody ridiculous. And I’m talking to the telly. The heat’s definitely getting to me!”

His skin nearly tears off as he removes himself from the sofa, and he drags his heat-stroked body to the showers. The tiles give his feet a nice chill he enjoys for a minute, and he takes off his final article of clothing — his pants. Now utterly naked and vulnerable to some sex-crazed freaks out in the world, he stares at his reflection in the mirror. He looks like his normal self — turquoise hair all looking damped against his forehead and neck; golden brown eyes that appears exhausted from the telly overdose; beautifully tanned skin which shows off his well-toned “sexy swimmer’s body” (as Lily calls it); and a nicely-sized, flaccid cock greets him. For a minute, his cock captures his eyes, and out of nowhere, he wonders if it’s possible to change his cock to a certain colour.

He knows he can make his cock bigger and wider if he wishes, which is always popular with both the men and the women he runs with, but he’s never tried to make it change colour before. And really, there’s nothing stopping him, so why not? But first, in order for him to see the colour easily, he decides to stroke himself to hardness.

Moaning out loud, he squeezes some lotion onto his hands, and he grabs his cock with one hand and his balls with the others, and he tugs and massages himself into an erect state. His cock comes alive slowly, and he watches through half-lidded eyes at the way it becomes aroused. With a lazy pace, he strokes and pumps his length, and it isn’t long until he decides he’s ready to try his experiment.

He inhales deeply, and he concentrates on the first colour in his mind.

It’s purple, and his cock does changes into a dark indigo shade. When he sees it, he first feels like royalty since purple is associated with the kings and the queens, right? Yet upon a much closer inspection of the purple phallus in the middle of his body, he comes to the conclusion that this colour makes his cock resemble an eggplant.

And he absolutely and positively hates eggplants.

Quickly, before he gags, he changes it to green — the same hue matching Harry’s eyes. Another food came into his mind, and he thinks of cucumbers. Except his cock doesn’t have those bumpy ridges, which is probably a good thing. If his cock ever develops the ridges, he will worry that he’s contracted some deadly, incurable disease.

At least he doesn’t mind cucumber as a food, though.

Next colour on his mind is orange, and he develops a huge craving for Cheetos Puffs or carrots, especially the big, fat juicy ones he sees at the Korean supermarket. Swiftly, he changes to another colour because he really doesn’t want to think of food right now.

Unfortunately, though, his colour association only brings him more thoughts of food, food, and food.

Pink reminds him of candy floss — a skinny candy floss but candy floss nonetheless, while black makes him think of liquorice in the form of long tubes. It’s strange that he’s even thinking of sweets — he doesn’t even like sweets that much!

Again, he hastily gets rid of all thoughts of pink and black, and he thinks of blue, and blue potatoes come into his mind. He’s only tried it once, when someone his grandmother knows from South America had brought them some. He recalls eating that as a unique experience, and he enjoyed it, surprisingly.

At least, maybe now, he won’t think of disgusting food, and he’s pleased to see that the last four colours make him think of his favourite foods. He ends up wanting bangers after his cock turns red, and he decides that tonight will be bangers and mash night. With a white cock, cauliflowers pop in his mind, and as his favourite vegetable, he decides to have it with his bangers and mash, along with shitake mushrooms when his cock’s colour transforms to brown. And for dessert? Something dealing with bananas.

He sighs and stares at his yellow cock — its colour the pride and symbol of his house at Hogwarts — and he decides enough is enough. “I’ve come for a cold shower, and now I really need a cold shower. Otherwise, I’ll have blue balls for the rest of my life!”

Thus ends his Technicolor experiments, and thus begins his quest for the world’s fastest shower as hunger claims him. When he finishes, he shivers, glad he’s finally cool, and he wraps a towel around him as he dashes off to the kitchen to prepare his meal.

It was two days before September first, two days before Teddy Lupin went off to Hogwarts.

At that moment, Harry climbed up the stairs of his house and stopped in front of a door. Harry knocked on Teddy’s room. His godson had been living with him for the entire summer since Andromeda Tonks left to visit some places in Canada. Fortunately, she will come back tomorrow to see her grandson off to Hogwarts.

“Come in,” said Teddy.

Harry walked in and saw Teddy’s room in a state of upheaval. He shoved aside some clothes off of Teddy’s bed and sat there. “Need some help with packing?”

“No, I’m fine…” Teddy’s voice trailed off, his eyes glancing at “Hairy Teddy” sitting on top of his pillow.

Harry’s green eyes travelled to where Teddy’s eyes had rested. “You’re not going to take Hairy Teddy?”

“I’m eleven, not five anymore, Harry.” Teddy made a face.

“Then can I keep him?” he asked, his tone light and teasing.

Teddy gave Harry such an incredulous look that the older man chuckled. “What? Can’t an old man like me keep a teddy bear?”

A long pause followed as if Teddy was deep in his thoughts. Finally, in a thoughtful and mature manner, he said, “I think I shall take it.” He grabbed Hairy Teddy and clutched it to his chest. “Besides, I think he’d be more comfortable to hug than a pillow.”

“Good choice. I think he’d also miss your presence.” Harry reached out and ruffled Teddy’s hair up.

Instead of getting indignant at Harry’s action, Teddy just smiled softly. “Yes, he’d miss me, and so would I.”