This, as promised, is the one that links onto the last James one shot. I've been having a pretty shit day today so please leave lots of comments to make it better! 

My favourite part of the summer holidays, no matter how unpredictable they were, or how many things I crammed into it, were always the last week. Mainly because every year, without fail, I spent the final week of the holiday staying with my grandmother who, let's be honest, let me get away with so much that my parents wouldn't even think of allowing. I loved her all the same and looked forward to staying with her every year.

This year was no different. The moment I stepped through the front door, I found myself enveloped in a warm embrace that I sunk gratefully into, even if I did have to bend down slightly to hug her properly. Drawing away from my gran with a grin, I smiled down at her when she framed my face with her hands.

"Look how much you've grown up," she said letting go of my face to move the hair from around my face. "Where are your parents?"

"Bringing the bags from the car," I confessed a little guiltily, "I ran in and left them to bring the bags in."

"Why they don't use magic to bring them in, I don't know," she muttered under her breath, taking me by the arm to bring me into the house. "It would be so much easier."

"You live in a muggle neighbourhood," I reminded her with an affectionate eye roll. "Remember?"

"Oh please, a bleeding Hippogriff could walk down the street, and no one would notice," she insisted, steering me towards the front room where I could hear voices from another conversation.

"Is someone here?" I asked curiously, only to frown at the male voice that answered the first. Dropping my gran's arm, I pushed the door open and sure enough, there he was sat on the sofa beside his own grandmother. Teddy turned towards the door, eyebrows rising at the sight of me. "How are you always here whenever I arrive?"

"Hey," he protested, already knowing to shift down the sofa so I could sit beside his grandmother whilst my own headed into the kitchen. She'd no doubt return with a pitcher of squash and her latest disastrous attempt at baking something. "I get dragged here every year."

"Liar," I muttered, slapping his arm away from me when he reached out to put a hand on my knee.

Turning my back to him, I grinned at the waiting woman who leaned forward to hug me. Returning the hug, I conversed with the older woman who had an entire list of questions that she seemed to have prepared to ask me. Only when my parents walked into the room did Mrs Tonks turn her attention from me and onto my mother.

"You've lost so much weight!" she exclaimed, rising to her feet to embrace my mother and leaving me alone with her grandson.

"Wiley," Teddy said quietly from beside me and I turned finally to face him. Silently he gestured towards the door and with a quiet sigh, I let him pull me to my feet and out of the room.

Teddy led the way to the room I always stayed in and I headed straight for the bed, kicking my shoes off and sitting cross-legged in the middle. I watched as Teddy shut the door before gesturing for him to join me. He did so with very little hesitation and I grabbed one of the pillows from the bed to cuddle into it.

"So, spill Lupin, why did you want to leave?"

"Just thought I'd save you," he said with a shrug, leaning back on his arms and watching me through eyes that shifted colour for a fraction of a second to match my own before he amazed to fix it. It was a good thing he had; I rather preferred his eyes to my own. "You know they were just going to talk about random shit anyway."

"Language!" I whacked him with the pillow and he caught it with a laugh. "You're talking like whatever you have to say to me is going to be interesting. Hate to tell you this Ed, but you're probably the most boring person I've ever met."

"That's not what the other girls say," he announced casually, and before I could stop it, I narrowed my eyes at him. "They just don't leave me alone."

"Oh please," I scoffed, glancing away from him only to look back when he reached out to ruffle my hair. "Stop it."

"Tie it up then," he shot back before tossing the pillow back to me. "But truthfully, I missed you. Not seeing you is one thing I hate about holidays.

Rolling my eyes, I muttered, "How on earth are you going to survive when I'm at school next year and you're not?"

"I'll sneak into the school," he announced as if it was feasible. "Or sneak you out."

"Stop saying things like that."

"Why?" He rose to his knees, leaning towards me and I watched his approach with steady eyes. "Does it make you fall for me?"

"As if!"

Pushing him away by the shoulder, I shrieked in surprise when he responded in a heartbeat, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me after him. His back hit the mattress, bringing me with him and no matter how many times I smacked his chest, he didn't let up.

"Let me go," I protested, trying my best to wriggle out of his arms. Salazar, when had he gotten so strong? "I mean it!"

"Or what?"

I shifted against him, pointedly bringing my knee towards his groin. "One move and I'll leave you curled in the foetal position."

He let me go quickly, flopping back in annoyance. Even still, that stupid smile didn't leave his lips. "You always get serious so quickly."

"Well if you'd just let me go when I asked you to then – Teddy!"

He shot up suddenly, taking me in his arms again but this time to squeeze me tightly to his chest, hands shooting instantly to my hair. Trying to fight his hands away, I struggled but it was no use.

"For fuck's sake Edward!"

"Language," he chimed with a laugh.

Salazar, I was going to kill him. Managing to snag my pillow from where it had fallen during our earlier struggle, I smacked him across the face with it. Why did we always end up fighting like children?

**********

"Are you aware that Lupin's out there waiting for you?" the unnecessary question came from my dormmate, Elena, as she walked into the room, already shrugging out of her robes. She tossed it to her bed and looked curiously towards me.

"Of course, I know he is, Pucey," I said as I rose to my feet, grabbing a hair tie from my bedside table. I was not going to tempt the man. "He always waits for me when we have rounds to share."

"Lupin always does a lot of things when it comes to you," Preeti Agarwal piped from her bed where she was pouring over her notes for the Arithmancy test she had tomorrow morning.

"Stop saying it like that," I said with a roll of my eyes, struggling to pile my hair into a bun at the top of my head. With a sigh, I made sure it stuck in place with a quick charm.

Zhang cast a look across the room to where I was busy getting ready to leave, "Like the fact that the only girl he's ever taken to Hogsmeade is you, or –"

"Don't start this again, Rachel," I insisted as I headed for the door.

"Just admit it and we'll stop it," Gentry proposed, sorting through her trunk in search of something she had managed to misplace yet again. "He likes you-you know he does, but you're not willing to admit it."

"Because there's nothing to admit to Helen!" I exclaimed, hurrying out of the room before they could say something else.

It wasn't the first time we'd had that conversation or even the twentieth. Salazar, I didn't even know how many times we'd had that conversation. It had begun as teasing words during our first year where Teddy took care of me because my grandmother had asked him to. That's all it had been and sure enough, a rather tentative friendship had grown from that until it strengthened in our later years. Merlin, some of the things I'd asked him to do for me were things I would never dare ask of someone else. But he did it all anyway.

Dismissing the thought, I hurried through the common room; whilst Teddy was willing to do whatever I asked, he didn't exactly like waiting around for long. If I kept him waiting for long, then he'd sulk during the entire rounds and I was not listening to him complain about how I had an issue with being punctual. Even if that was true.

Once I walked out of the common room, I instantly found Teddy leaning against one of the walls, glancing at his watch. Crossing the distance between us with quick steps, I waited for him to look up at me with his signature annoyed expression. Smiling gently in the way that I knew appeased him, I laughed when the frown literally melted from his face.

"That's not fair," he complained, straightening up as we prepared to set off. "You can't just smile at me like that whenever you upset me and expect to get away with it."

"Then don't forgive me so easily," I shot back, not even bothering to shrug off the arm he threw around me as we walked. I didn't want to risk annoying him all over again.

"It's not fair, there's nothing that I do that makes you forgive me so easily."

There was. I'd just never told him that all he needed to do was look at me a certain way and I'd melt to his every whim. I kept that information for myself, who knows what he'd do with it if he ever found out.

"That's because you hardly ever make me really annoyed."

"That's true," he agreed before sighing slightly.

Frowning up at him, I wrapped an arm around his waist and just like I'd thought, the tension eased out of him slightly. "What's eating at you Lupin?"

"I think I might complain about the bloody Head Girl and see if I can get her switched or something," he complained so seriously that I didn't even tell him off for his language. Instead, I waited for him to say whatever else he'd kept bottled up inside him. "She can't seem to keep her hands to herself whenever we're together. Helga, I'm glad that we don't have to share a dorm."

For some reason his words had me pausing, the arm I had around him falling back to my side. Clearing my throat, I asked quietly, "Do you like it?"

"Of course not!" he exclaimed, removing his arm from around me to run it through his hair. "Did you not even hear me complain?"

"I was just asking," I defended, shifting on my feet when he looked at me with narrowed eyes. "What?"

He reached out to catch my hand, using it to haul me to his side. "What's wrong, Wiley? Are you jealous?"

"Gross," I scoffed, pushing him away from my side.

He laughed at that, keeping his hold on my hand. "I don't know about that – you certainly sound it."

"Then get your ears cleaned."

Rolling his eyes, Teddy didn't say anything and instead watched me for a long moment. Silently I raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything and just lifted my hand to his lips. Whatever I could have said to him died the moment he pressed a small kiss to the back of my hand, dropping it in the next instant. That didn't stop my eyes from widening in surprise.

"Ed?" I called out quietly, but he just shook his head.

"Come on Wiley, the sooner we get this patrol over and done with, the sooner I can get you back to your common room."

The years of knowing him had rendered me an expert in realising what he really wanted to say. And this time, he didn't want to say a thing. He just wanted to carry on as if nothing happened so that's what we did. Moving closer to his side, I took Teddy's hand and we walked slowly through our patrols, just like we usually did.

**********

The fifth Hogsmeade trip of the year arrived and brought with it an invitation that, for once, I didn't reject. Usually, Hogsmeade trips meant a day spent in the village with Teddy as we caught up because, despite being in the same castle, we rarely saw each other. I mean we were in different years so there was no chance of sharing lessons and we belonged to different houses meaning that we couldn't run into each other in our common rooms either. But for once, I'd decided to accept one of the offers I'd received and I didn't know why I'd done it.

Joe Allen was handsome, and he knew it – the main reason that he flitted between one girl to the other, usually within the space of a week. He wasn't the sort of guy I liked normally and Merlin, I had no idea why I'd agreed to voluntarily spent the day with him. Except I did know – hell if any other boy had come up to me to ask me to Hogsmeade I probably would have accepted them – just to put this rumour business to bed.

But now, as I walked beside Allen towards Teddy, I really wish I hadn't agreed to go with him. Not only did Teddy look annoyed – no, disappointed, by my choice of date but I could just begin to see the protectiveness creeping into his posture as he crossed his arms over his chest. He rose to his full height, towering inches about Allen and I tried not to frown at the intimidation tactic which hadn't changed since the first time I'd gotten a crush on a boy in my third year.

"Will you give me a minute?" I asked Allen, not even waiting for his answer as I crossed the road to join Teddy.

Clearly not realising that this was something I was better off doing on my own, Allen followed after me, so we could greet Teddy together. Salazar, it was a big mistake. Especially when he wrapped an arm around my waist and Teddy clenched his jaw so tight that I swore I heard something crack. Elbowing Allen roughly in the side, I stepped away from him the moment he removed his arm from around me. I stood silently, waiting for Teddy to say something like he normally would but his eyes slid right past me to land on the boy at my side.

"Allen," Teddy greeted coolly before asking, "How do you two know each other?"

"We've got a date," Allen explained and my reaction mirrored Teddy's; my eyebrows shooting towards my hairline. No one said anything about this being a date. Before I could turn to Allen to remind him that this was not a date of any kind, I realised that he instead was busy sizing Teddy up. Why on earth were boys like this?

"So how do you two know each other?"

"How do we know each other?" Teddy repeated, looking towards me for an answer.

Merlin, that was a loaded question if I'd ever heard one. How was I supposed to answer it? We knew each other through our grandmothers but god, we'd long since stopped being simply family friends. We weren't friends either because no matter how much I tried not to admit it, our relationship went far beyond the boundaries of a normal friendship. Once again, I was left with the question; just what were we?

"Our grandmothers are friends," I said simply, ignoring the incredulous look Teddy threw my way. "Best friends actually, they were at Hogwarts together."

Allen nodded, accepting the answer but only until Teddy cut in pointedly, "It's more than that Wiley and you know that."

I met Teddy's eyes, biting hesitantly on my bottom lip. Salazar only knew what he was going to reveal, and it really wasn't something he should speak about so easily in the middle of the road surrounded by students from our school. Turning to face Allen, I put a hand on his arm, trying to gesture him away.

"Why don't you get to the Three Broomsticks and get us a table?" I glared meaningfully at Teddy, "I'll be there in a minute."

"You don't want him to know we've slept together," Teddy announced, knowing fully well that there were multiple listening ears, not just Allen's. Allen, for his part, couldn't care less at the announcement but that said nothing for the group of sixth-year girls listening in the corner who began to chatter excitedly at the revelation.

"When we were kids! Innocently sharing a bed." I exclaimed meaningfully, actually pushing Allen towards the pub. "Go and I'll be there soon."

Looking curiously between the pair of us, Allen walked away after shrugging and deciding to listen to me. I waited until he was out of earshot before stepping towards Teddy who was waiting for my attention. He didn't falter, continuing to look down at me as I tried to read his eyes.

"What are you doing Ed?" I asked quietly, watching him sigh.

"I just don't see why it's something you need to hide," he murmured with a frown.

"Because it's not something you need to broadcast either."

"You're ashamed,"

"I'm not."

"Ashamed of me then."

"Don't be stupid," I threw back heatedly. "Who the hell could possibly be ashamed of you?"

"Just – what are you doing Wiley? What are we doing?" He tucked his hands into his trouser pockets, waiting for an answer that I really couldn't give him. Not because I didn't know the answer, but because I didn't want to say it. "Well?"

"I need to go, Teddy," I said quietly, apologetically as I stepped away from him. Unsurprisingly, his entire face was wiped clean of his expression and yet I took another step away. "I'll see you back at the castle?"

"Of course you will," he assured me because we both knew that even if I hurt him, we'd still carry on as if nothing happened. "Just remember that you're a lightweight and don't let him force you into drinking."

"You of all people should know that its impossible to force me into doing anything."

He smiled at that, a fleeting one. But it was a smile none the less. I waited a moment longer, before turning away from Teddy to join a waiting Allen, even though I really didn't want to. Merlin, I'd just kill half an hour before making an excuse to leave him. Yeah, that was what I'd do.

**********

When I returned to my dorm room, I came back to find a letter waiting for me on my bed. The moment I'd walked into the room Elena told me that Teddy had caught up to her outside of the common room and asked her to pass it on to me. With a curious frown, I wondered why he'd decided to give me a letter instead of just knowing that I'd come and seek him out because that was what the letter was about. Sure enough, I broke the seal at the back to read that Teddy asked me to meet him in our usual empty classroom in a couple of hours.

I waited a little impatiently for the time to pass by, wondering what it was that he wanted to talk about. Although a part of me knew exactly what it was he wanted to talk about, I was left with the time to try and explain to Teddy why I had accepted Allen's invitation. Quite why I needed to explain this to Teddy in the first place, I didn't know. But it only seemed right.

As the time to meet Teddy drew nearer, I hurried out of my dorm room and my dormmates so used to my sudden disappearances didn't even bother to ask where I was going. Walking out of the common room, I took a familiar path through the castle to one of the corridors where the classrooms were almost never used. Turning into the classroom that had always served as Teddy and my meeting place, I walked right in and sat myself down on the table. Swinging my legs as I waited, I glanced towards the wall mounted clock; was he going to keep me waiting long?

Of course not. He walked into the room just minutes after I had and shut the door behind him. Crossing his arms over his chest, Teddy leaned back against the door and just watched me in silence. I knew he was waiting for me to say something but what was I supposed to say? Lowering my eyes to watch my feet, I tried not to sneak glances at his face in an attempt to gauge how he was feeling.

Eventually, he broke the silence first, sighing before asking, "Allen?"

"There's nothing going on," I explained instantly, lifting my eyes to his.

"It's just," he sighed, closing his eyes for a moment.

Rolling my bottom lip into my mouth, I watched him cautiously. "Ed?"

"You know what he's like," he said abruptly. "You've heard everything about him and every single word of it is the truth."

"I know," I said uselessly, not expecting him to straighten up suddenly.

Dropping his arms to his side, Teddy crossed the room towards me. "If you know that – then what's going on?"

"It's just – just fun," I defended weakly, my voice trailing off into silence when he stopped in front of the table I was sat on.

His hands came out to rest on either side of my thighs and I swallowed nervously. Leaning in towards me, Teddy kept his eyes on mine as if trying to read what I was thinking. And that was the scary part, he'd always been able to read my eyes, to find out what I was keeping hidden. Salazar, I was so scared that he would uncover the secret I was terrified to admit to myself that I lowered my eyes, choosing instead to stare at my jean-clad thighs.

"Didn't you say that trust was everything to you?" he asked eventually, making me raise my eyes hesitantly to his. "Wasn't that the reason I did what you asked?"

"Teddy," I started quietly, bringing a hand up brush my fingers across his cheek. The way he leaned into the action had the words dying in my throat.

"You wanted your first time to be with someone you trusted," he reminded me as if I hadn't been the one to ask him in the first place.

"And that was why I chose you," I said just as quietly.

He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to my shoulder. I stiffened slightly, looking cautiously towards him when he took in a shuddering breath, "I did what you asked because you deserved it Wiley, so don't you go and settle for someone like him."

"So, who is worthy enough then?" I teased forcefully, trying to bring some light back into this room which was slowly becoming stifling. Teddy lifted his head at the question, bringing his eyes to mine. "You?"

"No," he denied instantly, paying no heed to the way I opened my mouth to protest. "Believe me, you deserve better."

And if I don't want better? If I just want you? What then?

"Don't sell yourself short," I admonished instead of asking him what I really wanted to. Wrapping an arm around his neck, I made him lower his head, so I could press my forehead against his, looking right into his eyes. "Don't ever sell yourself so short Edward Remus Lupin – especially not in front of me."

His eyes looked into my own for a long moment before he breathed sharply through his nose and lowered his head to kiss me. I leaned into him like I always did and let my hands curl into the hairs at the nape of his neck. His hands shifted, lifting from the table to clutch at my waist like he thought I would disappear if he didn't. Pulling Teddy closer to settle between my thighs, I tried not to be disappointed when he pulled away from the kiss just as quickly as he had started it.

He stepped away from me, forcing himself to straighten up and I let my hand drop back to my side. Silently offering me a hand, Teddy helped me off the table.

"I'll walk you back to your common room." That was all he said the entire way back.

These moments, these stolen kisses, always seemed to bug him, forcing him into this stifling silence as he walked at my side. I knew how he became after each stolen kiss and yet, and yet I still turned up to this classroom whenever he summoned me and returned every kiss he'd given me. It had happened so often and yet we never spoke of it. Salazar, he had been my first and yet we hadn't spoken of that either. It was a secret, something kept between the pair of us.

**********

Teddy, one of the more popular members of his house, always had a birthday party thrown in his honour – even though his birthday, without fail, fell during the Easter holiday. This year was no exception. The party was always thrown in the Hufflepuff basement and almost everyone was invited. I made every effort to go, for Teddy's sake – even if I couldn't stand some of his housemates.

But last year I had fallen really ill and found myself in the hospital wing, under the watchful eye of the matron and had woken up to find that Teddy was slumped in the chair at my bedside, asleep. His housemates had later confessed that he'd left the party the moment he'd found out that I was in the hospital wing and chose instead to stay beside me in case I needed anything. No one seemed to remind the idiot that he wasn't a licensed healer, he had no knowledge of medical magic so what good could he have possibly done?

And so, in order to stop that disaster from happening again, his dormmates had taken it upon themselves to make sure that I was in the best of health. Salazar, I was so very close to feigning illness just to stick it to them.

But I didn't and the blatant relief on each of their faces at seeing me walk into their common room for the party was almost comical. I'd arrived alongside my friends but had been promptly plucked out of the group by one of the seventh-year boys. The older boy took me by the shoulder, steering me through the common room despite my protests that I could walk by myself. Eventually giving up my protests, I threw the boy a glare when he finally let me go and pointed towards Teddy who was talking to some of the other guests. The 'birthday boy' glanced casually around the room, stopping midsentence when he spotted me and excused himself.

Crossing the distance between us with large steps, Teddy came to a stop in front of me and hesitated, as if second guessing everything. Merlin, he did this after every kiss. Smothering the sigh, I wanted to make, I stepped towards him and wrapped my arms around his waist.

The tension left him as one long breath and then he was wrapping his arms around me and squeezing me tight to his chest. Burrowing his head into the junction of my neck, Teddy let out another deep breath like he was relieved that the kiss hadn't ruined us completely. This time I didn't try to stop the sigh and reached up to brush my hand over his hair.

"Happy very early birthday, Ed," I said quietly, drawing in a sharp breath when I felt him press a kiss to my neck.

"I'm glad you're here," he said and the blatant honesty in his voice had me grinning widely. Straightening up to his full height, Teddy framed my face in his hands, tilting it upwards and for one moment I thought that he was going to kiss me. But of course, he didn't. "Wait here, I'll get you a drink."

"Thanks," I said quietly, smiling when he pulled away from me.

He only made it a few steps away before turning back towards me and pointing at me. "Stay right there alright."

I nodded with a laugh, gesturing for him to get a move on. "The quicker you go, the quicker you can come back."

Because it seemed so important to Teddy, I remained where I was, even when I spotted Allen approaching me. Salazar, who invited him? The last time I had seen him had been after our 'date' which really wasn't a date. He'd tried to kiss me, and I'd dodged out of the way. Naturally, I avoided him ever since that train wreck and before I could try and get away again, he was at my side. I stared a little apprehensively up at him. Where was Teddy when you needed him?

Kissing someone else was the answer.

The sudden cheers that went through the common room caught my attention giving me a much-needed distraction from the Gryffindor at my side. But when I found the reason why, I wished that I hadn't searched it out because there Teddy was, clearly startled by a kiss that Head Girl had given him. The older witch had his face in her hands, keeping him where she wanted and Teddy, with a drink in either hand, didn't seem to be pulling away.

My breath left me in one large gasp and I turned, needing to leave before I saw something else that I didn't want to see. But then I turned back into Allen who actually looked sympathetic.

"Want help getting over him?"

"It's not like you'll be able to think of something I haven't tried," I said with a shrug.

I regretted the words the moment I said them because he reached out towards me, drawing me into him and kissing me. Salazar, kissing him was really different to kissing Teddy. He was too fast, too wet. Pushing him away in a heartbeat, I glared openly at him.

"Don't do that again," I hissed, brushing past him and ducking into the crowd who were too busy partying to pay any attention to me and I was glad for it.

Pushing through the crowd, I hurried towards the door. Salazar, I just needed to get out of here, so I could go and just sleep this horrendous night away. My dormmates tried to stop me, asking if I was alright but I tossed some excuse to them about feeling ill and they let me go without another word. Preeti offered to come along with me, to look after me but I turned her offer down. The last thing I needed right now was company.

I just needed to be alone, so I could just curl up to a ball without worrying about someone judging me. Merlin, I really shouldn't have come to this blasted party in the first place.

***********

Was it possible for you to make yourself feel ill? Because last night, when my friends returned to the dorm room to ask why I'd disappeared, I'd told them that I felt ill and decided not to infect anyone. And Merlin, when I woke up today, I actually felt it. Well more than ill actually; I felt like absolute shit.

I hadn't left the bed since I'd woken up, no matter how much my friends tried to convince me to join them for breakfast. I just continued to lie in bed with the blanket pulled up over my head. Closing my eyes to try and ease the headache that seemed to show no signs of relenting, I groaned when they started to talk again.

"Maybe we should call Lupin," Rachel declared teasingly, clearly trying to get a reaction out of me. And it certainly worked. I pulled the blanket down slightly to peek at them as they sat talking on the bed beside my own.

"He can come and kiss you better," Helen joined in, starting when I abruptly pulled the blanket down past my face.

"Stop it," I ordered harshly, so harshly that they actually fell silent, looking at me in surprise.

I instantly knew why; no matter how much they had teased me about Teddy over the last few years, I hadn't taken any of it to heart. Any response I'd given them had been light-hearted, the sort of thing that reassured them I wasn't annoyed but this time I was very clearly annoyed by their insistence.

"What's going on?" Elena asked, rising to her feet to sit down on my bed.

With a groan, I covered my head with the blanket again. The silence dragged on, but I knew that they hadn't gone. Instead they'd continue to wait until I answered them.

With a sigh, I spoke quietly unsure of whether they'd hear me or not. "He doesn't like me. I'm the one that likes him when he doesn't even like me back. He hasn't ever so just – just stop it."

Silence. Again. It lengthened, and I wondered whether they'd heard me or not, until, "Well how do you know?"

"Because I just do," I grumbled. "Look, you guys should get to breakfast. I'll be fine on my own. Salazar, I think I might be sick if I eat anything now."

"Are you sure?" Preeti asked quietly and I peeked out from my blanket just to nod before hiding once again.

I listened out for the sound of their movements and when I heard the door open and close, their voices growing fainter until they disappeared altogether , I closed my eyes. I just wanted to sleep until the end of the term arrived.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't seem to fall asleep. But instead of coming out of my little cocoon, I continued to lie with the blanket over my head. The only time I lifted my head was when I heard the door open, followed by the sound of steady footsteps which approached my bed. Just before I could return under my blanket, I watched as a plate of croissants and a mug of tea was set on my bedside table. My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to protest; I told them that I felt like I'd be sick if I ate anything, so why –

My thoughts cut off abruptly as the person who had come into the dorm room decided to sit on the floor beside my bed. Teddy crossed his legs in front of him and met my eyes head on. I just stared at him in silence, wondering if he was really there or had I somehow managed to dream him up as some sort of hallucination. But then he reached out to brush his hand over my cheek – definitely not a hallucination then.

"What's the matter?" he asked quietly, the concern shining in his eyes as his hand shifted, turning to rub at the base of my neck.

I closed my eyes at the feeling. Merlin, just a single touch from him and I was being lulled to sleep. His hand moved upwards, massaging into my hair and I sighed appreciatively.

"Wiley?" he prompted, and I snapped my eyes open. Meeting his heavy gaze, I struggled not to look away from him. "Tell me what's the matter?"

I shook my head, making him sigh and rise to his knees. His hand left my hair and I almost complained, only to still when he pressed it against my forehead and raised the other to his own. His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he frowned.

"You've got a temperature," he announced with a tut. "Shouldn't you be at the hospital wing?"

"Don't want to go," I protested quietly, clearing my throat only to wince at the pain it caused. Salazar, I hated having a sore throat.

"This isn't about whether you want to go or not," he insisted but I frowned, and he relented. "Fine, but if you get any worse then I'm dragging you there."

"I'd like to see you try," I croaked back with a wince.

He scoffed, rising to his feet. Staring down at me for a moment, Teddy sighed and took his shoes off. I looked at him in surprise, wondering what he was doing. Gesturing for me to shuffle up, he narrowed his eyes when I refused. I wasn't all that willing to let Teddy Lupin into my bed again.

"Move up or I'll make you move," he threatened, and I knew him well enough to know that he actually would reach over to roll me down the mattress.

Groaning in annoyance, I shuffled away to give him space to settle in. Easing the blanket back, Teddy clambered in beside me and I couldn't help but frown at how close I had to press against him so I wouldn't fall off the other end. Not that he seemed to care. Teddy wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest and even as I tried to fight the urge to sleep, his presence alone was comforting enough to lull me to sleep.

"Wiley?" he started quietly, the words almost lost in my hair. I didn't respond, letting him think that I was asleep, and he sighed against me. "I didn't like seeing you kiss Allen ... and if I see him doing it again, I might hex the bloke. It's a good thing you're asleep or you'd hex me for thinking I have a say in who you kiss."

***********

By the time I finally woke up again, it was to the feeling of Teddy's arms around me still. The sensation alone threw me slightly because I'd fully expected him to slip away once I was asleep. Slowly easing his arms away from me, I cast a cautious glance back at him only to find that his eyes were still closed. Salazar, it wasn't like he was the one that was ill; why was he sleeping so long?

Then again, how long had I been sleeping? Leaning over to snag my watch from the table, I rubbed at my eyes slightly. Of course Teddy would have the sense to put a stasis charm on the tea; it was still steaming. Had I really spent most of the day asleep? In a matter of hours, it would be time for dinner and –

"I hope you're not trying to leave me behind," Teddy said suddenly from behind me, startling me so much that I almost dropped my watch. Catching it quickly and returning it to its place, I turned back to Teddy who still had his eyes closed.

"It's time for dinner soon," I began quietly, watching him as he reached out – eyes still closed – to wrap his arm around my waist again to tuck me into his chest. "You should probably get ready to leave."

He opened his eyes then, staring back at me with a frown. I held his stare, waiting for some sort of response from him. What I didn't expect was for him to reach out to check my temperature again.

"Your fever's gone down a little," he murmured. "Good thing too, or else I'd be taking you directly to the Hospital wing."

"Ed," I said with a sigh.

He returned his hand to his side, tucking it under his chin as he continued to watch me seriously. Whatever that look meant, I didn't think it spelt good news for me. I swallowed nervously and tried to shuffle away from him. But his hand was there in an instant, wrapped around my waist and keeping me close to him.

"Now will you tell me the truth?"

The quietly asked, tentative question had me pausing. Instantly I knew what he was talking about but still, asked, "About what?"

"The reason you left the party so early."

My eyes left his own, suddenly unable to meet his. Instead, I stared with avid fascination at my fingers as I traced random patterns on my bedsheet. "You really need to get out of here before my dorm mates come back and see you – if they haven't seen you already, that is. Merlin the first thing they'll do is jump to some form of misunderstanding. Of course, it doesn't help that you're always doing things to make them misunderstand."

"Misunderstand what, exactly?"

"That you like me," I said with forced exasperation. "The way you behave most of the time has them convinced that you like me – that we're dating in secret or something equally ridiculous." His eyes drilled into the side of my face which heated rapidly under his gaze. Clearing my throat, I sat up abruptly and swatted at his chest to try and get him to do the same. "That's why you need to leave before they come back, Teddy."

He caught my hand, trapping it against his chest. I looked at him instantly, rolling my bottom lip nervously into my mouth. "Even if I've been making those misunderstandings happen on purpose?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked quietly, trying to pull my hand away from him but he held on firmly.

"What you saw at the party last night," he started as he sat up, keeping his hold on my hand and held it between both of my own. Eyes locked firmly on mine, Teddy spoke slowly in a way that told me that he'd probably rehearsed it. "What you saw last night was me getting attacked by the Head Girl. Again. If you'd continued to watch just a little longer then you'd have seen me drop those stupid cups to push her away from me."

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," I protested, even as the weight that had been sitting on my chest since the party, eased at the words.

"Because there's only one woman I want to be kissing," he said bluntly, finally letting go of my hand. "And you damn well know who that is."

"Language," I murmured quietly, watching as he reached out for me, hands coming up to frame my face. "You probably shouldn't, I'm getting a cold remember?"

"Who cares?" he asked, voice suddenly sounding lower as he crept closer. "I'll just stay on bedrest with you. There. Problem solved."

He continued to draw closer to me and my eyes closed of their own volition, waiting. But then Teddy sighed, and my eyes shot open when I felt his forehead pressed against my own. Peering back at his closed eyes, I tried not to frown.

"Ed?"

"There's still the problem about bloody Allen."

"What about Allen?"

Teddy opened his eyes, looking back at me with obvious annoyance. "He kissed you."

"And it was so revolting that it made me sick."

Letting out an incredulous huff of laughter, Teddy leaned back down towards me. "Well, I'd better help you forget all about that then."

"Just hurry up and kiss me."

And then, finally, there was silence. I felt Teddy smile against me the moment I started to kiss him back. Laughing against his lips, I reached up to thread my hands through his hair to pull him closer to me. One of his hands left my face, moving slowly towards my back to press me closer to him –

"What the fuck –"

Shooting away from Teddy, I accidentally pushed him back in my attempts to scramble away from him. Suddenly finding himself on his back again, Teddy let out an incredulous laugh and I couldn't even look at my dormmates who didn't seem to know what to as I sat in mortified silence. Like an idiot, Teddy continued to laugh, even as I slapped at his thigh to silence him.

"Um, I –"

"We were just coming to check on you, to see if you were feeling better," Elena explained, already ushering my dormmates out. "But continue what you were doing."

"We weren't doing anything," I protested to their retreating backs and the blatant lie had Teddy guffawing suddenly.

"Thanks, Pucey," Teddy managed to call out once his laughter ceased and he sat up once again.

"You're absolutely useless," I grumbled. Merlin, my ears were practically on fire because of the sheer amount of embarrassment I was feeling in that moment.

Without bothering to contest my words – my very true words – Teddy just caught my hand and raised it to his mouth, pressing a kiss to the palm. Huffing indignantly, I tried to glare at him when I spotted the smile playing around the corner of his mouth. That smile only grew the longer I held his eyes until I was forced to return it.

***********

5 YEARS LATER

Christmas was a family time, everyone knew that. So why the hell was I not with my family? Simple reason being that my family had decided to go on holiday because I'd thought that I'd be working all throughout the Christmas period. To cut a long story short, I managed to get the time off but was left to spend the holiday season on my own. Truthfully, I'd have chosen to spend the day on my own instead of finding myself stuck celebrating with my ex-boyfriend. Salazar's soul, how had I ended up here?

Mrs Potter, helpful for the extra helping hand, was quick to set me to work when her younger children began to squabble. Her eldest child, however, had abducted his godbrother the moment we arrived, to get some love counselling from him. What help Teddy could give him though, that was another matter altogether. Especially since he was so unlucky in love lately.

From where I was busy setting the table for the Christmas meal, I managed to overhear what James was saying about a girl named Moran. The girl had been in her second year when I left school and from what I could remember, she hadn't seemed all that interested in boys at that point. But really, at that age, what girl was?

"Just be natural around her," Teddy advised, shooting a glance towards me as I set the glasses out on the table. I met his eyes with an eye roll, prompting him to look away. "If you really like her then that's what's best – especially since you're so young."

"Then again," I piped up, the sound of my voice making the now seventh year look eagerly towards me, "if you're going to use the fact that you're too young to be stuck to one woman, as an excuse to break up, then it'll be better to just quit whilst you're ahead."

"I'm not going to," James insisted, paying no heed to the way Teddy's face had clouded over at my words. Instead, he rose to his feet to come to my side, getting in the way of my work. "What should I do then?"

"I know I made a mistake," Teddy said suddenly, rising to his feet to come to my side and I rolled my eyes finding myself stuck between the two godbrothers.

"I know that – just as well as you do." Scoffing I brushed past him, "You've spent the last few months telling me that."

"So just forgive me already."

"I don't want to." He sighed, reaching out towards me as if to catch my arm to make me stick to his side. Dodging out of the way, I narrowed my eyes at him. "Hell, we're not even together Teddy. Salazar knows the only reason I'm here is because you told your godfather that I would be and he would probably hunt me down if I didn't come with you."

"As interesting as your lover's tiff is," James piped up, plucking the stack of plates from my hand and thrusting them into Teddy's chest. "I'm borrowing Wiley now to talk to her. You finish up here."

Before his godbrother could protest, James took my hand and pulled me over to the sofa where he had been sat previously. Crossing one leg over the other, I waited for the Gryffindor to say something. But he didn't. He started to juggle his leg up and down in obvious nerves and I reached out to pat his knee, suddenly seeing him as that little first year Teddy had introduced me to on the day he was first sorted.

"Spill the beans, little one."

"Not so little anymore," he reminded me, grinning when I rolled my eyes. "But truthfully, I think you might be the best person to go to for advice. Moran – I think she's kind of broken. Something or someone has broken her before and I don't want to force her into anything. But she doesn't even believe in love! She doesn't want to try! I just, why is she so scared? I know I could be good to her if she'd let me, but she won't. Godric, who doesn't believe in love? Can you believe that? What – why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're really serious about her," I realised with a slow smile, eyes drifting towards the table where Teddy had finished setting up and was now blatantly watching us. He wasn't even pretending not to.

James nodded a little bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's kind of my middle name."

Smiling affectionately at him, I reached out to ruffle his hair. "Never change Potter."

"I won't," he assured me, grinning when I leaned over to peck his cheek.

"Good, now if you'll excuse me, it sounds like your dad needs a hand. I'd love to give you some advice, but I feel like he's making a mess in there and I think that might be more urgent."

"Go ahead." James watched me prepare to leave before reaching out to grab my hand suddenly. I looked down at him in surprise. "Just so you know, I told Teddy not to break up with you."

"Maybe he should have listened," I said with a shrug, not caring that Teddy could hear me. "Merlin knows that would have saved us a year of being broken up and the months he's spent trying to crawl after me."

"How long are you planning on making me wait?" Teddy piped up as I went to brush past him to head into the kitchen.

"We've been broken up for a year Ed," I reminded him, pausing for a moment to shoot him a pointed look which he didn't shy away from.

"Surely not," he said, sounding aghast at even the thought of it. "An entire year?"

Not an entire year, no. But he had no reason to know that.

Letting my silence be my answer to him, I headed into the kitchen where, sure enough, Mr Potter was struggling with the cooking. According to Mrs Potter, her husband had lost a bet to her, so now he had to cook all by himself. I was surprised that she was actually willing to give her entire family food poisoning but the Slytherin in me knew the importance of respecting the bet. He was struggling with the sheer number of vegetables he needed to peel, and the oven dinged suddenly.

Mr Potter looked around wildly as if wishing he had another set of hands. Luckily for him, I was there to help him whilst Mrs Potter, from the sounds of it, was sorting out an argument between her youngest son and daughter. We worked in relative silence, and I tried to pretend that I wasn't aware of the glances the older man continued to throw towards me. It was no secret that he was his godson's biggest supporter. He always had been.

Merlin, what the grown man was doing getting involved in his godson's relationship troubles I didn't know. But that didn't stop him coming to me when, a month or two after our break up, Teddy had started to regret the decision. It had been Mr Potter who had to relay the news to Teddy that I was dating again, and it was Mr Potter who later – through his sheer nosiness – found out that I had broken up with the guy I'd been seeing.

I'd only started dating because of the advice I'd been given. My friends had claimed that the best way to get over one guy was to see another. But honestly, that was the worse piece of advice I had ever gotten from them.

It was the call of my name that had me looking curiously at him. "Yes?"

"How much longer are you planning on making him wait?" he asked, straight away and I sighed.

"Just how miserable is Teddy making you Potter men for you all to be asking me this question?" I complained. Merlin, I should have known that this was going to happen today. "What next? Is Albus going to ask me too?"

"We just don't want to see him miserable," he defended with a shrug.

Well, he shouldn't have made me miserable then.

"I'm not sure," I admitted quietly, spying Teddy who was hovering in the doorway, clearly listening in. Crossing the room to stand beside Mr Potter, I leaned conspiratorially towards him and whispered, "I'm thinking another week or two?"

And just like that, Mr Potter was grinning like I had lifted a massive weight off his shoulder. Clearly relieved now, he ushered me out of the kitchen, fully prepared to work on his own again. Humouring the renowned Auror, I pretended not to know that he wasn't purposefully ushering me towards Teddy in the doorway. These men thought they were so bloody smooth. No wonder Mrs Potter had all the Potter men (and Teddy) in the palm of her hand.

Rather reluctantly, I headed towards the door where Teddy was standing, clearly wanting to hear what I had said to his godfather to have him smiling like that. When I reached his side, I stopped like he so clearly wanted and when he summoned some mistletoe, seemingly from thin air, I scoffed.

"Nice try, Ed," I said, patting his cheek and walking right past him to approach James who was seated where I had left him, looking like he'd only started to despair more in my absence. "Come on Potter, tell me more about your Moran."

Even as James started to unload the full depth of his teenage angst onto me, I couldn't stop my eyes from straying to Teddy who had ducked into the kitchen to speak to his godfather. Mr Potter looked up at Teddy, exchanging a few words with him and all of a sudden, Teddy's spine straightened out. He turned towards me in an instant, looking at me through the doorway and I already knew what he had been told. Sending a small smile Teddy's way, I looked back to James who threw his hands up in exasperation as he recounted how Moran hadn't even bothered to give him a response last time.

____________________

  What did you think? I know this one was quite long - certainly longer than I expected it to be. 

Here are your hints:

* Slytherin 

* Prefect

*Capable of occlumency